Avantika stood at the top of the falls, staring down them. They were truly beautiful. She'd never seen anything like them before. It seemed like that had been happening a lot. She released a silent sigh. It was hard to think much right now, but her brain kept tugging her back to the same mental argument. Should I stay? People were nice here. They talked to her far more than her parents ever had, and more kindly, too. But how long would that last? She knew the good times couldn't last forever. That just wasn't realistic. She'd mess up, she'd trigger anger in someone important. It had to happen. She breathed deeply, trying to get herself off the panic . Then you'll run. You'll survive. No matter what. Somehow it helped to drop everything down to a more basic level. You'll be okay, she told herself. You've never been really not-okay. "speak"

Rudy’s first thought when he spied the form of a pup near the top of the falls was of course to go sneak up on them.  As he got a bit closer though he spied it was the new pup Resin had brought in.  She was an oddity to him with her shyness.  Sure, he had a shyer sister but it was still his sister and that made things between them fine.  There was grim but he was more a pain-in-the-tail with an attitude than shy.  She was also a little older than him, but not enough that Rudy acknowledges it as much of a difference besides her being a bit larger. Rudyard didn’t hide but made his way up at a relaxed pace towards her, his tail was kept relaxed, and even with his body, tail wagging slightly.  Sure, he could be brash, excitable, impulsive, competitive or arrogant but right now he sensed this wasn’t the time for it.  Admittedly he wasn’t the noble Art, but he knew not to kick someone when they were down.  “Hey,” the words offered quietly, he could smell the fear and could find no reason for it.  Rudy had been protected on the pack land and had no way of imagining a reason for her to feel such fear.  She wasn’t his real family but he didn’t like the smell of the fear and felt some drive to try and help. The smaller wolf paused once close enough to still be easily heard without him raising his voice more than normal. “It’s safe here you know.”  He couldn’t reassure her from whatever terror that plagued her, not able to fathom what it was.  “Mom and momma won’t let anything bad in here.” Rudy could talk up a storm to get other wolves to buy into his logic.  Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn’t, and yet he could find no other words to offer her at this moment.  He needed to know her better before he could make her believe it was truly safe. "Rudyard"

The girl watched the water fall for a few beats more before she became aware of the boy scrambling up behind her. She immediately hunched, becoming a statue, frozen wide eyes the most disturbing feature of this all-too-usual pose. Okay, okay, breathe. She did, relaxing a hair, enough to focus on observing the little one before her. He was gray and patchy, a bit smaller than her, and seemed about the age of the other kids she'd met. She'd probably met him too, to think about it, but there were so many new faces that she couldn't keep them all straight. More importantly, he seemed relaxed and safe, his tail wagging gently. Didn't look like he was in too much of a temper. He wouldn't have come to meet her if he didn't want to, right? It wasn't like he was forced to be here right now. As long as she was good, there should be no trouble. Of course, she didn't know what "good" meant to this particular boy... When he spoke, she tensed up a tiny bit again, but settled as she registered his soft, friendly voice. "Hey," she repeated, her voice even quieter than his. Maybe he wouldn't like it that she got so spooked by his approach! The thought worried her so, she had to apologize. "Sorry... Ah, for scared." She didn't have the words to explain what her remorse was for perfectly, but she figured he'd understand. It wasn't terribly difficult. As the boy moved closer, Avantika lowered her head even more than it already was, giving a few lip licks to try to calm herself. She didn't meet his eyes, as he tried to assure her that she was safe. She was just processing that as he said something that implied to her like he thought she was scared of something away from here. "Not scared of outside," she mumbled, just loud enough that he should be able to understand her. She was, yes, but that wasn't the main thing. She was scared of almost everything, and definitely everything new, but especially strange people. She didn't know them, their rages, the things she couldn't bring up around them. She survived by knowing things about other people. Things that could hurt her if she got them wrong. Or if she didn't know them at all. Like now. "speak"

Walk | "Talk" | think

It was so wrong for anyone to seem so scared, it upset Rudy’s stomach and had him want to call for his mom’s as if there was something dangerous to protect them from.  The scenery was perfect, the air fresh and he could hear all the sounds of him that quelled the odd sensation.  Her fear was infectious and he was hurting for her.  Rudy lay down slowly, head resting in between his paws.  It was small as the pup could get himself to try and assist in looking harmless.  His tail was wagging in furious hope for her approval of this.  

