They might have been claiming the beach, but the Gulley was right next door and would be frequented by their healers and scouts, so it wouldn't hurt to do some housekeeping. As they stepped off the sand, Modesty began to speak. “There are three main points to keep in mind when you're up against multiple opponents. Awareness - of your surroundings and the number of opponents you face, teamwork - work together to take on more challenging opponents and eliminate them quickly, and adaptability - try not to overthink it, things will change quickly in the heat of the moment and you need to trust your instincts.”

The grass was soft and swayed in the summer breeze, the hills were rolling. The sun was setting at their backs, making it easier for them to spot their opponents, who would probably avoid looking directly at them. She flicked one of her large caracal ears when she thought she picked up coyotes yipping in the distance. She gestured with her nose that they should head in that direction to see if they could track some playmates down.

“Speech.”

-Fighting lesson 1/3 - fighting multiple opponents-

Ken was distractable. Every grasshopper was bounced after, every bug that burst from the overgrown grass lunged after. He still kept moderately within the vicinity that would be considered to be 'following his mother', but he was bored of walking.

When Modesty came to a halt at the top of a small rise and began to speak to them, his ears turned forward attentively and his tail waved at his back. Fighting was fun, fighting more than one opponent could only double the fun right? When his mother's ear flicked, his own turned forward to try and catch what she might have heard... was that... chattering he heard in the distance? When she gestured the direction they should go, the boy bounded forward, ready to get his teeth bloody finally.

"speech"

Calliope hung closer to their mother's side. Her growing legs nearly matching that of Modesty's as their first birthday loomed on the horizon. Growing had been painful, but walking helped stretch her sore muscles. It eased the ache in her joints. Enjoying the stroll into the gulley, she is caught off guard when Modesty comes to a stop. Attention is drawn from their mother out to the rolling hills in front of her. Ears are alert and eyes are wide as she takes in the surroundings.

After a beat of silence, Modesty speaks about utilizing teamwork to take down multiple opponents. As Calliope goes to ask who, she can hear them in the distance. Yips and sharp barks that clearly come from coyotes. Easy targets. Coyotes had never really seemed eager to fight and only did so if caught. Her lips begin to turn up into a devilish smirk as she glanced over to her brother, Kenway.

Moving through the lush grass, she heads to Kenway, stopping beside him. "So what yer sayin' is I use Ken as bait to lure the coyotes close an' then I'll take 'em down?" Calliope is only half joking as she leans over to bump Ken with her shoulder.

"Speech"

Jael still feels terribly, frightfully exposed out here. Maybe that's why she keeps looking over her shoulder. Over her shoulder, her head on a swivel. Gaze flickering from Modesty to the sky, the sky to the kids, the kids to the vast lands behind them. There was a lot of space out here. Jael was on high alert, maybe even more than she would have been. Constant vigilance, Modesty talks about. Jael knows plenty about constant vigilance.

The idea of fighting multiple opponents at once was enough to make the nerves churn in her stomach. Jael could hold her own alone, and maybe against a couple opponents her size. After the raid, seeing just how big most of the wolves here were? Fuck. Cal's comment about using her brother as bait though, Jael would do her best to hide the giggle. Positioned just a bit behind the kids, at least she wouldn't be telling on herself there. The distant sound of coyotes made her stomach churn, unable to wash away the picture of the last coyote incident... too fresh in her mind.

Grimly, Jael knows what comes next. Her expression a bit anxious as it rests on Modesty, and then flickers in the predators' direction. Shifting gracefully to her feet, head low, hackles up. They're coming. Trust her instincts. Fuck.

J A E L

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Modesty chuckled when Siduri suggested using Ken as bait, “Not the worst idea, but coyotes are small, and he might scare them off. If you had someone smaller and faster,” She pointedly looked at Jael, “They might be too focused on the chase to realise they were being lured into a trap. But we aren't doing ambushes today, we're fighting more than one. These ones happen to be quite upset with me already, so I don't imagine they will scatter.” They'd been getting bolder every time she had come by, so she shrugged. "I can't help it they make my favourite coyote balls."

