Little Victories {OPEN//AGOGE}

[Hyperion]

HOVER

[attr="class","plbase"]

[attr="class","pltxt"]Hyperion felt like a late bloomer of his bunch of siblings. They majority of them had completed the Agoge and returned to the island of Ina'mos with plenty to brag about. Hyperion wondered what forturne they had gained from their perilous task of collecting the eggs. It had only been a few months since Hyperion had landed on the shores of this strange land and during the whole of his journey he hadn't met with any of his pack mates. Whether sheer dumb luck or avoidance by both parties, he had spent the majority of his time here in solitude. He had been a little lonely in the beginning not really sure how to survive without his parents guidance. His mother had been his favorite company out of all of his family, the one that he craved most of all. It wasn't just the fact that she was his mother and that he loved her as a pup, but her beauty and intelligence that pulled him in. She was a rare creature indeed. It was her presence that he missed during his stay here on the outskirts of this continent, trying to decide what skill it was that he wished to train. He had thought about training his body for battle, fighting among his siblings for rank before they returned home. He had found that idea didn't suit him very well considering he was younger than most of them that remained. Instead he had decided to go in search of the great birds he was supposed to be stealing an egg from.

He had found the ground birds easily enough their nests lying in the dirt and foliage they lived in. After a few days of watching them he decided that the large beasts were unintelligent brute, but what they lacked in brain they made up for in strength and speed. They were good runners that could crush a wolf with their sheer mass alone. They also had keen instincts to guide them making it obvious why they had survived so long without smarts. The second of the birds was much harder for him to find. They liked to dwell in more secluded places, hiding their nests in places hard to reach from the ground. The first time he had seen one it had been roaming the sky looking for something to eat, it's eyes scanning the open spaces for movement. Hyperion didn't want to end up as this large birds lunch considering it was probably large enough to cause him problems if it wanted to. He still hadn't discovered a nest of theirs even in all of the land he had looked over. His plan had been to steal an egg while the mother was away, but his inability to even find a nest thwarted him from the start. Besides that is the cowards way. He didn't want to return to his home with an egg that he gained by sulking about on this island. His purpose in completing this task was not only to prove to his pack that he was a warrior ready to face all the dangers this island had to offer, but also to prove to himself that he could be a warrior. He had spent his whole life on Ina'mos spoiled by the fact that he was a prince of Kairos. He was also spoiled by the fact that he was the largest male form his litter. He had felt no real competition from his siblings growing up. In his small reality he had been the alpha, raised above everyone else. Arriving in this place had been a cruel slap of reality as he began to acclimate to what real life was. There was no squabble amongst siblings for his mother's attention. There was no fight for the best part of meat form the kill. Nothing was provided for him anymore. He had jumped headfirst into a situation that he had not been prepared for from the get go.He was on his own here, forced to hunt and provide for himself. It wasn't just other wolves that roamed this continent, there were far scarier beasts that lingered here. On Ina'mos he was the ultimate predator, but in Vor'asa he was nothing more than prey to another beast. The first time he had been attacked was when he had been sleeping. His young brain had never even thought of the possibility that something would try to eat him while he slept.

Instead his royal hide had been woken to some creature he had never seen before dragging his body across the ground. Hyperion had been afraid to fall asleep for days weeks after that. His sleep had been plagued with worries, even though it was short and restless. It had taken him countless nights to realize that the skill he wanted to have the most was heightened senses. If he was going to survive in a place where danger lurked around every corner, and food was scarce for a wolf on his own. It also helped that he was jumpy enough at night. He had spent the majority of his time on Vor'asa working towards that goal, forgetting the eggs for the most part. When tracking his prey he wanted to be able to tell the species, gender, and even the age of the animal he was following. Each animal had a unique smell that radiate off of whatever they had touched. He couldn't do much work to sharpen his eyes, but he could sharpen his mind, noticing the many things in his environment that had gone unnoticed to him in the past. The little things that all contributed to the big picture of his environment. The sound that things made as they walked, ate, breathed, hid, even swam. It wasn't so much that he sharpened his senses to the point where they were better than any other wolves. He just chose to let the little things in, let them effect him more than they ever had. It took him more time than he would have liked to admit to sharped his mind, the process taking more and more practice every day. The first time he had really noticed the change in himself was when he had been hunting in the deserts during the night. It had been a little cooler at night than it had been during the day, Hyperion had found that the most curious of creatures were awake during the night time. He had felt a shift in the way the air blew against his fur, a tingle of awareness that prickled down his spine. The hunter had become the hunted. He hadn't stuck around long enough to find out what exactly was hunting him. Whatever it was smelled awful, as if it was dead.

