Her mother bestowed many extra responsibilities on her, but this one had been a suggestion. After she returned home to tell her about her time with Zee and herding puppies the Empress suggested she should teach them. Both teacher and student could learn from one another, and with Venom still having much to learn she opted to take the idea. Venom felt like she was spending more time in the Armada than she was in Ashen proper, but her mentor was here. She liked seeing his children.

That thought crossed her mind as she made her way to the den entrance. Already she made arrangements with the parents to take one of the kids with her to do some lessons. Surely Sirius had already started with them so she could do more than just basic training. Venom could help her pup to better use his blessings.

”Azure?” She called out to him as she made herself comfortable outside. They could move if he wanted, but she was fine with giving the lesson here in the flat of the front yard. Perhaps next time they could go to an arena.

When his name was called, Azure lifted his head quickly from the rabbit that was to be his lunch and peered outside the den suspiciously. It wasn't a voice that was overly familiar to him, though somewhere he'd heard it before and recognized it as a friendly one. He looked back down at the mangled rabbit, frowned, and then stepped away from it to see who it was calling his name. He poked his head out of the den and stepped into the front yard, cerulean gaze falling upon the older girl who stood before him. "Hi." Az offered softly. His voice was hesitant, though his tail betrayed him as it wagged his excitement. "That's me." The girl was much taller then him, though not yet an adult either. The boy wasn't sure how old she was, and whether she should be treated with respect as an elder or play as a fellow pup. "Speech" "Thinking" "You."

Though it was likely the young pup popped out of the den more from curiosity than her actual request to appear Venom felt good that he hurried out. He was attentive and showed initiative at seeing to the entrance of his home diligently even at such a young age. The young princess couldn’t help but grin at her student. He greeted her and announced he was the one who owned his name.

Venom flicked her tongue excitedly, unlike Mortis this brother didn’t recognize her. Not that such a fact mattered now, ”I’m Venom.” She reminded him with a classic Klein smirk. She could go and give the long explanation of why she was there, her mom wanted her to teach the younger pups what she knew to help with her ‘ruling the empire 101’ class as well as her own fighting abilities. ”You’re going to have a lesson with me today.” She told him confidently as she put on her best impression of her mother.

She held her head high and projected her self assurance, there was no argument, they were going to train. ”You know how to fight, right?” She began, curious how far Sirius made it with their training thus far. She was witness to his wrestling with his siblngs before leaving the den. He had to know the basics.

The girl reminded him of her name, and Azure grinned at her. He made eye contact as was polite, and then in the corner of his eye caught the girl's tongue slip out and immediately his attention was redirected. He parted his own mouth, wiggling his tongue out with a look of deep concentration. Is that what he looked like when he did it, too? Azure thought it looked very very cool. It occurred to him that she was talking, and he shook himself free of the distraction to try and recall her words. "Kinda. Not much." He admitted. Sirius had been teaching the pups small lessons, but their mother was less excited about the pups starting their training so early. When Azure had asked why she didn't want him to grow big and strong, Zee had simply said that she didn't learn to fight until much later in life, and she turned out fine. Az thought it was a silly comparison, as he did not see her as very strong at all. Not like dad. "What'cha gonna teach me?" He asked happily, tail wagging behind him as he sunk into a play bow. "Speech" "Thinking" "You."

She could see his turquoise eyes flash as her tongue slipped past her pink lips. The young princess had gotten many reactions from the appearance of her tongue, but fascination was her favorite. The boy was still very young, and he admitted to not knowing much about fighting yet. She remembered her first few lessons with his father, he had instilled in her early a love for the dance of battle. Learning helped her to cope with the loss of her father, so fighting would forever be close to her heart.

The boy didn’t put up any fight in learning to fight. He seemed eager and ready and everything abou thim told her he wanted to learn. She wasn’t good at play, but learning she was all about. ”I think I’ll teach you a little bit about fighting someone with blessings.” Venom flicked her tongue at him again and unsheathed her claws at the same time her hackles raised over her shoulders and the sharp quills long her back would become much more apparent.

Venom came from two strong parents. Deathbelle, a master fighter in her own right and a titan among wolves descended from a god. She didn’t have to pick which was stronger, because they were both impressive. Venom was proud to be descended from the both of them.

Azure's ears perked to catch the sound of her voice. 'Blessings', she'd called them. Her own were put on display, and Azure looked down at his paws. They were wide and thick, and he'd recently learned that they had a name. Like his father's cat claws, he had bear paws. He flexed his toes in the dirt as if to test the muscles. His fangs too were growing, and he opened his mouth wide in a puppy growl to display them. So far they'd yet to come down as far as his father's, though the difference in length of his canines were slightly more obvious than they'd be on a normal pup. Lastly, he'd found that his elbows and knees were growing protrusions. They hurt a lot as they grew, and it made running and jumping annoying and uncomfortable. They were not at full length either, though they were still sharp enough to stab if he could find the right angle. Were these 'blessings,' too? If she was to teach him to fight against a blessed opponent, perhaps it would serve a dual purpose to help him learn what to expect from someone who was to be fighting him with the same techniques. "OK, I'm ready. What's first?" He asked the girl, eyeing her mutations carefully. The quills especially looked painful, and Azure knew instinctively that he should not be trying to attack her where they protected. "Speech" "Thinking" "You."

