Slowly straightening his body, training dictates that he not move too quickly should he prompt an attack from the surrounding youth. With the variants in height, deciphering their skills from a glance would be next to impossible considering their heavy, dark clothes. Dressed much like those in the Black Hood, his blood ran cold at the very thought. 

"Well, I feel it only fair that I warn you now you will all die if you attempt to capture me. I'm quite motivated to not return to Caspian's company so I suggest you consider the danger you've put yourselves in."

 While he had already allowed their age to put him at some sort of ease, the sudden thought was enough to prompt him to consider their threat a reality.   

The six exchange glances, as if deciding if the feral man was worth their lives before finally, the head of the group lowers his upper body into a bow. Admittedly rocked back onto his heel in preparation for an attack, Verando observes him apprehensively. "We have misrepresented ourselves, we are not here to capture you."

"I told you that was too cryptic... who points out a bounty?" A female hisses. 

"Hush." The man grumbles and exhales, adjusting his heavy coat. "We are the children of the 'slayer' town you just exited. Master Claus was our mentor and guide in this life, it would seem he perished when they came to take you, thanks to Miss Jenny's unfortunate decision to turn you over to the local enforcement."

"Slayer town?" Verando attempts to push his voice into something smoother than irritation at wasted concern over young murders in training. The simple act of unprofessional bickering told him all that he needed. Bristealed, wasted time couldn't be regained standing here observing teens dressed as assassins.

 "Perhaps call yourselves something else, those you claim to 'slay' don't much care for it. This-" Verando gestures to their outfits. "Nearly cost you your lives." With a curt whistle, he calls Badger to his side and begins to walk once more, shouldering his pack. 

Staying here was no longer an option, running dangerously behind, he couldn't afford to run into Caspian's group for a second time and they would undoubtedly begin the process of tracking him.

In a quick instant, the sound of their shuffling feet triggers an intense sensation of concern in the pit of his stomach. Everything in his being forces him to react, alarm bells firing at full blast. Quickly pulling the gun from his belt, he fires a shot at the nearest foot and the leader stumbles backward into the snow, sprawled out bewildered at the retaliation. 

"Do not proceed so hastily, less you wish to lose your life." Verando snaps harshly, startling the sprawled youth. With a heavy sigh, he holsters the gun and steals a glimpse of the town where plumes of smoke rise towards the sky. It seemed there was no escaping the destruction that his presence brought. "Why were you looking for me?"

 "We were commissioned by Caspian, himself, to hunt you down. He only keeps our town around to train his bounty hunters for Master Gabriel. But, we don't wish to join the 'magic' side of this fight. We wish to join the collective, we want freedom for everyone." 

A likely story. By now the news of their cause has spread quite far, it would make sense for Caspian to send his most unassuming. The turmoil of the undecided assessment caused him to pinch the bridge of his nose to ward off the intense headache creeping into his temple. Freshly 'cleansed' of the darkness, he was left almost borderline euphoric and it was throwing off his radar for character. 

Lax and yet highly suspicious, he wouldn't make for good company to strangers.

If they were so interested in helping, why didn't they help their master? Why did they run after him when their town desperately needed them? 

"Help someone else, I have no use for a bunch of children with no loyalty. Or, worse yet, a pack of liars who work for the enemy. Go back, perhaps prove your worth by saving what's left of your town." 

Pulling out the map, he scans over it casually as the distant sounds of small, timid footsteps, echo in his ears. Sighing heavily, his shoulders become rigid at the secondary evaluation it took to keep time with the pace of the following feet. There was no hiding in the vastness of the vacancy that was the badlands, at least they had the sense to stalk him in plain sight.

Eyeing the map, it seemed quite straightforward the path he would need to take to get back to France, only much to his dismay, it would take a month to do so on foot. Much more time than he had available to him. As a wolf, he could do so much more quickly but with the issue of developing an army in his wake it seemed quite unfathomable. 

