The sun broke across the horizon, and the Warlord watched it for a moment. Witnessing it with his own eyes, as through he scarcely trusted the existence of the sun. It wasn’t the first day the sun had broken the night this Spring, but he diligently watched each one. He watched it a moment longer, and then fell back to his paws, sniffing the cool spring air.

The Warlord had much to accomplish, now that the illness no longer wracked his body. There was hunting and foraging to organise, training to continue. First, he needed to spare some time for one of his daughters, who’s outburst needed addressing. More than that, it was clear she had a desire to learn, and he would need to balance a punishment with a reward for her persistence.

Standing in the lightly damp grass, the Warlord raised his head and called for Aris.


"Speech"

The rising of the sun had brought optimism back to the world and to the Armada. That meant that the two high ranks that had been left open by Naiche's death and Asla's abandonment of the pack would likely start getting an awful lot more attention, which meant that Aris' self-imposed time limit to train was running out, and now that her family was recovering that meant Aris needed to really kick it into gear on the training. She had just set out from the den and was nearly to the border when an unexpected call halted her progress. Well this was unusual, she couldn't remember the last time one of her parents had called for her alone. Not since she'd been a pup and had had a habit of staying out past the time they were supposed to be in bed, that she could recall. So was this a family thing, her dad calling her, or was this an official thing, her alpha calling her? Either way, she'd definitely be putting off her trip to the battlefield. Turning away from the border she sent Tansy - who'd always been nervous around Seer - and Dirk - who she couldn't trust to keep his mouth shut and not get swatted - off on their own way before trotting off to where Seer had called from. "Hey Dad," she said as she came up to him, her tone cautious but friendly as she tested the waters of 'dad or alpha' in this conversation. "What's up?"

As the Warlord let his howl faded, he watched the sky. Grateful as ever that the sun had chosen to return to them. Finally, he could step back into the world of his pack, and the lives of the wolves he led.

Aris appeared in quick order, and he reached over to kiss the other girls brow. No matter what he has to say to Aris, he loved his children dearly. They'd had a few rocky starts in life, but the world had calmed around them and he desired to see her grow and flourish.

"Aris," he said, leaning back and regarding her. "I heard how you spoke to our warrior, Sedna" he explained- and had intended to address this some time ago, but the world had broken "expressing a desire to learn, but also verbally attacking one that had taken the time to step out of their chosen field and give a much needed lesson." He paused here giving the other woman a chance to explain herself, or express her feeling in before he passed judgment over what he had heard.

Aris leaned into his kiss on her forehead, as uncertain of which hat he was wearing now as she'd been before. He did that all the time, whether he was wearing the Dad hat or the Alpha hat. Neither was the fact that he used her full name rather than Ari a clue, because he did that all the time too. His tone of voice was a bit grim which definitely leaned towards "alpha hat".

.... Oh.

Sedna.

Aris' expression barely twitched, but a wave of rage went through her til her ears felt hot and her toes flexed just slightly pop the claws from their sheaths. So the great warrior had been so offended after all that she'd felt the need to carry tales, had she? "Since I don't know what she told you I said I can't really defend myself accurately," she said with deceptive cheer, "But if she told you I said that she was hiding behind her rank as an excuse to do nothing, therefore weakening the pack by not increasing its capability when she has more than enough training herself to have chosen to do so if she'd cared, then yes that's exactly what I said, and I don't regret saying it."

She continued in as reasonable a tone as she could muster, though the false cheer had turned to complete seriousness. "Father, she's a trained healer, despite the fact that she's ranked as a warrior, and choosing to do nothing while three different yearlings were going completely untrained and leaving Armada without the full compliment of its strength is negligence on the part of any trained healers, regardless of their rank. And when she did call us together for a lesson, she didn't teach us anything. She just told us to figure it out ourselves and sat there and let Gossamer do the teaching, again, because Gossamer's been the only healer in the pack who has cared about whether or not the rest of us learn anything. She sure hasn't been training anyone in fighting either and that is her rank... Doing the bare minimum and ignoring the needs of the pack shouldn't earn someone the right to be treated respectfully, sir." She finished the last in a rush and stood meeting his eyes defiantly, clearly not in the least repentant over her outburst.

