It was becoming readily apparent that Azure's parents had no plans to cull the rapidly growing defectives they'd birthed. Pity. Already one had challenged him and wasted five whole minutes of his time on it; when would the next? How many times would he be forced to drive their faces into the ground before the young siblings would learn to leave him alone? Logic told him that they'd one day soon realize they had no right to be warriors, but that day wasn't coming soon enough. To hurry it along, he decided to teach them something that they could do. How to skulk about around caverns, how to feed the wolves who actually deserved to call the Armada home.

With that, he drug both girls off through the caverns and around, until they'd finally reached the entrance to the next adjoining cave system. He ushered them both into the cavern and then behind them threw a hefty pelt he'd been lugging behind. Wrapped inside were various materials of all kinds. Smaller hides, ropes, cat gut, vines, all bundled together with several thick and straight stake-like sticks.

Stepping into the darkness, he gestured to the way the path splintered off into three tunnels a few meters away. "Something lives in these caves." Yes, he'd pre-scouted it to ensure their safety or whatever. "Find which tunnel you want the animal herded into and block off the other two. Being small and stupid, you may ask whatever questions or snippets of advice your little hearts desire... but for every one I deem ridiculous, you're carrying one of these objects back home." Eyeing the girls, he waited for them to begin. "You don't have very long, and if you miss this kill, you miss your meal."

"Speech"

Kite was on the defensive. Following cautiously after Azure, and expecting to find that this was a trap. She stuck close to Vanta, ready at a moment's notice to protect her sister if Azure turned on them. Her previous fight with the pseudo-Warlord taught her that she was a long, long way of defeating him. But she could buy Vanta time, if she needed it. Perhaps it was strange for one so young to be so distrustful, but she vividly remembered the way Azure had hauled her like a sack of meat, and thrown her by the firepit.

When they finally arrived, and Azure laid out the objective, she bared her teeth at him. His words were laden with insults and she felt this nearly overwhelming desire to launch herself at him. No one else in the entirety of her short life pissed her off as much as he did. Everything he said, every expression he bore wore down her patience. His task was stupid. They didn’t know what they were hunting, and she’d had no lessons prior to this one, but dammit if she was going to admit that to him, or let him show her up. “Get out of my way, and I’ll get your stupid animal. I guess you're too good to hunt for yourself.” She said, reaching down and grabbing some stakes. “Vanta?” she said, softening her voice as she turned to her sister and moved to hand her a bundle.

"Speech"

Vanta was nervous. She'd heard of the Warlords' disdain for them and felt that negativity with every glance he gave her. She'd only been allowed out of the den for mere weeks and already had learned hard and fast to avoid the grumpy man who was her brother. His 'invite' out to the adjoining cave system seemed like a trap - and it seemed Kite felt it too, from the way her body remained tensed the whole walk here.

When he ushered them into the cavern Vanta half expected him to throw them in and shut some massive stone boulder to trap them forever. She could see the imaginative scene behind her crystalline eyes, feeling almost surprised when he eventually followed them into the dark. Giving them a task. Turning her head as Kite spat back fire, she let her sister speak for them both and peeped up only when directly addressed. "Uhm." She hummed, casting a quick glance over to the impatient looking man before laying eyes back upon her sister. "We're about the same size, maybe we should each take one tunnel and see who reaches the end first. I think he wants us to find a dead-end." If her sister agreed, she'd waste no time in picking one and heading down it into the comfortable dark. After all, they didn't have long before whatever beast lived here arrived. Or so Azure said.

"Speech"

While she'd likely meant it to be offensive, Kite's words echoed with truth even she didn't understand. Yes, he was too good to hunt for himself, though he did on the regular. Ideally he'd have half a dozen idiots fetching his food for him, but before now the Armada had always weighted heavily toward warriors - toward useful and worthy wolves. With his newest litter of siblings he'd gained three new Fatalis disappointments - hopefully these ones combined with his daughters might prove a good task force for the grunt work. To her words he did not reply, only flashing his teeth in what might have been a grin or a taunt. Hard to say, in the dark.

