[PRP] Repercussions (Kaleidoscope, Mercy & Ironforge)

[She-Ra of Etheria]

Kale paced back and forth at the edge of the training grounds. Where was that blasted mare? He had been surprised, though perhaps not so much now that he thought about it, when she had not come back from her border patrol. At first he thought not much of it when she wasn't back on time. Things came up during patrols, occasionally one could run into a stranger and they would have to take their time to show them how to get to where they were going, or bring them to the herd if that was their destination. He had been late on a few border patrols when he had still been a knight in training, he had remembered quite well how angry Ironforge had been at him until he explained there was a good reason why he had been late. Even so he tried his hardest to make it back on time. But the thing was Mercy wasn't just a little bit late, she had completely disappeared!

He had spent a good chunk of the night looking for the wayward mare. None of the other patrols had seen her return nor had they seen her leave, then again the herds territory was quite large and it was possibly to not see everyone's movements constantly. Still it had been a shock and annoyance to find the mare was missing. There was only so much Kale could do in the dark, hoof prints were near impossible to see and so he had given up the search and headed back to report to Ironforge.

Now morning was upon them once more and there was still no sign of the mare. Kale was angry, partially because of her blatant disrespect for her duties but he was also worried about the mare, she was far too naive and he wasn't sure if she had gotten into trouble. He should go out and look for her again, if Ironforge wanted to stay that was his choice but Kale just couldn't sit idle any longer. "I can't believe she would do something this stupid." He muttered. Sure he had blown off a couple patrols in the early days, but never had he been gone more than a few hours. "I should go out and look for her again." His voice has softened, an indication he was worried about the student, if she was hurt then he would feel terrible but even that wouldn't save her from getting disciplined over her actions.  

[JetAlmeara]

Ironforge was none to pleased with the situation either, truth be told he was actually quite furious, he had dispatched Prospector earlier that morning to speak with the other woodland creatures..perhaps they had seen or heard something that the herd had not. The wildlife was always on the look out for danger and more often then note they recalled things that were out of the ordinary fairly well.

"There was nothing to be done in the dark" Ironforge reminded the stallion "And she is not used to traveling during that time either..if she wandered too far away it's possible she just holed up for the night somewhere. Lets wait for Prospector to return, it won't do any of us any good to go charging off on a wild goose chase" He stated in a gruff tone that he rarely used with the rainbow stallion anymore though Kale would know it well, as a sign of his inner anger. At least this time the anger was not directed at him.

"In any case the mares prints have long since been destroyed by other travelers, unless we get some leads we won't know where to start looking for her" He went on, his continuation of the topic enough to prove that he was worried. He had promised to help train Mercy..she was the daughter of one of his dearest friends..how was he ever going to face Chev again if something had happened to her? He had assigned the mare to a main pathway on purpose..so that she would have no trouble returning to the herd or finding help should she need it...he hadn't expected that she would just...vanish in broad daylight.

Oh she was in so much trouble, she just knew it! After watching Tairyn run off - not that she could blame the other mare - Mercy had started to make her way back to the herd proper, slinking down the pathway with her head down and hoping beyond hope that Ironforge and Kale hadn't noticed her missing - perhaps they had been to busy, or something had come up. It was a longshot...but it could happen...right?

Apparently not..Mercy knew that her small ray of hope had been shattered before she even stepped into the meadow. She could see the two stallions even from her, the tense form of Kale as he seethed and Ironforge with his typical steady pose but with a decidedly annoyed look on his face. Yes..she was definitely in trouble, and she didn't think there was going to be a way out of it either. She had spent a good portion of the walk back trying to think up an excuse for why she had been missing...but everything that came to mind was so far fetched that she knew they would see right through it. She just ..wasn't good at lying.

Letting out a heavy sigh she crept into the meadow, inwardly cringing as she forced herself to walk towards the two stallions, barely able to even look them in the eye. Yep even if she had a great story lined up her guilty look would have certainly given her away.  

