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 Posted: Sun Sep 05, 2010 8:01 pm
 Mother had been pushing her more and more with each passing day, trying to prepare her for the training that laid ahead with the sisters of Antianeira. It had been hard at first, she was not used to such pressures being put on her. Pups were supposed to play, have fun, not learn to hunt and kill at such a young age. At first she didn't truly understand why her mother forced it upon her, pushed her on when she had reached the point of exhaustion, made her run until her paws nearly bled. But after being told of the duties to the pack and more importantly to the Queen it all made sense. Not only that but she would get to train along side the packs heir, and that was a rare and special thing indeed.
For a short time, Guinevere was free what she wished to do, mother had gone off to do a border patrol or hunt or something. This was the perfect opportunity to rest. Laying in the shade Guinevere took the time to keep her weight off of her paws, they were a bit sore, as mother had just marched her about the entire pack lands - or at least it felt like she had.
Laying on her side Guinevere closed her eyes, it wasn't particularly bright out right now, as it was reaching fall now and the suns intensity was much less than it was during the summer months. What Guinevere liked most of all about the fall is that the sun rose later and set earlier with each passing day, allowing her a bit more freedom to be out. Oh sure, it meant she was still out during the darker hours but those darker hours were becoming more plentiful.
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Posted: Sun Sep 05, 2010 10:31 pm
 Balios was in high spirits today.
Not that this was a particularly unique event -- for the most part, Balios tended toward optimism -- but today he seemed especially vibrant. No reason, really, aside from a general happiness to be alive...or perhaps that his mother, now so thoroughly distracted with training Guinevere, was less awkwardly ambivalent toward he and his siblings. Sure, she'd never love them as much, that much was obvious. But while others looked at that as a negative thing, Balios had decided to take it as an exploitable opportunity.
There were, after all, certain advantages to being generally ignored. For one, it gave him lots of time to bond with his Dad, which was always nice. And he had way more time to explore. Also, he didn't have to do anything particular with all of his free time, unlike his sister.
Catching a familiar white figure in the corner of his eye, Balios veered off his course, trotting to the shade. It was the right thing to do, wandering over to say hello, and he was a little curious as to what had kept her out so much lately.
"Hello, Sister," he said, with his usual formality. He settled to his haunches near to her -- but not too near -- and offered a winning smile. He had decided early on that although he knew perfectly well that she wasn't really his sister, it was the right thing to do to ignore that fact completely. For one, it would make Mother happy, and Mother being happy meant fewer yelling matches. For another, it seemed kind of mean to treat Guinevere badly just because she had the bad luck to be an orphan. So, much to some of his brother's annoyance, Balios had firmly decided to reach out to his would-be sister. "How are you this afternoon?"
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Posted: Sun Sep 05, 2010 10:41 pm
Though her eyes were closed she heard the subtle sounds of paws coming her way. Slowly opening her eyes Guinvere set her gaze upon one of her many brothers, Balios. He was always the cheerful one of the group, where others seemed to avoid her he would stop and talk to her, like he was doing now. Rolling onto her stomach Guinevere greeted Balios with a slight wag of her tail. "Brother."
The sun had gone down a bit in the time she had been laying there, allowing her to open her eyes fully without feeling the discomfort of their stinging rays. "I am alright, just finished some training with mother." Glancing around for a moment Guinevere half expected one of her other brothers to wander in and force Balios away, but no it was just the two of them right now. "What have you been up to?" She didn't get to spend much time with her brothers anymore, between training and sleep there was little time for anything else, unless mother gave her some extra free time.
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Posted: Sun Sep 05, 2010 10:49 pm
"You've been keeping very busy," he said, looking at her paws and her generally weathered experience. "It doesn't look like much fun," he noted. Corinth might be holding on to the feeble dream of training as a warrior to make mom happy, but Balios was relieved not to have to bother with it.
"Me? Nothing, really. Played some hide and seek with Mavican. Was fun, except she kept forgetting she was it, so she forgot about me for a really long time and the sun started going down so I left." He grinned. "She's got a lot of sisters, you know. And only one brother. Not like us at all. You ever play with her and her sisters?"
