B'awww, poor Karp'. xP I heartily apologize for his nervousness! lol. <3 Here, we'll make up for it.
Karpos was starting to seem hesitant and though the boy had answered nervously, Mapplethorpe found his response satisfactory. If only the uneasiness hadn't shown through... The Hollowheart Keep Leader nodded, but later added,
"If you're quick enough... and I'm sure you are if you put your mind to it." All four of his tawny paws were in the snow now and he straightened up, head held high and tail kept level with his spine.
"Guardians rarely think," he articulated.
"They already know... They know what to do, they know how to act and, sometimes, they know exactly what to say. Even in the absence of their superiors."
"Why do you fear me, boy?" his tone rumbled in his throat.
"If I had been the stranger on the borders, would you have feared me then?" His head canted slightly to one side, assessing Karpos' body language, the expression on his marking-less face.
"I've told you once and I will tell you again, Slayer, I believe that you hold much potential, and you will be an asset to this pack... our pack." Half of a crooked smile crept up alongside the right side of his muzzle,
"If you are to one day serve me... Lady Naira... Princess Aponi... you will be brave. You will be confident; you will be brash. As a Guardian it is expected of you. You mustn't let anything, like intimidation, get the best of you."
His golden-eyed gaze raked up along Karpos' lanky, still-growing physique.
"I might not have known your father, who he was or what he had done, but apparently his most valuable asset has found his way into my care. I am the way I am because I care, Kar-pos." His voice stumbled over the boy's name, but in verbally acknowledging the young Slayer by his given name, he could only hope that the lad found the means to confide in him at last... to
trust him the way Taima had. The inner strength was there, Mapplethorpe knew, all he had to do was coax it from the pup and fortify it by any means possible.
"I am the way I am because my father expected it of me, even when he believed that I would ultimately amount to nothing. I don't have my father anymore either, but look at me now..." A Leader. A father. A mate. A far cry from the cub he had once been all those years ago. Perhaps Karpos would make the connection...
"You have a long way to go just yet," he now fully smiled, the tenor tones of his voice finally rounding out in genial, heart-warming notes.
"But I can already tell that you have the makings of a fine wolf. I will tell you that time and time again if you ask it of me; but, you must not forget it." He briefly scowled as if expecting Karpos to counter what he had said.
"Come on, stand up straight and let me see your best defensive stance. Face me and give me your best growl..." His tail began to lilt from side to side, the tip of it prominently pointing from left to right and back again as he further encouraged,
"Let us see that snarly face."
(This post was last modified: Feb 25, 2014, 09:11 PM by Mapplethorpe.)