The wolfess set out in the early hour of the day, before the sun had risen. A grey-ish ebony cloaked the sky, and she slipped like a shadow across the lands - surprisingly swiftly and quietly. She had only gotten a couple hours of sleep with all the excitement keeping her awake for most of the night. That energy still remained in her body, and was evident with the slight skip in her step. Her limbs were all fired up, muscles tense, senses alert - yup, she was ready to do this. The sky had grown lighter into a subtle ashen shade by the time she had reached the ancient stone structures. Though she could only pick up a stale scent trail of her friend, her eyes still searched the area until she was thoroughly convinced he hadn't yet arrived. Settling onto her haunches by the stone they had sat upon the day before, she anxiously awaited his arrival, occasionally looking to the sky. It looked like the sun was about to creep over the horizon. Would he come? Of course he will! she told herself as she self-consciously shifted on her haunches, hoping he would soon appear. "Speech"

Rivaxorus didn't want to be late, but seeing as the sun was rising over the mountains he had better get to his destination. He had already been out and about, just near the Stone Steppe. Seeing as he was exploring more to get his hold on things. Gray tail flicked behind him as his paws scraped against stone. Two different colored eyes would lock onto the black and green femme, making him smile. Hopefully he hadn't made her wait too long. Today, he was a teacher. Even though so young, he felt much older and now Zephyra felt like a little bit of his own responsibility. She had potential, and with that potential came honing it. "Are you used to getting up this early?" he asked her almost as a greeting as he dipped his head. He knew exactly how he wanted to do all of this, however it didn't have to be all work no play. The mind was an important part of health. He had learned that from his mother, your state of mind affected your physical being. It was important to know where you stood emotionally on many things. Especially, when it came to the decision of being able to harm things. "Talk" "You" Think

For a few moments she held doubt in his arrival, thinking he had forgotten or something had happened to him. Perhaps she had misheard him; had he really said dawn? Today? Those thoughts soon vanished as her eyes caught sight of his outline in the distance, a sigh of relief escaping her lips. Her form visibly relaxed as he approached her, scarlet eyes flickering to the sky. The sun had finally decided to rise - its bright rays tickling the horizon, making a small, sly smile tug at her lips. Just in time. He greeted her with a question, which she didn't mind. The girl never considered herself an early-bird, as she preferred to rise whenever she woke up. As a pup she had been quite a sleeper, and always had protested whenever her mother or uncle decided to wake her and her siblings and take the family somewhere. "No," she slowly confessed, staring down at her paws. She didn't want him to think that he had dragged her out here. It wasn't like she could have gotten more sleep anyway. "But I couldn't sleep." "Speech"

He was glad, at least she was someone who got enough rest. He found himself very restless usually. Tail flicking behind him he nodded his had, at least her body was not tarnished either. Rivaxorus didn't know why he thought of that, clearing his throat he ignored the odd train of thought. "That's fine - you won't have to get up this early every morning." he reassured her as he came to stand next to her. Keeping a few feet of distance between them. "The most basic thing to learn about fighting is how to defend yourself - while it's good to bite kick whatever. If you don't set solid defenses it leaves you open for more wounds or, your life being in danger." Rivaxorus explained - then started to assume a stance. He set his usual basic defenses, ears pinned his eyes narrowed. Lips pulled back in a snarl as he spread his toes and dug his nails into the dirt. Bending his knees slightly his shoulders rolled inward. Scruff pulled forward to protect his vitals his hackles raised. The man's weight was evenly distributed on each leg, while his tail acted as balance setting parallel to his spine. "Try copying me." he urged. "Talk" "You" Think

Thankfully she wouldn't have to wake up this early for many of her trainings, which was bound to leave her nocturnal if she kept at it. She wondered if this was a one-off session or if they'd continue in the future. Whether it was one lesson or ten, she would try to get something out of it. Hopefully fighting would come naturally to her, even if she was a slow learner in other fields. The boy explained that defences were an important part of fighting - a sort of preparation she assumed? He then instructed her to copy him, and for a moment she was confused. Copy what? Examining his form, she soon realised what she had to copy. She planted her green paws an even distance apart and bent them at the joint. Was that it? No, there were a few things she had missed. She pulled her ears back, narrowed her eyes and curled her lips into a snarl. It all felt weird; was she doing it correctly? "Like this?" she asked, knowing she had missed some defences out. Oops, tail. Couldn't forget about that. "Speech"

