{"sf1_id":928256,"sf2_id":null,"title":"Aspire Arcadia: Chapter 3: Let the Games Begin","author":"Koda_The_Wolf","words":6370,"posted_at":"2015-10-31T02:28:00.000Z","tags":["Adventure","Canine","Epic","Story Series","Wolf","animals"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/928256-aspire-arcadia-chapter-3-let-the-games-begin","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/928256","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=928256\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"","content":"With the exception of the calm, trickling water, a few\nsinging birds, and the annoying buzzing of insects, the forest was rather\nsilent. Patch glanced around at the trees, the sky... the untouched beauty of the\nhidden bay where the pirates made their base. Suddenly, a sharp pain shot\nthrough the tip of his muzzle as a narrow switched whipped him on the nose. \n\"Ow!\" He growled, glaring at Reka who had been watching him\ncarefully.\n\"Raise your arms higher,\" she said, stepping back.\nIn Patch's paws was an iron, long sword which was lent to\nhim by one of the pirates. His task was to hold it up in a 'ready' position,\nboth of his paws on the hilt of the sword while he held the blade up and away\nfrom his body. His arms had to be perfectly straight, and his elbows at least a\nfew inches away from his body. Every time he lowered his arms or bent his\nelbows, he was met with a sharp whip on his nose. Patch's arms trembled with\nfatigue as he struggled to hold the blade in that position, knowing well that\nif he didn't, he'd be hit with the switch again. \nIt had only been a few days after Captain Keira agreed to\nhelp train Patch and Juniper in preparation for their departure... and it\ncertainly wasn't an easy start. \n\"Ouch!\" Juniper yelped as Patch heard the twitch bite her\nnose as well. They were back to back, both doing the same task while Lieutenant\nReka monitored and Captain Keira spectated.\n\"Is the switch really necessary?\" Juniper complained,\nwriggling her nose in pain.\n\"Yes,\" Reka replied, sitting back in her chair, which was positioned\nright beside them, \"what motivation, other than, pain would get you to stay in\nthe right position? If you do it correctly, you'll build muscle mass in no\ntime.\" \n\"When you said to 'get stronger' this isn't exactly what I\nhad in mind...\" Patch sighed, staring at the tip of the sword. It trembled\nslightly as his arms did. \n\"It's effective,\" Reka replied, \"it also helps to take your\nmind off of the task and think about other, more pleasant things.\"\nShe glanced around.\n\"Listen to the birds,\" she said, closing her eyes, \"listen\nto the river and the wind. The gentle rustling of the leaves.\"\n\"Ah!\" Patch cried as another whack on his nose caused him to\ntwitch. \n\"And stop lowering your arms!\" Reka growled.\n\"You two look cute together,\" Captain Keira said, taking a\nsip out of a coconut. She had a lounge area set up on the uppermost deck of the\nship, where Juniper and Patch were receiving their first iteration of training.\n\n\"How long has it been...?\" Patch asked, noticeable strain\ntightening his voice.\n\"Don't worry about it,\" Reka replied, \"you don't have much\ntime left to go, just focus on finishing.\" \nHe leaned his head back against Juniper's and sighed.\n\"Not what you had in mind huh,\" Juniper whispered, trying to\ntake her mind off of the pain in her arms.\n\"Not at all,\" he replied with a small smile.\n\"Me neither,\" she replied, \"I thought only you would have to do it.\"\nPatch chuckled, causing his arms to drop a bit and Reka to\nsmack him on the nose again.\n\"Think about all of the muscle you'll have,\" Captain Keira\nteased, \"hey, maybe one day you'll look back, remember this, and realize how\nmuch it helped you on your travels.\"\n\"Holding a sword up for hours?\" Patch replied, \"no way.\"\n\"You never know,\" Captain Keira replied casually, \"at the\nvery least, your attacks would actually hurt someone instead of uncomfortably\ntickling them.\"\n\"Ouch,\" Patch sighed.\n\"Alright, time,\" Reka said, causing both of them to drop\ntheir swords and fall to their knees. \n\"Oh that was horrible...\" Juniper whined comically, lying on\nher side, \"I can't feel the entire top half of my body...\"\n\"That's the muscle building,\" Reka replied, picking the\nswords up, \"just wait until tomorrow.\" \nShe dropped the swords in a pile nearby and turned to them. \n\"That's enough training for today,\" she said, \"go see if\nHallow has anything for you.\"\n\"Aww...\" Juniper sighed, laying her head on the ground, \"he's\nalways got something for us...\" \n\"Look on the bright side,\" Patch said, pulling himself up,\n\"it's been a slow day. Maybe everything is already done.