"We can help you." The voice feels like nails on a chalkboard in the hush of the snowy land. The accent was foreign, no longer Spanish, and yet somehow not a dialect he recognized. Long behind them, the sounds of the city had all but vanished. Even with the gunshot, finding them out here would be quite difficult for anyone who had thought to investigate. 

There were many directions he could have gone, but with the steady wind, it was quite possible their footprints would even long since have blown over. "We know the cities, the people, you're trying to gather a force right? To fight against Caspian?"

Freezing, Verando glances over his shoulder in frustration. "You're not making a good case for your innocence."

The woman hesitates, reconsidering her position. "We overheard Caspian talking when he recruited us to find you. If it looks as though we're tracking you, it might buy us some time so that he won't send anyone else. He's terrified you're going to form another army, we want to help you do just that."

Oftentimes, he'd found if it seemed too good to be true it usually was. Taking in any new charges was one of the last things he felt prepared to do considering it seemed to be a struggle to even keep himself alive. Youth and inexperience got in the way of the best-calculated plans and a mistake could lead to him being firmly placed back in Caspian's hands and that was an option he found intolerable.

"You're bounty hunters?" Verando's voice drips with sarcasm. "Why the hell would I trust any of you? Do you have any idea how long it takes to prepare young beings to do anything other than piss their pants? Consider your offer and you can explain to yourselves why I hastily declined. Report my position back to Caspian and he will only find your heads on pikes."

The harshness is not wasted on the youth who had, probably, never heard such claims. To their credit, disrespect wasn't something they had offered. One of the more quiet males of the group slowly takes a step forward. "We've been training since we were children. We might not be versed in what is the correct way to speak to a lycan master but we are experienced fighters. This is in our blood, would you turn away those who wish to join your cause...? Merely for our age?"

"You are children." Verando snaps, shaking his head in disbelief.

"We're also going to follow you until you let us help you." The leader retorts firmly. Briefly, he considers if anyone would notice they had not returned. If the town truly was overrun, nobody would even consider that they had perished out here. Dispatching them might not be as difficult as he thought.

 "We can not return and with Master Claus passed on, we have no mentor. You're sentencing us to death or torture to return us to Caspian empty-handed." 

"Not my problem." Storming off in the direction of the nearest hub, he takes a moment to inventory the sky and attempt to decipher how much daylight they had left compared to how long it would take to travel to the next city. While he hated the beasts, a horse would be quite useful to him right about now. 

"I'm not a mentor, I already have plenty of incompetent idiots at my disposal. Perhaps you should consider the devil when you make deals with him, for he is not merciful. It is not my responsibility to wager over contracts made out of poor planning."

Hearing the footfalls before the assault, he easily moves out of the way of the charging woman only to deflect one of the males. The small group assends upon him and yet, he didn't feel as though they were attacking him. Perhaps attempting to prove their worth but the attacks themselves felt disjointed, out of sync with the regular intensity one might use to subdue a potential target. 

Verando holds no mercy for their lack of ferocity, retorting back with an amount of irritation that could be perceived as unwarranted. Yet, it did help him to feel the slightest bit better to send one sailing through the air through a well-placed jut of his palm to their chest. 

The strength coursing through his body felt unreal, something out of a dream. Unhinged, the thought of injuring these wanna-be heroes began to turn his stomach. With the hesitation, their leader took advantage of his good nature and placed the tip of a sword at his throat. Raising an eyebrow, Verando considers him, eyeing him as if challenging him to commit to the action. 

"I don't wish to hurt you." The male threatens. 

Verando scoffs. "As if you could. Would you think me captured?"

Removing the blade, the man sheaths the sword with a frown. "I'm not foolish. We're trying to show you-"

Verando raises a hand to cut him off. "Repeatedly stating that you aren't a fool is something quiet... well..." He shrugs one shoulder and sighs, taking a final longing stare at the distant city. "You know these cities well?"

