Sunken Ambitions (tag: Bladewolf)

Cayden had found himself within the unlikelihood of a human tavern in his younger, teen-aged and annoyingly questionable form until he'd taken the bouncer off of his high horse and broken his wrist in response to not allowing him within the tavern. Cayden Nekishu wasn't in the mood to be messed around, aside from having his one and only female interest turning back up in his life, this usually being a positive thing, he'd had wondered where she'd been in the time since he'd last seen her, only to be replaced by the sudden reemergence of his mother, she of whom seemed to be in a warring loving-hatred relationship with his father all while he himself struggled to even get himself acknowledged within the land as a formidable wolf, let alone a member of his pack.

"Shot of whiskey" He grumbled beneath his breath as he shot the bartender a look of threat that said more than words could deliver, it'd been a long arduous road simply getting back into his homeland but being accepted as one of his peoples own was something entirely and entirely the fault of two individuals, one being his mother Eclipse Stellar. "Better make it a double..." He added as his eyes shot a look acorss his left shoulder, taking note of the males in the back of the room, his peripherals doing him more justice than his sense in the moment; in all honesty it was the fight he'd come looking for most eagerly rather then the drink but the liquid would certainly ease the pain to come, dulling his senses and opening his reflexes to deliver the maximum carnage should he so feel the need.

His massive bulk sat upon a stool at the far end of the bar. Having just drained his twelfth drink of the night, he sat the mug own rather heavily. "Fill it again Mary." He growled at the woman behind the counter, not menacingly, just a deep growl.
"I'm not sure you should, Mr. Blackthorne, I know that it is from your own personal supply, but, I still dont think you should." The woman, Mary, said, instead setting own a pitcher of water on the table in front of him.
"Mary, just refill my damned glass." He growled, looking up at her from where he sat, still taking a drink from the pitcher, and actually draining it all, before letting out a rather large and impressive belch. He looked around the bar, and saw Cayden sitting down the table from him.

Normally, he would have approached the younger male, but tonight, he just did not care a single iota. Between his recent falling out with Blaze, a man he truly considered a brother, the fact that his wife was defacto gone, this time, and all of that, tonight, was more then he could rise above. His mission was to either manage to drink himself into oblivion for first time in centuries or start a bar fight if someone were to approach him. Either of these two options would be just fine by him, and more than welcome. He was certainly itching for, something, to happen.

Cayden's gaze was caught by the attention of the other male and at first he forced a polite yet brief smile in response before dropping his gaze back to his glass, still not entirely confident about being among the human world though otherwise choosing best not to show it. What brought his eyes back up to the male however had been the mention of his last name, 'blackthorne', a name known to many of his kind in the lands outside of the human prison. He hadn't recognized the male in this form, nor even caught trace of his scent while the room had been filled with that of burning tobacco and various other illicit substances though not to ignore the smell of general odor in the people that had been drinking away their night within the tavern.

Pushing himself to his feet, Cayden slowly made for his approach, his head lifting and his body in the course of a slight sway rather unused to this whole drinking thing, he offered a wary smirk as he gestured to Mr Blackthorne as he'd been called, his eyes glancing to that of the waitress and cocking his head to the right to give her an inquisitive glance before turning back to Blade, "You're him, aren't you. Benjamin's friend..." A very human sounding name and very much the reason why Cayden chose his words carefully in such a place, "Don't s'pose you know who I am too then..." He muttered a little softer as he moved to take a seat next to Bladewolf, lifting his glass of whiskey up in toast before slugging it back and wincing against the burn to the back of his throat.

"I've heard a couple things about you...", his right hand nudged the glass forward against the counter as he looked to this 'Mary', smiling in greeting and in the hope she'd offer him a refil, "His too, love. I'm buyin'...".

"heh," He laughed to himself as Cayden sat down. "Buying me a drink in a bar I own, thats rather amusing." He took the glass as Mary sat it down in front of him, pulling out his flask, he added an equal measure from it. Recapping the flask he tilted it towards the other male, and tossed it back with nary a wince at what Cayden had reacted to. Setting the glass back down, the woman sat a new tankard of ale in front of him. "From your scent and voice, I'd gather you to be one of Blaze's whelps, Cayden, to be precise." Taking a drink from his beer, he paused for a moment. "Considering all of the other times I tried talking to you, when you effectively told me to screw off, you must want something." Another drink, "So, what is it boy?"