As the pups consulted each other, Azure echoed hints off the cavern walls. "The creature is hungry, he'll likely be by quite soon. He's twice your height at least, so prepare for that eventuality in your barricades. You do not want him to slip through the cracks - you get one chance at this, if he makes it past your trap then you'll never find him. This is his home, not yours."

"Speech"

Flashing his teeth instead of rising to the bait was far less satisfying then what Kite had hoped for. She sighed at him, and turned her attention to Vanta. “No, we aren’t splitting up” she said. She didn’t know if Vanta would take offence to her taking the lead, but for as long as it was Azure’s ‘mission’ they were on, Kite would be protective and distrustful. ‘

“Knowing Azure, it’s probably a cave bear or something. Here’s what we should do. We pick a tunnel, and in the other two we make a trap that will make noise to alert us, and a barricade to slow it down. That way it wont get past us while we are exploring. You in?” She asked, her set of crystal eyes on her sisters.


"Speech"

The nervousness faded and now, Vanta was simply torn. Torn between following directions, and following her beloved sister. Her paw drug anxious circles in the dirt as she considered her sister's words. A cave bear? "Do you really think he'd do that?" She whispered into Kite's ear, sending a suspicious glance over her shoulder at the brute. "But, but.. okay." Her ears slicked back against her skull, tension in her chest as she imagined the echoing roar of a cave bear deep in the tunnels. How could they ever barricade a BEAR? 'Slowing it down' would only make it's dinner freshly coated in it's own urine.

She grabbed the bundle hesitantly, pawing one of the long sticks. "How can we make any of this make noise?" The girl posed, taking the stick and tapping it against the other articles to try and make a loud enough warning sound. "Maybe some stones? Tied close together and hanging, so they clack together?" But then what could they use to trigger the clacking..

"Speech"

Kite flattened her ears and cast a suspicious glance in Azure’s direction. She paused, but it was a short one before she nodded her head once. “...Yes” She said. She still wasn’t entirely convinced this wasn’t some elaborate way to get rid of them. Lioness had heard him talking. She’d gotten the kitten to stalk him every now and then… keeping an eye on her enemy.

She nodded her head thoughtfully as Vanta spoke of stones, tied together so they’d clank. “Let’s tie the rope so it's juuuust off the ground so it’ll walk into it, and on each end near the wall, we’ll tie the stones. When the rope is suddenly pulled, it will pull the stones into each other?” She suggested. Already picking up rope and stones as she spoke. She didn’t like having Azure lurking somewhere in the background. She didn’t know what kind of trap he’d planned for them. She just wanted to get this over and done with. She was shaking a little, and she pressed her paw to the ground to hide it.


"Speech"

Azure raised a brow as he eavesdropped to the pup's hushed ideas, head shaking slightly as he realized that Kite was going to do everything possible to not take his advice. Well, perhaps she'd learn when she missed out on the kill and was forced to go without. Az was a seasoned hunter, the pups would be stupid to dismiss his teachings. Settling his shoulder against the cave wall he continued to supervise, eyeing the children as they worked and keeping an ear upon the open tunnel to his right.

He knew what was in the depths there and where to find it, and when the time was right he would go to it and herd it into the children to fight. That is, if their trap was good enough to keep it in place long enough for one of them to land a killing blow. "Tick tock." He taunted softly, ear twitching as the distinctive padding in the distance caught his notice.

"Speech"

Things were getting scarier the longer time drew on, and Vanta took no time to grab up the cat gut and begin to clumsily tie stones to it's end, hoping it's translucent quality would make it harder to spy in the dark. "Okay, I'll do that part. You do the barricade?" She suggested, her tone (and working paws) shaking from fear. Azure's taunting echo did not help, though the sound was muted as Vanta's ears were permanently pressed tight to her skull. Hurrying each movement she looped the rope over and under the stone, through itself, then back left and right around the stone. Tying it as securely as she knew how, at speed that spoke to the prospect of an incoming cave bear of all things.

