there are no tricks in plain and simple faith

@Flash The converting :P

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It was afternoon and he had finished his daily patrols, filled the pack's caches, chased away some intruders, dealt with some political issues, checked on the slaves, done his duties and currently he was relaxing by the shade of a forest, leaning against a large sturdy tree as the beautiful autumn colors of reds and yellows showered the place. He yawned, tiredness overwhelming the youthful Praetor as he sat, deep in thought, the gentle breeze billowing around him, offering him coolness.

A pack meeting had to be held soon, he tilted his head into the air and howled for the Probatio yearling wondering how he was faring in the pack. He had been promoted to a higher rank despite his status on Probatio and he was wondering whether or not he should keep his rank or again be demoted to the lowest rank. His actions determined the consequences.

Silver eyes scanned the clearing lazily wondering if Flash was going to come and submit to him because that might help him keep his rank for another week until he got out of Probatio after all, nobody liked being on a trial rank, half a member and half not. He himself had once been in Flash's paws and he hated it but the Spiritfire wolf had deserved it.

Flash was stalking a rabbit as a howl called for him. He cursed silently and leaped on the startled rabbit and crunched down it's spine. He sighed in relief it didn't run in time and decided to take it to his alpha. He had already hunted another two rabbits, a magpie , a squirrel. He grasped the rabbit in his jaws and padded towards the source of the howl.

Flash padded in the small woods and reached his alpha. He lowered his head and tail and padded closer. He dropped the rabbit at Shadow's feet and rolled over, showing his underside. He gave a whine and waited for the signal that he could get up again. I hope he likes the rabbit, he thought nervously.

It wasn't long before the sun-touched male arrived in the clearing, lowering his head and tail as he walked closer and dropped the rabbit at his paws before rolling over onto his back and whining softly. He smiled genuinely down at his subordinate, something he did more often nowadays. "Get up, Flash" he said in an amused tone, lifting a paw and attempted to swat at Flash in a friendly manner before nosing the dead rabbit and tearing it in half. "Here, you have some too." he said nudging the other half to Flash. He knew that the rabbit wasn't going to fill either of their stomachs but it would make a good snack.

Chewing thoughtfully on a rabbit leg, he swallowed and turn to the Probatio and tilted his head slightly. "You must be wondering why I called you here in the middle of the afternoon when you were hunting." eyes glittered as he spoke. "I assume you know I am a Roman right, my bloodline extends to the start of the great Roman Empire but you do not know much of the traditions and culture of Rome do you? I don't think you know about the gods most Romans worship." he flashed his subordinate a crooked grin.

"Lately I've been thinking about teaching some of you guys a bit of my culture before I call for a pack meeting." he smirked, "If you want to learn more..." he paused. "You might know more about how the things around here work and perhaps....." he stopped that and grinned the same crooked grin again.

Eyes gleaming. "So are you interested, Flash?"

"You must be wondering why I called you here in the middle of the afternoon when you were hunting.I assume you know I am a Roman right, my bloodline extends to the start of the great Roman Empire but you do not know much of the traditions and culture of Rome do you? I don't think you know about the gods most Romans worship."

"Lately I've been thinking about teaching some of you guys a bit of my culture before I call for a pack meeting.If you want to learn more...You might know more about how the things around here work and perhaps....." Then he grinned at Flash. Flash was confused for a moment before he realised what he was talking about.

"So are you interested, Flash?" Flash consider for a moment, why not? “I'll give it a try " He answered the silver sterling.

Don't copy and paste this, Leo.

“I'll give it a try," said the yearling and a faint smile appeared on the silver Roman's face. "Alright, I'll skip the creation of the world part and move on to the creation of Rome. It was said that Rome was founded by two brothers Romulus and Remus. Their grandfather was the rightful king but he had been overthrown by his brother. Their mother was a virgin priestess of the goddess Vesta, the goddess of home but she got pregnant, by Mars, the god of war. A relative recognised that Romulus and Remus were more than wolves and attempted to have them killed. A wolf entrusted with this task abandoned them by the river Tiber, which was in flood. They were later found by a she-wolf who suckled them, and a woodpecker, who fed them. A wolf later found the pups and brought them up." he paused and eyed Flash for a long moment, trying to remember the next part.

Right, Romulus and Remus grew up into strong young men, born leaders. Remus was captured in a brawl with some of his grandfather's wolves. Romulus attempted to rescue his brother, and the presence of twins of about the right age uncovered the secret. With their own followers and their grandfather's men, they overthrown their great-uncle and restored their grandfather to his throne. The two brothers did not want to serve anybody else as king, so they left to found their own city.

