With the world outside still going crazy and spooky, and Auster still clutched in the midst of its unusually cold and snowy winter, many of the Hallows' residents were keeping their work indoors. Which was fine and all for the ones who were crafters or healers, but for the fighters, like Ember, she was starting to go a bit stir crazy. It had been waaaaay too long since she'd gotten to do any of her training or exercises outside. But instead of letting cabin fever get to her, the Carpathian princess decided to put her whirlwind energy to good use and bring the rest of the Hallows' fighters along with her. What better way to do that than with a group lesson?

Heading down to the dojo in the east wing of the castle, Ember grabbed a bunch of wooden sparring swords and cleared the arena of damaged training dummies and debris. No need for them today; this was going to be a practical lesson! With her classroom set up, Em lifted her muzzle and gave a summoning call to anyone who wanted to let off some steam and participate in some fighting training. Hopefully some of the Hallows' newest members and her own younger siblings would be interested in taking part too!

"Ember Carpathius" | "Carpathian"

There's a process, in picking himself up off the pavement. In being part of a pack that... that runs differently than how he's used to. Things are different here. Far different, though he's catching the learning curve okay. Spending some nights curled up on the floor of the infirmary (by choice, it's not like they didn't offer him a bed, though he swore he didn't need it), some nights curled up in Ember's room. Honestly, he'd been doing a lot of worrying and less training than he should.

But she'd been talking about a round of trainings, and she sounded excited. Like she had something up her sleeve, and Erik took it upon himself to be there for her. Heading out to her call, and arriving with an easy grin on his face. Slipping in before the others, he places a gentle kiss on Ember's cheek before finding a seat.

"Erik"

Little soldier boy Titus was once again reading when the call from his cousin was launched. Fight training huh? Sounded like they needed their future vanguard member in the dojo then. He was already a proven fighter and was in his head ahead of the class on fight training. No he had real world experience instead of theoretical lessons. Ear marking his book after finishing a page he stood and whistled at Nikolai who had his own thing he was doing. Nikolai had been practicing his "game" face in the mirror in their mother's room. No need for children's toys for Titus or Nikolai. A glance to his sleeping Raven and a bark had the bird jumping and fluffing up. Such a coward Andrei was. A small laugh at the bird being startled from him and he was off, Andrei glaring but following and Nikolai having a huge grin. When they came into the dojo there was Ember and that dark guy from before. He caught them as the guy moved from Ember's side and his hair bristled, protective fibers of his core eyeballing the still new to him man. He seemed to be the only youngling there for now, so with sheathed claws he moved to take a seat where he was front and center. "We training with swords today Ember? Or discussing some theoretical thing?" Like what if they had a wolf coming from their left and aiming for their scruff, what to do then sort of thing. He had no qualms with the theoretical but he did much prefer learning by doing. A good spar to end a theoretical lesson would be much preferred. If his brothers showed up he wouldn't mind showing off how cool he was compared to them. But if sprig did He would be declining any spar with her, afraid he would break his tiny sister or a mushroom off her side. Then he would have a whole new plethora of problems. Mom would be mad, Sprig would be crying and well shit just wouldn't go well. He sat and curled his tail over his hand paws to hide them as he was apt to do, ears perked and fiery gaze on Ember's blues. Walk, "Talk", Think Come marching home

Spriggan was tending to her moss garden upon her back when she heard her elder cousin’s call for training. With the darkness of the sun she was worried that her plants would begin to wilt. So she had been spending even more time out in the sun just so they had that extra advantage. Thankfully most of what grew upon her pelt was low light loving plants. Her moss, the ferns, the grasses and flowers. Being out in the training dojo wouldn’t be much different from the greenhouse so the tiny girl picked her way towards the lesson site.

Her delicate paws padded up to where her brother Titus was already sitting and she lowered herself to her haunches beside him. Prose fluttered down to land beside her. The raven didn’t often leave her side, having once served her father, who she would never know. He had been a fighter too, and despite her size, Spriggan was eager to follow in his paw steps. Her brilliant blue and lavender eyes looked up to their teacher, eager for a lesson considering the dangerous times they were living in.

