Hikaru trotted lightly on his pale paws, he found himself completely at home here in the Armada now. He felt like he finally found his place and he belonged here. More than feeling like he was at home were his feelings toward Mortis who was the one truly responsible for the feelings he had. Mort assured him nearly as soon as they met he’d found a home here and so far Hika couldn’t argue. Especially to Mort. They’d been quick to settle into their own little routine. They shared a den and the heir was quick to become Hika’s best friend.

That was one reason he pushed down his own thoughts so hard. The feelings that Mortis brought out in him could only lead to trouble so Kaiyo was much better off ignoring them. Mortis was the Armada heir, he had many responsibilities and expectations on his shoulders and there wasn’t any room for a distraction like him. Hika didn’t want to ruin his perfect friendship for some unrealistic feelings. Both of them would be better off without acknowledging them.

So why was he having such a hard time doing just that? When Keetie kissed him the feeling was unlike anything he’d ever experienced. When he was reunited with Mortis those same bubbly feelings appeared. They were strange and enjoyable and Hika couldn’t deny how much he cared about Mortis. He just had to commit to showing that in their friendship. Hika sighed softly as he tried to bury the thoughts, hopefully some training would help to focus him. He made his way to the training grounds, ready to practice on his own but hopeful he might have some company.

Keeping herself distracted seemed to be the easiest way to cope with the lightning filled storm cloud that was settled over Aslatiel's head. Her mood had been a mixture between sour and utterly depressed ever since Indigo had gone half a world away. If she continued on her course, she was sure that she'd just waste away. Wallow in self pity until she turned into a ghost. Instead of that, she chose the path of training.

Sharpened claws sliced through the fur of the dummy, sending a shower of straw and grass into the air. Aslatiel breathed heavily as she settled back on all fours. Well... so much for that dummy. She'd have to make a new one. The fur was completely shredded. It could still be used for something, she was sure. It just wouldn't be for training practice.

As she moved to disassemble the ruined dummy, claws on stone drew her attention. Looking back, her gaze fell upon yet another freaking fish wolf. They did live by the ocean. Were they just walking out of the bloody sea? It seemed like they were everywhere these days. So, would this one be more like Raijin, more like Hattori, or more like nasty Hanako?

Brushing the fur and straw remnants from her paws, Asla turned to the young, spotted wolf. Grey ears flicked forward as she looked him over. "Hello," she said somewhat curtly. "Who are you?" Cut right to the chase.

His attention was swiftly caught by the sound of commotion, nothing alarming but perhaps another wolf getting their own bit of training in. Silver eyes searched the horizon, it wasn’t difficult to find pack members in such a flat land. He followed the sound curiously, his pale paws carrying him closer until he caught sight of the girl and ruined dummy. She looked about this age, and he wondered for a quick moment if this was Mort’s sister. As she claimed his attention so would he gain hers and brilliant purple eyes were on him.

Hikaru had no intention of disturbing the young warrioress but her attention was already on him and her voice was quick to follow. ”Greetings,” the boy offered with a low bow of his head. ”Kaiyo Hikaru at your service. Hikaru, if it pleases you.” She was the least ‘friendly’ that he met so far, but he appreciated how to the point she was. If this really was the sister he could already see the vast differences between the girl and her winged brother. ”Pleased to make your acquaintance.”

He was larger than she was, but then again, who wasn't? Her words prompted him to approach and he addressed her, introducing himself. My, the boy surely was filled with manners, wasn't he? "Aslatiel Fatalis," she gave her own name in return, only adding her last name because he'd given his own. Hikaru had bowed his head at her which was unlike anything that the other koi bastards had done. None of them had been as well mannered either. So he was different. That was good.

"Did you come here to train, Hikaru? I'll have to replace this training dummy before I leave the place to you." She'd shredded it, but it would simply take some more grass, a new fur and some ropes to rectify the issue. She could do it fairly quickly, but she'd do a better job of it if she worked leisurely.

Hikaru was of average height he thought, but even for him the majority of wolves he met were quite a bit taller. Meeting Aslatiel, who he realized now was Mort’s sister, he realized that he wasn’t near as short as he usually felt. Still, he didn’t miss the glint of her claws nor the intelligent glint in her eye. He would do well not to underestimate her. Speaking of though..

”I did, but I’d always prefer the real thing over a dummy.” Hika raised his brows in suggestion. ”Everything about this place is different from where I grew up, especially fighting styles.” His learning had been harsh and the techniques were cruel. Anything to complete the mission. Hikaru felt like he could learn to enjoy sparring here. ”If you wanted to share some insight.” He added as he looked over the shredded dummy. ”Or let me know if I can do anything to help with the dummy.” He gestured politely, just eager to get to know the wolves of the Armada. Especially Mort’s sister.

