For some there's progress, and for some there's not…
While Luna, Migs, and Dulce get themselves airborne to move toward the Palace, Veje swiftly enters it through the upper entrance. This enables him to move into the throne room using the corridor located above the grand hallway. It's his best bet of manoeuvring into position with the rest of the Royal Guard while remaining undetected. The idea of Verago seeing him enter late is unthinkable to him. This all so laid-back Jaquin catches himself growing a little nervous over this thought. *Surely king Verago will reprimand me for being late… There is no telling what he will decide to do with me… Yet, the matter aside, I need to enter the throne room still. If he is sitting there ready to start training us, he will undoubtedly be observing everyone closely! There is little chance that I can go stand at attention without him noticing me…* Veje ponders his options of how to tackle this hindrance.
He slows down as he draws near the throne room. His heart is beating faster and his breathing has become irregular. He notices but doesn't want to pay too much attention to this building stress level within, for he knows it will start getting to him otherwise. Arriving at the end of the corridor, Veje looks down into the throne room's floor with all other guards already present and standing at attention, having set themselves up in two perpendicular rows and facing each other. He notices no one took his spot. It's empty still, as is the throne. *Wait? The throne is – empty… Where is king Verago?* Veje thinks of being filled with surprise.
Meanwhile, Tornado succeeds in pulling loose both princes from the storage doorway. Skylar and Nico both look relieved, glad to be freed from their awkward position. Especially Nico shows a grand smile on his face. Both shake off some irregularities in their fur and feathers that formed from being pulled free. Skylar gives his younger brother a subtle nod, one that Nico knows all too well. Both ready themselves to fly up. Nico goes first. However, as soon as he lifts himself into the air he feels something grabbing his tail. He gets hitched back onto the ground, only to realise it was Tornado's doing. At the same time, she wing-slaps Skylar to prevent him from flying up. Flabbergasted as they are, both princes give Tornado a questioning look. Though Nico, now looking at Tornado with her head partially obscuring his sight of the throne room, is able to notice someone drawing near from it, accompanied by Tornado's explanation: "Do not be mad with me for this. Look who approaches us for the morning ritual! You do not want to get in his way now…"
Verago has indeed initiated the ritual. Today he decided to do so before training the Royal Guard. Slowly yet majestically, he slinks his wings as he moves through the grand hallway, radiating a sense of calm and control. He utters short greetings to those sitting on the walkways along the way. In turn, each makes a short bow with the head as Verago passes them, effectively creating a sort of wave of bowing heads moving at the same speed Verago is flying. A contented smug appears on his face, the kind of smile he always displays when feeling this way. It's a result of seeing how well his subjects are doing and how unified the clan looks and behaves during this morning ritual.
As Verago passes through the hallway, Tornado bows her head also but Skylar and Nico keep watching their gracious-looking father with awe. Skylar even starts showing this uncontrollably wide smile as he follows up his father with his eyes. While doing so, he notices Luna, Migs, and Dulce enter the Palace who quickly find themselves an empty spot on one of the walkways. While they join the morning ritual Tudor enters also with Kamil and Llemopaz behind him. Tudor, however, gasps in shock. There's a sudden sense of terror in his eyes by what he has them laid upon: Verago coming straight at him! The king has a certain stoic but determined look on his face. The spring green-furred Jaquin knows Verago isn't budging for anyone during this morning ritual. He starts fluttering uncontrollably of anxiety as he suddenly finds himself in a tight position now. He needs to think fast about what he must do to avoid Verago bumping into him, which surely will get Tudor punished. There's only one thing he can think of: moving out of harm's way, now! Before realising it he already finds himself moving towards one of the walkways. Yet, his 'father' instincts kick in that remind him of something. He swiftly turns around and sees both cubs hovering in front of the entrance. Even though they've seen this ritual before, their little minds are filled with amazement each time over the orderly and colourful array of Jaquins they see. Oblivious of everything else around them, they're surprised by Tudor who grabs them and who hastily slinks into the nearest open spot he can find on one of the walkways. There, he sits himself down facing the hallway. He places Kamil and Llemopaz in front of him providing them a clear view of king Verago as he passes them by on his way out. Tudor bows his head like everyone else does but keeps his head down to watch the cubs look at Verago in full excitement, starting to cheer as their king passes by in front of them. Tudor sighs out of relief. Only now does he notice he's been wheezing since he had to think quickly. Threading the eye of the needle like that, it's something he never had to experience. Even his ill-mannered jesting has never placed him in a situation like this before…
While Tudor overthinks all of it, Verago exits the Palace. He pitches up in a corkscrew manoeuvre so he's perfectly aligned with the smaller entrance above, which he enters to return to the throne room and commence drilling the Royal Guard. The grand hallway, which he just left, undergoes a dramatic change. Skylar and Nico usually have long gone out to play but today witness a scene they'd seldom see: an orderly quietness turns into a bustling frenzy of Jaquins who start roaming about. Nearly every one of them leaves its spot to initiate daytime activities. A spectacular view of colourful furs and feathers moving about without colliding with one another unfolds above the two princes. Skylar can only wonder how he's ever to arrange such magnificent spectacle himself one day, whenever he becomes king.
