One of the best ways to make friends and to get to know someone new was by sharing bits of yourself with them. Things you were interested in and passionate about, things you were knowledgeable on, lessons you had learned and stories you had heard or made. That's where Ember chose to start with building up the Hallows' relationship with Hemlock. Delphi had confided in her that many of their members had areas of growth they were interested in and focusing on, and with the pack so new, it was difficult to find time to train everybody up properly. Her father had sent her here with a task to help Hemlock any way she could, so Ember would do just that! The Carpathian girl thought back on the lessons her master swordsman sire had taught her, from the basics to the more advanced, and picked out a few select lessons she could impart onto the wolves of Hemlock in turn.

Heading down the mountain path to the flatter snow-covered fields of the Stone Steppe, Ember found an open space amongst the old ruins big enough to make a decent arena. This would do nicely for a lesson! Em set her sword off to the side resting against one of the ruined walls where it would be safely out of the way; they weren't going to need weapons for today's lesson. Then she tipped her muzzle up and issued a soft call to any of Hemlock's residents that wanted to learn more on the art of warfare.

"Ember Carpathius" | "Carpathian"

As he neared his first birthday and his transition from childhood into adolescence, Hallvarðr was becoming more and more aware that he needed to do something with his life to help solidify his place in the pack. Heiðinn was no more, but all of his family still resided in Hemlock, and their blood was as strong a bond as iron. If he was going to remain, he would need to be useful to protect their family. With the recent raids both at home and away, Hal knew this was the path he wanted to tread—the road of a warrior, of a Viking, just like his father.

The new wolf visiting from the Hallows was apparently an accomplished fighter. She had bested one of their own warriors in battle during the raid down south and now she was here to help Hemlock get on their paws. So when her call for fighters went out, Hal made his way down the snowy slopes of Fenrir Mountain to the wintry lands below. He found the young woman waiting amongst the ruins for her pupils. He had been the first to arrive, so Hal simply greeted her with a nod and a gruff grunt before taking a seat in the snow, ready to hear what the battle maiden had to teach them about today.

Life in Hemlock was... strange. Fuck, pack life was strange. Henbane isn't familiar with the day to day workings, isn't used to everyone being so close together all the time. Maybe that's why she's still so prone to wandering, so prone to pulling herself away from the rest. Going out hunting or exploring, looking for trouble, looking for... space.

A call hearkens her back, though. The foreign girl, the one from the Hallows, that had come up to help them. Sure she'd heard rumblings, but Henbane hasn't actually seen her yet. Coming across the snowy Steppe, her head high, she answers the call for a lesson. Hen wouldn't turn down learning something new, why should she? The cryptborn tries to rearrange her expression into something friendly as she draws closer.

Sorry about the resting bitch face. Really, she's happy to be here.

"Speech"

Ember's presence on the mountain is a welcome one. Erik hadn't known exactly what he was walking into upon his return, especially with Delphi well and truly taking the reins. Still, things were perhaps less dire than he'd expected. Though the pack had been quiet, it wasn't in shambles. His father had become a recluse, and it's mostly the yearlings keeping things afloat. It felt strange, but he'd stepped up. Stepped into shoes that felt like they were still a couple sizes too big, boots tied desperately around his ankles.

While not the prosperous vision that Víðarr may have initially clung to, they're doing their best. Erik is high headed, proud as he surveys from the mountain. Far below, Ember's call to a lesson draws his attention. Unwilling to admit that he's far behind where he'd like to be, Erik makes his way down the mountain regardless. His younger siblings should be there, and he'd go under guise of ensuring they weren't causing too much trouble. He'd already put holes in Björn⁢ once this season, and while he wasn't eager, he'd do it again if necessary.

Arriving to the lesson with a rakish grin in Ember's direction, a twitch of his tail. "D'you need anything?" An offer, if she needs it. He'd remain mostly quiet, peering on curiously. A lesson wouldn't do him any harm.

"Erik"

Björn⁢ considers ignoring the call. Considers staying on his own, up on the mountain. Considers it for a long moment, before deciding against it. If it wasn't one person scolding him these days, then it's Erik. Why's everyone so fucking hard on him all the time? Developing his own sort of complex, and an even worse attitude about things, but fuck... being told what to do is the root of all evil, in Björn⁢'s mind.

As he arrives, he's greeted by a stern look from Erik. Yeah, Björn⁢ was late to the party, but the lesson hadn't even started yet. Maybe it's a don't fuck around look, now that he thinks about it. Would it necessarily prevent fucking around? Yet to be seen, but for now, Björn⁢ quietly takes a seat beside Hallvarðr, expression dour.

"Björn"

Even though she didn't interact with the rest of the pack outside of a couple of her siblings very often, word still got around easily enough and she had heard about the wolf from The Hallows that was apparently here to visit and build relations. She wasn't sure if this was something she should care about or not, but when she heard a call for a lessons from an unfamiliar voice she had to assume that this visitor was going to teach them something while she was here. From what she heard the Hallows wolves were supposed to be pretty seasoned and accomplished fighters so it was probably worth attending the lesson and trying to learn something. Plus, she wasn't getting training from anywhere else at the moment so it was best that she get it where she could. She made her way down to the Stone Steppe and found two of her litter mates along with their older brother and another woman she was less familiar with. Well, at least there was a decent crowd at this thing so it wouldn't be an awkward one on one lesson or anything. She gave the Hallows stranger a nod and went to sit beside Hall so they could get this rolling.

