Arwen sat there in shock with all he had just heard that day, his father killed by guards and his mother burning in a magical fire that his brother subconsciously started. The village shunned them for those events, the boys were pushed away for something they had no control of. The thought of his brother holding all that in for three years hurt him dearly, how could he have not said anything did he think that he would hate the only family he had left due to something they had no control over?
Palaros held his head low unable to look his brother in the face for fear of seeing hatred lurking in his eyes. He felt a hand grip his arm firmly and then a voice "Tips look at me"
Palaros followed the voice to see his brother staring at him tears streaming down his face. In that moment the world was bleak, nothing else mattered to Palaros other than his brother and to see such sorrow he believed he lost the only one who could care for him in this world.
"I'm so sorry Arwen" he croaked "I should have told you sooner, but I was so scared that you would leave me. Please say something brother"
Arwen stared at his brother intensely, truly looking at him remembering all the moments they had and shared. "I could never hate you Tips, you are my brother my family what happened back then wasn't your fault. I still love you brother." Arwen cried as he grabbed his brother in a tight embrace. All would be will between the brothers and this tale only strengthened their bond, upon seeing this the two men sitting there watching knew the pair would make a formidable team. Iliana observed with her bright golden eyes and Masan howled with joy watching his new family grow.
The night wasn't over the group continued to share stories with each other laughing at tales and mesmerized by others, it was one of the best nights the boys had in a long time.
"So, when we be able to form this pact you've told us about?" Arwen asked.
The conversations faded and all eyes were on Ethedir, the man cleared his throat and took another drink from his cup before speaking "I would like to preform the pact as soon as possible but we have two issues that must be resolved first" "one is the pup is still quite young for the ritual so he will be of little aid at the moment and lastly Arwen is not trained in combat or survival"
With this Arwen rose from where he sat "I'm more than ready for combat and am a great survivalist" he proclaimed.
Alaric laughed at his proclamation the welp may know how to hunt and have great instincts, but he was not ready to face the trails outside of his little village. It was Iliana who spoke next "Alaric will prepare you for what you will eventually face Arwen and as for you Palaros, you will be learning much from Ethedir before we all leave the safety of the vales."
"We understand don't we little brother?" said Palaros
"sure" Arwen pouted
"It is settled then we will remain here to train for six months and then take the journey to Mabia our home" Ethedir announced "that is also a four-month journey so it will be ten months of training before we have you join the courts"
"Now that we got that settled the boys will go in their hut and I'll pitch us a tent to get some rest" Alaric chimed in.
Alaric swung his escrima stick to the right, Arwen jumped back to avoid being hit but not fast enough as the stick still hit his side. Crack! A rib cage snapped from the impact and he was down grunting in pain. That didn't stop Alaric as he jumped up to smash the boy's head in with the baton, through the pain Arwen rolled on his side to avoid the strike. "Good!" Alaric proclaimed, "your evasion has gotten a lot better in the past two weeks I'm impressed" setting the sticks aside Alaric helped Arwen up "Now lets see if your brother can heal your wound".
Arwen couldn't say anything through the pain, each day he's been battered and bruised but by the end he would be healed by his brother ready for a new beating the next day. Marching back to the hut where they find master and apprentice looking and herbs and explaining how to extract them.
"What did you break this time?" Palaros asked
"Just one tiny rib, its not so bad he's moving better than before maybe he's ready to go on the offensive" Alaric answered
"boy come sit here, Palaros you should know the words in the dalish tongue now?" Ethedir question while he examined vials.
"horsetail ossa illius cum cura opus est et ipsos componentes" Palaros chanted as he held the herb on the bruised side of Arwen's body. A glow began to emit and the pain faded, Arwen was back to perfect health "so, if I'm not mistaken you used horsetail this time to heal me"
"yup, horsetail helps the tissues in the bone repair it was that or comfrey" answer Palaros
Just then the door was pushed open and Masan came hurtling in, the young cub had grown quite a bit being the size of a dog now he was able to move around the land on his own though Iliana tends to watch him from the sky. Masan charged at Arwen and knocked him to the ground, licking his face up "Hey boy, guess you had a good day" Arwen laughed
"oh he had the best day" Iliana said as she was walking in "he was out in the forest chasing rabbits and squirrels when another wolf popped up"
Masan was out running about, he was a young wolf with no mentor having lost his mother to Arwen in that fight. He didn't hate Arwen for killing his mother it was weird, but it felt like fate to be with him. Lost in his head Masan didn't see until he ran into him, there standing in front of him was a giant white wolf. This wolf was huge he was three times the size Masan's mother was, the wolf had scars and only three legs. The white wolf stared at Masan who was shaking in fear, White lowered his head and nudged the little one to show he was safe. White then began to walk towards the stream and the curious pup followed. White then began to use stones to jump to the other side, not a drop of water hitting him and looked back across waiting. It was Masan's turn, he back up and then began to run leaping in the air to get across and the splash! He was in the stream. White dipped his head in and pulled Masan out.
The cub was upset with himself he let the older wolf down, White nudged the little one and walked further into the forest. Masan followed and once he past the bushes he found himself looking at a pack of wolves.
"so are you saying Masan is leaving us" Arwen said disheartened
"no no no" Iliana quickly replied, "he can just learn the ways of the wolves from them he has no desire to join the pack as he already has one."
Arwen relaxed and stared at his companion he was holding, they hadn't been with him long, but Masan was family now. Palaros began cleaning up the supplies for the day, Alaric and Ethedir began to set up for supper. Nights like this were peaceful for the group, it was nights that Arwen never wanted to forget though training was ruff it was worth it at the end of the day. "Starting tomorrow you will have escrima sticks of your own, after that we move on to archery, and then combat with swords" Alaric explained "we will work on each one for about a month"
Arwen nodded without said a word but the look in his eyes showed he was ready. Ethedir looked at Palaros, his training focused on healing for now and that was all he was going to teach for now. After two more months of healing lessons he would teach the boy history and navigation of the kingdoms.
Arwen charged with his escrimas then darted to the right at the last second. He swung the right one at Alaric's leg while falling into a roll, but the knight was faster and wiser than the boy he jumped over the boy sweeping a kick out as he landed. Arwen went tumbling but all was not lost he used that as momentum to get back on his feet. The boy was getting used to fighting, it was his last day with the sticks and he was ready to prove that he was capable. Alaric danced around the boy, he wasn't going to be a sitting target for the lad. Arwen steadied himself and took a deep breath, he needed to clear his head and think. He realized that he wouldn't be able to beat the knight but he may be able to disarm him. As the knight jumped into swing his sticks to the right; Arwen ducked down and wrapped his escrimas around Alaric's. With a quick tug the sticks flew and both of them stood there disarmed.
Alaric stood there shocked, the little welp had smacked the escrimas out of his hands.
It was at this moment where he smiled at the young boy who in turn let his guard down. Arwen dropped his guard and that's when Alaric stroked the boy to the ground.
"Rule number one" Alaric said "never let your guard down."