He was definitely feeling better, and more than a little peeved that he’d missed his first meeting with the pack. He was more than a little frustrated and couldn’t help but feel like Artur was throwing him little looks ‘I’m stronger, so I’m better than you’.

Of course, that could just be his own frustrations speaking. Artur was his brother, even if his way of thinking could be downright… nasty. Cairo was stubbornly of the mind that just because your blood might not be Adravendi blood, you were still just as good as the next wolf. For him, something had resonated in the stories about his forefather, even the parts his mother had seemed disapproving of.

He stood within the stone Circle, lowered into his best defensive stance, tail flicked out behind him—although it was held stiff as a stick instead of the willowy, flowing tool of balance it ought to be. Puppy steps. He was envisioning a big, snarling black wolf in front of him— and for a moment, his imagination was good enough to make his heart patter, before his imaginary opponent lunged and he sidestepped, stumbling as his ill-balancing tail stiffly flicked to the side – the wrong one – and sent him off balance before his claws sank into the ground and righted him.

A soft growl purred out his throat, a far cry from the rumble it’d be someday. He’d have to work on this tail thing.

Justice was on her way through after a patrol, heading back towards the plains. She happened to pass the stone circle on her way through the moors, and a faint, odd noise drew her attention there. She stepped up next to one of the megaliths and paused, watching with a grin, as a young pup faced off some imaginary opponent, only to stumble. Oh, he wanted a fight did he?

Gathering herself, the bear-like black wolf leaped forward to land in front of the chocolate colored pup, snarling in his face with a deep, fierce roar. Immediately she rolled back, laughing boisterously. "Hey, Squirt! You must be Cairo." He had to be, since he was the only pup in the pack who she hadn't met yet, and he certainly wasn't a trespasser since she'd only just gotten back from the border and there'd been no sign of anyone crossing.

It was with a loud yelp that the young Adravendi bounded back as his imagined opponent became all too real, roaring in his face out of the blue. He didn’t quite lose his feet but be backpedaled for several paces until his rump smacked into the ground and he crouched on the fore-end, bristled and snarling until the black wolf began laughing.

Utterly baffled, he stared at her as she greeted him, the defensive menace slowly falling from his features as he took in the fact that her scent was of the pack, like his mother’s. Finally, he pulled himself to all four paws and nodded carefully, still a little fluffed out along the spine. That defense had certainly come easily.

“Yes’m. I’m Cairo Adravendi.” Manners were highly important, of course, and he showed them with some modicum of dignity, even if his coat was still a little ruffled in spots—although he had managed to get some of his fur to flatten down.

Curiosity finally reared its inquisitive head and his own cocked as he looked up at the stocky female and the shadowy greys that hinted in the black of her coat. She had pretty eyes, too. “What’s your name? Are you a warrior?”

_________________________________________________________________________ She managed to stifle her laughter as the pup got his fear under control, but she couldn't hide the grin that still played around her muzzle. "Justice Ancora," she introduced herself in turn. "You probably know my brother, Paladin, since you've been sick and all." She tilted her head, studying the sturdy little guy. "I'm a paladin - which is funny because that's my brother's name and all - which means I'm a warrior and a healer but mostly a warrior. What about you, squirt? Training hard to be a warrior?" Her grin broadened at the reminder of his shadow-boxing that she'd interrupted. She eyed him thoughtfully through narrowed purple eyes. She was a really bad judge of this sort of thing, not really having had anything to do with pups before, but... "You guys are about the age to start really learning that kind of stuff, I'd guess. Getting mentors and all that stuff." She'd missed out on all that herself, but living on her own at a young age had been a harsh and effective teacher all by itself. Not that she recommended that in general but it had worked out for her learning to fight anyway. Not nearly as much fun though. ""

Cairo’s head cocked as the dark woman introduced herself, nodding as she mentioned her brother. Now that he thought of it, he remembered something of a Paladin coming to ply herbs to him. Mostly he remembered the bitter herbs and having to swallow them all. But there’d been honey.

His features broke into a slightly cautious smile as she quipped about the rank names—now that she mentioned it, it was pretty funny. At her question he smiled more readily, nodding.

“I want to be as good as my great, great grandfather, And as Mama, and her mama… But I’ve been sick a lot, so…” His enthusiasm dampened and he shuffled a paw as he finished, “I haven’t gotten to practice a lot. Mama did hold a lesson for us, though.”

At her remark about their being about old enough to have mentors, he frowned slightly, then tilted his head. “I haven’t met many of the others yet. Mama’s a good teacher, though.”

"Yeah, being sick sucks, doesn't it?" she said sympathetically. She couldn't help but think back to hours upon hours upon days stuck in a cave at her mother's side through the long wasting depression that had ultimately killed her, and shuddered. She'd been too young and too inexperienced, and her mother too determined to let herself die, to do anything to save her. But this kid was young and strong and despite the frequent bouts of illness seemed relatively healthy, so he'd probably grow out of it.

"I'm sure she is a great teacher," she assured him. "She taught all of us fighting stuff before she became an alpha and had you guys, so I'm sure she's given you a great start. Usually you get a mentor so you start learning from someone other than your parents, so you learn different things she can't teach you and so you know how to learn from someone you don't know as well. Plus, they'll be able to teach you one on one instead of all five of you at once, so they can concentrate just on your learning."

She popped back to her feet from her haunches, then dropped into a fighting stance. "Well show me what you've got then, Squirt," she added with a grin.