Ballad had been on a stroll around the plains when he had heard the call of the carpathian princess. He was slightly interested, but hadn’t planned on attending until he noticed a couple of his siblings in the area. Quietly he joined the group, gently glancing between his brother and sister before giving his full attention to Ember. He was very visibly shy, just a little pulled into himself and not looking at the others head on. But he was willing to learn. It was a good opportunity to do so with his family, which was much bigger than he could really anticipate at this point in his life. He knew he’d want to protect them all.

Kolt perked his ears at the sound of Ember's summoning call echoing across the castle grounds. A fighting lesson? That sounded like just the thing to shake off the restless energy that had been building in his muscles during these cold, cooped-up days. Kolt eagerly trotted towards the dojo- entering the training space just after the rest of his siblings had already gathered with his cousin Ember at the front … and another brute he didn’t recognize.

Kolt's ice blue eyes darted curiously between Ember and the unfamiliar dark male wolf at her side as he entered the dojo. The stranger carried himself with an easy confidence that immediately piqued Kolt's interest. Who was this wolf? And what was his connection to Ember? Questions for later, Kolt decided as he took a seat on the outskirts of the assembled group, studying the training space with a practiced eye.

"Kolt Carpathius"

It wasn’t long after her call that Ember heard the footfalls of her first student coming to join her lesson, and to no surprise, she turned to spy her handsome viking striding in with his usual calm confidence. Em greeted him with a sweet smile, humming happily when his lips brushed her cheek with a gentle kiss. "Thanks for coming. I promise to go easy on you," she teased him. She truly was grateful for Erik’s assistance with her lesson. He was always willing to volunteer for whatever she needed. She just hoped that by the end of this lesson, he wouldn’t regret jumping in head first.

Afterwards came the quartet of her cousins from Aunt Bowen—Titus, Spriggan, Ballad, and Kolt. All four of the pups looked at Erik with wariness and suspicion, which she understood. Erik was still very new to the Hallows and had been kept busy with tending to his ailing father and likely hadn’t had a chance to socialize much—not that he was much of a talker anyway. Well that was fine; Ember could do the talking for the both of them today. Titus asked if they’d be getting to train with swords today or if it was a theoretical lesson. Ember simply shot the lad a mischievous smirk. "No theoreticals with me, Titus. We’re getting paws on today!" While Ember had learned under the tutelage of her father and his lessons were always half theoretical, half practical, Em preferred to learn and teach by doing.

Once she was sure no one else was coming, Ember addressed the group as a whole. "Today, we’re going to be going over a valuable lesson from two different directions—how to handle a larger and stronger opponent, and how to take on multiple opponents at once." Fixing her cool-toned gaze on her younger cousins, Ember posed them a challenge, "Everyone take a look at Erik. Let's say you're defending the Hallows and you encounter an opponent like Erik. How would you go about taking on someone with a size and strength advantage? What ways can you four work together to take down a bigger foe?" Then her attention turned to Erik with a mischievous grin. "And you, you have the size advantage, but you're outnumbered four to one. How would you leverage your skills to defeat your enemies?" Ember wanted to hear the ideas each side came up with before she pitted them against one another to put their plans into practice.

"Ember Carpathius" | "Carpathian"

Spriggan’s blue and lavender eyes shifted to her two other brothers as they appeared in time for the lesson as well. Each given a little smile as her attention was shifted back to her elder cousin and the lesson she had planned for all of them. The pups were all six months old now, far old enough to be training their fighting prowess. Even little Spriggan.

Speaking of being little, Ember told them that they would be learning how to handle a larger opponent. Something that Sprig would be dealing with for the rest of her life. She had already stopped growing taller, being left far behind by her brothers already. The little moss covered girl smirked as she lifted herself from her haunches.