[She-Ra of Etheria]

Kale couldn't help but fall back to his pacing. He hated standing still while there was so little he could do. "She shouldn't have even wandered off that far in the first place." So irresponsible. He knew Mercy didn't take things seriously but to do this foolish thing so soon after coming here it made Kale seriously doubt not only her commitment to training but if she was even mature enough to handle life outside of the sheltered herd she had grown up with. There was so much the mare needed to learn and none of it would ever happen if they didn't find her. Sitting idle was not sitting well with him.

He snorted in frustration. "Better to go on a wild goose chase then sitting here waiting for her to come back." He knew the chances were slim of finding her without a solid trail or lead to go on but damnit this was his student just as much as she was Ironforge's and he didn't like the idea of her being lost no matter the reason. He turned to pace the other way and caught movement in the trees. Instantly he stopped and watched the small figure of the mare slowly make her way into the clearing. Kale couldn't help feel great relief at seeing that she had returned uninjured, but he stopped that from showing in his face. She was back and now there would be discipline to dish out. Stomping his hoof he stepped towards the mare, using his large bulk to make his presence overshadow her.

"Where he hell have you been?" His voice was tinged with anger. He didn't want to yell at her but if they babied her then things like this would happen again in the future and what is she came back injured next time or not at all? No, she needed to learn the lesson now. "Do you not realize the danger you put this herd in leaving your patrol? Running off without telling anyone! We spent half the night looking for you because you felt the need to shaft your duties! Is that what you think being a knight is all about, running off to have some fun ignoring the responsibilities given to you?" He was so angry, but he had to keep in under control. "Is that would you would have done if you were still in your fathers herd? What do you think he would say if you ignored your duties?" Kale shook his head disapprovingly. While he had never met Cheveyo he was damned well certain the stallion would be upset with his daughter over her actions. "If you don't want to do this then go home! Don't waste our time." He didn't want to give up on her, not yet, but damnit what else could he say. His gaze moved to Ironforge waiting to see what his mentor had to say about all this.  

[JetAlmeara]

Ironforge let Kale rant, he agreed with the rainbow stallion and he also knew that Kale was aware of the wisdom of waiting for a lead before running off but the stallion was upset and worried and if ranting and pacing was going to help him handle those emotions then Ironforge was willing to let him go on with them. Kale, the shaggy stallion reminded himself , was still a relatively young Knight.

It seemed that waiting had paid off however when mere moments later Mercy appeared. Like Kale Ironforge was filled with instant relief when he saw the mare come out of the tree's. She was fine...and he wasn't going to have to make the trip to his friends herd to tell him that he had lost his daughter. It was a great weight off the stallions shoulders - he had given such news to too many families in the past and it was not something that he had looked forward to doing again. However his relief was quickly overshadowed by his anger - now that they knew she was safe it was easy to be angry at her for running off in the first place. She was here to learn not..run about doing whatever it was she had been doing.

Kale's demands echoed his own thoughts and he let the rainbow stallion take charge of the questioning for now. Merely adding his own stormy presence to the mix as he hulked over the mare alongside Kale. He took the time to look the mare up and down while Kale raged. "It seems that she was lured away by a steed Kale" Ironforge stated when the rainbow stallion finished his tirade and looked at him, his voice dripping with disappointment. "I can smell him on her, another mare as well" He added, looking at Mercy with raised eyebrows. It was good to let her know that they would always be able to tell what she had been up to. There would be no hiding things from the likes of them.

She had let them down - she hadn't meant to..but it was clear that she had. Mercy wasn't sure which stung the most - the berating from Kale, or the disappointment in Ironforge's voice when he answered Kale's questions for her. Coming from the shaggy stallions mouth it sounded even worse that she had thought and she cringed slightly. "We didn't ...I mean I was just...having a bit of fun" She answered weakly.