“Hey,” He waited a second to make sure he could get her attention, “I’m Rudy.  Not sure if you heard before.  Rudyard actually, but mostly called Rudy.” The words were kept cheery but withholding the normal excitement he might put in them.  

“I don’t understand you very well,” Rudy admitted, “but I get your scared.” His words offered so humbly, and rather atypical of him. “I guess you don’t want to talk much.  I like talking.  Would you like me to talk for a bit to get your mind off whatever is scaring you?  I’d like to help.  Your Part of the Hallows, so it’s my respon-“ he scrunched up his forehead at the bigger word, “my job to help you feel ok.”  It was another one of those things he had just decided but once he came up with a decision he was quite focused in making it happen.

Avantika flinched once more as the pup lay down. His tail was wagging up a storm. Why was he so happy? Why didn't he just leave her alone? She was sort of glad he was here, but still mostly confused. Wasn't there something else he could do? Surely she wasn't the most important thing to be dealt with in this place, even for someone so small and young. She looked up as he tried to get her attention with a soft 'hey'. His eyes were bright yellow and kind. His name was Rudy. Or Rudyard, apparently. Her brow furrowed. Which was it? She'd call him Rudy, just to be sure. It was the one he'd said first, so maybe that meant he liked it more. Hopefully. Then he seemed more serious, telling her that he, something, something, got that she was scared, and that she didn't want to talk. Avantika didn't know what to say. She didn't even know if she did want to talk. She stayed as still as a statue, but not because of fear this time. The boy spoke more about how he liked to talk and offered to try to get her mind off whatever was scaring her. While she didn't believe it would work, it probably wouldn't hurt. And he was being so nice, he might get offended if she didn't accept the offer. And maybe, just maybe, she really did want to talk. "Okay." "speak"

Rudy hadn’t thought through what he’d talk about with her if she said yes. He’d just talk and go with whatever seemed best.  Her strangeness to him was still unnerving and he wanted her to relax.  Rudy was the sort who listened to his instincts and guts and it all screamed wrong and needing to be fixed.  He offered the new pup a smile as she said yes. “Ok so,” the realization just hit he hadn’t gotten her name, “Uhm, I don’t know your name? I’ll call you sis since I guess you are now, right?  I’ve got a lot of sisters you know, at least it sure feels like it.” Rudy inwardly struggled to stop puppy energy that wanted him to get up and talk faster, slow was nowhere in his persona normally.  Maybe she’d say her name, but he wasn’t going to pressure her to talk even for that.  Maybe she’d like ‘Sis’?  “I’ll try to be a good brother.  Arty is the nicest between us.  He wants to be a knight when he grows up.  He’s all about honor and heroic deeds and such.  He’s my best friend.” Might as well get her to know a few things. “Bowen can be quieter, maybe you’d get along well with her?” Rudy was going to exhaust fast.  He wasn’t talking fast or moving but his brain was working hard to try and focus on what his body was doing, the pitch of his voice and try to filter what he said with only a moment ahead of time.  Who knew thinking was so hard?  He kept wanting to throw out questions and pushing those aside. He did stop talking for a moment to see if she wanted to say anything.  It would also give him time to think about what else would be good to chat on. "Rudyard"

The young pup hadn't put much thought into the ramifications of her decision. As the boy started jabbering away, she struggled to keep up. She felt like a hunter who'd been spotted by its far-swifter prey, running as fast as she could, but still doomed to fall behind. The sheer amount of words that spew forth from his jaws, even if to him he was speaking at a relatively normal speed, baffled her. She tried to dissect the spoken phrases, but soon gave up and simply tried to snatch whatever words she knew as if they were a flock of birds from the air. Don't. Know. Your. Name. I. Call you. I. You. Now. I've. Got. A lot. She got the feeling she was missing some of the more important parts, but she concluded that he didn't know her name (duh), and that he would call her "sis", and that he had a lot of something that sounded a lot like "sis". I'll. Try. Good. Well, that was nice to hear. If, of course, it was a correct translation. Then he said something about "Arty" but she couldn't parse the meaning from the rest of the syllables. She'd wait for the next sentence to figure out what he meant. While it was unclear, she deduced from Rudy's tone that this Arty boy was a pretty good guy. Seemed like almost everything in this place was nice and good. It almost seemed too good to be true. Bowen. Quiet. You'd. Her. Bowen. That was the girl she'd met earlier, wasn't it? "I talked to her," she said quietly. She wished that she wasn't so quiet sometimes. It would be fun to be able to say what she wanted. If the world was a kinder place, maybe she would be. "speak"

