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Interlude: Leak

"We know of the Primarchs, the ten employees of MODD who possess the most powerful Seals of all. However, one has to question how they obtained these Seals and what they had to sacrifice for them. Again, one has to further ask why all ten under MODD's control or if there are more out there."

_ _

Esme Hart

The Unsealed Truth

Shadow of the Storm

I had never met a crocodile before that did not make me feel like I had to run in the opposite direction. My father taught me that crocodiles were not good prey to hunt and that they were not worth the trouble. Only the most foolish would challenge one. Their meat was not filling and they were strong. Their scales offered natural armour that claw and fang would be hard pressed to penetrate.

The same could be said about this 'dock-taur' Oculus. I had no idea what a 'dock-taur' was but he smelled unnatural, metallic. MODD's facilities smelled like him only to a lesser degree.

I didn't like him.

The way he grinned up at me set my nerves on edge and I wanted to run away. I was not paying much attention to what he was saying as I became aware that my mate was missing. While I had agreed that Jacob and I would be equals, it was still hard to think he and I were on the same level. I drew my strength from him and I felt vulnerable whenever I couldn't smell him. With so many people crowding around me, his scent was lost and I felt a whimper leave my throat.

I pushed through the crowd and sniffed the air. His scent was gone.

Worry began to eat at me and I quickly bolted into the strange floating city, searching for him. I valued myself as a good tracker, perhaps not the best in my tribe, but I was competent. However, the city smelled too much of the sea and with the constant winds blowing salt into my nostrils, Jacob's trail went cold.

I did not like this city despite all its wonders. It was too... artificial. The smells were wrong. The people looked... wrong. It was amazing that they made an island that floats but it just felt so... unnatural. The beauty of this place just warned of a greater danger. When we faced the Unsealed, Neptune, I caught a glimpse of that danger. The other Scion Unsealed we had faced were in no way that big nor were they so... intelligent.

I caught a familiar scent as I was sniffing for Jacob in a nearby alleyway. One of the Elemental Lord's Lieutenants, the black wolf with red hair, stood out in the crowd. My heart leapt to my throat as I hoped he could lead me to Jacob. There was always something about him that struck me as familiar. Friendly as he was, he sparked my curiosity but at the same time made me wary for he was a lieutenant after all and my past with lieutenants was not pleasant.

I tailed him through the crowds for a short while. No malice hung around him as he spoke to people here and there. When he started heading back to the big palace thing - I think Sierra called it 'Oasis' - I decided to approach him.

"Joul."

The wolf turned to me, eyebrows raised and a smile on his face. "I was wondering when you'd come up and speak to me."

A frown crossed my face. "You knew I was here?"

Crossing his arms, Joul said, "You strike me as the kind of person adept at hunting in the wilds. I'm a hunter in the city."

"How?" I asked, curious. Perhaps if I too became an adept hunter in the city, I could impress Jacob more. Perhaps I would not lose him so easily next time.

To my surprise, the wolf in front of me picked up what appeared to be a small red box. I blinked a couple of times as he opened the box and revealed buttons on them. I bent down and sniffed the device. It smelled... artificial. Though the wolf's nutty smell was on it, it smelled... wrong just like these clothes I wore. It was metallic and had this tingle to them that reminded me of the electricity that I wield thanks to Jacob's Brand.

"What is that?"

"This, Leonardo, is a mobile phone," answered Joul. "You use it to communicate with people across vast distances." He pressed a button on the phone and a faint ringing came from the device, surprising me. When a voice emerged from it, I cocked my head to the side and sniffed at the magical device, wondering if Joul had managed to copy a person's spirit inside.

"You really don't know what a mobile phone is, do you?"

I shook my head. "I only arrived on Rillotia not too long ago. This is all very new to me." My ears folded back against my head. "You must think I am stupid..."

He just laughed heartily and rested a paw on my shoulder. "Trust me, I know where you come from. I'm a Tribal too, you know."

I reeled back. No wonder he smelled so familiar! The scent of our homeland was on him but it was dulled, doused in the artificial scent of this place. Rillotia always smelled so... off to me. Even in places so close to nature, there was this sinister undertone to it. I never wanted to insult my mate by telling him of it but it always lingered at the back of my mind.

"You are from Oxis?" I asked, unable to hide my surprise. "How did you become so...?"

"Tame?" he finished.

"Small."

Joul laughed softly and crossed his arms against his chest. I could see the definition in his chest and arms but for a Tribal, he was still small.

"I'm from the Sun Fangs Tribe, Leonardo. We value speed over strength. By my guess..." He rubbed his chin as he appraised me, licking his lips slightly. "Hmmm... You must be from one of the bigger tribes, I take it?"

"White Moon Tribe," I confirmed with a spark of pride. "I am the chieftain's son!"

"I can tell. Only the members of the biggest tribes get to be as big as you." Joul nodded in my direction. "My tribe is fairly small but we've always had open relations with Rillotians. Your Tribe tends to be a little... behind the times."

I bristled a little in agitation. "We are the strongest Tribe on the mainland! We are -"

"Conservative and unwilling face the fact that you guys will go extinct if you don't start moving forward," he countered. "Seriously, have a look around you. You stick out like a sore thumb. You don't even know what a mobile phone is and those stares people are giving you aren't because you're a magnificent specimen of wolf." He nodded behind me and when I glanced around, I caught a few people turning away. "It's because you still smell like a Tribal - earthy, musky and with the scent of sex on you." He leaned forward and sniffed at me. "Male sex."