"I'm sorry, I didn't intend to be gone the whole night, I thought it was just going to be for a little while and then I was going to come back and finish my patrol - but we went farther then I thought and then I fell asleep talking to someone and..and..I'm sorry?" She went on, hopeful that her explanation and apology would lighten whatever punishment they were about to deal out. She had imagined all sorts of terrible things that they would make her do..but Kale's threat to make her go home was the worst of them. She missed her family of course and she wanted to go home..to visit, not in disgrace. "I don't want to go home, I do want to learn..I do!"  

[She-Ra of Etheria]

Kale looked over at Ironforge and nodded his head with a snort. "I smell it too." For Mercy to run off was one thing, for her to have run off with a stallion...well it was typical actions of a young naive mare. The first stallion to say some nice words, or show a kind gesture and the mare would follow without a second thought. But not all stallions were nice, they may play the part at first but as soon as the mare has been whisked away they showed their true colors. It was a fortunate thing that Mercy had not run into that type of stallion, but she could have and then what would have happened. Kale had to shake his head, his anger was still high but he couldn't take it out completely on Mercy. She needed to learn from this mistake but letting his rage flow and beating her because of her actions were not the solution, in fact Kale would never do such a thing, it would go against his code as a knight.

"Well..." He said curtly. "I hope you had your fill of fun, because everything you do from now on will be the furthest thing from fun." They had been pushing her hard in training but clearly they would need to crank it up a notch. "Sorry ain't gonna cut it princess." He went back to using his old nickname for her, showing Mercy that in this moment Kale had lost all respect for her. She was back to square one with him, and likely Ironforge as well. He couldn't help but snort as she stated that she did want to learn. "Then act like it!" He shouted at her. "Show up with a positive attitude towards training, show that you truly are here to learn and become a knight. Stop acting like this," he motioned to the training grounds behind them, "is a damned game you would play with your nieces back home. This is not a game, it's a lifestyle. You either become a knight or you don't, there is no middle ground with this."

He paused looking over at Ironforge for a moment. He could tell the shaggy stallion was about as upset and angry with Mercy as he was. "And we will start your punishment by putting in some extra hours each day to train. And you will do so without complaint." He took a step back and looked at Ironforge once more. "And perhaps she needs a babysitter for patrols for the time being as well."  

[JetAlmeara]

"Yes , if she is going to act like a yearling then we will have to treat her like one I suppose" Ironforge agreed. Typically only the young were sent out with someone to watch them like that. Mercy should have been old enough to handle a simple patrol on her own and yet...here they were. Of course the stallion also knew that being treated like a baby would only irk the mare - perhaps that irritation would be enough to make her attempt to prove herself better. They could only hope.

"I will send Sorin with her" The stallion stated mildly, not letting his anger show and instead regarding the mare as though she were a misbehaving foal. "The owl will do a good job of keeping an eye on her and will be able to get us quickly if something happens" He rather hoped that Kale's words managed to make an imprint on the mare - thus far she had done little but goof off. "It is time to put away your childhood Mercy and become the mare you are meant to be..it is inside of you somewhere, Kale and I will just have to find out how to bring it out in you" He stated with a sigh, a bit of disappointment still lingering in his voice as he regarded her with a slight shake of his head.

More training?!? But she already trained most of the day and several hours into the evening! More training would mean she had to...get up earlier, she realized with a slight groan. Of course getting up earlier was nothing compared to the insult of being placed with a ..foalsitter, as though she were a baby who couldn't take of herself! So she had made one mistake, big deal - she was betting that both of the stallions before her had made mistakes a time or two in their training too!

"Fine! Whatever!" She told the stallions with a toss of her head, angry now that they were comparing her with a foal - though she wasn't entirely sure if she was truly angry at them or if she was angry at herself for doing what she had done. It wasn't fair! She'd been trying as hard as she could and they just kept expecting more and more and more! It was impossible to please them and everything she did was wrong. At least at home she was seen as an adult for the most part!

