The Warlord had seen little of his newest little grandkids. With the sickness ravaging the pack, it made sense to keep them somewhat isolated. He had glanced in on them in the den, checking to see how the little ones were doing. Now he wanted to meet them in earnest. Get an idea of who they were, and what path they might wish to start down in the Armada. The Warlord loved nothing more than little ones climbing over his thick coat.

He stopped outside Hana’s den, and raised his head, howling for the little ones. He had no doubt that Azure’s companions were keeping a close eye on them. He settled down on his hunches, and waited for the little ones to arrive.

"Speech"

Things were going back to normal, whatever that was supposed to mean. The sky was a lot brighter, all blue with white smeared across it and all those things he'd been told to stay away from seemingly vanished overnight. Like they'd never been there in the first place. Whatever, he couldn't say he cared very much as it was hard to focus on the then when he was living in the now. Instead, his ears perked when he heard a deep and billowing voice call out into the open air. Not for him in particular, more of an open invitation. One he made no attempt to resist as he wove his way through the long grass and made his way back to the den.

Mother was always in her den, didn't want to come out no matter what the weather was like and Father was often busy doing pack things so...Oh it was Grandpa. Levi knew of him, was more than familiar with his scent even if they hadn't properly met face to face just yet. Time they change that then, get the ball rolling so to speak.

Tilting his head back, Levi squinted up at the towering dire. Even now he sensed he'd never get that big and yet he was strangely indifferent about it. Like he'd rather be small than spend the rest of his life itching himself like Makara always was. Nasty thing.

"What?" He asked with typical puppyish bluntness.

The Warlord grinned as the small, young wolf made his way towards him. He was dark in coat, with the slashes known to his line in striking gold across his eye. He looked like a Fatalis wolf, through and through. His grandson. “Alright, let's have a look at you then, Levi” he said with a gentle gruffness. He crouched down, placing a paw gently against the boy's side. lifting up the pup's paw, he looked at the boy's wicked claws, his growing fangs, and lastly the spines along his scruff.

“You look like you have the making of a proud Armada warrior” he said to the tiny young wolf, scarcely more than a baby. “Want to learn how to use these?” he asked, raising his brow in a gentle challenge to the boy.


"Speech"

Levi wasn't much of a touchy-feely boy and never would be, but he was willing enough as Sirius gave him a once over. Gentle and kind, but no doubt gauging what he had to work with. The little Leviathan wasn't concerned in the least and let him do as he pleased, the gold tips of his ears flitting forward as the Warlord seemed to come to a conclusion. A proud Armada warrior? Yes Levi could do that, quite easily too, he reckoned. He'd never really put much thought into his mutations, questioned why he'd gotten these whilst some of his siblings did not, but understood he would need professional guidance in order to learn how to use them effectively. That it took more than might and good breeding to actually win battles.

"Yes Sir." Levi told him, wondering what his first lesson would be.

There were no complaints from the newest addition to the Armada as the Warlord took a careful look over him. He was more pleased then he would say that there were recognisable traits of the Fatalis line passing down through the generations. He stepped back, and made a pleased humph in the back of his throat at the boy's words. “Good choice, lad” he said, getting to his old paws.

“First, let's see how you do with the basics, have you been down to the training rings by the ocean?” he asked, already moving as he began to lead the golden child down that way.


"Speech"

"No. " He said, honest as could be as he followed in the Warlord's shadow. Tiny and his footfalls barely louder than a whisper. "Don't like learning that way. Like fighting better. "

He just didn't see the appeal, wanted to sink his teeth into something warm and real. Not bundles of straw that couldn't fight back even if they wanted to. Besides, his efforts to train himself by trial and error had been pretty successful so far, he'd defeated that pup from Habari with no trouble and had even outrun a yearling who double his size. If his current methods were working then why stop? Made no sense to the little Fatalis, none at all.

The Warlord led the tiny wee pup down to the beach. The dark, gold-trimmed wolf followed in his wake, almost lost in the green grasses abundant in the territory. They reached the beach, the sandy territory opening up before them. The barracks sat tall and proud, just out of reach of the tide. Littered around it were carefully lined boundaries of training rings.

“I don’t know what your fathers been teaching you, but that's a terrible attitude to learning” he scolded. “You need to accustom your body to moving the way you want it to. You need to strategize, and understand your opponent, the fight. If you dive in blind, and rageful, and unprepared, you're setting yourself up to lose.” He explained to the pup, nudging him towards the training ring.

"Speech"

What had his Father been teaching him? "Nothing." He told the Warlord, all matter of fact and obviously unfazed by the lack of attention. Wasn't like he wanted it anyway. Instead he listened to his Grandfather, the gold of his ears twitching a little as he took in his words. He guessed he saw where he was coming,  from, but still fought doing it his way was more fun and effective. But he wasn't gonna kick up that much of a fuss, not when even he realised there was something to be learned from a warrior like Sirius. He had to be the best of the best for a reason, right?

"So what? He asked once they came to a stop, an expectant head tip as he waited for instructions.

The Warlord nodded his head, seeing Levi wasn’t going to protest any further. His muscles did tighten around his muzzle as the boy admitted how little interest his father was taking in him. That would not do. Asla had taught Seer that it didn’t matter how small you were - you could still become a fighter to make the Armada proud. How has Azure not learnt that lesson?

“You will meet me here at dawn, every second day” he informed the boy, making a snap decision. He would spend an hour each other morning on Levi. The boys' training would not fall by the wayside.

Stopping near the barracks, he turned his body fully towards the boy. “In a fight, there are places in your body that are easy targets. Places you need to consider protecting even while you are fighting. Can you guess where they might be?”


"Speech"

The dark of his lips pouted a little at the thought of training every other day-a near spitting image of his sulky mother- he was a busy pup and had places to be, things to bite! But fine, whatever. He liked his Grandpa enough not to protest too much,  especially if he could get some hoof trimming snacks for good behaviour.

"Okay." He told him.

Lingering by his Grandpas side, Levi thought for a moment. He hadn't done much theoretical training so far, but he was a smart boy, sharp of mind and body. He'd listen and play along but didn't find this overly challenging or interesting. Maybe the Warlord would ramp it up when he realised Levi wasn't clumsy and slow, like so many pups his age.

"Ears. Throat. Back of neck. The spines along his scruff ruffled a little, the skin beneath tensing as though to prove he was holly capable of looking out for his vulnerable point and overall weaknesses. "I am small. My enemies try to crush me a lot, knock me off balance."