I could not help but growl at him. "I am a proud member of my Tribe! I grow strong on the semen of my father and all the strongest warriors in my Tribe! Jacob -"

"See that?" Joul said, poking a finger at my chest. "That isn't something you go advertising to the whole world. Not here in Rillotia. I doesn't matter where you're from but there are people here who just do not look kindly to guys sucking off guys." He held his paws up. "Now mind you, I have nothing against it but take it from someone who has been there..." He placed another paw on my shoulder and I fought hard not to shrug him off. "There are people around here that just don't like that kind of talk. Rillotia is different from Oxis. You best learn fast or you might end up hurting those around you that really do care."

Before I could protest, there was a ringing from his 'mobile phone'.

I wanted to tell him that I was the strongest of my Tribe and that was why I was sent to Rillotia - because no one on Oxis could possibly be my mate. This was my journey. Everyone back home was not worthy of my seed. Now, I found my Alpha Prime and that was Jacob. I would do anything he wished of me and I would take his seed so that we would sire children that are even stronger!

We would start a new tribe that would outstrip his own!

But in the back of my mind, I recalled that... 'outing' I had with Jacob just a few hours ago. I remembered wondering what a 'fork' was and what an 'omelette' was. Food in Rillotia - especially Angelsea - was so strange. Why do they mix so many foods together? It dulls the taste of the meat and did they not weep when they killed the unborn chicks of mother hens?

This was a strange world... and I did not fit in.

Someone gripped my paw and I turned.

There were five men standing there.

"Hey, did I hear ya say you sucked cock?" asked the one closest to me, a big bull.

"I do," I answered. I inclined my head to the side. The five of them looked fairly fit and I was never one for semen from outside my species but they looked like they were strong. By their clothes and various tattoos, it looked like they were very worldly. Surely someone with torn sleeves and such ragged clothing knew much of the workings of the world and if I drank their semen, I would benefit from their knowledge. "Did you want me to suck yours?"

The bull grinned at me while one of his companions massaged his knuckles. They cracked ominously and I suddenly got a very bad feeling.

"Sure," the bull said, "come over here for a sec."

I glanced over my shoulder but Joul was distracted from his call. The bull looked strong - perhaps big by the bulge in his crotch - but I somehow doubted that he had stamina. I should not be too long.

I agreed and they led me towards an alley away from the crowds.

I anticipated the loosening of these articles of clothing Rillotians called 'pants' but instead, pain exploded from my stomach and I was sent to the ground, gasping for breath.

"Fuckin' faggot!" one of them cried.

My instincts drove me to survival and I lashed out with my fangs, blindly snapping out at my attacker but I was outnumbered. Fists and feet came lashing out from every direction, sending fresh blasts of pain all throughout my body. I yelped and suddenly felt like a little child again. When one of them drove a knee against my manhood, I felt tears on my cheek.

"Stop!" I begged. "Please stop -!"

A fist slammed into my muzzle, cutting off my cry and throwing me against the wall. I saw my blood splatter against the brick before my eyes were blurred, veiled by the colour of blood.

"Now I seem ta recall ya offering to suck my cock," the bull rumbled. "Let's just see how much ya like cock after this, ya faggot!"

I whimpered and made one last attempt to plead for them. "Please... I do not want this..."

"Oh yeah? Well I don't believe ya." He seized the scruff of my neck forcing me to come muzzle to muzzle to him. I smelled a foul stench on his breath. I think it is what Rillotians called 'alcohol. "When I'm done with ya, yer gonna be begging for your life!"

Then an ominous voice cut through the deep growls of the bull's companions and their laughter.

"Why don't you lead by example?"

Through the haze of blood, I saw a tall, muscular figure standing a short distance away. The light glistened off full-body armour and a wolf's tail lashed out behind him. At first, I thought it was Joul but the smell was different... alien. He smelled like... crystals... Was it Jacob? No... The build was wrong... Whoever it was slimmer than Jacob and had this sense of menace about him that sent me further and further into my puppy-like state.

"And who the fuck are you?" snapped one of the men.

"You don't need to worry about that. Just let him go and I promise to leave enough for the coroners to identify your remains and send a commiserations to your families."

The bull still holding me laughed. "See this armoured freak, boys? Get him."

I don't think he realised I was regenerating. I thanked Jacob for the gift of the Brand but I was regenerating slower than he ever did. It was still so painful... My vision cleared somewhat and I saw one of the men, a slim lizard of some sort charge at the stranger with a small knife. Despite the armour and his apparent bulk, the stranger ducked the blow and drove an armoured fist into the lizard's elbow. Even I winced when I heard the lizard's arm break at the join. The pain caused the man to cry out but even that cry was drowned out in a matter of moments. The stranger snatched the knife from the assailant's clawed hand, seized the forked tongue and - right there and then - sliced it right off!

I gagged at the fountain of blood that quickly flooded from the lizard's throat as he staggered back and knelt, trying to keep himself from drowning in his own blood. That blooded knife then came screaming through the air and jabbed right into the lizard's left eye. All the other assailants stopped in horror as their comrade reeled back with a gurgling scream as the knife was yanked out of his left eye socket and driven right into the other by that armoured fist.

I caught a glimpse of the stranger's eyes.

They were sapphire-blue but unlike my Jacob's, they were cold, hard and full of hatred.

In one, swift movement, the stranger yanked the knife back out, spun it in his paw and delivered a brutal slash that slit the lizard's throat. The mutilated reptile dropped to the ground, gasping his last. But he was far from done. The stranger threw the knife straight down, the blade digging straight into the reptile's groin bringing another gurgling scream from the lizard. A heavy, metal boot slammed into the lifeless body, grinding it into place.

Even I could not watch.

