I'm sorry, so sorry (damn you're so hot)

@Amata

---

There was one child who had joined them sometime last year who showed some promise. She would still be young to this day, not even a yearling yet if he was guessing her age properly. But as she grew older she would now be his problem to deal with. To prepare as she survived nearly to her first year and strengthen with lessons of fighting and war.

If she was to continue being a part of the Nightwalkers, she too would have to pull her own weight. She was feisty, that was certain... but was she more than that?

Following her trail, he'd growl a greeting to gain her attention. Never stopping his stride until finally face to face with the scraggly youth. “I want you to show me what you've learned this past year.”

the staff team luvs u

^^Amata was in the middle of a very important project and the mud monster had decided to ruin that project with demands that weren’t really reasonable. He was a stranger to her, as she was to him, and yet he wanted to know everything she had learned? Carebear hadn’t told her to keep a fucking journal, for pete’s sake.

This project was, of course, figuring out how things - and by things, it was froggies - worked. The best way to do this, was of course, by hunting them and tearing them open. Maybe they were toads, because they were some CHONKY mother fuckers, and Amata was nose deep into one of them with two other opened and totally mauled froggies surrounding her. Just give her a white coat and call her Dr. Amata.

So when the mud monster growled, it was completely ignored. This was Nightwalker Land, man. When wasn’t there someone growling? It was the city that never sleeps, but in the forest. So he growled, and Amata kept doing her thing, until she heard the voice.

Without a beat, she threw the frog at him - aiming for his eye or his face as an example of whatever it was that she had been working on. And then she proudly stood, smiled and grinned as though she just hadn’t assaulted the king she didn’t know that existed.

“Next, I’m going to open up a pup and see what organs taste the best. So you better not spoil the surprise for me.”

^^
the staff team luvs u

He had better matters to deal with then children who were not his, and were simply brought to him by another who wished to take them in. This whelp was @Grumble's and he had no time to waste on something that may not last in his woods. It seemed that Grumble wasn't able to teach this one any manners - not that manners were important within the ranks, but to toss a toad at the boss' face and spit fire at the Warlord was not simply something one did without uttering a challenge for his wrath.

After the amphibian slid from his face he lunged. Teeth bared and thick paws stretched out with purpose to knock the girl over and knick her on the face as his only warning. There was no words that were necessary here. "You better not ruin the surprise" she said, and his actions spoke that the only spoiling he would do was snuff hers out first.

The ball was in her court now. Would she test her luck further with the Warlord of the Nightwalkers or would she understand the threat he posed even to youth like her? If she thought he was above beating the living shit out of a child, the girl was sorely mistaken where his morals lay.

the staff team luvs u

^^Gotta say, of all the things here to be remotely surprised about - it was the simple fact that the frog did not go directly through him. He was made of mud, wasn’t he? No, no maybe it was a hard clay that looked like mud, and that when it rained, he turned into mud?

Amata did not have much time to think as she found that she was suddenly knocked over with a knick to the face. Shockingly, that was all that there was, and Amata debated if she wanted to truly challenge him or not - but he was much bigger than Grumble would ever be, and there was no way she could truly win.

And getting herself killed for nothing wasn’t the way out that she wanted. No, no, she fancied something far more exciting.

So Amata scoffed, shook out her coat, and went to pick up the frog and continue dissecting the thing.

A real challenge would come soon, but not when Amata was unprepared and untrained.

^^
the staff team luvs u

She was defiant. A trait that could be useful if not annoying at first. What good could she be if all she will do is ignore orders and do her own thing as opposed to doing what she was told for the good of the pack's growth. They had a desire, and for that to come to fruition every cog in their mechanism had to turn appropriately. She turned to continue dissecting her toads instead of doing as she was told to face him and show what she had learned during her time here in the Nightwalkers. Silently the titan watched her walk away to poke through the corpses once more.

“If you will not do as you are told, then you will suffer for it.” He had no need to break her physically it seemed, but mentally instead. To do so would mean a different tactic. “Until you show me your abilities to be useful to us, the caches are off limits. You hunt for yourself, by yourself.” She was still young enough to be affected. Still growing that the small meals of frogs and whatever small things should be enough to push her to hunger to listen.

