After Artorias' wedding, she came back to her pups and was reminded just how quickly they were growing. It felt like just yesterday Artorias and his siblings were as small as Juniper, Malik, and Sierra. Now he was fully grown, married, leading a pack, and she figured it was only a matter of time before he sent word to tell her that she would be expecting grandchildren. It made her feel incredibly old, but so proud and happy of how her children had grown. It just reminded her that she couldn't take any moment with her pups for granted and she didn't want to miss a single moment of them getting older.

She decided to take a little dedicated time with each of her daughters to do a little training. It was hilarious to her that her two tiny daughters both seemed to be the scrappy ones that were interested in fighting while her giant of a son was taking more after the peaceful life of her father. She was never one to discourage her girls from doing whatever they wished to do. If they wanted to be fighters then she would brush off her skills of teaching so that they could learn how to fight. They had camped out by the creek the night before so as soon as Juniper was up and had eaten her breakfast she brought her out to a grassy patch by the water.

"Alright, my little fighter," she said with a chuckle, motioning with her paw for Juniper to take her stance in front of her. She had done some little lessons with all of her pups already of basic defenses and the like, so now they could get into some more specific things. "What do you want to work on today, hm? Attacks? Blocking? Dodges?" She still wanted this to be fun for her so she let Juniper set the pace and decide what they worked on.

Tamsyn Carpathius of the Valley

At half a year of age, Juniper was still such a tiny jellybean of a wolf, having only grown a few inches compared to her brother's massive growth spurt. The little girl didn't allow it to discourage her however; she was fine with how she was and made the most of what she was given in life, just like her mother and father showed them how to do. Living the nomadic life of Kane's tribal upbringing had instilled a young independence within the pup and it showed in her scrappy and indomitable spirit. Just like her mother, Juniper was fearless when it came to adventuring and trying everything for herself. So when Tamsyn had invited her to a one on one fighting lesson, the little gray striped pup jumped at the opportunity to get some hands on experience with her mother.

As soon as breakfast was eaten, Tamsyn led her out to the creek swathed in tall cattail reeds to begin their lessons. Tam had picked out a soft grassy area ideal for tiny puppy bodies to flop about on and Juniper was quick and eager to bounce to stand opposite of her mom, crouching into a half serious, half playful fighting stance, complete with comical butt raise and wiggle as her tiny tail wagged in a rapid blur. Mint green eyes that mirrored her dam's gleamed brightly up at her teacher, ready to begin. "All of it!" Juniper decreed with an enthusiastic bark. "I wanna be the best fighter ever, just like you, Mama! Show me everything you know! I'm ready for it!"

"Juniper of the Sea"

Tamsyn grinned and giggled at her daughter's enthusiasm as Juniper declared that she was ready to learn all of it while her butt excitedly wiggled in the air. She gave a little shake of her head, the pair of feathers tied behind her ear swaying with the motion. "One thing at a time, my darling. You have to learn and practice all of the pieces so you can put them together just right at the end." She stepped over to where Juniper was standing, reaching over and giving her hip a playful tap, reminding her, "First things first you need to get into a proper fighting stance before we can do anything else. Do you remember what I taught you?" She waited for Juniper to demonstrate and show what she had learned so far, smiling as she reached around to each of her tiny paws, making sure they were placed firmly and weren't easily shaken.

"Good job, little warrior. Now... Lets talk about dodging." For someone as small as her, Tamsyn knew that dodges were going to be crucial for her to get right early on. Being light on her feet and not getting caught up under her opponent was something that Sirius taught her very early in her training and that was going to be even more true for Juniper and Sierra. She stood opposite of her daughter, settling into her own familiar fighting stance so she could demonstrate. "Your biggest strength in your fighting is going to be how fast you are. You'll be able to dodge out of the way and zip around your opponents before they even realize it! Follow me, okay? You want to jump one way and then the other, but always land back in your defensive stance." Tamsyn demonstrated, hopping from one side to the other, pretending she was dodging some oncoming attacks so Juniper could see it being done.

Tamsyn Carpathius of the Valley

The exasperated look Tamsyn gave her while she shook her head made Juniper grin and giggle, always finding a lot of fun in pushing her parents' buttons, even if it wasn't intentional. Tam reminded her that training would take time, and that she would need to learn all the pieces of fighting to be able to put them together in one great combo in a real fight. Then her mother playfully bopped her hip and reminded her that fighting started with a solid, stable fighting stance, aka not the wiggly butt pose she was in currently. Juniper huffed, then gave her mother a maliciously compliant smirk as she dropped her entire back half to the ground so she was now lying on the grass, grinning wide and giggling once more. It seemed that Tam would be dealing with an energetic and playful Juniper today! After another look from her mother, she bounced back up into a more appropriate fighting stance, her paws spread and level with her shoulders, her head lowered to straighten her neck to her back, and her little fluffy tail tucked between her legs. When her mother checked her posture by nudging each of her tiny legs and she didn't topple over, Juniper gave her mom a proud smile. See? She did remember!