The bull let go of me and screamed something that sounded like, "Fuck! Let's get out of here!"

But then I just heard the words, "What the fuck!? How'd he get - ack!"

The sound of flesh being rend and bones being broken hit my ears. I wanted to cover them, block the noise of brutality away. This was not a hunt. This was not in the defence of another. This was murder. Slaughter. A massacre. One of them actually pleaded for mercy, I think, but like the others, the noise was cut short and I just heard the sickening sound of bones being crushed. The warm splash of blood hit my cheek and I actually shivered at its touch.

Then it was silent.

I only heard the sounds of the people of Angelsea milling about not even a hundred metres away from us. How they could not hear the sounds I heard, I didn't know.

The cold touch of that armoured hand on my shoulder made me shiver.

"Are you alright?"

The softness in his voice almost mirrored my Jacob's but this was not him... Not this... this monster...

I had recovered enough to actually lash out at him with my claws. I only grazed the jet-black metal armour he wore. When I opened my eyes, I found myself staring at the face of my mate if his fur had been dyed white. Only his eyes looked the same. They held the same fiery intensity that attracted me to Jacob on more than just a physical level but those eyes... They were angry, focused. I realised he was on the hunt.

"Wh - Who are you...?" I stammered.

For a moment, his eyes softened as they turned away. It was only for a brief second but then we locked gazes again and I felt like an unprotected pup. "I am a remnant; a shell of someone that could have been but refused to submit to destiny. I am Revenant."

"Revenant...?" I repeated. That was a word Tribals used for spirits that refused to pass on and possessed inanimate objects or corpses. Was this demonic wolf such a being?

His ears swivelled towards the alleyway and his strong paws seized my wrists. "Hang on." His words felt like they were cold, dead and emotionless but something told me it was just a mask for something he hid beneath. In his other paw, a small crystal appeared and he quickly tossed it into the air.

Before I knew what was happening, there was this feeling of suddenly having the ground swept out from underneath me and it was like I was floating in water for the briefest of moments. When I looked down, I realised I was in mid-air and the world began beckoning me back towards it. Revenant then seized my waist and threw another crystal from his free paw at the nearest roof. Another feeling of wind rushing past me and I felt the ground against my feet. I collapsed on my paws and knees, gasping at the surreal feeling.

Weird screeching cries suddenly rang out around me.

"Alarms," Revenant scoffed, sounding bitter. "Wonderful." He strode past me and hurled another crystal far off into the distance. I got to protest for a second before he seized my shoulder and we were suddenly at the sea shore again.

I staggered away from him onto the sand.

"Get away from me!" I cried, knowing full well the weakness I showed. I tried to pull myself back into the brave, chieftain's son that I had been but Joul's words echoed in my head. I was out of my element; this was not my land and these people... They were aliens to me.

I felt that rush of blood into my heart and body and I got that feeling like when I was ready to pounce on my prey or turn and flee.

I wanted to be free from this dark opposite of my Jacob.

"You're afraid of me?" Revenant asked.

I couldn't even muster a reply. It took all my control not to void my bowels there and then.

"Good." He strode forward and I crab-crawled backwards. "Because if you're going to face what's coming up next, you better be afraid." Light crackled at his palms. I noticed there were strange discs attached to his gauntlets just like those discs Jacob wore on his gloves. However, instead of summoning two swords like Jacob did, twin blades of light erupted from the discs, crackling angrily. It was bright blue and semi-translucent but I had no doubt that it was very solid. The right hand blade formed a big, broad shield while the other transformed into a sword, both mounted on his wrists.

"Get up."

I was paralysed.

His blue eyes flared with annoyance and I truly feared what he would do to me. For the first time, I truly knew fear. I was not afraid when I left the shores of Oxis on my grant adventure. I was not afraid when a wild lion nearly killed me. I was not afraid when first Rillotians I had seen came to my Tribe offering support.

But this... This I was afraid of...

"For the love off..." Revenant snarled.

He charged at me and I whimpered, curling my tail against my crotch in some vain attempt to protect myself. Then I felt the coat he wore brush past me and I peeked past my crossed arms. The blue, unnatural flesh of an Unsealed squirmed above me. The creature looked like it was a shark with arms and wielded a trident. It's yellow eyes glared at Revenant while the stranger's translucent blue sword stuck out from his chest.

"I deal with bigger monsters than you on a daily basis," Revenant snarled. He slammed his shield against the Unsealed's face, forcing it off his blade. Without even wasting a second, he spun around, bringing his sword cleaving right through the monster's neck. The Unsealed dropped to the ground, disappearing in a flurry of blue runes.

Two more erupted from the salty waters of the ocean, lightning crackling from their tridents.

"Nice try," Revenant scoffed, a cocky smirk on his muzzle. The weapons in his paws shifted, transforming into two, enormous spinning blades - shurikens I think they are called. He threw them but they were slow in their progress. The Unsealed just dodged aside. The moment their eyes were drawn away from Revenant, a crystal twinkled behind the one on the right and Revenant was suddenly there in a burst of darkness. He caught the Unsealed in a powerful chokehold and even as they hovered in the air, he yanked the trident from the creature's hands and threw it at the other. All three of them went down in a heap with Revenant easily rolling through the sand and onto his feat. The Unsealed vanished as they normally did. His shurikens flew back towards him and he caught it deftly, the shining blades disappearing back into his gloves with a flurry of light.

Revenant was tense for a few moments. Even after he caught his shurikens again, he remained ready for battle, his tail rigid and his fangs bared. But after a few moments, the tension rolled off his white fur. He rolled his shoulders and shook his head from side to side.

