Ash knew he was well on his way out in terms of his rank. There were younger, more promising members who wished to fill his role but, beyond that, even younger pups that still needed to be trained. In his mind, he really was planning to just let them all maul at him and he was gonna try to shake them off. It would be some good endurance training and hey- puppies might make him feel all warm and family centric again for a moment now that his own spawn was off and doing whatever they wanted.

Ash called for the pups- their parents too he GUESSED- and maybe whoever else wanted to get mauled. Almost as an after thought, he called for the promising young thing herself. If she wanted his rank, she better get comfy with training young, overly mouthy pups.

Round due: Christmas Day

Dagrún shook the stick back and forth until it finally broke. Picking one of the pieces up in her mouth she trotted off toward the barn to bury it somewhere. She'd save it for later if there was a project she wanted to do or she'd see if she could get some worms or something to find it. Dag's ears pricked up as the pups were being called but an unfamiliar voice. She quickly raced to the barn and stuffed her stick in the corner before going to see who called. She bounded through the grasses and took a hard right at the maple tree when she saw a figure in the distance. As she drew closer she realized it was an old man that had called them. He didn't look familiar but she hadn't met many of her pack mates yet so she'd just have to ask. She settled down in the grass.

"Hi! Who are you?" She sat down and cocked her head to the side.

Ysmir could often be found by the barn, he had found a talent in hunting the rats that lived there. Maybe rats weren’t the most impressive prey but he was getting really good at killing the prolific rodents. His attention wouldn’t stay on his hunting for very long, as the call rang out for the puppies of the pack he caught sight of Dag running in that direction. His massive paws carried him after his sister and the quiet boy followed up behind her as the two of them arrived at their teacher’s paws.

The man was vaguely familiar, at least in the sense that Ysmir could quickly place him in the list of extended relatives. His scent revealed much information as well, but he guessed that Dag’s question would reveal the most. He couldn’t get a name from smelling his uncle. The star marked boy lowered himself to his haunches, dual toned gaze focused on Ash as he started to get excited about a lesson.

Katja had put the time that they'd been released from the den to use exploring her family's territory, though she had yet to interact with most of them past her immediate family. She wasn't shy, she just wasn't prepared right at that moment to give her attention to a task other than her own explorations. But when the call came for the pups to gather, she interrupted her self appointed task immediately to follow the call. It was, after all, more important to her future than simple scouting exercises.

Arriving to see two of her siblings had preceded her there, she allowed herself a brief, faint smile. They were as eager as she was, it seemed, and well they all should be considering their lineage. She sea
ted herself with her siblings and looked over the one who had called them. Well, it wasn't difficult to place him within the family tree as veing undoubtedly somewhere on her patrilineal branch, though offhand she wasn't sure of which precisely he was. She didn't say a word for now, just tilted her head in a birdlike gesture of curiosity as she watched him.

Tyrfing had fully intended to dodge the fight training and instead take the opportunity to wrangle one of Fireside's goats. He'd thought he'd planned the heist perfectly down to the last detail, but he'd not taken into account the watchful eyes of the Fireside members who were in charge of said livestock. He'd barely made it a few feet away and only a few long syllables into his battle cry before Pesto's paw had found his tail. Why a raidsman wanted to rescue a poor stupid goat was beyond him, but Fin knew that next time he'd be successful in getting a rope around it's itty bitty horns.

Pesto had deposited him upon the ground of the meeting place and the purple pup zoomed up towards his siblings, realizing immediately that they were missing one. "Where's Skadi?" He asked, pouting. It wouldn't be any fun bragging about how he'd kicked her butt if she wasn't around.

Pestilence had heard the call and was on her way when a flash of purple hues had caught her eye. With a sigh she moved in to intercept the pup's attack upon the goat and giving him a good shake in her jaws to boot. Children could be stupid sometimes, but these ones were tiny members of her Fireside family and it was for that fact alone that she'd do her best to keep them from getting themselves killed. She hardly knew Chaos or Valkyrie, though both parents were frightening enough that she didn't feel like getting on their bad side.

She deposited Fin onto the ground and then strode up beside Ash, saying nothing but with a clear question in her eyes. Was.. was she getting placed into a youth class? No, no. Definitely not. If anything, the old man just needed someone to help with demonstrations. Regardless, Pesto sat and waited for the lesson to begin.

Where was Skadi? Skadi was doing what Skadi did a lot these days: fighting a stupid owl. The moment she'd heard the call for fight training Skadi had dropped the toy knife she was playing with and taken off running only to tripped by a malicious, gleeful bird. What followed was half battle half flee attempt as Skadi angrily shrieked and kicked her way free only for Skuggi to laugh and drag her down again. By the time she finally made it onto the scene she was covered from head to toe in dirt and cowlicks, and looked every bit as though she'd fought a dust devil and lost. But she'd made it and that was the important part!

