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 Posted: Sat Mar 14, 2009 3:53 pm
So she'd been informed that her new apprentice was less than pleased with his lot in life. Things traveled down the vine when you stayed in contact with others, and she made it a point to keep in touch with Kidondo and No, Kidondo especially if only because for some odd reason she felt connected to him since the day of the rebellion. It should have been Kidondo that Ripuka fought, if she'd have had her way, but Uuo had been there to intervene. Maybe if she hadn't the old storyteller wouldn't have met the end that she did, though. She didn't doubt the injuries from that day would have had a lasting effect...
But Uuo didn't live in the past. Ripuka was gone, and one day they'd find her killers, but until then she had apprentices to train and a rota to keep track of, lest they end up with another Ripuka amongst their own. That was why she wouldn't go easy on any of the guards that were trained. They'd need discipline to do the task assigned to them. She didn't want a single one slacking off.
She sought Azar out as she left from a visit with Yin-li and Kadogo'moto. The pair could still be found sparring as if she had never left the lands to start with, but now she was much better able to absorb the lessons he taught and Uuo was proud to be able to say that Yin-li was becoming a fierce warrior over time.
As she neared the dens she scanned the sands, wondering just where she might find the cub.
--
She would find the cub sulking.
Since Kidondo had broken the news to him, there hadn't been much to smile about. He'd been agitated, angry and not spoken a word unless someone was bothering him and it was to shout. He had hoped that his mother would go to Kidondo and get him to change his mind. But she hadn't. What did that mean? That she trusted Kidondo over her own son? Deep down, he knew it wasn't his mother's fault, but he had relied on her and still nothing had changed.
His dream of becoming a heroic soldier really was just that. A dream.
He was sitting close to his den. Alone. Scuffing sand with a paw, filling the air with gold dust that had him coughing and spluttering if he moved his face too close.
What were the others going to say?
He knew what they were going to say. They were going to call him a failure and laugh. Laugh until they cried. He'd never be able to show his face again.
--
Ahhh, there, Azar'bijan, her new, and actually first, apprentice. Uuo carried herself closer on large, shaggy paws. The lands from which she had originated, really originated, were much colder, her coat had not been quite so out of place there, though more so in the pride she'd found after, or this one now. It mattered little to her, she could take the heat and she'd shed a little of it at least, but she was a towering powerhouse then and she was a towering powerhouse now, a mountain lion born and raised.
"What has you in such a mood? That's a rather un-motoujamii like expression, kid." She quipped as she came up alongside him, nudging him with one furry paw not caring if he lashed out. Good for him if he did, really.
--
He didn't lash out, but rather - raised a paw to push her away. He lifted his head and scowled at her with his red eyes. He was red from head to toe, not a spark of any other colour on him - unless you counted the whites of his eyes. He huffed and his little chest rose and fell angrily. "That ain't none of your business." He replied. He didn't have much manners, this child. In fact, he didn't care who he insulted or annoyed - especially when he was in this mood.
"Just go away and leave me alone, else I'll tell Mother you're bothering me. She won't like that."
--
Uuo just laughed a bit at that, settling her paw back down. Kibela coming after her for such a small matter? It was laughable. She could not remember the time when she had been so little that the world seemed to follow such simple logic. Had she ever even when she was that young?
"I don't think so, Azar. It's time to start your guard lessons. You can sulk after."
And he didn't get a choice in the matter. Uuo leaned down and grabbed him up in her jaws by the scruff of his neck, turning about to bring him further out into the pride's lands away from the dens and general bustle.
--
"I ain't gonna do nothing that you--" His words were cut off as the ground suddenly slipped out from underneath his paws. Then he was being lifted upwards, the skin around his neck pulled tight as the lioness carried him by the scruff. Carried him as if he were a baby!!
Azar wriggled frantically, his paws waving madly beneath him. But there was no way he could escape, not until she allowed him to do so and released her grip. Even still, it wasn't going to keep him from complaining and he yowled and cursed.
"Let go of me! I ain't going nowheres with you. Put me down. Put me down. Put me DOWN!!"
--
"Stop acting like a baby and quit the temper tantrum act." Uuo replied dryly, though it was more muffled given that she couldn't open her jaws too much to speak. She in fact did not put him down for the very fact that he'd go running off the moment she likely did, but also because they had a ways to go and this was just faster.
Once she was satisfied that they had gotten far enough out that landmarks were not easily visible she dropped him onto the sands unceremoniously and placed a paw firmly on his back just in case he decided to try running or attacking her anyway.
"Lesson number one, a guard has to be QUIET until they need to be heard."
--
"Oof." He hit the sand and was just about to rise to escape when he felt her paw on his back. Trapped. Dammit! He wriggled once, then gave up and clamped his jaw tightly shut. Fine. If she wanted to be a pain, he could be a pain, too. He looked up at her and glared, trying to remember what her name was. Oh, Uuo, that was it. Kidondo had told him who he was apprenticed to, but not who she looked like.
