Redsand Canyon sententia

whenever u have time! <3

along the edge of the arena, the eagle called for @Tierra. 

"as you know, your mother and maxim have moved to epoch." the girl had not yet told him of her plans and so he would not ask. "it leaves room for promotion. we have a new auxillary, minne. i would like you to assume the rank of tribunus and take her beneath your training."

Her mom had gone and taken the family with her (except for her weird older sister, of course) but Tierra had no plans of tagging along. She was way more than old enough to live by herself now! And besides, they were at most, like, five feet away. She wasn't even sure why they'd bothered moving, but whatever!

Especially because now a promotion had opened?! Awesome, about time!

Definitely!! I mean, easy peasy! I've got your back, Imperator. Tierra gave him a nudge with a paw, then couldn't contain herself and bounced a bit on her toes. That was her mom's rank, yeah!? She was so gonna rock it!!

in spite of himself germanicus did smile.

"i am certain you will do it justice," he told her with truthful confidence. "now. reyson has a tour of duty in akashingo upcoming. when he returns, i want to take most of mereo to the seaside. we will be marching at least five days and canvassing the shoreline for other packs, information, and opportunities for alliance. i am looking for warriors who might join us for a pitched or mock battle perhaps in winter."

Oh, the coast?! Nice!! I have family there! Well, kind of. Dad had family there, but I've met them before, and they'd definitely do whatever if I told them who I was. Her grandmas were badasses, from everything she'd heard, and definitely loved her. Who wouldn't?!

She didn't remember where the pack was but she would totally know it when she saw it. Wait... Reyson was going to Akashingo?! Why is he going to Akashingo? He didn't seem to like it much when we went for that party. He was a stiff in the corner the entire time, almost. Tierra laughed, but also waved a paw in a way that showed she was (mostly) joking. It was kind of true though. Why send him and not someone who would properly enjoy it? Someone like... say... her.

tierra had knowledge of the coast. "will you tell me of this pack?" he inquired with an interested sheen to his yellow eyes.

"reyson intends to join me in leadership. a month's tour in akashingo is required to achieve this." it involved several things. but perhaps tierra aspired to the same.

his mouth quirked. "the legatus is a man who keeps to himself." and the parties of the palace were far too rich and dazzling even for himself.

He like, just got here though. She complained, despite the fact she'd actually only joined a month before he did. She hadn't intended on going for leadership, but something about the idea of Reyson getting it over her made her jealous. Maybe because at some point she'd actually started trying... at least, more than she usually did.

Whatever. The leaders are my dad's moms. They live in big cliffs on the coast, and most of them are girls. She'd definitely noticed that when she visited. She'd had a markedly less fun time because of it. They had a bunch of scars, so I'm pretty sure they're warriors or something. You definitely aren't going to sneak up on them. They saw us coming easy.

She didn't remember a lot of specifics since she'd been so young at the time, but Rosalyn's scars and the lack of boys her had stood out the most. She wasn't used to either of them at the time.

See? She was useful. And she deserved to go back to Akashingo way more than Reyson did... the Pharoah even liked her better.

This was so lame.

germanicus studied tierra. 

two mothers. a coastal pack led by women. heathens, he knew them at once to be. he did not voice this to her, instead attempting to parse the tones in her voice. 

"the legatus is ambitious." the eagle did not blink. "are you, tierra?"

he left off talk of sapphique for now.

She looked at Germanicus like he'd just said one of the most ridiculous things she ever heard. Because he did say one of the most ridiculous things she'd ever heard.

No offense, but he's kind of a pushover. You think he seriously wants to, like, lead or something? That's so weird. In a more honest capacity, it was hard for Tierra to picture it. The few interactions she'd had with Reyson had been polite to the point of stilted. She couldn't imagine him handing out orders, let alone anyone obeying them.

She was used to leaders like Towhee. And Germanicus at least had that stoic grandpa feel that meant people kind of listened.

Yeah, I'm totally ambitious, or whatever! I told you I'd go wherever you wanted scouted, but I didn't think I had to like... ask to go to Akashingo or something. Is that how it works? If it was then she was so asking!

Okay, so she didn't care that much about actually leading. It just felt like Reyson was all the sudden promoted and getting chances she didn't know existed. He could have at least asked her, right?

germanicus did not smile but the humour showed in his eyes.

"a reluctant leader is the sort of individual you want at the helm, tierra. ambition has ruined many a good wolf."

but tierra's youth might inspire mereo in a different way.

