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 Posted: Mon Jun 20, 2011 12:01 pm
 They had crossed the border of Antianeira not long ago. Varia led Lungaia, a possible new recruit, deeper into the lands. It pissed her off to see how few Sisters were actively checking the border. At this rate an entire pack could walk in on them and no one would know until they had reached the dens. Clearly the Sisters needed to be beaten into working and Varia would do just that once she had taken care of Lungaia's visit first. She had not spoken during the journey, as Varia wasn't much for small talk, besides she preferred to speak through actions not words.
Padding towards the den Varia spotted Pen's pale hide through the trees. Good she was available to speak with immediately. "There she is." Varia finally said breaking the silence between her and Lungaia. Coming through the trees Varia made a straight line for Pen, though she came to a stop several feet away and then turned to stop Lungaia as well. She would not allow the other to get too close to the Queen until Pen allowed such. "My Queen." Varia dipped her head in greeting. "I have brought you a possible recruit. She is a skilled fighter and I saw it prudent to offer her a place among the Sisters, though she has not agreed nor turned down the offer as she wished to see you first." Penthesilea had just returned from speaking with Orithia when Varia returned. It was rare for the Head Warrior to wander outside of pack lands but seeing that she had a female in tow Pen could only guess as to why they were coming to see her. Standing tall and proud the Queen tipped her maw in greeting. "Welcome back Varia." And then swiveled her eyes towards other. Both of them showed the marks of a recent battle. Well that would explain how Varia knew she was a skilled fighter. Her eyes swept over Lungaia for a moment, taking in not only the recent markings of the fight but her build and overall body condition. She was certainly a wolf who looked like she could handle herself.
Perhaps Varia would finally get what she had wanted for some time now, a skilled and worthy wolf to fight beside. "Greetings stranger." Unfortunately Varia had failed to mention the females name so she could not properly greet her. "I am Penthesilea, Queen of Antianeira. I welcome you to my lands."
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Posted: Mon Jun 20, 2011 12:27 pm
She followed alongside Varia, happy to not make conversation along the way. She wasn't sure she could handle so much chatter. She'd already talked more today than she was accustomed to. Living alone for most of her adult life, Lungaia rarely talked with anyone. All of this newfound social interaction was making her uneasy.
She halted at the patchy wolf's side and cast her eyes over the queen, curious. Her eyes trailed the adornments, the headdress, the general demeanor of the pale wolf, and two things occurred to her: the first, that this was a wolf who commanded a great deal of respect; the second, that she was very kind. Lungaia could see it in her eyes, and it intrigued her. She wasn't sure what she had expected after being met by Varia...but this wasn't quite it.
"Lungaia," she offered, with a dip of the maw. Then, because it seemed appropriate to be forward so that she didn't waste anyone's time down the road, she added, "I have never seen a use in pack life before, but your warrior tells me your pack is dedicated to strength and discipline."
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Posted: Tue Jul 26, 2011 1:41 pm
Settling down onto her haunches Varia prepared for an onslaught of talking between the two wolves. She wasn't much on talking, unless it was barking orders at others, no she preferred to let her actions speak for herself. And if Lungaia was anything like Varia was then the dark colored wolf would also prefer to act instead of speak, she had already seen this but certainly the female would not be so foolish to do the same thing when presented to the Queen of the pack she may end up joining. Time would tell and hopefully Varia hadn't been wrong about bringing Lungaia here, she really needed a warrior here who was worthy, who was strong and as fierce as she was. And Lungaia may very well be that wolf.
The Queen gave her head a nod. "Lungaia. Some wolves do better on their own than others. There are those who can make any situation work for them and there are those who need someone around to guide their steps." Her eyes ticked to Varia for a moment and then back to Lungaia a small smile crossing her maw. "I'm surprised she told you that much, Varia is one who prefers action over discussion. But yes, we devote our lives to our training, being strong as both a unit and as individuals. Strength, discipline, respect and loyalty are all important to our way of life. We live for each other, not ourselves. And we are only as strong as our weakest link." At this Varia snorted but otherwise kept quiet.
"I'm not sure how much Varia has told you about Antianeira, so instead of me telling you things she may have already touched on I will allow you to ask questions." Varia likely left the details fairly vague, likely didn't even mention the slaves as to the Head Warrior they didn't exist except to put a thorn in her side now and then.