Tired now, she flopped down in a dusty heap at Tyrfing's side. A small cloud of dirt billowed out of her plush coat as she touched down. Noting a clod of dirt between her toes Skadi used the claws of another paw to pry them loose. She then inspected her paw as though it were freshly manicured and she wasn't a filthy little goblin laying in a dirt heap. "Right here," she sniffed, "And ready to beat your butt."

Úlfr was running late! He'd caught a rabbit and had been half way through his meal when he heard the call for pups. He just couldn't deny his stomach and stayed to wolf down the rest of his meal before loping across the range to the source of the call. When he arrived he noted that most of the other pups were already there. He felt a tinge of embarrassment but he quickly put it aside and took his seat to await the start of training. He didn't know the other pups particularly well so he settled off by himself. He really hoped he didn't lose to the much younger pups if they were going to spar but there was only so much he could control. He couldn't help but note how fairly average he was compared to the others with their strange mutations.

Ashmedai did a quick head count of the wolves around him as soon as they stopped trickling in. He waited for them all to be there before he gave introductions or instructions. As Pestilence arrived he waved her over and made sure she would situate beside him, "You gotta learn to teach 'em young if you're comin' after my seat, little miss." He offered her a friendly wink before turning to the pups.

"Hey guys! I know we don't know each other well yet but I'm- most probably and more importantly most simply- your Uncle Ash!" He waited for that all to sink in. Were these ALL Chaos's kids? He wasn't sure about anything anymore. "So today, we're gonna learn about fightin' big bad enemies. In this world you're often faced with scary dangers once you're an adult, and sometimes even before!"

Ash took a minute to add some theatrics to his words, directing them at his poor assistant Pesto. "Big bears- raaah! Slick snakes- psssp pssssp! Ferocious felines- mrrrow! And sometimes even other wolves- awoo!" Poor Pesto was fully expected to stand there and take it as Ashmedai acted out each animal in turn before he redirected his attention back to the littles, "So how about we all say our names and the scariest thing you can imagine fighting?"

Next round due on the 10th!

Dagrún watched as her siblings trickled in as well as a few wolves she didn't know. Soon the meeting started and the man introduced himself as their uncle. She didn't know her parents had siblings! She wondered if Ash was Valks' sibling or Chaos' but if she had to guess from his mannerisms she'd guess Chaos. She giggled as he roared like a bear and meowed like a cat, though his question gave her pause. What was the scariest thing she could imagine fighting. She thought back to some of her mother's stories and some of Valdis' and immediately had an answer. "I'm Dagrún Finnvi and I think fighting a giant or a dragon would be really scary!" She assumed of course that all the creatures in the stories she'd heard were real and she knew some day she'd have to fight them.

Úlfr was glad he arrived in time for the meeting. He settled down to wait for it to begin, aware that apart from a yearling he was quite a bit older than the younger pups from Chaos and Valkyrie's litter. He felt a little awkward and wondered if he was or wasn't supposed to be here but he figured if the yearling was then he certainly could be. He thought quietly for a moment as Ash asked them what would be the scariest thing to fight. One of the younger girls talked about giant and dragon's but his focus was on something a bit more realistic. It was a creature he knew existed but he hadn't had to fight yet. "I'm Úlfr and I would say a Siberian tiger, especially if I had to fight it alone." Lions were nightmarish enough and he'd been lucky to be rescued. He couldn't imagine fighting an even bigger cat.

Everyone appeared nearly at the same time, before he knew it all of his siblings gathered in beside him, plus one other boy he hadn’t met yet. Ysmir’s attention wasn’t difficult to contain and as Ashmedai’s voice sounded in the air dark ears perked off a silver flecked head. He was much more accustomed to the serious way his mother addressed him, and wondered if their uncle Ash hadn’t been hit in the head a couple times too many.

Ysmir didn’t show any of his discontent, hsi brilliant eyes never leaving their grizzled teacher even as he went on a tangent. Finally he finished and asked the pups for their names and a bit about things that might be scary to fight. Dag spoke up first, and then the boy he didn’t know, Ulfr next. Ysmir felt like all eyes were on him and he looked to Fin for some help. He nudged his brother’s shoulder and with a slight gesture of his head urged him to say Ysmir’s name.

He thought for another moment what might be frightening to fight, and the supernatural and realistic differences in the first answers. If he was imagining, he’d have to answer one of the gods. Realistically he would say their mother. Ysmir attempted to sign both answers, pointing vaguely upwards in awe for the gods and he made a scratching motion at his brother to try and say their mom. She was definitely the scariest thing he had ever seen.