The Roman Praetor licked a paw thoughtfully as he wondered how to express the second part of the story through words. He had forgotten how his mother had told him this story, but it still stuck. Frowning slightly, he thought before smiling broadly at the Probatio again. They chose different sites, and decided to seek omens for which would be better. Remus looked round and saw six vultures, a good omen, while Romulus claimed to have seen twelve, even better. While they were arguing, Remus jumped over the walls Romulus had built. Romulus was made even angrier by this, and in a fit of rage, killed his brother. So Rome was named after Romulus. After having reigned over Rome for long years, Romulus disappeared in a violent storm, and it was announced that he had been taken up to heaven, from where he would continue to look after Rome's destiny as a god.

He looked at Flash with concealed curiousity and a slight tilt of his head that meant still interested or do you want me to stop? for he knew some wolves did not appreciate hearing these stories, thinking it was all bullcrap and nothing else. But it was the story of how the Empire of Rome had been founded, or at least one of them.

"Alright, I'll skip the creation of the world part and move on to the creation of Rome. It was said that Rome was founded by two brothers Romulus and Remus. Their grandfather was the rightful king but he had been overthrown by his brother. Their mother was a virgin priestess of the goddess Vesta, the goddess of home but she got pregnant, by Mars, the god of war. A relative recognised that Romulus and Remus were more than wolves and attempted to have them killed. A wolf entrusted with this task abandoned them by the river Tiber, which was in flood. They were later found by a she-wolf who suckled them, and a woodpecker, who fed them. A wolf later found the pups and brought them up."

At this he paused for a moment, then continued, Right, Romulus and Remus grew up into strong young men, born leaders. Remus was captured in a brawl with some of his grandfather's wolves. Romulus attempted to rescue his brother, and the presence of twins of about the right age uncovered the secret. With their own followers and their grandfather's men, they overthrown their great-uncle and restored their grandfather to his throne. The two brothers did not want to serve anybody else as king, so they left to found their own city.

Shadow frowned at him for a moment, but then smiled at him and continued, They chose different sites, and decided to seek omens for which would be better. Remus looked round and saw six vultures, a good omen, while Romulus claimed to have seen twelve, even better. While they were arguing, Remus jumped over the walls Romulus had built. Romulus was made even angrier by this, and in a fit of rage, killed his brother. So Rome was named after Romulus. After having reigned over Rome for long years, Romulus disappeared in a violent storm, and it was announced that he had been taken up to heaven, from where he would continue to look after Rome's destiny as a god. Flash almost gasped, who would kill their own brother because they were arguing? But perhaps this was the way of the romans.

Shadow sent him a look as if to say, do you still want me to continue? or not? Flash pondered, he would still like to finish the story. “What about the gods? " He asked. He had heard some pack mates speak of roman gods. “How did they came to be? "

I TOLD YOU NOT TO COPY AND PASTE! IT LOOKS WEIRD BRO. Everyone knows you only wrote a paragraph yourself and it doesn't count.

Hmm. So Flash wanted to know more about the gods did he? Well here goes. Pluto and Jupiter and Neptune were three very powerful gods. They were also brothers. When their father Saturn, died, the brothers first divided up the world, Jupiter took the sky, Neptune took the sea, and Pluto took the underworld. In time, Jupiter became the king of all the gods and all the earth and everything on it and above it and, well, just everything. Neptune married happily, and remained Lord of the Sea. As for Pluto, he was content, living in the Underworld as its Lord and ruler. Pluto isn't the lord of death. His job was to rule the Underworld, he was a good ruler, parts of the Underworld where heroes' souls dwelled for a while after they died, were nice. Parts were terrible like Tartarus, where the evil go when they die. Pluto can think of a thousand punishments for evil souls. Thats why you should always try to be good in the eyes of the gods for if you were brilliant, you might be able to go to heaven and feast with the gods like Romulus did.

He paused, swallowing the last bit of rabbit and tilting his head in a thoughtful manner wondering how he was to proceed next. Silver eyes gazed at Flash, wondering which god he would be most interested with and if he chose to believe in his culture and become a converted roman. Which god would he chose as his patron? It wasn't really a 'need' but most Romans chose one except well, maybe him. Although the gods he usually prayed to were Mars, Neptune, Jupiter and Pluto. He supposed those four gods could be all his patrons, if that would work with the gods. Finally he decided to let Flash decide.

"I could take about the gods for weeks, months even years if I could so I'll let you choose which one you want more details about. Mars the god of War, one of the most popular gods in Rome. Apollo the god of healing, music, poetry, prophecy and the sun. Juno the queen of the gods. Vesta the goddess of home. Diana the twin of Apollo and goddess of the moon. Bellona goddess of war. Minerva goddess of wisdom." he paused knowing he could go on and on and on about all this and decided that this was enough for now. Flash could decide which god or gods he wanted to know more about.

