Radiance Ch. 86

"Indeed it does my love and you are absolutely right, a true Claw pack is led from the front by its Alphas and I cannot claim this title for myself if I am not willing to act as such so shall it be, if you truly wish to join us Thundertail I will allow it under the conditions that you not only keep your hands off the claimed humans within this pack but follow my instructions to the letter, understood?" she said and Thundertail's face visibly brightened up and she began to jig about and bang her tail on the ground again in celebration.

"She really is an excitable one isn't she?" vess said and Seven chuckled softly.

"God help the human that falls for her, they're gonna have to have pretty solid bones," he said softly.

"Or maybe one of those tin suits of yours," Vess said making him chuckle as they both watched the bouncing Gatorclaw celebrating getting new friends.

Once she'd calmed down Thundertail seemed to notice the large radstag carcasses that were nearby, "Are these the offering of peace that friend Seven tells me's about?" she asked pointing at them and Visa nodded.

"Yes we hoped that an offering of food to your pack Alphas would show them that we come in peace and mean no intrusion into their territory," Visa said and Thundertail nodded.

"Alphas will be pleased, matriarch says guests in territory should always be respectful and good Claw should always guard their nest well," she said proudly and both Vess and Visa nodded approvingly.

"Which is as it should be young one, now can you take us to your Alphas so we may present our offering?" Vess asked and Thundertail nodded and beckoned them to follow her, so with Seven's help to carry the load the three set off in hot pursuit of the excitable Gatorclaw girl as she wound her way between the exhibits of the Safari zone.

Eventually, they came to a large cage that had the front torn off and had a large hollow hide at the rear with a massive pool off to the right where even now Seven could see three smaller Gatorclaws lounging but they were watching them cautiously as they stopped and waited at Thundertail's instruction.

As Seven watched the three swam right up to the edge using their massive tails to power them through the water until they emerged and drew themselves up to look at the newcomers, they were a fair bit bigger than Seven had first thought and appeared to be two males and a female.

The three didn't say anything or make any aggressive moves they simply watched them as they stood there waiting, fortunately, they didn't have to wait long as moments later Thundertail reemerged with two massive Gatorclaws in tow, one male and one female these were the Alpha pair.

"Daughter says you have come to offer tribute to show you mean no intrusion or harm to Saffari zone pack?" the large male said in a voice so low and deep that it actually caused the metal of Seven's suit to resonate with the vibrations of it.

He decided to let Vess and Visa handle this as they were far better versed in Claw diplomacy than he was, "Indeed honoured Alpha, my name is Vess of the proud Northen pack and this is my niece Visa proud Alpha of the Free People's of the Wastes, we come here hoping to meet with you and we bring this offering of food as a gesture of our intentions and good faith," Vess said gesturing to the massive radstags that the tree of them carried.

"It is good to see that you's shows proper respect, speaks well of the Northen pack, we will accept you's gift in manner in which it is presented," the big male said and he stepped forward holding out his hands to take the radstag from Seven who happily handed over the beast thinking how much of a pain in the arse it was going to be to get his armour clean after carrying that damn thing here, though washing Visa down should at least be fun.

"Daughter Thundertail also says she's wishes to join you's pack as you's is like her?" the Alpha matriarch said in an equally low voice as that of her mate and Visa nodded.

"Yes my mate Seven has informed me of this and I have spoken to her, it seems that your daughter is as I and indeed my aunt is, we are proud human loving Claws who have seen the good and joys of their people and have accepted their ways as our own in hope that we can bridge the gap between proud and noble Claws and humanity so that we can show them they have nothing to fear from us as long as proper respect and honour is shown, in doing so I have come to find myself loving one of their kind and have taken him for my mate, because he has shown me more honour in the time that I have known him than any of my own kind have done in a lifetime," Visa said proudly.

"I too have taken on this fate myself, I raised a pack and we grew large and strong but bad humans took that away from us, but it was this human right here that freed myself and my surviving children from their clutches and fought alongside us to avenge my fallen brothers and sisters, he showed me that not all humans are bad, that there a great many good ones out there who can show you this if given a chance to do so, as I lost my beloved mate in that capture I decided it was only right if they paid back this debt to me with one of their own kind so I hunted and caught the heart of one of their most beautiful males, he is now my shining star and has given me new life," Vess said proudly.

"So is not just daughter that thinks of humans in this way, strange always thought that she was odd, that she was in a phase that she would grow out of, but yous means it doesn't you?" the female Alpha said and now Seven spoke for the first time.

"She does and so do I, I love this Claw right here and would do anything for her including fighting for her with y dying breath, the pair of us have been through so much to get to where we are and now together we are aiming to show all what humans, Claws and indeed other species can do together because together we can heal this world or at least set it on the path to be, there's been more than enough hate and vileness for a million lifetimes, it's time for something new and something different, it's time for love to win," Seven said proudly as he placed a hand on Visa's shoulder.

