Sirius by Nat

He walked with purpose. The dark cloak rustled about the man's form, a dark ominous pelt that made him appear much larger than his lanky form allowed. A dirty bandage was wrapped about his right fore-arm; Blood, a deep faded mauve that suggested it was not quite fresh, had oozed through in a few spots. The man hardly seemed to notice this wound, although for all appearances it would have stung rather impressively.

His stride was long, and silent. A scowl brewed storm clouds over luminous eyes, narrowed pupils nearly lost in a sea of pea-green acid. Sirius Revlis was in quite a temper, and to his own mind, righteously so. However, he was not such a man as to act irrationally in anger - Merely, it spurned him to productive and unpleasant action. Most avoided his path, and wisely so, for the King was not in a mood to be trifled with, nor turned from his current train of thought. A certain individual had been absent from his ranks for far too long to be allowed such impoliteness, and his absence at the recent infiltration had been noticed. Apparently, Itachi Lykoi had more pressing things at hand than to deal with those who sought to destroy his pack.

The king's black lips twitched in a half-snarl, quickly flickering back to a controlled, tight line. As he neared the other male's assumed residence, a feminine scent curled about his black nose, and a pulse leapt in the monarch's temple as he grit his jaw. So, not only had Itachi been shirking his duties, but he had kept the girl, too? Well, well. Air whistled around clenched yellow teeth as the man inhaled, holding the un-aligned female's smell deep within his lungs. If this woman was to be Itachi's pleasure, then so, too, would she be his weakness. Sirius Revlis would see to that.

He arrived without pompous flair, and had no need to announce his arrival. Itachi was not a stupid creature - Rather, the opposite. Sirius was certain that his presence was already noted, if the golden male was in the vicinity. Regardless, a hollow greeting, more a command for his immediate attention than the polite formality it fulfilled, echoed into the silence. "Itachi," Came the monarch's caramel tones, fluid in spite of their clipped nature.

Sirius by Nat

The man emerged before his name had finished rasping off of the King's black lips. Pupils narrowed to dangerous slits as they observed the other - Itachi had always been a visually appealing creature, dressed in gold and tainted with ruby as he was. But not even Sirius' favoritism for beauty would save the dishonored protege now. Brows furrowed, the deep brewing of a storm echoed in lightning within the eyes of the peacock monarch.

The other man's voice filled the void left behind by Sirius' tempered growl. Large satellite ears flattened to the politeness, the blankness, of that tone; Itachi knew what his King's presence represented, surely, and the King was aware of any and all attempts to placate him. One hand rubbed at his bandaged arm, the ache there reminding him of his grievance.

The dark monarch approached his pale counterpart, his stiff body language speaking volumes more than any words might have. For while they mimicked civility, these beasts, they were still little more than primal things trapped in a form of gentry, falsely claiming a humanity that was not theirs. "You've displeased me." The words were little more than a tenor hiss, oozing out from between his yellow teeth. Itachi stood between the king and the doorway to his dwelling, but Sirius could smell the little whore-ling within, and his black lips peeled up in distaste. "How long have you been hiding her away up here, Itachi? Hiding her from your King," Although he made no move towards the doorway, the threat was heavily ladened in each word. What the King had prized for so long in his once-protege had been the male's lack of a weakness; Now, it seemed, he had found one.

Fingers flexed themselves in and out of fists, but no move towards aggression was made. He had not come to kill the girl for trespassing - If he had desired such a thing, Itachi would have had to fight for her life by now. But Sirius' generosity was running perilously low, and the Lykoi male had a lot to answer for.

Sirius by Nat

The golden man's body spoke of his submission, but not of his remorse. Itachi sent conflicting messages - While his tone and words offered some semblance of apologetic nature, his entity offered none. Perhaps he felt none; Perhaps he could feel none. Sirius wondered if that was a virtue, or a flaw, and found himself unable to decide.

His accusation was returned with soft tones, a calming sentence of logic and simplistic information that riled the monarch all over again. "I am aware of what I did!" The Revlis man snapped sharply, almost infuriated that the other thought it prudent to remind him of such a meeting. He had spoken of no allowance for the girl to remain, permanently - But nor had he prohibited such a thing. At the time, Sirius had been uncertain of the decision, uncertain of how the girl could best be utilized for his own ends.

Roused by the sharp voice, China stirred within their dwelling. Fear coursed through her as she recognized the voice - The last time she had heard the King speak, her mind had been addled with fever, and he had been demonic. She trembled, pupils swelling wide, the entirety of her attention focused on the unseen beings beyond the doorway.

Sirius had, in this time, managed to compose himself somewhat. The fire simmered still within his poisonous eyes, but when again he spoke, it was in a cold, fearsome voice. "Do you not see the flaw in my having to seek you out twice? You tempt my anger, Itachi, and do so at your own peril," Sensing movement, his eyes moved to the entrance of the other's living space, where a pair of blue eyes peered in terror back at him, "- And at the peril of the girl."

