"Gala, orders?" Kane asked, grinning at his cousin. She drew herself to her full height.
"Ty warned me himself he might not make it. He told me if he fainted to leave him behind or just let him sway on his horse, but obviously I couldn't obey that, because if he died he can't kick my ass when he's awake enough to realize half his insides are burnt. So now.
We've got to rendezvous with the rest of the—er, you lot, Pack you call it?—in a few hours. But this little kid needs rest if he's to make it through the night. So we're going to need two watches when we bed down, one on him and one on everyone else.
I know you are all worried about him, but I need to have the people on watch with him to be people that, if he blacks out again, have the knowledge to help him. And the practice. So here's the deal: we're setting up guard duty, I'll take first watch on the boy, Gin will take second, Kane third and we'll see if Matt can track down Fer for fourth, but I don't think we'll get that far.
Now, you lot. I don't know your names, and I'm going to need them if I need to shout for you."
"I'm Terry," Terry said instantly, stretching out his arm. "This on my right—Fire-wire, you called him?—he's Otian. We call him Joker, but Ty calls him Strong One or Strong Cub, because he's the strongest of us. On my left is Kehel—he's our scholar, worrier, reader, and general pain in the ass. All knight nobility and philosophy. Don't get him talking if you value your ears, cause he'll talk them right off your—"
"Enough, Terry," said Otian, grin back in place seeing that Ty was going to get better. "And Terry here, he's Shang. They're really famous warriors, so I don't recommend you piss him off if he's unarmed. Or armed, even. Just generally speaking, don't invite him to dance."
Terry nudged him in the ribs as Galatry broke her handshake with Otian and moved on to Kehel.
"And another piece of advise, for the best," said Kehel, leaning forward to speak in Galatry's ear. "We call Otian Joker for a good reason: he'll try and make you laugh, but he's a bit flirtatious. So if he gets on your nerves, threaten to cut off one of his curls and send it off after a griffin. It's what Ty always does."
"Point taken," Galatry said, grinning, as she drew back. Kehel smiled.
"What was that all about?" Otian asked Kehel.
"Nothing!" Kehel replied defensively, grinning.
"I think I heard—" Otian began playfully—and somewhat suspiciously.
"Oh, shut up Joker," Galatry said, chuckling. "If you don't, I'll cut off one of your curls and send it off to a griffin so it can track you down."
"Ah!" Otian yelled, covering his head with his hands and acting playfully terrified. "No! Leave my curls alone you monster! Damn you Kehel, don't give her any ideas!"