Naiche was determined to give his kids the training needed to be the best fighters possible.  So he went to Asla’s den early in the morning to meet the kids at the den to announce they were going to the beachside for a fighting lesson.   It was still so amazing to Naiche that he was truly a father and now he could even do more with the children.  It had been great visiting them in the den, offering love and nuzzles but this was all the better.  Now he could start training them and showing them the world.   Naiche would keep an eye on them as they headed to the beach, make sure they didn’t get into trouble along the way.  His parents hadn’t put fight training as a priority but Naiche wouldn’t make that mistake.  These kids would be able to take on whatever was thrown at them.  He had no doubt Asla would do the same. Naiche got to the beach, sitting down near the fighting ring then watching the kids. “Time to learn how to fight.”  Naiche hadn’t taken them to the beach before and wondered if Asla had.  Would they focus on him and the lesson or be too distracted by everything here?  It really was a wonderful landscape in Naiche’s mind.  A wonderful landscape that alligators had visited in the past.  Danger was everywhere for the pups! "Naiche"

Once more, Satira found herself being woken up as soon as the sun had risen to do things, except instead of her obnoxious sibling, this time it was by Naiche. The golden-furred wolf who had become a constant fixture in their lives due to the virtue of being the sire for Arcturus. He announced they would be doing fighting training, the sleepy pup only half paying attention to what was going on and only just able to keep her eyes open. Was this what life was like as she got older? Waking up way too early to do things she really didn't want to do because someone else expected you to do it? If so, how did she opt out and go back to the way things were before?

With all the reluctance her tiny puppy heart could muster, Satira got up and did her best to smooth and brush out her downy puppy fur, looking a damn sight better than her bedraggled and fuzzy brother if she did say so herself. At least she wasn't quite so ridiculously poofy when she maintained her appearance. Trudging down to the beach, Satira was stunned by the sheer size of the ocean lapping at the shore just behind Naiche. It was a ludicrous amount of water and it stretched on for miles as far as she could see! "Whoa!" exclaimed Satira as she marveled at the beach. Crunch! Sand shifting under her paws startled her for a moment and she scurried back, casting a wary glance at the beach. Why had the ground suddenly become soft and crunchy? She pawed at the sand, experimenting with it, then continued to walk towards Naiche, listening and feeling the sand shift beneath her toes. A wide grin spread across her face. She liked the way it felt!

Sauntering over to where the golden wolf had drawn a circle in the sand, Satira nonchalantly crossed over into the ring and sat her rump down on the soft sand. She peered up at Naiche with tired blue eyes; it was way too early to be enthusiastic about this. But he seemed excited, so she supposed she could at least play along. Who knows, she might learn something useful, and she could always find a shady spot to nap in later.

"Satira Fatalis"

Arcturus didn't mind mornings nearly as much as his sister did. As soon as the sun rose he wanted to go out and run all over the Armada territory - with Ashur of course. He pretty much dominated all of the feline companion's time because of his excitable, adventurous nature, but before he could do that today his father appeared and told them it was time for a fighting lesson. That was even better than going on some kind of solo adventure! He gave a half-hearted try at shaking out and smoothing down his fur, but it was a hopeless cause. The fur around his neck and chest especially was extra thick and puffy and was always sticking up in all directions no matter what he did.

He followed along beside his father dutifully as they left the den, going all the way out across the plains and out toward the beach. He had seen the ocean from a distance on his trips out to explore, but hadn't actually made it out this far yet. It was even bigger up close! It was huge! He grinned wide at it, looking with wide, blue eyes at the wide, blue ocean, but just as he was about to look toward his sister to see her reaction he also stepped onto the sand and his ears perked at the unusual terrain. He looked down at the sand with a curious tilt of his head, but unlike his sister that that pawed at it curiously and carefully, his immediate response was to grin and jump forward, kicking up some of the soft sand around him with a giggle.

When his father told them it was time to learn how to fight his attention was immediately pulled back into the task at hand. Fighting training was his favorite thing! Well, okay, hunting was pretty fun too, but fighting was just a little more fun right now cause most stuff that there was too hunt was too big for him. He ran to sit beside his sister in the ring, sitting down on his butt and grinning up at Naiche expectantly, his tail wagging and brushing away sand behind him.

