Redsand Canyon soldatin

mereo seemed busy.

all of it went well above and beyond her head. so she was a body of neutrality in the sea of change. and while she had not yet been ordered in a soldier's way, she certainly felt like one. surrounded by them all. which meant she might as well begin to act like one.

this started with a simple patrol.

something she could easily write off as a walk, if questioned.

Germanicus had put her in charge of some newcomer, but he definitely didn't tell her how weird she looked!! Tierra approached Minne cheerfully, but she definitely wondered if teaching her was going to be harder considering how awkward she looked.

HEY! You're Minne, right!? Germy says I'm supposed to be in charge of your training. Tierra raised herself a little with self-importance, then looked at her interestedly. Are you patrolling? I can totally join, if you are! Patrols are boring with a capital b when you have to do them solo, ugh.

She asked, but she didn't really even wait for an answer before joining in and moving on. Where are you from? You're really different, from like everyone else here. It was actually downright tactful for her (but still absolutely rude).

the sentence felt like a sudden slap to her face. ears too, really. somebody yelling at her and then saying germy. minne could not say if the woman was truly asking, or only asking to appear nice.

it seemed like the latter as they fell in line.

coastal forest, pretty far from here. she started with, remaining good mood despite the tactical flash bang of a wolf that had been thrown at her. are you like a...legatus or something?

perhaps the wording and tone conveyed how much minne struggled with the hierarchy of this place.

Oh, cool, coast! My grandmas are from the coast. They're, like, pirate queens or something. At least she thought that was what her dad had said. Tierra felt the familiar bummer at everything around the visit she'd been supposed to go on, but suppressed it under a roll of her eyes.

And no. I should be! But Reyson is instead. He wasn't even here when I joined, but it's probably, like, a dude thing. Totally unfair, right?! Tierra commiserated a moment, then shrugged it off. But whatevs! He's gonna be awful at Akashingo, the pharoah there actually knows how to have fun. I'd know. Have you ever been?

Tierra didn't see her at the wedding party, but she had seen a lot of weird looking wolves like her! That was also where a lot of their newer recruits seemed to come from. Maybe she'd tagged along with princess what's-her-face for this visit.

she spoke. a lot. plenty.

minne learned a lot at once. reyson. men things. a palace called akashingo. pharaohs. her head nearly spun and combusted from it all. although truthfully, she appreciated it. the sooner she learned the sooner she could ease into things.

no, i haven't. why is he going to akashingo for? obviously not fun. she attempted to join the spunky humor of the girl.

Right!? Like, if he's gonna be miserable, what's the point?! Besides, he's always in Epoch anyway. I wonder if he's got the hots for mom. Tierra snickered, then seemed to remember that she was actually here for a reason.

Anyway! It's whatever. I totally got the training stuff down here, and we're gonna prove to Germy I'd make a totally kickass leader. How are you anyway, at like fighting and stuff?

She finally stopped to listen, curious where they'd start. Hopefully Minne was awful. It would look way better for her if she had to start from zero and totally got her in awesome shape really quickly.

oh.

she balked slightly at the question of her skills. mainly because — i'm not at all. a fighter, that is. i kind of joined hoping to do more patrolling work than fighting. she laughed, dry. wondering if she had just sold herself out as some kind of fraud.

it was probably okay with this girl, right?

No, that's like, totally cool! I'm really good at it, and if I can teach you, that's totally going to impress Germanicus and everyone else. You want to learn, right!? Tierra leaned in with obvious enthusiasm.

Minne seemed cool so far! Tierra could vibe with her, and she was big enough and all that her weird looks wouldn't affect her fighting, right? Maybe it'd even surprise whoever she jumped into auto-losing or something rad like that. Her ears were weird.

Patrols and all are cool too, but kind of boring unless you play hookie and go see something more interesting. She added, a touch conspiratorially.

yeah, right. she agreed with a bobbing of heads. they'd...help each other in their own ways. each of them could impress others in this work.

but she was far more interested in —

are you wanting to play hookie? her voice full of humor and dark eyes warmed. perhaps this wasn't behavior to encouraged, but hey, she wasn't imperator or anything.

Oh, oh oh! Tierra's eyes lit up immediately. Um, yes! Always. Germ has us constantly doing patrols, but come on. There's no way anyone's that interested in this place. It's cool and all, but it's a total sand pit. She kicked a bit of dust up for illustration. There were such cooler places out there!

We could.... go sneak into Aquene's place. She's got this, like, secret water spot you totally gotta see. The oasis was one of Tierra's favorite spots to nap, but she couldn't get away with it too often. That fact made it ten times more fun to try sometimes though.

she laughed, warm. finding herself unexpectedly delighted by the girl she had become suddenly thick as thieves with.

she had figured her stay in mereo would be brief and serious the whole time. perhaps there was a...chance here. for more, for things she could enjoy.

well she can't hog the water source in a desert. she snorted dryly. sure there may have been other spots, but could anybody really own a body of water in this place? seemed less than kind. lead the way. minne instructed with a wave of her whip-like tail.

okay to fade here if you want! Though also fine to continue if you wanted swimming time XD

Right!? This was going to be amazing!! Minne rocked, Tierra was going to be the best mentor she'd ever had, and Germanicus was going to be blown away. Plus she'd made a better friend than she'd expected! Tierra hadn't met a single other wolf in Mereo as willing as she was to play hookie (except maybe Sybol, but he wasn't a soldier, so did it even count?). Whatever!

Tierra grinned and took off, bumping Minne's shoulder with her own as she did so playfully. They'd done, like, most of a patrol. So saying they patrolled wouldn't even be a lie!! Soon it would be winter and snowy and boring anyway. She could do soldier stuff and all that then.