While Verago re-enters the Palace again, Veje steadily glides himself down toward the left row of guards where his spot is. There's still no sign of Verago inside the throne room. This makes Veje feel relieved, having him return to his relaxed and laid-back state of mind. He lands right at his spot and when he goes to stand at attention as the rest does, he says softly: "My spot. Jaa-wel."
Like the others, Veje stands idly as if a statue. In contrary to the others, however, he has his eyes go around to observe his much more bulky fellow guards. Veje notices most of those in the other row are looking directly at him. Even both of the red-and-blue Royal Guards, being the captains of the Royal Guards, watch him, the personal guards of Verago standing in one row each and closest to the throne. All of them radiate a certain level of disapproval from their eyes.
Suddenly, Veje hears his neighbour to the left whispering to him: "Late, huh? No one is surprised. With a weak mentality like yours, it had to happen one day."
From across him, Veje hears another guard state: "Verago will undoubtedly have us work harder during this training for your doing."
"Yeah, so we are gonna make you work hard today…"
One of the captains now also speaks up: "As we have been saying many times over: you do not belong here, Veje. It is in the best interest of us all if you leave. When will you listen?"
Just as he's done speaking, Verago enters the throne room and gracefully lands back on his throne. Everyone eyes him in immediate silence. Verago takes on a firm posture, sitting himself down with a straightened back while holding his head and chest forward. It's the posture all know to usually mean Verago's annoyed, either due to a bad night's sleep or something niggling him. Lucky for Veje, Verago isn't directing his attention at him. He seemingly gazes over everyone's heads as if something in the distance draws his attention. *Perhaps his sons once again aggravated his morning temper. I best avoid letting him know I was late. I hope the others will too. They are being unreasonably hard on me…* Veje thinks cautiously.
He notices two fellow guards eye him, seemingly ready to continue the verbal bashing. However, all suddenly hear Verago snort loudly, a sign he wants everyone to remain quiet. He probably heard them speak as he entered the throne room just now. Slowly, he lets a stern gaze go past all of them. "Ah, I am glad everyone made it here. Perhaps not all in time. That is why I just returned from my fly-through. The grand hallway is now flocked with productive Jaquins. Everyone but my Royal Guard seems busy.' Verago states dismissively but then spreads his wings and continues with a grin, 'Well then, without further ado I say the time for your daily training is now, my dear loyal guards."
Right after he spoke those words, all Royal Guards, including Veje, audibly tap the floor twice using their paws and shout 'For the king!'. Now they are to commence training…
Back inside the hallway, Skylar's on his way out of the chaotic Palace. He has lost track of Nico, though. He was sure his younger brother was right behind him. Before Skylar can stop so he can hover and look around, he spots a glimpse of a striking orange-looking wing close to his left. Before he can respond to this sudden appearance, something bumps into him mid-air. He starts falling towards the ground yet manages to quickly recover from the uncontrolled fall. He looks around, only to see Avira hovering slightly below him. He looks at her surprised that she hadn't seen him: *Okay, did she just do this on purpose?* he thinks to himself as he keeps eyeing her in confusion still.
Avira now has also recovered and spots Skylar hovering above her. His expression becomes one of reprehension. *Of me?* she thinks and slowly goes to hover beside him.
"Ehm… Sorry, Skylar. I had not seen you. I – was trying to get out of that crowded place." Avira says hesitatingly for his answer.
"You did not see me?' Skylar asks surprisingly yet zestfully adds, 'Hey, I did not see you either… That makes two of us!"
Avira is clearly seeking the words she needs to answer his question: "No… no, I did not like I just said. I was only – looking around before I will go…"
"Go where?" Skylar asks curiously and thereby interrupting her.
"Eh, well…' Avira replies still hesitatingly yet finally comes up with the words she needs to express herself, 'I am on my way to get my quota for today… What about you?"
"I am going to race Nico to the forest giant, that huge tree in the forest! But I do not see my little brother anywhere."
"Oh, Nico… I saw him leave with Dióntan just now. I believe they took off to the southeast. Perhaps Nico is helping Dióntan out with his quota…"
"Ow… He said to race me to that tree…' Skylar responds a little disappointed but knowing him he always finds something fun to do instead, 'Hey! You can come and play with me, then! After all, racing is fun and I have been training all week long!"
