Ash had taken Sparrow to one of his favorite places. Not that she had to know why it was his favorite place yet or anything about alcohol, but still. He led her along the trees and she took it all in with wide eyes until... "Shh- Sparrow, under me," Ash commanded. Sparrow listened and ducked under her father. There was a cat scent on the breeze and it wasn't long before Ash saw it. It was a mountain lion. Did they even live here? Wait- something was wrong with it. It was swaying and stumbling around. Was it sick? As the wind shifted, the smell finally hit Ashmedai and he had to try hard not to snicker. The cat was shitfaced. Well, it could still be dangerous, right? Especially when it sobered up.

"Hey Sparrow, wanna get some fight practice in?" Ash whispered. She nodded and Ash smiled. "Okay, I'll keep its attention, you watch for openings and only strike when I say so."

When he finished instructing his daughter, he sprung off to draw attention to himself. A few sharp barks brought the cat's attention sluggishly to Ash. He wanted to test how bad off it was. He ran in a few circles, giving a few growls in its direction. It didn't seem to really want him nearby, but it seemed like it couldn't be bothered to really face him. To test it further, Ash landed a test bite. The cat growled and swiped at him, but missed the mark as well as its balance. It fell over onto its side and struggled to get up for a while. Its paws flailed at the air and Ash used it as an opportunity to land a few more serious hits. Maybe they could chase it away. It was kind of lame to kill it when it was like this, but he couldn't have it prowling around sober when Sparrow and Talon were in the pack and were still so young. It was good experience for Sparrow anyway.

Just when it was about to roll itself over, Ashmedai launched at it to roll it back over, using his weight to pin its paws. The cat snapped at him and he snapped back at it, keeping its face and front paws busy. The pack paws were still a threat if Sparrow got too close, however.

"Go for the shoulder, Sparrow!" He'd instruct her and keep the cat busy for as long as he could. When he felt his grip slipping, he told Sparrow to back off. "Alright, that's good, now fall back!"

Ash waited for her to get to safety then sprung back himself. The cat finally hauled itself around and made a hazy attempt to charge at Ashmedai. Ash dodged with little difficulty then ran around to lure it further. The cat followed, seemingly unaware of Sparrow.

Ash baited it further with a flurry of quick bites as he ran by it. He was able to get a good grip on it and force it to the ground. "Sparrow, now!" He'd give time for Sparrow to unleash her own slew of attacks. The cat growled and rumbled beneath him in the meantime. It's tail flicked wildly from side to side. It seemed the cat was getting rather tired of their antics. Good, if they pushed it hard now, they might be able to chase it off.

"Sparrow, do your worst then get back!"

Ash shoved the cat down as hard as he could and seized its scruff roughly in his maw while he let Sparrow go berserk on the poor thing. It was his sole job to make sure the cat wouldn't get up while she did her work. He wanted her to get a few good blood-drawing bites in while he held it down. Once she backed off, he gave the cat's scruff a tough shake. He jumped back and gave the cat a stern snarl, full teeth bared and big warning mode. He wanted one thing to be clear in this cat's blurry, hangover memories: they let him go out of their own good will. They could have ended him, but they didn't.

After that, he let out a sharp bark and lashed out at the cat's face, dragging his teeth down its nose enough to leave a visible scar. A little reminder for the road. The cat yowled and threw a few more sloppy slashes in Ash's direction before skittering off, only turning back to hiss once before it disappeared beyond the trees, hitting a few of them on its way out.

Ash spat out the cat bits that remained in his mouth before turning to look at his daughter. He offered her a wide, loose grin and trotted over to her side. "Would you look at that? You helped me chase a cat from the pack borders." Sparrow beamed up at him proudly and Ash offered her a pat on the head. "Should we continue our tour?"

The young girl was outwardly enthusiastic about getting to tour more and more of the orchard. All the trees were so pretty and there were so many cool scents and smells for her to go off of. When her father told her to duck under him, she did as she was told. It was hard being a loner wolf, he had told her. He had warned her about the many predators and foes she might face. He told her how it was good to be brave, but that even sometimes you had to save yourself at the end of the day. Pride was worth nothing if you lost your life, he said.

She cowered beneath him, eyes wide as she looked around for whatever her dad was seeing. She tried to make her breath steady like he told her to do when she was scared but it felt impossible. Her heart hammered in her little chest as she crouched beneath her father. Finally, he spotted it. It was a BIG CAT He told her she could get some fight practice in. Against this big cat? She was a little nervous, but Tyr and Talon and Alarr would all be SO JEALOUS if they knew she could already fight against big cats like this one.

Ash told Sparrow to wait and so she did. She watched as he let himself get chased around by the big cat, a smirk on his face the whole time. She watched how he bravely maneuvered and avoided the claws. Her dad had been in a lot of fights, and it showed at least in her eyes. He eventually pinned it and turned to her and shouted that she should go to the shoulder. She assumed he meant the shoulder facing her and she kicked off, closing the distance between her and the cat. She gave it her biggest, best bite with a growl and when she latched on she shook her head as viciously as she could. After getting a few seconds of attack in, her father told her it was time to back off, so she did.

She then watched again as her father let the cat have it. Sparrow couldn't even count the amount of attacks he was getting in! After a while of watching, she realized that her dad wasn't even trying to kill it. She found herself feeling disappointed and wondering as to why he wouldn't kill the funny smelling cat. She eventually reasoned that it meant they were chasing it off. Yes! They were gonna show that big fat cat who was boss around here. Spoiler, it was them and not the cat!

Her dad continued to dodge swings and get in little nips and bites. Sparrow watched like a hawk, trying to see how he did everything he did. How did his tail move when he turned all sharp and how did his feet seem to sink into the ground just before he attacked. He seemed so solid and so springy at the same time while Sparrow felt like everything she did was hefty and clumsy. He somehow kept his frame loose and his attacks rigid. He had started to teach her her defenses and Sparrow tried to list them as she saw them. He had his knees bent... but he was running, so they were always bending and unbending. Then his hackles were up, that's why he looked so poofy. And also he had been using his tail when he turned for balance, but mostly he kept it up like he was having fun. His ears were sharp and alert but when he went to attack, he pulled them back so that the big mean kitty cat couldn't claw at them. What else? He always dug his toes and nails into the ground when running, making dirt fly up in all directions when he was running around. He kept himself a moving target rather than waiting on the cat to attack. And... even for a big wolf, he kept his body pretty low to the ground. Especially when he was running. Sparrow lost count midway through and settled for just watching her father.

Eventually her father pinned the big cat and again turned to her and told her to attack as much as she possibly could. Sparrow used this time to emulate her father as she made several attacks on the cat. It was only a little, but she could taste it's blood. She tried to keep attacking. She wanted to remember the taste of blood. Ash had said that if you taste it once, you never forget it and Sparrow wanted to make sure she didn't forget. Her dad told her that it was time for one more attack and then to back off. Sparrow did her best grab and shake she could, savoring the blood she was able to acquire.

As soon as she was ready, she sprung backwards and skirted away as her father kicked off and chased the cat away. Sparrow was elated. Ash told her that SHE had helped chase a cat away from the pack lands her family lived in. Then he asked if she wanted to continue the tour and Sparrow nodded enthusiastically. Of course she did!