Redsand Canyon nimium

set for tomorrow <3

the day had barely begun.

light had just touched the sky. mereo lay beneath darkness.

germanicus gave his customary summons for the soldiers, and when they moved from their beds to assemble, he searched among them for @Killdeer. "auxillary. today we are going over the canyon wall. the praefectus and myself will be appraising you for potential placement."

Cal and Killer, well. . .let's say they'd not been so intent on rising with the rooster.

It was still dark when they were roused, and he rose, blinking sleepily ahead. Then Germanicus was speaking to him, and he was only making half-sense of the words, and—

Wha-? he asked blankly, then they sunk in a moment later. Yawning, he added, Oh. Okay.

It was important. He tried to shake the bleariness off as he followed the. . .leader. (Couldn't remember his official rank name.) And the Praefectus? Was that—Auntie Woo? Or Towhee? Why did they all have such confusing-sounding names?

Still, Killdeer straightened his shoulders and tried to look competent on their way to his first test.

the boy would learn to rouse faster. or he would not. for the moment the imperator was not ready to pass such judgements.

"do you see how they assemble?" he motioned to the others, who stood shoulder to shoulder, filing toward the sparring grounds.

"that is how i expect you to rise. but today you and i have a different task." germanicus led the boy southward, beyond the tablinum and just into the unchartered lands. he gestured to a wall reaching upward above softer sand. "climb."

Even if Germanicus didn't mean it as such, it felt a little like a rebuke, and Killdeer wilted just a tad, looking over the orderly rows of soldiers with a nod. Okay, he said, and made a note to himself to do just that, the next morning he rose.

Was he even cut out for this shit?

He stared up the wall, looking for places to grasp. Slowly, he began to ascend; and it was slow going, his tubby body struggling for purchase, desperately heaving itself up.

Killdeer eventually made it to the top, but he was trembling and out of breath, each inhale feeling like fire in his lungs.

germanicus climbed after the boy.

he was still rather sore after pushing himself so far with arsenio some days prior, but he did not allow it to hinder his own progress.

killdeer heeded orders well and immediately. this moved the boy up a notch within his mind.

he allowed the young wolf to catch his breath, and looked down over mereo. "as a soldier, you have the choice of three paths: guardian, warrior, or tactician. shall i explain them to you?" he would not baby killdeer if the boy could extrapolate their own meaning. he expected it in fact, with towhee's mastery clear and the boy a member of her family.

Still sucking deep down into his lungs for any air he could find, Killer glanced at Germanicus, and pondered his question.

He actually. . .didn't really know what any of those meant. But he'd be damned if he'd admit that.

Guardian, I guess? Killdeer responded. I. . .want to be able to protect my family. To guard them from anything that could hurt them.

Warrior kind of made sense, but the third—

What does a tactician do? he asked the leader, cocking his head in question. His strength was coming back, and he was eager to learn.

"that is what i am. i measure battlefields. i try to avoid war by observing details in conversations that might be exploited. and if blows do come, a tactician ends the conflict as swiftly and cleanly as possible."

guardian was a sensible choice. and killdeer also had the benefit of towhee's presence. 

"have you faced a threat before?" the imperator inquired, indicating that they should walk along the clifftop.

He nodded solemnly, taking in the words. That sounds interesting, he remarked, voice genuine. And then another question for him, and he pondered it a bit, before answering—

I think so, Killdeer said. There was this. . .creature. I was only a kid, and it was big and mean. I helped some packmates of mine fight it off.

Memory clearly flawed in favor of Killdeer, but hey, had he ever skimped on embellishment?

Besides. It HAPPENED.

He shrugged. Other than that, no. Which is why I want to learn to fight. Hence, why he was here at Mereo (besides, you know, Towhee) and yadda yadda yadda.

only a kid. he was a child now. germanicus of course did not say that. he had come to the ranks far younger than killdeer. perhaps that was his bias. and mentioning the young soldier's youth would only dismay him. mereo could shape him into a man.

"so you already have guardian experience. this bodes well for your ascension through the ranks. can you describe the creature to me and the steps you took to defeat it?"

recollection was a good portion of a fighter's skills. he glanced along their path, then at the widespread wings of a raven high above the canyon.

He paused, and his brows scrunched tight in thought. It was. . .brown. And kind of hefty. But smaller than an adult wolf, Killdeer explained. And obviously different. It was mean. It growled at me.

Then the others had appeared, but still he persisted.

It wasn't a wolf, he added. We didn't kill it, just drove it away. Was that good enough? He wondered whether Germanicus was the type to ask for proof of success. And besides, in truth, he'd been herded away to his den long before the creature had been chased out from the caldera.

We overwhelmed it. Surrounded it. Besides me, we were bigger, and stronger.

not a wolf. but overwhelmed by wolves. with no further details the eagle would not attempt to figure the identity of the creature.

"you learned the strength of numbers. that is why we patrol together and spar for hours a day. you must learn all their faces and they must learn yours. your trust must be strong in your regiment."

the imperator paused. "kallik and glaukos were sent off together. they fought and killed together, and returned men of experience. but they would not have prevailed without one another."