He'd linger just a little while longer to see if she would fight back his decision. If not, the Warlord would be on his way elsewhere - to announce to the others that if Amata was caught in their caches to beat her senseless and anyone caught helping her hunt, would be treated the same.

the staff team luvs u

^^The mud monster thought he was delivering a threat by cutting her off from the food supply, but the joke was on him, then, wasn’t it? Did he not notice the lack of Grumbutt’s scent in the area, or that Amata might have been a little more skinny than average?

Amata barely responded to him, as though she had debated against it, until she slowly brought her eyes to meet his; if he considered this a challenge, then so be it - but he was uneducated. He saw the frog as an assault and not that Amata was trying to show him that she could open things up and look at their insides. It was heartbreakingly depressing, actually, because Amata had been quite proudful of it.

So she sighed and looked around. Not because she didn’t know how to answer him, but in hopes that he’d pick up the clues and look around, too. Her caretaker had abandoned her. She had hunted for herself for some time now, and all she really knew how to do was to dig a damn burrow in the ground.

“I already do, mate. ” Amata muttered with the lick of her lips as she nosed the frog towards him, offering it again, but not throwing it this time. “An’ if you wanna watch me dig an Amata sized hole in the ground, then I mean.. I can, but I’d rather learn more about opening things up and lookin’ at their insides.. ”

Amata mused with a shrug, slowly standing and walking away - though not to disrespect him, but to begin digging.

^^
the staff team luvs u

Vengeance wasn't one to talk or see things on the emotional level. Perhaps that spoke more for his psyche than anything. The way he survived was different than most. He thrived on killing, on making others miserable. He ruled through manipulation and murder and so far it had brought him to year four of his tyrannical life. Why change now just because some child is talking to him like she would break through his non-existent walls?

Her pity or whatever game she was playing would not work. She walked away after speaking with the desire to dig. “If you have done so well thus far, you can continue that outside of Nightwalker protection.” He'd encroach on the space she had made by walking off. Shoulders square to the slender youngling and treating her as though she was a trespasser. No longer welcome among them. “Lay in a hole and I will make you my next meal. Begone.” A single strand of saliva dripped from parted lips as he gave her the final ticking seconds of her next action.

Show him she was more than a brat - or run.

the staff team luvs u

^^Amata quickly grew bored of this hole; it didn’t matter anyway, did it? This guy didn’t seem to notice that she was actually doing as he wanted her to - and mentioned something about the ack of Nightwalker protection.

Er, okay? She’d been alone since her caretaker abandoned her and had no protection. This had the same effect as telling an introvert that they were grounded, not to leave the house - but really, she hadn’t been all that welcome to start, even if she started her legacy by taking someone’s eye out.

And then he spoke weird words about laying in a hole so he could eat her, and maybe if she had been older, she would have spread her legs for him to do so. Ah, but she was a child, and merely blinked at him.

Or maybe he wanted her to remove an eye for him, too? Yeah, as if that would happen, though it would have been epic bragging rights, wouldn’t it? Amata glanced him up, head to toe, tilting her head from side to side by otherwise saying nothing.

^^
the staff team luvs u

Instead of literally doing anything the girl just turned to face him and say nothing. No challenge in her stance or fleeing desire to preserve her own life. Frankly, he was uncertain what to think of this. Was she so confident that he would not beat her senseless, or that she was stupid enough to not understand the seriousness of the situation she found herself in? This is what he got for letting her into his borders by request of a member.

With no further vocal warnings he lunged, snapping at the air just beyond her face and pausing just long enough for a response from the girl. If she chose to continue to stand there stupidly, he would not waste the opportunity to take her here and now and make an example of the youth. To lash out and make his second lunge hit with force that he would offer to any other adult. Maybe parade her around to the other pups and show that he was not above murdering children, that they did not have some kind of magical veil to protect them against him just because of their age.

He was the Bogeyman of Blackwood Reach after all.

the staff team luvs u

^^Amata did not need to say anything while she was sizing him up and determining if he was worth the time and effort. He was big and looked like he could shatter worlds beneath his feet with how heavy he seemed to be, and Amata figured that he could crush her, too, if she wasn’t careful.