\" \nHe helped her up and they headed back to the pier, where\nHallow waited. He was a tall, slender wolf with a shiny, black coat and\npiercing yellow eyes. He was a bit older than Patch and Juniper, but not by\nmuch. Thankfully, he was the last one they had to see before their training day\nwas over. If he didn't have any work for them, they'd be free... at least until\nthe next morning. \n\"Hey, there you are,\" he said as they approached, \"looks\nlike you guys had more fun time with\nLieutenant Reka.\"\n\"Of course,\" Patch said, \"what gave it away?\" \n\"Your front legs are trembling,\" Hallow replied, glancing at\na clipboard he had sitting beside him, \"you're not the only one that had to do\nthat training you know. Juniper should know.\" \n\"It never gets easier...\" she muttered, \"every time I got\ncaught sneaking out, I'd have to do this early in the morning...\" \n\"I remember those days,\" Hallow replied, \"almost felt bad\nfor you.\" \nHe stood up.\n\"Look, I hate to pile more work on you guys, but I've got to\nget these crates loaded onto some carts to take to the market,\" Hallow said,\nglancing at a pile of crates, \"all of the others went off to help with the\nmarket over in Eidous.\"\n\"That's fine,\" Patch replied, glancing at all of the cargo,\n\"a little more exercise can't hurt I guess.\"\nThere were only six crates waiting on the pier to be loaded.\nEach of them had the popular mark of Veridian merchant ships along with the\nVeridian flag. A few warnings were indicated on the side. One in particular\nread 'Keep Dry'.\n\"What's in these anyway?\" Juniper asked, glancing at one of\nthe crates.\n\"Ever heard of Voltrinite?\" Hallow replied, attaching a\nharness to one of the crates, \"the element that naturally produces electricity\nwhen purified and exposed to water? It's that. It's a pretty lucrative export.\"\n\"Is it stolen?\" Patch asked, glancing up at him.\n\"We're pirates, kid. Of course it's stolen,\" he replied with\na small smile, \"don't worry though. No one on the ship was hurt, if that's what\nyou're worried about. The Captain made sure of that, so your conscious can stay\nclear.\"\n\"If you say so,\" Patch replied.\nThey helped load the crates on the carts, painfully dragging\neach one across the bay and lifting them up on the carrier. Their arms were\nsore from earlier that day, and their entire bodies ached from the training on\nthe day prior. \n\"My arms are going to fall off,\" Juniper muttered, pushing\none of the crates onto a cart, \"I haven't worked this hard since...\"\n\"Forever?\" Hallow replied, handing her another box, \"it's\ngood for you. It hurts now, but you'll feel a lot more nimble and healthier\nafter making a habit of it. Plus, it'll hurt a lot less.\"\nPatch pushed over the final crate and Juniper heaved it up\nand slid it on the cart. \n\"That's it,\" Hallow replied, as he shut the gate on the last\ncart, \"you guys are free to go. Try not to get yourselves into trouble.\"\n\"I doubt we have the energy for that,\" Patch replied as\nJuniper hopped off of the cart. \n\"No kidding,\" she replied, \"I need a nap...\" \nAfter a short rest, the two headed up the path towards the\nmain road that Patch usually took to head home. \n\"What a day...\" Juniper sighed, following him up the path, \"I\ndon't even want to think about how sore we'll be tomorrow...\"\n\"I know right?\" he replied with a small smile, \"not to\nmention we get to do the entire thing again.\"\n\"I can't wait,\" she replied sarcastically.\n\"I don't know, I think it's fun,\" Patch replied with a\nsmile, \"when we start doing the useful stuff, like escape and evasion training,\nwith just the two of us... I think it'll be even more exciting.\"\n\"I guess that's true,\" Juniper replied, glancing at the\nground, \"I am having some fun with it at least...\"\nThey eventually reached the end of the path where Juniper\nstopped.\n\"You can find your way home from here, right?\" she asked as\nhe stopped and glanced back at her, \"the main road will be right on the other\nside of the forest.\"\n\"Yeah... I think I'll be fine,\" he replied, nervously glancing\nat the ground.\n\"Don't get lost again,\" she teased, poking him on the nose,\n\"I don't want to have to go through that training alone tomorrow.\"\nPatch nodded slightly.\n\"Okay,\" she replied with a smile, \"see you tomorrow then?\"\n\"Actually, I was thinking,\" Patch quickly replied, glancing\nup at her, \"why not come over to my house for dinner? O-or whatever... my\nfamily would love to put a face to the name I always mention...\"\nJuniper's face reddened.\n\"Oh... I-I don't know,\" she replied, nervously stepping back,\n\"I'm not really good at meeting new animals Patch...\" \n\"It'll be fun,\" he replied, with a smile, \"it's not like\nthey're mean or anything. I think you'll like them. I know they'll love you.