"That was barely worth a minute of work," he grumbled. His blue eyes turned towards me and I flinched. It surprised me when his gaze softened and he sat down beside me, gazing out into the ocean. "You have that look on your face like your world just ended and you're the last wolf left."

I could not speak. I was still in too much shock. At least he continued to talk.

"It's funny." He nodded at the last fragments of drifting runes. "Every day, I go into an arena and face off monsters ten times stronger than those for the entertainment of some sadistic fans. I've got a fan club and the money I get is pretty darn sweet. But only now, fighting those... things, does it feel like I've accomplished something."

Frowning I managed to compose myself and found the strength to incline my head to the side.

"The funny thing is, I don't even know what I did," he laughed, shaking his head. "All I get is some vague instruction after nearly getting crushed by a 'Skydiving Blue Whale' telling me to 'save the guy that's about to get raped'." His eyes turned to me, a cynical smile on his muzzle. "I don't suppose you're going to save the world, are you?"

I could not help it. "I am. Or... I hope to help." I do not think I had control of all my mental faculties at that point but I told Revenant everything in short. I told him about our crusade to defeat Balthazar and how he was evil and exploiting people. I told him about the pain we had seen across two cities and I told him about how the Seals needed a sacrifice to be used.

He seemed most interested in that last part.

"Seals are what?"

"Created from the sacrifice of something important to a person," I answered. "I do not know how."

Revenant's eyes narrowed. "Have you ever heard of the 'F Seals'?"

"I have not."

"Nothing about the Forbidden, Forsaken or the Forgotten Seals?"

Again, I shook my head.

He offered me a faint smile. There was sadness there, I could not help but feel like I had let him down somehow. "Darn... And here I thought it would be that easy." He sighed and leaned back, crossing his arms behind his head, his smile fading back into an emotionless mask. "Well... It's not every day I get to spend a day off in a far off realm on a sunny beach. It'll be hell to get all this sand out of my armour though... And I bet Cliff will be asking where it all came from..." Another sigh escaped his muzzle as he closed his eyes. "Fuck... This is messed up..." Strangely, despite his words, he was still smiling.

The anger was gone but I sensed distress in him though he seemed so relaxed. "Are you alright?" I asked tentatively.

He pressed a finger against his muzzle. "Ssssh... I'm trying to listen to the ocean."

Living on an island, I had listened to the ocean many a time. It was boring. I was anxious to get moving but something about this wolf kept me in place. "What are you listening for?"

"My heart."

I snapped my attention back to him, puzzled and confused. "Why?"

He opened one eye at me. It would have been an appropriate time to smile but his muzzle didn't move an inch. "Because where I come from, I've wrapped myself in a ball of lies. I've kept at it for so long that it becomes so hard to tell where the lies end and where the truth begins. I spend so much time keeping up a mask that I'm not even sure where and when I can pull it off. These days, it's easier to just not show any emotion." He closed his eyes again. "I good friend of mine told me once that if I ever found a fragment of peace, I should just try to stop and listen. Your heart might just say something."

Anxious to find Jacob - and also to get away from this stranger - I slowly rose to my feet. "I shall leave you, then."

I was already two steps away from him when something about his words made me pause.

He said 'where I come from'...

"Are you from around here?" I asked.

He let out a snort, a cynical smile on his muzzle. "Dude, where I come from is so far from here that it'd make your head spin. Honestly, I'd be surprised if this place even had death sports."

"Death... sports?"

"Yup. I'm an athlete." He gave me a dark grin. "I get tossed inside an arena with either monsters, robots or a couple of other contenders. Depending on the game, I either kill them or I humiliate them enough that they kill themselves later."

I never heard of anything so... barbaric on Rillotia or any other place on Mortaelis. Then again, after looking at Angelsea, I realised there was so much more I did not know about.

"So you are new to this land?" I asked.

Revenant sat up, gazing out into the ocean. He reached out with one of his hands towards the sun that had just begun angling towards the horizon. "It's funny. Everything looks the same. The sun feels the same. The air smells the same. But at the same time, I know it is so different." His fingers closed around the sun. "If I wanted to, I could probably fit in. It'd be easy to just leave one life behind and start a new one."

"What is stopping you?"

"Baggage," he answered with a shrug. "I've got a shit tonne of baggage." Again, he laid back, arms crossed behind his back. "But you know what? I'm on a sunny beach on what looks like a floating, artificial island. For the next ten minutes, I'm going to forget my troubles. Maybe fuck someone over for shits and giggles." He peeked at me. "You doing anything later?"

I backed away and he just returned to his state of semi-slumber.

His words compelled me to sit beside him. He was brutal, vicious and merciless. A hunter without remorse. Yet he was still so much like me. In an alien world, alone. He actually reminded me a little of Jacob before he opened his heart to me.

"Can you teach me how to adapt to this world?" I asked softly.

His eyes flicked towards me. "Aren't you a native?"

I shook my head sadly. "I come from Oxis. I am a Tribal."

For a moment his eyes seemed to betray some inner thought... like he wanted to correct me or something but he never gave voice to those thoughts. I waited for him to say something but he only remained silent so I just continued.

"I have a mate here... I am in his world, fighting for him... but I do not know his customs, his traditions and the people he is accustomed to. I fear I will only hurt him."

"Him, huh?" Revenant asked, losing his smile as he leaned back into the sand. "Well, this country, island or whatever is just one part of a bigger world. It's a world whatever way you spin it. Sure you're from different countries but the way I see it, you share the same sky, look at the same stars and feel the warmth from the same sun. So you eat with a knife and fork and he gobbles down his food with his paws. In the end, you're still eating.