Both of them looked amazed and glanced at one another before the big Alpha male stepped close to Seven and looked down at him, "Can yous prove to me's that you's is strong enough to keep beloved Thundertail safe in your pack?" he said.

"Our pack is a lot larger than you see here there are quite a few of us but they are off helping others just like us but sure I think I can do that," Seven said.

Seven looked around himself before noticing something nearby that he could use, stretching out his hand the large metal post tore itself free from the ground and flew over to him before in a show of telekinetic strength he crushed the solid metal into a small football-sized ball of incredibly dense steel and handed it to a very stunned Alpha.

"Anyone who would wish harm to your beloved daughter in my sight will suffer a fate worse than this, you have my word, with us she is guarded, with us she is protected, with us she is loved," Seven said proudly.

The male Gatorclaw looked at his mate holding out the ball for her to see and feel, "You's should have seen him, patriarch! He turns nasty worm queen into a ball of jelly smaller than ball you hold now, he grows wings made of smoke and flys, worms bite Thundertail's tail and friend Seven destroys nasty worms, he's is very strong, is worthy Alpha for lucky Alpha Claw Visa," Thundertail said proudly.

The two Gatorclaws looked at one another and then at Seven, "You's word is sound friend Seven, you's and your pack is welcome here and if Thundertail wishes to join you's then we will bless it as she is of age that she may choose to roam or join another pack if she's wishes to, we hereby name the Northen pack friends of the Safari zone pack, yous is welcome here," the Alpha male said and with that, he stepped forwards and hoisted Seven into the air in a hug that made his armour creak in protest.

"Thank you good Claws and we will do everything in our power to be worthy of your friendship if you have any problems please do not hesitate to ask us we have a real knack for problem-solving as it happens," Seven said as the big male put him down and Seven now noticed that the other three had closed right in and were examining him rather closely.

"Thank you, friend Seven is most kind offer, we's should introduce you to Miss Eve she's is like you, good human who comes with respect and helps us to understand yous language and even people," the big male said and Seven nodded.

"Yeah Thundertail mentioned her to us and I would rather like to meet her if I can," he said.

"Thundertail will take you's to her, Thundertail also says yous is staying in old pump house, you's is welcome to keep staying there if you's can't finds better with Miss eve," he said and wit ha final nod of thanks he and his mate collected up the three Radstags and headed into their nest with the other three Claws in rapid tow all looking hungrily at the food.

"So it is true that the quickest way to Claw's heart is through their stomach then," Seven said with a chuckle and Visa growled softly.

"I think you know the quickest way to my heart isn't through my mouth," she said making him laugh and pat her massive thigh.

"Yeah but you're one in a billion Visa, it's one of the many reasons I love you so," he said chuckling and making her growl softly.

The trio followed Thundertail towards the massive treehouse at the centre of the Safari zone where she led them into the building through a side entrance, Seven could see that this place used to be a gift shop and information area for the once zoo that this place used to be.

There were lots of once colourful displays that explained about some of the animals that once lived here, there were lots of pictures of alligators and turtles to name but a few and Seven couldn't help but wonder if any of these other species had been Claw converted and maybe if there was a turleclaw wandering rather slowly around out there somewhere.

Climbing up the stairs behind the main counter Thundertail led them up to a few floors above where they emerged into a large open area that had been converted into what appeared to be part lab, part school and part home all in one, though the biggest surprise came in the form of Chris, Shauna and Timothy all sat having tea with a thin blonde woman with bright green eyes.

"Ahh you must be Seven, Visa and Vess, you're friends here have not stopped singing your praises since they arrived here, I must say I've been quite eager to meet the three of you, especially you mister Seven," the woman who must be Miss Eve said standing and approaching Seven with her hand held out and before he shook it Seven decided it was time to shed the armour so stepping out of the suit he moved around it and took her hand.

"And you Miss Eve Thundertail here speaks very highly of you indeed," Seven said glancing at the somewhat doe-eyed large Gatorclaw girl who was looking somewhat longingly at Miss Eve and Seven smiled as he recognised the same look she'd given him.

"Thank you and yes Thundertail here is one of my best students, she and her entire pack's grip on English is remarkable and their speed in learning it has amazed me given their heritage I would have thought it would have been a lot harder to deprogram a couple of million years of programming but it appears some of the processes that turned them into Claw's in the first place has helped to ease the grip that evolution has on them," she said then she turned to look at Visa and Vess.

"And you must be Visa and Vess," she said moving towards the two Claws with her hand extended again both Claws took it and shook it.

"Indeed I am Visa Alpha female of this pack and this is my aunt Vess Alpha matriarch of the proud Northen pack," Visa said and Eve's face lit up with pure joy.

"Oh, how truly wonderful oh your pair is simply marvellous, your grip of the English language is simply marvellous and your accents are impeccable, oh this fills me with such joy because it shows me that I am moving in the right direction with the safari pack, oh we have so much to talk about," she said.

"Indeed we do miss Eve indeed we do," Seven said smiling at her.