\" \nJuniper glanced at the ground nervously. \n\"They won't think it's weird that I'm related to pirates?\"\nshe asked quietly.\n\"You don't have to tell them if you don't want to,\" Patch\nreplied, \"they wouldn't hate you or anything for it. We're very receptive to\nnew animals.\"\n\"O-okay...\" Juniper said reluctantly, \"I guess it would be\nweird if we never met at least once...\"\n\"I promise, you have nothing to worry about,\" Patch replied,\n\"I know you'll like them. They're pretty lively.\"\n\"Oh I know how that is,\" she replied with a small smile.\n\"I couldn't imagine being stuck on that ship all of the time\nanyway. You've got to get out more,\" Patch added, glancing back at the path.\n\"There aren't many places to go,\" she replied, \"I spend most\nof my time out at sea or here in the hidden bay. Every now and then I'd go to\nEidous for a break, but that's pretty much it. Hopefully that'll change soon.\" \n\"It will,\" Patch replied with a confident grin, \"so long as\nwe survive the training.\" \nThey reached the end of the dense forest, which led to the\nmain road, and headed towards Patch's family's den, which was only a few miles\naway. Since it was nearing the end of the day, the road was filled with animals\nleaving the city to return to their dens in the plains. Massive herds of\ngrazing animals crossed into the forest for shelter during the night along with\nsmaller groups of predators. \n\"Have you ever been to the capital?\" Juniper asked, glancing\naround at all of the animals near them.\n\"I go there all of the time,\" he replied, \"why?\"\n\"I don't know,\" she replied, lost in thought, \"I've been\nthere once before, when I was a pup... I don't remember a lot about it though...\"\nThey made a turn off of the main road some time later and\nheaded down another path towards his den.\n\"It's pretty busy sometimes, but there's a lot to see and\ndo,\" Patch replied, \"Whenever we get to leave, I can take you there, if you\nwant.\"\n\"That'd be-\" Juniper started to say before a random wolf\njumped out of the bushes and blocked their path. \n\"Where the heck have you been?!\" He growled, glaring at\nPatch, \"we almost started without you!\" \nHe was a younger wolf, probably only a couple of years older\nthan Patch. He had similar black and orange markings as Patch, along with white\nhair and bright, green eyes. \n\"S-sorry,\" Patch replied, glancing back at Juniper, \"oh and...\nThis is Juniper, the girl I've been talking about. We just got finished with\nour training for the day.\"\n\"Oh... hi,\" the wolf replied impatiently, \"I'm Titanium.\"\n\"N-Nice to meet you,\" Juniper replied quietly.\n\"Anyway, we're doing another game of capture the flag,\" he\ncontinued.\n\"Another one?\"\nPatch sighed.\n\"It was Pepper's idea,\" Titanium replied, \"like hell we're\ngoing to lose to her again. We need all of the help we can get...\"\n\"Ready yet? Titanium?\" a female wolf asked, approaching them\nfrom the forest nearby, \"we don't have all night you know.\" \nWhen she noticed Patch and Juniper, she smiled.\n\"Oh, hey Patch,\" She said with a gentle smile, \"who's your\nfriend?\" \n\"Juniper,\" Juniper nervously replied, \"w-we were training\ntogether...\"\n\"Nice to meet you, I'm Pepper,\" she replied replied with a\nkind smile, \"thanks for taking care of Patch. I know he's kind of a loose\ncannon at times.\"\n\"Loose cannon?\" Patch asked with a small smile, 'I-I'm not that bad...\"\nPepper glanced at Titanium, who stood by impatiently.\n\"And you certainly are\ngoing to need all of the help you can get,\" she teased, \"though I doubt\nthat'd help, considering we were outnumbered last time and still came back and\nwon.\"\nTitanium growled at her.\n\"I know this is random, but do you want to join in on our\ngame?\" Pepper asked, glancing at Juniper, \"It's Capture the Flag. Girls versus\nboys. I know we've only just met, but I think it'd be a good opportunity to\nreally get to know us. You don't have to play if you don't want to.\"\n\"Um... s-sure,\" Juniper replied with a nervous smile, \"I'm not\nfamiliar with the rules though...\"\n\"It's easy,\" Pepper quickly replied, \"we have two flags on\nopposite sides of the area. Our mission is to capture each other's flags and\nreturn it to base. It's usually the best two games out of three wins, but we're\non a tie breaker right now. First to score gets the championship.\"\nPepper glanced at a red ribbon she wore around her neck.\n\"You'll be able to tell who's on your team by the ribbons we\nhave. Obviously, we're the red team. Anyway, if a member of the other team pulls\nyour ribbon off, you're out for the round.\"\n\"We're losing daylight Pepper,\" Titanium growled.