The female nods excitedly. "We know this country quite well. We're all from different regions, brought here to train."

Something about their story didn't add up but questioning it at this phase seemed unwise. With his body acting on its own accord, being left to defend himself might be hazardous to the health of the natives. "I need transportation that doesn't rely on Artifice. Can you do that?"

Rolling his eyes at the sudden huddle, their murmurs say way more than their words as they turn to face him. "You know I can hear every word, right?"

The leader frowns. "Well, I think we might be able to help. Can you even drive?"

The walk to the city, trudging through deep snow, is less than ideal on an already taxed body. While his emotional state had greatly improved, his physical state left much to be desired. Fatigue and wear from the attempted drowning still laid heavily on his stamina, leaving him woefully underperforming when it came to the pace at which the young bounty hunters could travel. 

A rough cough occasionally rolled from his chest, recalling back to Tonya telling him that his lungs would be permanently scarred from the first attempted drowning. 

"I'm camping for the night." He announces finally when it feels as though his legs can take him no further and his body might give out if forced to go another step. While admitting fatigue was almost as agonizing as the torture, knowing his limits was for more than just his benefit. 

"Outside?" the female demands. 

"Usually." Verando retorts, stretching as he allows the pack to slide off his shoulder. 

They exchange glances and earn an eye roll. "There's an inn nearby, the city is not much further. We made really good time, it's not often an older-" Hesitating, the young man clears his throat. "It's good that we all could stay at the same pace."

"How old do you think I am?" Verando snaps in frustration before scowling at the very thought. If only they realized the true reason for the fatigue. "It's a bad idea to go into an unknown city at night."

"It's our only option. We will freeze to death if we stay out in the badlands, exposed, at night." 

Making a face, Verando hesitates, in his current state a night out in the elements might not be the wisest thing. Startled by the cool nose, the black and white fluffy dog bumps his hand with its nose, offering a small wag of its tail.

Verando strokes the top of his head and the leader of the small group smirks. 

"Were you and Master Claus friends?"

Flinching, he pushes past the male to head towards the distant lights of the city. "Don't make friends in war, kid. People have a habit of dying." 

The closer they get to limits, the more he begins to regret agreeing to come into the glimmering mass of chaotic onslaught. The lights in the windows illuminate like blazing infernos, no longer the strange glimmer of artificial light left off by the Artifice machines. They must use candles and the rare light bulb that produced a strange, yellow glow. 

Involuntarily, they huddle closer to him as a passing van groans low and deep from its rooftop siren. "Return to your homes immediately. Curfew in full enforcement. All violators will be shot on sight."

"Shot?" The female whispers.

"Great idea." Verando grumbles, "Is there a bar near here?"

"Really? Do you want to drink? We're about to be gunned down."

Unwilling to explain, he pushes through the crowd of panicked patrons running full tilt toward the towering buildings. While they walked through the sea of distressed faces, the occasional glance put him on edge. Too many people were seeing them, and they stood out too strongly with his hair color. Taking a toboggan out of his pack, he placed it firmly over his head and covered his ears to hide the pale sideburns. 

"We have to get off the streets.." Verando murmured more to himself than anyone else. 

A massive screen overhead played Caspian's face on steady repeat. "Do not give in to resistance trash. The safest way is with our beloved machines, doing the work that is dangerous for us. For our children. We must hold strong to our values." 

The screen flickers on and off, distorting the voice into a haunting hum of jumbled words as Artifice struggles to stay online. 

Occasionally, a chime of 'Gospel' played to disrupt the communication. 

The streets were littered with the dismembered corpses of broken-down machines. Under them, patrons who were unable to get out of their way fast enough as they fell to their doom once Artifice went offline. Coughing at the heavy plume of smoke coming from the sewer system, the leader of the group dry heaves. 

"Must have shut off the septic sweep."

"Not all countries will play fair." Verando summarizes. 