The young wolf's words brought an amused exhale from the girl's dusty brown nares. "Are you saying that you want to fight me, Hikaru?" Lips pulled upwards in a grin. She'd have to demand her usual in return for the spar. Kissing fish wasn't terribly appealing, though she wouldn't have minded kissing Raijin. He was different than your standard fishwolf. The man actually had a sense of humor. What of this younger koi? Would he be just as stuffy and boring? So far he had manners. That was a plus.

Slicing through the remaining ropes with her claws and teeth, Asla pushed the wreckage aside, leaving the bare bones of the dummy. As she worked she listened to Hikaru talk. "Mmm, I did hear how different it was there. I'm glad I was born here." Pulling out a fresh hide and some dried grasses, she pulled them towards the pieces of wood that were tied together. "Sounds like a man's world. Wouldn't have suited me at all." Asla was independent. She was strong and she was proud. Being under the thumb of others didn't suit her and so growing up where the koi came from would have made her something less. No... despite the problems that she had here, she wouldn't trade it away.

She smiled and looked up at him with her brilliant intelligent eyes as she picked up on his meaning. Did he want to fight her? ”Fight is a strong word,” he told her bashfully. ”A friendly spar would suffice.” He grinned at her, but he wasn’t about to underestimate a sister of Mortis. Hikaru took a tentative step forward as she used her sharp claws to do away with the wreckage she’d wreaked on the dummy. And his liquid silver gaze looked over the apparatus. He enjoyed working with something similar back home, when he had a dummy to spar with there wasn’t anyone to critique your mistakes. Hika mostly blocked the harsh training methods and the damage they did to him. You accepted what happened and moved on. He couldn’t change the past but he could refuse to relive it. He’d found a new home, one where he belonged. No one had the right to rub his face in the mud anymore.

Hikaru offered what help he could as she put the fauxponent back together. ”I was born into it, I never knew anything else.” Hika offered almost off hand as memories were dredged from the depths. ”I took a long time to realize Nippon wasn’t where I was meant to be.” Now that he knew what wasn’t right, realizing what was became easier. Hikaru decided that the Armada really was where he belonged. Beside Mortis, working for the honor of the pack, Hika could admit he had found happiness. ”I think I’ve found my place here.” He said softly as he packed grass into the body of the dummy and his mind shifted to Mort’s features.

Hikaru's soft words and bashful look won Asla over. She was going to like this one. He was sweet in an unassuming kind of way. The girl liked that he wasn't trying to be sweet. He simply was. Asla couldn't stand people who tried to be a certain way all the time. Putting on airs, if you will. Annoying. Hika was not that. "Well, Hika," she automatically shortened his name. "This is the Armada. In the Armada, we fight." Though her words were aggressive, her striped tail swished back and forth behind her in a good natured manner. The Armada was all about being strong in one way or another.

As the pair worked together to stuff the new hide on its skeleton of sticks, Asla listened to Hikaru speak. He believed that he found his place here, eh? "Well, as long as you focus on your skills and pull your weight, we're glad to have you here. You want to be a fighter, eh?" She motioned to the dummy with a thrust of her dusty brown nose. "I can help you there. I'm alright at fighting." She flashed her teeth in a grin. The small young woman was definitely more than alright, but she didn't want to scare the pale boy. "The Fatalis are bred for battle. All four of my siblings and I excel at fighting. Azure might not have time and Indigo is... elsewhere," she didn't want to think about that part, "But Mortis and I can help train you. He's always willing to help out packmates."

Hikaru was true to himself for the first time in his life. Or he mostly was, there were a couple thoughts he swiftly buried when they came up. He was as true to himself as he’d ever been, and being comfortable in his own skin. He was young and he had his whole life ahead of him. So what if every moment leading up to this he’d been training until he bled to prove himself worthy of a title he would never receive? His attentioned returned to Aslatiel as she easily adopted a shortened version of his name. He liked that she had grown so comfortable with him so quickly, but thus far he got along well with everyone he met in the pack. She teased him, but he’d stand up to her challenge if a real fight was what she wanted. He was rusty, but that didn’t mean he’d back down. He gave her a quick determined glance in return, but their focus was quickly shifting to the dummy.

”I am a fighter,” he added. Hikaru might have flunked out but he hadn’t been training his whole life to not claim the title. ”Just a little rusty.” He defended himself softly but looked back over to her as she offered her help, something he was very willing to take her up on. She listed off her siblings and their ability to help and as the note was left on Mortis Hikaru’s lips pulled back into a soft grin that he didn’t realize he was wearing. ”I’d be willing to see how ‘alright’ you are at fighting.” He teased back at her humble evaluation of her skill. ”Mortis has a very big heart.” Hikaru already knew he cared about the Fatalis heir more than anyone else in the world.