\n\"Easy there,\" she replied with a grin, \"patience is a\nvirtue.\"\nShe then returned her glance to Juniper.\n\"Its girls versus boys, so you'll be on our team,\" Pepper\ncontinued, \"which is good for you, since we're the winning team. You don't mind\nan extra on our team, do you? Titanium?\"\n\"I don't care,\" Titanium replied, rolling his eyes, \"let's\nget this going already...\"\n\"O-okay,\" Juniper replied, \"I don't want to old you guys\nback or anything... I'll do my best.\"\n\"No worries, you'll do fine,\" Pepper replied, turning\ntowards the forest, \"follow me, I'll let you know when we're ready.\" \nShe glanced back at Patch.\n\"We'll take care of her, so don't worry,\" she said with a\nsmall grin, \"Focus on not losing okay? Losers go out and hunt for dinner,\nwinners eat first.\"\n\"I'll try not to,\" Patch replied as Pepper and Juniper\ndisappeared on their side of the forest.   \n\"Do you get that we cannot\nlose to them again?\" Titanium growled, grabbing Patch's arm, \"don't go easy on them because your\ngirlfriend is on their team! I don't want to eat last again!\"\n\"G-girlfriend?\" Patch asked as Titanium dragged him into the\nforest towards their base. \nThe game was set in a huge patch of grassy plains with\noccasional, thin forest covering. Each of their bases sat atop large hills,\nwhich overlooked a central valley where their den was located. Titanium dragged\npatch to the top of the easternmost hill where all of his brothers and his\nfather hung around a large, blue flag. \n\"Look who I found wandering around with his girlfriend in\nthe midst of a war,\" Titanium said, approaching them.\n\"Done with training for the day?\" Kodiak, his father, asked,\n\"Hope you're ready for more.\" He sat back against one of Patch's brothers, who\nsquealed at the weight pressing against him.\n\"Patch has a girlfriend? No way!\" Silver, another one of\nPatch's brothers, said, crossing his arms.\n\"Do you have a\ngirlfriend? Silver?\" Cobalt asked, glancing at him with an evil smirk.\n\"No. Do you?\" Silver replied sharply, causing the two of\nthem to glare spitefully at each other.\n\"That's wonderful Patch,\" Howell replied kindly with a\nsmile, \"I'd love to meet her.\"\n\"W-well I don't think she's my... girlfriend or anything...\"\nPatch replied nervously, \"we just train together...\"\n\"Isn't that the one you're taking with you when you leave\nhere?\" Carbon asked, leaning against the pole of the flag, \"sounds like a\ngirlfriend to me.\"\n\"Enough!\" Titanium commanded, \"We've got a strategy to\ndetermine!\" \n\"Easy tiger,\" Cobalt muttered, \"we'll do what we did last\ntime. It almost worked.\"\n\"Almost,\" Titanium\nreplied, glaring at him, \"ALMOST is not good enough!\"\n\"Come on, they got lucky last time\" Bolt pointed out,\n\"Puzzle captured the flag, for crying out loud. I know snails faster than she\nis.\"\n\"You're just mad because you got tagged out by mom,\" Argon\nsaid, \"don't take it out on us.\"\nThe other laughed while Titanium shook his head.\n\"She's faster than... well she's practically... never mind,\" He\nmuttered, \"we should keep more than one of us here to defend and the rest can\ngo encircle them.\"\n\"We should wait for them to come to us,\" Howell said calmly,\n\"that way, we can pick them off and then move\nin to capture their flag.\" \n\"They'll take forever to move,\" Titanium said, approaching\nthem, \"Forget it. I've got a better idea.\"\nOn the other side of the field, Pepper approached her team,\nconsisting of Patch's mother, Copper, as well as all of his sisters.\n\"There you are,\" Puzzle said, standing up, \"I thought\nTitanium may have kidnapped you or something. He always takes things to the\nnext level.\" \n\"He wouldn't dare,\" Pepper replied with a smile, \"Anyway,\nthis is Juniper, Patch's girlfriend. She's going to be on our team.\"\n\"G-girlfriend?\" Juniper asked nervously.\n\"Oh, how exciting!\" Decibell cried out in excitement, \"I\nthought I'd NEVER get to see you! I'm Decibell!\"\n\"You have pretty eyes,\" Arianna said quietly with a nervous\nsmile.\n\"H-hello...\" Alex said, staring at the ground in front of her,\n\"I'm... A-Alex...\"\n\"It's nice to finally meet you!\" Copper, Patch's mother,\nsaid with a kind smile, \"honestly, I didn't think we'd ever get to see you,\nsince Patch kind of does his own thing. But I'm glad you came.\" \n\"Y-you too,\" Juniper replied with a nervous smile.\n\"The game shouldn't take too long,\" Peppered reassured them,\n\"they're very predictable. We'll just keep doing what we've been doing.\"\n\"Leave the flag to me,\" Cinder said, confidently brushing\nher hair from her face, \"they won't catch me.\"\nPepper glanced at Juniper with a smile.\n\"I promise we'll get a chance to get to know each other\nbetter. After this of course,\" she said, \"how good are you at fighting?