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Not too far from where Cassius stood, Baal sat calmly at the riverbank and stared intently at the water, turning his head this way and that as the water streamed along. At a glance it would appear that he was patiently fishing, waiting for the flicker of light against scale.

In truth he was merely checking himself out, watching his distorted reflection in the rippling water below. Baal had "discovered" that he was a reasonably attractive boy for his age, and pondered how he might look as he came of age. His coat was always well taken care of and shiny, and he made it a habit to tease at the ruffle of fur at the top of his head so it looked "just so". The young male had only recently taken up the habit of training himself against trees and stone..not to build his muscles for combat, but to have the strong and fleshed out body he saw the pack's hunters and warriors sporting. Surely the ladies like that best, no?

But so far, Baal was still on the lean side, his muscles not yet trained to his satisfaction. But as he sat studying his reflection, he was satisfied that so far he had been making some progress.

In the midst of his narcissistic episode he hardly noticed his brother was even nearby.

Baal jerked and nearly fell over in surprise when his brother pounced, his eyes widened as he scrambled to right himself. His eyes finally settled on Cassius and he visibly relaxed, shaking off his surprise and composing himself again. " Cassius! I didn't see you there...I..um.." He stared at the back at the stream, finally seeing the little flicker of a fish's scale go by, "I was...fishing. Unfortunately there aren't a whole lot of the blasted little scaly things around here.." he lied, peering over into the water for a moment before looking back to his brother. All at once he noticed how much his brother had bulked up lately, and Baal's interest was immediately piqued.

"So, brother...What have you been up to? You look...Different.."

Baal gazed back at the water for a moment before moving away from the river bank to join his brother, smirking as he sat himself down, his fur smoothing out after having been ruffled by surprise.

"Oh yes, If you knew anything about fishing, brother, you would know that it takes patience and a steady eye..like catching anything else.." He said, his voice spiked with sarcasm as he watched his brother, listening to him. Already he had decided that Cassius's type of training would not suit his purposes...He didn't want to be a huge hulking thing when he got older, after all! No..He would have to try something a little different, he wanted to be lean and muscled, strong but light, suited to stealth more than straightforward attacks.

"Training with the King, you say? I've been thinking of doing some in depth training myself, actually.." He offered, tilting his head this way and that to crack and stretch his neck as his voice trailed off thoughtfully. "Perhaps with our spies..or perhaps the warriors..or maybe both," he gave a sly smile to his brother, laughing a little, "It pays to be well rounded, doesn't it?"

Baal chose to take the compliment, sitting up a bit straighter and training his eyes on his brother, smiling a little at the mention of his mother. He had noticed things taking a turn for the better with her lately, though he was not certain what it was that bolstered her spirits. He didn't care what it was that made her happy, so long as he and his siblings could keep her that way. He was confident in himself and Cassius..but Gabrielle worried him. The two of them would have to pay special attention to her to make sure she doesn't make a spectacle of their family.

"Oh I'm certain I would have no problem as a spy..perhaps an assassin, even..Neither of us have anything to worry about with gaining our stations.." He gave his brother a look and then looked over his shoulder towards the main pack area, " However, brother...I worry about our sister.." He turned his head back to look Cassius fully in the eyes, taking a steady breath. "I hear things, and I'm sure you have too. I think we need to watch her at times..to..make sure things continue going well? For mother.."

He wasn't used to leveling with someone, especially not family, but certainly it had to happen sometime to put things into perspective. He wasn't opening up very far..but enough for his brother to get the idea. They weren't much of a 'family' but nevertheless, they still needed to look out for each other, lest catastrophe fall upon all of them.