”I’d use my superior agility!” She answered quickly, racing around her three brothers for emphasis. ”I’d let them distract him while I snuck in for an attack from behind.”

Kolt considered Ember's challenge thoughtfully, his eyes narrowing as he sized up Erik. The larger wolf certainly had the advantage of brute strength. But there had to be a way to turn that strength against him.

"Distraction and misdirection," Kolt spoke up after a moment, his voice calm but certain. "If we keep him guessing, never letting him focus on just one of us, we could use his size and weight to throw him off balance." He looked to Ember then, awaiting her assessment. Kolt knew this was just a training exercise. But some small part of him, that deeply buried competitive streak, wanted to put the talk aside and move on to some practical application.

"Kolt Carpathius"

Little soldier boy The moment sprig was next to him he was bumping her shoulder in a brotherly fashion. He gave her a grin that fell as behind her came in his two brothers. Not that he hated them but he was so determined to be the best of his brothers that them being here made it a competition. His eyes went to Ember as she answered his question. a grin easily rising on his lips. Good he would rather learn by doing and show his brothers how he was already so much better than them. Though if she wanted to pit them against each other he could scarcely imagine anyone taking it easy on Sprig. His eyes narrowed at the thought. He originally hadn't wanted to fight Sprig but could he trust his brothers to just let sprig win so they didn't hurt her? A glance at Kolt and Ballad and he narrowed his eyes again. Yeah no he didn't. If it came to it he would volunteer faster than Ember could say the pairings. The lesson started though and Titus turned his full attention to the matter at hand. His eyes casting to Erik as Ember spoke. A smirk as Sprig gave her answer and then a grin as Kolt spoke. Oh if only they knew what was about to come out of his mouth. "First we gotta take stock of his body right? He's got some awesome crystals and he's big enough to sit on us if he needed, so we gotta do like Kolt said, he wouldn't think Sprig is a threat cuz of her size. Gotta make sure we get ahold of something and use our weight to keep him from sitting on Sprig while she bites his balls, can't fight if your in that much pain." He smirked. He wasn't wrong and he knew it. If a hit to your balls hurt imagine a bite from needle sharp puppy teeth. In the real world you couldn't expect everyone to play nice right? Walk, "Talk", Think Come marching home

As the lesson started, Ballad kept a strong gaze on Ember as she spoke. He retained what they would be learning today, and as his siblings had each answered with their own responses, he did not. He at least showed he was listening by looking to each of those that spoke, maybe nodding a few times in agreeance. But he did not give an answer to their professor. Titus' rather... graphic explanation made him rather uncomfortable. And he'd be pretty oblivious to the thought that this was now a competition in his head. Ballad didn't think himself so high and mighty, no way would his brother want to show him up. Instead of participating, or at least by words, his paw moved around on the ground and his gaze moved down and followed it, waiting for Ember to give her feedback to everyone else's answers. He didn't answer because everyone had already said things he would say. To him, no need to say it again.

The pups all seemed to regard Erik with suspicion, and he's... he's not really surprsied. A new face in their midst, he's not going to push his luck. Though his gaze rests for an extra long moment on Spriggan-- reminding him of Morganna, in perhaps all the best ways. With a pang, he considers dragging his sister back here. While the girl would hate him for it, maybe it's the best place for her. Ah, he shouldn't be pretending he knows best.

Ember launches into her lesson, and Erik carefully watches each of the children in turn. Though the one with the scrubby mohawk certainly has some ideas, the bastard prince narrows his eyes. "If too many individuals are in a small space, then it's easier to cleave them all. Broad strokes, especially with a weapon, can take them all down." Unaccustomed to addressing a group, or speaking at such a volume, he pauses for a moment. Clears his throat. "After one is staggered, they run the risk of colliding with the rest, and ending up tangled." Peering back to Ember-- does he want to impress her? Maybe. Shh.