\"\n\"I'm... decent,\" Juniper replied.\n\"Then you can defend with mom,\" Pepper replied, \"all you\nhave to do is keep the others from stealing the flag. No doubt they're going to\nsend one or two of them around the back of the field to try and surprise us.\nDraga and Cinder, you two can go for the flag while the rest of us deal with\nthem head on.\"\n\"Whatever...\" Draga replied, rolling her eyes. \nBefore Pepper could continue, the distant howl of one of\nPatch's brothers rang out from the other side of the field.\n\"So impatient,\" Pepper muttered, \"you guys know your roles?\"\n\nThey all nodded. \n\"Alright then, give them the signal Deci,\" Pepper said,\nglancing back at Decibell.\n\"Okie dokie!\" She replied excitedly before lifter her head\nup and sounding off a loud, melodic howl in response. \n\"Okay, we're starting,\" Pepper said, standing up, \"do your\nbest and we won't have to hunt today.\" \nJuniper nodded as the rest of them headed off into the\nfield.\nOn the other side of the hill, Patch and his brothers just\nfinished discussing their strategy.\n\"Patch, you and I will go around back towards their flag,\"\nTitanium said as the others headed off.\n\"We do this almost every time...\" Patch replied, \"won't they\nanticipate us doing it again?\" \n\"This time, it's you and\nI on flag capture. They won't easily\nbe able to catch us, especially if the others stick to the plan.\" \nTitanium led Patch down the side of the field and into the\nforest. \n\"So what's the story huh? About this girl?\" Titanium asked,\n\"You mentioned her a couple of times, but no one really knows anything about\nher.\"\n\"Well, that's why I invited her,\" Patch replied, \"So we\ncould all get to know each other. I didn't expect to drag her into our sibling\nwars.\"\n\"At least you can test her skill,\" Titanium replied,\ncautiously navigating the forest.\n\"Heh, it's all about skill with you isn't it?\" Patch replied\nwith a small smile, \"but I guess you're right. I've never actually gotten into\na fight with her yet.\" \n\"You might get the chance,\" Titanium replied, \"there's no\nway Pepper would put her on the front lines after just getting here. You know\nhow ugly that gets. It's likely that she'll be on flag defense.\"\nThey snuck around the back, passing by their den which was\nnestled in a patch of thin forest. A wide stream that cut through the valley\nflowed behind the den and separated the field in two. Patch followed Titanium\nacross the wide stream towards the girls' side, carefully remaining in the\ncover of the forest to avoid being detected. Patch could hear his siblings in\nthe distance fighting, having finally met each other in the center of the\nfield. \n\"I hope they stick to the plan,\" Titanium said, picking up\nthe pace, \"If we lose again, I might lose my shit.\" \n\"We'll be fine,\" Patch replied, \"I don't hear anyone nearby,\nso we're in the clear.\" \nAs they approached the hill (where the females' base was),\nPatch and Titanium crouched lower to the ground. \n\"Try not to make too much unnecessary noise,\" Titanium\nwhispered, \"starting up the hill.\"\n\"You mean like you are\nnow?\" Patch replied, following him, \"I hear mom up there. You'd better be\ncareful.\"\n\"Shut up,\" Titanium growled.\n\"I think they've finally made contact,\" Copper said,\nlistening in on the action. It was just her and Juniper now, as all he others\nleft to fight.\n\"Y-you sure have a lot of pups,\" Juniper said nervously,\nunable to find anything else to say.\n\"Oh yes,\" Copper replied with a smile, \"if you would believe\nit, all twenty of them came in only two different litters.\"\n\"Wow,\" Juniper said, glancing over at her, \"I didn't know\nlitters could get that big.\" \n\"Inarians are pretty fertile, like my mother used to say,\"\nCopper replied with a smile, \"raising them certainly was an experience. Before\nyou know it, they're grown up and ready to go off on their own.\"\nCopper wiped a tear away and smiled. \n\"I'm so happy for you two,\" she said, glancing at Juniper,\n\"I can't wait for you to experience all kinds of things together. It's a big,\nbeautiful world out there.\"\n\"I can't wait either,\" Juniper replied with a small smile,\n\"I'm so happy to have the opportunity.\"\n\"I'd really hate to ruin this moment,\" Titanium said,\napproaching them from behind and pulling Copper's ribbon from her neck, \"but I\ndon't want to lose today.\"\n\"You'd use your own mother's feelings against her? Who knew\nthat I raised monster...\" Copper muttered, glaring at him.\n\"Forgive me,\" Titanium said, tying her ribbon around his arm,\n\"but you're out.\" \nHe glanced at Juniper with a smile.