Fin eyed the adults with poorly contained excitement, his tail thumping hard against the ground. His focus was broken only by Ysmir as his quiet brother nudged him, and he turned his head to question the unexpected touch when Yrmir began miming. Understanding his brother's gestures was a million times earlier then understanding his broken and hushed speech, and Fin's lips pulled into a wide smile of agreement as he turned back to Ash. "This is Ysmir, my brother. He doesn't talk much. He says the scariest thing he could imagine fighting is mom!" The viking pup punctuated his words with a cackle of laughter. "It's true. I think mom, dad, or grandpa. Grandpa is so old, I bet he's won sooo many fights." While Fin heard the other pup's responses of dragons and giants and lions and other large creatures, he figured battling them would be more exciting then scary. "Oh, and I'm Tyrfing!"

Though she may have arrived tired the moment things got interesting Skadi perked right up. She sat up straight and took in Ashmedai's antics with wide, glittery eyes. Scary monsters? She loved scary monsters! Her favorite bedtime stories were full of malformed terrors who the clever protagonist had to outsmart or outright kill. Lately the bedtime stories had less and less scary monsters, which was a shame because after hearing them Skadi always had questions and she lay there forever and ever asking them and thinking about it until her mom shushed her.

Skadi bounced to her paws when it was her turn and began to gush excitedly, "My name is Skadi and the biggest, bestest, scariest thing I can think of is a draugur!" Remembering that just like how not everybody spoke her mamma's language not everybody knew her stories either, Skadi launched into an explanation. "They're big ugly things that used to be dead and then they came back because they were so nasty and greedy death couldn't keep them dead, and they're always hungry so they eat everything; I mean everything! They look kinda like this," She hunched her back jutted out her lower jaw and stomped around quickly, "And they're big and black with gross skin that's falling off and they smell so bad sometimes the stink is enough to kill!"

Satisfied with her explanation, Skadi flopped down and crossed her paws. She let out a loud sigh, then said, "Anyway you gotta take their head off to kill them but they're so strong and stinky, and they make you so crazy you'll probably die if you try." She beamed up at Ashmedai. "They're my favorite."

Katja arched a brow doubtfully as their uncle began their lesson, watching his antics with a puzzled, faintly irritated air. How old exactly did he think they were? As he was one of their elders and therefore she needed to show respect, she carefully smoothed her face and sat back quietly, giving no voice to the disdainful question. The other young ones spoke up quickly, and though she obviously knew most by name, being as they were siblings, Ulfr was her cousin and less well known to her. When she was the only one left she finally climbed to ber paws, her masked face set in an expression of quiet, and very serious determination - and a stubborn pride. I am Katja Finnvi," her voice a quiet piping. "I am a child of Odin. No fight holds fear for me."

Pesto wasn't sure what to think about her master-of-the-guard, and couldn't contain her shock and awe as he mimicked the many animals the pups may one day fear. Out of obedience or maybe shock she remained where she was, her feet planted and awaiting further instruction but the look on her face said it all. What the fuck. Eventually she found her words again, as each of the pups in turn gave their names and what they feared most in battle. At the last pup's response she smiled - oh to be young and oblivious. Willing to give her own two cents, she looked towards Ash and then back to the puppies. "My name is Pestilence, and the scariest thing I could imagine fighting is the ghost of the Soulless Forest." Her grin fell upon the fearless girl, then scanned the rest of the children. "I hear she has quite the appetite, and not just for children." Jupiter's ghost story had been one of her favorites - and having given her answer she looked back to Ash patiently and waited to suffer through his next wacky demonstration.

Ashmedai chuckled at Pestilence's reactions to his shenanigans. At least the pups seemed to enjoy it mostly. His lopsided smile held as his eyes met each of the children in turn as they spoke. Some of the answers were serious while others were a little silly. Then the one pup introduced herself as Katja Finnvi and for a split second, Ash felt like he was transported back a decade when he was standing on the borders of the northern pack, waiting to meet his uncle Laufey and the monochrome alpha Katja. He tucked that thought away later for Chaos and Tyr and Valk and whoever else. She answered similarly lackluster to how he imagined a young regular-Katja might have.

Pestilence mentioned about a ghost and her appetite and Ashmedai held back a dirty joke for the sake of the children. He turned to address them, instead, "Very good. Like I said, I'm your uncle Ash, but my name is Ashmedai Imperialis and Chaos is my baby brother- well actually Tyrian is my BABY brother, but he's more like a nephew." Ash flashed a smile before he continued, "I have fought Valkyrie before and while she is definitely scary, she is not the scariest I have ever fought. And while being the blood of Odin is all good, I'm the blood of Valentine and plenty of things are scary- even some small things- like if you're ever chased by a swarm of bees for trying to steal their honey for mea- I digress. Bees are terrifying."