He raised a brow at that. "I haven't seen you take as keen an interest in learning as your siblings have. Most of them already excel in their chosen fields. But you feel it your right to condemn on of our warrior for stepping out of her ranked zone to offer some insight into the knowledge of our current training healers? I doubt she's want to teach you again." He said, shaking his head. "Trained healer or not, she chose to be a warrior. Any thing she gives towards our healers is a bonus." He said, through he knew the pack lacked in healer leadership. Perhaps that fault lay with the Warlord, who had concentrated more heavily on the warrior side of training. The pack needed Iolaire or Indigo... they would have been the future teachers. "The healers lessons should have begun with Mojito... but that is between me and him, Aris." He said softly. Her attitude needed addressing, but so did her need for a teacher.

"You will spend two hours of your day, every day, assisting Sedna as she sees fit" he informed Aris, hoping she would learn a little humility with the healing knowledge the other woman could offer her. He hoped for great things from Aris, and wanted to see her rise into whatever role she desired in the pack, but she had to prove herself yet. "On top of this, you will take a plot of land beside our new wolf, Halo. You will learn from her how to grow a healers garden, and help her find the seeds she needs to start her garden." He paused and sighed softly. "I have not given the healers as much attention as I should have." He was too old now not to admit fault. "While you make amends with Sedna, I will find you a dedicated teacher. Do we have a deal, Aris?"

Aris' jaw dropped open as her father spoke. Torn between outrage and hurt she could only stare at him with a strangled grunt. What was he saying, that she was untrained still because she just hadn't worked hard enough? That she hadn't been interested enough in learning and so she'd been a failure? Was that how he had been viewing her all along? Was that why he had doted on Kotori and Briar instead, because he had felt they were better the whole time? Seeing that it wasn't a surprise when he disregarded completely her feelings about Sedna doing the bare minimum and being praised for it - after all, if he saw her as a failure there was no reason to consider her concerns with any gravity before dismissing them. She was just a child.

Already off balance and stinging, she wasn't prepared for his commands. She was required to assist Sedna as Sedna saw fit? He was practically making her Sedna's servant! Every day! Because she'd spoken out against her? She practically choked on her outrage as it swelled higher than the hurt.

If it weren't for that promise to find her a teacher, the very thing she had been trying to get the whole time, Aris might very well have exploded and made things much, much worse for herself. As it was she had to fight to keep a tenuous grip on her temper and her hurt until she could jam it all back and trust herself to speak. If he kept his promise to get her a teacher, it would all be worth it, wouldn't it? She would only need to be a servant for a couple hours a day for an unspecified period to gain the same right to training that other siblings had had given to them, but it would be worth it. Throat tight and ears on fire with humiliation, she could only manage, stiffly, "Yes, sir."

He regarded Aris, seeing the anger rising inside of her. He had seen so little of her, he hadn't seen her put in the time, start a garden, or seek out Mojito as a teacher. Through perhaps the fault of that lay a little in all three of them. Her stiff 'yes sir' brought a sigh from him, and he lowered his great head, considering his child for a moment. "I do want the best for you. This would ensure Sedna is putting in some dedicated time with you each day as well - use that to your advantage. Halo is new, test her knowledge and add what you can to your own." He said, voice gentle. He reached forward to cup his paw gently against her cheek, not pressing if she chose to pull away.

"I will keep my promise to you. I will begin my search today, and find a healer that can dedicate the entirety of their time to you. This teacher will be here solely to teach you, and if you find they are not dedicated, I will find another." He vowed to her, knowing he woukd do whatever he could to keep his promise. Whatever deals he had to make to see it done, he would.