Something something something Law & Order DUN DUN

Artur’s point about kicking them out of Valhalla wasn’t news to Geoffrey. While he didn’t think Aurielle would chose such a harsh punishment, it was a possibility and for that reason he had considered it when he was making his decision. Geoffrey’s opinion remained unchanged by his brother’s voicing of the worst possible scenario. He would rather gain the knowledge their ally had to offer and lose his home than stay at home and forever be a dependent of Valhalla. Besides, his home was where his family was, not where he’d grown up. Their mother had put a lot into Valhalla and it would hurt him to be forced out of it, but he could make his home elsewhere if it came down to it. ”That’s a risk I’m willing to take,” he said firmly.

Geoffrey was surprised to hear that Artur was planning to leave Valhalla and create a band. To be honest it stung to learn about it now when it sounded like he had thought enough about it to make up his mind. It made Geoffrey wonder if there was anything else Artur was keeping to himself. Everyone was entitled to their secrets but this was kind of important to the whole family. It reminded him of the trip to the battlefield and that didn’t sit well with Geoffrey.

But they weren’t here to talk about Artur’s band idea or to confront him on his misguided need to manipulate and coddle his smaller, non confrontational siblings so while it was tempting to ask questions about it, Geoffrey resisted the urge. ”I want to hear more about this band of yours later.”

”As for what we offer...” Geoffrey trailed off with a thoughtful sigh. He let his eyes roll heavenward as he thought. This was his kind of thing. He wasn’t particularly physical; had his mother not made it a point to teach him how to fight it’s entirely possible he would have lived out his days without learning the many defenses that weren’t instinctual or that there were oodles of attack combinations. But mental and emotional battles? Those he enjoyed. On that field it didn’t matter that he was a lightweight or that he didn’t like to get dirty. He was as capable as anyone. The challenge of figuring out what offer to make was right up his alley. They needed to offer something that wouldn’t raise the suspicions of the ally. ”I wish I knew more about our allies,” he mused regretfully.

An idea hit him. Their mother had seen to it that they could take care of themselves. She’d taught them how to hunt - it was a skill he thought their whole litter was proficient in - so why not use their skills to their advantage? ”I don’t know what kind of diplomat Aurielle is, but if I were in her place and I was sending a group of yearlings for training without first asking the ally in question if it was alright, I’d bring a gift to make up for my impertinence.” Even though that wasn’t what was happening, they needed to give the appearance that it was. ”I think right before we get there we hunt something big and present that to the alpha, both as a ‘sorry we’re showing up unannounced' and a show of our hunting skills which we can offer as payment for our training.”

He didn’t really have any other marketable skills to offer as payment. If Geoffrey had even the slightest amount of training in healing he would have offered to teach pups the barest of basics to prepare them for their real lessons, but he didn’t even have that.