Gossamer had waited til she was fully back on her feet to attend to fight training. She'd been assigned to Lia, a gorgeous girl she knew very little about. All she knew was Azure wanted the girl trained in fighting and Gossamer would have to work to focus on the task at hand and Lia's supple body. Ok, she could do this. Lia was probably taken already anyway.

First things first, she had to figure out how much Lia knew about fighting and from there she could get a lesson plan put together. Gossamer settled on the training grounds of the Sea's Plain and tipped back her head to call for the other girl. Hopefully, Gossamer could get through this lesson without making a total idiot of herself. She rubbed lightly at her face, smoothing fur fussily over her new scars. One of these days she was going to wear that pirate's tail as a trophy.

Lia faced the day with some trepidation. Briar and Artorias had managed to hammer home some of the basics of fighting, but her subservient nature hadn't messed well thus far with the lessons. More inclined to duck her head then face a blow head on, and certainly very reluctant to raise a paw against her ‘betters’ But the leaders of the pack did not allow its members to escape lessons in combat, and now she was assigned a child of the Warlord himself. A Princess, like her Mistress was.

Shr rose in the morning, setting on some tea for her Mistress, and tidying up the den. Briar had already left to get in some training, and she would come back to find the tea cooling for her. She was running out of tasks to keep herself busy when the howl of the Fatalis Princess rang out for her.

She knew the direction of the call, familiar with the territory the pack used for their training. She made her way towards the ocean at a prompt pace, and found the dark, dappled woman waiting patiently for her. She dipped her head respectfully to the taller wolf. “You called for me, My Lady?”


Speech

Gossamer watched passively as Lia approached, trotting across the sand as the sunlight dappled her fiery coat, making her look like some autumn spirit caught unawares in the blooming spring. Gossamer nodded, fidgeting a little at the formality of Lia's speech. She knew the woman was ranked a slave, but she hadn't had much dealings with the slaves of the Armada. Gossamer was fickle and stubborn. She liked to do things herself and had no desire to have a tag along messing with her stuff.

"Azure has instructed me to assist in your fight training. What are you comfortable with so far and where do you find you struggle?" She had to get an idea of Lia's level before she could really hold a lesson.

Lia had had little to do with the co-alpha of the Armada. The Champion didn’t mingle with the likes of her. That was for the best, by all accounts the young son of the Warlord had a short temper. If he had instructed Gossy to teach her, then Lia knew she had no say in the matter. She dipped her head again in acknowledgment to the other woman. Saying nothing of her dislike of fighting, how it was her nature to cower, not to fight back.

“Forgive me, my Lady. I know the basics of the stances, but fighting is far beyond my current abilities” she explained apologetically. Knowing the importance of fighting in this pack, and wondered just how much trouble her inability would put her in.


Speech

Gossamer listened patiently as Lia explained that she knew the basics but that fighting was not a big part of her current abilities. Ok, well, that wasn't as specific as she'd hoped for but it indicated that perhaps they should start at the beginning. Or maybe spar so she could actually get a feel for what Lia knew. "That's alright. We all must start somewhere." She turned and walked a short ways from Lia before turning once more to face her. Gossamer set her defenses. "Let me see you set your defenses. If you're up for it let's do a quick spar so I can see where you're at in terms of attack." From there she could help Lia with moves and targets. Though she had a feeling they might end up moving slowly. She could sense a similar hesitancy in Lia that she sensed in Ophelia when she held a brief lesson for two of her sisters.

Lia watched the young Princess, polite and anxious as the other wolf chewed over her words. Lia knew that fighting was a large part of the lifestyle in the pack here, but fighting back wasn’t in her nature. Not any more. She already knew her experience before her was going to be an uncomfortable one, but she was obedient to a fault.

The young warrior stepped away from here, before turning and facing her again. “As you wish, My lady”Her ears started to flatten at the mention of a spar, before she smoothly turned the motion into obedience. Flattening them to her skull, scrunching her neck fur, setting her balance. She narrowed her eyes and flared her tail, her eyes on Gossamer all the while. Wondering what the Princess thought of her knowledge so far.