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Posted: Tue Jul 26, 2011 2:17 pm
Lungaia nodded, considering this. This all sounded well enough in theory. Of course, she would only truly be able to decide after she had seen it in practice...but she was willing to take the risk. The idea of a pack that might be able to help curb some of her more vicious tendencies...channel them into something useful...well, she liked that idea very much.
One thing Varia had mentioned gave her slight pause, however, and she thought it best to bring it up now. "I note that you have no King standing beside you," she said. "Varia tells me that males serve little purpose here."
That wasn't really a question. She paused, then tried again. It took a bit of effort to string so many words together.
"I have no issue with the notion of slavery. But I will not stand for bullying. I fight only those who will pose me a challenge. If this is the sort of pack that preys upon the weak for amusement, I should know now so I don't waste your time further."
That wasn't really a question, either.
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Posted: Tue Jul 26, 2011 2:34 pm
"No, no King. My consort lives among us but he will never be known as King or any other similar high standing title. He is a slave like all other males." A terrible slave really, but that was what made Achilles perfect for her. She needed a strong consort and Achilles certainly fit that bill. Plus, it was entertaining to watch him play submissive when needed. Ah but that was their little secret and nothing she needed to mention here. "The purpose males fulfill here is to preform small tasks while the Sister devote their time for training. We do the hunting, ensure the pack remains safe. They clean dens, dispose of left over kills and in return we provide them with a safe place to live, meals to fill their bellies and a den to sleep in."
Oh there were other purposes a slave could fulfill as well, and just because the Queen was in one of those moods she decided to touch on that subject too. "Some find themselves on the upside of thing, helping to create new life for the pack, new Sisters to continue our ways and new slaves to preform those menial tasks." She turned to Varia with a smile on her maw. "Isn't that right Varia?"
Slowly she turned her attention back to Lungaia as a slue of unhappy words came quietly from her Head Warrior. "I do what I can to ensure the slaves are well taken care of. They come to me if there are any problems and I resolve them as quickly as I can. Though Varia may not fully agree, I believe that keeping the slaves happy and healthy helps the pack out better than striking them down with fear and aggression."
Of course there's no King, Varia thought, a King has no place in this pack, not now, not ever. Clearly Lungaia hadn't listened fully when she said males were of no manner to the pack. Talk about bullying made Varia's ear flick slightly. There was nothing wrong with beating on the slaves every now and then in her opinion. It's not like it sent them packing and anyone who was willing to stick around after a beating form her was just asking for more.
Of course when the Queen mentioned using slaves to father children and brought her into it Varia's fur bristled. This stranger did not need to know about that. A glare caught in her eyes for a moment as she looked towards the Queen but quickly pushed that away and merely mumbled angrily for a few moments.
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Posted: Tue Jul 26, 2011 2:42 pm
A brow raised, her tattered ears flicking. Ahh, so she'd touched on a nerve, had she? Well enough. That answered her question. Her cool green eyes slipped to Varia and glinted slightly with amusement. She suspected the head warrior was not one to appreciate hypocrisy being revealed.
"It's hard to keep a pack populated otherwise," she said, reasonably. "Without resorting to theft. Well enough."
She liked Penthesilea. It was not an immediate soul-bound connection by any means...but this was a wolf she would not be disgusted to stand under. She must be plenty strong, to hold Varia under her paw with so little effort, and she seemed good-natured enough. Lungaia had been concerned that the pack would be a venerable hornet's nest of strong personalities clashing against each other, which would do little to ease the chaos that sometimes swelled in her mind.
She nodded to them both. Just one last question, before she decided to get herself embroiled in this sort of life. "Have you any enemies?"
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Posted: Tue Jul 26, 2011 2:57 pm
The Queen gave her head a nod. "Precisely. A pack can only survive as long as new and young blood is brought into it. We will not stop any Sister from obtaining such a goal be in from inside or outside methods." Plenty looked outside the pack to breed, herself included, but some preferred the knowledge that their mate, a term used fairly loosely around here, was constantly around. "Theft is not our kind of thing. Perhaps if the situation came to an extreme we would do so to save the pack, but it is not the preferred means to acquire pups."