"I know it's not a game, I'm not stupid and I'll do your extra training, no big deal - can't be any worse then everything else you've put on me since I got here!" She yelled at them both before stomping past them. She'd do their extra training, see if she didn't! She'd even put up with the blasted owl following her around if for no other reason then to prove to them that she wasn't afraid of them or their silly training.  

[She-Ra of Etheria]

Kale nodded at Ironforge. It was pathetic they had to resort to sending an owl along to watch over Mercy as if she were just a foal, but until she started to take things seriously it was the only option. Well that or having himself or even Ironforge do that, but both stallions had other things to attend to beyond training Mercy so their time could not always put used to watched over their current charge. "Sorin sounds good to me." Kale agree with him old mentor. Anything else the stallion would have said was halted by Mercy's outbursts. Kale couldn't help but let out a ragged sigh, had she not said moments earlier than she did want to train and now she was yelling and having a fit like an upset foal. All their work over the past few weeks seemed to have been a waste of time, and for not the first time since he met her Kale was wondering if training Mercy was anything but a waste of time.

Kale took a step back and watched Mercy stomp off. That was not how knights, or even knights in training dealt with things. Perhaps this is why, in history and even today most knights were males, because they could handle the pressures of it better. "Start by doing some laps, we need to make up for lost time!" Kale called out to the mare, it wasn't exactly what he wanted to start with, but it would give him a few moments to talk with Ironforge before truly diving into her new training routine.

Turning his head the large rainbow stallion looked over at Ironforge. "What are we going to do with her?" He asked, giving his head a bit of a shake. There would always be some rebellion in students, he had done so and even Ironforge's son Zhevra had scoffed a duty or two, but never to the extreme that Mercy had. "Part of me things we should back off a bit, give her more time to adjust to this new way, but I know doing that will only cater to her ways and she won't learn. But I wonder if pushing her too hard will break her too much." This was his first time training a student so even though he was no longer a student himself Kale realized he still had a lot to learn about things, and so he turned to Ironforge for that knowledge knowing the shaggy stallion would come up with a good answer.  

[JetAlmeara]

Watching Mercy stalk off, Ironforge fell into a contemplative silence. He was aware of Kale's feelings, it was easy to read on the other stallion's face and the frustrated shake of his head. He wondered if the mare was worth it,if she had what it took - most likely he thought he was wasting his time and second guessing himself in training her.

"No, no you will continue to push her" Ironforge told the rainbow stallion "She will not break,she is naive and young and foolish but at least now we know she cares" He stated, with a motion of his muzzle to the departing Mercy. If she didn't care she would not have blown up on them, would not have accepted their threat of more training with ,not defiance, but a threat of her own to pull through it. No Ironforge was sure there was more to the mare then what they had already seen.

"She may never be like us, never as calm nor as logical as we are...she follows her heart more then her mind, but if the heart is good then perhaps that is a different sort of strength." Ironforge told Kale, leaving him to think on that Ironforge turned and started back towards the herd "I will send Sorin to her this afternoon" He called back over his shoulder.  

[She-Ra of Etheria]

He figured that would be Kale's answer, but lacking the full experience the older stallion had with training Kale had to ask in order to make the right decision. He had to admit he was relieved to hear Ironforge's assessment, that while young Mercy would not break under the pressures of more training. At least now he could concentrate again on forcing her to learn or pay the price without worry of sending her home a broken mess. Kale nodded. "Not ever knight is the same, perhaps Mercy's strength in her heart will prove her well in the future." He really hoped that was the case. "We'll be here." He called out to the shaggy stallion as Ironforge left. Taking a deep breath Kale turned and focused his attention back to Mercy, wh at least was diligently doing her laps. "Alright, enough of that, we have some real work to do princess. Follow me." With a flick of his head he lead her out of the main training area, this lesson needed to take place not in an open area but in the forest were perception and vision was often blocked.