What a terrible day it was outside today. It was early autumn, the summer storms still not quite done yet. Throughout the whole day it had been overcast and raining, a constant light wind buffeting the air with the occasional strong gust. It was about mid day, but almost no light penetrated the clouds, casting only a dim glow in the empty clearing. Most of the pack was already out and about, warriors either training or on mid-day border patrols, or the hunters trying to catch anything, although not much prey seemed to wander out into the weather today.

Pain had been out earlier in the morning, before most had woken for the day and those who patrolled or hunted at night just began to turn in. He had done his hunting for the day already, as was his new, although tedious, duty. He liked to get it out of the way early, so he could continue to train for what he really wanted to do, fight. His duty he had to fill though made it necessary for him to seek out the former Lead Hunter now.

While Pain thought himself quite skilled at hunting by himself, being the Lead Hunter meant he had to be able to lead others in a hunt, something he was not looking forward to to say the least. Perhaps he could get training in fighting from Magnus somehow, as he was currently a Guardian, one of the best at fighting in the pack, or at least he should be. Pain would be disappointed with anything less than that.

Moving through the quiet clearing he made his way over to where Magnus' dwelling lie, hoping to find him there. The rain and wind made it impossible to pick up anything but the freshest of scents, anything else quickly washed away by the weather. Approaching the opening he called out, "Guardian Magnus? It is Lead Hunter Pain, I seek training from my predecessor." the words seemed plain even to Pain, it was not often that he asked others for things, but he would try his best to feint respect as was necessary in a pack. His stance, if Magnus was indeed to emerge from his den was respectful as necessary, but Pain was a strong believer that respect was earned, not given. If Magnus was as strong as his title suggested, this would be no problem.

Magnus had spent a long day sitting stoically in the clearing. For hours he watched the Alpha's den for anyone who dared approach. Loath as he was to admit it, he couldn't trust everyone in this pack. He wasn't very trusting of anyone really. He trusted Chiara as his mate, Tye as his brother, Cliché as his brothers mate and Teren as his Alpha. Everyone else was subject to the same distrust, the same uncaring blank stare. Or, if they were unlucky, a hateful glare. A few times he had silently risen to shadow his Alpha on his walks. He stayed hidden in the shadows, silent and unnoticed by his fearless leader. Wherever Teren went, he went. When Teren was done with his business, he'd return to his place, sit and watch once more.

When the afternoon finally came, Magnus got the chance to switch duties with his beloved mate. Just in time too. The sky was becoming extremely dark for the time of day. Autumn had barely arrived and the summer storms weren’t quite ready to relinquish their control over the land. He would have told Chiara to stay in the den and not get her fur dirty if she would have listened to him. Theirs was a partnership of equals, both in rank and in the spirit of the mating bond. She was a proud beauty who would do her duty rain, hail or shine. So instead he gave her a rare smile and went off on his way. He had decided on a walk to stretch his muscles after sitting in the same place for so long. He passed the kill pile on his walk, noticing it could do with a top up. Rolling his shoulders he set off into the rain.

His pelt was soaked; darkening the colour by the time he found some prey. Rain was perfect weather for ducks. One stumbled before him on the game trail on its way to the stream. It was a simple thing to snap it up. It died with barely a quack. By then the rain was heavy on his back and he was tired. He trotted back to the clearing as fast as he could, tossing the fowl carcass on the pile when he passed by. Crawling into his den he curled up to take a nap. To his good fortune the pups were huddled away elsewhere, so he had the place to himself. Whether he slept for a few hours or a few minutes he couldn’t say. He was out before his head hit his paws. And he was awakened just as quickly.

It was still raining outside. The wind was whipping the droplets all about, some of them spattering the entrance to the den. He snarled. A voice was calling to him from the outside and it wasn’t Chiara or Tye. It certainly wasn’t the deep grumble of his Alpha. So what brute dared disturb his well-deserved slumber? The Guardian stretched his body out, making his spine tingle and pop. He crawled through the hole, fiery eyes the first thing the other brute would have seen. There in the rain stood Pain, his successor as Lead Hunter. About time, he thought. ”Training you say? It’s about bloody time. Any particular sort of training, or shall I choose myself?” He gave a malicious grin at the thought. He would very much enjoy training this brute. He had seen his face the day they fought the bear, Pain was not happy to be made Lead Hunter. Magnus would soon teach him respect.