As his first time as a teacher, Rivaxorus felt strong. As he observed her, he tried to remain civil. However when she went to copy him he couldn't help but to stifle out a chuckle. Fault on his part - he should have said out loud what he was doing. He calmed his breathing and shook his head a little. "You've got the visible part down I guess - I forgot how unvisualized defenses can be." Rivaxorus would observe her stance, her knees were a little off - but that was alright. "You want to make sure you're sturdy and robust, distribute your weight evenly on all four legs when you slightly crouch. Also if you are not the first one attacking I forgot - tuck your head." He would start to assume his own stance as he explained. It might have been a bit boring but he wanted her to understand. "You pull back your lips, to ready your teeth. Ears pinned that way they cannot grab hold of them, your eyes narrowed and locked on your opponent. You will need to watch their every move. Never ever take your eyes off." His chin tucked slightly into him. "Tuck your shoulders inward, and roll up your scruff like your trying to receed into your body. It will protect you from being thrown around like a pup with a thick layer of fur - and like if you were irritate raise your hackles. Toes spread into the ground, tail should be level with your spine. In some attacks you will need to redo your defenses to fit the situation. Tightening your abdomen muscles tends to help as well." Rivaxorus hoped he didn't sound like a parrot or anything of the sort. Relaxing himself again he looked at Zephyra, hoping that her second try would be more successful. "Talk" "You" Think

Of course there parts she had missed, and by his chuckle, which made her roll her eyes, she had to look ridiculous. Great. At least she was trying - that was the most important part. Unlike others, it took her a while to form correct habits. As long as he gave her encouraging feedback - and nothing that would make her want to give up and lash out - she'd eventually get it. Eventually. Pricking her ears, she listened as he went on to explain defences that weren't visual. How was she to get those if she couldn't see them? A frown made its way onto her features and remained there for a few more moments until he mentioned being sturdy and robust. Ah! That was what she was lacking - energy! She was simply just doing it with no thought whatsoever. Resetting her defences, she did as she was instructed by her "mentor" as he listed the defences one-by-one. She evenly distributed her weight - or at least tried to and slightly crouched as her head tucked, lips pulled back, ears pinned, eyes narrowed, shoulders tucked inward, scruff rolled, hackles raised, toes spread, tail aligned with spine and core muscles tightened. Most importantly, she felt energy surge through her body, and she had to seriously constrain herself from bouncing about. "Yeah," she remarked half to herself, inspecting her legs to ensure they were bent. "This feels much better." "Speech"

He was happy that he was a patient teacher. Not to mention how adorable Zephyra seemed to be. He smiled as he watched her, getting up as he nudged her with his nose. Her muscles were sturdy enough, he nodded his head approving of the drive that she had found. "That's great, if you practice that every time you wake up it'll become like second nature." he grinned showing off his teeth as he stepped a little farther away. "Since we are bigger than most wolves, it's important to keep in mind that your weight and height are a disadvantage as well as an advantage. Defenses are important for this, and if you want you can practice strengthening yourself by climbing tree's." His gray tail flicked a bit. "How are you feeling? When you're up to it, we could hold a practice spar." Zephyra didn't need to do that too soon, but it was up to her. Now was the time to learn rather then later. Rivaxorus could not express the joy that he was her teacher and not someone else. Something of a guilty pleasure with the young boy. That was a definite in his mind. "Talk" "You" Think

Wow, first lesson and she already had homework. Set defences up every morning? Climb a tree every day? That was so much! Then again, she would need to practice in order to improve. Either she wanted to be a fighter or she didn't. Besides, her friend had generously offered his knowledge and experience to teach her. He could have not bothered and spent his time differently this morning. How embarrassing it would be for her to return for their next lesson having done nothing.

"I feel great," she answered with a toothy grin, hopping from paw to paw. She wouldn't mind having a spar right then and there, but she just didn't know how to attack. Did she just throw herself at him and hope for the best? Surely it wasn't all tooth and claw; there had to be some tactics involved. A special way to bite, dodge an opponent's attacks...anything! "We could, but I don't know any attacks," she confessed slowly, flattening her ears with embarrassment. "Do I just bite or what?"

That was a hard question for her to ask. Rivaxorus hadn't really thought about actually teaching an attack. It was spur of the moment, kind of like she just said. He knew sometimes it wasn't, there were basic attacks that you could learn. He'd been observing fights his whole life, they came from his pack, from his mother, from his uncle and more. He had to think about it before he nodded his head, maybe then a spar would wait for another day. Consider this a fighting one o one for the girl. "Attacks can differ a lot. There's so many combinations that it's hard to say or teach you which ones are right. In the heat of battle you're going to have to decide what's the best attack to do, where to bite them what would hurt the most and how to knock them over. In a fight believe that YOU will win and you are dominant so try to get them knocked over." Rivaxorus said truthfully as he started to set his defenses just to show an example. "The most common is going for the shoulder face or the chest. Usually you can stick your shoulder out to try and dig it into the windpipe in our case I try to get a hold on the back of the neck. You can also use your legs to try and swipe their own or smash their toes." He mimiced what he meant to the air. As stupid as it looked. "Talk" "You" Think