"Arcturus Fatalis"

Naiche had fun watching both of their reactions.  He had hoped to be the first to show them the beach and it was worth it to watch their reactions.  Naiche had spent most of his first year of life in a band that traveled and he’d had the great joy of a pup seeing new areas, feeling different turf, and seeing different sights.  The travel to desire still had a spot in his heart but it was diluted with pack life giving him reason to remain where he was.  So now he got to see his son experience the same joy of something new. Then they were both near him, their attention focused on him and no sign of distraction.  Admittedly Satira didn’t look overly excited but she also was paying attention.  Arc was clearly his son, the boy was excited over the idea of learning how to fight.  Arc was his boy! Both of them got a grin, “alright.  Fast quiz time.  What are important things you should consider before the fight starts and when fighting what seems most important to you?” He watched both the pups to see how much thought the questions got or confidence level in their answers or whatever they might do.  “We’ll go over some basic training first and then you two will get to spar and test out what you learn.” Speech:"Live to fight" Think

Naiche smiled at the two of them, then wasted no time in getting right down to brass tacks. He asked them two fairly straightforward questions. Satira glanced over to her brother, trying to hide the knowing smirk on her face. Unbeknownst to the golden boy, Tira had actually spent a day training with Naiche and Pan, and he had given her some answers to the pop quiz ahead of time. "You should consider your opponent. Their size, their strength, their experience. Never consider anyone an easy win and never take your eyes off of them." That part had been easy—they were literally Naiche's own words that she'd internalized. "You should also think about where you're fighting. Like, this ground is soft and not firm, so you might slip." She pawed at the sand as an example. She thought for a moment what she would consider important in a fight. "Defending yourself seems pretty important. I don't wanna get hurt, so I need to be prepared to block an attack, right?" She looked over to Arcturus next, wondering what her brother would answer with. He never seemed the type to enjoy lecture-based lessons, so would he actually have a response, or would he just be chomping at the bit to start fighting?

"Satira Fatalis"

Arcturus internally groaned when his father started quizzing them on fighting basics, but he didn't show it on the outside. He just wanted to learn by doing, he didn't want to talk about it all. Luckily his sister spoke up first, rattling off a bunch of stuff that she had clearly memories from somewhere. It was all pretty obvious stuff that he knew like checking out their opponent before they jumped into the fight and the kind of stuff to look for. He supposed the thing about the different texture of the ground was a good point, not that he'd say anything to complement her on it and just make her already big head bigger.

She looked at him as if she expected him to add something and he scoffed as he reached up to flick one of her floppy ears. "Well you didn't leave anything for me to answer with," he complained with a mostly joking glare, but eventually added, "Well... You probably want to look for any weaknesses too, right? Like if they have any old wounds that are still healing or maybe just a spot that they're not paying attention to. So you can sneak up on them easier."

"Arcturus Fatalis"

Well, well, someone certainly paid attention during training.  Satira hadn’t simply heard his words then forgot them the next day.  She apparently had a pretty good memory, even if she wasn’t a morning wolf.  Naiche nodded to her both about the sand and then defending herself.  Naiche felt an inward smirk at his impatient son’s answer.  He knew the boy was just itching to fight.  Naiche completely understood it also.  He preferred to learn by experience over just listening.  Still, this part wouldn’t be overly long.  He did bring up a good point also. Naiche waited till they were both done offering answers, “excellent points.” Naiche pressed a paw into the sand. “The ground as mentored is different, and there is more to it than just how it feels when you are standing on it.  Enemies can fight in different ways.” Naiche scooped up a bit of the sand quickly, flinging it away from them.  “Someone could try flinging that as a distraction for example.  Does the enemy have any friends with them that are hiding?” “Also important, never go into a fight thinking you are going to lose.  I’m not talking about training as it's always good to put the odds against you when learning to be better.  I’m talking about a fight to prove something.  Whether its defending your life, the pack, or your honor, if there is a reason to fight you don’t acknowledge the idea of losing.” Naiche seemed to consider what he’d said, “but, you shouldn’t need to fight for any of those things this early in life.” He offered the two a toothy fiery grin, “that’s why you learn at this age.  To be the best when the fights happen.” Glancing between the two, “defending yourself is definitely important as you said Satira.  I use speed as my main form of defense.  I attempt to get a shot in fast and get away fast then go right back in. It means being fast, quick to react, and lots of balance.  It’s good when fighting those larger and stronger than you.  No reason to give them an advantage in a fight over pure muscle.” Naiche then glanced to Arc, “and as you mentioned, weaknesses.  Those can both be physical and emotional.  So not only look for the limps or blindsides but sometimes you’ll find one so hot-headed that you can make them angry enough their attacks lose focus.  They shift from skill to just biting whatever is in front of them.  They might be more timid and easy to intimidate.  Weakness of the body or mind in your enemy can be a great edge.”  Naiche hadn't played on anyone's emotions before in a fight but it was a true tactic.  They could use it if they wanted but at least needed to know it so they wouldn't have it used on them. “Alright, you two face each other.  Get into your best fighting stance.  Think through your plan on how you want to attack the enemy in front of you.  That’s not your sister or your brother.  The enemy in front of you is a vicious outside threatening the pack.” Naiche lowered his voice for the mood, “Just watch the enemy for a moment and plan your attack.  You won’t always get time to study the enemy but always do so when you can.  Extra time to spot those weaknesses.  Don’t attack yet.”  This would be fun.  Naiche imagined the two fighting would be the perfect mix of pride as a dad at fighting abilities and cuteness of puppies trying to look tough. "Naiche"