"Rúna Trygg"

One by one, the wolves of Hemlock began to show up to her call. Ember had been expecting a couple of interested students, but was pleasantly surprised to see a good number turn up, ranging in age from pups to young adults! The first couple of wolves she didn't know, but when Erik showed up, Ember couldn't hide the glee that lit up her eyes, using all her self control to keep her tail from wagging like an idiot. He offered his aid in her lesson and a grin, which Em returned in kind. Oh, she'd have a use for him all right. "I think I have a way you can lend a paw." Once the group had gathered, Em addressed the five wolves with a bright smile and an upright posture, trying her best to look the part of instructor.

"Hello, everyone! I'm Ember Carpathius. I'm the Head Scholar of the Hallows and also one of their warriors. I'm here to help Hemlock get up on its paws during this transition, and what better way to do that than to hone our combat skills?" With her introduction given, Ember gestured around to the snowy, slushy ground surrounding them, much of the terrain now turned up from the six wolves' paws. "Today's lesson is all about knowing your terrain and how it impacts your fighting ability. This is an important lesson my father taught me. It's easy to prepare to fight in ideal conditions, but you can't count on your enemies to wait for a sunny day to attack. A fight could come at any moment and it's important to be prepared for combat at any time." Rising to her paws, Ember assumed her fighting stance and began to slowly shift her weight back and forth on the soft turf. "Consider the ground right now. Snowy, muddy, slippery. Move around, try shifting your weight and feel the earth move with you. Now what sort of challenges do you think fighting in terrain like this could pose?" An open ended question to the class for them to consider. Oceanic eyes moved across the faces before her, wondering what obstacles they might find in an arena like this?

"Ember Carpathius" | "Carpathian"

Hal waited in relative silence while the rest of the group began to congregate. A small swell of pride at his being the first to arrive filled his chest. Henbane showed up, then Erik, leading Björn practically by his nape down to the lesson. The way their half brother was smiling and looking at the Hallows girl made Hal snicker and give a gentle nudge to Björn, pointing out the stupid look on Erik's face. Maybe that would get a little smirk or something on his sour brother's face. Then Rúna showed up and joined them, sitting on his opposite side. The Hallows girl seemed pleased with the turnout and introduced herself as Ember Carpathius. Cool, now he'd know her name when he teased Erik about it later. Erik and Ember, sitting in a tree... Ember explained that she was a Hallows warrior, which instantly got Hallvarðr's attention. He knew the Hallows had fought well against their pack in the last raid. If she was going to teach them some of her combat secrets, then Hal was all ears!

Ember brought their attention to the ground. Hallvarðr looked around at the snowy terrain, entirely unimpressed with it. They saw snow all the time up on the mountains. But as Ember began to explain how considering the terrain was a major part of planning a battle, Hal slowly started to see her logic. They were used to the cold and snow, but the mud and slush could pose a challenge. Following their teacher's lead, Hal got to his paws and began shuffling them back and forth, feeling his body slip side to side as his weight shifted. Ahhh... That's what she meant! Ember asked what sorts of challenges the terrain might pose to them, and Hal immediately thought up an answer. "The snow can hide rocks and stuff, which means we could trip if we're not careful about where our paws are." Even now, amongst all the ruins, some of the smaller chunks of rock were fully buried by the snow. Those could pose dangerous hazards in a fight—or opportune traps for his foes.

Rúna seemed to be the last one to the party so at the very least she didn't have to wait long for the lesson to get started. That was fine by her cause the wet, slushy mud felt like it was seeping between her toes and she was eager to get this over with so she could get back up to the rock of the mountains. Ironically, that seemed to be exactly the focus of their lesson today as Ember introduced herself and then began talking about how fights could happen on any kind of terrain so you had to be prepared to handle any sort of challenge that got tossed their way. She hummed quietly to herself with thought as she got to her paws at Ember's prompting to try moving around on the kind of slippery ground. She could definitely see what their teacher was saying. As she sifted her paws around she could feel the mud acting like a slip and slide under her paw pads. Ember asked them how it could be a challenge and Hall pointed out how it could be hiding rocks or obstacles they might trip on which was a good point, but that wasn't where her mind went first. "It's going to be a lot harder to stand your ground if someone tries to charge at you to knock you over," Rúna added. "Actually, I think it would be pretty hard to get enough traction to charge someone at all!"

"Rúna Trygg"

The boys sit together, elbowing each other, and Björn⁢ joins in the snickering at his older brother. So he was capable of acting like a normal boy, not a weird robot. They'd be able to roast him for that later, the diplomatic immunity that comes along with being a cute puppy holding on for at least a little longer. As she started in with the lesson, Björn⁢ was at least half paying attention.

