atacama

backdated to before the hunt

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fifth week, legs strong and body less stubby (but still annoyingly slow to grow). he had learned to shape noises into words and them into sentences. these days, he primarily used them to make demands.

arcanis found where @Nyra was. he marched up to his caretaker, brows furrowed and lip corners tugging downward, as they now often did and surely would continue to.

he stood before the woman. "whee need t' talk." the toddler said in his attempt to sound adult and serious.
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Nyra was taking one of a rare number of naps when the tiny pitter of paws came up to her face. 
It was Arcanis, trying to look serious. 
The effort was comical, but she could tell something was bothering him. 

"What's bothering you, kiddo?" The warqueen yawned, raising her great head to look down at him.
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the caretaker's head went from eye-level to looking down at the boy, and to compensate the pup raised his tail and poofed his cheeks, the way a cobra might flare its neck flap.

"aah- aah-v'nna." his mouth stretched into odd shapes as he tried to form the words. "ah'v'nna b' laik yyeou!" the last syllable was a yap.

arcanis began walking left to right, right to left, head bent, as if with arms on his back - still mining maturity he did not possess.

"yeu- yeu, rr, big! sso big! ae- and ah'v'nna be big too! ss' no-body ever, ever-" he stopped, frowning severely, and his eyes got misty. "...ever t-treats me laik aim little."

arcanis turned to nyra, stance wide and eyes glimmering with hardly contained tears.

"teach mme t'be big!"
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The warqueen watched Arcanis with amusement as he paced, clearly troubled. But she could somewhat empathize with the kid. After all, she was a small child once, as is life, though she didn't think she used to be as small a child as himself.

"Being as big as me in the flesh is a matter of genetics, young one. That cannot be changed. Maybe you will grow to be so big, maybe not." 
She doubted he would, but she did not know what kind of canine he was, so truly, she had no idea how big he would get, or how small he would stay.
"Being respected, though, is a matter of attitude. Everyone deems others worthy of respect for different reasons. It could be maturity, or confidence. Or a knack for certain skills, et cetra." She crossed o ne forepaw over the other as she spoke, letting out a breath as she watched the pup.
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the pup watched eagerly, but the words spoke in reply made little sense to him.

"v-vell, ahmma fait th' jean-ethics so dey lemme grow BIG!" he said with a proud upwards tilt of his chin and a little catlike shimmy of his butt. "an' ahmma be most'st mature an' confen- confeden- con-fissure-en walf in all'a th' whor-crest!" he now smiled, brows still pushed down from the previous frown.

then, a pause.

"ehm, how d' aah get mature an' con-fern-dure?" he assumed one of those words was referring to nyra's cool long snout.
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Nyra chuckled heartily at Arcanis' ambition.
It was cute, and a bit admirable.
"Genetics aren't something you can fight." She answered, "Confidence comes with a sense of self-assuredness. Knowing what you're good at." 
She felt the need to tell him he would probably never get to be as big as her or Satan, but there was a feeling within that he would find out all on his own.
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arcanis nodded, gravely serious. every word out the giatess's mouth was, in this regard, law.

his gaze drifted away to the side a couple long moments, as he tried to piece together this new information.

he looked back at nyra, suddenly shy.

"...an' whaa' am aah good at?" war. fighting. battle. victory. combat.
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apologies for such a short post oof

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"That is yet to be seen." She answered. 
Maybe the child would become like her, maybe not. 
Time would tell, eventually.
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the answer wasn't satisfactory. wasn't it already obvious that he could easily himself bring down the animals occasionally dragged into the temple as meal? he was a ferocious warrior already! 

... was that not obvious?

arcanis sat down, dissatisfied. 
 

"...aahmma be a pell-eh-deen. big. wif long snout. an' hayt f'rr." he mumbled into his moustache.

the boy turned his head back at nyra.

"when yew see wha'am good at, will yew teach me t' be laik yew?" his brown eyes were wide and glistening with hope.
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Nyra watched the boy as he sat down and mumbled.
She heard him and let out a gentle chuckle.  

"I can teach you to fight, if that's what you want, but there are some things you must truly learn on your own. Size is both an advantage and a hindrance." She explained. 
"You must learn and know your personal strengths and weaknesses before you fight. Especially if the fight determines who will live or die." 
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his head was turned away again. he nodded, in the swaying manner of a toddler whose naptime had come sooner than expected, thanks to employing more mental might than his baby brain was prepared to today.

he swayed so far back, his front paws lost contact with the temple ground, and the boy fell onto his back.

as to make the blunder appear casual and intended, he rolled onto his belly, and mimed the manner in which nyra had crossed her forelegs.

"ahll be soo beeg ahll be best advantage-ful and hindrance-ful warrior in waah-crest." arcanis tilted his chin up and put up a haughty expression. it was not ironic. 

"an' ahll have no weakness..sss. like yew. or, or..." the pup yawned. "... or like мама."

he tried to fight the weight in his head, but it lowered his chin to his paws all the same.
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