The months had flown by and now the time had come for Hyperion to find the egg that he wanted to steal. It would be easy enough for him to steal an egg from the larger unintelligent ground dwelling birds. He didn't want to steal something where his advantage was all within his mind. The eagles nest was something that seemed unattainable for so many months. Unreachable from where he stood. He wanted the eagles egg, even if it took him months to find it. It was a challenge that he needed to complete. He wouldn't be satisfied with the completion of his Agoge unless he returned with the eagle's egg. He wanted more than anything to find more than one egg so that he could present one to his mother. He knew that he couldn't complete the Agoge by presenting his egg to Messoria since she didn't count as a warrior, but he wanted to present one to her for sentimentalities sake. She was his greatest ally in this world and despite his strive to attain glory among his ranks, he knew that he would cherish her.

[newclass=.pltxt]position: relative; z-index: 200; opacity: 0; transition: all 1.5s ease; -webkit-transition: all 1.5s ease; -moz-transition: all 1.5s ease;[/newclass][newclass=.plbase:hover .pltxt]opacity: .8;[/newclass][newclass=.pltxt::-webkit-scrollbar]width: 8px;[/newclass][newclass=.pltxt::-webkit-scrollbar-thumb]background: #ffffff;[/newclass]

[Croix]

The time had finally come and to say the young male was excited would not be just an understatement, but an extreme understatement. He stood at the edge of the shore shaking with anticipation as he watched the island in the distance. He had spent his free time learning to swim so he felt fairly confident he could make it. He also had been practicing hunting small prey whenever he was alone so he wasn’t too worried about keeping himself fed and healthy. The only thing that kind of worried was his fighting ability. While his ultimate goal was to be a great and historic warrior, he had not yet had much practice. However, he knew this trip would give him plenty of experience and knowledge.

As he climbed into the water, it was less than a minute before he started shivering. Winter had cooled the temperatures down a fair bit and he knew he would have to swim fast. His legs began to make powerful stroke after powerful stroke until he was propelling himself forward at a decent speed. He kept his head above the water, his eyes trained on the land ahead, as he swam. After a few minutes, he began to get more and more cold, and he wanted to slow down and take a break. But, knowing he couldn’t just stop swimming in the middle of the ocean, he propelled himself forward even harder, beginning to move even faster.

As he reached the shore of Vor’asa, he crawled onto shore and shook the water from his drenched coat. He was trembling with how cold he was and decided to lay on the sand in the sun to try and warm up. He closed his eyes and drifted off into a light sleep, enjoying the heat that radiated down upon his back. When he woke a little while later, his fur was almost dry and he didn’t feel nearly as cold. With his strength restored he got to his feet and stretched before going to explore, getting to know the land he would spend the next few months on.

As he walked, he thought of how he wanted his time here to go. He was determined to come back a better fighter. He would hunt, even if he didn’t need to eat, and if he found himself in predicaments, there would be no running away from a fight. He wasn’t above starting a fight either if he found a worthy opponent. He would go after the eagle egg as they would put up a more of a worthy fight, he thought, than the bigger ground birds. He didn’t want the egg to be handed to him. He wanted to work for it and if he got a bit beat up in the process then he would wear the scars with pride, showing off the fact he didn’t choose the easy way. When he got back, he would bring his egg to his father, the only wolf he deemed worthy enough to open it. He wanted his father to be his mentor and he hoped this agoge would put him on the path of becoming just like Goliath.

