Aurielle Adravendi

Today was exciting. Today, she was going to get more advanced lessons from her father in fighting! She knew the basic defenses, now. Ears back, stance squared – and keep those joints loose, mind - with her head lowered to stay level with her shoulders to align her spine. And hackles, she knew about those, too! Her Da would be heading out soon to explore more of the North, and while she’d hoped he was going to take her to see Lirim, she accepted that he needed to get a lay of the land in the north, just as much as the west, East, or south. And she was still an appetizing meal for large predators—like bears that were fresh from a long winter of sleep – and nursing cubs, in the case of the sows – hungry and irritable. She wanted to get as good as she could at fighting, and that meant lessons, and practice. And boy, had she been practicing. She devoted two hours of her days to tussling with Paladin, Aramis, or just practicing lunging and testing her weight. But her body was changing, as was her brother’s, and she stumbled a great deal. Her center of balance kept shifting over the weeks as she grew, and by now, she was lanky of leg and still sporting big feet. She’d reached the same height as her mother, by now. The more defining characteristics of the young Future has, by now, become apparent along her scruff and her tail as the fur just seemed to keep growing beyond the natural length of her coat, and she had to wonder if it ever would stop. Would she end up tripping over this fur? She was of enough sense to know that if it got really long, it would be a disadvantage in a fight. So much fur would be easy to grab. This was on her mind, furrowing her brows as she weighted in the wide area of the Ravine, just outside the cave. A scuff and click of claws announced her father’s arrival, and she grinned up at him. “Da!” Rising, she dropped neatly into the stance he’d shown and described to the best of his ability, carefully spreading her weight evenly between each leg and lowering her head level with her spine, tail wagging behind her as she announced, "Táim réidh chun níos mó a fhoghlaim anois!" Walk ---- "Speak" ---- "Hear" ---- Think

Regulus Anatolii Adravendi

Regulus smiled down at his eager daughter, settling into his own defensive stance. With the disability of his leg, he’d adapted to shifting his good hind leg slightly beneath his hips as support. It did mean that he was less powerful in the hind legs, since his right hind leg flopped rather uselessly from the hock down with no tension from his Achilles to provide control and support to that leg. His front legs had adapted to a slightly wider stance, and he found that should an opponent be foolish enough to charge head on, this was a good stance to brace with and provide a solid wall of muscle to crash into. Of course, these wouldn’t be the lesson today. Aurielle was growing fast, but he didn’t think she would be anywhere near his height or his mass. No, her slim build would be better suited to agility and lightness of her feet, and the ability to hit hard and precisely where she aimed. Her smaller size would be excellent against larger wolves who were slower. Their tender bellies would be closer to her jaws. “What would you like to learn first, today?” He asked, biting back a chuckle as he waited for what he was sure would be a quick answer.

Aurielle Adravendi

Aurielle watched closely as her father took his stance, then smiled up at him, answering promptly, "Níos mó cosaintí agus ionsaithe! Cad é mar aidhm agam an chuid is mó chun mo chéile comhraic a dhíchumasú?" She wanted to learn how to end a fight quickly, and, of course, how to better keep herself intact. What were the best places to sink her teeth into someone and get them down on the ground, out of the fight? Her tail continued waving as she watched her Da, a ready grin over her features. She knew he would always provide the best answers he could for her to learn, and she hoped one of them would be helpful in what to do about the long hair growing from her scruff. What if she tripped on it in an important fight someday? Walk ---- "Speak" ---- "Hear" ---- Think