Ashmedai took a breath, okay cool introductions were over and he got a taste for each of the pups. He looked towards Pestilence and shot her an obvious "I've just volunteered you for something," smile. "One thing that's scary is when you have multiple opponents coming at you. Today Pestilence and I will show you how to deal with that- by having you form small groups and attack us." Ashmedai looked over the crowd.

"Okay, Team Defeat Pestilence will be Dagrun, Ulfr, and Ysmir! Team Defeat Uncle Ash will be Tyrfing, Skadi, and Katja."

Ashmedai created some space between himself and Pestilence and assumed a defensive stance. "Alright, all three of y'all attack and we'll fend you off."

OOC: Attack your leader! Due date is the 21st for the round. Fights can be one round for ease, or two if yall REALLY want.

Fin was kind enough to interpret his antics, his brother was the best in the group at doing so but he felt like all of his siblings understood him to some degree. Tyrfing was just the best at his sign language of sorts. Communicating wasn’t hard, but answering direct questions like.. What’s your name? Was rather difficult for the young boy. He sat rather still next to his brother as he and the rest of the pups finished answering the questions. Uncle Ash apparently, was swift to get into the depth of things. Though he didn’t in the least agree with his assessment of their mother Ysmir would say nothing as always.

Ash quickly explained phase two of the training, attack your opponent, it would be three puppies versus the older woman. Ysmir’s dual toned gaze glanced to Dag, who he was quite comfortable fighting alongside but wasn’t so sure about the older boy. He didn’t let the uncertainty dissuade him and the boy quickly did as he was told. He eyed up the large woman, his gaze critical as he sized her up.

Likely her attention would be mostly focused on the bigger boy in the group so Ysmir made the attempt to go for Pesto’s right. Hopefully while distracted by the other puppies he could really get in. The young, long fanged boy, aimed to sneak attack her tail, wanting to reach out and catch with sharp kitten claws and bite with his incredible fangs.

Ysmir Finnvi (Dagrun and Ulfr) vs Pesto for melee
Round 1 of ?
Age: under 1 year
Size: Extra large
Build: Medium
Mutation 1: Saber teeth - Offensive
Mutation 2: Cat claws - Offensive
Skills: Beginner Fighter & Beginner Hunter
Specialty: N/A

Úlfr listened politely as the others explained what woudl be the most frightening thing for them to fight. They were eventually divided into groups. Rats, he was hoping to get a shot at this uncle figure but maybe the younger woman would move faster than the old man. He grinned at Pesto then quickly set his defenses. His tail remained wagging for a few moments before he realized he should probably tuck it out of the way. With three vs one he felt really good about their odds despite being only pups and soon the younger boy, Ysmir, attacked. A split second after, Úlfr charged head on toward Pestilence. He hoped to draw her attention to himself rather than the younger ones. His jaws lanced forward as he sought to bite the underside of her neck, a few inches down from her lower jaw.

Úlfr | Ysmir | Dagrun vs Pestilence for Melee Spar
Round 1/2
Age: Over 1 year
Size: Large
Build: Medium
Offensive Battle Accessory: Bladed bracers
Defensive Battle Accessory: Spiked helmet and cowl
Companion 1: Raven, Male - Battle
Companion 2: Raven, Bale - Battle
Skills: Master Hunter & Master Fighter
Specialty: Cooperative

Dagrún fidgeted as they went around the group and everyone stated what they thought would be really scary to fight. Skadi's suggestion almost had Dag changing her mind but then it was time to fight. To her surprise they were going to be paired in a team of three versus one of the adults. Dag grinned at Ysmir. They were totally gonna kick butt. She couldn't wait. She set her defenses, remembering to pin her ears and tuck her tail. The boys made the first move and she bounded after to catch up. Seeing Ysmir go to Pesto's right, Dagrún bounded for Pesto's left. She sought to bounce up with her hind legs and dig all four sets of claws into Pesto's left front leg, aiming to climb it like a cat tree and bite onto her elbow. She was gonna do her momma proud!

Dagrún Finnvi | Ysmir | Ulfr vs Pestilence for Melee Spar
Round 1/2
Age: Under 1 Year
Size: Large
Build: Medium
Offensive Battle Accessory: Spiked shoulder harness
Defensive Battle Accessory: Spiked helmet
Companion 1: Cougar, Male - Battle
Mutation 1: Cat claws - Offensive
Skills: Master Fighter & Master Intellectual
Specialty: Tactician