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Posted: Sun Sep 05, 2010 10:59 pm
"It's not supposed to be fun." She couldn't help but smile a bit as she said that. Since when had training become something to be referred to as fun. It was very serious work, and took far too much time and effort to ever be fun. "If I do not ready myself for the training ahead then Aunt Varia will have my head." And that was probably true, just because she was the niece of the head warrior of Antianeira did not mean she would be given an easier time. In fact, chances are she would be pushed harder than any of the other pups being trained.
Listening to Balios as he spoke about playing tag with Mavican, and mentioning her sisters and the chance to play Guinevere turned her eyes away from him, looking out towards the trees. "I don't have time to play Balios." There was a very slight hint of disappointment in her voice, she was a pup after all and pups loved to play. "Training takes up all my time, and I need to sleep when I am not busy with mother." Besides playing tag with a forgetful pup didn't sound like fun - well it did a little bit. Returning her gaze to her brother Guinevere smiled. "But all this training will be worth it when I am to serve the Queen and be a warrior like mother was. It will bring her great honor." Honor was important among the sisters, and to be given the chance to grant that to her adopted mother was more than enough of a reason to endure the pain of this current training.
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Posted: Sun Sep 05, 2010 11:11 pm
"Oh," he said, with a confused and disappointed tone. His brow furrowed contemplatively for a moment. "But...if it's not any fun...why do it?" He tilted his head, genuinely trying to understand this. Honor? Well, that sounded okay he guessed...but was it really worth all that?
Still, he didn't want to offend her -- although he really didn't understand -- so he added quickly, "But if it makes you happy, I guess that's a good thing?" Well, whatever the case, he was certainly glad that he wasn't Mother's favorite. It sounded like an awful lot of work without much payoff at all.
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Posted: Mon Sep 06, 2010 1:12 pm
If it's not any fun, then why do it? It was certainly a valid question, but sadly one to which Guinevere wasn't sure of the answer. She knew that mother wished for her to follow a long line of females that had lived in and served the Antianeira pack, it's Queen and it's sisters. And part of Guinevere wanted to be just that, to belong, to live with those who lived with similar goals and ideals in mind. But another part just wanted to stay here, live with her family, even if it was somewhat dysfunctional. "Because that's what a daughter of an Antianeira warrior is expected to do." She answered him simply and truthfully. There was no other way to explain it at this moment.
"It does make me happy. But..." Guinevere hesitated for a moment, unsure whether she should say anything to Balios. He was of the lesser gender after all and the last thing she wanted was to get in trouble with mother for saying things. "I sometimes wonder, if mother loved that life so much, then why did she ever leave it? I've tried to ask her about it, but she always avoids answering my question. Why make me go into a life that she left behind?"
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Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2010 5:33 pm
"It doesn't make a lot of sense," he agreed, scratching at an itch behind his ear with one dappled hindpaw. Yes indeed, it was a good thing to be male he decided. Just wait til he told Corinth about all this! Maybe then he wouldn't be quite so sad all the time.
A thoughtful look crossed his face. "Maybe she's not very good at it," he suggested, and then glanced furtively over his shoulder to make sure Mother wasn't standing behind him, ready to give him a good wallop for saying that. "I mean, maybe she's better at teaching than actually being a warrior, and that's why she wants you to go instead."
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Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2010 8:16 pm
Guinevere nipped at Balios' shoulder and not in the friendly manner either. "I don't believe that one bit Balios. With all those things she has told me, I think she was a great warrior at one time. It is the ease of life here that has made her otherwise." Clearly Balios was just jealous that Guinevere was going to to such an important role as serving a Queen, protecting her and becoming an even greater warrior than her mother or her aunt was.
Laying her head upon her paws Guinevere sighed. "Plus, love got in the way." Guinevere knew that mother loved their father very much, but that was not the life of a warrior of Antianeira. And that was why mother stayed her, to hide her shame in abandoning her life style. "And what of you brother," she said, trying to change the subject. "What plans do you have with your life?"
