It was strange. Looking around, the little jackal could see that there were plenty of strong people here, but they all smelt untested. None of the ones here were even old enough to have seen the recent wars... She could smell it. Those that had, always stunk of grief and brokenness and so far she hadn't seen anyone who had been otherwise. The guards near the door, one had a faint smell of death, but even he barely smelt of it. The only one she had ever seen that had smelt like death and hadn't been broken was when she'd been activated during X's visit to her birth place... She had learned to turn off the olfactory sensors before she'd even found out how to move her legs - it was so overpowering, and she knew that he had seen death more times than a face that innocent and gentle looking had any right to. Yet here she was, volunteering to be in the Neo Arcadian army to go and fight and be covered in that same scent... Why she wanted to was unknowable, but something drove her to do it and she wanted - no, needed - to be in there... Maybe, if she smelt of it, no one else would ever have to. Looking up to the reploid next to her, the youngster tugged on his hand "Um... Hey, how long do we have to wait?"
"Long as they think we have to, Kid."
Entering the room where the candidates were waiting, Fefnir looked over each of their faces. These recruits were expecting to be tested if they could be soldiers, and to be fair all of them would probably be fine on the forces... But he was here for the very particular reason. He needed to take an apprentice... However, unlike Harpuia or Leviathan, or even Phantom, he had to be a lot more picky... because he was only going to take one.
Would any of these recruits be up to snu - Huh? "Hey, what's a kid doing in the lineup?" he asked their instructor, his confusion at the situation manifesting as a harder than usual edge in his voice. Were they really recruiting this young now?
The jackal turned her head to look at the Jin'en general as he came in the room, and swallowed softly. Even though she didn't need to as a reploid, right now she had the overwhelming urge to do so. Fefnir, the red dragon of the Neo Arcadian army, was here... and he reeked of death. It wasn't even that it smelt bad; it smelled better than fear or killing... it was just so strong it was almost like a cloying miasma that filled her nose in such a way that she couldn't smell anything else. And then he noticed her! Little black ears perked up in hopes that he'd say that she was good enough to be in the army... and then drooped back down when he asked harshly why she was here. Looking at his eyes, she put on as resolute an expression as she could with one of her senses being overpowered and sucked in a breath before answering over the sputtering instructor. "I'm here to fight Sir, so others won't have to!" she said loudly and dutifully, which earned some chuckles and snorts from the others around her. She shrank back at the laughing and simply hoped that Fefnir wouldn't be angry for the outburst. That maybe he'd at least ask what she could bring to the group, and hopefully she'd be able to avoid asking about his scent.
Fefnir sighed as the instructor began to sputter an excuse. The kid's loud and somewhat naive explanation for her presence stole his attention, and he considered asking if she understood the full ramifications of the words... before growing irritated at those that'd ignorantly laughed at it. "Hey!Shut your traps!" he snarled. "This pup's got a better reason to be here than any of you knuckleheads!" he watched as the group settled down, before turning back to the small jackal mutos. He frowned a bit, but he made sure to calm his voice again before kneeling down and addressing her. "What's your name, Soldier? What do you think you can bring to the Jin'en?"
The pup stood firm when he yelled at the others, but only barely. If he'd been directing that at her, certainly she'd have cowered before him and started crying. At the very least, a good deal of the others seemed to have been shamed into silence. As he asked for her name, and what she could do, she took a moment to collect her thoughts and spoke. "My name is Anubis Necromancess and I'm the third version to be active. Why do you smell so strongly of death?" she asked, before clasping her hands over her mouth upon realizing that she had said the wrong thing and had brought up the exact thing she'd wanted to avoid mentioning. It took all of her willpower to keep from panicking right then and there and bolting for the door for fear of what he'd do to her for not answering his question. Even the others recruits who had been watching the exchange seemed a bit panicked over this, and Anubis hoped that the red general wouldn't kick her out for that one mistake.
Fefnir blinked, not quite sure how to answer a question like that. Any of the recruits that hadn't been silenced by him snapping had gone dead quiet, making the whole situation even more uncomfortable. Likely they were waiting for a far stronger reaction than what they got. "I... wasn't aware that I did," he said. "So you can smell that sort of stuff? What sort of function allows for such an acute sense of smell?" he asked, letting his curiosity override the awkwardness.
Shivering a bit at the silence, she perked to attention when he finally spoke, before wondering when the punishment would begin. Instead he had asked for her function and if she could really smell death. Swallowing uncomfortably, Anubis looked at him and nodded. "I can... I can smell the scent of death on you... It's... almost painful... Everyone I've met who went through the elf wars smells at least a bit like death... or killing... but you, um... And, um... I'm a tracker unit.. Primarily I'm meant to track down those sought after for recovery or arrest, Sir," she said, voice quivering a bit at first, before getting calmer and more confident-sounding as things went on, though it still spiked higher in fear towards the end.