"Dad would kill him if he led us into a bear." The girl spoke hesitantly aloud, not just for Kite and her own benefit, but so the man might hear and realize too. If his intentions were truly that cruel. With the stones placed, Vanta began to string the first rope. Just high enough that she herself could not jump it nor crawl under it, encouraging the creature to hit it and trigger their sound trap.

"Speech"

Kite let Vanto take the stones and cat gut and work on that part of their trap. When Azure’s voice slithered towards him she shot him a dirty look. “Fall down a hole already” She replied, grabbing the stakes as she set them into the earth. She wanted her barricade to be deadly. She wanted it to hurt if the creature tried to crash through it.

“Maybe, but we’d still be dead” she said pessimistically to her sister's words. She glanced over at Azure. Maybe Vanta was right. Azure might hate them, but would he raise a paw to them and risk their fathers wrath? “I saw how excited dad was to see you the other day. He adores you to bits, Vanta” She spoke loudly, making sure Azure got the message. Offering Vanta protection with her words as she finished the trap.


"Speech"

Azure barked a laugh at the children's innocence, head shaking more vigorously in emphasized amusement. "Cute you think he knows I even brought you here." The words were all he'd give back to their terror-touched imaginings. If he wanted the pups dead, they'd be dead. Sirius and Zee had five others to handle, Azure had dozens of duties and responsibilities. He would not be the first suspect if a pup up and vanished one day, all he'd need to do is cry pirate. They were useless broken things, but they were still Fatalis'. Worthy of protection until the day they tarnished the name enough for Sirius to strip them of it. Like fat Ophie, fed and cared for out of duty and obligation - but not out of love.

Pushing off the wall, Azure gave a glance to the children that said to remain, and disappeared into the separate tunnel that he had not allowed them to build within. Nostrils flaring he scented the air, following the winding paths until reaching the den-site of the cave dweller who had taken up residence here. A bark and a snarl was all it took to send the creature fleeing, skittering out back the way he'd come. Azure shouted over it's shoulder, knowing the sound would travel to the children. "Here it comes! Oh, I'd forgot to mention. You'd better go block the entrance!"

"Speech"

Both girls had finished their traps and Vanta resigned herself to idling nervously for the moment of truth. Would their barricade work? Was it a bear?? Would they even survive this day??? Azure disappeared into another tunnel and Vanta wished desperately to follow him, to hide beneath his thick limbs for some semblance of protection against tooth and claw larger then herself. When his voice called back to them, she damn near peed herself. Sending a panicked glance toward Kite at his words and then back at the open cavern entrance, she stood so fast that she nearly toppled and booked it over to the cave mouth to stand guard. Trembling hard, her toes making rapid clicking sounds as they vibrated anxiously against the stone.

And then the creature appeared, a heavy dark mask upon it's face and a long, ringed tail. It wasn't a bear. It wasn't a bear! Vanta exhaled relief, and that exhale turned into almost a laugh. A crazed sort of laugh that said 'I'm not going to die today!'. However the raccoon was still fleeing, and Vanta was forced to swallow the laugh and choke on it as she dove to interrupt it's escape. Herding it toward Kite so that Kite could herd it toward her barricade.

"Speech"

“Maybe not, but Lioness does” she shot back with a growl. If he did stop trying to scare Vanta she’d throw in the towel for this whole hunt and launch herself at him. The second Az had decided to take them on this journey, she’s separated from Lioness. She’d needed someone to watch from the background. Hopefully, after hearing this conversation, her cat companion would get a sudden desire to hang out with their dad.

There wasn’t time to trade any more insults, suddenly something was running towards them. Kite’s fur stood on end, as scared as Vanta was, and then suddenly she realised it was much smaller than a bear. Still bigger than the tiny baby wolves, but no bear. Vanta had raced for the entrance, and was cutting off its exit. As it veered towards Kite, she let her fur stand on end even more, puffing up her tail as she snarled at it. Trying to scare it towards the barricade.