”If we hadn’t found each other in that blizzard a while back i’d probably be frozen out in the tundra somewhere, waiting for spring to thaw me out.” He chuckled warmly about the incident now, but his life had been in very real danger. ”I have a lot to thank him for.”

Together the pair fixed the dummy until it was to Aslatiel's satisfaction. Dusting off her paws, the young woman turned her full attention to the pale, spotted boy. He was adamant that he was a fighter and Asla chuckled in response. "Okay, okay. Want to prove it?" He had brought it up initially, so she knew that he did. Though she was already warmed up, Aslatiel moved off a few paces and stretched out her muscles. Any good fighter knew that you had to warm up or you risked damage to your body. She extended her forelegs, stretching out her spine, tail lashing back and forth, then walked forward, dropping her haunches out to loosen her hips.

Hika had mentioned Mort's heart and how he had... kept him warm? What? Asla's purple eyes narrowed slightly. "So you two got nice and cuddly in the snow, eh?" Blunt as ever. "Did he seem to like it?" She wasn't aware of Morts sexual preference. It had never come up. She just assumed that he liked girls because of stupid Malalia and the pit of despair that had swallowed him after she left. It wouldn't surprise her if Mort did like guys. She liked girls, afterall. And sibling, but that was a different story entirely.

"Ready?" That was all the warning that he got. Asla rushed him, ducking low and swiping out with one paw to try and catch one of his legs to pull it out from beneath him. If anything, she'd probably knock him off balance. He could surprise her though. That's what this was all about. Learning one another and amping up your skills.

Aslatiel pushed the direction he was going to suggest that he back his words up and moved a few paces away to stretch. Hikaru did the same, but the way he moved his limbs seemed so much different to the Fatalis girl. Differences in how they were trained. Even though he was already talking about Mort he was still thrown off guard as Aslatiel spoke again. His cheeks went red at the way she said it, the mischief in her voice as she watching him with narrowed eyes.

”Um, well, we did…” he trailed off, barely able to speak his heart was so far up his throat he thought it might come out with his words. They had cuddled in the snow but it had seemed the natural and easiest thing to do. Share warmth in a blizzard. But that moment led to where he was now. Struggling to hide the facts presented to him. ”Did he…” Hikaru didn’t get any further, but he was lucky Aslatiel gave him warning before she leapt at him.

To her own detriment though. Harsh training all of his life didn’t leave much room for brain mush. Like a switch was thrown he went from blushing babe to nearly graduated shinobi. He wasn’t near Hattori or Raijin’s skills but Kaiyo wasn’t a pushover. With bent limbs Hika acted on instinct and bounced out of Aslatiel’s grasp. Only barely though, and her claws scraped the short fur of his arm.

He’d land on his toes and kept his joints bent so they were closer to eye level. Revealing his pearly teeth he aimed to retaliate with a sharp nip to her neck, right beneath her jaw where she would be most sensitive. He would have tried to give her more than a nip if he had been fighting for the Iga.

Shinobi training or no Shinobi training, Aslatiel had earned her level of skill through hard work, perseverance and grit. She'd fought opponents ten times her size and had come out the victor. She spilled blood regularly and was a ruthless killing machine, despite her size. Hikaru could switch his skill on and off, but Asla was always like this. Fighting was like breathing.

Hika did his best to dodge her attack and her claws merely scraped his leg. He then moved to nip at her neck and Asla, rather than pulling away, tensed her muscles and rammed the side of her head against his open muzzle, essentially bapping him on the nose with her face unless he moved. Before she even finished pulling her head back, she was bouncing back a few paces, a grin on her face. This was enjoyable. Tail lashing behind her, she waited, allowing Hika to make the attack this time.

Hikaru didn’t enjoy remembering his training but the muscle memory he would always be thankful for. He moved before he thought as they engaged in battle. Thankful for his instinct Hikaru’s brain didn’t lose much of its fog. Thankfully Aslatiel was close enough that her ram didn’t do much more than cause him hurt pride as he realized her intent. Then she was bouncing away again, obviously used to fighting against bigger wolves.

The koi had no special moves or companions nor did he inherit any blessings to make him more formidable in a fight. All he had was his wits and what his own body could do. After recovering from his journey from Nippon it wasn’t near as precise as he’d been under supervised training. Still, he had no hesitation as he aimed to retaliate. She’d bounced far enough away that his body could get a little more momentum. He aimed to slam his chest into her as his teeth again sought purchase under her jaw.