With a spring in her step Kanja frisked to the border. Today she was going to beat up the alpha of Abaven. Okay, not really, but she had no intention of giving the pixie special treatment because of who she was. She figured today they'd work on how the little woman should handle larger wolves since it was likely, given how tiny she was, that she'd always be up against bigger opponents. That was assuming, of course, she knew the basics of fighting already.

Kanja paused mid frisk. Surely Sparrow knew how to fight. Right? That was something every wolf learned in puppyhood, yeah? God, she hoped so. If she was starting with a blank slate she'd be here for the rest of her life.

Okay, yeah, that was an exaggeration, but still.

The giantess stopped at the border with one - okay, maybe four toes max - touching Abaven land. She had every intention of pushing the boundaries - literally - while she was working with the alpha. If she was given an inch, by god, she was going to take a mile. Today it was toes. Tomorrow she might walk in like she owned the place.

There wasn't much else for her to do there by her lonesome so Kanja threw back her head and howled for Sparrow.

Sparrow hurried to the call. She didn't want to make Kanja wait, or give her more unsupervised time near Abaven's borders. She was thankful for Kanja agreeing to help, but she was still rather nervous about Ashmedai dragging another giantess into the pack.

Ash had never hurt Sparrow before, but she knew he had a knack for mischief and it worried her more now that she was an Alpha.

Sparrow approached, very carefully studying how close Kanja was to Abaven land. She made sure to stare long enough that Kanja would notice she saw her position. Sparrow flicked her eyes up to Kanja's- harsh for a moment as if to scold her, but then they softened and Sparrow let an approachable smile wash over her.

She honestly knew she didn't have it in her to challenge Kanja at the moment, but she wanted Kanja to be aware that she noticed what the larger woman was doing. She saw and she knew.

"Welcome back to Abaven, Kanja."

Sparrow eyed her proximity to the borders once more.

"You may enter," Sparrow said with a thin veil of authority covering her uncertainty.

Sparrow turned walking a little into the pack to train. They didn't need to have blood scent all over her borders.

"What- uh- do you intend to do today?"

Sparrow knew they were training- right- but what was Kanja's idea of training?

The little unspoken exchange between the two wolves as Sparrow recognized what Kanja was doing pleased the giantess immensely. She fixed Sparrow with a wide-eyed, innocent expression - an expression that might have been believable if not for the mischievous glint that quickly took up residence in her gaze. Kanja was unapologetic.

"Thank you for having me back," she said sweetly - too sweetly - as she frisked across the border and into Abaven land. They both knew there wasn't much standing between Kanja and simply walking across the border without invitation. If she'd been so inclined, Sparrow couldn't have stopped her. And she did wonder whether or not the woman would have tried.

Kanja moved to walk abreast with Sparrow before answering the alpha's question. Her tone still sweet, she purred, "To beat the fuck out of you." Kanja then paused just long enough for Sparrow to hopefully wonder if she were serious before continuing. "I'm kidding of course." She paused another beat. "That's a lesson for another day. Today I think I'd like to get a sense of your abilities and then maybe," "If you're not a completely useless pansy," she thought to herself. "I'll teach you a few moves. Is there a clearing around here somewhere?"

Sparrow shot Kanja a sharp look as she oh so gleefully crossed into the pack lands.

"I thought packs weren't your thing," she said, almost mumbling.

Sparrow did a double take at Kanja's claimed plan for the day. Where did Ashmedai find these people?

Kanja went on to say she planned on finding out where Sparrow stood skill wise and asked if there was a clearing. Sparrow hummed in response and shouldered her way into just such a clearing.

Sparrow moved to set ten feet between her and Kanja. She wanted to be at the other side of the clearing.

"So... are you going to coach me or do I just like... go crazy?"

Sparrow was appropriately aghast at her joke; her double take bringing a wicked, impish grin to Kanja's lips. They hasn't even started yet and already this session was shaping up to be a good one. Hopefully the little alpha lightened up some. If not, only Kanja was going to enjoy this.

Sparrow guided her to a field and giddily Kanja made a lap of it to clear away irksome debris before circling back to where she'd started. The little queen had planted herself some distance away like she was preparing for a fight, which Kanja found adorable. They weren't sparring today. Nope, not until the giantess had a good feel for what Sparrow knew. "Neither. Well," she reconsidered her wording, "Coaching, I suppose, but we're not sparring today."