OKIE FINE I WON'T DO THAT, AND YOU NEVER TOLD ME!

God of the sky, Jupiter. God of the Sea, Neptune. God of the... underworld, Pluto . Got it He noted down as The silver sterling continued. Jupiter, King of the gods. Neptune, married happily. Pluto, umm..... ruled the underworld and decided where dead souls go? Flash continued to note down.

Flash wasn't the biggest fan of Pluto right now. A thousand punishment? Tartarus? Doesn't sound like a god place to be. Heaven on the other hand, sounds like.... heaven. He hoped The silver alpha won't look at his small look of dismay.

The silver sterling then gave him a small list of gods. “I assume that those are not the only gods, but in your list, I would say Apollo " He liked the sun and the warmth it gave. Healing, music and poetry doesn't sound bad either.

Apollo, hmm. He didn't really learn much about the god of the sun as he wasn't really one of the most important deities in Rome, or in his pack. His father usually talked about Mars, the god of war, because after all, all he did was fight and fight and fight. Blood spilled on the lands around his pack and no mercy was shown and by no mercy there was no mercy at all. Not even a tiny bit. He learned a lot being raised in that pack, a lot about mercy and a lot about brutality and violence. Romans were civilized, but they were also brilliant fighters, disciplined and showed no mercy when they fought. That was what made them deadlier than other wolves, wolves that showed mercy when the fought and attempted to hurt instead of kill. Yes, they were bloodthirsty and maniatic when they fought, but they fought with the blessing of Mars. They did not fight without reason and they did not want war without end.

Gazing at Flash with thoughtful silver eyes, he spoke The Augurs of Rome usually take him as their patron as he is the god of poetry and prophecy. Healers also take him as their patron as he is also the god of healing. He is also a brilliant fighter, warden and he was described to have impressive godly beauty. That was about like a summary of what he knew about the god of the sun as that was his main title.

Apollo, god of sun, music, poetry, healing and prophecy.Good fighter and warden... uh impressive godly beauty? Flash noted down onto his mental notebook. He was starting to like this good more and more as Shadow continued to describe him. He certainly liked the sun and music. Poetry wasn't mad either.

Though Flash was interested, he was still confused about a few things. “You said something about augurs? And patrons? " He asked in an earnest tone. He was fascinated by these romans and decided to learn more about them. As much as possible.

"Augurs are the ones that interpret the signs that the gods sent us, they usually have been blessed by Apollo as he is the god of prophecies and interpreting the wills of the gods are somewhat similar." the augur back at Aezani Fluvius had been blessed by a priest of Apollo. Or at least that was what his father said but you could never actually trust Aku, a devilish wolf who would go to Fields of Punishment when he died.

"Patrons are like the gods you choose to specifically watch over you, they are your ultimate guides other than the other main gods. They are the gods that will guide you the most and will look after you often. Most wolves only have one patron god." he said knowing Tiberius had chosen Mars, the father of Romulus, a popular choice for the wolves of Rome but he knew Flash would probably choose something different.

Great, more stuff to jot down in my notebook. Augurs,interpret signs the gods send us? Apollo, god of prophecies, most augurs blessed by him because interpreting the will of god is somewhat similar He noted down. He wasn't sure about the prophecy thing but the rest about the gods sound good. When the silver sterling started speaking once again, he quickly shut down all thought and resumed jotting down information in his mental notebook.

Patrons, gods that romans specifically choose to watch over romans, ultimate guides over other main gods. They will guide and watch over the roman most and most wolves only have one of them. Currently Apollo was on top of his list and it doesn't look like it would change. But he still had one question left unanswered. "Uh, no offence but why tell me all of this? Why not call the entire pack? Is there some specific reason?" Technically it was three questions, but they all circle around the same topic, so close enough.

A smirk crossed the silver wolf's face as he canted his head slightly, "You have the potential to become a great warrior, leader, a Roman. Even though you act more like a Graecus. You have already proven yourself to be a good hunter and a asset to the pack and you are youthful, providing a lot of space for learning. We just need to train you up a bit, hone your skills a bit and you will be a true Roman." he shrugged. "If you want to, of course. I won't push my beliefs on you and force you to learn it." he wouldn't because he wanted wolves to freely believe in the gods of Rome.

Shadow rose to his paws, gazing at Flash with cool silver eyes. "It is your choice," he said softly and awaited for the wolf's reply. There was nothing more to be said if he refused but if he did, he would ask the dies pater to bless him and although not born a Roman, he would be made a Roman and that was an honor. Telling the youth to take time to make his decision, Shadow dismissed him and went to patrol the borders.