"The little differences mean nothing." A small smile touched his lips. "If everyone was a single plot on the canvas and we were all painted the same colour, it'd make for a pretty shitty painting. It's good to have different colours in there."

I'm not sure if he was talking to me anymore but I understood his message.

I am who I am. A Tribal. I came here for my reasons and I found that reason but I did not need to lose myself for that reason.

"Revenant."

"Hmmmm?"

"What is your name? Truly?"

He paused, keeping his eyes on the sky. The sun crawled across the sky and the ocean began to reflect the fiery oranges and pinks of sunset before he finally replied.

"Sam. Samuel Wolfe."

Somehow, I doubted that was his real name.

My legs began to cramp but I managed to rise and lie beside him, draping one arm across his armoured chest. He didn't react. Even after spending so long in the sun, his armour still felt so cold. I wondered what lay beneath the armour not because I wanted his cock but because I understood that armour wasn't to hide something but rather to protect him from the world. He carried much... 'baggage' and he left many troubles behind him. That armour was to shield him from them.

He was caged in a prison of his own making. I did not want him to be trapped anymore.

We wolves deserved to be free.

"Can I interest you in fishing?" I asked tentatively.

He sat up, pushing my arms away. "I'll pass. I think it's about time I got back anyway."

Though he tried to leave, I seized his wrist and tugged him back down. "Stay," I urged.

Trying to pull his paw away, he said, "You're a cute kid but I don't need this right now. I've got a match."

As armoured as he was, I pulled him back down with my superior strength. I pinned him to the ground with my superior weight, our muzzles just an inch apart. I could smell his breath. It was minty and his scent was intoxicating, just like my Jacob.

"Forget your worries for a little longer," I insisted.

His eyes travelled to my crotch. I would not deny that I was considering inducting him into our pack but I was not even sure if I deserved a pack now. Jacob was supportive of me but this world was just too strange for me... I would hinder him if I did not grow.

I am me. I am a Tribal. But I could still be something more.

Perhaps like Joul.

"What do you have in mind?" he asked, cocking one eyebrow.

I smiled at him and licked his nose. He didn't look surprised. I think it has been such a long time since he truly felt something that his face only knew two expressions - an emotionless mask and a false smile. I wanted to fix that.

I took his paws and yanked him to his feet.

"Follow me."

*****

"This is stupid."

I pushed him forward towards the edge of the pier. "You must," I insisted, grinning from ear to ear. "This is the perfect opportunity."

His face was still an expressionless mask as he stared at the big, white moon above us. From the corner of my eye, I could see the small mini-moon that the shamans said was an abomination to the gods. Rillotians called it 'Central'. Apparently, it was some sort of construction that span around the world and helped connect the trains. It was meant to be replaced by a 'Black Ring' though I do not know how or why.

"I can't," he said, turning around and striding back towards the beach. "I've already stayed too long. I have to get back..."

I seize his paw and pull him back. He didn't resist me this time as I spun him around and pointed him back at the moon. "You are a wolf. You know how to do this in your blood."

"To be perfectly honest, I'm pretty sure I've got a bit of husky in me. Mixed in with a bit of rabbit and possibly a little snake.

"Really?" I asked, looking for some scales.

"Oh yeah. Sometimes after a guy cums in you, you don't wash out everything."

I raised my eyebrows.

"That was a joke," he said blandly. Spinning around, he tried to push past me but I blocked him off.

"Please move."

Just for show, I then summoned the power Jacob's Brand gave me. Black lightning arched across my body. Anyone else would have been surprised but Sam... Sam just stared at me with those blank, blue eyes. I don't know why... But I wanted to see those eyes brighten. I wanted them to shine like the moon, to twinkle with the stars and to glow with the warmth of the sun.

"You will have to make me."

He laughed softly and took a step back. Lifting his hand, I watched as blue light coalesced around his palms. "You know in the league, my weapon is considered a training weapon? It's for rookies that don't know what weapon they will specialise in." I watched the light change from a hammer, an axe, a dagger and then to a spear. "It does low damage, has a limited energy supply but it can recharge in the middle of battle given enough time to rest. Modifications were made, of course, but do you know what people did when they saw me stride out into the death ring with these on?"

"What?"

"They laughed." He examined the back of his paw, that dark smile on his muzzle. "They weren't laughing when I ripped out their favourite's throat without even using my weapon. The next day, they booed and called me a cheater. I was up against three others players. Killed them all without a second thought. Shame I had to use my weapon but that shut everyone up. After that, whenever I stepped on the field, everyone would just fall silent. They knew the name 'Revenant' brought death."

His blue eyes locked with mine. "Are you sure you want challenge that?"

I will not deny it. I was afraid. He inspired fear in me and... I do not know. For some reason, that made him more respectable. Perhaps it was because so far, I had been living in a dream world where I was flooded by fantasies of sex and the thrill of adventure. He reintroduced death and mortality to me, making everything so much more... real.

Was it bad to want the nightmare when the dream was so much better?

"If I win," I said, taking a few steps back and calling my power, "you do it. Agreed?"

He smiled and the discs in his palms summoned twin blades of translucent blue light. "And if I win?"

What could I, a dumb Tribal, offer him? What could he possibly want? At first, I thought I could offer him my body. If he defeated me, drinking his semen would give me his strength. But remembering how brutal he was to those thugs, I decided against it.

"Knowledge," I responded. "I will take you to someone who knows about the Seals."

That got his ears perked and his eyes narrowed. "I thought you didn't know about the F Seals?"

"I do not. But I know someone who does."

At least I hoped he knew.

