Kotori was working on making another snare.  He had botched the last one he tried to make earlier in the day.  Did earlier or later even count as a term now?  The sky had light to it but only from bugs, fungi, and the moon reflecting on the water.  Add to that Kotori had two fires set on either side of him with about a 10ft diameter.  Within his ring of fire, the darkness was kept at bay more than enough to diminish Kotori’s strange fear of the darkness.

It wasn’t that making a snare should be difficult but Kotori’s focus was a slippery thing and patience was in limited supply as well.  Trying to knot the one yesterday he had instead thrown the braided rope into the water when it was taking too long.  Near one of the fires slept his companions, a white tiger and a mongoose that seemed to be glowing blue about his body!

This new snare was about halfway completed and he was already pissed at it.  Chasing prey was more satisfying anyway but when he’d tried chasing something last he had heard voices in the darkness, words that he couldn’t quite make out nor pinpoint the location of where they came from.  At least if he had known what they were saying he could choose to ignore words but not knowing what they were saying had driven him half crazy.  Oddly they had stopped when he gave up and so for now it was building snares.

"Kotori Fatalis"

The glow of the fires entranced him, beckoning him forward like a moth. He scampered through the grass, keeping his eyes on the great big light. Arriving on the outskirts of their light, he found a wolf sitting in its circle. Their tawny coat glowing red and amber in the glow. He was playing with something in his paws, and had horns resting proudly on his brow.

Fearlessly, Basilisk continued forward, intent on making a grand entrance to this Armada wolf. He got a few steps in, and then tripped - rather dramatically- over his paws. Stumbling, trying to righten himself he succeeded only in overcompensating. He collapsed with an ‘oof’ of exhaled air at the feet of the stranger. He propped himself up on his front paws, blowing dirt off his nose with a huff. “Oh, hello” he said, as if nothing had happened.

"Speech"

The first thing Bas earned for his clumsiness was a growl and a paw thrust at the boy to shove him aside.  Rather like a stone or random object thrown at him, it was whacked aside.  It had gotten in the way of his work!  It was hard enough to focus without distractions tumbling right in front of him.

The object out of his way he glared back at the snare for a moment before awareness caught up.  Kotori glanced down to what he’d whacked to get out of his way.  The object was a kid, a new young black and blue boy.  Kotori was fairly certain they hadn’t met before.  He’d been away a lot lately before everything got weird so as he looked at the pup he tried to recall if he knew who the boy belonged to.  The eye markings and size were enough to convince Kotori it was family.

“You got in the way,” he irritatedly explained to the boy, “and you’re clumsy and should have avoided the attack.” Charge after charge placed on the poor boy who did nothing more than stumble in front of him.  That’s what you get for falling in front of a mentally sick wolf dangit!

The pup had his attention now so Kotori used his other paw to toss the snare away and this time not into the water.  He had aimed for ground, it landed in the fire, so that was one more snare destroyed.  The boy got a disapproving look as if this was his fault also.

“Hard to be a good fighter if you can’t even walk in a straight line,” this last part was more grudgingly stated.  Oh, right.  Azure had pups.  One thing Kotori hadn’t wanted was pup sitting duty and yet here was one right in front of him.  Kotori slowly exhaled, trying to calm himself.  With a paw he whipped away some ooze that was flowing from his mouth again.  Kotori thought of apologizing and then ditched the thought.  


Kotori Fatalis

 

With a yip of surprise, he felt something collide with the side of his head, toppling him to the side. He crashed into the ground for the second time in as many minutes, and took a moment to blink and recover. “I didn’t mean to be clumsy!” he retorted back, eyes flashing as he scrambled to his feet. Looking over the tawny wolf again, and wondering if this wolf was a threat to him.

Glaring at the big stranger, he lifted a paw and waved it at him “You try walking when your paws are bigger than you are” he retorted, a little more sourly then he had intended. The surly attitude of the wolf was catching, and his clumsy paws was already a sore point for the young wolf.

"Speech"

Kotori smirked at the boy’s retort, moving to stand over the boy, glancing down.  “Excuses don’t win fights.”  Sure, the kid had big paws but he should be used to them when they were always attached after all.  

