They'd been walking for some time since their little meeting in Abaven. Valentine had filled the time with nosy questions about Shaye's training. He had decided some ways back to take a different approach to readying her for the showdown with the slavers. After all, this was going to be different than the average fight. For one, he fully expected to be outnumbered. Had he been taking his time with training Shaye he'd have started with teaching her one on one fight techniques, but as it were there wasn't time for that. He needed her ready for multiple opponents now.

It wasn't like she didn't know how to fight. She wasn't a wee pup just learning the basics. In his opinion she wasn't up to snuff, but the groundwork had been laid and there was no denying her eagerness to better herself. While he wouldn't admit it out loud, Valentine thought she was going to make a decent student.

"Hmmm..." he mused after listening to Shaye's last answer. "I think the best approach to take to preparing you for the conflict is to get you used to dealing with multiple opponents." He clicked his tongue thoughtfully. "We'll start with a hypothetical and work our way up to a real fight."

"No doubt you know not to let your guard down in a fight, but it can be very hard to remain aware of what's happening around you when you're faced with someone who wants to eat your face. Try to remember this, though, when we're in the slaver's camp: they'll seize any chance to kill you. They're not going to fight fair," Not that he was an advocate for fighting fair, because he wasn't, "They're going to rush you from all sides if they can. They'll sneak in behind you, circle you and take turns taking pieces off of you until you're just a little bloody nub on the ground."

"So let this be your first lesson: don't let anyone get behind you. Don't let your focus narrow down to the opponent in front of you; be aware of your surroundings at all times."

She followed Valentine for a ways, feeling annoyance stirring in her breast. He had decided her training field in Abaven hadn’t been good enough, and she had followed him without a word. Since then, they had been walking.. And walking, and she wondered what on earth the older male was looking for. He pestered her with questions as they walked, but they all related to fighting, so she obliged him and answered as best she could. She was glad that Rhyme had given her some pointers before all this, it meant things where fresh in her mind and she had at least a little bit of experience to draw from. He would now share some information with her, telling her that he wanted her to have experience fighting multiple opponents. Her ears raised in curiosity as she listened to him. It made sense since they weren’t going over there to politely ask them to fight one on one. It would be a battle, with opponents and allies around her. It was going to be messy. “Sounds delightful.” she would add dryly as he spoke about her being a bloody little nub on the ground. Still, she wanted to hear what he had to say, and her head was tilted towards him, ears perked, as he spoke. He definitely described a messy scene, and people fighting without any rules. It left her feeling trepidation and… maybe not excitement, but there was definitely something warming her blood, eager to test herself in the real life scene he was describing. “Understood.” she said when he told her what her first lesson was, she glanced over at Rhyme, half expecting that he had been giving orders earlier to sneak up on her, and she wanted to keep everyone in her line of sight. She already knew that Valentine fought dirty, it wasn’t a difficult guess. "Talk" "You" Think

Rhyme loped along beside his father, adding in his own experiences and points when it sounded like his input was needed, though Valentine seemed to have everything in paw. He did have almost twice Rhyme’s experience in years but he had to argue that he had a better teacher. Valentine, Birna, his mother.. they were all such huge influences in his life. Being able to come back and learn from his father once more brought him more joy than he was willing to display. He listened to his father’s advice absently as they continued, knowing Shaye would certainly do better knowing how to keep her head with multiple wolves coming at her. His ears were trained on his father, going after more than one was something he had encountered more than he liked. He looked to Shaye as she listened to his father’s blunt way of explaining the slaver’s ferocity. Rhyme knew very well they would be lucky to escape with their lives. He knew there would be serious injuries if they weren’t at the top of their game. ”Similarly, don’t forget where your partners are,” He offered between his father’s words. ”It gets even rougher when you’re separated from the guys on your side.” Being 2:1 was rough but being 2:4 was almost easier with two pairs of eyes on your side.

Valentine nodded in agreement with Rhyme's words. "Rhyme raises a good point. While you can expect to fight alone, try not to get so separated from your comrades that they can't rush to your aid - or vice versa - if necessary."

Valentine glanced thoughtfully around them and slowed to a meander as he tried to decide if this was a good place. They were now free from prying eyes and on what was hopefully unfamiliar ground for Shaye. In this accelerated program he didn't want her to be comfortable and in her element.

"No doubt they're try to separate us, to break our force down into easier to manage chunks. We can't let them do that otherwise we'll lose the battle long before we're all dead." Or captured, as no doubt the slavers would find many in their ranks worth keeping.