As the scent of another wolf hit his nose, he snapped out of his thoughts and looked around, his ears perked with interest. It was a scent he knew all too well and he was eager to find the source. Walking in the direction the wind had carried it from, he kept a close out for the wolf it came from. Once he found him, he stopped a few feet ahead, a pleased smile on his face. “Hello, Brother,” he greeted him happily. Usually, Croix was not the most social of wolves but family was different. He enjoyed his family’s company and would do anything to protect them. “How are you, Hyp?” he asked with a tilt of the head. As he was waiting for him to respond, and idea formed in his mind and he was quick to voice it. “Say, what would you say about us working together? A pair of brothers conquering the agoge. I think it’d be fun,” he chuckled. He hoped his brother would agree to his antics but he wouldn’t be too terribly disappointed if he didn’t either.

Hyperion

[Hyperion]

HOVER

[attr="class","plbase"]

[attr="class","pltxt"] A prickle of anticipation made it's way through Hyperion's body as he wondered how long it would take him to find the egg. He was excited to see just how far this quest would take him now that he had a plan. Everything in life always worked better when he knew what he needed to accomplish, leaving things to chance never worked out well. There was a shift in the air that brought a new scent to his nose: Wolf, male, and Kairos. Hyperion thought about moving off in a new direction to avoid his pack mate, that was until he recognized who the scent belonged to. Hyperion had wondered how long it would take his brother to join the rest of the youth here on Vor'asa. He only had one male sibling, the rest of them being sisters. This meant he only had one full sibling here with him to accomplish the Agoge. Croix had always been smaller than Hyperion, his height only reaching to about Hyperion's shoulder dwarfing by about a foot. He was still quite a bit larger than normal sized wolves, but not in comparison to his giant of a brother.



Hyperion could smell the salty water that still clung to his brother form his swim from Ina'mos. It seemed that his brother had left later than Hyperion had to join in all the fun of the Agoge. He was envious that his brother had gotten to spend more time at home than he had. He missed his mother and his sisters, despite Nimue and Morrigan being gone from Kairos. "Took you long enough to join the fun brother. Tell me what made you linger on the island for so long." Hyperion was mostly teasing him as big brothers should. It had been a few months since he had seen the beauty of the island that was his birthplace. Hyperion despised this continent and the dry arid landscape it held. Ina'mos was a paradise compared to this hellhole. Croix wanted to work together in order to find the eggs, something that Hyperion hadn't really considered. He had been lonely these last several weeks so the offer for some company was a welcome one to say the least. The thing that bothered Hyperion the most was that he didn't want any help in accomplishing the Agoge. Finding the eagle's nest was his own quest that he had to master on his own. His brother could be a help or a hindrance in his quest to steal the eggs.



A part of his mind wondered if it was appropriate for him to work with his brother to accomplish it. Wouldn't it look better if I did this on my own? He wondered how much of a price there was to pay for choosing to partner up with his brother. Surely the rest of Goliath's offspring didn't team up. He looked his little brother over before giving a deep chuckle. "You can stick around Croix. I wouldn't mind the company, but this is live or die out here. You are on your own to get your egg, your food, and your skill."

Croix

[newclass=.pltxt]position: relative; z-index: 200; opacity: 0; transition: all 1.5s ease; -webkit-transition: all 1.5s ease; -moz-transition: all 1.5s ease;[/newclass][newclass=.plbase:hover .pltxt]opacity: .8;[/newclass][newclass=.pltxt::-webkit-scrollbar]width: 8px;[/newclass][newclass=.pltxt::-webkit-scrollbar-thumb]background: #ffffff;[/newclass]

[Apollo]

Silently he stood. Dual-colored eyes stared over the water towards the place of his destination. Pure white paws stood on the shore as the growing male contemplated for the longest of times. Frustration clearly wrote across his obsidian stained muzzle, annoyed that he had allowed himself to fall behind. His brother's had surely already gone to the Agoge and most likely returned. That also didn't count possibly half brother's that had been sent as well. He felt like a fool for allowing the time to escape him and now he worried about how the pack was going to view him for waiting so long to go to the agoge. It wasn't that he was scared to, it just kind of slipped his mind. Now he was nearly too old for the Agoge and that in itself set a determination deep within him. He had to be quick about this. He had to be able to finish the agoge. Apollo would never forgive himself if he couldn't. How would he even be able to look at his mother again? Or his siblings for that matter.