Now that they were all aware of their approaching foe, Modesty stepped forward, the quills bristling over her neck and shoulders,  her ears folding back tightly against her skull. Her head dropped as she charged to grab at the point where the shoulder met the neck of the coyote at the front of the pack of eight. This wasn't a time to revel in a fight. She needed to efficient, use her size to throw bodies and break bones and then move onto the next. She would have to trust the others to keep an eye on her blind spots, to follow their instincts and not hold back.

“Speech.”

-fight lesson 2/3-

Cal feels a sense of pride as Modesty agrees that her idea isn't so bad after all. Turning to glance at Ken, she gives her brother a bright and wide toothy grin. "What do'yer say Kenny? Wanna go for a spin?" She teases, her tail thumping a few times on the ground before her mother commands their attention onto her. In the next moment though, Cal's attention is on Jael. Modesty had a point. The small dog would definitely make for great bait... Moving a step toward Jael so she could potentially whisper in her ear, lets out a disappointed 'tch' sound as Modesty denies the idea altogether. No bait today, they would be fighting scrappy.

Finally Cal puts her full attention on the group of coyotes. Their yipping and yapping pulls her in. She can count eight of them as she hangs back for a second. Watching her mother charge forward, Cal wants to see what position her mother will take. Which coyote will she go? The leader? Take them by surprise? "Yer lucky she ain't lettin' me use you as bait," Calliope whispers to Jael, her grin growing wider on her before she takes off after Modesty.

Flattening her own ears against her skull as she loped forward, she watches as the rest of the pack of coyotes turns on her mother. Releasing a sharp bark to catch their attention, she notices how some of them hesitate. Do they keep going for the horned one that is currently bashing through them? Or do they start to go after the younger girl? Calliope doesn't care nor does she stop. Coming up to the right flank of Modesty, she grabs a coyote by the scruff and flings it away. No coyote would be touching them today.

"Speech"

At the mention of coyote balls, Ken's tail picked up its tempo. No bait was a bit of a bummer, he'd been keen to offer himself up to help Cal rip some throats out (he was just glad she wouldn't be trying to get his for a change). He gave Jael a companionable shoulder bump to make up for Cal's teasing and trotted towards the approaching pack, distracted by his mother's charge and Sid's bark. It probably helped he had more natural colouration too, he didn't stick out as much as the did. Jael had the same advantage.

Crouching to make the most of the cover offered by the ferns, he flanked the pack on the far side, charging forward when he spotted one of the vermin trying the same move on his sister, biting the smaller canine over the hips and base of its tail, shaking violently. It screams caught the attention of another that tried to come to the aid of its brethren, and Ken swung the coyote in his jaws to block the one going for his flank. This was fun!

"speech"

Someone small and fast. Jael swallowed hard, making eye contact with Modesty. Her pulse knocking in her chest. Not doing ambushes today. She shifted her weight uncomfortably. Heart refusing to calm down, still whale-eyed in Modesty’s direction. It was no wonder the coyotes were upset with her, the image of the eviscerated coyote still too fresh in her mind. It looks like Calliope has something to say about it too, but thinks better. Jael can’t help how anxious the whole thing makes her. Kenway’s bump to her shoulder though… he’s a good kid. Couldn’t let either one get eaten by coyotes today.

There’s no time for that. Eight coyotes, and Modesty is quick to spring on their leader. Making sure to keep in mind what Modesty said about playing off her party, Jael’s mind kicks into overdrive. Taking off at a dead run, she circles wide back and around them. Spacial and situational awareness. Quick to flank and take out the coyotes just behind the leader, as she doesn’t like the way it looks at Modesty. The cold leer so focused on the raid queen, it barely clocks the little dog as she goes for the ankles. Slamming the first into one more, all three tumbling to the ground in a snarling, toothy, writhing mass. Hey, had to be efficient, and this was the two for one special. Not graceful like Modesty, but she gets the job done.