It had only been a few moments before the Guardian answered him, emerging from the den, firey eyes the first of his features he saw emerge form the dark, followed by the rest of his body. He seemed somewhat angered as he exited the den, perhaps he had disturbed his rest. Despite this Pain did not flinch at his fiery gaze. He held a similar gaze most of the time himself, one full of strength and ambition, emotions that seemed to emanate from the brute constantly, although few knew what fueled his ambition truly.

His ambition also got in the way at times. It was true, he did not want to be lead hunter, and his own pride and ambitions to be the best at what he did, fighting, clouded the young brutes judgement. Luckily for him, he was not as open about his aversion of being a hunter as he was with most other opinions he had of others, to deny the honor his Alpha had given him would alienate most in the pack against him, most definitely the Alpha. This danger did not stop him from loathing his new position however. So, why did he seek Magnus now for training in what would most likely be hunting? The answer to this question Pain did not know fully himself, the training he had received from Katyusha, while brutal, was not enough. She may had been a good fighter, but not good enough it seemed, as he was made a hunter. He needed to find someone else to train him now.

The wind was gusting now, tousling both the brute's fur in the wind, yet Pain stood still, un-moved by it as he heard the Guardian's words over the howl, a malicious grin coming over his features. He had remembered a similar expression from his previous mentor, but she had proven to not be worthy enough of a mentor to him, a small detail he noted. At the mention of training Pain's eyes seemed to gain a flicker of interest, the dark amber orbs flicking upwards towards the dark grey heavens as if in deep thought "Training... I always seek training to become a better fighter above all, so that would be my first answer, and a Guardian such as yourself should know a thing or two about that."

Flicking his ears as he sighed, he regarded Guardian Magnus once again, his piercing amber eyes meeting his, "Training the Lead Hunter in fighting would seem irresponsible on your part and selfish on mine for the pack however, such a pity. Either way, if I am to be your... apprentice and you my mentor the decision as to what you will train me in is up to you." Pain had given the Brute his true opinion on what he wanted, although somewhat indirectly. He wanted training in fighting from the Guardian, what help would training in killing mere rabbits be to him?

Magnus thought this opportunity was too great to pass up. A chance to have his own apprentice. He'd seen Fel training a wolf or two of her own, he'd heard of Katyusha training her daughter, but he had not seen the coyote in a long time. Chiara had helped train Katyusha and had been approached by a few others. Now it was his turn. Sure he could train the pups, he could, but he didn't feel like they could handle his hardcore style of training. The only way he knew how to train anyone was how his mother trained him. Hard. Painful. Cruel. Unrewarding. If Pain wanted training from the Guardian, this was what he would be subjected to. It didn't matter what sort of training, Hunting or Fighting, it would be the same.

He eyed the Lead Hunter, trying to see what he had to work with, not that it really mattered. He would break down this male, make him think he was nothing. He didn't care about pelt or eye colour. He cared about what was beneath that. The muscles. The heart. The brain. What made him tick? What made him want to approach the Guardian for training? He came into Erenyx a Warrior, but Teren had made him Lead Hunter after they fought the bear. The brute couldn't have been happy with that. So what then? Did he want to train to fight? Did he hope to usurp his position? The bloody ingrate. Magnus would fix that easily. He'd teach the whelp to worship the ground he walked upon.

It was something the brute was deeply passionate about. You could be an arse, you could swear, you could lie, you could cheat, you could kill, but the one thing he demanded was respect. If you didn't show respect, you weren't worth anything to him. As of this moment, the Lead Hunter was worse than an Omega in his eyes. "You will be my apprentice, but I will not be just your mentor. I will be your Master. You will do everything I say. You will take the abuse, the hatred, you will become nothing but a shell. Then you will learn." His eyes were hard and hateful. His voice was deep and gravelly. "You will learn what I want you to learn, and if you don't please me you will suffer even more. I will not spare you, you will beg for mercy and in return you will receive more punishment." He circled the male, just once to get a better view of his moulding clay, stopping before Pain. "If you don't think you can handle this, say so now and walk away." The other male had no way of knowing that whichever answer he gave would be the wrong one.

Pain eyed the tawny brute as he seemed to consider his words. Either he will train him or he would not, either answer an equal probability to Pain until he read the glint in the brutes eyes, malicious, eager, he would train him. A moment later he spoke, all Pain heard was terms, terms terms terms. These conditions would not matter to Pain, he would sooner sell his soul to become the ultimate fighting machine than to stay weak as he was. He needed this training to defeat his one true enemy...