He didnt move from how he had been sitting when Cayden had sat down, still hunched over his drink. Blade did not need to turn his head towards the boy to watch his face. There was a sight gathering of shadows under his own brow, through which he could peer through another shadow to watch what was playing over the features of his face. 'Yep,' he thought to himself, 'that is Blaze's smile alright,' even if Blaze didnt raise the kid, he had sure inherited his fathers features and somewhat roguish smile. This, could get interesting, from what Blade knew, Cayden had actually been raised by Wolfmortem, the wily bastard, there was no love lost between Wolf and Blade.

His left hand snapped out with swift timing given the brief moment of alarm in his face as he caught the flask thrown to him in offer, his eyes glanced the thing over, pouring himself a refill of his glass before he set it down to the counter and gently pushed it back towards blade with toe fingers; returning his attention to his drink though presenting something of a thoughtful frown as he tried to recall the last time he'd ever met Bladewolf, let alone heard he'd owned a bar of his own, "Shit, you own this place...-That changes things a little then...". Sparing a glance across the establishment, he wondered how the other had come into ownership of such a place, where he'd acquired the money to purchase his own business though Cayden assumed some wolves just fit in and adapted better outside of the wild than others alike himself. Perhaps with the same time, Cayden might find himself in such a comfortable position.

"I'm afraid I don't quite remember much of you..." He offered Blade an apologetic glance though only half in heart as he soon bobbed his head to the right in a sideways nod, "There were a couple of our people I didn't see eye to eye with when I first got here. Guessing you're one of them...-Nothing personal but I don't trust easy, even less so having come from the life of a loner at the time. Can't blame me for being suspicious of people I don't know...", he lifted the glass somewhat before taking a swig from it, pausing while closing his eyes as he savored the burn to the back of his throat; though it didn't feel quite as strong now and his head seemed lighter to lift his gaze back to that of Bladewolf.

"I came to this place to drink.." He gestured with his free hand to the bar, wrapping his knuckles against it as if it were a door though only lightly so not to startle. "Hearing your name was a give-away and knowing your own of the Kostas...-Part of the same now, figured I better take the chance to get to know one of my own. I've met few others sadly...".

Chuckling, he took another swig straight from the flask, before returning it to under his cloak. "Good catch." He complimented Cayden, before draining his tankard again, it was soon refilled by the reluctant Mary as she also gave the younger man a refill as well.
"Sir, your special brewed keg is almost empty, I'd guess, 2, maybe 3 more refills at most." She said softly, to which he merely grunted that he heard her.
"Well," he said after she left again, "So much for managing to get drunk, damn." He shook his head, taking another drink. "Thats the problem with the beer made on this plane, you people dont make it hard enough." He drained the tankard, waving off another refill as he reached over the bar to grab a full bottle of whiskey, emptying a good half of the contents into his empty glass. Taking a few long gulps from it, he finally looked over at Cayden.

"No offense taken lad, sometimes trust in others can be vastly over rated. You think someones your friend, you come to think of them as your brother, then what do they do? Up and leave you holding the bag, holding a position of responsibility you dont want." Another long pull from the glass. "Heh, came here to drink? You dont look like you can handle much more." Blade continued, judging from the way his eyes were dilated.

"Meh, the Kostas pack, they," he paused, "We, arent what we used to be. We used to be, with ease, the strongest pack in these lands. Now? I'm not sure we could muster up enough of our strength to fend off a loner, let alone the other pack." Another long swig, bringing the tankard down to about a quarter full. "Though, if we could get the Corp Lupus back into training, but, no, nobody is up for a decent fight anymore. All talk, no damn guts to actually fight, maybe I am finally what I've been accused of, being a relic of a bygone time." He drained the rest of the tankard, and sat it down.

Cayden didn't want to be rude but it felt like it was going no other way, Bladewolf had suggested he couldn't hold his drink and though it wasn't far from the truth, Cayden took another shot back as if it were nothing, the moments passing with a slightly deeper blur to his vision though he kept his composure as best as he could as the world seemed to turn easier about his demeanor, the truth that he wasn't accustomed to drinking the humans liquor quite as easily as the rest of his people had adapted to it over the years, "Don't worry about me, I can handle my shit well enough..." He slurred a little as he spoke though he hadn't dropped to the floor yet and until he did, he'd not call it quits, especially in the light of the Kostas being mentioned, let alone Cor Lupus of which Cayden held his own ambitions.