Sam straightened, his expression completely unreadable. I would have thought he would be pleased with that prospect. When two blades of blue light sprang from his palms and wrapped around his wrists, I realised he had placed on his hunting face. Hunters from my tribe pulled expressions to intimidate their enemies; some looked utterly insane, others were wild and feral. Sam looked frightening.

"Deal."

Then he was upon me, his movements fast, lightning-like and at the same time, smooth and elegant. I was unable to even block and had to leap back in shock as he spun and cartwheeled towards me, blades extended. I never even saw him throw one of his light-blades at me. It grazed my right shoulder and sent me skittering to my left. He clearly wanted that and the instant his feet touched the ground, he was throwing himself at me, his shoulder slamming against my chest. I thought we would hit the ground in a tumble but he would not allow that.

Not even half a second after our bodies slammed together, he seized my injured shoulder with one hand, purposefully digging one finger into the open wound and used the grip to launch himself over me. I howled in pain at the wound opening even further but no more when he landed behind me, pressed his back against mine and slammed both his elbows into my back, just beneath my ribs. Sharp, shooting pain exploded across my back and I tumbled forward, crashing into the pier.

"You're too big."

I growled and glared at him but I was only met by an expressionless gaze. The sea breeze blew his short, golden-blonde hair aside, sweeping his long, black overcoat along with it. In that light, he looked just like my Jacob if you ignored the armour and white fur.

"You're all brute strength and power. You're fast. I can see the potential there. Those muscles are good for something. Use them."

"I shall!" I growled and leapt at his legs. He actually had the time to shake his head and give me a strange reprimanding sound like he was half-snarling, half-laughing, a sort of 'tsk-tsk-tsk' noise. Then he leapt up, stepped on my head and launched of. In the reflection his cast on the ocean's waters, I saw him leap into the air, somersault and sweep his arms wide. An array of light swords sprang around him like a pair of wings.

My heart leapt to my throat and I almost screamed for him to stop but then the pier was shoved into my muzzle. I heard the loud thump-sizzle of the blades striking the wood and I wondered if I was just too afraid to notice them biting into my flesh.

When I felt nothing, I looked up and found one of the swords just an inch away from my muzzle.

"Get up."

He stood over me, glaring down at me with his eyes unreadable. I might as well have been a pup again especially when he reached down and yanked me off my belly by the scruff of my neck. He pushed me back enough so that I could brush against the swords that were embedded into the pier to remind me he had purposefully missed me. When he strode forward, I retreated. When he gripped one of the swords and recalled it into his glove, I shrank further and further into my puppy-like state.

"You aren't going to save the world like that," Sam said, his voice dead and without any emotion. I would have been more comfortable if he snarled or seemed disgusted. The dull drawl gripped my heart with fear of the unknown. I had no idea what he was going to do. There was no way to guess his next action.

"What is holding you back?" he asked, the light in his right paw becoming a long, lashing whip. He cracked it ominously and I shied back.

"I..."

"It doesn't matter," Sam interrupted. "You want to hear me howl, then earn it!"

He lashed out with the whip and it came crashing towards me at an angle. I wanted to leap to my left - away from the attack - but I realise that was exactly what he wanted. I summoned the powers deep within me, feeling the energy coursing through my veins and the touch of nature throughout the world. I drew strength from my tribe, my family and my mate. I called upon that power to collect the shadows around me and thrust it into the air. A tentacle of darkness lanced up from the pier and stopped his whip.

Still no surprise.

What would it take for him to show some true emotion?

"Think again."

Those ominous words made me look at the whip but my shadows still held it firmly in place. I felt something crackle and sizzle against my nose and when I looked down, I found his blue blade levelled at me.

He tricked me!

"You -"

"Did I really?" he countered, as if reading my mind. "I just told you to think again. You should have thought again."

His knee came rushing up towards my gut but I managed to block the assault with both paws. However, his other leg came up in a brutal kick that caught my chin, sending my reeling back as he somersaulted backwards and came back up to a ready position.

Every strike he made was the perfect balance of speed, power and intelligence. He knew where to strike, when to strike and how much power to apply. It was like fighting Jacob... only one that was dark, emotionless and had no heart with each of his attacks. There was no passion in what he did or at least none that I could detect.

That puzzled me.

He thrust his paws forward, shooting blasts of light at me. They came close enough to drive me back but it didn't seem like he wanted to hurt me. Again, I questioned why. When the back of my foot brushed against the edge of the pier, my question was answered.

"Someone once told me that a fight is not won on the battlefield," Sam said darkly. "Some part is done up here." He tapped his temple. "Then there is here or here." He pointed at his gut and his groin. "The last is fought when your enemy is asleep sound in their bed thinking they're safe."

Pain exploded from my chest and blood came rushing up my throat.

"Don't think for a second that you're safe just because I need your information," Sam snarled into my ear. He yanked the light-sword from my chest, the wound burning and sizzling from contact with that mysterious weapon. With his free hand, he pushed me off the pier and I could only stare at him in shock as the cold, ocean's waters enveloped me.

The warmth was sucked from my limbs even more so as the salty waters swept into my wound, causing a terrible stinging sensation and making me feel cold inside. I watched Sam's silhouette past the waves vanish and blur into darkness. Some part of me begged for Jacob to come and save me from this menace.

I knew he would come.

Isn't that what he was meant to do as my Alpha?

No... he was my mate...

But I was not worthy of that title... I was a burden to him and here I was, expecting him to know just on a whim that I was about to die and to come save me.

My lungs began to burn but then something cold seized the scruff of my neck and pulled me abruptly back to the surface. Glorious, fresh air rushed back into my lungs and I found myself staring into Sam's eyes, cold, empty... just like the sea.