"Speech"

Azure took his time in heading back out of the tunnel, leisurely walking behind the fleeing raccoon and listening intently to the puppy snarls and growls echoing in the halls. Hopefully they'd taken the one important piece of advice he'd given and blocked the exit. By the time he entered back into the expansive space, their fight had already begun. Both pups were struggling to herd the raccoon the right direction and thankfully as fearful as it was, the animal was not fighting back.

Azure slid along the wall, circling the children and prey, coming up behind Vanta where she stood trembling before the entrance. With a gentle push of his paw he encouraged the pup into the fray. "Go, fight, herd, kill. I'll watch this exit." He was not about to allow the pup to stand there frozen and let her sister do all the work, the disabled would need to stick together to manage even three quarters of a fully functioning wolf.

Vanta ran forward to join the hunt and Azure paced along the open entrance, occasionally bearing his teeth at the critter or swatting lazily at it with a paw to keep it moving towards the pup's hastily crafted trap.

"Speech"

Vanta wished she could be as brave as Kite. Her sister looked fierce fluffed up and snarling, not scared at all of the not-quite-a-cave-bear that had been pushed into their path. She wanted to help, but her paws were stuck tight to the floor. At least she could rationalize that she was doing something - after all, she had been instructed to guard the entrance. As the raccoon tried to fight captivity, feinting this way and back and being intercepted by both pups, Azure reentered the picture.

Sauntering lazily toward her and taking the safety of her position right out from beneath her bum, Vanta felt herself being pushed forward toward where her sister was herding the creature. Her ears slicked back against her skull, her tail tucking as she scampered hesitantly toward them. Bearing her teeth, rolling her scruff as she'd once been taught, and giving a nervous growl toward the thing. The raccoon saw a weak link where she stood, barrelling toward the insecure puppy for a way out. Vanta eeped and leaped to the side, her resolve breaking. Azure redirected it back into the depths toward her sister, and Vanta moved to try and follow behind it's long, ringed tail.

"Speech"

Kite acted fearless, yipping and rushing at the raccoon. Always halting before she got too close, but the raccoon didn’t seem to realise that. It hissed at her and moved - slowly - in the direction she desired. She was all but quivering with adrenaline, but she was like a dog with a bone. She couldn’t just let something go, she couldn’t give up. It was like she didn’t know how.

After a moment, her sister raced up to join her, allowing them to make a better herding circle. “Stay at that angle of him” She suggested to her sister as she made another rush at the raccoon. This time she swiped at it and drew blood, and almost took some teeth to the face as she backed off. She panted slightly, but it was moving. It was almost in their trap.


"Speech"

Alongside her sister it was easier for Vanta to feel empowered - though even at her fiercest, she was nothing in comparison to the heated puppy fury of Kite. Emulating her sister's snarls and snaps, she took the direction offered to her and began to herd the creature onwards. The raccoon paused, glancing past her over her shoulder to the direwolf behind, and Azure seemed to see something in those eyes as he gave a lazy command to step over further. Vanta felt torn receiving direction from both the sibling she looked up to, and the sibling who was her alpha and a trained hunter. Her lips pulled down into a frown, and with hurried steps she rushed into the position her brother had suggested - stopping the raccoon before it blew past her.

With no where else to run, their prey turned and fled down into the correct tunnel at last. The pups followed on it's heels into the dark, leading it directly into the barricade to where it could flee no longer. Trapped, it spun on them and hissed. Vanta was not sure what to do next, simply stepping aside at the sound of heavy pawsteps approaching from behind and allowing her brother to pass.

