Willows

He did love them, even Artur with his eternal, brooding, holier-than-thou attitude. He honestly couldn’t understand his larger, older brother’s views, when Artur hadn’t even bothered reaching out to Aurielle directly and getting to know her.

Malalia admitted her inexperience with armored opponents easily, and Cai smiled at the sheer lack of ego and visible interest in learning rather than pouting that she’d been subtly – and unintentionally – called out on not having learned something. Or outright lying and saying she did.

He waited patiently as she sussed him out with her eyes, his tail wagging steadily in a near-rhythmic pendulum manner, and when she finally voiced her question, he obliged.

He arched his head to one side, showing his bare neck. “The best places to try with armor like this is where it doesn’t cover, obviously. Some wolves may have neck coverings to prevent an opponent from getting their teeth into the throat or scruff. My armor doesn’t guard it, but my bracers, with their bear claws, can help me to lash out and keep an attacker from getting under my guard.”

He shifted side-on to her, lifting one foreleg and stretching it out in front of him, exposing the unprotected area around the juncture of his front leg, “armpit” bare so as to keep his mobility un-fettered. His upper foreleg, too wasn’t covered, and his sides from mid-ribcage back, while lightly covered by a leather drape to foil an initial attack, were ultimately vulnerable if an attacker managed to flip the deer hide aside.

“There’s a weakness to everyone, and that includes their armor. You’re smaller than me, and generally that means quicker. Your best bet it to hit and run and not let me get a hold of you. Or, to get inside my guard and stay there, where it’s harder for me to twist and reach you, but stay wary and don’t get overconfident. Someone could always decide to sit on you or stamp down on your feet. The haunches are decent targets.”

It was a new feeling, teaching someone. He’d never done it, and mostly he was repeating much of what he’d learned from Aurielle, though in reverse as the larger wolf to the smaller. He paused occasionally as he spoke, glancing to her to see whether she was following the spontaneous lesson.

Finally he backed away, settling into his defenses and grinning at the girl with a, “Ready to try it?” and as ever, that tail wagged, though less as he settled it into line with his spine.

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