“Anyway, you killed my attempt at making a snare.” Kotori pointed all blame at the boy instead of himself even though Kotori was the one who got the snare into the fire.  It was hard not to at the moment!

“So, planning to be a warrior I assume?” Every Fatalis should be a warrior, it was part of who they were.  Fatalis also weren’t clumsy nor did they come up with lame excuses. For a moment all of his focus was on looking the boy over.  “If you were training hard enough at fighting you’d be used to those feet.  Clearly, you’re a slacker.”  The thought of age wasn’t occurring to Kotori in terms of how long he had to train.  Another thing the poor pup wasn’t going to get when Kotori’s mind wasn’t in the right place.

“Do you even know the basics?  Let’s see you put your guard up.” Kotori helped to inspire the boy by showing off his teeth in a silent snarl.  Would the boy hide or stand to defend himself?  Snarling at something really did feel good.  Kotori just reminded himself no more striking and definitely no biting.

"Kotori Fatalis"

Anger flashed in his eyes as he looked up at the taller wolf. He had his fathers temper, and was yet to learn how to tame it. Seeing the older wolf smirk at him didn’t help. But the other wolf continued to speak, and Bas felt his nose crinkle up in confusion. What was a ‘snare’ anyway? The confusion gave a moment for the anger to drain away, and he tilted his head. He knew this wolf, right? It was one of his Uncles. He was pretty sure the man was, and that put him directly in front of him in the hierarchy.

He growled, some of that anger returning as the man called him a slacker. He was not, he wasn’t! He tried so hard to please his dad. Was he going to have to try just as hard to pleasure this barely-known relative?

The tawny wolf snarled at him, and the boy bristled, bringing himself upright. Letting his paws fall into the stance of a fighter. He might have been a baby, but Azure was a task-master. Even the young child had already had a couple lessons in fighting. That didn’t mean he was very good at it… but he wasn’t totally clueless. The tiny boy screwed up his little dark nose and growled at Kotori. Raising his paw, he mock swiped at the other wolf. He might be tiny, but by god, he was going to be mighty.

"Speech"

Kotori watched the boy get into a position and did have to grudgingly nod at the form. “So clumsy but you can stand in place well enough.” The paw swipe at air went unmentioned but he did add a grudging, “good job on your form.”  He didn’t have to like teaching a kid, he didn’t have to like the brat or be happy about his messing up the snare but he did need to try and think straight right now.  If he was doing this he had to make honest statements.

“Now, try and control your legs and run at me.  I’m going to make one simple attack at you.  Your only job is to prove you can dodge without falling over yourself.” Kotori shrugged, “if you don’t dodge you’ll get hit, if you do dodge but fall I’ll tell you how you moved wrong.”  There, he was managing to not totally insult the kid now.  Kotori shook his head attempting to clear the fog that was making the ability to focus on the boy and what they were doing harder.


Kotori Fatalis

 

Wait, really? Basilisk perked up a little at the unexpected praise of the grumpy old wolf. He tried not to look too eager as this barely familiar family member took an interest in him. Basilisk knew that in order to be the very best, he had to get experience anywhere he could. This was an unexpected sauce but Bas would take it. He wrestled his anger under control - easier, not that Ko wasn’t being an ass to him.

He furrowed his brow at the wolf's request. He could do this, he could. He gathered his feet under him, considering for a moment, and then lunging forward. His oversized paws through him far as he raced at Kotori, waiting for any signs of where the blow was going to come from.

"Speech"

Kotori was agitated and unhappy nor was his focus very good.  However, he was reminding himself every moment ‘training the kid, training the kid, training the kid.’  As the boy ran towards him Kotori made no secret of what he was doing.  The horned wolf raised his paw partially.  This wasn’t about surprise yet on the pup, this was about making him use his feet correctly.

Kotori made his paw raise a bit wider than needed to make his attempt clear but balancing that when he swung the paw the motion was fast.  Kotori’s goal was a good whack to the boy's head.  If it hit there was plenty of power to try and knock the boy right off his feet.  Kotori figured he’d given Bas more than enough warning that if he did get hit, he deserved it.

Kotori Fatalis