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Satira shot her brother a glare and stuck her tongue out at him when he griped about her taking all the good answers. She nipped at his paw when it flicked her flopped over ear, Sandy biting down on nothing but air instead of hiss squishy toe beans. "Well, maybe if you were actually paying attention instead of daydreaming, you wouldn't be so slow," she teased him back. Naiche seemed impressed with both of their answers, confirming that they were both correct. Naiche gave them a few further pointers to their answers, things to think about and pay attention for, such as how the terrain could be turned into a weapon against your opponents or against you. Ever the good student, Tira sat and listened diligently with attentive ears, if not sleepy eyes. Just because she hated mornings didn't mean she didn't hold herself to her best behavior, especially when it came to learning how to beat up her bully of a brother.

Tira became especially interested when Naiche mentioned using emotional or mental weaknesses of your opponents to defeat them. She cast a sideways glance to Arc with a devilish smirk growing on her face. She liked the idea of mentally manipulating her brother and getting the upper hand over him. That sounded like a fun thing to learn! If Naiche didn't teach them any of those techniques, perhaps she could ask her mother about those later. As the Reaper, surely she would know all of the fighting styles and methods that ever existed, right?

Naiche gave the command for them to face off with one another. Now they would put theory into practice with a spar against her brother. Satira stood up and shook out the loose sand from her fluffy puppy fur and turned to face her brother. He looked a right mess with sand sticking to all of his excess fur, making Tira give an exasperated sigh and a little titter of laughter. Naiche told them to get into their best fighting stances, and Satira tried to mimic what she'd seen her mother show them before. Paws apart, wedged in the soft sand about shoulder length apart, though it was a little cumbersome with the sand hindering her movements and her tiny legs. She glared across at Arcturus. She didn't need any prompts to think of him as an enemy. Arc tormented her on an almost daily basis, pouncing on her in her sleep, biting at any part of her he could reach, messing with her floppy ears all the time. No, Tira already saw him as an opponent, and she was itching to be able to deal a bit of revenge back to him.

"Satira Fatalis"

Arcturus glared at his sister and stuck his tongue out at her as well before refocusing on his father, listening to all the additional notes and lessons he gave about the sand being a tool in the fight too and not just something different to consider for their footing. He nodded in agreement to all the things he said about fighting for a reason even though they didn't need to right now. He definitely wanted to be the best fighter! There was no doubt about that! More nods were given while his father talked about defenses and being faster than those bigger than them and about weaknesses - physical and mental - and something else... so much talking. He just wanted to spar and do things to learn. His sister was the studious one of the two of them. He wanted to learn by doing!

Luckily it seemed like they had finally gotten to the spar part of their lesson and he immediately perked back up like a house plant getting some water for the first time in several days. He hopped up onto his paws and gave himself a quick shake before turning to face his sister and dropping down into a fighting stance just like he had practiced with his father. His feet were placed firmly and evenly apart, his ears and tail were tucked out of reach, and he crouched down a little bit so he was ready to spring or dart out of the way at any moment. He glared at her as she laughed at him, his fluffy mane prickling and puffing - most certainly not helping his case of looking ridiculous at all.

"Arcturus Fatalis"