on board.

Dietrich
Dietrich made his way up the stairwell heading up into the common room of the 2nd floor Brotherhood. He was dressed in a navy blue shirt sleeve collared polo shirt, untucked from his khaki cargo shorts that stopped just above his knees. On his feet he had on white and blue Nike cross trainers with ankle length white socks, a stainless steel Seiko watch with a black face on his left wrist, and a pair of Oakley sunglasses hanging from the fold of his collared shirt.

His face was stoic, all business, no casual smiles, or friendly greetings to anyone sitting in the common room, or anyone he passed by on his way to his destination.

Once in front of Lukas's room he knocked on the door three times whether it was opened or closed to announce his arrival and receive permission before he entered what he considered another Garou's territory. The Brotherhood itself may have been neutral ground, but Dietrich was pretty sure that same neutrality didn't apply to an individual's room.

Lukas
The door is shut, but not locked. There's no rattle of tumblers in the lock, no bolt thrown open before the door swings open before Dietrich.

Inside stands Lukas, looking as though he might be on his way out: his jeans on, his shoes off, his socks on, his shirt still unbuttoned. "White-Oak," he greets the other with a smile, "you look like you have business."

He starts doing up his shirt from the second button down, working his way toward the tail. As he does so the Shadow Lord steps back from the doorway, turning sideways to let Dietrich in.

"Come on in." The room is almost meticulous in its neatness and spareness: nothing but a coffeemaker on the desk, nothing but a notebook computer, a clock radio and a clip-on light at the bedside. "Have a seat. What's on your mind?"

There's only one chair. Lukas takes the bed, finishing with his shirtfront and rolling his cuffs up instead of buttoning them.

Dietrich
Dietrich returns Lukas's casual smile with one of his own. He extends his right hand for Lukas to shake and says "Thank you Wyrmbreaker ~yuf. I know you're busy so I won't take up too much of your time."

He pulls out the desk chair and takes a seat. "Bones to Dust ~yuf is the beta of my pack, and she's also the Ahroun Elder of which I'm sure you're aware. Now her stated goal for the sept, or what I've gathered is more cohesion and communication between the packs. My Alpha Boy ~yuf has stated the same thing with regards to Unbroken Circle as well and La Familia.

So along that line of thinking I've spoken with Bones to Dust ~yuf and I've gotten the go ahead to try and put together an Ahroun training session. The purpose of this little project is for Ahrouns of the various tribes of the sept to meet once a month, preferably during a neutral phase of Luna, to spar, train, discuss tactics, martial philosophy, or whatever is pertinent for our Auspice.

The goal of this would be to not only improve relations, and communication among the Ahrouns of the sept, but also give everyone a chance to hone their skills against worthy opponents.

You're an Ahroun with a great deal of respect in this sept so I was wanting to get your thoughts or even criticisms of this."

He looks up at Lukas waiting for his response.

Lukas
"It's a good plan," Lukas replies, "in theory. We spar with one another; we learn from each other and from our own mistakes; we sharpen our skills collectively.

"But in practice, I'd be very surprised if it didn't generate rivalries and impose a certain ... pecking order amongst the Ahrouns.

"We're homids. We like to think of ourselves as rational and logical. We can all agree that combat prowess isn't everything." There's a wry note in Lukas's tone here. "Tearing someone's throat out doesn't make you a better warrior, or leader, than them.

"But we're also half-wolf. It's our instinct to seek a hierarchy of strength and fitness. It's our instinct to strive for dominance. And I doubt we'll be able to go in there and beat on each other in good humor, without consequence. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing. Just ... maybe not exactly what you and your Alpha had in mind for these training sessions."

Dietrich
Dietrich nods, "No I've thought about that, and my personal feeling is it would be a good thing for that to happen. Even among humans there is a pecking order in martial arts schools. Of course they run to the philosophy or example of the Master there, but there is hierarchy established through a rank system, and rivalries between students do develop. This is not much different from how we operate in the sept."

"I think this would serve as an outlet for our natural aggression, and foster some healthy competition if we stuck to normal protocol for how we act as Garou. Once the hierarchy is established I think it would give fellow Ahrouns another reason to train, and improve if nothing more then to prove themselves to others among our Auspice.

But at the same time it's among only our Auspice so there should be no shame of embarrassing one's self in front of the sept. This is a training session, and people should be encouraged to try and fail. It's about improving, not about posturing although I'm sure some of that is unavoidable.

We as Ahrouns are warriors among warriors. We can better understand each other then say other Auspices understand us. That's what this is meant to build or at least that is the hope."

