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 Posted: Fri Jan 04, 2013 3:23 pm
 Everyone was affected. She was willing to bet there wasn't a member of all Sunflare who hadn't some cause to hate the Shadow Herd. Whether it was for murder, kidnap, or assault, all of Shadow would someday have to pay for their crimes. And many was the star who had a personal grudge against them. Sepaia's own cousin was a member of that herd, and a high-ranking one at that. Retinadeath wasn't just a phantom of Sepaia's foalhood, a tattered soul she remembered changing so much over so little time, she was also Retinadeath's counterpart, her direct nemesis, someone she would, in some great epic, have to face down personally and end. According to her Clan's bards, anyway. Personally, she didn't care how the Shadow was defeated, only that it was defeated and good stars everywhere were left in peace. It was naive to believe that someday the Burning Sun would no longer be needed (and a blow to the ego, to boot), but she would rather deal with small groups of enemies, disorganized and unrelated, than deal with a herd specifically designed to take her and her own down.
It was a daunting proposition. But honor through energy--Sepaia would triumph by ensuring that her little army was ready to face down her cousin's. In that vein, she needed all the fighters she could get. She couldn't afford to turn any away. Even if she was a little bit worried about this one.
Sepaia could remember the fateful night Ciaradh's sister was kidnapped by her Shadow Herd father. It had been a terrible deed done late at night, and it burned her to know that she couldn't save the foal. It wasn't hard to see, though, that she was not the one most affected by the affair. She stared into Ciaradh's burning, pale-gold eyes and nodded. "Of course we can train you," she said. "It's our duty to train anyone who would join us. You were planning to join Burning Sun, weren't you?"
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Posted: Fri Jan 04, 2013 8:03 pm
 Ciaradh could barely remember his sister. It was only hazy memories, half-shadows that almost seemed like the beginnings of a dream cut short. He didn't know her, couldn't know her, wished he could see her again and talk to her. He'd constructed for himself in his mind what she must be like. He imagined she was lonely. He imagined she was scared. He imagined they were forcing her to do things she didn't want to do. Things that she abhorred. The slight young mare in his imagination needed his help. And he would help her. He would rescue her. In his mind's eye, he could already see the triumph, the victory, leading her home as she thanked him and promised him that yes, they were going to be a family, a family that Ciaradh had always wanted.
That's how it worked, right?
But in order to do that, in order to rescue her, he would have to become a warrior. A champion. And to be a champion, he would need training. While it wasn't, by any means, a law that all champions had to be members of Burning Sun, it was a tradition--mostly because Burning Sun members were, at the moment, the only stars in the herd trained in the combat arts. So it was a tradition reinforced by...by something, he couldn't properly explain it. What he could do was talk to the rhia of Burning Sun one morning and hope she would accept his request to take him in as a trainee. "Yes, I suppose so," he said. "I had not given it serious thought, but if this is where the action is, this is where I want to be."
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Posted: Mon Feb 11, 2013 12:45 pm
The action. Well, he wasn't the first star to refer to it as such, and he certainly would not be the last. It almost felt like glorification, though--the belief that because their cause was right, it would be easy to win, easy to triumph. As though victory was assured through morals and ethics. But it certainly was not. It's horrible to think it, but we're going to need more than just practice against each other. We need to meet other people in combat. We need to know what to expect in a proper battle against people trying to do us harm. She mentally sighed and added that to the ever-growing list of responsibilities as a leader. "We're on the frontlines, if that's what you mean," she said. "Or we will be, if there's an attack." She shifted a little, unsure as to how to approach a certain subject without getting an aggressive response from him. She didn't know Ciaradh very well outside of observing him from a distance, but his uncle was one of her bards, and Garmionnt had been keeping a close eye on him for some time, as a relative. According to Gar, Ciaradh was a bit...touchy when it came to family. Mintos agreed.
"Ciaradh, I don't know how to ask you this, but...if you join us, and you fight, you may be encountering your family on the battlefield," she began. "We have no way of knowing what happened to your sister--you may someday have to fight her in combat. You should keep that in mind if you want to be a champion."