"reyson has reached the top of your cohort. he has two trades and works toward mastery. a finishing trip to akashingo is the final requirement."

he paused. "you may travel to the mesa any time, but this is formal. you would go with the intention to represent yourself there as if you were already an officer."

his yellow eyes were thoughtful.

"if you truly wish to join leadership, tierra, then i rank you as praefectus now. continue toward a second role and i will send you to akashingo the end of spring."

She didn't buy that, but whatever. Arguing wasn't probably going to help her case, though she thought any leader who couldn't give orders was probably bound to be kind of useless. Right!? That was kinda, like, their whole job!

He's at Epoch a lot, too. Not sure what's so great about it, but there must be something there he likes. She smiled at Germanicus conspiratorially. She'd never seen nor heard of Meadow, but c'mon. It had to be a secret girlfriend. He was banging someone in Epoch. Like, why else stay overnight!?

You gotta get better about giving orders too, ohmg. You mean we gotta learn more than just fighting?! I totally coulda been doing that! She was going to ambassador the pants off of the packs around them (whatever that meant)!

JACKPOT though!! At least she got something!! She still didn't think it was entirely fair that he was docking points for things she'd never heard about, but whatevs!! Reyson could be his favorite, but she was going to rock leading so much he'd be begging her for lessons! Fine, you got a deal! But if there's more, and you aren't telling me, don't blame me for not doing it. Alright? Sheesh!

the imperator was displeased by this. he knew why reyson so often departed.

and the thought rankled him.

he turned his attention back to the crown prince and tierra herself. "proving yourself ready to lead means you have fought at least one battle." he arched a brow but it was in amusement. 

"if you wish for me to arrange this or for yourself to discover a way to gain such experience, speak it, praefectus."

Tierra stopped and her look got, if possible, even more long suffering. You are totally making this up as you go, aren't you!? I mean, if you just want Reyson there, whatevs. So it's fighting and something else, and a tour in Akashingo, and like... battle experience or something, because that's different than training!?

She huffed out a sigh, then shrugged. Yeah. Like, bring it. She had no clue how to get that, but she definitely figured this was Germanicus' way of setting up a series of things so that she had no chance of catching up. Reyson had to go tour because he just happened to somehow check all these other boxes. Man, he really was the worst.

germanicus at last smiled.

"reyson is older than you. he has seen war. he has seen many bloody things. you may receive the highest training, tierra, and you will. but until your experience is had in the field, you will not be ready to lead."

"it is a willingness to choose a specialty, your willingness to tour, and battle training abroad. when we march i will see that you have the opportunity to do more than spar."

So he says. Tierra sighed again, but it was clear she was giving up on making headway there and was resigned to her fate. Either she cared enough to meet whatever dumb trials he threw her way or she would give up and be fine rolling just like her mom did. Towhee hadn't needed leadership, right? So maybe she didn't either. She was cool as hell either way.

I just don't think it's fair you put him up for promotion without even, like, telling the rest of us what we had to do to earn it. But whatever, it's your show and all. I'm cool with it. Mostly, at least. She could be a little annoyed, yeah?

More-than-spar sounded awesome though. She was totally looking forward to this trip! Maybe her warrior grandmas could vouch for her too.

that was a fair point.

"i will take it beneath advisement, tierra. perhaps you would care to make it more of a competition."

in the future.

"thank you for your input." he spoke quietly but his eyes were genuine.

Tierra definitely wasn't expecting that. She'd been prepared for him to brush her off and to act like it was no big deal as a result of it, as per usual. She wasn't going to get all mad or anything, though she wasn't going to pretend she didn't have opinions either. Instead he kind of agreed, which was pretty cool, actually.

Yeah. Okay. No problem. She lost a bit of her disaffected front, and was clearly pretty pleased he'd thanked her, though she wasn't about to write home about it or anything.

I'm always down to make anything a competition! Obviously. I'm just going to have to make it totally obvious how much cooler a choice I am. Don't worry, Imperator, I've got it handled.

She gave him a salute, honestly a pretty formal one (if it weren't for the grin) and then waited at attention. If there wasn't anything else, she'd whirl away as soon as she was dismissed. She had a recruit to train!

germanicus' eyes warmed.

"very good, tierra. i look forward to seeing your work."

the young wolf was dismissed next, and he watched her go before turning back to his work.