She was...odd looking.
He said nothing, just stared up at her. She could take it as obediance or defiance, he didn't really care. All he knew was that he did not want to be a guard, even if Kidondo had said he had a knack for it.
--
Uuo didn't stop to let him up, didn't start by dressing him down or scolding him, didn't try asking what was wrong. She was too straight to the point for that and they were out here for a very good reason. She wasn't going to waste time by pretending otherwise. Instead she stared back down at him with red eyes not seeming to care what his first assessment of her might be, not caring that her coat wasn't the usual red but instead an earthy red clay color-- She didn't care. All that mattered to her was getting him trained right and well and doing her job the best she could. She was here, she had earned her right, she had even been named captain of the guard, the end. Now it was his turn. "So, tell me what you know about the role the guards play in the pride." She instructed simply.
--
He wrinkled his nose, almost thinking about not replying, but then deciding against it. He'd show her. This silly female. He'd show all of them that he wasn't to be messed with. Then, they'd realise that they had made a mistake and allow him to become a soldier, just like he always should have been.
He curled a lip and gave a low grunt. "I know what guards do. They walk up and down the borders to keep a look out. Big deal."
Where was the glory to be found in that? Where was the battle? The victory? There wasn't any and it was as simple as that.
--
She also paid no mind, it seemed, to the disgruntled answer he gave.
"Do you know why we patrol the borders?"
There was more to it than that, but not much. He had the idea down pat.
--
He shrugged - or tried to at least - and sent her another glare. What did she think he was, stupid or something? Yeah...she probably did. Stupid lioness. He'd show her. When he was bigger she wouldn't be able to push him around like this. Then she'd see!
"I don't know. In case some idiot rogue comes along and thinks he can beat us? Ain't gonna happen." He snorted and tried to wriggle free again. "Grrr...let me go!"
--
Still the paw remained in place. His sarcastic tone told her what she needed to know. He thought she thought he was stupid. Stupid? No, she hardly thought so little of a child, but a point she had and this was the way that Uuo decided to make it. From her own personal experiences she had to learn the lessons, figure them out on her own before they sunk in. Sometimes with a little help, but she was so much like Azar when she was young. She wasn't going to listen to ANYBODY but herself, and to hell with the consequences or what others thought.
"Only the rogues?"
--
"Well, who else? Snakes? Lizards? If you're talking about those other Firekin. You know, the real stupid ones, then there ain't nothing to be scared of. They ain't gonna come back when they know we could beat them. They're all old and stupid. Besides, I saw that gold cub. The one they say was from there. He ain't no Firekin. He's a mixed blood, which means they ain't living by their rules anyway."
He narrowed his eyes and gave her a look that seemed to be daring her to challenge what he said.
--
He struck a chord, but she didn't react in anger. Her eyes flickered, mind briefly going to a different time and place not far off by either means. Looking back down at the cub she replied...
"Why do you think Uddhava is here? They kill and enslave anyone that isn't of their coloring over there." She leaned down closer, letting him get a better look in her eyes. "Have you ever stopped to wonder how we chased off the traditionalists? Surely you've noticed we're not all Firekin. I'm not Firekin. Do you think that all the rogues in the world are weak, stupid, clumsy beasts? The traditionalist I fought thought so... she carried a limp for the remainder of her days to show for it... and it was rogues that helped her meet her end."
It made her sick to think it though, what kind of lions would prey on a mother with a cub. She still felt angry over the fact that Ripuka was gone. Somewhere along the lines she'd come to think of her as her opponent. She, like Azarax and Kidondo, had hoped that one day Ripuka would see the truth in it all, especially in the words that they had shared the day of their battle.
"If you think that we've seen the last of the Safi, you're terrilbly mistaken, Azar. We might have driven them out but that doesn't mean they won't be back. They left because we forced them to go, we had the better numbers, so..." She released her hold on him, but circled around the small cub slowly as soon as he stood. "If they can't beat us by normal means because the odds are in our favor, how else do you think they'd try?"
She reached out, poking at various places once in a while, again not caring if he lashed out for it.
"Checking for weak points in our defense. Mind games. Using their heads. So what would happen if we let our guard down with them biding their time so close by?"
--
He looked up at her, frozen by her words and rendered - possibly for the first time ever - completely speechless. His head pulled slightly away from hers as she leaned in close, sensing that he'd clearly said something that he shouldn't. But all he had said was the truth, wasn't it? Or not...probably not, actually.
He flinched at the sharpness of her words and for once there was no cocky comeback. He just closed his maw and stared at her, afraid to look anywhere else in case she aimed a strike at him.