   

Modesty tries to keep an eye on each of her students today, Cal is along her side, and Kenway is covering her other flank, but they are all facing the same direction. Jael was facing them and had visibility on their backs, but it wasn't really fair to ask the collie to cover all three of them. Dropping the limp body of the opposing leader from her jaws, she speaks. “Make sure to have eyes in all directions as they close in, watch each other's backs.”

She smiled as Jael tackled one coyote into another, the girl had pluck and a decent brain. She was small, but she'd hold her own. Modesty pushed forward to snap at the face of one of the mongrel vermin that thought to try and sneak up on the smaller woman from behind, hoping her children were teaming up similarly. Timing her steps to match Jael and snapping at any coyote silly enough to take her on, she was demonstrating, rather than relying on words alone. “Keep at them, not many left now.” They never had much fight in them to start with. It would be interesting to see who among them held their ground, and who would choose to pursue.

“Speech.”

-lesson 3/3-

His mother's words made so much sense, why hadn't he thought of that? The coyote he had grabbed by the hips couldn't use its back legs anymore and he discarded the smaller predator as useless, gone from his mind as it tried to drag itself into the cover of the ferns and away from the bloodthirsty invaders.

Kenway quickly adjusted his position to mirror his mother's alongside Jael, but with Cal, so maybe he was more like the collie in this pairing? He was the shorter of the two. He got into position just in time to spot a brown form launching from the ferns, letting lose a surprised yelp as teeth grabbed at his muzzle, bruising the flesh with the force of the bite. He bought his foreleg up and threw his weight forward to his elbows, leaving his butt exposed if his sister didn't cover it. Jaws reefed free of the grab of the smaller canine and he retaliated, almost fitting the small dogs whole head between his parted jaws. There was a resounding crunching as he bit down, a sharp pain lancing through his hip as another coyote chose to target him while he was distracted.

"speech"

Gaze sharp, brilliant, gleaming as she locks on coyote that attempted to hold her. Attempted to pin her. Snarling, a sound far more vicious than Jael is used to making, she sinks a sharp tooth into the beast's eye. Sinking in, wrenching backwards, sending the beast scrambling and heading for the hills. It's not dead yet, but judging by the amount of blood coating her muzzle, her chest, her face-- it wouldn't be long. Rolling to her feet before she can take too much damage from the next coyote, she springs right back into action.

The predator's teeth sink, searing into the point where her neck and shoulder meet. Jael yelped, but she's quick and reactive. Sheer force of will as her teeth sink cleanly into the coyote's neck, ripping back with a pound of flesh for herself. Hackles up along her back, gaze brilliant and gleaming. Making sure to keep her awareness up, just as Modesty instructed. It was an important lesson, and she's clinging to it with everything she had. Nothing was going to happen to any of them-- not on Jael's watch.

J A E L

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The pack of coyotes are relentless. Even as Kenway and Jael jump to help, Calliope knows if they were any smaller, this would be a much bigger challenge. How had Jael not been eaten alive yet? Reaching out to grab a coyote that aims to jump onto Modesty, Cal's teeth grab it by the neck and fling it away. Right, watch each other's backs, keep an eye on all sides. They could do that. If each one of them took a side, they would be protected. Easy.

With almost all of them out for the count, Calliope charges the last one. With the confidence of having three others to back her up, she reaches around and clamps her mouth over the spine of the coyote, right behind its shoulders. Picking up and giving it a good shake until it no longer could use its legs, she spits it back on the ground. Stepping forward to place a paw upon its neck, she glares down at the puny canine. "Better luck next time," she hisses before finally ending its life.

Taking a step back, she turns breathless to the group. "That was fun," Cal beams, her tail wagging as she smiles through the blood and gore that cover her face.

"Speech"