The question of enemies made Penthesilea shake her head. "At the moment there are no direct enemies that the pack has. There are however, a few packs we are aware of that may prove problematic in the future so keeping our eyes on those is quite important." One pack in particular could prove a serious threat to their lives but at the moment that pack was quiet, almost too quiet, and they would need to keep their guard up to ensure nothing happened.
"We do have an ally pack however. To the south is YMCA, they are not warrior but have come to help us in other ways. We in turn have sworn to protect them against any threats, and so any enemy of YMCA is an enemy of Antianeira." So far things had been quiet down there too, but there would be a time certainly when life everywhere wasn't so peaceful, and they would be ready for that.
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Posted: Tue Jul 26, 2011 3:07 pm
Lungaia nodded. "Well enough," she reiterated. That would be sufficient. "I will stay, for so long as you want me."
Before she had the chance to say much else, a pair of wolves broke into view. One, a calico-pelted male, was clearly agitated; he moved quickly to stay in the lead, but there was an uneasiness to his movements that marked extreme annoyance. His fur bristled.
At his side, head held high and eyes wide and enthusiastic, was a young male with a dappled pelt and a dark mask over his eyes.
As they approached, Iosef shot Balios a stern look to behave himself, but was stunned to see that Balios had already accepted a position of supplication -- head and tail lowering, eyes averted, shoulders hunched -- now that they were near the females. A brow raised, and he looked up at them.
Two of the wolves, of course, he knew...but the third was a stranger to him, and he regarded her curiously for a moment before directing his attention to the queen. "Much apologies for the interruption, my Queen," he said, in the tone of one who expects a beating and suspects he may actually deserve it. "I found him out on the border while I was disposing of some trash. He's...come to check on his brother, who recently joined us. I thought it best to bring him to you immediately."
Oh how he wished Varia weren't here for this.
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Posted: Tue Jul 26, 2011 3:54 pm
"Then I welcome you Sister to Antianeira." Her eyes caught movement in the distance and she turned to see Iosef coming along with another young male wolf. Never failed, there was always something happening. But question remained why was the male here. She recognized his markings as one of Terreis' sons and as he came close enough to get a good look at his face she knew which on of those sons he was. The Queen flashed Varia a look that took her Head Warrior to behave herself and turned her attention back to the pair of males. "Very well Iosef." It shouldn't have been surprising that one of Corinth's brothers would come looking for him eventually, especially Balios.
"While you're here please allow me to introduce our newest warrior, Lungaia. She will need a clean den to call home, make sure you take care of that." Her eyes swiveled to Lungaia for a moment. "Iosef is one of our slaves. He has been with us for a long time and just so happens to be Varia's litter brother." Now she turned her attention to Balios. "Young Balios, you tread on dangerous grounds coming here unannouced. Seems luck was on your side as it was your uncle and not your aunt that found you on our lands." There was a huff from Varia but otherwise her head warrior was doing a fairly good job of keeping in line. Might have had something to do with the newest recruit.
"Corinth should be busy with duties right now and Apollo may be as well. Iosef will know where to find them. You can accompany him while he attends to his own duties and then you may see your brother." She could hear Varia shift beside her clearly not impressed that she let a strange male access to the lands so willingly. "Cleite shall accompany both of you to ensure you don't get into trouble."
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Posted: Tue Jul 26, 2011 4:11 pm
Iosef nodded graciously, allowing his eyes to stray up once more to the female as she was introduced to him. "Of course," he said, and smiled a little at the new duty. "Here -- Balios, you can assist me with preparing the den. Since you were excited to see what it was like to live here."
Balios's tail thumped against his leg. He cast a furtive look up at his aunt. Ahh, so this was Varia? She did look a lot like his mother. And she didn't look very pleased to see him. Ah well. So far as he was concerned, Balios lived in a happily oblivious bubble of excellent luck: he was uniquely blessed that way. "Yes. Of course. I won't cause any trouble."
He'd said that at least a dozen times, but Iosef didn't look any happier to have him around. Not that Iosef was upset for Balios to be here...but he was concerned for the pup's well-being. He was relieved that Cleite would accompany them. That would keep Varia away, he hoped.
Balios lifted his eyes gratefully up to Pen and his tail started thumping again. "I appreciate your consideration, Queen Penthesilea. Thank you for letting me stay here."
