The Kings Court
07-26-2016, 07:29 PM
Alright, here it came. The opinion of a once successful asshole. "I'm sure you're familiar with sieges, right?" Who wasn't? "That should be your last resort." Why exactly was the guy who threw himself willy-nilly into fights suggesting Avalon not go that route? Because if he had his guess, Avalon hadn't surrounded herself with fighters like he had. She'd taken in whatever sorry, puppy-eyed creature had flopped itself down on her doorstep and filled her pack full of super soft critters. And that was her prerogative, really. She was neither Valentine nor an asshole. And yet here he was, about to suggest she pull a dick move.
"Your pack is close to full, right? Let me ask you this: when you were accepting any of your members, were there any that you took because you felt sorry for them? Any that you looked at and thought 'now there...THAT right there is a sad sack'?" He paused to let her think, then said, "Ditch them like they're rabid, because they may as well be. They'll eat your food, fill up your space and breed equally useless critters and they will bring you down. They'll stunt the growth of your pack. Each space taken by someone who can't fight, hunt, heal or provide you with something useful is space that you could have filled with someone who could do one or more of those things. Same with anyone who might have talked a big game at the border, but since joining you've noticed all they do is sit around on their ass all day, eating your food and fouling your air."
Valentine wasn't quite done yet. "Say you're lucky and you've made nothing but perfect recruit choices since starting your pack. Every member of your pack provides just as much as they take." If that were true and no cuts could be made elsewhere, she only really had two choices left. "You can do one of two things, you can close your borders and forbid your members from growing their families, or you can siege. And Avalon," How did he say this without being rude? "If you go that route you better be prepared for the consequences." Namely those super soft, squishy critters getting their pretty faces mangled, although it was entirely possible those same squishy critters would find themselves homeless if they lost, or worse, force claimed.
He shrugged. "Got kinda preachy, but there you have it. The advice of a once successful asshole." That's all he had. Of course there were things he didn't know about her pack; little details that might make measurable differences, but he felt like what he said was pretty solid advice. Rude, yeah. Mean too, but alphas (at least not his kind) weren't in the niceness business. An entire pack of wolves depended on them more or less and it was their job to make sure they not only survived, but thrived. The needs of the many, or some such nonsense.
"Your pack is close to full, right? Let me ask you this: when you were accepting any of your members, were there any that you took because you felt sorry for them? Any that you looked at and thought 'now there...THAT right there is a sad sack'?" He paused to let her think, then said, "Ditch them like they're rabid, because they may as well be. They'll eat your food, fill up your space and breed equally useless critters and they will bring you down. They'll stunt the growth of your pack. Each space taken by someone who can't fight, hunt, heal or provide you with something useful is space that you could have filled with someone who could do one or more of those things. Same with anyone who might have talked a big game at the border, but since joining you've noticed all they do is sit around on their ass all day, eating your food and fouling your air."
Valentine wasn't quite done yet. "Say you're lucky and you've made nothing but perfect recruit choices since starting your pack. Every member of your pack provides just as much as they take." If that were true and no cuts could be made elsewhere, she only really had two choices left. "You can do one of two things, you can close your borders and forbid your members from growing their families, or you can siege. And Avalon," How did he say this without being rude? "If you go that route you better be prepared for the consequences." Namely those super soft, squishy critters getting their pretty faces mangled, although it was entirely possible those same squishy critters would find themselves homeless if they lost, or worse, force claimed.
He shrugged. "Got kinda preachy, but there you have it. The advice of a once successful asshole." That's all he had. Of course there were things he didn't know about her pack; little details that might make measurable differences, but he felt like what he said was pretty solid advice. Rude, yeah. Mean too, but alphas (at least not his kind) weren't in the niceness business. An entire pack of wolves depended on them more or less and it was their job to make sure they not only survived, but thrived. The needs of the many, or some such nonsense.
NOTE: Valentine has a female striped skunk companion named Lefty. Unless stated otherwise assume she's present.
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