Prince Tyfin scrambled to answer, beyond humbled by the beast yet again.

"YES... Yes, I would be honored to have you, Sir Corper... Are you certain, though? I know your history with both my mother and father..."

The great bear looked up to the lion, speaking smoothly as he stared into his eyes.

"I once failed to protect your mother, my sworn duty. I feel this is justice in a sense... I will not fully pledge myself to any king, so know, this only extends until you have been escorted to safety. Personal feelings for your father have been set aside for now, as his justice has already been served. Do you accept my offer, knowing even this?"

The prince answered once more, in a bit more assuring tone this time.

"Yes."

The bear stood, giving a final bow in gratitude to the young king before he walked over a few paces, coming to tower over the intimidated human who was mostly averting his gaze in nervousness. Sir Corper took another bow, placing both knees in the dirt this time as he lowered his head before Aster and began to speak once more.

"Aster Venatus... I am truly sorry for the way I behaved when we met. I allowed my anger to take hold of me, and for that, I am ashamed... I understand more than most of the struggles you've had to have faced in getting where you are. I did not mean to put more burden on you... However..." The bear raised his eyes, locking onto the Aster's own as he continued, making sure he understood every word.

"Your father is another matter. Should our paths cross, I will deliver my judgement on Jagón Venatus for his crime. I will deliver onto him a fitting and equal punishment for taking my wife from me, should I so choose. Knowing this, will you allow me to travel by your side?"

The human took a step back, surprised by both parts of the statement. Aster clenched his jaw, turned away, and answered the bear shortly.

"I can remain peaceful. I can fight alongside you... But if the day comes, should you ever place my family in the path of your vengeance... I will defend them with everything I have. Until that day comes, nothing you pledge to my prince will change my stance."

The bear stood, nodding in acceptance of such an answer. They would simply cross that bridge when they came to it.

With a few more short goodbyes, the party departed the orc village at last, leaving behind the monumental tree where Mollis had fallen with a twinge of remorse. By this time, there were only a handful of members of the traveling party left who chose to push forward. Prince Tyfin, Captain Rix, Aster, Stahl, Rust, Oust, Sir Corper, Dally, and Milky making up the bulk of the party. The unconscious Alice and Mist were also in tow.

Aside from them, there was a single beast choosing to press forward with the group, the same crocodile that Aster had knocked unconscious in the captain's training for belittling Stahl. The only other beast left that made it through the most recent Selection, Fraxis Maxillos.

___

It was shaping up to be a pleasant day in Byron Aschefell's opinion. The sun was shining brightly, its golden rays warming the old wolf's bones as if it enjoyed showing him such kindness. There was a soft breeze, bringing with it the pleasant scent of the flora still blooming in late spring for the wolf's enjoyment. To top it all off, they had been making steady progress on their trip, the dawning of the second day showing to be just as gentle as the first had.

The long ride may have rattled his bad knee a bit too much, but the wolf was enjoying the seclusion that nature provided, appreciating the countryside as he always had. There was something healing about being out of the city in the beast's opinion, and sharing that time with his family and friends both old and new only made the time spent that much sweeter to the veteran. He released a long, drawn-out yawn before turning to his son at the reigns, speaking in his usual, soothing tone.

"This truly is the best time of year, wouldn't you agree, Amboss?"

The blacksmith was holding the reigns steady with his left hand. The ropes looped around his right prosthetic as he learned to work around it. He was getting much better at holding just enough pressure on it to secure things. The cheerful son answered his father in turn.

"It really is. I think it's all the life in the air."

The older wolf nodded in agreement, steering the conversation as needed.

"You may just be on to something, my son... But I just can't help but wonder..." The old wolf paused, side eyeing his son in a familiar way. Amboss was well aware of what that look was about before his father ever continued. "What has you so down on a day as promising as this one?"

Amboss simply let out a sigh before confessing. His father always could see right through him.