She padded closer until no more than four feet separated the pair. "I think it's fair to say most of your opponents will be bigger than you, right? So if you learn nothing else from me, I want to teach you how to handle larger wolves." She eyed Sparrow speculatively. "Say we're facing off. Show me how you'd attack me."

Kanja said they were coaching, not sparring and Sparrow immediately felt a little relieved. Kanja said it was fair to think Sparrow's opponents would be larger than her and Sparrow shot her a sour look. It was true, but she really didn't like thinking about it. After pouting for a moment, Sparrow tried to focus on what Kanja had asked her. Show her how she'd attack.

"Um, well..." Sparrow thought as she came closer to Kanja, although she didn't want to get too close. She stopped in front of Kanja.

"It's probably a bad idea to come at a larger wolf head on so maybe try to do something like-" Sparrow side-stepped to her right, shifting her weight to her front legs and throwing her rear end away from Kanja about 45 degrees. She paused then.

"After that, I have a pretty good side-view so..."

Sparrow lunged forward towards Kanja's back left leg.

"Maybe bite somewhere here near the stomach where the skin is soft and there's less fur? I can use my right shoulder to knock the back leg and maybe upset their balance, right? Maybe if I hook my paw around their leg... then just slam them with my chest, it might be more effective... right?"

Sparrow had the sudden realization that she had no idea how to really fight anyone.

Good thing Kanja was here, though Sparrow would never admit it.

Patiently Kanja waited as Sparrow hesitantly padded towards her. She kept her expression neutral, but her gaze remained sharp and watchful as she waited to see what Sparrow would do. Sparrow started to speak; walking Kanja through her thought process as she decided an attack. Never once did Kanja offer so much as a nod; she didn't want to guide her pupil's decisions. What she wanted was an honest run down of what Sparrow considered a viable attack.

Kanja spoke only after Sparrow had finished speaking. "You're right, in most cases its unwise to attack a larger opponent head on." She'd turned her head to look at Sparrow as the woman had taken up positioning on her left side, but remained standing in exactly the same spot. "You want your approach to be smooth, fluid and fast. The element of surprise can give you a brief - and if you use it correctly, powerful - advantage. Maybe act as if you're going to charge head on, then change positioning at the last second. Fake left, then dart right. Something like that. Having so many steps in your approach - sidestep, shift weight, swing hips away, replant paws - eats away at what little time you have to get an attack in before your opponent retaliates."

"The belly's a good target to go for. So are the paws and lower legs. Hitting up high on the knee or thigh probably won't do much against a big opponent, but hitting the hock or foot might cause your opponent to lose their balance." Alright, her turn.

Kanja jumped and spun her hind end to her right, in one fluid motion changing their positioning so that the center of her chest was lined up with the meaty exterior of Sparrow's left shoulder. "It's in my best interest to use my bulk to my advantage so I would slam my chest into your shoulder while using my left forepaw to drag your left foreleg towards me, hopefully taking you to the ground and pinning you." She quirked a brow thoughtfully, eyeing Sparrow all the while as she considered what else she could do. "I'd also try to gain control of your head to keep you from biting me again." Kanja tilted her head to the side thoughtfully as she eyed the curve of Sparrow's neck. "I would try to get you right behind the ear and along the curve of your jaw."

They could keep doing the back and forth thing, but she needed to make this challenging, right?"Now, say there wasn't enough time to get away from me. That it seemed likely that you were about to end up on the ground if you didn't do something smart and fast. What would you do?"

Kanja was spouting off so much information it was a little challenging to keep up. Sparrow put on her determined face and was determined to absorb all the information she could.

Kanja told her she had the right idea, but that she was possibly going a little to chunky with her movements, causing her overall attack to be slow.

After explaining what made Sparrow's attack good and bad, Kanja moved. She was so fast, Sparrow barely had time to react before Kanja was facing her. Out of reaction, Sparrow shrunk back just a little.

As Kanja explained her attack, Sparrow felt her head spinning. Her only thought was that she wanted to get away. Kanja was quick to rule that out.

Sparrow took several moments to think.

"I could... raise my paw so you can't grab it, but that doesn't help a ton with my balance. I could throw my weight back at you,but I doubt that would do much. I'm tempted to shrink lower, but that might put me in a vulnerable position of submission..."

Sparrow thought again for a while.

"I could try to bite at your left shoulder, hoping your momentum would dig it deeper, but that... could also break my jaw... so... yeah."

She was in a bad position.