With a quick shake of his head Apollo set a determined expression upon his features before he took his first few steps into the bitter cold water. He just had to wait for winter to roll around didn't he. He could have went when the water was warm, but no. This is what he got for not paying enough attention. Each step further into the water brought all new sensations to the boy. Causing shivers to race up along his spine until he felt the uncomfortable bite of the cold on his paws. Though Apollo ignored it entirely as he continued on until he was finally as far into the water as he could get before his paws could no longer reach the ground.

It was in this moment that he began to long swim across the water towards his destination. Legs kicked in powerful strokes against the water, propelling himself forward as he made to swim quickly. He did not want to have to stay in the cold water for long. Not to mention there was no telling what was lurking below him in the water. He wasn't about to find out either. Slowly, but surely, his body began to really shake and shiver against the biting cold of the water and a soft gasp escaped the brute. For what felt like an eternity Apollo swam as quickly as he could. Surging through the water in a desperate attempt at getting towards the land that was growing closer by the second.

The moment Apollo reached the shores of Vor'asa he bolted out of the water, panting heavily as his body instantly shook. Water flew away from his pristine white pelt, falling and soaking into the sand he now stood upon. His eyes lifted, scanned the area as he simply stood there for a moment shivering. He needed to warm up, but he didn't just want to sit around and wait for the winter sun to attempt drying his fur and warming his body up. No. He had places to be. Places to explore. There was an egg to find. Nostril's flared as he took in the scents that came through with the wind and his ears perked up into attention. This would be his time to shine. Whether he had started late or not was now irrelevant. He had made his way here and now there was much for him to do.

His paws began to move instantly, uncaring about how cold he felt at the moment or the fact his fur was still lightly sodden with water. It would dry off eventually. Further into the land he went with all the determination he could muster pushing him onward. He wanted to make his parents proud. He wanted his twin to be proud. His dear Artemis. He would miss her dearly during his stay here, but it was needed. He would return a better wolf. Stronger. Far more cunning. He would be eager to see his mother and her upon his return. Though, he would also be eager to see his other siblings as well. The ones in his litter anyway. He hadn't really done much interaction with any of his...half siblings.

His thoughts continued to course through his mind, all the while his eyes searched and scanned as he walked. He didn't want to be taken off guard. There was no telling what was around. At least, there hadn't been any hints on who was around until the wind shifted and his nose picked up the scent of two others. He pulled to a stop almost instantly, lifting his head up to look in the direction the wind had came from. Now he would be faced with a decision. Though perhaps... perhaps he should take the time to see who else was here. With that in mind Apollo set out after the scents that were vaguely familiar.

It wasn't long before he was upon the brutes and recognition fell over Apollo nigh instantly. He hummed thoughtfully to himself, the sound a particular rumble in his chest. "Greetings...brothers'," His voice came easily. There was no denying who they were for they carried the scent of their father. It would be some kind of luck to be running into some of his half siblings. Apollo was certainly okay with that. Though for a moment he tried to see if he could remember their names.

Hyperion Croix

[Croix]

Croix was glad to have found a familiar face so soon after reaching the lands on which he would spend the next month or two. But he was even more excited that not only was it just a familiar face but his brother which made things all the more interesting. The comment that left the larger wolf left Croix rolling his eyes before speaking. “I wasn’t in a rush, I already know I’m going to get an eagle’s egg and that it is going to speak of great things for my future,” he said confidently while secretly hoping he was right. He had high hopes for the future including learning all that he could from his father and becoming as powerful as he could and he hoped the egg really did speak of his plans.

Croix had mentioned wanting to stick with his brother, as he wasn’t one for isolation when family was near by. However, he would never expect nor accept his brother helping him. Part of being great meant learning and conquering quests on your own, not with the help of others. So, when his brother mentioned he would help him he growled and shook his head. “I would be ashamed if you thought I would have it any other way,” he told him. He was glad that hyp had agreed to let him stick around and suddenly, he felt even more competitive about what was to come. He wanted to show his brother that he was already well on his way to becoming most like their father.

