WC: 359
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[/html]The two stared at one another. Hybrid could not break his Aquila's gaze, for he was locked in, his eyes trained on the bloody, golden eyes of his superior. As Gabriel approached, Hybrid could feel himself unconsciously tensing up. The history of violence had long since been etched into Hybrid's muscles, and now, after having been thrown at least a metre, he suspected more violence would follow. As a creature of habit, Hybrid understood only that which he had been taught. Unfortunately for him, all he knew was violence and loyalty. The two were so intrinsically linked that Hybrid wondered how he had not lost every semblance of his own identity. He still had his free will, but only to an extent. He had restrained it and beaten it back with the same force he had beaten back intruders with.
Rage danced in Hybrid's eyes as Gabriel spoke, growing ever more as his Aquila threatened him. Hybrid understood Gabriel's reasoning, but he did not want to. It sickened him that he could accept this, and how it proved his lack of an identity. He was nothing. This fact alone bothered him, but not its ramifications: he was nothing, but to Gabriel, he could be something. Hybrid felt his lip twitch as he attempted to bare his fangs at his leader, to show some semblance of resentment or hostility. But Hybrid understood, and he understood his leader too well, just as Gabriel understood him. Hybrid knew it was not an equal trade-off -- there were many things he would never know about the doggish coyote before him. This, too, he resented; but not in a way that that he could adequately express.
Hybrid's goals were simple, and for this reason, his answer was, too: "then don't betray me," he replied, hoping Gabriel would understand. "Ever," he clarified. Hybrid's duty was to Gabriel, but Gabriel's duty was to Inferni. If Gabriel ever broke his bonds to the clan, Hybrid would break Gabriel, and himself, too. If anything, Hybrid's reasoning was simple and precise. He was nothing more than a machine programmed to fulfil his duties.
But Hybrid still trusted Gabriel completely.