\n\"The games usually take forever, but somehow things are\nmoving pretty quickly,\" he said, \"I know it's your first time and everything,\nso I'd hate to be the one to ruin the fun for you. But it is what it is.\"\n\"I see where Patch's confidence comes from,\" Juniper replied\nwith a grin, crouching low in a pouncing position, \"it's dangerous to underestimate\nyour enemies you know.\"\nTitanium rushed at her, aiming for her ribbon. She\ngracefully avoided his jaws as he bit at her, all the while wearing a big smile\non her face.\n\"Teeth and claw are my specialty,\" she warned as they\nfought.\nPatch watched as she turned the tide and fought back. Having\nonly known each other for a few days, he had never saw Juniper fight before.\nThough it wasn't real, he could see how vicious she was trained to fight by the\npirates she was raised with. \nTitanium could barely avoid her string of attacks as she\nwent after him. Teeth bared and ears flat, Juniper didn't let up either. In a\nswift motion, she clamped her jaws around his neck and tackled him to the\nground, snatching his ribbon off at the same time.\nTitanium, staring wide eyed and speechless at his attacker,\nwas in utter disbelief. \n\"Very nice!\" Copper said as Juniper helped Titanium up,\n\"where did you learn to fight like that?\"\n\"I was raised around a lot of guys...\" Juniper replied,\ncareful not to show off, \"I just learned a thing or two.\"\n\"N-nice...\" Titanium replied, sitting down, \"that's definitely\nmore than a thing or two... I underestimated you...\" \n\"And you\nunderestimated us,\" Patch whispered, approaching Juniper from behind. She\nquickly whipped around and pushed him away from her ribbon, which he had been\nreaching for while she was unaware.\n\"Almost!\" Titanium cried as Patch landed on the ground a few\nfeet away.\n\"You're fast,\" Patch said, picking himself off the ground,\n\"and our training is already making you stronger.\" \n\"And you're pretty stealthy,\" Juniper replied, assuming the\nsame stance from before, \"and I've always been this strong.\"\n\"Don't you dare lose!\" Titanium growled, pointing at Patch \"We\nneed to get that flag! It's all on you!\"\n\"No pressure,\" Juniper whispered with a smile.\n\"Of course not,\" Patch replied confidently. In an instant,\nthey ran at each other. Teeth bared and ears flat, they scratched and bit at\neach other, trying desperately to get ahold of the other's ribbon. Juniper was\nhard to land a hit on. She was rather fast and avoided very efficiently. Patch\nwas the same.\n\"Finish her already!\" Titanium demanded, \"get that ribbon!\nStop playing around!\" \n\"Those two are almost exactly alike aren't they?\" Copper\nsaid, carefully watching their technique, \"I see how they can get along so\nwell.\" \nAfter a while an opening came up, allowing Patch to seize\nthe back of Juniper's neck in his jaws. He bit down, twisted and threw her to\nthe ground. She landed on her back with Patch standing over her, both nose to\nnose. Immediately Juniper's eyes widened and her face reddened. \n\"U-um...\" Juniper said, nervously tucking her paws in closer\nto her chest. Her tail wagged nervously at how close they were. \nAs soon as Patch noticed the affectionate position they were\nin, he quickly hopped off. \n\"S-sorry!\" he said, his face igniting in embarrassment. \n\"No! It's... it's okay!\" Juniper replied, quickly standing up.\n\nBoth of their faces were red and neither one of them looked\neach other in the eye. \n\"Patch!\" Titanium shouted as Patch felt his ribbon slip off.\n\"Gotcha!\" Decibell announced excitedly. \nShe proudly held up his ribbon, \"This means we win right?!\"\n\"Every time,\" Titanium muttered, rubbing his forehead\nangrily, \"you ask that every time. The rules haven't changed. Unless everyone\non the opposite team is tagged out or a flag has been captured, the game is\nstill on.\"\nHe glanced at Patch.\n\"I don't know how you managed to screw that up, but we've\nstill got a chance,\" he explained, \"assuming the others-\" \n\"Ahem,\" Cinder's voice called to him from the edge of the\nwoods.\nThey all turned to see her carrying the males' blue flag in\nher mouth. \n\"What the-\" Titanium growled as she dropped it near their\nflag.\n\"That's game,\" Cinder said with a smile, \"you guys should\npay attention more.\" \nDecibell howled excitedly, signaling the end of the game.\n\"How the heck?!\" Titanium barked, as they all met in front\nof the den, \"how did we lose?!\"\n\"You wanted us to tag all of the girls out,\" Cobalt\nmuttered, \"That's what we did.\"\n\"You missed the ones capturing the flag!\" Titanium cried,\n\"They literally walked in there and walked out without a problem!\"\n\"Draga is a ghost,\" Kodiak shrugged, \"didn't even see her\ncoming.