“I have known Filfrug a long time.

He is a good orc. Honourable. He takes good care of family and friends."

“I'm sure he does, but I'll trust your honour that you won't repeat this, and say that I'm barely managing to get a handle on the guys I have right now. If he could handle himself in a proving match it'd be different, but I'm guessing that if he could then he'd be a Blood Snake."

"He is a Blood Snake." Duraz stopped, and turned to face Gregory with just the faintest hint of aggression.

Even the smallest note of such aggression wasn't to be taken lightly, and Gregory responded by turning his head to the side to show his neck in a common gesture of apology.

“I am sorry, Duraz. I had thought you were asking me to take him.”

With a huff, the orc merely nodded and let the matter pass. They began their walk again.

"I saw what you've done with Frelki and Nullik. I wanted to ask your advice about how to proceed with Filfrug. I think that we are alike. The old charge isn't always the best approach, and we should not let tradition stamp out innovation. But even so, I might know how to use him if he wasn't quite as strong as he should be, but..." This time when he trailed off, Duraz looked back to his cousin with a sense of hopelessness.

“But you're not sure how to approach teaching an orc who's going to have all the impact of a feather duster." Gregory nodded, sympathising with Duraz's situation.

“I do not know what a feather duster is, but it sounds appropriate."

Gregory considered for a moment, and finally nodded again, this time with a note of finality.

“Alright, I'll help Filfrug out. You and your pack can come here for training with The Runts. We'll see what we can do. I'll have him start training with Nullik and Frelki first so he can see the style's they've developed. If you guys want to fight with him, then you might have to shift the way you think about fighting a Little.”

“I understand. Thank you, Gregory."

They returned to their packs who had thankfully not begun brawling with each other. Duraz made the announcement.

"Gregory Hopkins has agreed to help us," he said to his pack mates. "We will honour him, and understand that whilst we stand upon his territory we are under his command. Is that agreed?"

The Blood Snakes nodded their agreement one by one.

"Excellent!" Janette clapped her hands together and turned to address Duraz.

“Told you he'd help if you asked the right way.” She paused there and winked toward Gregory before continuing.

“Now, if you're adapting your tactics you’Ll probably need some new equipment that will better suit you. If that's the case, you buy it from our craftsmen. If other packs are joining us, we'll put out food and drink for you to take a break, but if you want it then you pay for it. We accept gold and silver. No favours, or challenges toward Greg since he'll be focused up on helping you guys out. Deal?"

Duraz considered for only a moment before agreeing to the terms with Janette. They sealed the deal with a wrist-shake, and then turned toward Gregory for further instruction.

The human alpha was more than a Little surprised by the deal, and decided to make sure Janette was present for any future negotiations he might have to make.

“Ok then guys," he clapped his hands together to get everyone's attention and took a more commanding tone.

“Let's get started. Runts, we run through the basic start-up drills. Blood Snakes. Keep up.”

The Runts gave a unified grunt of agreement with their alpha, and the Blood Snakes looked toward Duraz.

“You heard him! Get to it told.