in my grasp
intellect ashen expansion thread
08-04-2022, 05:56 PM
When Venom had requested her presence as part of the pack’s expansion, Pleione had been beyond flattered. The voice of her ego said it only made sense. She was Pleione Suhail, after all. It was only natural that no matter the leader she served beneath she would be a stand-out star above and beyond the rest. The longer she felt in Ashen territory, however, the more outclassed she felt. It wasn’t just genetics, either. Venom and many of her kin might tower, but even now, traveling with a wolf nearly half Venom’s size in their party, she could sense a wealth of experience that she simply didn’t possess. It made her equal parts furiously jealous and intimidated. Part of her tried to reassure herself that it was only her upbringing, the harshness of the world she’d come from that kept her from standing metaphorically shoulder to shoulder with her peers. And she was partly right- it was experience that she lacked, and experience that was stolen away from her by the need to simply survive from one day to the next under the harshest of circumstances. She couldn’t keep making excuses for herself. Pleione made a note to speak to the wolf called Celeste in private when she had the time. Plague had offered to tutor her during the meeting, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t source more lessons from third parties when she could find the time and opportunity. It was obvious now, just to keep up she’d have to make the time and opportunity. Celeste answered their leader’s question first, accurately gauging Pleione’s sheepishness to speak up. She wanted so desperately to be seen as wise when she spoke that she was afraid that anything she said now might be seen as stupid or obvious. Chastising herself in her head, Pleione reminded herself that that might be the exact point. Maybe there were things her untrained eyes might spot that the others, more familiar with this area, might overlook. “The deep, muddy banks indicate seasonal flooding in the summer,” she observed, “while it’s wide and quick moving enough that I doubt even the surface freezes in winter.” She looked to Venom, no expression on her face, but underneath she ached for recognition that she’d said the right thing. |