She had talked to Bowen? Well that was good, wasn’t it?  She didn’t say how she had felt about his sister but they would have worked out well, right?  Nah, Rudy had to be right ‘cause he was pretty good at figuring people out so it just made sense. “That’s great.” Rudy’s small tall wagged encouragingly behind him. He really wanted her to open up more, which had him puzzling over what it would take to get Tika to relax.  “Hey sis, do you want to play?  I love games, a wide variety of them in fact.  Racing, pouncing, chasing, fighting, and whatever.” Rudyard tilted his head far to one side, eyes rolled to look up at her and even waving a paw in her general direction.  “I want to see you happy.” Probably one of the simplest bluntest statements ever made by the pup. There were so many more things he could say.  Rudy could go on practically forever when he got started but right now he wanted her to talk.  How to get this pup to act like a normal pup. "Rudyard"

Rudy's tail was wagging more than it really needed to. Kids. It was funny in a way, how cheerful both children she'd met so far were. They were nice. It was too soon to tell if the pack as a whole would do her only good, but the pups at least seemed relatively harmless. They were younger and smaller than her, as well. Easy to fight off, if she really needed to. Not that she knew how to fight, or had even ever tried, but it couldn't be that hard. With Bowen, she could probably just drop a shiny rock in her vicinity to distract her. She grinned suddenly. She had to admit it, the little magpie was pretty adorable. The boy offered a wide variety of "games" for them to play. Fighting was one of them. Avantika remembered the time she'd watched the guards train. They'd fought hard and fast. Circling, striking, rolling each other onto the ground and snarling in each other's faces, and all in the blink of an eye. It had looked terrifying. But that had to just be because they were bigger. Rudy couldn't be that good, right? RIGHT? Before she could chicken out, she spoke. "Fighting." Was that too enthusiastic? "Uh, um, yeah, I guess. But I don't know. How?" she added quickly. So awkward. When would she get the hang of this? "speak"

Walk | "Talk" | think

She chose fighting and that thrilled Rudy.  It was one of his favorite things and she was willing to play with him!  She seemed so uncertain he hadn’t expected she would want to do something like a fight.  It was all the more true at her latter words, she didn’t even know how?  

Rudy pushed himself into a sitting position, “You never fought before? Fighting itself is easy but, learning how to fight better than your opponent is the tricky part.”  Rudy had learned the most basics of fighting from tussling with Art and developed better skills with help of lessons and more experience.  

“Tell you what, how about I give you a few pointers on some of the basics and then we fight!”  Rudy figured he was pretty knowledgeable about fighting with, of course, loads of experience on it despite his age.  After all he pounced Arty all the time and ended up scuffling with each other.  That made him a pro, right?  At least enough of a pro for this maybe.  Maybe if she could defend herself she wouldn’t need to be so timid?

It might have seemed odd to Rudyard that the girl would want to learn to fight, but there wasn't a second thought in her mind. It just made sense. So many of her fears related to not being able to defend herself. It would still be scary to be attacked, but at least she'd have a chance. She could win. Part of her ached for victory more than anything else. It would be so fun to be free, and confident, and feared. The ambition almost scared her. She was nice, right? She still wouldn't do anything bad, even if no one could stop her. The boy sat up, cutting through her thoughts. She should have been paying attention. What if he attacked now? What if--What if--He began to speak, and she exhaled slowly, trying to bring her heartbeat down to a steady baseline. She listened carefully as he spoke. She didn't want to miss anything. She didn't know how much Rudy knew, considering he was even younger than herself, but maybe he'd learned some things from the other wolves in the Hallows. Avantika nodded once he'd finished. She would learn this to the very best of her ability. "speak"

Walk | "Talk" | think

She got worried just by his sitting up.  Hmm, Rudy still couldn’t fathom what could cause her to act like this.  Hopefully making her a master fighter would help her get stronger.  Rudy could have jumped up into a standing position, the pup loved moving fast but instead, he took his time standing up.  Did she realize fighting wasn’t a slow process?