It was then that the sound of another wolf snapped Croix attention away from his brother. His ears perked with interest at the odd wolf standing in front of him. He had white fur and a weird black mark and he had two different color eyes. Odd really seemed to be an understatement but the young wolf could think of no better description. “Who are you?” he asked with curiosity. He guessed from the word brother that he was one of his half siblings but he had no idea who his mother was and even if the wolf was right in calling them brothers.

[Hyperion]

HOVER

[attr="class","plbase"]

[attr="class","pltxt"]Hyperion watched as his brother spoke of claiming the eagle's egg and finding his prophecy of greatness. He had it all figured out in his mind, so much like Hyperion had when he first arrived here in Vor'asa. Things were different here though. There was no sure plan that would work, or great scheme that would guarantee success. Just trying to survive here was difficult enough let alone finding an egg. Hyperion had been here for weeks if not months and the times he had almost dies were too many to count. If his brother didn't keep a keen eyes then there would be no telling if he would even survive this harsh place. "Whatever great things lie in your future you have to survive this in order to reach them. This place is more dangerous than getting the egg." He didn't say these things because he thought his brother couldn't handle the danger of the Agoge, but because Hyperion himself had almost perished here. There were greater beasts than giant birds that roamed here, some that could kill even a giant like him. Croix had always been so sure that he was destined to be great, this his future held glory for him, so similar to Hyperion. He had always thought that since he was a prince of Kairos that success would come easy, skills would be natural to him. All of those ideals had shattered the first time he had been hunted like prey, the first time a creature had tried to drag him away in the night. Hyperion had thought that the Agoge would take a few weeks at most, but he had been here on this continent for months. It wasn't just about finding the egg and making it home, Hyperion would not be satisfied until he felt that he was ready to return home triumphant.

Before he got the chance to warn Croix however he heard a newcomers footsteps approaching. Hyperion had spent so many months of his time here working to enhance his senses, unlocking the potential that had been within him this whole time. This stranger smelled of Kairos, but more strongly he smelt of the sea, meaning her had just made the swim. He was white with a strange marking on his face and two different colored eyes. He called them his brothers and Hyperion didn't doubt it. His father had been less than selective about who he had taken last season, meaning that Hyperion had more half-siblings than he could count. He hadn't met this particular male before, but he had heard about the mirror twins. A male and a female with blue and green eyes. If he recalled right they were from Tala's litter, but he could be wrong considering there were far too many mothers for him to remember them all. Saying Goliath was a whore was an understatement. Hyperion had always disagreed with his father's practice of taking a majority of the Kairos females, but that was because he believed there was such a thing as an unworthy female. Hyperion knew that he didn't want a part of keeping a harem, his father had too many children to spend time with them all and that was unfair. He had only met his father a few times when he was younger and none of them had really been family bonding moments.

Looking back to the ivory newcomer Hyperion tried to rack his brain trying to find the name of his half-sibling. They had both been given similar names, each of the twins starting with an A. Trying to go through the names of all of his relatives was confusing enough, especially with the arrival of his newly born cousins. "Hello, Apollo isn't it? I am Hyperion and this is Croix." He motioned over to his brother who apparently had no idea who this brother of theirs even was. It seemed like Croix wasn't the only one who had gotten late start on his Agoge. Hyperion didn't want to linger here too long, the months without his family had begun to weigh on him. After so long trying to prove to himself that he was ready to go and steal his egg, he could finally feel the call to home. He knew that his time here would not be long. For some reason seeing his two brothers here with him reminded him of the task at hand. He had developed his skills enough to where he was ready to face the giant eagle. He knew that he would always have to practice and hone his skills throughout his whole lifetime, but it was starting to feel as if he had finally proven to himself that he had made the journey that he was meant to travel. "Glad to finally have made the swim?"

Croix Apollo

[newclass=.pltxt]position: relative; z-index: 200; opacity: 0; transition: all 1.5s ease; -webkit-transition: all 1.5s ease; -moz-transition: all 1.5s ease;[/newclass][newclass=.plbase:hover .pltxt]opacity: .8;[/newclass][newclass=.pltxt::-webkit-scrollbar]width: 8px;[/newclass][newclass=.pltxt::-webkit-scrollbar-thumb]background: #ffffff;[/newclass]