Eltrys had asked her to meet him by the waterfalls in the afternoon when he was free. It gave her time to continue some of her work on the garden she had adopted with his permission. It was a run down, and overgrown garden that she was still discovering the occasional treasure from. Herbs, half choked and buried beneath vines and weeds.

She was a little warm, with dirt stuck to her paw when she realised it was almost time for her meeting. She put down her tools and trotted to the waterfall to continue her lessons with the Alpha. She wanted to learn how to defend this pack and fight as a team.

"Speech"

Speech // thought

He had an idea of how to help Lia and him work together as a team. It involved the pools of water below the falls.
She found him looking at the curtain of the water curiously. He wondered if they could practice a move that would startle their opponents. It would mean working together and watching the other for a signal.

"Ah! Good!" He exclaimed as he felt her presence near. Whether it was her steps over the land or the warmth of her frame coming closer, he knew she had arrived.

"I have an idea of how we can work better together. We come up with a signal and when one makes that signal the other knows to start on a tandem move with the other. We can move like water around each other. I'm thinking we make the signal, the signaler jumps out of the way and the other charges forward. Just like we did with that wild buck. We can take turns with our timing and practice charging a bush. Thoughts?" He asked finally turning to her with his glacial blue eyes.

She found the Alpha by the falls, and he looked up as she approached. She offered Eltrys a smile and a nod in greetings. She was starting to become a little more accustomed to this place, and seeing him around.

“That sounds like an excellent idea. Working as a team is something I haven’t spent much time on, and I’m keen to give it a go.” She said easily. Starting to understand minor body signals, and what meant what with her pack mates would be important. The more she worked with them, the better she would be as a part of their unit.

"Speech"

Speech // thought

Her eagerness to please was a welcome change to the tiptoeing and political weaving he did around some of Haydee's kin. For some reason it reminded him that he didn't need to try to please the others, he needed to lead them, even if they were displeased with some of his decisions and grumbled at the changes in general.

"Good! Let's come up with a signal then..." He pondered for a moment, what sort of signal would be easy to remember, easy to see, and easy to understand even in the heat of the moment. Throw the head back? Flick the left ear?

"How about flicking the left ear twice?" He suggested, flicking his own ear twice, "Or is that too subtle?" It might be too subtle, "No... We need a good movement that we can catch and not mistake for something else." He mentioned. Pondering with a flick of his tail. "Any suggestions?" He asked. He was a collaborative leader, this wasn't something he needed to be absolutely decisive on. Hopefully, she was learning how they could work together and what to expect from him.

She considered what Eltrys was wanting, and the best way to display it. Ears were likely most prominent. Anything from shoulder to leg movements would be easier to miss. She thought he had the right idea of it, but agreed that an ear flick could be easy to mistake.

She could do anything with her antlers either, since they were stationary. “What if we flatten one ear, like this.” She suggested, making the motion across her own head. Her right ear flattered across her skull, and she looked over at Eltrys to see if he agreed with the signal. It was a little more obvious than a flick which you had to see in the moment.

"Speech"

Speech // thought

Eltrys watched her ponder for a moment and came back to him offering a flattened ear held down. His tail wagged behind him!

"I like that a lot. If the other agrees they can hold the same one of theirs down." He demonstrated agreement. A thought struck him though if the move couldn't or should be done they needed a signal for that, "If we disagree, we can flash both ears pinned at each other in the normal negative." He demonstrated the familiar "no" sign between wolves and shifted his head down at her. "Then how about whoever suggests the move first is always the one that holds the front and then dashes away to make room for the other? That way there's no question as to who's charging and who's holding!" Yes, he liked this plan a lot. Now they just had to practice it a few times and find a target.

A nice frozen bush should do for now. When they charged it they didn't have to make contact with it of course. He shifted his head and nodded to their pretend opponent. They could pretend to attack it for a moment, then see who would make the signal first and see how they can shit into the move.

"Any questions before we try it out?" He asked, as he approached the bush.

Eltrys agreement sealed it, and the fire marked wolf grinned. Teamwork. She could do this, right? She’d managed to battle a lot of her insecurities over the years. She could make this change work for her. So long as she wanted it.

The Archdruid set a target up for them, and she let her eyes roam around the bush. It would do for their trial run. She shook her head at his question. “No, let's give this a go.” She said. She settled her body, feeling her centre of balance. She charged, leaping towards the bush, before folding down an ear to give Eltrys the signal to shift.

"Speech"

Speech // thought

She was ready! Good good! He hoped he could get everyone to learn how to trust each other as easily! She had no questions and he settled into position, pretending the bush was a foe.

Keeping an eye on his "opponent" and an eye on Lia he watched her charge and leap! then he saw her signal! That meant he was going to fall back and rush their opponent behind her! Yes!

He pulled himself back and let her take the offensive position then rounded around to come up behind her with a wuff and charge at at the bush.

She kept going with her charge, and fainted at the last moment to the side. To ‘startle’ the bush at her sudden direction change, and the unexpectedness of Eltrys' approach behind her. Giving him a chance to startle and attack while she had it distracted. Of course, it was only a bush so it didn’t so much as jump at their move.

She felt the exercise worked pretty well, and reflected that she and Eltrys had the added benefit of working together already. Clearly their coordinated attack on the slavers had given them a boost up in learning to fight together. She could only hope it would go as smoothly with the rest of the Vedia pack wolves. “Should we do it again and alternate the roles?” She suggested, to properly get a feel for the teamwork.

"Speech"

Speech // thought

As he charged at the bush he saw Lia move expertly away and he got a god few leaves in his mouth with a hearty laugh. Who knew training could be as fun as this? He hadn't encountered this feeling before.

She suggested taking turns, "Yes," He replied with a deep exuberant voice. "Let's say this is a negotiation going wrong, or a trespasser. We both start side by side." He said and waited for Lia to come up beside him.

He then turned to her subtly pinning his ear to let her know it had begun and he stood to be ready for her charge behind him. He would then pretend to distract their bushy opponent.

Eltrys set the next scene, and she came to the side of her Alpha as he instructed her on the scenario. Alright, a negotiation that had turned sour. She can and would defend her Alpha in such a scenario. He used their chosen signal, which was subtle enough to be overlooked by those that didn’t know what to look for.

When he pinned his ear, she started to move. Leaping into place behind him as he led their charge towards the bush. The unsuspecting negotiator wouldn’t know the moves they had planned. Even if he leaped to the side, he would suddenly find a Lia in his way. Sadly, once again, the bush didn’t seem impressed by their lesson.

"Speech"