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Posted: Mon Feb 11, 2013 12:51 pm
The slender mare in his mind's eye, charging into combat, whooping like a barbarian, spreading mayhem and destruction? Why, the image was laughable! And yet, he could not laugh. He could only shake his head and vehemently reply, "She would never. My sister would never hurt anyone. Don't say things like that!" He was almost angry at the rhia--almost. But the earnest expression on her face wanted to make him break something. How dare she say something like that about his sister?! His sister?! Nearer and dearer to her than any other star that he saw day-to-day?
"I can--and will!--fight any Shadow star I meet," he added. "There is nothing that will stop me once I have the training. Once I have it, you can release me in the direction of those thieving cowards and Sunflare will be safe forevermore. Nothing more necessary! I will make it quick and painless." Ciaradh pawed at the ground and lashed his tail back and forth. "It's time they were put down. Long since time. They've preyed on us for too long. If you teach me, Sepaia, I promise you, we will never hear from them ever again."
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Posted: Sun Apr 07, 2013 9:18 am
A berserker. Sepaia wasn't sure if that was a bad thing or a very bad thing. If he could control his temper, it could be...useful in a few limited situations. But only a few, and most of them ended in wholesale slaughter, including the death of any noncombatants that might be in the area. If Shadow were using hostages or bait...
Well, Ciaradh was not yet a warrior. He had no training in combat yet, there was still time to maybe, just maybe, drum some of the more unreasonable aggression out of him. "Listen, Ciaradh," she said gently, "We will teach you. It's our job as members of the Burning Sun: any Sunflare member who comes to us asking for training in self-defense--or combat--will receive training. If we are to survive as a herd, we must be able to defend ourselves. If you wish to become one of our champions, then...so be it. We will accept you. We will train you. And I guarantee you, you will see...action." And hopefully, a mind-healer who could help him with his issues. That would be useful to have--as well as more practice for the arcturai in the herd at healing! That could be very, very useful indeed.
"However!" she added. "You will be a member of an army, Ciaradh. Armies have discipline. Armies have order. If you wish to become a champion, you must first be willing to follow orders, even if you don't like those orders."
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Posted: Sun Apr 07, 2013 9:36 am
At the confirmation that he would be that which he wanted to be, the stallion began to shake with excitement. Already his life was on the track he wanted it to be on! Heroism! Victory! A family! It could all be his, it was within his grasp. There were no more obstacles to overcome--well, besides battle, and who could hold a torch to Sunflare? That's right, no one could. This wouldn't take long at all, not in the least. Shadow's days were numbered. He felt himself vibrate with an energy that was at once joy and rage. "I can hardly wait to see some action!" In his head, it had been a calm, cold sentence, like one a hero might say in one of Uncle Gar's stories. But when he said it, it came out as an excited shout.
Well, it was a start, anyway.
At the mention of discipline, though, he felt himself straighten up and out, wings snapping against his torso and head held high. "And what if these orders are...ethically unsound?" he asked in what he imagined was a deeper, more mature voice than his teenaged squeal.
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Posted: Fri Jan 24, 2014 8:30 am
Yes, good question. But luckily, Sepaia knew how to answer it—two ways to answer it, in fact. “I can promise you, here and now, Ciaradh, that I will never give you an order that is ethically unsound. That is, assuming you have the same ethics as us.” She said it with a weak smile, hoping to prompt some sort of…smile, or giggle, or nod, or something, not that blank stare as if he was processing the possibility that, yes, someone raised in the same herd as him, who had taught his uncle, grandfather, and grandmother, and led his family in day-to-day life, might, in fact, share his same ethical values. Well, probably. Assuming Odhran had raised him right. Sepaia was confident that the green stallion had. She had no reason to doubt her bard’s brother. He was a good lad from good parents. Sure, he’d been led astray, but so had their druid, once.
With disastrous consequences, said a treacherous thought in the back of her head. Yes. Blodeuwedd, the so-called “queen” of the Shadow Herd, had some very familiar maple leaves on her neck and shoulders. Very familiar, as was that luscious strawberry-blond mane. Anyone could be led astray. It frightened her.
