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 Posted: Sat Aug 28, 2010 4:30 pm
Varia caught the Queen's look and huffed. "If you continue to baby the princess just because she is sick she will never learn to be a true warrior." Varia knew it was a pointless argument, Penthesilea would always want her to go easy on the princess as long as she suffered from sickness and weakness. Instead of continuing on with the argument Varia simply went back to looking coldly at Neira, it wasn't quite a stare but certainly close. Of course that almost staring had a purpose, she was inspecting the other female, looking for any signs of threat as well as strengths and weaknesses. Now granted it wasn't the easiest thing to do given her current condition but even that could not hide the obvious muscles of a wolf that could clearly take care of herself.
"There are too few." Was her only answer in regards to how many sisters there were, and honestly it was the truth. The pack was certainly no where near the size it once was and never would be at the previous strength if no good solid fighters were recruited.
"I assure you she will prove herself with time." The Queen informed her Beta, sure that once Orithia was a bit older she would then become strong enough to fight as well as overcome whatever caused her to be continually sick. Looking over at Neira she was happy to see the female was freely eating the deer as she certainly did need to keep her strength up. "The pack is still yet small, there are around fifteen sisters currently, though there are many more who are missing from before. We also have a good deal of slaves." Perhaps too many given the number of sisters, she added silently. They needed to be careful to keep the number of sisters much higher than slaves or else the entire packs balance would be shattered. There should never be too many males in the pack, and Penthesilea could only hope that the currently expected litter in the pack was female heavy or she would need to ship some of the males off to their ally pack. Which from what the Queen could remember was currently swelled over with pups as is.
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Posted: Sun Aug 29, 2010 4:08 am
Trouble with the royal heir, eh? Neira wondered if all of the Queen's progeny were weak and that was why she was so desperate for new blood. Maybe, maybe not - one never knew how each pack organised their succession - maybe the pup had simply taken ill recently.
Neira considered her own efforts to train her daughter and wondered if Varia had been around if the unruly orange child would have been tamed. She had been stern herself, but it was hard to be truly, unfeelingly, harsh with ones own children. Even if they were a burden...
Fifteen was a decent sized pack - enough to get most things done with little effort if not ease. Still, the issue of the Queen's little one being trained was bringing her own unborn children into her mind more. She had planned to try to train them, try harder than she had with Maia, make sure they were good wolves who heeded their mother but... perhaps there was another to do the job.
Not entirely as circumspect as she'd like to have been, she spoke to Varia. "If you train them young, you find they turn out better warriors, Varia?" her tone was level - not meaning to question the other wolves' judgement of the others in the pack whilst inviting her to elaborate on how she trained the pack's warriors.
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Posted: Sun Aug 29, 2010 10:52 am
She could have argued with the Queen, but this was neither the time nor the place to do it. They would speak again about Orithia's so far lack of training, but for now she would drop the subject. It may have appeared that Varia did not respect the Queen, however that was not true. Varia was completely loyal to Penthesilea and respected her greatly, she was just trying to protect her from having the shame of a weak heir, though she would never outwardly admit that. Saying that would admit to some sort of weakness that one in Varia's position could not afford.
But it would seem that this newcomer, Neira, wished to speak with her. Fine, Varia would only answer her question because it had to do with training warriors and not idle chit chat that she hated so much. "Of course." She said a bit bluntly, but that was Varia for you. "A life of discipline leads to more adept warriors, whether in the training ring or in battle. Those who come from lazy backgrounds and only put a partial effort into their training will never show their full potential." And that pissed off Varia to no end, she hated the fact that so many of the new members did not come from a warriors background and even after so many months of being here did not show themselves to be warriors in the smallest respects. But that would change, she would see to it, even if she had to train them twice as hard, she would not fail her position or the Queen.
A smile crossed Penthesilea's maw as Varia explained that only those trained from pups could be great warriors. While that fact was mostly true, the Queen knew of several of the older member who had not been born in Antianeira, nor had they had any warrior training before joining the Sisters but were just as good as those who had. It really depended on the wolf, those who wished to be warriors could be if they put their mind and heart to it.
"What Varia fails to mention is that it is not just those born into our ways that can prove themselves as strong and loyal warriors. Sometimes those who join us late in their years can also prove themselves on the battlefield." Penthesilea did not want Neira thinking that only old blood of the pack could ever be true warriors, as that was not true. Good fighter or not, all females in the pack were warriors one way or another. Some filled other purposes, but in times of war they would fight along side their sisters.
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Posted: Mon Aug 30, 2010 3:45 am
Neira was not unsatisfied by Varia's answer. She agreed that the older one began, the harder it would be to get into shape. She herself hadn't begun training until weak, pregnant and expelled from her first pack, she'd had to fend for herself and her one surviving pup. It certainly hadn't been easy, after years of pack-living. She'd trained herself since then, and tried to train her daughter, or tried to: noone would take advantage of her again.
Except they had, hadn't they? She wondered at an imagined daughter's chance of surviving the same mistakes again if she did it by herself this time too. She imagined an orange pup, a relic of her lost daughter, though the little ones inside her now were not likely to be orange at all, given their father's colouring.
In her mind she made a decision and wondered if she would be bold to say so outright. It felt right, though, and as though something had been leading her here all along. The pack had her name, for goodness sake.
"If I had daughters, I would be glad if I had you to train them." she address Varia, then turned to Penthesilea "This pack seems a strong one, with a strong Queen, if you'd have me I'd train hard to meet expectations... once I can".
She wouldn't say she liked Varia, but she was gaining a small smidgeon of respect for her toughness and Penthesilea seemed to be able to keep a reign on her. If she could do that, she had the patience and strength of character to lead which her last alphess had not.
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Posted: Mon Aug 30, 2010 8:54 pm
Varia's ear twitched ever so slightly. This new female wanted her pups to be training with the pack? Well wasn't she confident that she would birth females in her litter. "And if you have males they will be of no use to the pack...or to me." However, as much as Vria did not wish to be a part of this newcomers life it would seem that perhaps the fates had decided somehow they would intertwine. It would all depend on the Queen's answer of course, but from the look on Penthesilea's face this newcomer would be added to the ranks of the sisters.
Well if that happens Neira and whatever daughters she produced had best prove themselves or Varia was going to let them and the Queen get an earful. There were enough sisters here that had not yet reached the level they should be at, so another did not need to be added - not now, and hopefully not ever.
Padding forward Penthesilea moved closer to Neira before settling down on her haunches. "I'm glad you see it that way, we work very hard to remain strong both as individuals and as a pack." If this female could prove herself to be a strong warrior, then she would certainly be a good addition to the pack. "We welcome all who see fit to meet the challenges of life in Antianeira. Your current condition will prevent you from joining any training until after your pups are born. You're daughters will train along side you to become warriors, you're sons will live the life of slaves and once old enough be given the choice of serving the sisters as slaves or leaving the pack forever."
She glanced over her shoulder at Varia but the Head Warrior seemed content to sit back and merely listen now. "You're pups will be tended to by the pack nanny when they are not in training, however, she is also currently expecting a litter of her own so for the time being the pups will be your responsibility. When they do fall under the nannies care they will be kept along side all the other pups when not in training. It will be a tough road ahead for you all, but I think you will manage just fine."
The Queen smiled, a true genuine smile. "Welcome sister. When you are ready I can have you shown to your den, as I am sure you need your rest."
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