FH-02 Be Careful What You Wish For

[Darquirrin]

Mercurial silently fell into position next to Falconsong as he promised.

[Lord Pouchlaw]

As Saberfang finished up with Falconsong, he then looked at Mercurial. "As much as I admire loyalty, Theodore, what I am doing with Falcon is because he is asking for an extension on his debt contract with me to help the rest of his family. And rather than his owing two debts, he is offering to join my pack which would then grant him the benefits he quoted to me from before although the new debt he would have to repay me for. The original debt would be waived, while the new debt is why he is joining my pack. What offer are you making? Why would you want to join my pack? Explain it to me before I make a commitment."

[Darquirrin]

Theodore looks over at Falconsong then levelly at Saberfang. He does not move from the proper position but his eyes meet the older hound's eye to eye. He says in a calm but firm voice. "I have given that a lot of thought. I wasn't sure of my answer but I knew I wanted to stay with him and share in his burdens because he was my friend. After thinking about it, it's because I love him. As a packmate. As a brother. As a friend. ... And yes, maybe more than those. I love him and I will do anything I can to stay by his side. You want a soul. You can have mine. You want a bitch.... I'll let every creature between here and the throne of hell fuck me regardless of the pain if that's what it takes. I'd even take his debt on myself if I didn't know that it would only make him feel bad. Whatever it takes, I WILL stand by Gawain no matter what." From the way he's saying it, he understands the language of 'anythings' and 'whatever' and willingly made those statements. He's very, very serious. He is completely committed to his friends, Gawain in particular. A pretty rare trait in modern humans, really.

[Lord Pouchlaw]

"As long as you are sure of your commitment," started Saberfang as he began the mounting on Mercurial, "I will accept your reasoning so no one else can take advantage of how open offer you made that sound. Good thing I am here personally, or there may have been problems." He then looked to Richard and Robert. "This opportunity is open to the human partners as well. Just prepare an explanation on why you would be joining my pack aside from simply wanting to continue to assist your assigned partners. You are still police cadets although once joined in my pack, you would be both human and hellhound police cadets." And then he proceeded to induct Mercurial lovingly; not as a pack bitch, but as a loyal brother. Saberfang could respect loyalty.

[Darquirrin]

Robert shakes his head, "No offense, while the offer might be tempting, you really don't want my family coming after you." He grins a bit, "SOME of them are more the 'action first, ask questions later' kinda people who might get you guys hurt and themselves hurt before the situation could be resolved. Besides, I'm not one to really tie myself down just yet, though I do enjoy hounds and learning about them. Maybe some time in the future, not yet."

[Lord Pouchlaw]

Saberfang then said, "Again, I respect your choice, Robert, and as you said, perhaps in the future. Although if you are more into Ange-Hounds, I know a few and can contact them for you."

Richard was already also getting into position on all fours. "As I agreed to when Falcon and I got assigned together, sir, where he goes, I go. Therefore, if he is joining your pack, then I must too or else I have failed in my assigned task to work with Falconsong."

Saberfang smiled at Richard, "If that is how you feel about this assignment, then I can only keep you with Falconsong since you are requesting it." And he mounted Richard at that point, same as he had for Gawain and Theodore, transforming the human into a Hellhound much like Falconsong and Mercurial currently were.

Falcon shook the stars of being mounted out of his eyes. "That was an overpowering sensation. I feel like a new hound."

[Darquirrin]

Mercurial just nods a little. He wasn't saying much but he was still determined to support Falconsong. Human or hound, Mercurial's nature was impressively loyal and steadfast when it came to people he cared about.

[Lord Pouchlaw]

Falcon nosed Mercurial fondly before placing a paw over Richard's neck. "I didn't expect you to see this assignment through to stay with us dumb debtors turned hounds. What went through your mind?"

Richard said, "In truth, I have owed a few debts before, Falcon, so I know what it means to be in your situation, just not to your degree. I was assigned to you and I will not let you go that easily. I don't want to score an _F_ for failing in my assignment. At any rate, I know in the alpha order, Mercurial is higher in rank than I am. At best, Falcon, I am your attache."

Saberfang then took the three new pack members as well as Mercurial's partner Robert with him back to the home pack camp where dinner was being served. "Have a seat boys. We will be having a fine meal and good drink tonight. As for Robert, I hope he remembers that he is partnered to Mercurial and since his partner chose to join my pack, he now has a direct interest in what goes on with his partner in the pack."

Falcon grinned. "Do I smell fried chicken?"

The hell hound chef grinned back. "You sure do, omega. When Saberfang says fine dining, the whole pack and herd gets to dine in the best way possible. No dog chow with gravy tonight."

Saberfang smiled. "Before I forget, guys... when you joined the pack, your ranks became Omega since you are just starting out. There is one year of Omega training before your advance to the next stage which is either scouting or tracking. Scouting leads to Captains and Betas eventually while Tracking leads to Hunters and Chefs. Whichever sounds more appealing to you is up to you. I don't force you to choose one over the other. As for your mother and brother, Falcon, I will make the arrangements for them ASAP."

[Darquirrin]

Mercurial licked Falconsong's muzzle lovingly for a moment then nodded to Saberfang. "As long as I get to be here to support Falcon, it doesn't matter how long it is." He grins, "But I hope we get more fun missions than what he had to do today."

[Lord Pouchlaw]

Saberfang said, "After dinner, you will all be reassigned to the same quarters along with the other new Omegas who joined up this week. Most are actual hell hounds who chose to throw in their lot with me since they lost their jobs in the underworld due to that dumber than usual law that one of the emperors passed some years ago that the current emperor still hasn't gotten around to changing back as yet. One emperor did away with the Underworld's biggest profit making money maker job making it illegal for any Hell citizen to perform it. When that law was passed, most Hell realm lords and citizens migrated out of Hell citing that it was truly an eternal punishment since many could no longer make a living with a profession they were so well trained in that they had no other skills to fall back on. Many moved to either Chaosmire, the Middle Lands, Earth and even to Elysium and Arcadia where the law was not being enforced."

Falcon paused between bites of his food as he asked, "What profession was that, sir?"

Saberfang replied, "Recruiting. Underworld recruiting for the various species specific realms was made illegal for all Hell citizens. This even went so far as to include putting Succubi, Imps, Contract devils and even armed forces lords completely out of business. What Underworlder would want to live under such insane conditions when upper planar realms could still do it?"

Richard then commented, "So this one emperor was trying to restore Hell into the damnation plane it started out to be?"

"Exactly right," said one of Saberfang's camp betas. "Many lords worked hard into making the lower planes into a paradise that even the upper planar lords would want to visit and this one dumb ass emperor blew it for the entire Nine Hells. How he sneaked this law under the noses of the Imperial Council and the Law Maker Lord himself is anyone's guess. This Hell law makes it so no Hell devil prince nor lord can trick earth people into joining them for any reason. Because that would be recruiting which is currently illegal. Even Asmodeus himself wants this law removed."