Avira looks hesitatingly. Playing with Skylar is fun but she's just not into racing. "Not sure… I like playing games, but not racing…"
"Okay, then we play games… Also fun! Ah, come on! Just one game at least…' Skylar says in a pleading manner to get his way as he sees the look on her face turn bashful but suddenly thinks of a great solution, 'That is it! I know something you will definitely like! Let us train for the speed race in a fun way. 'Fun guaranteed' Migs would say. Oh, wait. That means it is not going to be fun…"
Avira feels she's being overwhelmed with all that Skylar is trying to say. She still hasn't a clue what he's going after. However, being trained in becoming a Soothsayer she's learning how to steer such conversation to her advantage. "I am – not sure what you are trying to say. Why not – show me, instead? I am curious what game you want to play with me."
"Alright!" Skylar shouts gleefully and together they fly off away from the Palace.
Not far from them, Migs is watching Tudor. Seeing him sitting there with Kamil and Llemopaz in front of him, Migs finds this sight a rarity. "I sometimes wonder how Tudor can act mischievously in one moment and responsibly in the other. See how he looks after Kamil and Llemopaz? I like to see more of it."
Shaniqua nods and adds: "As do we all. At least there is light at the end of the tunnel."
"That tunnel being this hallway and Tudor has moved away from the light upon entering without him knowing.' Dulce jests and giggles once before adding, 'Come! Let us reinforce that parenting behaviour of his. Now is our chance to reward him."
Dulce takes off from the walkway and flies towards Tudor. Guessing what she might be after Migs and Shaniqua decide to follow suit. "Aw, look at that…" Tudor suddenly hears Dulce's lively voice say.
Tudor looks up. Dulce hovers in front of him with all fours hanging loosely, while noticing a startled glance being directed at her. While looking at Dulce like this, Tudor spots Migs and Shaniqua approaching from behind her, which sprouts a devious smile across his face. Dulce then adds a tad louder so Migs and Shaniqua can hear her clearly: "Looking after your little brother and Llemopaz like that…"
"It makes you deem much sweeter than if you take care of only Kamil." Shaniqua adds to complement Tudor's parenting skills.
Tudor, however, blows a raspberry over the exaggerated talk. He shakes his head slowly of disapproval, while rolling his eyes once. "Just look at them. Do they not look cute?" Migs adds smiling to make himself sound more sincere.
"Yeah, unlike you, hehe." Tudor replies and starts snickering.
Kamil has been watching his big brother all this time. He always has been looking up to him. This makes he starts copying Tudor's snickering solely for the purpose of laughing; it's something he as a cub likes doing. Llemopaz simply observes Kamil with his head skewed. "Aw, that is not true. My Migsy-wigsy is cute, too." Dulce says in a heartfelt manner and winks at Migs.
Migs' look, radiating pride as Tudor being, now displays turns to one of insecurity now his mate shares openly such intimate detail about how she feels about him. Trying to shift the attention back to Tudor he sighs and says in a way that sounds bemusing with a spark of annoyance: "Well, so far for progress…"
By now, Skylar and Avira have arrived at a closed woodland. It's an area that has some open spots of grassland in between clutches of trees. It's not far from the open woodland where many a Jaquin had danced yesterday during Solyestra. "Give it a try, Avira. Manoeuvre yourself in between those piles. It is easy!"
Avira looks at some piles of rocks set up before them. Along a corridor that leads along with the open spots of grassland, she can see the piles having been placed seemingly at random. It frightens her a little and she asks: "Are you not afraid those rocks will tumble down when we fly past them? They might, you know, hurt us."
"That is the trick! Making sure they do not!' Skylar replies both excitingly and joyfully but changes his voice to a deep one to add thrill, 'We need to be agile but swift, fearless but cautious, courageous but thoughtful…"
"But what if…"
Skylar interrupts her with frisson: "No thinking, not like that! Just do it. Like I always do! Here, let me show you."
He takes a few steps back to prepare for a flying start and grant himself momentum. He spreads his wings and speeds up while passing Avira. He then lifts himself from the ground and darts towards the first heap of rocks on this self-made course, one he made a while back in an impulse boredom-induced creativity. It turned out to become an obstacle course looking much like a skiing slalom course, except there isn't any snow and the terrain isn't sloped.
As Skylar approaches the first pile, he manoeuvres himself easily past it making a sharp turn with his right wing barely touching the ground. He does the same with the other piles, alternating between left and right turns. Swiftly as he goes, Skylar clears his self-made course without having a single rock tumbling down from any of the piles. It's impressive, to say the least, as the rocks are placed unevenly on top of one another, seeming prone to sliding from one another by a mere gust of wind. But Skylar managed to get past them without having a single pile collapse. He knows this all too well! Feeling perky, he starts to display a rampant posture, much like how the Jaquin is portrayed on the Avalorean flag. Exerting joy through an open mouth smile, he gestures Avira to try also. She looks at how joyful Skylar is from this activity and succeeding in clearing the obstacle course. It's affectionate and now makes her want to give it a try also. She prepares herself and launches forward, sending herself to high speed in a mere moment. Manoeuvring herself in between the piles, Avira becomes excited about this challenge.
"You did it! Yeah! High paw!' Skylar shouts joyfully and waits for her to return the high five gesture, 'See? That was easy and fun!"