"Erik"

Ember listens with keen interest as each of her cousins began to shout out plans of attack in turn. Spriggan suggested using her smaller size and agility to outmaneuver Erik, Kolt recommending using their greater numbers to distract and disorient him, and Titus... well, Titus' idea was certainly the most direct of the bunch. Ember winced a little as she tried to not imagine any of her cousins trying to bite her boyfriend's balls. She still kinda needed those, after all. Ballad didn't speak up, but that was fine. Em didn't need everyone to be vocal as long as they were learning. The next part was going to be more practical anyway.

When presented with his many opponents, Erik had very practical and straightforward ideas. Sweeping strokes to hit several foes at once, especially with his weapon. Staggering one to put them off balance and out of commission quickly. He's leering at Titus, clearly disgruntled by the lad's suggestion to go for his good bits. Em smirked up at Erik, eyes flashing with a little bit of challenge. She knows he's trying to impress her. Well, she'd give him his chance to. "I'd like to see some of those sweeping moves," she remarked, rising from where she sat at his side to step around behind her cousins. "Those are all good suggestions! Splitting your opponent's focus and overwhelming him with numbers often times takes sheer size and strength out of the equation. It's more important to have allies in battle you can rely on than to be a one-wolf army."

Stopping just behind her cousins so the four pups were now squaring off against Erik, Ember brought them about to the climax of their lesson. "You've all had some good ideas, now we'll see how effective they are in practice! Except yours, Titus. Let's try not to permanently harm our newest member of the Hallows, hmm? I'd like to keep him intact." Em's eyes flashed up to Erik again with her last sentence, shooting him a knowing look, keeping her innuendos subtle around the children. They were still kids, after all. "If you all can manage to take Erik down, I'll make sure you all get a double helping of dessert with dinner tonight." With her challenge and prize set, it was time for the real lesson to begin. "Carpathians, attack!" Em grinned across the dojo at Erik. He wanted to impress her? Now was his chance to show how good he was with kids.

"Ember Carpathius" | "Carpathian"

Spriggan shot Titus a look of complete disgust at his suggestion. ”I’m not biting anyone’s testicles, Titus.” She growled unhappily. Erik seemed unfazed but Ember was quick to point out that the new member of the Hallows needed to be complete. Spriggan was definitely not doing as her brother suggested. Yuck.

Cousin Ember offered double helpings of dessert but all Spriggan wanted was to display that she could actually take down such a big opponent. Surely with her brother’s help… Spriggan lowered herself into her defenses, waiting for her brothers to start their attack and distract him just as they planned. Of course she would not be a surprise attack when he knew that he should be expecting her, but Sprig tried to use her superior agility to their advantage. Her eyes never left the man's hocks.

Kolt nodded thoughtfully at Ember's assessment, his ears perked attentively. The praise for their teamwork strategy resonated with him. He glanced briefly at his siblings, considering how they might work together to overcome a larger foe. He would have to concur with Spriggan, he didn’t really have too much of an interest in opening with a low blow like that.

Kolt's ice blue eyes darted between Ember and Erik, studying their body language. There was clearly something between them - the way Ember smirked up at the larger wolf spoke volumes. But Kolt pushed that observation aside, focusing instead on the lesson at hand. And about the time he tuned back in, he couldn’t help but perk his ears forward at Ember's command to attack. His gaze narrowed, muscles tensing as he sized up their opponent once more. Erik was formidable, no doubt about it. He and his siblings would have to make it count.

Without a word, Kolt darted to the left, circling wide to flank Erik's side. His paws moved swiftly but silently across the dojo floor as he maneuvered into position. Kolt's gaze flicked briefly to his siblings, trusting they would each play their part in overwhelming the larger wolf. As he rounded Erik's flank, Kolt suddenly lunged forward, aiming to nip at the older wolf's hind leg. It wasn't a serious attack, but rather a feint designed to draw Erik's attention and create an opening for one of the others. Kolt was ready to dodge away quickly if Erik retaliated, his agile frame coiled and prepared to spring in any direction.

This was just the opening move, of course. Kolt knew they would need to work together if they hoped to take the higher ground.

"Kolt Carpathius"