It was a perfect spring day, birds were singing happily, the sky was clear and the temperature tepid in the late morning hours. Birna circled the field of the range. Yes, it would be a good day to try her paw at training some of the younger members of the pack in the arts of combat. She'd already settled on Valentine's youngest children, Rhyme, Rhythm and Chaos. There would be sparring practice and she had yet to decide if she would have them fight in a mini free-for-all or even teams. If she wanted an even matching she'd need a fourth member. It wouldn't do to call for one of Avalon's pups and leave the others and she was not yet confident in handling more than four. Illume was a bit older, Dagmær a bit younger and ultimately she wanted to target the younger ones and was unsure if Illume was recovered. Birna would throw back her head and call for Rhyme, Rhys, Chaos and Dagmær. It was time for some training. "SPEAK"

Spring was slowly coming to a close, and with it Rhyme's first year of life. At this point he had obviously reached his full height, but he hadn't filled out in bulk yet. He was long and lanky and awkward. Every bit as ungraceful as he could be. He'd been given subtle hints by his mother that the time to pick his own den was swift approaching. Though he was eager to grow up the concept of being in a den all by himself.. was unsettling. He hadn't talked to Rhys yet, but he still wondered if she might pick one with him. At least for a while.. he knew it would take him an age to adjust. While these thoughts struck him the young Imperialis would hear a summons for him and the other almost yearlings. His new 'sister' Dagmaer, Rhys, and Chaos. More fight training? This wouldn't be near as crowded, so he'd hope that he might be given a chance to test his courage. He'd been working on being braver, but the question came down to how do you make yourself brave? He'd try not to think about that one too much as he made his way towards his favorite mentor. With an innocent smile and a quick wag of his tail reminiscent of the first time he'd met her Rhyme would be first to their lesson. "Good day, Birna." He'd offer with a dip of his head. ""

He heard Birna's summoning call from the edge of the knolls and sprinted as fast as he could to the range to answer it. Training?! For real? Especially for the four of them?! He didn't know who this fourth wolf was that she was calling, but he was more than happy to answer the call. "BIRNA!" he crowed, bursting through a stand of grass to tumble to a stop at her paws. He'd put on a recent growth spurt to hit his full height, and he was still getting used to his gangly limbs. He gave her a toothy grin though as he sorted himself out and popped back to his feet. Rhyme was the only other one there, but he didn't doubt that Rhys and the mysterious fourth wolf would be close behind. "What're we doin'? Are we gonna fight? I've been practithing! Can I fight you? PLeeeeath?" His early basic training hadn't been neglected any more than his older siblings' had been, but he'd taken to the utter physicality of sparring like a duck to water. He didn't have the patience or the interest in dumb flowers and healing, so his lessons in first aid tended to go right over his head, but he was nearly beside himself with glee at the prospect of officially official fight training. "Talk" "You" Think

The first thing Rhys heard was Chaos asking if they were going to be fighting. She latched onto those words and ran off with them; if they weren't fighting she was going to be greatly disappointed! She wanted to fight and she wanted to fight all of them! Her gaze locked onto Rhyme. But more than anything else she wanted to fight him. It was about time for a rematch. She was a lot better at fighting now. "I call Rhyme!" She called as she ran towards them. "Birna I want to fight Rhyme! We are fighting, right? Please?" She had her defenses down and she was getting good at coming up with attacks and counter attacks. Rhys felt like all she needed now was more chances to apply what she'd been taught.

Dagmær's eyes narrowed as she heard the summons. She dimly recognized the voice. Birna, yes? The big warrior woman with the blue eyes. The stern, serious one. What on earth did she want- omgosh were they going to train?! Was she going to get to fight? Yes! Dag scrambled to her feet. She had to get stronger if she was going to aide her father. "Wait for me!" She shouted after Rhyme and Rhys as she raced out of the den. They were older and their legs were longer and it wasn't fair! Dag was last to arrive and she moved over to sit next to Rhys until she spotted the boy with the giant teeth and her own mouth dropped open in awe. "WOW! Your teeth are so cool! Are you part saber-lion? How do you bite? Do they get in the way?" "Speech"

Birna breathed in a slow, easy rhythm.  She wasn't sure why she felt a bit nervous about instructing these pups.  She'd gone charging into battle as a yearling and seen more than her fair share of blood and yet the prospect of instructing the younger ones was making her twitching.  A few more breaths and steely concentration and the nerves ebbed away into a lake of frozen calm.  She'd melt just a bit though as they appeared and she smiled at Rhyme, dipping her head in greeting.  "Good day to you as well, Rhyme." Rhyme was quickly followed by Chaos.  Birna grinned, ok they were precious.  They warmed her heart though she'd have to be tough on them if they were to excel as warriors. "It is good to see you Chaos.  Yes, you will be sparring today."  It seemed that Rhys was equally as exuberant already claiming an opponent.  "Yes, yes, you will be fighting.  I do have a lesson planned but you'll spar first."  Yes, she would have them spar right off the bat without further instruction.  For one thing she needed to assess their skills for another she wanted them to burn off some of this excess energy so perhaps they'd find it easier to pay attention to her lecture. Dagmær was the last to show and she went right off into questions regarding Chaos' mutation.  "Dagmær please take a seat so we can begin.  Dagmæer that is Chaos, Chaos meet Dagmær.  I believe you are all acquainted with the rest of the group?"  She paused in case there was a no and need for further introductions. "Alright, then lets begin.  I'm going to divide you into sparring pairs and you'll fight, afterwards we'll have a short lesson before I turn you loose.  Rhyme will battle Rhys and Dagmær will battle Chaos." While Birna was aware that Rhyme and Rhys probably fought each other quite a bit and she'd want them to get used to battling other opponents this was the first meeting and she'd switch up the pairs later on. "Face your opponent, set your defenses…. and begin!" Birna moved aside and settled down to watch and scrutinize the combatants. "SPEAK"