word count: 159

The sky shouldn't look like that, not then and certainly not now. Hattori stared up with gritted teeth, ears flicked to the sides, admittedly he couldn't remember much of what happened towards the end but that in and of itself was troubling. The unknown, the things he thought...he felt he might have done. The loss of control, the doubt creeping in, and the almost suffocating need to change had pretty much destroyed his life as he knew it. The ties he'd severed would likely never be mended and it had all been in an attempt to regain control and power, a sense of himself he'd gotten so close to losing forever.

He shook his head slightly, the sounds of the tide in the bay rolling back and forth did little to distract him, cement in him in the moment. He needed something else, but was too stubborn to seek out company, least of all when he was like this.



"Speech"

Unlike his father, Shinrei had never experienced the horrors of the Long Night. And perhaps that was for the best, seeing as it had brought with it all the worst calamities one could ever imagine. Let his naïvete guide him, instead; for the night sky that shone brilliantly was more of a fascination for the pup than it was a bitter memory for his father.

Shinrei watched as the aurora’s shimmering hues ribboned across the night sky, the stars sparkling and twinkling across a swath of deep cerulean blue. He didn’t really know what the phenomena was, but truthfully he didn’t find himself that curious about it. Was it..interesting? Sure. Did he want to know everything about that uniquely lit sky? Not really.

Finding himself drawn to the bay, Shinrei found his father sitting by the lapping waters, apparently deep in thought and rather uneasy. A spark of curiosity hit him as the young boy drew closer, tilting his head. ”Father, are you alright?” He inquired in their native tongue, craning his neck so as to observe his father’s expression.

word count: 212
total: 560

Hattori turned slightly, his eyes taking in the sight of his son. Perhaps an outlier of the litter, but his looks not entirely unexplainable. His oranges were simply soft, with stronger splashes of colour dappled about his coat. He was emphatically a koi wolf through and through, that much was undeniable as far as the Kaicho was concerned. His question brought out a low hum of acknowledgement, the response more vague than what most would come to expect from Hattori. A man who dealt in absolutes, yes' or no's. Should this just be a fluke, he was sure he would be fine, but if not? He wasn't sure either Boreas or Auster was capable of handling another event like that, something would have to give.

"I am fine. How has your training been coming along? Do you think you could spar in the dark?"

It would be a new experience for his son, and a chance to see how he handled distractions. Because the lighting and blurring rush of shooting stars were distracting. Certainly when no one could quite say for certain what they were, what it all meant.

He adjusted his stance, widening his gait and allowing his head to dip down slightly, to put his eyes down to Shinrei's level.

Shinrei's eyes brightened as his father acknowledged his presence, a soft hum emanating from his lips. He seemed..troubled. Perturbed by the aurora drifting across the cerulean-swathed heavens, uneasy about the secrets the stars held in their intermittent winks. He was too young to understand the grim meaning behind his father's stiffness about a seemingly calm night, but he troubled the subject no further.

Instead, his father inquired as to his skills fighting in the dark. Well, that was a first -- truthfully, the boy hadn't had the chance to fight in the dark before. He fought mainly when the rest of the world was awake, when all his siblings were out and about. He understood, quite quickly at that, that his father was asking him to spar. To seek an advantage despite the decrease in vision cues, to rely on his other senses more strongly than the obvious one of sight.

As his sire crouched to his level, Shinrei perked his ears, nostrils twitching to catch his father's scent. Relaying where he was and where his front was compared to his hind end. And just like that, the pale dragon struck; he suddenly dipped to his father's ride side, aiming to get into his blind spot behind his right cheek as he darted towards his hind leg, aiming to gently but firmly nip the larger wolf's ankle. If successful, and if Hattori turned to face him, Shinrei then aimed to sharply ram his horns into his right shoulder. Nothing wrong with a double attack, of course. Anything to show his father what progress he was making.

Shinrei vs Hattori for Spar
Round 1/2
Age: Under 6 months
Size: Dire wolf
Build: Balanced
Mutation 1: Antelope Horns - Offensive
Mutation 2: Owl Eyes - Perception
Mutation 3: Torso Scales - Defensive
Skills: Novice Fighter & Beginner Hunter
Hattori Shinrei

table coding by bunni ♥

Using his smaller stature-though probably not for much longer- to his advantage, Hattori's eyes tracked Shinrei in the darkness as he moved. Teeth nipping at his ankle as Hattori, instead of turning moved to kick out with a limb, sweeping it low that the pup would have to think fast in order for his paws not to get swept up. Even with his son's brighter pelt, he did not rely on his vision in the dark, instead used his other senses to make up for what his vision currently lacked. His son simply couldn't fight on the presumption that his opponent would do this or that, planning too far ahead would only lead to his downfall if his opponent reacted in unexpected ways. As Hattori intended to do himself.

"Speech"

Hanzō vs shinrei for spar
Round 1/2
Age: over 1
Size: Dire wolf
Build: Balanced
Mutation 1: Enhanced vision - Perception
Mutation 2: Antelope horns - Offensive
Mutation 3: Reinforced bones - Defensive
Skills: Master Fighter & Master Hunter
Specialty: Marauder & Bloodletter