It was well into the late hours of morning when the brown figure of a slumbering dire pup showed signs of waking. It was subtle but obvious as the steady and rhythmic sound of his breathing fell out of sync with a long inhale of air that rushed into dires lungs via his nostrils. Then, with a bit of struggling, one bleary golden eye squinted at the dark of his surroundings. With muted interest the male allowed his gaze swept over the shadows when he noticed a soft light filtering in from behind him. The wolf knew this because of the angle in which the light was coming into the den to light up the dirt walls could only have been cast from that direction alone. A groan tore from his throat as the wolf raised himself into an upright position, not bothering to stand or sit fully, as he looked over his shoulder towards the dens entrance. Sure enough the land outside of his comfy hiding hole was bathed in the bright light of morning. Even from where he laid the lad could feel the warmth of the morning air as it radiated inside of his resting place.

How long had he been asleep he wondered as his jaws spread wide releasing a loud yawn that was accompanied by the watering of his drooping eyes as his body worked to wake up. All the while his conciousness protested against this as it still wanted more time to be lost in the realms of slumber and dreams but reality was a harsh mistress. Speaking of which it was then that the chocolate child realized that he was alone in his families den. This was a suprise since Birch was usually the first to be up and about before the rest of his siblings. He came to the conclusion that he must have been very tired but from what he didn't know. He had not undertaken any physically demanding tasks nor had anything emotionally taxing on his mind so it was quite the mystery as to why he had slept in so late. More suprising was the fact that no one had woken him up. Perhaps they wanted to let the socially akward child sleep in? 

Throwing the questions aside the dire finally rose from his spot on the ground and stretched himself along the dirt floor; knees almost touching the ground as he did so before he dragged himself up. Slowly the yearling waddled to the mouth of the den only to be stopped as his eyes immediately clenched shut upon his emergence from the shadows; for they were assaulted, full force, by the suns blinding light. Blinking rapidly for a few moments he had to wait for his vision to adjusted to the vibrant sights sprawled out before him. Taking a brief moment dire stood at the dens mouth to ponder his next course of action. It was too late to go to his garden to tend to his herbs and leaving them alone for a day wouldn't hurt them. He couldn't risk shadowing the healers as someone from the pack might notice him and he had no friends to spend time with so he couldn't spend the rest of the day in their company. A sad sigh passed through his lips as the last though went through his mind. In the end the introvert settled for exploring the land away from the bulk of the pack.

Eventually Birch had come to wander the stretch of woods that his brother had been dawdling in. Honestly the chocolate child had no idea he was even there until he had heard Felixs familiar voice call out to him in that boisterous manner that was just his trademark at this point. "Hello brother I'm just wandering about nothing interesting really," he replied softly as he watched the other approach him in a very stiff manner making Birch wonder if he had stepped in or on something? At the announcement of his newly appointed rank Birch beamed at him. The social recluse knew how much his brother had yearned to be an elite guard, and how disappointed he was when had been told he couldn't achieve it, that it was joyous news to hear that he had finally been awarded his dream and so early too. "Really," he gasped, "congratulations! I know you'll  be a great guard!" A gentle grin stretched upon his features as he saw his brothers blue eyes twinkle with barely disguised mirth. "So what will you be doing as part of your job, " he inquired; not really knowing much about what an elite quard actually did but waited eagerly for Felix to share his knowledge of the subject.

Felix had always been the kind of being whos mood was easily shifted by the replies of the second party. A role that was currently being filled by Birch. Thus was pretty easy to take advantage of with only a few words of praise and awe which Birch was currently handing to him in his innocent naiveté not even aware of the trouble he could be sowing...for example these conversations sometimes bore consequences that even the chocolate lad couldn't  begin to expect; good or bad. Mostly it was good intentions gone awry, usually in epic fashions,  and father was often the one left to clean the mess and apologize to any offended packmates. Still majority of the time his darker brother meant well at heart but per the usual let his mind get the better of him. Not the logical part either Felixes brain seemed to draw on his imagination for the most part. Which made for memorable talks and wild antics, usually accompanied by Trill, who would usually turn his small oopsies into a giant explosion of utter chaos. It was usually a bad thing when those two siblings hung out together but sometimes they would try and rope him into their antics! A few times they had taken advantage of his kindness and tricked him into helping the two with their pranks. Luckily for Birch however was his ability to seemingly disappear from site the moment the deed had been done. 

Eventually Birch learned to turn down their requests for assistance since he couldn't bear the guilt of causing trouble for his dad and their fellow packmates. He wondered how Felix and Trillium could continue with their antics when they usually bore such terrible results but he gave up ever understanding their motivations. This verbal exchange now was different from the others since it seemed to be focusing on his dream goal rather than on how awesome the pack  would think he was if he did whatever idea had been floating about his mind at the time. Dare he hope that today wouldn't be Felixes 'normal' day but instead be one of those rare times when the outgoing thrill seeker actually kept out of trouble? He could only pray.

"Really!  You should have seen it Bir! At the meeting Dad was all like you won't be an Elite Guard and I was like I will though and Cockatrice went 'I'll train him myself' or something." The smaller dire smiled half heartily at the chosen nickname that Felix had made for him. Sadly Birch couldn't call him anything besides either his birthname or 'brother'. He did adore all of his siblings but he wasn't very gifted with nicknames as they were so he could only call them for who and what they were. Like Felix and brother. Neither stood out nor held much affection as their pet names but Birch showed his affection differently than others and he hoped that they understood."So embrassing as well. Dad called me a child in front of everyone! Then Dad was all quiet and sulky afterward and said I 'didn't know what I was getting myself into', can you believe it?!" The gentle dire held his tongue knowing that defending fathers actions at the gathering would only irk the other but offered him a sympathetic grin, "Sorry, but you still manged to join so it's not all that bad is it" he asked softly as he waited for the taller to continue with his story."So I guess I'm guarding Kings and Queens and stuff. Probably dignitaries and the like aswell. Maybe foreign princesses... They'll probably fall in love with me -once I deftly defend them from their many enemies- and beg me to run away with them."

A chuckle escaped him before he could control himself.  Birch always admired how Felix could view himself in such ways. As where he would have fainted at the very notion of meeting wolves of any sort much less those of such high ranking,"You would definitely make them feel more at ease,"he confirmed. The adventurous and bold teen seemed to have that effect of drawing others in and making them feel welcomed no matter their faults. Well Birch often felt such warmth come from the knight in shining armor to be."When will your training start," he inquired, "will you have to go away or will you be staying in Inaria." Birch, being a recluse, held no knowledge of what kind of things that trainees would have to do in order to be recognized as a full fledged member of the Elite Guard but he hoped it wouldn't affect his and Felixes relationship. He'd rather his brother not be a guard at all if it meant that Felix would abandon him for better friends.