"You are weak," he said darkly. "Were you expecting someone to come and save you?"

I could barely muster a whimper.

"Well... If that's the case. Let's wait together."

Wait... Was that a genuine offer? Was the reason why he was so dead inside was because he was waiting for the right person to save him? Did he just need someone to help him through the darkness?

No.

He shoved my head back into the ocean and I spluttered, coughed and felt the salty water come rushing back into my throat. I screamed but no one heard me, not in the silence of the sea. I then was abruptly pulled back to the surface where Sam held me at eye-level.

"I'm going to keep you on the fringes of life until your supposed saviour comes and rescues you. Let's see which one of us gets what we want."

Then there was water again. I thrashed, tried to seized his arm to get him to release me but my claws just raked across cold armour. When he pulled me back up, I noticed that he was just floating over the waves. How was that even possible!? Even Jacob needed Spectre or some manifestation to grant him flight!

"What do you want!?" I begged.

His eyes locked with mine and for a second, I thought I saw something in those dark, sapphire orbs. He was looking for something... and he was looking for it in me. Without any other reply, he shoved my head back into the water and I struggled again but only half-heartedly. I saw something... and I think he saw something in me too...

He pulled me up again and this time, I stared deep into his eyes.

"You -" I managed to get out before he plunged me back into the cold waters.

This time, I did not struggle.

When he next pulled me up, I did not hesitate. "You are like me, are you not?"

He snarled, the first true sign of emotion he had aside from sarcasm, mockery and that expressionless mask he wore. I was shoved back into the waters and he held me under for a little longer. But I calmed. The panic washed away from me and as I came to realise what he wanted... and what I needed to be.

When I felt him pulled me back up to the surface, I opened eyes I never realised I closed and -

WHAM!

... punched his muzzle.

We both plunged into the ocean, my fist stinging from the strike. I swam expertly through the waves. Knowing he was covered in armour, he was likely to drown. To my surprise, he merely straightened in the water and shot straight upwards without even a single gesture. I followed him to the surface where broke through the waves and just hovered there, stiff and unmoving but with blood trickling from his nostrils.

He was mortal.

"You're fighting back," he observed.

And thus came my realisation.

"Because no one else will fight for me."

His muzzle half-opened as if he was about to reply with a snap but the ferocity in his fangs melted into a strangely gentle smile. Then he threw his head back and laughed. The sound is hoarse, gruff and like two rocks being ground against one another. I wasn't sure if he was crying or laughing but either way, it seemed like he hadn't laughed genuinely in a while.

"No one will fight your battles for you," he concluded, staring up at the moon above us. "I only I had learned that lesson a long time ago. Here I thought I had taken that lesson to heart but it seems I'm still waiting for my knight in shining armour to come and save me."

He turned around in mid-air like he was just walking on some invisible sidewalk. He started descending as if he were on steps towards the pier, his black coat billowing out behind him. When he reached the pier and stopped. I felt some strange force tug at my entire body and I was suddenly being lifted out of the water and gently being carried towards the pier. I didn't want to flail for fear of what might happen if I did.

I was seated on the edge of the wooden pier and he sat down beside me, our legs dangling from the edge.

"So what battle are you fighting?" he asked. "What fight are you just stalling and waiting for that someone to come save you?"

I wanted to tell him I was fighting for the world but... That just did not seem true anymore. My answer was stuck in my throat. It was clear in my mind but I just could not form the words for it. Instead, I just said, "Tell me yours first."

He chuckled darkly. His eyes just showed weariness now and when he rubbed them lightly, I could just see how tired he was. "I'm stuck," the wolf answered with a humourless laugh. "I embarked on a crusade to find out more about what plagues me but I just ended up back in square one; relying on others to support me and fighting useless battles that provide no answers. I keep hoping that something will come along that will give me that revelation that'll solve everything, that'll make everything fall together nicely but it never does. I try to convince myself that each battle brings me closer to the end but I just keep going around in circles. I'm going nowhere."

I watched his paws clenched into fists, the anger so evident in them. Unable to help myself, I reached out and took his paws in mind. Somehow, that stopped the shaking.

"Maybe the answers are there but you just are not looking. Where I come from, the first thing we are taught is to search clearly for the tracks of your prey for they can be hidden by the world around you." When you are hungry, the sun is blaring down on you or the storm is raging and other animals add their cries to the sounds of the world, it becomes hard to find your target."

"So how do you do it?" he asked. "How do you find your 'prey'."

I smiled and shrugged very easily. "I just breathe."

"Breathe?"

"Take a deep breath. The world will slow and you can learn."

He snorted. "That sounds just like what my friend told me about listening to me heart while there is peace."

"Your heart will not beat when you are not breathing."

His eyes snap open as if he was struck by cold water. "I'm not sure if you were just being cute or that is real advice."

I shuffled next to him, partially because the cool air against my wet fur was making me cold but also because he looked like he needed a hug. "Your heart is not the best thing to listen to when you are in turmoil. It races while even when you try to just listen to it. Slow everything, slow the world, slow your heart and then listen."

It was the words of my father echoing to me and I found myself listening to them too as I recited them. At the same time, Sam and I took our respective breaths and we listened to our hearts.

I did not know what mine said. I could only hear my own breath.

"You need to stop relying on others saving you."

I did not open my eyes as Sam's voice echoed in my ears.

"When you were getting beaten up in that alleyway, you were twice their size and with all the power you showed here, you could have beaten them. But you were waiting for someone to give you orders, waiting for that someone to safe you. If you want to survive, you need to fight."