Azure answered her display with one of his own, he splayed his thick legs and dug his long knife like claws into the dirt. His growl pulled back his lips and Venom’s amused smirk only grew. She was liking her student more with every moment that passed. He was eager and obviously able, Az told her that he was ready and as much as such a young pup could be he did look ready.

”It seems like you’ve observed mine well enough. Tell me what you’re thinking.” She instructed as she allowed her hackles to lower. Maybe at the end of their lesson she would give him a real spar. For now she wanted to see his thought process and what his mind was telling him. She had to gage better where she was starting than just his vague mentioning of his minimal training. ”What would you do if I were a stranger threatening your borders?” He seemed to be the possessive type, or she could guess that he would be from her interactions with her mentor and his father. She touched on one of their most important lessons, keeping what was theirs safe.

Venom's question gave Azure pause, and the determined young pup dropped his eye contact to stare into the ground as he thought hard. He didn't know what the right answer was. He was torn between knowing that when faced with a intruder his parents would want him to run and not fight, though this was a lesson in fighting so maybe he was supposed to pretend that he could stand his ground and fight for the pack. On the other hand, Venom was still little so maybe it was a mix of both answers, and his parents would be okay with him defending since she too was a child and therefore less dangerous. He thought so hard that he didn't realize he wasn't talking, and the girl was looking at him waiting to hear this thoughts. "I'd howl for help, or have Marshal go find dad." The pup started, knowing that the proper answer definitely included his parents in some way. "Then I'd fight you, or watch you until they got here to make sure you didn't do anything bad." That led him into his next train of thought, and the next question he thought she'd ask - how could he hold her off? "What if I climbed a tree and watched you from there? It'd be safer for me, but I could still jump and bite you if you tried to hunt the chickens or something." He'd recently discovered his ability to scale small trees with his bear paws, and thought it was definitely an invaluable skill. That sounded like a good answer to him, and the boy waited patiently to see if she'd think so too. Word Count: 1689 / 1500. "Speech" "Thinking" "You."

Azure took a long time to answer and when he did Venom wouldn’t show that she was disappointed in it. She was sure that his parents would be proud but she thought it was the lame, boring, and safe option. Surely that’s not what he really wanted to do. ”I guess that’s a pretty good answer.” She’d tell him, not wanting to discourage him keeping his safety in mind. However, that was far from the point of her lesson. ”What if you were big as me, then what would you do?” She pressed further. He had mentioned that he might try and bite her if she was hunting the chickens. That was a good sign.

Venom was kind of frustrated with how young he really was, surely Sirius had miles more patience than she did. One of their first lessons had been killing that cat.. That had been one of her fondest memories from childhood beside the time spent with her dad while he was alive. Would her mentor get upset with her if she took his son on a patrol? Maybe the two of them would run into another cat.. The potential excited her more than it should have. This teacher business was good fun. Something she was realizing she lacked experience in.

Venoms response was not as excited as he'd have liked, and he wondered if maybe she was lying about his answer being good. The pup frowned, thinking hard about what else he could do in a situation with an intruder. "If I was as big as you?" He repeated, grasping the question and using it to try and fuel his thoughts. If he was as big as Venom he'd be unstoppable for sure, surely he'd not have to run away to make mom and dad happy anymore. He eyed her again, gaze settling upon her spikey haunches. "You're pretty thin, when I'm that big I'll be fatter than you. So I could knock you down and you'd be stuck." The train of thought was coming easier now, and the pup found himself becoming excited at his imaginary battle. "Oh! Then because you're so stuck, I could bite you and you couldn't get away. My paws would be soooo big they could cover your whole face and you couldn't see while I bit and bit and bit." Was that a better answer? It probably should have concerned Azure more that he was imagining bloodying a wolf who was close to him, but he was only very excited with the possibility that one day he'd be her size and an unstoppable fighter. "Speech" "Thinking" "You."

Venom watched as Azure seemed to focus himself more heavily, brows knitting as she pressed him to further his imaginative experience. ”Yes,” she coaxed, willing him to see into the future. He looked a lot like her brother when they were younger. Incredibly long legs, though his forelimbs were much more impressive. He told her that he’d knock her down, and before she could tell him that he’d need to catch her first he was on with his grand vision.

He would bite and smother, Venom smirked, much more satisfied with his second answer. The boy seemed to also lack nearly all of the empathy his brother possesed. Something she wouldn’t soon forget. ”Sounds like you’ve got it.” Venom was much more satisfied this time. ”Don’t forget though, I’ll be thinner and faster. You’ll have to catch me before you’re able to do any of that.” She offered as one brow lowered.