\" \n\"Save your energy for the hunt,\" Pepper said with a grin,\n\"we'd like elk for dinner by the way. Shouldn't be too difficult for you guys.\"\n\"Let's get this over with,\" Silver muttered, standing up.\n\"While we're at it, we should vote for a new team leader\ntoo,\" Cobalt added, trying to set Titanium off. \n\"He got tagged out by Juniper,\" Patch whispered to Cobalt,\noffering him fuel to add to Titanium's anger. \n\"The new girl?!\" Cobalt cried, glancing at Titanium, \"You\ngot tagged out by the new girl?!\"\n\"She was no joke,\" Titanium said with a tired smile, \"Patch,\nyou got yourself a monster. Be careful with her.\" \n\n\"Like father, like son,\" Kodiak\npointed out, with a grin, \"don't get on her bad side. You'll never win, trust\nme.\"\n \n\n \nThat night, after the males returned from the hunt, Patches\nentire family and Juniper all gathered in the dining room for dinner. The room\nwas alive with activity and hearty conversation. Cobalt and Silver arm wrestled\neach other while Titanium angrily listened to Pepper tease him about yet\nanother loss. Carbon stared quietly out of the window while Argon stared\nblankly into a violent-looking book. Luna explained the contents of a new comic\nbook while Lithium listened quietly. Alex quietly drew in her sketchbook and\nAbigail ate while Decibell and Arianna took turns singing a song they both made\nup. Trixie showed off a design she had created to Bolt, who pointed out the\nflaws and offered suggestions. Howell showed Kodiak and Puzzle a magic trick\nwhile Draga (who appeared annoyed) stuck her muzzle in a book. Steel and Cinder\nthrew sharp, but clever insults at each other while Patch and Juniper sat right\nin the middle of all the action.  \n\"So are you from here? Juniper?\" Copper asked, setting fresh\nmeat on the center of the table.\n\"I was born in the center isles,\" Juniper replied,\nnoticeably more comfortable speaking around them, \"I spend my time on the\nmainland when our ship is docked here.\"\n\"You know,\" my father used to be a sailor, Copper began\nexplaining before she was cut off by the others.\n\"Can you play an instrument?!\" Decibell asked, loud and\nexcited as usual.\n\"I played the piano for a little bit... I'm not very good...\"\nJuniper replied with a small smile, \"I'd be embarrassed to show you.\"\n\"Arianna can play the guitar,\" Decibell said, shifting the\nsubject once more, \"show her Ari!\" \n\"Now?\" Arianna replied nervously.\n\"May I have everyone's attention please?\" Pepper said,\nstanding up in her chair as everyone dug into the fresh meat, \"I would like to\nformally welcome Juniper, our twelfth capture the flag teammate, to the Central\nVeridian Capture the Flag Female's team as an honorary member!\"\nShe glanced at Titanium with a grin.\n\"Because we're still the Central Veridian Champions.\" \n\"Bite me,\" Titanium growled.\n\"Okay, okay, she's going to play,\" Decibell said quickly as\nArianna tuned the strings of an electric guitar she seemed to have acquired out\nof nowhere. \n\"Wait, my amp is broken,\" Arianna muttered, right as she\nalmost began to play. \n\"So you know how to fight right?\" Cinder asked Juniper,\nleaning back in her chair, \"How many animals have you beat up? Other than\nTitanium I mean.\"\n\"How many times have you been suspended from school?\"\nTitanium muttered.\n\"She doesn't know. Nobody knows,\" Kodiak answered, shaking\nhis head, \"she was probably out of school longer than she was in.\"\n\"You think you're cool, but you're not,\" Steel muttered to\nCinder with a smirk, \"it's pathetic to see you try.\"\nCinder glared at him while Trixie place Arianna's amp on the\ntable to try and fix it. \n\"Don't hurt yourself,\" Copper warned, watching nervously as\nshe worked on it.\n\"I can name all of their personalities exactly,\" Patch\nwhispered to Juniper, \"I know it's hard to get a fix on all of them.\" \n\"No you can't,\" Trixie, replied, sticking her paw inside of\nthe amp, \"you always say-\"\nShe quickly pulled her paw out after receiving a minor\nshock. \n\"Crap,\" she muttered, sticking her paw in her mouth.\n\"Told you,\" Copper said.\n\"Watch,\" Patch said, standing up, \"Titanium is competitive\nand I guess is the leader of the males...\"\n\"You guess?\" Titanium replied without looking at him.\n\"Pepper is the leader of the females. As you can tell, she's\nequally competitive,\" Patch continued, \"Bolt and Trixie are engineers, Alex is\na shy artist, Steel and Cinder are delinquents...\"\n\"Heh,\" Cinder replied, with a cool smile.\n\"Luna is a nerd, Lithium is quiet, Argon is... dark..., Carbon\nis the smart one, Puzzle is ditzy, Decibell is loud, Arianna can play any\ninstrument, Abigail eats a lot, Howell is flighty, Cobalt and Silver are\ncompetitive against each other, Draga is... dark too...?\"\n\"Don't categorize me...