"I could possibly try to go for your neck- or part of it- since I'm lower than you."

Other than that, what could she do? Play paw tug-of-war? Sparrow's facial expression shifted uncomfortably. What possible advantage could she have?

Sparrow glanced up to Kanja's face, then back to her body.

She was drawing a blank.

"Does... jumping forward count as 'getting away?'"

She could almost see the thoughts swirling around in Sparrow's head as the woman tried to sort out the challenge she'd been given. Kanja already knew what she would do if she were in Sparrow's position. It was a move she'd only ever used once when she was smaller and her mouth had gotten her into trouble with a much, much bigger yearling. The move had been part of a valuable lesson; sure, she may not have won that particular fight, but she'd gotten more than a few good hits in thanks to her quick thinking.

"Does... jumping forward count as 'getting away?'" Fair question. "Nope, but doing that would strip you of your ability to deliver good attacks since your jaws and forward momentum would be moving away from your opponent and it would also leave your side wide open for some pretty devastating attacks."

Sparrow's rundown of what she could do and all the ways those coulds might go wrong earned her an affirming nod from Kanja. "You're correct on all counts. In a situation like this there aren't any good ways to escape. It might just be a matter of picking the one that gains you the most or costs you the least. What I would do, though, is this: crouch down, as low as you can without compromising your balance and whatnot, and then, drive your left shoulder into your opponent's forelegs." She crouched low to demonstrate just what she meant.
"If you keep pushing forward at the very least that should trip up your opponent. If they're moving at you at a pretty good clip you might even be able to flip 'em." Kanja stood up straight. "Just don't stop pushing until you're clear, otherwise that much bigger wolf will land right on top of you." She thought for a second. "I bet pushing up too - once their legs begin to buckle - would help with the flipping part."

Kanja stepped back and eyed Sparrow thoughtfully. While very hesitant and seemingly without confidence in her ability, her responses thus far were promising. She was thoughtful and thorough. With some practice and a little more confidence, she could become a good fighter. "Any questions?"

Sparrow just watched Kanja as she explained... everything. How did this tall goddess know how to fight being tiny?? Sparrow was trying to deny how starstruck she was. She took every word Kanja said and tried to embed it into her memory.

As Kanja moved, Sparrow tried to imagine a larger wolf and how they might act to getting flipped. She wasn't sure she would ever be able to do something like that...

Kanja asked her if she had any questions.

"Um, several," Sparrow squeaked. "But I think it's probably better to see it in action, right?"

Sparrow thought for a while before something came to her.

"So a lot of larger wolves, like you said, can throw their weight around. They would break my toes with one stomp, I bet. Or- or even just maul me by throwing their weight if they get a good grip on me."

Sparrow hesitated for a moment at the thought.

"How can I possibly hope to achieve the same amount of damage- you know, if it came down to it."

In all honesty Kanja found Sparrow's question disheartening. Size didn't equal superiority. If that belief was where Sparrow was starting from then Kanja's job was going to be harder than she'd initially thought. "With many an exception, the rule of thumb is this: big wolves are stronger and small wolves are faster. You'll do the most damage by using your natural advantage - your speed - just like a bigger wolf would use her strength."

If she could choose one thing from this lesson to permanently sear into Sparrow's brain it was this: her size did not make her an inferior fighter. What would make her an inferior fighter was believing she already was one. "You have to be smart. You have to think like your opponent. How you'd use your size if you were them. What you'd be afraid of if you were facing you." Kanja shrugged. "If you're going up against someone my size you might not be able to get at their throat or their eyes, but you have plenty of other damning targets to choose from. Really, the only thing that'll keep you from causing as much damage as a bigger wolf is lack of creativity."

Sparrow listened to Kanja carefully. According to her, in the face of everything even extreme height differences, the only thing that really drove them apart was lack of creativity. Sparrow had never thought of creativity when fighting. She nodded thoughtfully.

Maybe she'd have a shot.

Just... not now.

She had an idea, though.

"I'd like to spar you- not now, but in a season or something. Let me try to learn this new skill, then I want to try it- try fighting. That's- uh- if you'd be okay with it."

Sparrow bit at her lip nervously. There was still a chance Kanja would turn her down or laugh and say Sparrow wasn't worth her time.

Sparrow knew, though, that she had to do this. She wasn't even sure who she was trying to prove herself to, but she knew she needed to somehow be proven and validated as a fighter and alpha.