"Speech"

Together the pups found their rhythm, figuring out the proper positioning to herd their prey at last. Kyanite's confident instructions did not pass his notice, though Azure held little pride for a wolf who felt they knew more then they truly did. Maybe one day she could be a proficient instructor - a role a disabled wolf could actually do, in his opinion - but that day would come after she had knowledge of her own. "Vanta, step to your right. You're too close to your sister." He instructed, eyeing the pups. "You need to share the space, your intimidation and energy must expand enough that even where you do not stand might as well have an enemy blocking it. Else the prey will try to sneak past you." The young one did as she was bid, and Azure stepped forward to follow as the raccoon finally was driven into the tunnel.

He did not take his time approaching the pups and their cornered prey, knowing full well that Kyanite's intention would be to end the creature's life as she likely felt she was owed. He pushed past Vanta (who as he expected, stepped aside for him) toward the raccoon, one paw coming out to thunk heavily against Kite's chest as she stepped forward toward it too. With the would-be-butcherer thwarted, Azure's paw came down upon the raccoon's neck and spine with speed. Pinning it to the ground and pivoting his rear end around so he could see his young students. "If you want to kill it quickly, you bite here." With the other claw he gestured to the creature's throat, and then before either pup could have the opportunity to try for the kill, severed the artery in one slash.

Tossing the bleeding corpse back at Kyanite, he scoffed. "You can make the kill when you've earned it. For now, you've earned the right to drag the body back. Come on, lets go home."

"Speech"

Kite managed to keep herself from rolling her eyes at zure’s instructions - if only just, and mostly because she was far too busy trying to herd the dangerous raccoon in the right direction. At last, it was caught in the trap and she knew she would need to get the killing blow in soon. She had half a mind to offer it to Vanta to help her sister work on her confidence, but before Kite could even form the thought Azure was shoving past her. “hey!” she started to say at the intrusion, only to realise a second later why he had done it. Her anger flew up a few notches.

She tried to shove past him as he started his demonstration, but it was too late. He took the killing blow and shoved the corpse at her feet. “You're just a bully! An overgrown stupid bully! Sorry Mumma never you loved you enough!” she snarled angrily, and dove at him browlar style. Aiming for the closest thing she could manage at the moment - and his paws were looking mighty close.

Kyanite vs Azure for minor maim (right forepaw second toe removal)
Round 1/?
Age: Under 6 months
Size: Dire wolf
Build: Light
Defensive Battle Accessory: Front bracers
Companion 1: Norwegian forest cat, Female - Battle
Companion 2: Peregrine falcon, Female - Battle
Mutation 1: Feline claws - Offensive
Mutation 2: Thicker fur - Defensive
Disability: Daytime blindness - Moderate
Skills: Beginner Fighter & Beginner Hunter

"Speech"

Before Azure could finish his exit, the stupid ball of overblown confidence was upon him. Her tiny teeth sinking into his toes in a surprise attack, his reaction happening instantaneously. With his other paw he aimed to swipe her right leg out from under her, bringing the paw closer to him (and hopefully destabilizing her in the process) so he could have a clearer view of his target. Whether or not the move succeeded did not matter much to him, Azure's next attack remaining the same (except with a little less surgical precision should her paw remain partially concealed from view by her head and neck where her teeth attached to his toe).

Azure brought his free paw down once more, aiming the heavy pawpad directly upon her small toes and with the intent to force his weight down upon it, seeking to fracture the toe bones there in retaliation. "You don't learn, do you?" He snarled down upon the child.

Azure vs Kyanite for Minor Maim (Broken toes)
Round 1/2
Age: over 1 year
Size: Dire wolf
Build: Medium
Offensive Battle Accessory: Bracers with knife
Defensive Battle Accessory: Condor body armor
Companion 1: Large flying fox, Male - Battle - Boosted
Companion 2: Clouded leopard, Female - Battle
*Companion 3: Fisher, Male - Battle
Mutation 1: Saber fangs - Offensive
Mutation 2: Bear paws - Offensive
Mutation 3: Bone spurs - Offensive
Skills: Master Fighter & Master Hunter
Specialty: Saboteur or Bloodletter

"Speech"