It was in its den when the Overseer called, testing out its previously injured paw for any kind of numbness. It felt fine, if a little bit stiff, but that was more likely from not using it for a while. It stretched and made a fist, testing it and working it out. It was an easy way to say "I'm training" without actually having to get up and walk around. It could just sit here and do paw stretches instead.

That was how its days usually went. Getting up, stretching its paw for a while, maybe training for a bit so that it wouldn't disappoint the Overseer, hunting some food, and then sleeping for as long as it could. the peak of tranquility, the peak of laziness. Alpha had been all twisted up about things and had tried to prod it into a fight multiple times, but Beta refused to bite.

It was content to live like this, listen to nobody, only be useful when it had to be useful. But when the Overseer's booming voice echoed through the tunnel, it immediately scrambled to its feet without a second thought and stepped out of its den, head held high. "Yes, Overseer," It rumbled with its baritone voice. "I am at your command." The Overseer was a different story. It would not disappoint him.

The ruby stared at the Overseer for a moment, finding that it really didn't know what to say for a moment. It desperately tried to reach for straws, to maybe carve out some lie to tell the Overseer so that he wouldn't grow angry, but that idea was burst in a moment. It would not lie, not to the Overseer at least. And if he was going to test it, then he'd know right away what was true and what was false.

It cleared its throat. "I have been staying off my paw as much as I could, initially. I let it heal until I could walk on it again. I have done daily exercises with it to keep it in working condition and am no longer hindered by limping or numbness." But it left out the bit about it being a bit stiff. "I have only recently begun training more again. Sharpening my claws and practicing good hunting every day." Yes, practicing hunting to catch food. "I've done some work hitting the cavern walls to increase my strength." To make more room for its den so it could sleep comfortable. It paused and then finished, "I haven't done a lot of sparring, though. I apologize." It dipped its head. It would at least own up to this, if not anything else.

Ruby-Beta released a breath it'd been holding. Ah, good, the Overseer didn't pry into what all of that meant or comment on the many things he'd..."presented". That would be been embarrassing if he knew exactly how lazy Beta had been the last two cycles. But that didn't matter so much now. The Overseer wanted to test it - that was good. This was a good chance to train so that it could make him proud.

It stood up straighter, quills rattling. "My strength is the same as yours - brute strength. My size. Raw power. I would like to develop this further, however. I could be stronger. I think I am also good at maneuvering. I am agile and balanced. My weaknesses are in experience. And practice. I don't know how to judge movements or another gembound's abilities. I haven't put much of this into test before. A do not know how to analyze in a fight." It went quiet, wondering if it covered all of its bases. It thought for a moment, trying to think if it'd missed anything, but no. Except, of course, for the laziness but he wasn't going to bring that up.

It listened to him hungrily, drinking in his wisdom and his analysis of its strengths. Still, it was puzzled - it made sense to Ruby-Beta that raw strength would be both of their greatest abilities, especially against all of the smaller creatures roaming the caves. Those huge arms could crush enemies easily, without a second thought or a change to recover. It wanted to question this and it had to take a moment to even get the bravery to dare. "But, Overseer...if most of the creatures that roam the caves are smaller then me, then wouldn't it be beneficial to learn to be stronger so that no enemy could stand up to me?" Its muscles rippled under its pelt. Had it been thinking of its abilities in the wrong way? Had its minimal training been for nothing?

How could it be an assassin? It was huge! It hadn't run into a ton of other creatures, but they'd all been smaller, or at least around the same size, though Beta wasn't done growing. Maybe it wasn't as gigantic and powerful as Alpha, but it could learn to fight in other ways. It looked a little unsure of what the Overseer was telling it.

"An assassin?" Nobody had ever said anything about an assassin. "Isn't that a job for the smaller ones? Maybe Garnet-Delta or Garnet-Epsilon. They're small and fast and could sneak better then me." It didn't understand. It didn't understand why the Overseer would prepare it to fight bigger foes. Why he wasn't going to have it use its size and strength to its advantage. Probably because it had never tested anything other then brute, animalistic force before.

Hot shame rolled over Beta as Vargas turned its weak argument on its head. Why did it question him? Why did it try to argue? The Overseer knew more, knew what was best for all of its siblings. He knew exactly what to do with each of them, how they should be trained, what their strengths and weaknesses were. Wait, then why did he ask me? The answer came less then a second later - to test its judgement.

And it probably failed completely. It chuckled silently to itself. It would have to do better next time. Hopefully it would receive some good training from this so that it did not fail the Overseer again.

It did not fight what he was saying this time, only nodded. "Yes, Overseer." He climbed fully from his den and followed him to Orion.

*exit