He seemed to enjoy spitting threats into her direction, but not as much as he obviously enjoyed using that weight to push around others - and by others, that meant Amata. He gave no verbal warning, but he didn’t need to. He had used force once before and would do it again.

So when he lunged forward to eat up the distance between them, and stopping merely inches from his face, Amata acted. His face was here, in her face, and it was likely that Vennyboy didn’t know what that meant. He was very obviously offering his face in donation to whatever Amata was about to do to him.

He had made the mistake in pausing to allow her to react, and thus, also, teaching by example. He had given no verbal clues, silently teaching Amata by example, so when her attack on his face came, she too, would not give any warning.

Let's tango.

^^
the staff team luvs u

He wanted her to do something. Fucking anything than to just stand there and look at him with wide eyes like some dumb child. She was their oldest child here and she acted less like she should be. Grumble had done very little to train the little brat and it seemed that there was still much work that had to be done.

With that thought, he wouldn't go easy on the girl. This was going to be more than just a spar. He'd drill it into her little skull that his word here was law. He was the Boss and not some snot-nose brat would push him around. She was here long enough, and unless she was blind, deaf, and dumb, would have already put two and two together who lead the pack of the woods she lived in.

Teeth racked his snout, a sensation he was familiar with and nothing that would turn him away from the sting. Instead, he pushed into it. Snapping in return while thrashing about. Swinging his head at any time his teeth made contact to slash wounds into her young skin. She may be a year old, but she would still be a child until she could bear children. Her skin so tender without the hormones pumping through her veins helping in thickening her flesh and bulking up those muscles of hers.

He'd leave bleeding that was for certain... but he would leave victorious with her learning a valuable lesson that might save her next time.

the staff team luvs u

^^One did not simply attack the boss of a bully and expect to leave without a scratch. It was a risk worth taking, even if he was bigger and more toned with experience and muscle than she. Teeth found her backside, breaking flesh and causing her to bleed; a sensation that she really ought to get used to.

He picked her off of him and threw her aside as though she were an annoying piece of meat stuck between his teeth. She tumbled, rolling a few times as she hit the ground with a grunt, though she’d eventually stand, glaring up at him with hackles and tail raised in a defying dominant position as she made direct eye contact, muscles tense and baiting him to attack her with the slow wag of her tail.

^^
the staff team luvs u

Blood trickled from his face, a familiar sight for most and nothing that would make him stutter in his movements. While Amata flew away and began to rise, he was already on the move with his next attack. Rushing toward her with his weight and enough speed to ram; teeth poised and hungry to grab onto the young girl once more and take a firm grip of her this time if her slippery young skin would allow him to. Maybe if he managed to grab muscle and bone as opposed to just skin he would be successful.

Though finally, she was showing some promise to fight when faced with a threat - did that mean she would do the same to an innocent when ordered to? If she didn't fear or respect the Nightwalker Boss she would only hinder them, ignoring orders and eating through their supplies without offering anything in return. The fight had progressed to not only seeing what she was capable of but as well to teach the girl her place here in the mist. In his pack.

the staff team luvs u

^^There was a lesson to be learned from this - that lesson was, very obviously, that one should not try to fight or conquer larger enemies when going solo; this was very clearly a co-op mission, and Amata needed a partner.

She was coming to this realization as Venbby was launching his next attack towards her, right as she was standing back up and did not have time to do anything - so Amata did the only thing she could think of - which was, likely by far, the wisest move she could have done.

She plopped back to the ground and rolled over in submission.

^^
the staff team luvs u

Well at least he would give her this; she was still spunky, just defiant and needing to be broken in a little more. He would remain steadfast with his previous declaration that she was no longer privy to their caches or hunting assistance and after this beating today, perhaps she would learn to think before she spoke or acted. At her age, it should certainly be something she should know already. Sadly, she was spoiled up until now without his realization.

With her submission the Boss refrained from attacking any further. A snap of yellowed fangs with an angered growl, frustrated that now she gained some sense to her. With hackles still raised, he turned away from the girl with a heavy snort. He would say nothing as he walked off to disappear into the darkness, words were wasted on the brat and so he would just teach her through example here on out.

the staff team luvs u