Testing the ground under his feet, Björn⁢ slushes his paws around a bit. It's slippery, and he takes a moment to think about what the implications of slippery happened to be. "And if you can charge, it's hard to stop." He adds onto Rúna's thought, shifting his weight carefully on the mucky ground.

"Björn"

The Hallows... Hen knows the place, by name not by sight. It was in her father's past, if distantly. The girl before her seemed alright enough, at least it looks like she knows what she's talking about. Henbane feels a bit out of place, surrounded by this many children, but the lesson would be good none the less.

Her posture on the slick ground is confident, and she crashes through a spot of icy crusted snow with a large paw. If she'd been running, there'd be craters like this all over, each with jagged edges. Hanging onto previous lessons from Deion, and her experiences traveling, Hen offers an answer of her own after the children speak their piece.

"The chances for environmental injury go up a lot, in winter. Torn muscles, lacerations from shit like this." She picks up one of the ice chunks in her teeth before chucking it over her shoulder, far from where they'd be practicing today.

"Speech"

It takes a decent amount of self control not to bonk his younger siblings' heads together in the moment, but Erik refrains. He's not the babysitter that Tate had been to him, less tolerant and less forgiving of shenanigans. The turnout for the lesson was good, at least, and he would let the rest of the pack speak their piece. Remaining quiet, as they all give their responses to Ember's question. Throwing his voice to answer questions in a lesson would likely put him out of commission for the rest of the day, if not the next few, thusly remaining quiet. Offering an approving grumble to Hal and Rúna, and waiting for Henbane's contribution as well. Among them, she's the one he knows the least about. Isn't it his job to assess her too? Maybe.

Professionalism was supposed to be the name of the game here... especially with the too-keen eyes of his younger siblings. They'd give him hell about it later, after all. Erik does lift his paws up, carefully testing and examining the ground under his feet. Slushy and slick, it's going to take extra care not to go ass over teakettle on the soft ground.

"Erik"

Ember listens and nods in acknowledgement to all the answers provided by the class. Each one mentioned something worthwhile noting when fighting in an unfavorable terrain. "You've all brought up great points! The snow can definitely conceal some hazards, and that increases your chance of getting injured by the terrain. It's also going to make keeping your footing and moving more difficult." Em didn't require Erik to give a response himself; she was more than acutely aware of his condition and what overusing his voice would lead to.

With the preliminaries and easy stuff out of the way, Ember nodded to Rúna and Björn. "Thank you both for bringing up traction and momentum, because that's going to be our second part of the lesson today. Getting familiar with your terrain and how to navigate it best could be the difference between victory and defeat. A mistimed step, a misplaced paw, and then you're on your back with the enemy coming at you." Ember tried her best to replicate the demonstration her father had shown her when she was a wee pup, pouncing forward into the snow and mud and showing how she continued to slide forward despite planting her paws. "All right, let's put this theory into practice! Let's make two groups: pups and adults. We're going to practice timing our attacks in this terrain. The goal is to stay on your paws while knocking the others over." Shaking out her coat and bracing her paws on the ground, Em shot a cocky smirk at Erik and Henbane, ready to respond to whichever of them tried to take her down first.

"Ember Carpathius" | "Carpathian"

Ember nodded her approval to each of their answers and Hal felt a surge of pride in his chest. He liked being right and being praised, so their teacher was just doing everything right to stroke his ego, something the boy definitely didn't need. While the Hallows girl explained how each of their answers was correct, Hal took a look around their terrain, spotting patches of exposed mud and some upturned rocks in the snow. Those could definitely make a battlefield treacherous. Attention was called to Rúna and Björn specifically, leading them into the next part of their lesson. Ember wanted them to try to knock over their opponents without falling over themselves. Well, that seemed easy enough!

Exchanging a quick knowing glance with his brother, Hallvarðr gestured towards Rúna with a subtle tip of his head. With his silent suggestion said, Hal then turned on his heels and lunged for Rúna, snarling to ham up the dramatics of their lesson as he aimed to throw his entire body at Rúna and sweep her off her paws before any real fighting even began. But Hal had not been expecting the ground to be so slippery, and as soon as he lunged for Rúna, his paws slipped out from under him, and the viking prince would up eating shit instead, landing face down in the snow and mud. Shoot... So much for that plan.

Rúna smiled proudly as Ember confirmed that their points were good ones, the smug look on her face saying well of course they were great points. It seemed like she and her brother had specifically brought up the points that were topical to how they were going to test out this knowledge–by splitting into groups and practicing their timing on this kind of terrain. That was something they should definitely practice considering this was their home turf! It was good to be prepared for any terrain, but if they were going to defend their home this would be particularly topical.

Just as she turned her attention to her brothers to see which of them wanted to give it a go first, she saw Hall already lunging for her. She gasped and leapt out of the way which did allow her to dodge her brother as he went sliding face first through the snow and mud, but it did cause her to slip and slide as a result. Somehow she managed to stay on her feet after a few moments of uncertainly trying to find her balance and as soon as she did she looked over at Hall with a cheeky grin. "Ha! Serves you right!" she boasted, her tail wagging behind her.

"Rúna Trygg"