"Last night... Rouge had a dream about Rust." The blacksmith paused, frowning just a bit as he tried to drop the subject to no avail. His father urged him on regardless, finding his interest piqued.

"And what exactly was in this dream of hers? What was it about?" The younger wolf shifted uncomfortably before reiterating for the older one.

"He was caught up in a fight. He was cornered by something... He was crying out for his father."

Byron nodded, not wanting to leave this alone quite yet. Amboss continued on.

"Well... His father came to his rescue... But it wasn't me. It was him... It was his birth father. He placed a weapon in Rust's hand, and Rust grabbed a hold of it, charging at the monster and killing it with his father's weapon."

Byron was deep in thought now, not liking the idea of what remained of the Sicario line ever being anywhere near the young fox. He hid his worry for his son's sake, but Amboss wasn't finished yet.

"Afterward, Rouge called out to him... Rust turned his back on his mother, never saying a word as his father led him away, as he led my son into the darkness... She prayed I would save him, crying out for me in her panic, but when she turned back towards the monster he had killed..."

The wolf trailed off, not wanting to finish that statement. He looked over to his father with a jolt when the older wolf finished it for him.

"When she turned back towards the monster, it was you lying there, killed by his weapon instead, wasn't it?"

Amboss lowered his head, closing his eyes solemnly for a moment as he simply nodded. The older wolf turned back forward, staring off into the distance for a while before speaking again.

"Amboss... I am certain it is only a dream... She most certainly carries that guilt even to this day, and that guilt is playing off of her fears and anxiety in the time since separated from her cub. The same cub whom she is desperately afraid of losing like she thought she only recently had. Nothing more."

The blacksmith scoffed a bit, knowing his father was only trying to ease his mood, but not feeling so certain himself.

"And what if it isn't? What if it is an omen?"

Byron answered without missing a beat.

"It is merely a dream... But perhaps, it is time you tell Rosten the truth about his father? He can handle it, and he will never turn his back on his family... on his REAL family. He is a smart cub. He will understand why we did what we did now. He will love us even still." Amboss shuddered, putting the argument to bed with a final sentence.

"If he can forgive us... That may be even worse somehow..." Byron prodded no more, letting his mind process what he had heard. The veteran's seasoned instincts just couldn't seem to keep the topic out of his thoughts for very long.

___

Stahl was walking a bit behind the wagon, taking a bit of space from everyone as she processed her own worrisome thoughts. Aster was a bit surprised she had requested some solitude for the first time, but understood based off of Stahl's unsettling reaction to Rust's latent bloodskill surfacing.

Aster knew there were things he did not know yet, but trusted his wolf to fill him in when she felt it was necessary. Stahl was ever grateful to Aster for that understanding and was midway through a thought when she heard a throat clear beside her, drawing her attention over to Sir Corper just as the bear started speaking.

"We should talk."

Stahl turned away from the bear while she answered shortly, not exactly having good experiences with the beast.

"No, we should not. You've attacked me and my mate once already, unprovoked I might add, made a promise to have your revenge upon his father afterwards, and have repeatedly stated you will not truly serve any king of Alora. I'm not sure what everyone else sees in you, but I just see a problem waiting to happen. I have no plans to become attached to those I know will betray me when it suits them."

Stahl half expected the bear to swing on her, but Corper only chuckled a bit before answering the wolf.

"You are wise to recognize that. Yes, we may undoubtedly find each other enemies one day, but this is not something I can simply forgive. Could you?"

Stahl ignored the question, yet knew she certainly wouldn't ever forgive anyone that took her mate away from her. The bear pressed on.

"I didn't think so. Now, with that settled, I won't waste your time here... That fox is the real problem waiting to happen. Even I've heard about the mysterious disappearance of the sole heir to the Sicario bloodskill way out in this desert... But his son just showed up twelve years after he went missing... Tell me, with that bloodskill, how long do you think it will be before he is exposed? Do you believe he won't come to the obvious conclusion that your family likely murdered his father?"

***

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