Bane was wrong, and Arcturus knew it, but the young Hound was hard to argue with. 'Balance' didn't mean light and dark in equal measure. It meant day an night but even the night is lit by moonlight. And the Elves had largely maintained that in Mirkwood. The recent incursion of the workers of darkness was unfortunate, but to say 'there is no choice' was both fatalistic and false.
However, that Bane attracted the dark? Of that, the Elf was sure.
Arcturus glared at Bane's father, before lashing out with the mist. The tendrils slammed the Hound back through the trees, and out of the small glade Arcturus and Bane had been resting in. Arcturus immediately pursued him, not waiting for his enemy to recover.
"Why talk when you're not going to listen?" he whispered, his voice a sibilant hiss.
(You're good!)
Bane bit his tongue. He wanted this nightmare to be over. He didn’t want to be a source of evil. Bane wanted to move on with his life. Upon seeing his father, he whimpered. This hound, once upon a time, had Bane wrapped around his thumb. He had beaten and manipulated the moldable hound. Bane had come out victorious, but with ridicule and death threats in return. He wasn’t ready to fight this monster, and Arcturus probably knew it. However, he needed to stand up and fight. He needed to fight for his cause, for his healing. Cowering in a corner wouldn’t help anyone.
Cerberus hissed at the elf, the mist burning his skin. It seared sizable burns on him. He slammed into a tree, groaning from the impact. Cerberus quickly got to his feet, noting Arcturus had pursued. And so did Bane. Cursing under his breath, Cerberus laughed. “Why listen when you protect a traitorous monster?” The alpha hound growled, eyeing his son. Bane would die one way or another.
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