All terrain paws

Hal waited in relative silence while the rest of the group began to congregate. A small swell of pride at his being the first to arrive filled his chest. Henbane showed up, then Erik, leading Björn practically by his nape down to the lesson. The way their half brother was smiling and looking at the Hallows girl made Hal snicker and give a gentle nudge to Björn, pointing out the stupid look on Erik's face. Maybe that would get a little smirk or something on his sour brother's face. Then Rúna showed up and joined them, sitting on his opposite side. The Hallows girl seemed pleased with the turnout and introduced herself as Ember Carpathius. Cool, now he'd know her name when he teased Erik about it later. Erik and Ember, sitting in a tree... Ember explained that she was a Hallows warrior, which instantly got Hallvarðr's attention. He knew the Hallows had fought well against their pack in the last raid. If she was going to teach them some of her combat secrets, then Hal was all ears!

Ember brought their attention to the ground. Hallvarðr looked around at the snowy terrain, entirely unimpressed with it. They saw snow all the time up on the mountains. But as Ember began to explain how considering the terrain was a major part of planning a battle, Hal slowly started to see her logic. They were used to the cold and snow, but the mud and slush could pose a challenge. Following their teacher's lead, Hal got to his paws and began shuffling them back and forth, feeling his body slip side to side as his weight shifted. Ahhh... That's what she meant! Ember asked what sorts of challenges the terrain might pose to them, and Hal immediately thought up an answer. "The snow can hide rocks and stuff, which means we could trip if we're not careful about where our paws are." Even now, amongst all the ruins, some of the smaller chunks of rock were fully buried by the snow. Those could pose dangerous hazards in a fight—or opportune traps for his foes.