Cut off your nose to spite your face

Fuji knew enough of the members of her pack (and she considered them all family) to keep her mouth shut when Usagi started his lesson. She didn’t think she had ever heard the man string so many words together, so she paid very close attention to what he said. She took a step back when he told her to, even as her honey coloured eyes were drawn to focus on the silvery blade. She collected up her bamboo stick and mimicked his movements, occasionally whacking herself in the sides as she turned slowly from one side to the other, and then quickly correcting her grip and position to make sure it wouldn’t happen on the next pass. She knew if she had been holding a real sword, she could be causing herself harm, and that wouldn’t help anyone. She kept checking in with the larger wolf and copying his movements until eventually, it had been several passes since she had poked herself with the stick at all. Her chest swelled with pride.

“Speech”