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Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2010 11:17 pm
"Okay, okay," he said, batting at her. "It was just a thought." If she already knew the answer then why had she asked?
Love? His nose wrinkled. That was girl stuff, too.
"I don't know, Guin." He considered her question seriously, though. "Tantalus wants to be the alpha when he grows up, but that's way too big for me. I'd like to be an ambas-basador when I grow up, like Father," he added, a little meekly. "That sounds like fun."
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Posted: Wed Sep 08, 2010 8:03 pm
An involuntary shudder ran down her spine at the mention of Tantalus wanting to be an Alpha. She did not think he was the Alpha type, not for this pack at least. Maybe he should just start his own pack, so that way he wouldn't ruin what was established already here. So Balios wanted to be an ambassador - well Guinevere had to admit if any of her brothers could be an ambassador it would be Balios.
"Ambassador huh? So you are gonna walk in fathers footsteps like I am to walk in mothers." She commented somewhat idly. Was it the fate of children to try to or forced to follow in their ways? It made sense for the most part, parents would want their children to live similar lives as they had. Guinevere wonders for a moment what her other brothers would do, Iolaus seemed more of a side kick than leader, Apollo was far too truthful for his own good and would likely get himself in trouble one day because of that. And what of Corinth? He was a bit shy, always trying to seek mothers love and affection. "What do you think Corinth will do?" She asked curiously, there was only one choice that she could see if he wanted to please mother, and that was a life of servitude to the sisters of Antianeira. And that choice would likely anger her father.
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Posted: Wed Sep 08, 2010 9:54 pm
"Corinth is confused," he said, rather shrewdly, and left it at that. He had his own theories, of course, but Balios found it his responsibility to keep an eye on his shyest brother, and that meant both literally and figuratively protecting him.
"So, uh...when do you leave?" He asked, and winced, afraid that it sounded rude. He rephrased. "I mean, for real training. With Mother's other pack."
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Posted: Thu Sep 09, 2010 8:22 pm
Guinevere nodded in agreement, Corinth was a very confused pup, and only time would tell what would truly happen with him. "I don't know." She sighed, there was so many things she wanted to do before she left, but it was gonna be hard to fit it all in around her training schedule and the need for sleep. "A couple of weeks I think." It would be enough time for mother to either whip her into shape or run her into the ground. Guinevere hoped that it was not the latter, she did want to prove herself but not be completely worn out in doing so.
"But when I go do I likely won't get to see you or anyone else for a while, and I don't think you will be able to come visit me either - not without the Queen's permission." She would miss her brothers even if they were of the lesser gender, the ways of Antianeira had not yet been completely ingrained in her, but they were slowly seeping into her mind.
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Posted: Thu Sep 09, 2010 10:32 pm
"Will you miss us?" He asked, genuinely curious. He tried to think if he'd miss her, and wasn't sure. He liked her well enough, but he didn't really see her enough to miss her, he didn't think -- or else he'd be missing her already, wouldn't he?
His tail thumped then. "Uncle Iosef got to visit us once," he said, then, forever the optimist. "So maybe we could come up. And just think! Maybe you can play with him up there!"
He clearly wasn't quite getting the pack dynamics completely.
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Posted: Fri Sep 10, 2010 8:50 am
Guinevere smiled. "Of course I'll miss you guys." And she meant it, for her adoptive family meant a lot to her, even if it was apparently filled with so many of the lesser gender, at least they were still around, unlike her birth family. It did bother her some days that she couldn't remember how they got separated or what her parents look like. Hopefully with time she would remember, and even if she didn't, she would always be grateful for this family taking her in.
It was clear to her that Balios didn't quite understand how the pack up North ran, and while she should have clarified it for him, Guinevere didn't feel like explaining it at the moment. "Yeah, I'm sure I'll have fun with Uncle Iosef, and when I'm settled in I bet mom will bring you and everyone up to visit me." It was a slim possibility but hopefully this little white lie would keep Balios happy for the time being.
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