Lungaia's brow raised as she watched the subtle interaction between the siblings. She could sense loathing and uneasiness rolling off of them both. That, at least, she could understand: she felt nothing less than pure unbridled hatred toward her only sister.
She opened her maw to protest that she could dig out her own den, but thought better of it. Best to start accommodating their strange ways early on.
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Posted: Tue Jul 26, 2011 4:38 pm
So Balios had a second motive to the visit, to see what life was like up here. There was a small headache forming now. She knew tensions down south were running high after not only Corinth but then Apollo as well came to live among the Sisters. Each of the brothers had come for a different reason but she would need to make sure Balios merely visited and not became a permanent member. "Then go, see to your duties. Cleite should be near the edge of the dens."
With the slaves dismissed she turned her attention back to Varia, who seemed to be seething in rage, and Lungaia. "Were there any other questions you had? If not I will allow you to go. There will be a training session later today and you will be expected to attend. I doubt it will take you long to catch up."
There was a small growl escaped from Varia as she stared down the two males. It was only the Queen's presence that stopped her from given them both a lashing. How dare they interrupt the Queen. Couldn't they have seen she was busy? Blasted males. And what was worse, they were related to her. At least the mention of training soothed her a bit. Lungaia would probably be as unimpressed with the rest of the "warriors" as Varia was. But perhaps seeing another well training and in shape warrior they would actually push themselves like they were supposed to.
Standing Varia stretched her muscles. "Don't be late for training." She warned Lungaia and then with a tip of her maw towards the Queen, Varia turned and padded off, she had to do some prep before training began.
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Posted: Tue Jul 26, 2011 7:28 pm
Balios's grin spread. This would be an excellent adventure! Also, he could see first-hand what life was like here so he could report back on some of the males in his pack who seemed to think it was really awful. This would make Adonai and Derecho feel way better, he was cure of it.
Barely believing how well this plan was going, he looked up eagerly at his uncle.
Iosef shot his nephew a warning look from the corner of his eye and nudged into him, pushing him away before he decided to say something that would cause them both a lot of trouble. Still, he couldn't help the slightest twinge of amusement at the younger wolf's enthusiasm. It wasn't often that you ran into a wolf who tried this hard to understand a culture that was alien to him...
Lungaia smiled, a small upturning of the corner of maw. So she was to begin immediately. That was nice. She wasn't one for wasting time. "Tell me where to go and I will be there."
She was rather looking forward to the opportunity to fight in a more controlled setting. She'd never been formally trained, and wondered just how one went about teaching such a skill if not through direct application.
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Posted: Tue Jul 26, 2011 7:40 pm
Watching Varia leave and then Iosef and Balios make their way to see to the duties set before them Penthesilea turned her attention back to Lungaia. "You will find the training grounds north of here. Follow the path," she pointed with her muzzle, "and when it forks travel to the west. That will take you to the grounds." It was good to see the newest recruit was so eager to get to work. "The pack trains together as one, so I will see you there." Taking a step back she allowed Lungaia to take her leave as well.
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Posted: Tue Jul 26, 2011 7:48 pm
Well -- not quite all the pack, she mused. Only the females. This was a very intriguing notion to her, this class division, but then again, perhaps it was normal among wolves. How should she know? She'd never been in a pack, nor had any of her family -- at least as far as she knew. She hardly remembered her mother anymore. But she was quite certain that her father had never belonged to a pack, or else he had been thrown out early on. He was, after all, a monster.
A thought caught her of these wolves trying to subjugate her father, and the idea brought a sort of grim satisfaction upon her maw. But she said none of this, and instead simply nodded. "I will meet you there, then."
She hesitated, not sure what to do with herself in the meanwhile. It was a bit strange, not having to stay constantly on the move. She glanced back at the males. Maybe she should follow them to her new den? Otherwise how else would she know where she was supposed to live.
Iosef pushed Balios out in front of him -- a comical sight, watching the patchy wolf boss around his much larger-framed nephew. But he was in no mood to put up with anything, especially not after the fiasco that had happened the last time he'd visited YMCA. He was quite finished with traveling to other packs, he'd decided. Silently, the pair of them made their way to where Cleite would be waiting, the strange new female on their heels.
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