[Mercury]

The Dark Moon Queen of Nardir                 ☿ "Being brave means to know something is scary, difficult, and dangerous, and doing it anyway, because the possibility of winning the fight is worth the chance of losing it. - Emilie Autumn

Things had once again quieted down in the Moon Kingdom.  The outside threats of monsters and mayhem had been thwarted, and the internal family dramas had quelled.  Kyra was now the mother to two new Nardirians, and the pack was once again congregating together in celebration.  But a queen's work is never done.

Mercury therefore turned her attention to the last of the Wayward children.  Three youths remained in Nardir:  Shimmah (Shimmer? She would need to ask the girl which name she preferred.) and the two remaining children of the X Clan: Beatrice and Aeneas. With the disappearance of the X Clan after Akutan's desertion, Buckshot was now a single father.  Oh, she knew Adolph was playing a big role in caring for them, but the Elder could probably use a break.

They were yearlings, or thereabouts, as far as Mercury could tell.  Old enough that they should have already begun their training. With so much else to discuss, Alana had not stated how she had trained the youth of the pack in Mercury's absence.  Kastra would be the best to ask, and as usual, she relied on her nephew for the memories she did not have.  They had discussed his interest in taking on a more leadership role, and this would be a prime opportunity.  She would be able to mentor him and the children alike, although the curriculum would be vastly different between the students.

Waking early, she made her way from her den down to his, admiring the morning light on the waterfall that cascaded down the side of the cliff.  It would be a clear day, perfect weather for training.  Turning her head, she took in the view from the top spiral bridge. She ran the lake every morning, and did not find it overly tiring, but perhaps the children would be unaccustomed to the distance...  If Kastra led them, she'd be able to monitor from the rear... wasn't that how Byakko had done it?

"Kastra." She called softly at his door when she arrived. "I could use your assistance."

Let's go wrangle some kids.

☿

OOC: @Alue @Pawprint @Puffin @Kimster  Please let Kastra post first <3

[Kastra]

    With how things had turned out in the pack, he wasn’t sure how he felt about the results. Things had quieted down, calmed, but the X-Clan was MIA, gone. Kyra was a single mother, and Buckshot now a single father. It almost pissed him off, in fact. They had been so big on family but when things got rough, they abandoned the ones that needed them most. Kastra had been trying to step in as much as he could for Kyra, though, take up border patrol as he could so that she could spend time with her children. The thoughts of the pups had started to fade, most of all the ones that were supposed to be training for jobs.

    He had gotten back to his den during darkness, and slept like a log. Lately, he had been sleeping deeply, but he didn’t always wake up feeling refreshed. At least he didn’t feel the tiredness in his bones, the tiredness that came from something deeper. No, he felt rather nice. He had a job, he was needed, and he was doing what was needed from him. It was good. He hoped this feeling would last. But it didn’t matter at the moment, as he opened one eye to see his aunt in front of his den in the castle. ”Kastra.” With that he opened both eyes, raising his head up. Was it already morning? He held back a yawn. ”I could use your assistance.”

    Sometimes when Kastra got up from bed, he felt like an old man. Like his pelt was hanging from his brittle bones, and he would mess up his hips from stretching wrong. Of course, he was still too young for that, but also still young enough to be dramatic. “Yeah, of course.” He walked out of his den while stretching, tail going over his back like he use to see a lot of the dogs do. “What’s up? Whatchya need?” Had this been someone else, he would have been more formal. But this was Mercury, his aunt. The feeling of distance between the two had gone done significantly since Mercury came back to Nardir, and even with her as his new queen, he felt little reason to keep up formalities when it was just them.

[Mercury]

The Dark Moon Queen of Nardir                 ☿ "Being brave means to know something is scary, difficult, and dangerous, and doing it anyway, because the possibility of winning the fight is worth the chance of losing it. - Emilie Autumn

Kastra was right to cast aside the formalities between them, despite Mercury's continued formal tone.  To any outside of Nardir, they would find the cadence of the Queen's speech to be as rigid as steel, and as precise as a sword's edge. But to those who knew her, it was simply part of who she was. The relaxation did not come in her vocabulary, but the subjects she spoke of.  That she came and asked for Kastra's help so easily bespoke to their growing relationship.

This morning, as he stretched his way towards her, the corner of her mouth twitched into a smile. She had  noticed a small cowlick that stuck upright. He must have slept on it wrong.  She debated on mentioning that Alana had had a similar bed-head as a child, but thought perhaps he would not enjoy a tease so early.  If Arik were there when she did make it, he'd probably have been just as amused, having witnessed her own glorious morning look.

"Yeah, of course. What’s up? Whatchya need?"

"Would you tell me, how were you and the other youth of Nardir trained in The Crater?"

She remained standing respectfully off-sides of the entryway, allowing Kastra either the option of remaining inside or moving past her into the open.  If he wanted a drink or to walk, she would follow.  Over their time together she had tried to insist that she did not always have to dictate their routes.  Sometimes there were several roads to the same destination.  Having Kastra take the lead was part of helping him learn to trust his instincts.

☿

[Kastra]

    Even with Mercury’s very formal tone, he knew it was apart of her, and he wondered if she would consider the small twitch of a smile as a break of her image or not (he found it not, if he were to be asked, but sometimes others thought differently). Of course it went over his head what the smile might have been about, could have just been a friendly greeting for all he knew. As he got closer to her, the Queen spoke. "Would you tell me, how were you and the other youth of Nardir trained in The Crater?" That was a good question, and Kastra gave a look of obvious thinking, and started towards the water for a drink. He would only move slightly forward to see if she would follow, and when she did, he would take the lead, needing his morning water.

    “Well, we mainly trained with someone. We all kind of did our own learning, it seemed. I can’t say for sure what my brother and sister did, but I was on the border with mom a few times to learn. I know Bell was trying to expand our culture - she learned to  make flower crowns which, I think we should totally bring back - maybe a marriage thing? That’s another topic. ” He gave a small shake of his head as if to clear the intruding thoughts away. Bell was the most active of the three, though. Even if he didn’t know all that she did, or see it all or anything, word still got back to him, and it showed when she raised through the ranks. (Oh, how he missed her.)

    As they got to the water, Kastra bent over, taking some licks and talking between drinks. “At the time I think we were still trying to figure it all out - we were the only litter for a while so once we grew up, there was not as many kids to try new things with, you know?” They could not stay kids forever, as much as he craved those past times. There was almost a beat in his heart of sadness, but he tried to push it back. Right now was good. “Do you want to work more on how we’ll teach the new pups?” It was a good time to delve into such things, he figured. They probably wouldn’t start any type of training for a while yet, but it was best to figure it out before they got older anyways.