It's hard to remove a dictator. Spotting the old-fashioned building amongst the oddly lit giants, they make their way towards the door and he knocks firmly on the glass, rubbing his arms as his body begins to chill. 

"We're closed." The woman snaps from behind the door.  

"Honor the Good King," Verando responds to her firmly, causing her to hesitate as she looks him over. Narrowing her eyes, she leans forward to consider him and then look at the people he's with. 

"You're an idiot to travel with Black Hood in this day and age." Her words confirm his suspicions and he kicks himself inwardly for not dispatching them in the badlands. 

"Well, I never claimed to have much for common sense." His voice is a smooth attempt at persuading her to forgive his company. "They're kids playing dress up, I didn't ask to be followed. I promise they're harmless."

With a snort, the female of the group crosses her arms over her chest. "We're not children! For the love of Pete!"

"Mmm.." The bar owner doesn't seem too impressed. "And when they turn us over to Caspian? Then what?" 

With the corner of her lip slightly turned up, her eyes drink him and all over again, the discomfort creeps into his very core. He could live a thousand lives and never once crave for another being to look at him so lustfully. To return this form for one less appealing, he would give a considerable amount. 

It was odd to him, considering in their own time he was not the picture of attraction that today's consumers found him. 

Clearing his throat, it's tempting to retreat but seeing the shivering group and the van coming for a second pass, he places one hand carefully on the door jam and leans forward to near the barkeep.

"Best make the most of our time together, then, yeah?"

 Flushing, she giggles and steps back to allow them entrance as the van opens fire on a group attempting to demolish a fallen Artifice machine. 

Doing his best to ignore the fresh chill of his breath before him, he sighs in relief as they tread to the lower level and she locks the deadbolt behind them. Now to get this woman so ungodly drunk she forgets his name and therefore any hope at a coupling. 

"How did you know this was here?" One of the hunters asks. The barkeep chuckles, shaking her head in disbelief at their simplicity.  

"Wow, they are just kids..." Amused, she pours the warlord a drink and he carefully accepts with a calculated measure of the contents. "Hungry?" She asks him curiously, bringing a small grimace that he hides with a nod. "Where there is alcohol, there are friends of those who wish to liberate. Not all but most." 

Pulling out a sizeable gun, she sets it on the counter pointedly as she moves towards the stove to turn on one of the eyes. The fully stocked counter was an open concept, being the nature of the safe room. 

"Best to keep that in mind, if you think you want to pull a fast one on me." She eyes the group before winking at the older Lycan. 

"Now now, they're just young..." Verando attempts to soothe her threats, gesturing with his eyes for the young hunters to take a seat as he dumps the contents of the drink into the sink in a low pour. Setting the glass down pointedly as if he'd drunk the contents, he takes a moment to observe the place. 

The walls are much cleaner than Harrison's barn, a more modern take on an old concept. "Can you give me any insight into the resistance in this area?"

Frowning as she puts the hamburger patties on the grill, she shrugs one shoulder. "We're quite close to Caspian. Support runs high. We're trying to hold on but progress has been slow. With Artifice shut down-"

"How the hell did that happen?" The leader demands and the woman frowns, placing her hands on her hips. 

"Who the hell are you?"

"No names," Verando demands shortly, cutting off the answer. "The more we know about each other the worse it will be if they capture us. No names. Can you tell us how Artifice was shut down?"

Scowling at the pale-haired leader, she returns her attention to the food. "Not quite sure, just saw an announcement from His Majesty and then Artifice went offline. There have been riots ever since, people are-" 

The thought produces a surprised laugh, 

"People are... alive.. for the first time in a long time. Never thought I'd see the day when this place would be used for this type of thing again. We got the occasional supporter before but now.... There are quite a few heading to France to join the cause."

While the thought of our mission seeing its first breath of success excited him, it also terrified him. 

With no one to remain behind, there would be nothing to stop Caspian from recruiting all those who were left behind whether they wanted to or not.