As his father allowed him more freedom so came more responsibility. Noir wasan apprentice now! The title made him proud, and he was excited to get into some real training. He was going to be the best fighter Abaven ever saw. He was going to show his sister up, and she would never beat him again.

These thoughts lingered in his head as he explored the thicket. He hadn’t had much interest in finding the mentor he had been told was his. Noir was happy to bask in the light of his shiny new title for a while first. The pup was on his own as he slipped through the grasses of the thicket, thinking about ways he was going to get back at Poem. Once he had his own raven things would be a lot different. The boy was still incredibly salty that Poem had gotten one of the raven chicks to bond with her before he got his own.

Even now he still didn’t have one of the chicks for his own. He had tried to force it, but he wasn’t able to climb up the tree to retrieve one of the chicks. Of course he didn’t know it but if he’d gotten too close Imperia would have probably gouged out his eyes. The boy huffed in frustration. It wasn’t fair.

He continued to crash through the underbrush, completely oblivious to the noise he was making. There weren’t any birds for a couple of miles radius around him at this point, and had he been hunting he would have gone hungry. The boy nosed around the tall plants, eager to get to know this land as well as he knew the rapids. He was having difficulties though, seeing through the vegitation was near impossible.

Odysseus was on a mission. He'd been assigned one of Rhyme's children to mentor. Honestly he had some misgivings about being paired with one so young. He wasn't exactly what one might call 'family friendly.' He had no interest in softening things for children; no desire to handle them with kid gloves. From what he'd heard, though, this boy was headstrong and liked to pick on his siblings. Perhaps what he needed was someone who wouldn't treat him like a child. Odysseus heard someone small and thoughtless crashing through the brush and, knowing it had to be a child and it could very well be his trainee, changed direction to intercept Noir. He was right - it was a child. Knowing Rhyme only had one son made him easy to identify. This was Noir. Odysseus planted himself in Noir's path, his stance making it clear he had no intention of moving. Though it was typical for him and little more than a resting face, his expression was best characterized as 'grumpy'. "Noir, is it?" he rumbled.   "Odysseus" and "Olafur"

Noir continued through the tall grasses, quite oblivious to his surroundings when Odysseus suddenly appeared in front of him. The young boy tried to hide his surprise as he was confronted with the tall man. ”Noir, is it?” The boy shouldn’t have been surprised that the dark coated man knew his name, but he was. For a moment he didn’t know how to react, the man was obviously waiting for him, and had placed himself right in the boy’s path.

”Yes,” He answered a little hesitantly as h lowered his raised paw to the ground, halting before the man. ”Who are you?” He wanted to ask why the man had stopped right in his way, but he didn’t want Ody to know how discontent he was with the meeting. The boy should have guessed that this was his new mentor, but the thought hadn’t yet crossed his mind. He debated for a moment about going around the massive wolf, but he waited for the answer before making his escape.

The boy seemed a bit hesitant but Odysseus gave his new apprentice's discomfort only a passing notice. If the boy was as willful as advertised it was in Odysseus' best interest to get his bluff in early and paint himself as the kind of scary, no-nonsense authoritarian that couldn't be ignored and wouldn't tolerate disobedience. "Odysseus," he rumbled. "Your mentor." He ran an assessing eye over the boy to get an idea of the kind of child he would be working with and then continued to watch him with a hawkish expression as he laid out a challenge. "I heard you can be willful." Bluntly, he asked, "Are you going to be a difficult student, Noir?"   "Odysseus" and "Olafur"

The young Destruction boy watched the older man with a hard eye, he wasn’t so sure that he liked him so far. He was an authority figure, and those usually didn’t turn out very fun. Like Shaye. She had tried to engage him and took him out on an adventure outside the pack, promising they were tracking a bear. There had been no bear. While he wouldn’t admit to how much he enjoyed being outside of Abaven having to behave himself with his half-sister’s mother was less than ideal. He liked being around wolves his own age, they were easier to push around with his bigger size. Noir had to watch himself around adults, they were quick to catch any of his dissent.

It seemed even Odysseus had been made privy to his actions. Noir wasn’t used to being confronted so directly, but first impressions mattered. If his mentor believed him to be an obedient little student he would be able to get away with more. He let a respectful expression come over his features as he lowered his head humbly.

”Of course not, Odysseus.” He answered with his blue and lavender eyes trailing the ground. The truth was that Noir wanted to learn, and was willing to put in the work to become the best. While he wouldn’t have turned down an opportunity to ride someone else's coattails to the top he wasn’t afraid of putting in real effort. ”Are we going to start lessons today?” He shifted his gaze to meet back with his mentor’s bright ruby eyes as he asked.