“Ok, so what we will do…” Rudy started off with confidence before faltering as he imagined where to start.  Most of the time he’d imagine you start learning to fight by just fighting.  The motley grey pup imagined that wouldn’t work with her skittish disposition, at least not right away.  So that threw out what made the most sense.  “Um, ok.  Maybe we can start with a stance.  Standing right is important.  You gotta be able to attack and defend fast.”  

“So, you need to stand and have your head lowered a bit,” Rudy said lowering his own head so it was a straight line from the head down the neck and to the shoulders, “Like this.  It’s harder to get to your neck like this, see?  You should learn to glare too.  No one’s going to be intimidateded by someone scared, they won’t take you seriously.  You don’t even need to feel confident so long as you can look it.  Glare, show off your teeth, get your hackles up.”  Intimidation was certainly a point to be made about fighting, at least in Rudy’s mind.  He was about to make an example of looking threatening at her then reconsidered it.  Instead, he growled and glared to one side of her,
“See?”

Relaxing his posture he offered her a wag of his tail and easy smile, “You try!”

Avantika wasn't as nervy at Rudy's standing up, since it was slower and more predictable, although she was hyper-focused on every movement he made. She realized she was still hunched over and straightened herself out until she was standing almost normally, though still far from anything resembling dominance. She gave a small, shy smile. It's okay to be nervous, right? That's what we're doing this fighting training for. So you don't have to be so scared. She tried to reassure herself, even though a knot was forming in her belly at the thought of actually being attacked by another wolf. He began their lesson by advising her on stances. Thankfully, he demonstrated, so she didn't have to worry about misinterpreting his words. She copied him carefully, lowering her head exactly as he did. She was familiar with more defensive positions primarily from instinct. And experience. But this seemed different. Defending and attacking, both at the same time. Glare. Look confident. She couldn't suppress the prickle of nerves as Rudy glared just to her side. He's not going to hurt you. He's fine. He wouldn't be teaching you if he didn't like you. Now it was her turn. She could be scary, right? She could certainly be scared. There had to be some connection there. Fake it until you make it. She stiffened her legs, her hackles rising, and let herself slip out of her submissive posture. Be scary. She glared with everything she had. Not at Rudy, but at the ground to the side of him. Her anxiety seemed to shut off for a moment, as she focused on making herself perfect. She growled, a low, rumbling sound, that she didn't notice sounded a lot like her father's growl. "speak"

Walk | "Talk" | think

This wasn’t too hard!  Rudy watched her imitate him patiently.  It took her a bit longer than he could jump into it but he imagined she had to dig down a bit to find the part of herself that could growl and that was fine.  When she got those hackles up and that glare with growl going his tail wagged a bit as he smiled.  This might be just what she needed!

Hm.  He had just thought this wasn’t too hard right?  Rudy tried to decide what all else he should show her to help with basics.  “Ok, now pin your ears flat to your skull.  You don’t want someone targeting them.  Their small and easier to tear.”  

Rudy stepped so that he was standing in front of her a few strides off.  He kept his body relaxed as if he didn’t notice the other puppy glaring and growling in front of him.  “Can you focus the glare on me now?  Don’t worry.  I won’t mind.  I want you to try and tense up your muscles like you’re about to lunge and just get a chance to see what it feel likes.  In a real spar or tussle you don’t get as much time for that.” Rudy wasn’t sure what other hints to give.  Art probably knew a lot more as Rudy only knew rudimentary basics for information to share.  A lot of what he did went on the same basis as other decisions he made; he just did what felt right at the time. Trusting instinct and your gut worked great up until it failed on you.  So far he’d been doing good most of the time, and sweeping the mistakes away from notice.