"Hm, I see..." he said, grinning lightly. He had been thinking that a less violently minded apprentice would be beneficial to him. A younger apprentice would also mean he'd have far greater control over what he taught them, and how they bonded. Kind of like those beetle twins Harp had snapped up... "Well, Anubis... why don't you come take a walk with me?" he asked, getting to his feet. "The rest of you... can relax. I'm not your instructor today."
Shivering a bit at his grin, Anubis wondered just what they could've said to make him single her out for private punishment. It was even worse when he said the others could relax because he wouldn't be teaching them that day. Whatever she'd done, it was bad enough to earn a full day of punishment and the pup was half tempted to run, until she remembered that he'd never make it out of there. The Zan'ei would catch up first and plop her canine butt right back with the red general. Staying silent, Anubis moved with him and wondered just what was about to happen, cursing her budding imagination the whole while.
Fefnir watched the young jackal's behavior as they exited the training area, the two of them passing by the group's instructor and receiving a salute. Once the door was shut he addressed her. "Well, you're acting like I'm about to rip your head off, Pup, and you're not even in any trouble. Would you like an explanation for why we're walking out on training?"
Anubis watched as they passed the new instructor and felt several looks of pity come from the others in the room, as if the other recruits were also expecting her to get her metaphorical ass wrecked by the review boards, and her literal one broken by Fefnir's punishment. When he shut the door and talked to her in that surprisingly calm voice she blinked and looked at him in utter confusion, not believing that she wasn't in trouble. "What? H-how am I not? I screwed that up so badly back there by asking why - I mean... what I did... How am I not getting punished?" Anubis asked, wondering if he was just screwing with her, but knew that couldn't be. Fefnir wasn't known for mind games.
He laughed a bit, patting her back lightly. "Kid, if we punished recruits just for asking weird questions, we wouldn't be a very competent military, now would we?" he asked. "You didn't screw up anything, but you're not gonna be training with that bunch."
Anubis blinked and wondered why they didn't do that, but pushed the thought aside at the idea that she wasn't going to be training with the others. "I guess... I'm too young... That's it right? Or is it that you think I'd be better in another army?" she asked, young canine eyes looking up at him almost like he'd just kicked her puppy... or herself, rather. Mentally she was scrambling to think of why she couldn't get to be in the army she so desperately wanted to join. To see the dream of being in the Jin'en army go up like that was threatening to make her cry, and Anubis looked up at him, eyes pleading to not kick her out of the Jin'en. She just needed a chance so she could prove she'd be an asset.
"Well age has something to do with it," he said, fighting the urge to pet the youngster on the head thanks to the puppy eyes she was giving. Maker, it'd been a long time since he'd dealt with kids... "You misunderstand though. I'm not wanting you to leave, or to be in any other army. I want you by my side from now on, as my apprentice."
The jackal reploid's head tilted in confusion when he talked about her age, wondering why she couldn't join because of age and heard him talking about her being by his side but missed the apprentice part. Looking down, Anubis tried to piece it together before looking up at him in sheer disbelief. "You want me by your side cause I'm young... Are you... into young reploids?" she asked and looked at him, before blushing. "I... Um... thank you for thinking I look good?"
He laughed rather loudly at that, giving in and petting her head lightly. "As an apprentice, Pup," he corrected. "I like 'em young, but not as young as you... Kinda comes with the territory of being made prior to the war; there aren't enough surviving reploid ladies from my era to go around." He chuckled a little more before straightening up, and cleared his throat. "Anyway, you'll be getting the best private combat training anyone in Neo Arcadia could possibly have, and answer directly to me. Hey, who knows? Maybe you'll wind up teaching me a thing or two."
As he laughed, Anubis brightened up and smiled at her head being patted. So that was why he'd taken her away... He wanted to teach her everything he knew, and she'd be the only one to know all his tricks. She was gonna be special to him, and fast tracked to an elite rank. She'd be the right claw of the Red Dragon! "I hope I make you proud sir... I-I just hope I don't make too many mistakes." Anubis said, tiny tail managing to wag behind her. It was so nice to have someone rubbing her ears again, eyes beginning to close as she savored the sensation.
Chuckling, Fefnir started toward his quarters. "Your room's gonna be next to mine, so unless you have some belongings we'll need to pick up first we can move you right in." He grinned, watching her little tail wag. "I promise you, I'm not gonna let you down as a teacher."
Wagging her tail more, Anubis followed him closely and nodded as he spoke. "I don't have much. Just the staff I was built with and a chip containing my documentation," she said and giggled as he made that promise. "I won't let you down either," she said. She hopped up and nuzzled into his chest as he caught her, tail wagging as fast as the servos would allow.
"Oof! Darn it Anubis... Stop being so adorable..." he grumbled playfully, scratching behind one ear before shifting his new apprentice up to sit on his left shoulder. She giggled and held on tight to his shoulder, using one of his helmet horns to stay steady. Yep, he'd chosen well. "Heh... I get an apprentice and a new puppy all in one cute little package. Guess that's two things I can cross off my holiday wishlist!"