Lukas
Lukas considers this for a moment, silent. The Shadow Lord is lounging crosswise on his bed, back to the wall, hips at the edge of the mattress. He's at ease in his own environment, thoughtlessly sprawled, and though his eyes linger on Dietrich while he thinks, there's no illwill in the blue.

"Here's my concern," he says at last. "No matter who the Alpha of a pack may be, a pack will always follow its Ahroun into battle. That makes every one of the Ahrouns at an auspice like this at least the part-time alpha of their pack. If you then establish a pecking order by combat prowess amongst the Ahrouns, you may as well order the packs by that same order every time the Sept goes to battle.

"In that case, do we really want to follow the mightiest Ahroun?" Lukas's tone implies a rhetorical question. "Or do we want to follow the Ahroun Elder?"

Dietrich
Dietrich rubs his chin for a bit as he takes in what Lukas says. If he's taking offense to being countered, or Lukas poking holes in his idea he doesn't seem to be upset, and frankly Dietrich doesn't seem like a Garou that could hide it from him anyway if he wanted to.

"You have made some good points, and honestly that is something that may be an inevitability."

He leans forward and rests his forearms on his knees, a little more casual in his demeanor. "Really I can only speak for myself. I'm the Omega of my pack. Boy is the Alpha, and Bones to Dust is the Beta. I think the dynamic works, so me rocking the boat trying to take Alpha would harm... the flow of our pack. So unless something drastic happens I don't see it changing anytime soon. For me at the end of the day it's all about defeating our enemies. What my title is really doesn't matter."

A short pause before he continues speaking, "However I say that to say this. If a Silverfang Ahroun can accept being an Omega and follow the lead of a sixteen year old Uktena Philodox then maybe if we lay out exactly what this is it can work. Because lets face facts Silence ~rhya could step up at anytime and claim Ahroun Elder if he wanted it but he doesn't. There are a lot of things in this sept that aren't what I would call traditional but it works. It stays within the bounds of our best traditions."

*He uses his hands to emphasize his next point. "We keep pack, and tribe business separate from this. Emphasize this is a training session, this isn't something extra to fight over, a little feather in a Garou's cap. The sole purpose of this is to train, improve, and as a whole make the sept stronger. With this being a young sept if the caern comes under attack I think it would be beneficial if Ahrouns know how their fellow Auspice Garou will most likely react. I think it will lead to greater cohesion overall in spite of the challenges you've mentioned we will have to meet and overcome."

He gestures to Lukas. "It's why I came to you. I've heard of your reputation and you are an Ahroun people respect. My entry into this sept has been less then stellar. So if you're on board with this idea I think it'll have some traction. If you're not I won't be offended. You've made some valid points as to why it could be a total disaster. I just think we should give it a try."

Lukas
Lukas's smiles -- the real ones that spread like this, slow and real -- are a rare and precious thing. There are saying: his smile lights his face up. His smile makes him look like younger; like a boy, carefree.

Neither is perfectly accurate. But both have some edging of the truth. Lukas's smile does light up the Shadow Lord's otherwise swarthy, solemn features. It does make him look younger.

It makes him look his age.

"Of course I'm on board for a try," he says. "So long as you -- and Marrick -- understand that no matter what we might say to appeal to our collective logic, our instinct may say something else altogether. But you can tell Marrick this much, at least: I won't deliberately use these training sessions as an opportunity to undermine her."

Dietrich wasn't here when Lukas and Marrick faced off in combat; he can't know the very real significance of this promise. Lukas does not hurry to inform Dietrich of the outcome. It might say something about Lukas. It might not mean anything at all.

"If I challenge for her position -- " and here the Ahroun breaks off, because he is who he is; because he is honest. He restarts, "When I challenge for her position, I'll do it properly and respectfully. Until then, she is my Auspice elder."

Dietrich
Dietrich in turn gives him a slight half smile/smirk. That is about all the reaction people get from him when he is pleased with a result. He stands up and extends his right hand for Lukas to shake, their business concluded.

"Good to have you on board Wyrmbreaker ~yuf. I'll let Bones to Dust ~yuf know you're good to go, and we'll see about getting something set up. I wish you the best of luck in your future challenge for Ahroun Elder and I have no doubt win or lose you'll conduct yourself in accord with our finest traditions.

Thank you again for meeting with me. Have a good day sir." He says moving back into a more formal, professional demeanor and speech.

He pushes in the chair he pulled out from Lukas's desk and after a final nod he's out the door and on his way.