Categories > Original > Fantasy > The Will of a Warrior
-"So what do you think they're up to this time?" Tarock asked his mentor. Keck stroked his beard thoughtfully; it was always a game of Esstab with the Ramin.
-"Who knows," Keck said. "Maybe their testing our resolve or maybe they want an excuse to go to war. Or maybe the just think their entitled, you know how they are."
-Tarock did know how they were. He had dealt with the Ramin beside Keck before. They were an arrogant and condescending people. Tarock had never met anyone so small who had the nerve to talk down to him before; he had been tempted to kill the little runt. And now he was going to a city full of the little pests.
-The Brawl did not understand why the Ramin seemed to need their enemies to make the fist move. In every war the Ramin had ever been in they simply antagonized their enemies into action. They seemed to think it justified their actions; the Brawl needed no such excuse.
-"Well relax old friend," Tarock said. "Tonight we shall drink and eat our fill with friends and family and tomorrow we shall deal with the small pests when we are well rested." Keck smiled at his young protégé.
-"Works for me," Keck said. The old warrior got up and Tarock fallowed him out of the council chambers. It was mid day now and time for training the young ones.
-Tarock looked over his class, as the Beta male he was in charge of inspecting the new blood while Keck watched from the stone seat overlooking the pen. There were several pups lined up awaiting inspection. Most of them had just shed their cub fluff.
-Tarock sighed; he had little patience with pups. They were wild and uncontrollable with violent tempers. It took years of discipline for Brawl to learn to control their passions enough to function in society.
-It was their first day of training and the first test every Brawl pup must go through was the test of patience. Tarock would simply see how long they could stand at attention before their anxiety got the best of them. It was a kind of early warning system, the first one to snap would likely be the most troublesome for the rest of his training.
-Tarock could stand at attention for two days straight if he needed to but it hadn't even been ten minutes before the pups were fidgeting. They were too young to know enough to wrap their tails around their waists. The snake like appendages moved around in the air as if they had minds of their own.
-Sure enough one of the pups started to lean against the one standing next to him. Naturally the other pup did not appreciate this and shoved the smaller one off of him and into another. Then all three of them started to fight each other. The two larger Brawl ganged up on the smaller one.
-Tarock waited a moment to see if any of the other pups would jump in but they seemed to be restraining themselves. He watched as the small one bared his fangs at his attackers. He managed to hold them at bay until the bigger of the two grabbed him from behind and his companion bit into the small ones shoulder.
-Tarock shook his head with disappointment, enough was enough. He walked over and grabbed the two larger pups by their tails and lifted them into the air. The larger one stopped struggling right away but the other one grabbed onto Tarock's arm and sank his fangs into the Brawl's flesh. Tarock grimaced from the sudden shock of pain, a pups teeth were not as large as an adults but they were as sharp as thorns.
-Being satisfied that the larger pup was under control Tarock simply dropped him and grabbed hold of the feisty one by the back of the neck. He was careful not to squeeze too hard, he knew he could accidentally break the pup's neck but he had to let him know who was in charge.
-The smaller one released his grip and when Tarock was convinced he was under control he dropped him as well. The Brawl that had been attacked was standing quietly with his head low and blood coming from the wound on his shoulder.
-Tarock was impressed the boy wasn't crying or even tending to the wound. He was a tough little guy and that would serve him well, Tarock just needed to work on his endurance. Tarock's arm hurt but he wasn't bleeding, Brawl skin toughened up as they got older.
-Suddenly the feisty one decided he wanted another go at Tarock. He got up on all fours and lounged for Tarock's leg but Tarock had had enough. He lifted his leg and the pup bit nothing but air and Tarock put his foot down, right on the pups back.
-The pup snarled in frustration and tried to get up. His tail wrapped up around Tarock's leg and his claws scratched the stone floor but Tarock's foot wasn't moving. He let the pup struggle until he had tired himself out.
-Tarock finished the rest of the day keeping his foot on the trouble maker. The other two had been forced to stand at attention facing a wall while the others were given lectures on proper behavior and what was expected of them. At long last the ordeal was over, the trouble maker whose name Tarock had learned was Rayzack had been thoroughly humbled and at his expense the rest of the class had learned the price for disobedience.
-The pups were sent home and Tarock let out a long sigh of relief as Keck walked up to him smiling.
-"Just remember that tomorrow you can't stomp on anyone if they misbehave," Keck said. Tarock laughed at the joke. He knew he would want to, pups he could handle but Ramin were another story.
