Vanta had renewed confidence after the talk with her mother, and hearing that her sister Kite had already taken on her first demon she was ready to begin her own path to warriorness. She would not be so bold as to go on the offensive against her cruel older brother - or at least not yet - but petitioning her father for a few private lessons was a safe enough request, she supposed.

Outside the stone steps she waited patiently for him to return home from wherever he went when he wasn't with them. Thankfully by the time his oversized silhouette appeared at the mountain base, the sun was almost finished setting. Lit by fire the real Warlord approached, and Vanta rushed down the stairs to meet him. "Wait! Wait, can I have a lesson before bed?" While her and Kite's differences were unfortunate in many ways, the disability did prove a boon in knowing that she'd not be punished for being out of bed beneath the moonlight. There were few other opportunities to learn and see then those she could steal in the dead of night.

"Speech"

The Warlord grinned widely as his little Zeelet (not that he’d ever call her that in Zee’s hearing) rushed down the steps to greet him. He held open his arms to the young pup and when she reached him, he folded her into them. He kissed her brow, and as always was startled by how little these pups were. “Vanta” he said warmly.

He was never happier than when his little ones showed a passion for learning. He would drive them to it, regardless if they wished to learn or not. But enthusiasm was always pleasant to see. “You can! What kind of lesson did you want, Thunderbolt?” he asked, running a paw along her shimmering, crystalline blue fur above her nose.


"Speech"

Folded into her father's arms was one of the most comfortable places the little pup could ever imagine being, and pressed up against his warmth was almost enough to make her forget the lesson she'd requested and slip gently into sleep instead. Her head leaned up to meet his paw as he smoothed out the short crystalline fur upon her snout, tiny teeth bearing and taking a playful snap at the toes as they pulled back. "I want to learn to beat you!" She insisted fiercely, enthusiastic and brave.

Wiggling herself out of his grip, Vanta moved before him and turned to face his oversized form. She crouched her front end low, tail held high and her entire rear end wiggling with excitement. "Ready? Ready? Are you ready?" Bouncing her weight from side to side, Vanta waited in eager anticipation for his green light. This was how fighting lessons worked, right? You just... you bit people?

"Speech"

He pulled his paw back and made a face as if her playful snap had hurt him. “To beat me, hm? I guess we can work on that” he agreed easily. Giving her one more kiss on the forehead before letting her go. She crouched in front of him, as if expecting the lesson to happen right then and there, on the steps of their home. “Lets move a little further away, so we don’t disturb your siblings” he said, swatting at her tail as he moved past her, leading the way.

He expected her to follow as he led her through the caves and towards the ocean. With the sand in their paws and the sound of crashing waves in the night air. Something about the taste of sea salt on the wind would always give him the feeling of home. “We don’t get to jump straight into the fun stuff, first you have to think about your fight. Let's start with your stance. Balance and defences are very important. I want you to think about ways you can better your balance, and what parts of you would be easy to grab or hurt, alright? List them for me”


"Speech"

Vanta sighed in exaggerated disappointment as her father stated that they would not be having their lesson here, outside the stone staircase. Stomping dramatically after him (and then shooting him a grin, to show that she was just playing) they arrived at the shore. Sirius' preference would be her preference, if that's what it took to be strong. At his instructions she nodded, growing serious. It wasn't as fun as just biting and clawing someone, but Vanta could see the benefit in learning stances as well. Whatever a stance was.

To his question, Vanta had an answer. "I bite toes." She insisted firmly. "So I have to protect my head so no one can stop me from biting toes." What else? "Oh, and... my ears, because if you have my ear, I can't bite your toes."

"Speech"

The Warlord made a soft, partly choking sound in the back of his throat as he fought back the laughter at her words. He cleared his throat, as through that was why he’d been making the noises. “Very good points, Vanta” He agreed, nodding his head seriously. “You need to give yourself every opportunity to bite toes. So let's see a fighting stance then. Stand like this, with your legs spread, and dig your toes into the earth”[ /b] he instructed, doing so himself to demonstrate.

[b] “Fold back your ears, and scrunch up your neck. You want to limit people being able to grab you there, and holding you back from their tasty toes” he added in. Pausing his instructions to watch her comply, and make any adjustments to her stance if he needed to.


"Speech"

Her father's praise sent a tingling down her crystal-touched spine. She knew she had a knack for this! Did any of her siblings figure out how important the toes were? Vanta doubted it. She doubted even Azure knew. Nodding her head excitedly at her father's elaboration, she fell into the pose he'd directed. Anything that would help her to bite more toes. Her ears slicked back, her paws splaying wide in the sand. Wide enough she felt she was almost falling, and wondered how anyone could move spread so far and thin. Sirius' paws guided her into a more comfortable adjustment and she frowned, but obediently altered her form.

Bending her joints lightly, she felt the new stance's potential for movement and nodded. Continuing down the checklist with neck scrunched and toes gripping the earth, Vanta imagined she looked rather fierce. To add to the air of murder and death, she rolled the fur upon her spine so that the crystalline shards poked upright. 'Defensive' mom had said - riiight. "Like this?" She asked, directing her bright and eager gaze onto her father for his stamp of approval.

"Speech"

The Warlord already knew he was going to need ice on his toes by the end of this lesson. Resigned to this fact, he worked on pushing the basics into Vanta’s brain. Getting in anything he could between her desire to chomp toes.

Adjusting her form a little, he stood back to examine it and watched as she rolled her fur until the crystal parts stood on end. “Ahh. Very good. You’ve been listening to your mother” he said, smug notes of approval in his tone. She’d do well to listen to Zee. “Your stance looks good. Hold it, and remember how it feels. You’ll want to remember at all times to keep your ears tucked. Remember if your tail should be flared for balance, or tucked out of the way. Feel your paws, you’ll want to be able to fall into this stance in a heartbeat” He went on, instructing her as he walked a circle around her. “Now, narrow your eyes. Make it harder for someone to toss sand in them. That's your defence, now we will move on to offensive. As you’ve already observed, my toes are easily reachable, and weak. As well as toes, you’ll want to consider the ligaments behind my paws. How are you going to reach them? Will you go head on and give me a chance to grab you?”


"Speech"