He needed to be doing something else besides moping about and patrolling the borders. After attending Asla's hunting training, he felt like a good place to start was maybe by offering a fight training. He needed at least two other wolves to spar each other, but if he had an odd number he could at least offer one a battle of the winner or even himself. With Sirius busy with the new brood of Fatalis children, Magnus figured that he would appreciate some help in training the warriors and anyone else that would be interested in learning a thing or two about combat. While many of the wolves in the Armada were already adept at fighting, there was no such thing about too much practice. It was easy to learn something from every battle, and he hoped to drill that into his students today. Provided anyone showed up, that is.

Gathering himself and putting on the best face he could muster, Magnus trotted to the training grounds and settled himself in the center of the largest training ring. He didn't need any supplies today, although he did carry with him his armor and bracers with the knife, hoping to add a bit about fighting someone that had one or the other, or both even. Many of the wolves around here had their own set of armor and weapons, and nothing was alike, so it would be a good subject to touch on.

Letting out a howl to all the members of the Armada, and even Ashen if they so chose, he invited anyone willing to learn something to the training grounds for an impromptu lesson.

"Speech!"

TABLE & CODE © SKELLE 2020

Otis had been angry with her lately. After having to patch her up every time her shoulder reopened, and the cougar fight... well, he was currently grumbling to himself and sharpening the small blade that was usually strapped to her tail. When the call went out for fight training, he gave her a pointed look and she frowned. What was that supposed to mean? The following hiss he offered before he started to throw small stones at her seemed to scream Because you need it, stupid girl. She stood with a flinch and glared at the opossum, "Fine, FINE! I’m goin’! But not cos yer told me to!" Besides, others were bound to show up too. It wasn’t like it’d just be the two of them again. Surely by the time she made it across the plains someone else would already be there.

It wasn’t that she didn’t like Magnus, quite the opposite if she was honest with herself (which she rarely was). She just didn’t like feeling uncertain about where she stood, and had no intention of coming right out and telling him how she was feeling any time soon. He probably thought she was just a silly little girl anyway.

Sedna was surprised to see she was the first to arrive, her head dipping in greeting as she moved in to bump her nose against the underside of his jaw in greeting before moving back to take a seat. "Tough crowd huh?" She asked with a smile. Maybe Otis had hurried her along quicker than she had realised.

"speech".

we wear red so they don’t see us bleed

The call didn't register right away when she heard it. Hearing howls calling wolves wasn't something she was really used to and even in the few times she had heard them they certainly hadn't been meant for her. However, as she listened a bit more closely, she realized it was an open call for training in fighting. She hesitated uncertainly for a moment before finally getting to her paws and heading off to join them. She knew she was probably the least experienced fighter in the pack so it wasn't like she didn't need the practice, but she was still a bit nervous about meeting other wolves. So far she had mostly stuck to the ones she knew already - Naiche, Sirius, Zee, Aslatiel... Anyone else was going to be a new face for her. When she arrived this fact was more than confirmed when she saw two wolves that she hadn't been introduced to yet. She came over and stopped a somewhere near the two of them without getting too close, offering them both a small dip of her head. "I'm Rhona... nice to meet you," she introduced simply as she settled onto her haunches to wait and see what kind of training they were going to be doing. "Speech"

It wasn't long before some started to approach. First it was Sedna and a smile crossed his lips until she spoke, then he chuckled a bit. It seemed that others weren't interested in his training, but that was okay. "Apparently so," His laughing continued a bit, but in the distance he saw another coming up to join them. He wasn't familiar with this wolf, but that was okay. New faces were good too, and probably best than those that had been around for plenty of training already. Sedna wasn't new to fighting, and although she had earned herself a few injuries lately, she held her own against that cougar and he was proud of that. Not everyone could put a big cat down like that.

When the other finally came up and introduced herself, Magnus smiled and offered his own name. "I'm Magnus, this is Sedna." He spoke for her, hoping to get on with the training now that more than one other wolf had arrived. He wanted to pit the two against each other and see how they fought, but he figured instead he would just run some basic lessons with them about larger, mutated opponents. Who knows what all the other packs had by means of mutated wolves. Unfortunately, without any of his own mutations, he wouldn't be able to show what he meant.

"I've called for a fight training, but this is going to be more of a lesson than a training since so few decided to show up. Thank you both for coming, by the way." He smiled at them both before continuing. "To start, what would you both say your strengths and weaknesses are?" He asked, looking between the both of them.

Sedna wasn’t surprised when the other wolf stopped with just a dip of her head, though it still seemed strange to her that there were no shoves and growls and playful jaw spars, even her small shoulder bumps were a muted expression of what she was used to, that some shied away from touch at all... Well she just couldn’t comprehend it. She wanted to smell like the wolves she lived with. It mattered to her, but she wouldn’t push her luck. This one, she hadn’t met before, and didn’t want to go scaring pack mates off by being pushy. She settled with thumping her tail in the sand at her back, tongue lolling from her mouth as she smiled, a simple drop of her name, "Sedna," as a greeting before turning her attention back to Magnus.

The snort that left her nose at his request for self-reflection was very unladylike, but she recovered herself with a smirk and a tip of her head, "I’m used ter bein’ bigger’n I am here, an’ I’m too stubborn ter stop an’ think when I’m mad." She was surprisingly self aware when it came to her short temper and pig-headedness, if only because it was almost an exact reflection of her mother. As far as her strengths though, her face grew more serious. "But I know some healin’, and that helps yer ter know where th’ soft parts are. If yer can put someone back together, then it gives yer some idea how ter take ‘em apart." Her attention moved to the other woman to see what she might come up with as her own strengths and weaknesses.

"speech".

we wear red so they don’t see us bleed

She was a little surprised when the male began their training and there were so few wolves that had come to join. If she was being honest she was kind of glad for the turn of events even if she wouldn’t say so. Not having as many sets of eyes on her was nice while she was still learning the ropes. She returned the male’s smile when he introduced them both, offering them both another subdued dip of her head in return. At least they both seemed nice enough so she was able to relax a bit more. She listened to Sedna when she went on to explain a few of her challenges, giving a few nods of accomplishment as she did so. When the attention turned to her she gave a slightly shy smile and replied, “I’m just very new to fighting. Women weren’t allowed to learn where I’m definitely still learning... Although I have practiced a good bit since I joined. I’m pretty confident with defenses, but attacks are where I still struggle a bit.” She hoped her training partners for the day wouldn’t judge her too harshly for her lack of knowledge, but she felt like it was best to be honest so he would know what he was working with. "Speech"

Magnus listened as the two women took turns to speak of their strengths and weaknesses. Nodding along with them as they spoke, he pondered a bit before speaking. Sedna had more experience than Rhona, so putting the two of them together for a spar wouldn't be too good. Sedna would hardly learn anything, if at all, from battling someone so new and Rhona wouldn't likely learn anything from losing so harshly either.

"Good, knowing where you're weaknesses are will help in any battle, whether its a spar or a life or death." He started, looking between the two of them. "If your opponent is faster and taller than you, how would you ready yourself for their first attack if they're coming straight on, but jump to the side at the last second before lunging at you." It was his own favorite attack, faking them right before attacking a leg.