Rhyme spoke up then, and the Alpha glanced over at him. He spoke about the slavers trying to split them up, and the need to stick with your partner. It made her think about tactics, and she wondered how they were going to be going in on this one. She knew Rhyme and Valentine would be in charge of that. She was an Alpha, but the battlefield was their area of expertise. Valentine’s pace slowed, and she could see him looking about them. They had moved a bit from Abaven’s territory now, and she wondered if he had finally found a spot he approved of. “Do you have a plan for engagement?” she wanted to know, no doubt Valentine had had some time to think it through, and she wondered how many others had risen to this cause. "Talk" "You" Think

His father easily agreed with what he had to say, Rhyme had seen more than once their tactic of divide and conquer. He’d been forced to participate in such a raid as well, though he only recently managed not to feel sick at memories of those times. He always tried to keep his paws free of the blood of innocents and went in fighting for his life. If he wasn’t killed by the slaver’s enemies he would be killed by the slavers themselves. Or they might have targeted his mother. Valentine predicted their moves as easily as if he had been there for the raids himself. Shaye asked about their own plans for the day, and Rhyme wondered who all Valentine had suckered into bringing with them. He hoped he might have found his sister. Too many years had passed since he and Rhys had enjoyed a good spar. Rhyme looked to his father curiously, what did he have planned for them? ”They certainly wont be playing fair.” He mentioned, as Valentine had so eloquently put in different words when Rhyme sought approval for Shaye’s presence.

Valentine side-eyed Rhyme. It may have been a paraphrase but he recognized his words. Good. Perhaps his son had taken what he'd said to heart. At the very least he seemed to remember which was all Valentine asked.

"Do you have a plan for engagement?" Was 'kind of' an acceptable answer? "Mostly, although much of the actual engaging part will hinge on how many wolves join us. We will leave for them when the snow falls the heaviest and winter has had time to fray them." To Shaye, she said wryly, "Better to meet them when they're tired than when they're at their best. We'll better our odds this way."

A snuffing in the bushes ahead caused Valentine's expression to brighten considerably. "Don't remember if I said it out loud or just thought it, but we haven't got the time to train you properly. So we're going to go the quick, dirty and dangerous route." He waltzed closer to the bushes before turning back to the younglings with an impish grin on his lips.

In an instant his grin morphed into a toothy sneer and he spun on the bushes with a snarl. The sound of gnashing teeth and huffing was what he got in response. He barked and menaced, and then backpedaled with a gleeful laugh as a huge brown bear charged out of the brush. "So let's get down to business, eh? To beat those slavers you're gonna have to be fast, smart and have good friends. Oddly enough, you'll need those things if you're gonna bring me Boo Boo's tail." His grin returned. "And you are or you get to stay home this winter."

So far, the walking and talking had been mostly awkward, waiting for her chance to learn from Valentine, well also mostly ignoring the jabs he made. When he spoke in relation to battle, she found his advice sound and took it to heart. No surprise there, he was an old warrior and greatly experienced in all aspects of war. Not only that, but she also got a time frame for when they would engage the enemy. Winter he would then go on to explain that he would train her the dirty and dangerous route. She began to narrow her eyes as she heard the snuffling in the bushes, an expression that only grew as Valentine harassed whatever lay beyond. She gave a soft sharp intake of breath in surprise, as the bear came charging out. “Shit.” she snarled, jumping to the side as the creature stormed through where she had been. Valentine was still speaking, but she mostly just flicked an ear at what he said. It didn’t matter what he thought of her, this was a bear near Abaven and she would die before she let what happened to Sparrow happen to anyone else under her watch, She growled, falling into her defenses as she lunged at the bears throat, barely avoiding a powerful paw that swiped towards her. Good lord, look at the size of its claws she barely had time to thing as she landed on its back, teeth grazing the side of its neck before it reared up, tossing her off. She landed on her paws and jumped away, already in fight mode. She didn’t presume that Valentine was hers to command, but she would shout out to Rhyme. “Distract it from the front, don’t let those claws land.” she ordered, backing up a few steps as she waited for her distraction. This would be just like the crocodile.. Only this creature looked more mobile and deadly. Shit . "Talk" "You" Think

Rhyme's ears perked at his fathers words as he mentioned when the day would be that they finally returned to the slaver's pack. He felt a surge of adrenaline as Valentine spoke and poked around the bushes. Rhyme didn't have a good feeling about this and felt himself fall into a defensive position, his knees bent and he shifted his weight more evenly before narrowing his gaze. He had been right to worry, his hackles raised as the bear appeared before them.

It rushed at the two younger wolves, and just as Shaye had Rhyme leapt away from the bear's charge. When he had come about face Shaye was already engaged. He watched as she went for its throat and was barely fast enough to avoid its natural weapons. He felt a protective surge race through him as he threw himself into the fray as the bear reared up to remove his alpha partner from its back.

He caught Shaye's words an focused on the front of the creature. He growled deeply, clapping his teeth to gain its attention. The bear didn't hesitate to focus on Rhyme, with one paw then the other it slashed at him. Rhyme managed to keep Shaye's command though, keeping himself from being slashed was his main goal as hi partner went of the offense.