-Keck patted his younger friend on the back and the two headed up the stone steps to the chamber of trials. There Gullna would be waiting for his family and the other elders to inspect his trophy that he had spent the whole day preparing and then they would feast.
-"Who knows," Keck said. "Maybe their testing our resolve or maybe they want an excuse to go to war. Or maybe the just think their entitled, you know how they are."
-Tarock did know how they were. He had dealt with the Ramin beside Keck before. They were an arrogant and condescending people. Tarock had never met anyone so small who had the nerve to talk down to him before; he had been tempted to kill the little runt. And now he was going to a city full of the little pests.
-The Brawl did not understand why the Ramin seemed to need their enemies to make the fist move. In every war the Ramin had ever been in they simply antagonized their enemies into action. They seemed to think it justified their actions; the Brawl needed no such excuse.
-"Well relax old friend," Tarock said. "Tonight we shall drink and eat our fill with friends and family and tomorrow we shall deal with the small pests when we are well rested." Keck smiled at his young protégé.
-"Works for me," Keck said. The old warrior got up and Tarock fallowed him out of the council chambers. It was mid day now and time for training the young ones.
-Tarock looked over his class, as the Beta male he was in charge of inspecting the new blood while Keck watched from the stone seat overlooking the pen. There were several pups lined up awaiting inspection. Most of them had just shed their cub fluff.
-Tarock sighed; he had little patience with pups. They were wild and uncontrollable with violent tempers. It took years of discipline for Brawl to learn to control their passions enough to function in society.
-It was their first day of training and the first test every Brawl pup must go through was the test of patience. Tarock would simply see how long they could stand at attention before their anxiety got the best of them. It was a kind of early warning system, the first one to snap would likely be the most troublesome for the rest of his training.
-Tarock could stand at attention for two days straight if he needed to but it hadn't even been ten minutes before the pups were fidgeting. They were too young to know enough to wrap their tails around their waists. The snake like appendages moved around in the air as if they had minds of their own.
-Sure enough one of the pups started to lean against the one standing next to him. Naturally the other pup did not appreciate this and shoved the smaller one off of him and into another. Then all three of them started to fight each other. The two larger Brawl ganged up on the smaller one.
-Tarock waited a moment to see if any of the other pups would jump in but they seemed to be restraining themselves. He watched as the small one bared his fangs at his attackers. He managed to hold them at bay until the bigger of the two grabbed him from behind and his companion bit into the small ones shoulder.
-Tarock shook his head with disappointment, enough was enough. He walked over and grabbed the two larger pups by their tails and lifted them into the air. The larger one stopped struggling right away but the other one grabbed onto Tarock's arm and sank his fangs into the Brawl's flesh. Tarock grimaced from the sudden shock of pain, a pups teeth were not as large as an adults but they were as sharp as thorns.
-Being satisfied that the larger pup was under control Tarock simply dropped him and grabbed hold of the feisty one by the back of the neck. He was careful not to squeeze too hard, he knew he could accidentally break the pup's neck but he had to let him know who was in charge.
-The smaller one released his grip and when Tarock was convinced he was under control he dropped him as well. The Brawl that had been attacked was standing quietly with his head low and blood coming from the wound on his shoulder.
-Tarock was impressed the boy wasn't crying or even tending to the wound. He was a tough little guy and that would serve him well, Tarock just needed to work on his endurance. Tarock's arm hurt but he wasn't bleeding, Brawl skin toughened up as they got older.
-Suddenly the feisty one decided he wanted another go at Tarock. He got up on all fours and lounged for Tarock's leg but Tarock had had enough. He lifted his leg and the pup bit nothing but air and Tarock put his foot down, right on the pups back.
-The pup snarled in frustration and tried to get up. His tail wrapped up around Tarock's leg and his claws scratched the stone floor but Tarock's foot wasn't moving. He let the pup struggle until he had tired himself out.
-Tarock finished the rest of the day keeping his foot on the trouble maker. The other two had been forced to stand at attention facing a wall while the others were given lectures on proper behavior and what was expected of them. At long last the ordeal was over, the trouble maker whose name Tarock had learned was Rayzack had been thoroughly humbled and at his expense the rest of the class had learned the price for disobedience.
-The pups were sent home and Tarock let out a long sigh of relief as Keck walked up to him smiling.
-"Just remember that tomorrow you can't stomp on anyone if they misbehave," Keck said. Tarock laughed at the joke. He knew he would want to, pups he could handle but Ramin were another story.
-Keck patted his younger friend on the back and the two headed up the stone steps to the chamber of trials. There Gullna would be waiting for his family and the other elders to inspect his trophy that he had spent the whole day preparing and then they would feast.
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