"Look man..." He gestured the glass forward to the waitress, this mary whoever the hell she was, at this point in his drink it didn't entirely matter, "I don't know what happened between you and the old man of mine but honestly I don't really give a fuck, it was before my time, I'm in the crew; the pack now and shit's going to change...." His head lowered in something of a casual drop his body being affected by the drink though refraining from allowing it to deter him, he looked back to Bladewolf with a strong sense of confidence, "I don't know what you know of Cor Lupus either but I know the cunt who started it and I can promise you this, I'll do a better fucking job than that son'uva bitch did..." He grumbled under a tone of angst as he looked back towards blade holding nothing in the way of a likeness as he thought of WolfMortum, "He's in my past and that cunt is better to be buried and forgotten....-Cor Lupus belongs to me now".

"Heh, thats a funny one, two people reforming Cor Lupus? Not impossible, but, it would take a lot of work." Blade spoke as he poured the second half of the whiskey bottle into the mug, watching the slight frost creep up the exterior of the glass, taking a sip as Cayden finished talking. He was still working on fighting the urge to get into a drink for drink contest with the younger man, he felt pretty sure he could beat him in one. "It belongs to you now eh? I might have to dispute your claim there lad. Wolf may have started it, but, after he left, it was down to me and Blaze, then, Blaze left the pack for a while. During that whole bit of time, essentially all the members of Cor Lupus have left, except, for me. The way I see it, Cor Lupus is mine right now."

Taking another drink, he finally made up his mind. "While I believe you can fight, and quite proficiently I would imagine, I'm not sure you know how to lead, not people, but fighters, warriors. That, is something I have been doing for centuries, leading, guiding, training. Not only younger fighters, but also those who have been through the ringer. If you can beat me in a drinking competition, right here, right now, I will give it to you. But, if you can't, or simply dont want to go that route, you'll need to prove you can lead a group of fighters. Prove that you can lead them, not only when they are calm and level headed for training, thats the easy part. Prove you can exert some modicum of control and direction over them, in the midst of a battle. In the midst of battle, when blood and battle lust are ringing loudly in their ears. If you can prove to me you can do that, I will follow you into battle. If you simply want Cor Lupus to be yours, you can try your hand at beating me in a drinking contest as I said."

Blade took a large swig of the freshened whiskey from his mug, then looked over to Cayden. He remained silent, simply watching the younger male, waiting for whichever method of approach it was that he decided to pursue. Blade felt he knew which route he would take, but, he was giving the youth an option here.

"Correct me if I'm wrong..." Cayden slurred a little as he leaned against the counter, holding his glass in both hands, his eyes crossing back to that of Bladewolf as he spoke softly, "But the last thing I hear you led was the pack and according to rumors, you ran it straight into the ground so as happy as I am for you to make this a guessing game about how good or not, I might be at it, just remember that for all purposes, your past record is well known around here while no one here knows mine...-Given that Cor Lupus is still here and my father is Alpha now; if we're looking at things this way then I'd have to say it belongs to Benjamin...". His mind had found the apex, cloud nine has the drink had delivered him past his former insecurities of being within the human world, so to did it numb Cayden's empathy; his words potentially driving a sensitive point home in Blade though Cayden hadn't appreciated being assumed to be anything, let alone incapable of doing something he'd set his mind to.

"I'm not gonna drink you for it either, I think I'm feeling pretty smashed as it is..." He chuckled dryly, soon turning in his chair, placing his back to the counter as he gazed out around the tavern, "It's not something to barter for is it, it's the packs defense as far as I've been told and given the sorry state things are in, we're not here to argue about who runs the thing, if it's going to work, we just need to get it done. I don't want to lead you and you ain't gonna be the one to lead me, neither one of us have proved much of anything so I get it. This ain't a pissing contests but I'm going ahead with what I can...-I think I've got a couple people in mind already, one of them wants me to teach them how to fight so I reckon I've a pretty good angle. If you want to pitch in, sounds good...-If not, your choice". He threw back the last of his whiskey before returning the glass to the counter and bringing his gaze back to that of Bladewolf, "If we succeed, it might secure your place in the Kostas, you could use the benefit of the doubt and I'm looking for experienced fighters...".

He pondered what Cayden said. "Fine, I'll work with you, but, now that I think, there is another member who we need to get input from. Her name is Aleria, but, I haven't seen much of her lately. She can fight pretty well too, though she isn't quite the hand to hand brawler we are. She's a skilled healer, there isnt another one who I would prefer to have at my back. If we are going to do any heavy training, we will need her, if for no other reason than to put us back together after we tear the hell out of each other." Blade laughed at the thought, the two of them tearing pieces from each other, then the comparatively petite Aleria patching them back up.