Having the full blast of those acidic eyes upon her chilled China to the bone, and yet, she was unable to refrain from staring back, transfixed. It seemed that something of great importance was taking place - Something that would change the path of Itachi's loyalty. The girl was naively unaware of her own importance within this change - All she knew was that her peaceful existence was once again to be shaken, by this terrible man with snake's eyes. Why was he here, and why was he yelling at Itachi? She continued to tremble, in silence.

Sirius by Nat

That gaze of ruby and violet was cast away from his bitter words, and in spite of any attempts on the behalf of the blonde male, it was clear to Sirius that his threats were of no value. It was difficult for the monarch to reign in his anger - Words had always found purchase on the minds of his followers before. He had never met a creature like Itachi, so invulnerable to the venom of the serpent, so unmoved by the constant threat of his own mortality. For a moment, even as he spoke, Sirius considered the possibility that his own grasp of dominance over the other male was merely a show, merely a role that Itachi was filling until something of greater importance came along.

But, aha! Narrowed eyes glittered with victory as the blank portrait of the other suddenly frosted over. Everything changed in that instant, the instant when Sirius realized exactly the value of China Rose Lykoi - The fury in his eyes turned to cruel green flames of triumph. Ah, yes, the serpent had found something to sink his fangs into - Something that was not resilient to his venom. As quickly as it had come, the sinking feelings of doubt fled back to the recesses of the man's wicked mind. He had control over Itachi once more; A more permanent, more deadly, control.

The tension in his muscled oozed out into lucidness, his posture reclaiming an Alpha's stature, emanating calm dominance once more. All it had taken was that one slip for Itachi to show the man where his weakness lay, and now that such an obvious one had been found, Sirius could again relax in his command. Narrowed pupils rested heavily on the other man's face, his view of the girl blocked by a tension-riddled frame of soft gold and hard muscle. Itachi's composure had also returned, but it was too late, and they both knew it. The cracks had been revealed, and Sirius' venom would seep in, now.

The Lykoi male spoke hollow words, and his King continued to gaze coldly at the bowed head. "Very well," He spoke at last, his voice sinuous and glossy like serpentine scales, "Then come, kneel at my feet, and receive your punishment and your forgiveness. The girl will be spared blame for your faults," Yellowed teeth glinted sharply from between black lips as he spoke, one finger pointing to the ground before his clawed toes. "If you have taken her to be with you, then she will be one of the Family, for that is surely what you wish. But you shall renew your allegiance to me, Itachi Lykoi, as payment for the protection Salsola will give her, and as punishment for your insults against me." His dark brows were heavy over luminous eyes, that bubbled and sparked like small pools of acid.

Sirius by Nat

Fear was a lover to the man with the olive eyes. He feared many things - Knew the taste of fear, rusty and sharp on his tongue. Knew the feeling of fear as his gut turned to ice. The relationship he had with terror was unbearably close; It lingered in his skin, in his blood. It warped him, twisted him into a thing of suspicion, a thing of cruelty when before, there had been only cold reason. He feared his own mortality. He feared intense pain. But, above most all else, he feared to lose control - To truly lose control. It was something that the dark man shared with no one, for within his own genius, he was aware of the precariousness of it all; Aware that, at any time, his wicked intelligence could crumble and throw him into the pits of madness. If madness truly claimed him, all - Salsola, the Family, the world as he knew it - would be lost.

Thus, the King tolerated no lapses within his subjects, within those ranked highest to the monarch himself. He could not allow the pyramid of control to crumble, for it was as instable as the chambers of his own mentality, and control was everything. It was everything.

The golden male knelt at his feet, down on the cold hard earth where the king's claws bit into dark soil. The man gazed down at him, his large ears flattened, his black lips tightly compressed in an unweidling, grim line. He had no love for brutality, and would find no glee in dealing out the punishment he had decreed was necessary. The man's expression remained hard an unflinching, as his fist raised, and then swung hard to connect with Itachi's lowered head. It was not a deadly blow, nor was there heavy malice beneath it's force - The blow itself was unlikely even to bruise. But it was enough.

A cry rose from behind the man, and a strange little bird darted from her hidey-hole. Acidic eyes watched as she fluttered forth, her expression a portrait of fear and shock; She was such a fragile little thing. Worthless - Probably too lean even for childbirth. Pretty, yes, but weathered, as though she were a photo that had been left to the whims of the elements and time, until the things that were beautiful about her were faded and indistinct. His face remained a mask of disapproval as the wispy creature moved to the side of the kneeling man, her blushing fingers seeking to cup his face, her blue eyes searching the site of the blow.

His indifference was battled only by a strange bitterness. The King turned swiftly on his heel to stride off back alone the path he had come, and said nothing more - Itachi's debt had been paid, and he would be true to his word. China Rose Lykoi would be safe in these lands, as long as Sirius was King, and as long as Itachi continued to bend knee when the master whistled for his hound.