I opened my eyes and smiled faintly at him. "So I have taught you to interpret your heart... and you have taught me to fight for myself."

Sam snorted and reached down his breastplate, taking out what appeared to be a golden key hanging on a chain. "This is what I get for jumping between worlds..." He closed a fist around it and let out a deep sigh. "But a fresh perspective is probably what I need right now."

He stood up and looked towards the moon.

A smile crossed his muzzle, a genuine smile and I saw the light re-enter his eyes. I do not know whether or not it was the moon reflected against his sapphire orbs or the starts twinkling but I will admit this now... I have never seen anything so beautiful in my life. Maybe it was how his blonde eyebrow framed the blue perfectly or the way the passion burned from deep beyond his eyes and was reflected in the inspired smile. I am ashamed to say it, but even Jacob never looked that... passionate. There was always some fragment of doubt in my mate's eyes but Sam... he was set on his path. I doubt even James Canis could come and break him down.

"Hey," Sam said, snapping me away from looking deeply into his eyes. Then, he breaks into a bright, shining grin that takes my breath away. It was like staring at a perfectly white, crescent moon. "Want to join me?"

"In what?" I ask.

He flicked his ears and suddenly, I understood.

"Now bear with me," he said, turning towards the moon. "I'm a little rusty."

"So am I," I lie.

We stand side by side and he clears his throat theatrically. I spread my legs, clench my fists and take a deep breath. I tip my head back and let out my loudest, proudest howl. I hear his howl beside mine. It is ragged, broken and shaky but it has exactly the same passion that I saw in his eyes. I heard the anguish in his voice but also the triumphant cry that declared to the world that he would work past the pain and fight his way past the cycle of misery that had engulfed him.

I do not know why... but that made me proud as well.

Our howls died in our throat but his was cut shorter than mine as he broke into a fit of coughs. It made me smile at just how... mortal he seemed now. He was so unstoppable before but now he was... I do not know... like me?

I patted his back and he began laughing.

"I told you this was stupid."

I needed to fight for myself, I could not keep waiting for others to save me nor could I continue to rely on other's charity. In Pollenburn, I had blindly accepted the help of others that had ultimately led me to commit a crime. I was led to Jacob but it seemed, that even my mate's crusade was flawed. I was led on this pilgrimage by my father and my tribe.

All my life, I had been told what to do.

It was time I did what I wanted to do.

"No." I replied. "This is stupid."

Before he could ask 'what', I pressed my lips against his. He was only a little shorter than me, just a bit taller than Jacob so I did not have to lean down to kiss him. I felt him tense for a moment... and then melt into my arms. Our tongues brushed against one another. I reached for his arms but then he tensed again and pushed me away.

"No denying that was incredibly hot," he said, holding up a finger. "But come on, I almost killed you. You really want to do this?"

I stared into his eyes.

"Yes."

He closed his eyes, a sad smile on his muzzle. His right hand pointed towards Angelsea and light spilled out of his palms and formed a brilliant, blue, translucent door just a few feet from us.

"Sorry, stud," he said, turned towards the portal he had just conjured. "I'm going to have to take a raincheck."

"But -" I began, reaching for him but he slipped away from my paws and pushed the door open. Beyond was only darkness. I felt as if I should not let him return to that world of depression and darkness.

"Listen," he said, a gentle smile on his muzzle, "if you follow me through this door, you're probably going to end up in some old lady's bathroom who will scream, wail for the police and hit you with her purse until you get out of there. But..." He broke into that dazzling smile again. "... if you manage to stay alive, next time I'm in town, I'll give you a call, okay?"

I opened my mouth to protest but he interrupted me.

"Oh, and you can't tell anyone about this, promise?"

I only nodded once and he was suddenly through the door and he shut it behind him. The door stood in front of me, inviting me. My time was scant, however, as a moment later it began to dissipate. It crackled and let out sparks. Chips of the translucent light fell off and disappeared into the air.

The feeling in my heart struggled with one another. Jacob was my mate, I was committed to him but... what was this I was feeling for Sam? Why did I want him suddenly? He did try to kill me... admittedly, he saved me.

Joul's words came back into my head.

'Rillotia is different from Oxis. You best learn fast or you might end up hurting those around you that really do care.'

And then Sam's...

'I good friend of mine told me once that if I ever found a fragment of peace, I should just try to stop and listen. Your heart might just say something.'

I knew nothing about the world around me and I would only continue to hinder those I cared about if I waiting for them to help me become better. But here was someone who truly helped me become stronger and he had just stepped through the door, leaving me alone.

What could I do?

I closed my eyes.

I took a deep breath.

And listened...

My heart only said one thing.

'No one else will fight for me.'

My eyes snapped open and I threw myself at the door. Contact with the fading, blue substance burned my fur and skin but I did not care. I threw it open and stepped through.

Instead of the darkness that I had seen, however, I found myself standing in what appeared to be a big, white facility of some sort. It looked like the metal interior of Eden only everything was white and all the people inside were dressed in white coats... except for the children dressed in strange clothing staring up at me with wide eyes.

"Well, well, what do we have here?"

Dock-taur Oculus stepped out from the crowd of white-clothed people. Behind him was Add-Me-Rall Jenkins. The orca did not look pleased but Oculus was beaming brightly.

"Isn't that one of the Branded?" the crocodile asked.

"Leonardo Custer," Jenkins answered. "The dumb Tribal."

I forced myself not to bristle to defend myself and just gave them an innocent look. "What is this?" I asked. "Why is everyone dressed in white?"

Oculus just beamed. "You shall find out soon enough. Why don't we you follow me, son? I have something to show you."

I did not like the way he grinned at me.