Kung-Fu Fightin'

Today was exciting. Today, she was going to get more advanced lessons from her father in fighting! She knew the basic defenses, now. Ears back, stance squared – and keep those joints loose, mind - with her head lowered to stay level with her shoulders to align her spine. And hackles, she knew about those, too!

Her Da would be heading out soon to explore more of the North, and while she’d hoped he was going to take her to see Lirim, she accepted that he needed to get a lay of the land in the north, just as much as the west, East, or south. And she was still an appetizing meal for large predators—like bears that were fresh from a long winter of sleep – and nursing cubs, in the case of the sows – hungry and irritable.

She wanted to get as good as she could at fighting, and that meant lessons, and practice. And boy, had she been practicing. She devoted two hours of her days to tussling with Paladin, Aramis, or just practicing lunging and testing her weight. But her body was changing, as was her brother’s, and she stumbled a great deal.

Her center of balance kept shifting over the weeks as she grew, and by now, she was lanky of leg and still sporting big feet. She’d reached the same height as her mother, by now. The more defining characteristics of the young Future has, by now, become apparent along her scruff and her tail as the fur just seemed to keep growing beyond the natural length of her coat, and she had to wonder if it ever would stop.

Would she end up tripping over this fur? She was of enough sense to know that if it got really long, it would be a disadvantage in a fight. So much fur would be easy to grab. This was on her mind, furrowing her brows as she weighted in the wide area of the Ravine, just outside the cave.

A scuff and click of claws announced her father’s arrival, and she grinned up at him. “Da!” Rising, she dropped neatly into the stance he’d shown and described to the best of his ability, carefully spreading her weight evenly between each leg and lowering her head level with her spine, tail wagging behind her as she announced, "Táim réidh chun níos mó a fhoghlaim anois!"

Walk ---- "Speak" ---- "Hear" ---- Think