What was this? A Destruction said a naughty word? He loved it; loved that he'd caught her off guard. Valentine gasped in mock shock as Shaye swore. "You kiss your momma with that mouth?" Pleased with the turn of events and how seriously they were now forced to take the situation, Valentine couldn't help but grin.

Of course he wasn't going to make them fight alone. That hardly seemed wise; one experienced fighter and one inexperienced one squaring off with a bear. Two experienced fighters and one inexperienced one seemed ever so slightly safer.

Valentine swept a critical eye over Shaye and Rhyme, and frowned when Shaye instructed Rhyme to take up the most dangerous position possible provided one stopped short of actually touching the bear.  "Fast, smart, and good friends. Remember this."

So ended his first lesson. Now he was on to lesson two.

Now, onto the dangerous position Rhyme was now in. "Be careful; the front is where all the dangerous bits are," he growled. "You need to keep him moving to the side. If you just menace him from the front you'll piss him off and he'll charge you."

The bear did just that, but Valentine was ready. He came in at the bear's left side and feinted an attack. When it broke off its charge to swat at him Valentine swerved to his right and arced around the bear so that continued to spin towards him to keep him in its sights. He was going to play referee in this little game. Rhyme and Shaye would have to do all the heavy lifting; he just planned to run in when things got a bit too dangerous for his liking.

Adrenaline was spiking through her system, making her feel alive her first, quick, if foolish, attempt hadn’t born any fruit and she paused, catching her breath as she watched Rhyme engage. He caught the bears attention, and the race was on. Now that it wasn’t focused on her, she needed to get a better shot. She couldn’t leave Rhyme dancing in front of him for long, just one misjudgment on his part could be fatal. She thought again of Sparrow and felt her anger rising inside of her. For all she knew, this could well be the bear it could have the blood of an Abaven wolf on its paws. She ignored Valentine’s sarcasm, but listened to his advice with half an ear. He was warning Rhyme of the dangers, and she bit back the urge to venture a no shit to the man. But he showed he was still there to help, giving a distraction of his own as it charged her Alpha partner. head in the game she backed up, getting herself a running start, before charging. She bit back the urge to howl, knowing her part in his was surprise. She lept for its back once more, back paws digging in on its lower back for leverage, pulling herself up until her teeth could dig into the back of its neck. Her front paws scrambled fora  hold in its thick fur, and she hung the fuck on as it reared backwards. As this failed to lodge her it came back down heavily on its front paws and she used this momentum to drive her teeth further in. man its fur was thick, and well she was gorging a bloody hole, she hadn’t yet found its jugular. "Talk" "You" Think

The slate alpha was quick and agile despite his height, he’d never gained the heavy weight his father or half siblings boasted. Rhyme couldn’t distract himself with thoughts of attack, being at the front he had to be entirely in tune with staying on the defensive. He couldn’t get hit, as soon as he did that would be the end. He was half listening as Valentine offered his expertise on the subject, and wasn’t surprised when the bear charged and his father was suddenly there. Rhyme danced out of the way as Valentine maneuvered around the creature and Shaye suddenly leapt to its back. He continued to keep his part in all of it, distracting and keeping the beast’s attention. As Shaye let its blood flow and the bear reared upon its hind legs Rhyme barked and snapped his teeth some more. Though they were highly intelligent in such a high adrenaline situation the bear became fully convinced it was Rhyme causing the pain. He kept his father’s words in his mind and remained slightly to the right of the creature’s front. He’d have more room to evade, but also kept himself as the creature’s target. ""

It might have seemed like Valentine was stating the obvious, but then again how obvious could his advice really be if Shaye had directed his son to take up an unwise position. Either she was clueless or didn't care as much about Rhyme's safety as she professed. Either way Valentine hoped Rhyme was smart enough to pay more attention to his advice than hers.

Valentine resisted the urge to sigh as Shaye leapt up onto the bear. Their goal here was to take the bear's tail, not ride it around the clearing like a pony or try to kill it. It was a bear and it was only a matter of time before it got one of them. Time was precious; they needed to reach their goal and get away as quickly as possible because they were courting disaster.

With the bear distracted by cowgirl Shaye, Valentine found a moment to comment on the situation. "Remember our goal: we're here for the tail. Every second we engage it is a second closer to disaster. It's not a coyote; when it finally gets a blow in it's going to fuck one of us up."

Rhyme appeared to have the bear's attention so Valentine sneaked around behind it to its left side. If he wanted he could have used the opportunity to jump in and grab the bear's tail, but that was for the kids to do. Instead he lingered off to the side, ready to jump in and distract the bear if he felt one of the kids was in danger.