It seemed there was some sort of structure when it came down to attacks, though the two key messages were to attack someplace that would hurt the opponent and to believe in herself. Alright, she could try to follow those messages. Biting someone or hitting them in the windpipe didn't bother her at all, in fact, that seemed like the easiest part of the fight. The hardest part was thinking of where to attack, and ensuring it actually damaged her opponent. At least he had suggested some possible areas to strike, which cleared her cloudy thoughts for the moment. Shoulder, face, chest, windpipe, neck...maybe this wasn't as hard as she thought it was. She watched with keen, scarlet eyes when he demonstrated some of the attacks in the air. Yeah, she could do those. Perhaps she wouldn't be so skilled on the first go, but she could definitely see herself trying those attacks for herself. "I'll try to remember all that," she commented with a giggle, earning a low grumble from her belly. Oh, yes, she was hungry. As much as she wanted to spar, she couldn't fight on an empty stomach. "How about we spar tomorrow, after dawn?" "Speech"

Maybe he did get a bit too ahead of himself. Sitting back a little as she responded that she would keep it in mind, his ears pulled towards the sound of her growling stomach. A small chuckle leaving his throat, seems like they had enough training. The rest of the day could be spent relaxing, Rivaxorus wasn't ready just yet to let her go as stupid as that sounded to him. He wasn't going to constrict her, but he enjoyed company. "Yeah maybe we should look for something to eat." he lightly bumped her on the shoulder. He didn't know what kind of prey this place had but now was the best time to find out. Rivaxorus tried to scent the air to see if there was any prey around. The tree's provided plenty of cover around the edges of these rocks. Yet they'd be lucky if they found a deer, being bigger wolves they needed a bit more food than the average one. His nose caught glimpse however of a deer, it was young but enough to share between the two of them. He silently glanced over to Zephyra gesturing his head towards the location to see if she had noticed it. "Talk" "You" Think

Unfortunately he had heard her stomach's growls of protest, even finding humour in those quickly little noises. Her ears pulled back with embarrassment as she folded her forelegs over her belly, hoping to quiet the rumbling. He fortunately came to the rescue and suggested that they find something to eat. Catching a meal sounded just perfect. "Sounds good," she agreed with a nod, watching as he sniffed the air. Oh, she should probably look for something as well. Tasting the air, she searched through the stale scents of wolves and aromatic smells of flowers until she uncovered the scent of a deer at the same moment he silently gestured to the animal. It appeared to be young; had it wandered too far from its family? Either way, it'd make a scrumptious breakfast. She began to creep silently, hoping he'd get the hint and follow her lead. She wanted to approach from the deer's flank, keeping a fair distance between her and the animal. If he approached from the deer's other side, they would have a better chance of bringing the creature down. Or he could create a diversion. It was up to him, really, as long as they caught it in the end. "Speech"

The boy knew how to follow well, just because he aspired to be a leader didn't mean anything. Seeing where she was going - he went to the other side in which Zephyra mirrored him in. Paws closer to the ground the larger more naturally colored male seemed to blend in easier. Yet that would make it easier to run it into Zephyra in order for her to kill it. Tail cocked to the side, his eyes locked on his opponent which was the deer. At the right moment, he decided to pounce. Taking off on his hind legs he took off towards the deer. Startling it obviously into Zephyra's direction. He would stay closer to the deer however, even though he doubted she needed help he was hear. His lips pulled back in a snarl - his hunger would make this far more vicious than intended. He was a predator still and to eat they had to kill. Even if he was thankful for the food, it was how the world went down. "Talk" "You" Think

Thankfully, he managed to follow her lead. She had been worrying he wouldn't, and even still, she was willing to improvise; anything to taste the deer's flesh in her mouth. Occasionally she sent sideward glances to the male, watching him keep his paws low across the grass, taking each step with silent stealth. Luckily he could blend in with the surroundings. She couldn't. The green upon her pelt was a similar shade to the grass, but she couldn't solely rely on that to get her by. She had to be even more silent than the male. She kept her body low, tail still and ensured her paws only had one point of contact. Crimson eyes were locked on the young deer, which appeared oblivious to the imminent dangers lurking from behind. Then he striked. The deer, frightened, scrambled in her direction, eyes still on the male. She picked up her pace, closing the distance between her and the animal in a few long strides. She imagined herself taking on feline characteristics; swift and light upon her paws. When the deer decided to look her way, almost stumbling on its lanky legs, she leapt onto it, securing her forelegs around its neck and bringing it to the ground. Writhing in her grip, the deer went limp as she fastened her jaws around its neck, hearing a satisfying crunch. "Speech"