"Well, if we arent going to get into a drinking contest, then, I shall keep myself going." Finishing the mug, he slid back around the counter, and rifled through the shelves directly underneath the portion of the bar they were sitting at. "Now where is that case?" He muttered to himself, and, after about 5 minutes of searching, he found it. "Bingo!" He said, pulling out a wooden box, it had a lock on it which he quickly manipulated to open it. Drawing out a single bottle, one of its many contents, he read the label. "Perfect." Setting the box on the very end of the bar, between his seat and the wall, he poured some of it into a smaller glass. "If we are going work together, perhaps we should have one more drink?" He offered as he poured a pair of shots for the two of them. "Though, I will warn you, this, this is rather potent stuff right here." Pushing Cayden's shot towards him, he smiled, swirling the contents of his own glass under his nose, partaking of the aroma.

Taking a sip from the glass of the stuff he had poured, he watched Cayden, waiting for his response on the offered shot, his own shot, separate from the glass, sitting in front of him. "Though, we will need to take a good shot at thrashing each other before we can really get started with Cor Lupus again. That way, we can figure out exactly where we stand as far as the need to train goes, and, I will admit, I may be a bit rusty with a few skills. Its, um, its been a while." He laughed.

Cayden's eyes fell to the drink sitting in-front of him, the choice picked by that of Bladewolf causing his brow to lift a little in reluctant and lacking confidence in the others offer. Not usually one to accept drinks from others having heard the rumors of how the humans were kin to spiking drinks, he hesitantly took the shot glass and placed it closer to him, his hands moving to take the edge of the counter in a casual hold as he shifted a little upon his seat; eyeing the male thoughtfully, a hint of intrigue crossing his face as he pondered aloud "You seem very interested in competing with me, either for a drink and if not that, you're obviously wanting to fight me though I can't help but wonder why...-If this is over my attitude when I first came to these lands; things have changed since then..." his eyes turned back down to the drink as he studied it thoughtfully.

"Guess I've grown up a bit since Benjamin paired me up with that ol' Ronin..." Cayden chuckled sheepishly to himself, the world around them a blur to him as his thoughts deepened within his somewhat drunken state, "Look man I don't entirely know what you're angle is but if this is all a game to you that's cool, I'll go my own way. I might've taken you up on it once but...-I don't know, I'm not that guy anymore. I'm not doing this to start fights with my own pack-mates...-The old man wants me to do right by the pack and while I'm not exactly the biggest fan of having expectations coming down on me, I could use some good points around here given the first impressions I made a while back.". He now brought the shot glass mid level with Bladewolf, lifting his head in a half nod, offering something of a slim smirk before throwing it back and by the burn of the liquid to the back of his throat, he hissed through his teeth as it stung, causing him to cough under the intensity of the drop. "Ja-hezuz...-The hell was that?" he glanced back to Bladewolf a little skeptically, "Smells like something that'll kill the senses back out there..." He thumbed over his shoulder speaking in a light and jest-filled tone, "Bit over the top for me...-But thanks".

With that, Cayden swiveled a little atop the stool he was sat upon, stumbling forward against the floorboards a little shaken for all that he'd consumed though managing to stabilize himself against one of the rooms supports, he steadied himself, slowly turning to look back to Blade. "Appreciate the drink...-Oh and don't worry about Aleria, I've run into her already back in the Colosseum. Interesting kinda girl, Wolf's daughter from what she says...-Won't hold it against her" he flashed Bladewolf a slight look that spoke of their mutual distaste for the mentioned male before he dipped his head in something of a casual bow in farewell, "Perhaps I'll see you out there...-If not, well...-No hard feelings but don't come looking to measure dick sizes, this ain't about pride mate, it's all for the pack" a low snicker escaped him before he began for the door, pulling his belt around him that held his two blades a little tighter, soon adjusting the crotch of his pants as he stumbled out the entrance.

Blade watched the younger male as he left, with an amused grin on his face. As Cayden stumbled out through the door. Taking another drink of from the glass, he chuckled, turning back to sit at the counter. "Wasn't about comparing dicks kid, wasn't about that." Another sip, "But, I will be there, and we will work together to get Cor Lupus back up." He murmured to himself, draining the glass and refilling it again.

((Yes, short, but this was just to close out the thread))