Once Avantika broke from her intense concentration, she was instantly hit with a bundle of nerves. Did she do it right? Did she do it too right? She liked being good, but she didn't want to stand out too much. She was still in need of teaching. She wanted to be taught. She liked knowing more about the world, and surely going over something like fighting over and over again would help her know it better, right? Rudy seemed pleased, with his wagging tail and sunny smile. His body language was always so open. He never seemed to care what others might think. Avantika marveled at that. She decided that someday she wanted to be more like the younger boy. He was more carefree than she had ever been. Ears. Flat. She could do that. She obeyed his instruction dutifully. By his next words, there was a reason for it, too. She liked her ears. She needed them. Her eyes scanned the boy's movements as he told her to glare at him this time. She closed her eyes for a breath to get herself ready. Then she let the growl out in a short sound, glaring straight at Rudy with all the force she had in her. It was harder this time. She liked Rudy. But she wasn't scaring him, not really. So it was okay. She did as he instructed the next time too, tensing up like a statue. It tingled her muscles a little. She was used to tensing up from fear, but not offensively. Maybe it wasn't that different. "speak"

Rudy had his work cut out for him in choosing to make Tika feel safe and confident.  It was going to take time and effort.  In his other goals, he saw an easy layout of plans on how to accomplish what he wanted.  Sure, he didn’t know how to be a great hunter yet but he knew where to go for help and so he could be confident in the final product.  Tika was different.  She wasn’t a skill to develop but an individual who needed a different manner of care.  Rudy was still confident he could do it but there was a more somber sense to it.  If Rudy messed up on a hunt he could just try again.  If he made a mistake with Tika it could hurt her. It was this logic that had him decide not to step up the game and try growling back at her to give her a try.  Too much at once and he just knew she’d spook.  So while he liked the idea of encouraging with a growl back he instead just kept his happy look nodding, “wow, that’s great.  I was betting that was going to be hard.  You seem to be doing alright though!” If he wanted to be master of everything, if he wanted to be able to lead wolves, he had to be able to also lead Tika.  She was the start of a big project.  Maybe someday he would tell Tika how much she was helping him while she thought it was only Rudy helping her.  “Ok, so.  Now last part of this before we go to a real spar.  You get to lunge in like you are going to attack!  I’ll back up to stay out of the way and you can focus on what you are doing.  Lots of options of where to attack first.”  Rudy paused here as it was going into an area he had less experience on.  “Moma is better at telling us the best way of doing it, but just getting an idea of how it feels to lunge at someone is good.  Imagine going for my neck or legs or something.  Let mom help refine it.  I think charging will be good, don’t you?” Rudy turned so Tika would now be staring at his shoulder, his face turned to watch her.  “When you come I’m going back a few strides so you are free to charge full power as you like.” It was a weird concept, and maybe stupid but Rudy wanted her confidence up in these basics.  If she was scared to attack the fight wouldn’t go well. "Rudyard"

Avantika wanted to learn more about this fighting thing. She wasn't sure if she could just do it if she was thrown into a spar, and given her nervousness about really anything new, it likely wouldn't go so well. It might not go too well even with preparation. She needed to soak in as much as Rudy was telling her as possible so she could succeed. Or, at least, you know, not die. Not dying would be nice. The boy was still being happy and pleasant, praising her efforts, and a small glow of pride curled up in her belly like a kitten going to sleep. But then there was the next step. He--she frowned, struggling to piece together the sentences' meanings--wanted her to... Attack? What? Was that really it? It made sense, given that they'd be actually fighting soon. Maybe she just hadn't expected it to happen so soon. As he rambled on, she tensed up even more, feeling her little pride-kitten turn to cold dread and sink its claws into her guts. She couldn't even focus on what he was saying. But Rudy turned and told her to go. She'd run out of time. I'm not going to hurt him, she told herself. She had to do it, even if she didn't want to. Time slowed down as she took a deep breath. She sprung a few steps forward, turning her head suddenly to the side and leading with her right shoulder, intending to shove it against his shoulder. Her eyes were clenched shut. She knew she shouldn't have been so cowardly. But in the heat of the moment, she never could make great decisions. "speak"