The boy was quick to deny ill intent. Good. Odysseus didn't believe him (he had a reputation for a reason) but was a start. With that answer, if Noir had a setback later Odysseus could remind him of what he'd said. If he was a proud creature having his integrity questioned might just bring him back into line. "Good," he rumbled. "I've found that difficult students excel at nothing and I would hate," he said pointedly, "to get through a lesson or two and discover that I would be better off teaching one of your siblings." In response to the boy's question Odysseus nodded and said, "We are. Come, walk with me." The boy was probably going to be disappointed to learn that their first lesson wouldn't involve any actual fighting. In Odysseus' opinion Noir wasn't ready for that. If he liked to throw his weight around already, teaching Noir how to defend and attack first would only help him become a better bully. No, what he needed to learn was restraint. Odysseus began to walk away in the direction of the Falls. "Tell me, Noir, why do you want to learn how to fight?"   "Odysseus" and "Olafur"

His mentor seemed to relax, if only slightly, as Noir answered his pointed question. If Ody was playing at Noir’s disdain for his sisters then he was doingit right. The young pup tried not to let his face get too screwed up at the thought of his mentor ditching him for one of his… less than stellar sisters. He would have been insulted mostly, but he had to admit the thought of trading mentors..

Noir hadn’t even decided if he liked Odysseus or not, but he liked to keep his options open too. Now the Destruction boy might have given his mentor a hard time, but when all was said and done he was serious about learning. Training was one of the few things he most valued in his short little life, and he wasn’t about to squander it because he was trying to be tough. Odysseus didn’t know him, even if his dad or Shaye said something about him. He would see though, eventually.

His mentor answered in the affirmative, they were going to train. Without hesitation, but without a grin either, Noir walked after the older wolf. "Tell me, Noir, why do you want to learn how to fight?" There were a few different ways to answer the question. He could lie and give him a vague answer, he could tell him half the truth, or he could tell him everything. Noir didn’t think the reaction would be a good one if he told Odysseus the full reasoning.

”I want to be the best.” He decided on easily, ”It’s fun.” In his own mind Noir thought those two reasons were weak. His main goal, was to dethrone Poem. Literally and figuratively.

Upon hearing the reasons for Noir's interest Odysseus nodded thoughtfully to himself, hmmm'ed and then lapsed into silence as he considered how best to address the boy's answer. It didn't surprise him. After all, he was asking a child. It would be silly for him to expect something more sophisticated than a child's answer from a child. Was a well thought out response out of the question? No, of course not. But to expect something more was unreasonable. "Sometimes I wish that was all there was to fighting," he mused after a beat. "Life would be simpler if it were. And I hope for you it is. Pray you never find yourself on a battlefield because things happen there that aren't easy to forget." Odysseus slowed to a halt and then turned to face Noir. "I think I should be upfront about how I train my apprentices. My goal isn't to make you the best fighter there is. It is to give you the skills you need to navigate a world made to break you down." One side of his mouth lifted in a display of gentle amusement that was out of sync with the topic at hand. "Perhaps you are thinking that isn't what you want, that you should find a teacher who will let you have fun and teach you to be the best, but I think that would be unwise." "You see, someday soon you will find that the world doesn't think that way. It is terrible thing and a mirror; it will reflect back your worst qualities and use them to crush you. My goal is to teach you to face your weaknesses so that they can't be used against you." Odysseus studied Noir thoughtfully. "So if you are agreeable, your first lesson is to list your weaknesses. Not now, I want you to think about it, but I want to hear them when we meet next. I'm sure I don't have to tell you to be honest so we can teach you properly, do I?" Hopefully that would prompt him to assess his weaknesses honestly although when it came down to it, it didn't truly matter what Noir said his weaknesses were because Odysseus would be paying attention. "I realize it is uncomfortable to think about yourself that way and to tell someone what is essentially your secrets so I will tell you my weaknesses first. Does that sound fair?"   "Odysseus" and "Olafur"

Noir made sure to make note of the battlefield, though Odysseus made it seem he wouldn’t enjoy it the boy had to make sure for himself. They hadn’t gone far when his mentor made a slow stop so that he could look at him. Ody was probably the most serious an adult had ever been with him. It felt a little unnerving as the old warrior fought for Noir’s respect. The boy wasn’t sure how he felt about his mentor’s words. They weren’t exactly in congruence with his own set of goals and morals. He could tell the wolf was good at what he did though, and even if he didn’t appreciate his style Noir decided he could at least learn something from him.

Though he didn’t much like it, Noir shook his head in quick reply. The boy was reluctant, but he would try and be honest with his teacher, especially as he continued and explained that Noir would be given Odysseues’s weaknesses as well. As long as the older wolf was honest as well the boy decided what was offered would be fair. He didn’t have to like it to be fair though, and he didn’t want to seem disagreeable so early on.

”Yes, Odysseus.” He vowed vocally as he kept his blue and lavender eyes on the bright ruby gaze of his mentor. Exchanging secrets? That was a new experience to Noir, normally he lied when it came to his deeper emotions and insecurities. He didn’t like how nervous he felt.

Noir’s quick agreement earned a rumble of approval and a satisfied nod from the old fighter. Good. Odysseus had no tolerance for whinging and the last thing he wanted to do before calling this lesson done was verbally spank an ungrateful child. But Noir was no fool. He either saw the benefit of what Odysseus had planned or was smart enough to keep his misgivings to himself. “Good man.”

“Alright, I believe that’s enough to get us started. I’ll give you a couple days to think about your answer. Meet me here mid morning in ohh,” he rumbled the last sound thoughtfully and then lapsed into a brief pause of silence as he considered their next lesson. “Two days.”

He started walking again then turned back just long enough to seek out Noir’s gaze and say, “It was nice to meet you, Noir. I look forward to our lessons.”

-exit unless stopped-