Speech

Gossamer sensed the other woman's hesitancy but ignored it. She was focused on the task at hand and analyzing Lia's technique. It was imperative she focus. Facing across a woman of such beauty made it far too easy to get distracted. She examined the other woman's defenses, nodding. "Good. Don't forget to raise your hackles. You can also roll your shoulders forward. Pairing that with scrunching your neck back will give your neck even more protection." Gossamer followed suit, setting her own defenses, mimicking Lia's while adding the additional one's she'd suggested. "Ok, go ahead and attack me."

Lia concentrated on her body, trying to push aside how uncomfortable it felt to prepare herself for a fight. She could feel her heartbeat pick up a little, though she knew she was in no danger here. She raised her hackles and rolled her shoulders at the other girl's direction. Scrunching her neck, and feeling a little silly as she did it. Really, what was the fuss with training a slave to fight? She had no intention of fighting back.

She watched as Gossamer set her defences, looking far more comfortable in her body then the small healer girl did. Once the Princess was set, her next instructions left Lia’s stomach curling. Oh no. Setting defences was one thing, but attacking the Princess? She felt dizzy, locked between a desperate desire to duck her head and beg forgiveness, and her innate need to follow orders.

She came forward slowly, struggling to remember to hold her defences as she walked. attack the Princess. Attack the Princess. How did one attack? She remembered the feel of her attackers claws in her scruff, his weight pushing her down… a shiver ran through her body as she reached Gossamer, and she reached out a paw, pressing it down almost gently on the other girls right front paw, and then lifted it again, shaking her head. “I… I don’t know Princess Gossamer, forgive me, I’m sorry. I know Aegis Artorias and Warlord Sirius have ordered that I learn to fight, but I…” she hung her head in shame.


Speech

Gossamer waited, her toes flexing in the sand as she waited for Lia to make a move. At first she thought the other woman was trying to throw her off with the wait but as she watched the other woman's face it seemed Lia was struggling. She finally moved, walking slowly forward. A feint? A trick? No. Lia placed her paw gently on Gossamer's, causing Gossy's own heart to start beating a bit faster at the contact. Gossamer took a deep breath to steady herself and swallowed sharply, wondering why her throat felt so dry. Ok, c'mon, lieutenant, focus.

Gossamer sat down carefully, letting her defenses fall as she gazed inquisitively at Lia. "But you…? What's holding you back? Don't worry if you hurt me. I do pretty well at healing and have a fussy fox that will fix me up." She smiled softly, trying to get Lia to look up at her.

This was harder then she thought it would be. She had thought she had reached a point where she could obey any order, for any reason. Certainly those that had trained her had thought as much. But this? It was going against the grain, against the training she had been raised with. Raising a paw against a Master was a death sentence in her old life. Somehow, here, it was expected of her. She knew that, she knew things were different here. She thought she had come to terms with it, but now thay she was faced with it she could see that was not so.

She could here the gentleness in the Princesses voice. Timidly, she found herself looking up into a kindly smile. How did that make it worse? She swallowed, feeling dismay. She didn't want to let down the Princess. This one, or her Mistress. Nor The Warlord, nor her Aegis. They all expected something from her, expected this. Letting them down was a physical pain in her chest. "My Princess... in the past raising my paw against you would have gotten me severely beaten, or worse. I thought I was prepared, but I fear I'm struggling with this. Please don't... tell the Warlord." Yeah, ask the Princess not to tell her father. That was a great idea. She dropped her eyes, looking at the grass. The memory of pain pushing to the surface.

Gossamer bit her lip as Lia explained her past life and the consequences that would result from her attacking a 'master'. She hadn't known much of Lia's history, only that she was some sort of servant in the Armada. Boy this was going to be a challenge. She had a few ideas that might help, but they were risky and she wasn't sure if she had the time. "Ahh… I can see why this is difficult for you. Hmmm…" She sat back a bit, her mind churning as she pulled over her thoughts. "Oh, don't worry. There's not really any reason to tell the warlord anything. I'm training you and you are indeed training. We'll get to sparring when we get there."

Gossamer stood. "I assume if your uh 'master' were under attack you'd defend them yes? There has been a group of coyotes lurking around the Armada's borders as of late. Kylfa has tracked them to their den site. Join me in driving off this threat."