Rudy was actually having to think about how to handle Tika versus just flowing with it.  He didn’t want to scare Tika.  That thought was at the forefront of his mind with each step.  So after giving his instructions Kotori watched Tika carefully and waited.  Watching wolves is what he did for fun and so he’d read a lot of expressions before, but never the one she wore so often.   Rudy smiled softly as she finally found the strength to lunge forward but what was this?  Kotori had already assured her he’d step back so she could continue practicing on lunging and thus he was ready to move away from her lunge.  He had been hoping to need to back up more than he did, however.  Her eyes were closed? She was using her shoulder huh?  They had a long way to go. What would mom and mama say?  The one thing Rudy knew is he still had to be positive but had to give some true information.  This was so hard!  “Hey Tika,” Rudy tried to keep the words light with a smile on his face but a hint of amusement also, “its really hard to fight well with your eyes closed.  See? I told you that you wouldn’t hurt me.  You can trust me.   Even when we spar, I’ll make sure neither of us gets hurt bad so you can trust me and relax for it.” Rudy didn’t question her choice of using her shoulder and imagined maybe it could work?  Knock the enemy off balance and then follow up with an attack if you are fast enough?  Mom and mama could say better but she definitely needed to work on keeping her eyes open and they needed to work on her faith in him.  If she could trust him then she wouldn’t need to be scared while they fought.  Just like how he wasn’t scared of anything in the pack because his moms wouldn’t let anything happen. “If we take it slow do you think you can spar now?” It had to be her decision, he couldn’t push her.  Rudy wasn’t used to thinking so hard and already felt he was going to need to sleep afterward.  It was crazy.  He still felt his body had energy but mentally he was actually getting tired. "Rudyard"

The girl opened her eyes, realizing she'd shut them. She stared at the ground. It was evident to her that fighting with her eyes closed wouldn't be a very good strategy. So why did you do it? She didn't want to be afraid anymore. But she was starting to think she always would be, whether she liked it or not. She had been molded by her past like clay, and now she was stuck in this form. Right? Avantika felt a tickle of annoyance as Rudy told her what she already knew. She kept her eyes on the ground, suddenly feeling heat stroke her face. She had to trust him. Odds were, he was probably a much better fighter than she and could keep them both from hurting each other. She ordered the raging knot of nerves in her belly to shut up. It would all be okay. The boy offered for them to start the spar. Avantika finally looked up, nodding. "Yes." She took a deep breath, pulling every scrap of willpower in her to this moment. She mentally ran over the list of things Rudy had taught her to do. Hackles up. Head lowered. Teeth showing. Look fierce. Ears flat. There were so many things to remember! Someday, if she practiced enough, the stance would be second nature to her. She thought she had them all, though. She crouched a little, almost involuntarily, knees bending. She remembered a snake she had once seen stalking a mouse in the palace caves. The creature had slithered over the ground, slowly and carefully, but when it struck, it struck like a guillotine. The mouse had never had a chance. She would be like the snake, she decided. Cautious and observant, using her pull to facts and rationality to tell her what to do, but striking like lightning when she was ready. Maybe--maybe not the killing part though. She stayed standing, bouncing a little on her paws. She would let him attack first. She wasn't so scared then. She just wanted to see what he would do. Her eyes stayed on his chest. Watching. Waiting. Avantika Azrail vs Rudyard for spar Round 1/x Age: Under 1 year Size: Large Build: Medium Skills: Beginner Fighter & Novice Intellectual Specialty: N/A "speak"

Rudy was now her teacher.  Not that he knew much about teaching but the longer he tried to help, and the more he witnessed her lack of confidence the more his resolution to help her grew.  With that decision firmly ingrained the boy could smile a bit more.  Once Rudy had his mindset on doing a thing he lost any concern of failure.  The boy simply wouldn’t fail and therefore she would get better.  Why shouldn’t he be confident?  Hopefully, his confidence would rub off on her. When she took position for the fight Rudy squared himself up, ears flat, tail even with his body and a look of faith given to her with an encouraging nod.  He wasn’t going to try overly hard to win this fight as he was worried he might shake her limited confidence.  After a moment he realized she wanted him to move first.  Hmm, what would he do? Kotori ran towards her, baring his teeth finally out of habit. He was going straight towards her, lowering his head and looking to the leg he would attempt to bite.  He was letting it be obvious to give Tika time to react.  If she didn’t stop him in time the bite would have little pressure to it, just a warning nip to let her see where she needed to aim her defenses and hopefully attack in return. Rudyard vs Avantika for Spar Round 1/3 Age: under 6 months Size: Large Build: Medium Skills: Beginner Fighter & Intermediate Hunter Specialty: N/A "Rudyard"