And then she released him and he rose instantly into a crouch, pulling his tail close to curl around a hind leg, head low. It was a defensive position, protecting his throat and belly, knowing that if he crouched he wouldn't be so easy to push over, though she certainly could if she wanted to, since he was so much smaller than she was.
She poked at him and he flinched, growling, hunching up further. The hair on his neck and shoulders bristled upwards, but still he made no move to give any verbal comeback. None at all. He was poised, but his ears were turning with her, listening to her.
And then..."We still have the better numbers." His voice was small, but defiant none-the-less. "We won't let our guard down."
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Posted: Sat Mar 14, 2009 3:57 pm
The exact response that Azar had envoked with his words had been sorrow, sombered sorrow but sorrow all the same. Such was a part of life, and again it wasn't something she held against the child. She knew enough of cubs to remember that they were hopelessly blunt almost at all times. That he had seemingly been phased by her words was enough, and she stopped poking at him, slowing to a stop before him again, eyes showing her approval at his answer.
"You're right... we won't. Lesson two, underestimate no one."
She had a seat then, settling back on her haunches for the time being and letting her own tail flop onto the sand to curl up around her hind paws a bit, the tuft flicking now and then. Now they could get closer to the heart of the lessons.
"The guard's job is more important than just keeping watch. We're the first line of defense. Without us the pride would have no warning, no time to prepare for attack. There may be times when you'll have to engage outsiders, traditionalists and rogues alike, in combat to defend yourself, to keep them from progressing, or to drive them off. Because of that all guards are expected to know how to fight, so part of your lessons will be to learn how to disable an opponent, learning how to hold your ground, using your enemey's momentum and weight against them, and learning to recognize different fighting styles."
--
Underestimating others. Yes, that was a lesson that Azar had to learn. In fact, being quiet was another one he'd find hard. He had a good defensive instinct but he had a loud mouth and a terrible flaw in underestimating others. Not just rogues, but his own kin, his own blood-family, girls, anyone that wasn't him, in fact!
However, if anyone could teach him properly and beat those flaws out of him, crafting him into a greater lion, it would be Uuo. It would be hard, but it'd be worth it in the end to see him reach his potential.
As Uuo sat he visibly relaxed, sitting tentatively himself and glancing at her from beneath his furrowed brows. He was listening now, that was for sure. Again, another rarity! Azar was prone to blocking out things that he didn't want to hear.
At her talk of combat his eyes glittered and both ears rose expectantly. "Really?" Now she had his interest. "When are we going to start learning that, then? That's what I want to learn. Disabling opponents!" It was hard for him to hide his eagerness in that respect.
--
Hmm... that seemed to have caught his attention. She suspected as such too, when she heard he'd been hoping to be apprenticed as a soldier. It wasn't much of a jump from there to figure out why. There were really only two reasons for one to want to be a soldier so desperately, that she could think of anyway. It was neither here nor there, however. She was sure that he'd find what he sought in guard duty if it was meant to happen, the trick was going to be keeping him from jumping at every little chance to start a brawl.
They didn't need anymore tragedies like Ripuka's.
"As soon as I feel that you've a mastered understanding of the basics." She informed him, confident that it would be motivation enough for him to apply himself fully to the lessons that needed to come before. Again, there both was and wasn't much to patrolling that she could teach him, and everything was intergrated with the other, fighting and guarding. Skills from one would help with the other, as they required more or less the same discipline, patience, and restraint to be any good. Guarding... was simpler, but at least it kept one somewhat busy. There was a lot of border to patrol and one could use that time becoming more familiar and one with the shifting dunes, memorizing the patterns and scarce landmarks, the occassional movement of prey...
"The skills that you need to learn as a guard will also help you if you find yourself in combat. Keeping watch, fighting, they actually have quite a bit in common... The better you master stopping and listening, the faster the lessons can go."
--
He opened his mouth to complain, but thought better of it. She had big paws and if she wanted to cuff him for complaining then it'd knock his brain about. He lowered his head and screwed up his little face - unaware that the expression said more than his complaint ever could.
Shoulders hunched, tail swaying behind him, the little red cub stayed quiet, an improvement at least on his screaming from before.
"Basics? Stopping and listening? That's gonna take me forever! You can't teach that!" He was on his paws again now. "It ain't my fault if I'm no good at listening. I'm a talker, not a listener. Mother says so. Everyone says so. So what's Kidondo doing sending me over here to be with you? I ain't gonna be no good at this stuff and then we'll never get to the important bit!"
Patience was not a strong point, either...another habit that would need to be learnt given time.
--
"Hmm... really? That's a shame, because I thought you were doing so well up until now..." She mused back casually. "Well... I suppose if you're certain that you're so poorly suited to guard duty...."
She trailed only briefly, pausing to let the weight of her next words sink in as well as the ones before.
"There's always cub-sitting."