Ciaradh nodded acknowledgement of her promise at last. With permission, finally, to continue, Sepaia did. “We have other rules within our Clan, of course. Obvious ones—never harm a foal, never harm a pregnant mare, show mercy when requested, prisoners cannot be harmed—we will teach you these as well as fighting methods. The Burning Sun are not just a rowdy rabble of fighters—we have laws. It sets us apart.” Left unsaid was just who it was they were set apart from. The arctyra knew full well what she meant. “But we also have one rule, one we will put up front, right here and now: there are to be no. No. Relations with Shadow Herd members.”
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Posted: Fri Jan 24, 2014 8:31 am
Well, probably Sepaia had the same ideas as him. That was confirmed when she mentioned a bunch of the other rules and he found himself adding caveats at the end of each rule: “if an enemy kid is carrying a message, and that message could hurt us, breaking his legs is better than letting him get away,” “what if she’s attacking us?” “except if they don’t mean it,” “if they’re not making trouble.” Hm. Being a member of Burning Sun was going to be tougher than he thought with all these rules! Not that it mattered. None of these rules applied outside of combat. Well, okay, two of them did, but…well, foals weren’t that much harm. Except if you slaughtered their parents. Okay, okay, obviously, he was going to have to think all of these through a bit more…
It was that relations thing, though, that bothered him. Besides just the obvious ambiguity of the words. “Relations” could mean “relationships” or “actual, honest-to-goodness relatives.” It wasn’t clear what Sepaia meant from exact wording, though knowing her…even though he didn’t, really, not yet at least…he knew damn well what she meant. “If you mean, as I think you do, that we cannot have relationships, do you mean friendships or romances? Or both. Not that it matters,” he added. “Every star has the potential for redemption, Sepaia. Even the Shadow Herd.”
The casual observer sitting inside Ciaradh’s head, reading all of his thoughts, would have found the assertion hypocritical in light of his previous thoughts about prisoner abuse. But the casual observer would have been missing several pieces of information. The first piece of information was that Ciaradh was obstinate and contrary by nature. Whenever given any order of any kind, or rule of any sort, his first reaction was always to find exceptions, regardless of personal beliefs on the matter (though often informed by them). The second piece of information was, yes, as a matter of fact, Ciaradh was being biased. Would Blodeuwedd ever be redeemed? Maybe, but probably not. Would Stormlight be redeemed? Never in a million years. Would his sister be redeemed?
Are you even paying attention?! So he made his assertion, expression cool though his eyes were burning bright.
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Posted: Fri Jan 24, 2014 8:37 am
This boy was going to be the death of her, wasn’t he. Garmionnt was contrary, too (heavens knew where he’d gotten it), but at least he quickly backed down. The expression on Ciaradh’s face was one of a stallion who would never back down. Never, ever, ever. He knew what he wanted, and he was going to get it. This was going to be a problem. No, it was going to be a Problem. “Friendships are…tricky. I’m going to say no. It’s not that I don’t think friendships are possible,” she added, “it’s that they’re…how can I put this? They create problems. They create divided loyalties in both parties, they cause slips. Now, I’m all for slips on the enemy’s part, but I just don’t trust most Shadow Herd members to not use our slips against us. We can’t risk it. It’s hard to tell the difference between sincerity and deception, especially when the person in question was raised by the masters of the art.
“As for romance?” Her lips quirked, but the rest of her face was not smiling. “You know better than anyone else how well that works out.” It was subtle, but Ciaradh flinched. She could see it in the way all his muscles, especially those in his face and neck, froze, and his ears flickered backwards. It wasn’t being reminded he didn’t like—it was the way she’d put it. A way that put his situation into stark reality rather than sugarcoated romance. “Do you accept these conditions? All members of my clan must and do.”
Ciaradh nodded. “Excellent,” Sepaia said. “Follow me, and we will begin your training shortly.”
((Good enough.))
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