Staring straight ahead as Magnus circled him, he caught his gaze as he came back around, determination in his eyes. His reply was on the tip of his tongue, he did not have to think over his answer. "I did not name myself Pain for nothing, I will do as you say." Pain knew he would try and break him, tear him down until he was nothing. He truly hoped the Guardian Magnus could give him enough of a challenge, Pain would not back down with his effort for one moment. After all, Pain knew he had to break to get better, just like all things, and he could not break if he bent, he needed to remain strong as long as he could. Even his previous mentor had failed in breaking him completely.

Magnus glared at the male. Waiting expectantly for his answer. Around them the storm raged. The wind whipped the falling droplets so that they fell sideways, only to snap around and send them hurtling in the other direction. The Guardian didn't flinch from the assault, only blinked to clear the moisture building over his eyes. He didn't enjoy being blind. The Lead Hunter replied so soon it seemed he'd barely given it any thought. Magnus growled. "Wrong answer." Anyone who thought they were ready was exactly the opposite. It showed their naivety. Did Pain really believe that he knew what was in store for him? He seemed so proud of his name because he'd given it to himself. A foolish pride. It was ostentatious. Magnus' own name had great meaning, but he had been given it by his first Alpha. He could have changed it if he liked, but he had no wish to do so. He was great, he would always be great. His name reminded him where he came from, why he fought. Changing his name was like trying to change who he was. And he liked who he was. A demon sent from hell to cause trouble.

He shouldered his way past the other male. He'd better follow if he had any inclinations of being trained. Magnus' time wouldn't be wasted by anyone with less than full commitment. He lead the male a little ways from the clearing to where he knew a stream met a small pond. Ducks were swimming happily, quacking conversation to one another. He sat by the reeds on the bank, looking first over the prey, sitting ducks as they were, then looking back towards the clearing. The Lead Hunter was a Lead Hunter before anything else. He had a duty to the wolves of his pack. He had to respect that duty and Magnus would be the one to teach him that respect. Climbing the hierarchy took skill and finesse. But it also meant you had to be content with where you were first. Magnus gained his rank because he did his job and he did it well. Pain would get nowhere simply by demanding training in the hope someone would notice him. This whelp really pissed him off. The Guardian already wanted to hurt him and they hadn't even begun yet.

Pain followed the other male silently, his fur shifting in the strong winds as he did so. The trees on the edge of the clearing tossed and turned in the wind, even the largest oaks swaying as if they were grasses in a prairie. A loud rustling of leaves filled the forest along with the sound of rain impacting the ground and tree trunks around them. They moved towards the stream, Pain noted, but he only knew that was their final destination when they reached it. Magnus did not glance back once as he lead the way, and Pain did not say one word the entire way.

Pain only thought about what the Guardian had in mind for him today. No doubt it would be the hardest most grueling thing the Guardian could think of at the moment, but that still meant there were many possibilities. Of course, Pain could not be prepared for every possibility but the young brute was still eager for a challenge. Perhaps this was somewhat naïve of him, pain after all which was what he would feel during this training no doubt, was the body's way of signaling it was being damaged, or broken. Pain was not something one would seek out, it was a feeling that was avoided. Pain had tried avoiding pain before however, and that only lead to it seeking him out and ruining him and who he was.

Still the rain continued to beat on him, like tiny little slaps all over his body. The sky was crying, mother nature wept for her demons, how unsalvageable they were. Yet she loved them all the same. She gave them the tools to survive, taught them how to make it on their own. She was the mother of all things and not matter their faults, they were her children. She loved them all, even if it didn't seem like it a lot of the time. When nature threw her worst at him he charged through and emerged victorious every time. Upon reflection he always found himself grateful for the challenges he'd faced, they'd made him the wolf he was. He was strong and powerful, demanding of respect for the trials he had faced.

Magnus sat regally beside the stream, watching the ducks paddle around in little circles. Two males seemed to become entangled in an altercation over a female. Quacking loudly and flapping their wings, stirring up the water as they fought. that was what it came down to: procreation. Every goal, every act all went towards the same end: lineage. They trained and fought to their very best to appease their ancestors. They hunted to eat to keep each other alive. They feel in love in order to mate and reproduce. Though some seemed to skip the love part and go straight to coitus. A harem. Steele had tried to have one and it hadn't ended well. Those who were supposed to love him, respect him, follow him - they all condemned him. Those who had very nearly lost their mates to the Alphas forced harem were indebted to Teren for freeing them.

The ducks quacks quietened and the victorious male paddled of with the female by his side. He looked at Pain. "Well, get moving." He patronised. Fowl were some of the trickier prey they hunted. Feathers added an extra element of flight - a secondary escape. Magnus needed to see how Pain handled the situation before he could train him. It would all come together in the end.