Come, little bird [Zero]

She almost couldn’t help but smile at the look of surprise and uncertainty that crossed the young lad’s face. While pups themselves were rather predictable, the beastly white she-wolf made it a habit of ensuring that she was quite the opposite. In what land would it be normal for a full grown, and very large, adult wolf to command a pup, not even a year of age yet, to charge them? It was entertaining to think of how this was the first, but most certainly not the last, time that her Little Owl would be given a command like this.

Artemis stood in waiting in practiced position, anticipating the pup’s attack. Though, perhaps “anticipating” wasn’t quite the best word, for her hopes were not that high. But perhaps he would surprise her. She couldn’t help but wonder if this pup had ever actually been taught any proper battle maneuvers, but her expectations weren’t high in those ideas either.

When the pup moved, running forward towards her, she almost felt the urge to sigh. Rushing in a straight line towards your enemy was an action destined for failure, if not death. But she knew what she was getting herself into when this relationship had begun. Intelligence was not a very prominent beginning feature for her to rely on, unfortunately.

As the young brute charged, her body remained perfectly still, eyes unwavering from his as he steadily approached. While she had her planned course of action, the inner true mentor in her longed for him to do something out of the ordinary, to surprise her. But alas, he kept on his straight path onward.

Her golden hues narrowed, and just as the pup just reached her, her legs bent and shoved hard against the dry ground, her body flying over his head in a mass of white fur. Her large paws landed with a loud set of thumps, but they did not stop moving once they landed. All four rotated, twisting back towards the pup in an almost slide. And just as the little male turned around to face her once more, her head was already lurching forward towards him.

But rather than her jaws opening, fangs bared, or her aim finding his small head, instead her maw remained closed and her aim shot downwards. And, with one upward sweep of her head, her large muzzle found the pup's chest, lifting him up off of his paws and tossing him away from her. She did not use her full strength, nor did she throw her whole neck into the motion, so luckily the pup wasn't thrown too far or too hard. She imagined it was still enough to startle him, though.

She leapt forward again, landing over top of the pup with her front legs on either side of him, eyes looking down upon him. And instead of judgement or disappointment, there was almost amusement on her features as her head leaned down towards him, finding the whole little scene rather funny.

"Here is your first offensive battle lesson: should you be facing a target who will fight back, never run in a straight line. Never let your opponent predict your next move."


"Speaking." Thinking.

A small smirk had crossed the large female’s maw as she watched the pup hit the ground with a thud. She almost hoped that being thrown had startled him, for had she been any other predator, he would not have been so lucky.

But, as she stood over top of him, her brows furrowed as a large toothy grin, sans one tooth, formed across the pup’s face, his chest heaving just slightly and a spark in his eyes. Had…he found being thrown fun? She could say with certainty that, of all things that she often predicted correctly, this was not one of them. A Sanzin pup finding such an action against them fun was far more understandable. But this one? Perhaps it was just the life he had lived up till this point that caused this reaction. And while under any other circumstances she may have found this amusing, she was almost annoyed.

Her head lifted and she took a few large steps backwards, stopping a few bounds away from the pup. The distance between them was a good deal less than it was before, but perhaps this would make the pup consider his actions before charging straight forward. Her body shifted, paws setting in place against the ground and her head lowering some. Her voice was quick and to the point when she spoke.

“Again.”


"Speaking." Thinking.

With her body steadily positioned and eyes keenly following each movement the pup made, she considered what he may attempt. He was a pup, and a Vertok pup at that. The chances of his experience in battle being further than just simple play-wrestling was slim to none. And given that she had to explain the idea of making your path unpredictable, what plans could this youngster truly manage?

As the white adolescent rushed forward, rather than follow his paws or his path, she watched those little eyes. As a (self-proclaimed) master in the way of reading others, she knew the eyes to be a window into the mind of another, especially the mind of one who hadn’t even reached a year of age yet. His eyes were trained on her muzzle, but she had just instructed him to avoid straight lines. He would change course, this she knew for certain, but in which direction, and how would he approach his next move.

Like clockwork, a brief shift in sights followed by a turning of the body. Her head snapped to the side, catching the pup in her gaze just as he pushed himself from the ground, launching himself towards her. As the distance between them was far less than previous, she knew that simply jumping over him would not work. Perhaps she could simply lift herself momentarily onto her back legs and watch as he simply sailed past her. But the last thing she needed was for constant failure to deter the pup from wishing to continue.

Instead, she quickly turned her body, popping her shoulder outwards as the pup reached her. While she did feel the thud that she expected as her shoulder smacked against the pup’s side, she felt something else. A very quick swipe of pain and a small wince. Not an intense pain, more so similar to that of the scrapes of a claw or maybe the tearing into skin of thorns. Having shouldered the youngster from the air, her eyes turned to peer at her shoulder, and while it was not much, she watched as the tiniest amount of blood stained a few strands of snowy fur. The pup had actually managed to swipe her with his fangs. If there was one thing that all adult wolves were certain of, it was that puppy teeth were a greater tool than one would expect.

Artemis looked to the pup, keeping her shoulder in view as she checked what state he was now in, if any. “I believe that to be a much better attempt, little owl.”


"Speaking." Thinking.

The beastly she-wolf watched silently as the small dust cloud the tumbling pup had caused settled, and though she had heard the thud of his body against the ground, his head lifted and peered at her, seemingly unfazed. He did appear momentarily stunned, but it faded quickly as she saw his eyes find her shoulder. A grin formed on his face and he jumped to his paws, his voice filled with excitement. It almost made her chest warm seeing the accomplishment in those little eyes. But it faded quickly. A tiny scrape would gain him no favor or advantage in a true battle.

The Suitess’ golden gaze hardened at the white pup, considering. While Artemis was never against the idea of spending ample amounts of time away from the densite, she also knew that the sun had already begun to start setting when they first arrived here. A quick glance to the side revealed that it had gone further, and dusk would soon set in. In her mind, their first initial training had gone quite well, but given the small victory the pup had just gained, it would be difficult to end the session where it stood. Perhaps one last challenge would suffice.

“Dusk shall arrive soon. We both have dens to return to. But I shall allow you one more chance to give all the strength you can.” Large paws took a few steps backwards away from the pup, her eyes remaining locked on his. “There will be no break to speak. Once you charge forward, you will not stop. Do not lay, do not wait, do not hesitate. Should you become out of stamina or should you be pinned, only then will our session be over. Understand?” Her voice was firm, challenging.

She only waited a moment for an answer before she turned away from him, both in body and head, eyes no longer on him. Perhaps being unable to meet his opponent’s eyes would boost the pup’s determination. “At your will.”


"Speaking." Thinking.