Tamsyn praised her, then brought up the subject of dodges. Juniper listened to her mother intently while the former General explained the mechanics behind a good dodge. The little girl's smaller size and greater agility and speed would be key to her dodging skills, as well as her ability to maintain her footing. It all sounded simple enough on paper, and when Tamsyn demonstrated with her own dodges, Juniper's tail began to wag behind her. That didn't seem so hard! She could do that too! Coiling up her tiny muscles, Juniper chewed on her tongue while she tried to get the feeling just right. Then she let the spring inside her loose, bouncing to the right with a burst of energy that sent her sailing. Juniper tried to catch herself with her paws, but it was trickier than she realized, and would up with her paws slipping out beneath her on the grass until the pup was flopped on the ground with each of her legs going in a different direction. Juniper yipped in surprise, but quickly picked herself back up off the ground. She was not one to be defeated so easily!

Back on her tiny paws, Juniper's silly expression was wiped off her face now, replaced by fierce determination to get this right and make her mom proud. She focused hard, tensing up her muscles again, waiting, waiting... then springing to the side. Again the pup flew to the side, and again her paws hit the grass and began to slip. But this time, Juniper managed to pull them back together, landing in a lopsided version of her battle stance, but remaining upright this time. She gasped and grinned, turning bright mint green eyes up to her dam whom she resembled almost perfectly. "I didn't fall that time! How was that, Mama?" she asked with her tail wagging a mile a minute behind her.

"Juniper of the Sea"

Tamsyn was always so exasperated with her little girl that always knew how to push her buttons just right, but she was just as entertained and happy for her daughter's wild spirit. It was the same energy and spirit she remembered being tamped down in herself as a pup and whenever she saw that energy in her children she always wanted to foster it. When she plopped her butt onto the ground Tam rolled her eyes, but couldn't keep herself from grinning. Eventually though her daughter did pop back up into the stance that they had previously gone over before and Tam was proud of her for retaining it—even if it took a bit of coaxing to get her to do so. As they moved on to the lesson at hand, she demonstrated a couple of dodges and then opened the floor for Juniper to try and repeat them back to her. Tamsyn sat back and watched as the little girl bunched her legs under her and clearly took a moment to feel out the way her muscles were coiled under her only to send herself flying and flopping onto the ground. Tam almost jumped up to try and help or catch her, but she wouldn't have made it in time anyway and she just chuckled softly while Juniper gathered herself up to try again.

This time around Juniper did manage to remain upright even if her stance was a little disheveled and lopsided from her landing. Tamsyn grinned at Junipers excitement as her daughter exclaimed how she hadn't fallen that time and questioned how she had done. "Much better, darling!" she said, encouraging her eager daughter as she reached over to ruffle the fur between her ears. "Think more about how you're going to land and getting your paws back on the ground this time around. You can always work on adding more distance to those dodges once you get the landing down, but you need to be ready to jump right into an attack or a defense or even another dodge as soon as you land." She waved her paw for her to continue, adding, "Keep trying! You only get better with practice!" She was always very proud of how bright and easily taught her children were and she loved watching them learn. It was one of her favorite things in this whole world.

Tamsyn Carpathius of the Valley

Her mother was the biggest support to her and the best teacher in the entire world! Even when she wasn't doing things perfectly, Tamsyn always found a way to boost up little Juniper's confidence and self-esteem in herself. The lessons were fun and engaging, and even though she pushed her mom's buttons, she always learned and retained the information Tam passed on to her. Juniper gave a series of girly giggles when Tamsyn ruffled the downy puppy fur between her ears, taking a playful snap at her dam's toes. Tam told her to keep practicing, and so that's exactly what Juniper did. The pup returned to her fighting stance once more, body tensed and muscles coiled, ready to spring. Then she bounced to the side, catching herself much in the same way she did the second time. Better, but not perfect. The girl huffed and reset her stance. Again and again she tried, bouncing to and fro, each time getting more used to how to position her paws when landing. It took a few tries, but each attempt was more accurate than the last.

After some attempts, Juniper dodged to her right, her paws landing just right, and her body sinking easily back into her crouched fighting stance once more in one seamless move. A surprised gasp left the pup and her face illuminated with awe. "Mom! Did you see that? I did it!" she cheered, almost bouncing in place, but remembering not to lose her stance. She tried another dodge, landing without the grace and finesse her mother had from years of experience, but managing to keep her form and stick her landing again. Juniper released giddy giggles, her whole body practically vibrating she was so excited to have the basic dodges down!

"Juniper of the Sea"