Because he surely couldn't be a soldier, or even a hunter if he didn't master those basics, again, something she wanted him to come to understand on his own in time. She rose again as well, as if to lead him back towards the dens.
"It's a pity, with a little effort I had hoped you might become my best pupil, especially being my first one. Are you absolutely certain that you don't even want to try? You're sure you're ready to just roll over and quit, just like that?" She quirked a brow at him, meaning to drive home a point there, that he was certainly talking like a quitter, and no quitter could ever claim to be Firekin.
--
His mouth swung open as if on a hinge. Was she serious?! Was she really suggesting that he babysit a bunch of stupid, drooly, wingy little brats for the rest of his life? He couldn't think of anything worse, or less honourable - in his mind, anyway.
And then she was walking. Wait, what?!
He sprang onto his paws and dashed across the sand, catching up and putting himself between her and the dens in an attempt to slow her progress.
"Where are you going!" He demanded. "The lesson's only just started!" Uuo had apparently figured him out perfectly. Her words had baited him and now he was changing his tune as quickly as if it were a different cub standing before her. "I didn't mean I was going to quit!" He hastened to his own aid. "I don't wanna babysit no cubs. I wouldn't be good at that either. At least I'd have a chance being good at a guard...maybe." He stomped a little paw.
"Don't leave me to do that, Uuo." The shame of it. He'd die if he was turned down as a guard, too. "Of course I'll try. I'll try if it means I get to learn the good stuff. You will teach me, right? Right?"
--
The mountain-born lioness stopped, staring down at Azar and listening as he reacted just as she'd guessed, hoped even. Had he thrown another tantrum and stormed off she would have been forced to rework her strategy and she did so hate last minute changes in plans.
It took a little effort not to smirk, not for malicious amusement (She wasn't Azula, geez.), just a general mirth, pleased that she had at least read him right. Truth be told she'd been a little bit uncertain about teaching cubs, but there were so few guards, they desperately needed more, too much land, too many hours in the day, and with Azula shifting from guard to captain of offense that was one less. Uuo was doggedly determined to fill the gaps and set a proper rota in order and until that day she would patrol herself to pick up the slack, using the time on the borders to plan and sort things out in her head.
At least the others were still pitching in now and then, like Azarax, so it wasn't as if she had been left stranded short one guard completely, but she had sworn to the general she'd do her best, and she'd be have her tongue cut out and her spirit be damned before she went back on that word.
"I'll teach you on one condition, Azar."
--
His little face, so filled with desperation, did not leave Uuo's. He watched her, wondering what her answer would be, feeling his little heart pounding madly against his ribs. Had he done it this time? His mouth was always getting him into trouble but this time...
This time...
In his mind's eye he saw the cubs he'd already met. His siblings, the golden runt, those two siblings, that daughter of the Regent. He saw Ursa, too, and he heard them laughing. It would be bad enough to admit that he wasn't going to be a soldier - especially after all his bragging. If he had to admit that he'd messed up his chance at apprenticeship with the guards, he would never be able to live it down.
She spoke and his head lifted.
"Anything." And he meant it. He might still fuss and make a huge pain of himself - doing something that he hadn't set out to do in the first place - but he would try despite the complaining.
He'd do anything to save his pride.
--
She saw it, he meant it. The complaining she could handle, as long as he tried. What she couldn't stand was seeing him quit, and she wouldn't allow him to. It would only cause him pain in the long run, that much was clear, and she took it as her personal duty to also make sure that her charges were well.
"You have to do everything I tell you when it comes to your training. If I tell you to meditate quietly for an hour I expect for it to be done. Everything I teach you will have importance in it's own right, and I don't believe in shortcuts, and neither should you. Got that?"
--
Wow....that was a BIG ask. But nevertheless, he was determined and now his heart was set. It was obey or be publically ridiculed. Obeying was clearly the easier choice. Taking orders, that was easy, right? Besides, soldiers had to do it, too. Easy!
"Yes, Ma'am." He replied, nodding his head a little. "Everything you say. Got it."
--
"Well alright then. Let's start."
She smirked, turning back away from the direction of the dens to resume the lesson. Between Azar's determination and Uuo's determination she rather doubted if there was anything she could teach that he wouldn't master. For one that claimed he was no good at listening, also, he seemed rather adept at listening to what everyone else thought and had to say about him. Because of this Uuo was sure it was just a matter of boosting his confidence in the right areas and finding the right way to teach him and keep his interest in some things. Not all of it would be so simple, but... "Anything", he'd said.
So, "anything" was what she'd hold him to.
--
And, with a triumphant smile, he bounded after her, keen to start his first lesson of many that lay ahead of him. It was going to be tough, but Uuo was right. He was determined and in the end he'd prove himself. He may not grow to be the best but he'd strive to be no matter what.
/fin.
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