\" Draga muttered, glaring up at him\nfrom her book.\n\"What does 'ditzy' mean?\" Puzzle asked with a stupid look on\nher face.\nAbigail glanced up from her plate with a mouth full of food,\nunaware of what was going on.\n\"I'm the adventurous one, dad likes to help others, and mom\nloves dragons,\" Patch finished, sitting down, \"that's everyone in a nutshell.\" \n\"Okay, okay, she's going to play for real now!\" Decibell\nsaid as Arianna turned the amp on with a loud, but brief screech.\nShe began to play a fast-paced, melodic guitar solo in the\nmidst of the dinner.\n\"Where did that guitar come from?\" Titanium asked, peeking\nunder the table, \"do you just, carry that around with you?\" \n\"Nice...\" Draga muttered, listening to Arianna's song. \n \"That's a sick guitar\nrift sweetie,\" Copper said, with a smile, \"do you have to play it now? At the table?\" \n\"Don't try and stop her,\" Kodiak warned, \"Once she's on that\nthing, I swear a demon takes over.\" \nThe amp cut out in the middle of the song. \n\"Awww, you said you fixed it!\" Decibell whined, glancing at\nTrixie.\n\"I never said that,\" she replied, shrugging, \"I shocked\nmyself, so I gave it back.\" \n\"Do it again. Whatever you did, just do it again,\" Cinder\nsaid.\n\"Don't,\" Copper replied, \"or you'll electrocute yourself.\" \n\"So Patch is about to leave here and travel the world,\"\nPepper said, directing the attention towards him, \"anyone got anything to say\nbefore he leaves for good?\" \n\"You're leaving for good?!\" Puzzle asked, sitting up.\nCausing the rest of them to glance at her.\n\"W-well, I'm going to stay where I'm being trained right\nnow...\" he replied quietly, \"after that, we're going to set off.\" \n\"Can I have your bed?\" Arianna asked, raising her paw, \"I\nwant to make mine bigger.\"\n\"Called it already,\" Trixie quickly replied.\n\"Stop dividing all of his belongings up!\" Pepper demanded,\n\"don't do it in front of him! That's\nfor us to decide after he leaves!\"\n\"It was a pleasure sharing a room with you bro,\" Steel said,\nnodding, \"I'm going to miss writing on your face when you pass out.\" \n\"You talk in your sleep,\" Patch muttered, causing everyone\nelse to laugh at him.\n\"I want to say something,\" Carbon said, standing up.\n\"I, for one, am happy for you,\" he said, \"as the first of us\nto go off on your own, you're encouraging us to follow our own dreams, wherever\nthey take us. Just like you're doing now. No matter how far you go, or where\nyou end up. You've always got a family waiting to see you again.\"\n\"Don't come back without souvenirs.\" Copper joked, causing\nthe rest of them to laugh.\n\"In all seriousness, we really are proud of you, Patch. Both\nof you,\" Kodiak added, \"ever since you were a pup, even before your eyes\nopened, you'd always be the one to explore. I knew from early on that you'd be\nthe adventurer out of all of them. Now the time has come for you to find your\nown way. Your mother and I, your teachers, your brothers and sisters have\ntaught you everything we could. Now it's time for you to apply it in the real\nworld. I know you'll be able to handle it. If you run into trouble, you're\nalways free to come home to rest and refit. Just don't come back without\nsouvenirs.\"\n\"I want a snow globe!\" Puzzle said, raising her paw. \nThe rest of the night calmed down a bit after dinner. A few\nof them fell asleep while the others moved all of the activities to their own\nrooms. Patch and Juniper sat alone at the table, the dim lamp above\nilluminating the dark room. \n\"I love your family Patch,\" Juniper said with a smile,\n\"everyone is so lively, I bet having so many brothers and sisters is so\nexciting! I'm glad I came with you.\" \n\"It is, most of the time,\" he replied quietly, \"it has its\nups and downs. And I'm glad you came too.\" \nThe two sat in silence for a little while longer.\n\"I think we can do this,\" Juniper said seriously, \"It might\nbe hard... but I think we can handle it.\"\n\"Where's this coming from all of a sudden?\" Patch asked with\na smile.\n\"I don't know,\" she replied, \"hearing your family ready to\nsupport you as you set off... it feels like we have a serious purpose, other than\nchasing dreams and adventure. It's weird...\"\nPatched chuckled.\n\"I feel it too,\" he replied, \"and I know we can. Together.\" \nHe sighed and stood up. \n\"We've got training early tomorrow...\" he said, stretching,\nwe'd better get some sleep before then.\n\"Yeah,\" she replied, following him to his room.   \n  \n      ","previous":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/928202-aspire-arcadia-chapter-2-if-you-could-be-free.json","next":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/928257-aspire-arcadia-chapter-4-training.json"}