Speech // thought

Over the falls, in the training arena of the forest on the plateau, he decided it was time to see what Lia was made of, what moves she had, how best to fight with her, and how they could move together. He knew she had the strength and the will to fight, but what was her training? Was she as self-taught as he was? He had spent a fair amount of time sparring with others recently, teaching them some skills he had picked up. His elemental mindset seemed to have helped his drive and allowed him to win most of his spars.

He let his voice carry over the pack, calling Lia to the training grounds on the plateau, above the falls. Hopefully, she has had the chance to settle in for a few days and find a place to call her own.

At the sound of her new alphas call, Lia responded immediately. She wiggled out of the bushes she had been harvesting from, placing down her small basket beside it. She could pick off where she left off later. She turned and trotted towards his spot by the forest. She was accustomed to jumping when she was told, but there was something different about choosing to follow another's orders.

She needed to adjust a little, but felt confident in her ability to do so. She smiled at the familiar form of the wolf before her and came to a stop before him, nodding her head respectfully. “What can I do for you, Eltrys?”

"Speech"

Speech // thought

Eltrys didn't need to wait long at all! She came promptly from her duties at his call. She smelled of herbs and gardening. Good, she seemed to be making herself right at home.

"Thank you for answering promptly!" He greeted warmly. "I wish to see where your battle skills stand. We've fought together before, I know. But we've never squared off." He stood from a waiting sit and prepared for her to come at him.

"During your fights, the tactic of using your antlers is good. But how are you against a foe that has his own pair?" He asked and lowered his antlered helm, "How do you move Lia, like the wind?" He asked, charging toward her shoulder.

Lia nodded her head, that made sense. It was important for Eltrys to understand the fight levels of any of those that wished to master fighting in his pack. She had thought to herself already how she did not have the experience of fighting in a unit. That was likely one of her biggest weaknesses.

Lia grinned as he lowered his antlered helm. She was curious how stable such a thing would be on his head. “I’ve found mine, being made of crystal, gives me an edge over bone.” She explained as she lowered her own head. She charged him, turning her body to the side at the last moment, as her her head connected to his head pieces. “I do not that I’m missing the benefit of height and strength from some of the wolves in this land. But if I move quickly, and work with care not to get my antlers tangled, I can do okay.” she explained as they clashed.

"Speech"

Speech // thought

They were quite evenly matched. He had barely an inch of height on her but his body was decidedly heavier. She should be faster than him. Their antlers locked, his helm strained against the buckles under his chin as he pushed into her force.

"I'm heavier than you," He pushed as their antlers locked, "I am of the earth. My strength is in being as steady as the trees and immovable as the mountains. I let the wind rush by me without expending energy trying to catch it. But I let the water carve its way through me as I direct its energy into my force to push forward, relentless and persistent." He took a heavy step into her face, their breaths mingling together in the cold. "Perhaps you are fire and wind Lia. Quick as a gust, sharp as a flame but you have met me head-on where my endurance is tested against yours." He thrust himself forward with his antlers and aimed to throw her aside and imbalance her.

"Lean into the elements that call to you best. There you will find your strengths and weaknesses." He said with some finality.

Their antlers locked, as she had intended them to. She understood the message he was trying to survey. Her antlers, made of hard opel, were vastly different to a deer. She twisted her head, letting her antlers pull against his so she could feel the incredible toughness of them before she disengaged and stepped back. “I don’t usually go head on, I prefer to prod at peoples side, or scrape their bodies with my antlers as I pass by.” She explained, which fit into the lesson he was teaching.

She darted suddenly to the side, racing past him as she whipped her head towards him, aiming to touch her antlers to the top of her back instead of scraping down his side. She didn’t intend to hurt him.

"Speech"

Speech // thought

He felt her twist against his homemade antlers, the buckles strained and he hoped the careful crafting he did would hold. They didn't! They would only be as effective in his protection for as long as their handiwork held. His helm fell to the side, one of the antlers had come loose, and the buckle and snapped at the join.

He went to swipe out at her only for her to dodge out of his way and he felt her tines in his dark fur!

He ducked smoothly away from her and held up a paw to pause their spar, as he pushed backward and sat on his rump. "Well done! You naturally move with the energy of the wind and your strikes are noble flames."

He laughed as he reached out to pick up his helm. "Maybe it's a good time to work on fixing and managing our armor! Come!" He placed the helm in his teeth to lead her to the resource center.

Lia stepped back, agust as his headpiece failed at her turn and tug. She hadn’t intended to break his armour. Sudden anxiety spiked in her chest. The feeling of failure, and the fear of consequences. “I’m sorry Archdruid, I didn’t mean--” She said, but he only waved her off and suggested they fix and manage the armour.

“Do you know much about armour care? I haven’t done much with this leather since I received it as a gift some years back.” She admitted, tugging at the piece with a paw before following him. The anxiety wasn’t gone, even if he had taken the damage to his armor well.

"Speech"

Speech // thought

He smiled warmly at her as she used his new title, but he could hear the anxiety in her voice.

"It's helped me through a few spars already! I was wondering how long it would hold. I'm glad it failed during a spar and not a real battle!" He said, his stride was light as he led her down the side of the falls toward a string of caves near the base of the pools.

He led her inside to a rather large room (not on map yet), the edges were lined with shelves and sturdy surfaces with crude tools within easy reach.

He grabbed a sheath of prepared boiled leather. He had once been a hunter for the pack, most of these stores were from those times.

"I know a bit about leather work and fumbled my way into figuring out how to manage it. This buckle here," He lifted up the broken part of the strap that had torn, "was the place I knew it would fail first because of this join and tension on it." He pointed out where it had gone on his helm and the piece had broken around the stitching that kept the leather pieces together.

He glanced at her leather armor piece, it looked a few years old.
"I'm surprised those straps have held up for that long! The straps are usually the weakest point of leather armor. It just seems to be a fact of life that they'll need periodic replacing when they break." He mentioned as he started cutting the new sheath of leather into the shape and length he wanted.

Lia followed after him, and he showed her a place she hadn’t been before. Not wholly unexpected, since she was still very new to this pack. She settled down and watched as he examined his headpiece. He didn’t seem surprised at the break, and showed her its vulnerable point.

She took off her armour piece, and he commented on the straps. No doubt that they had lasted as long as they did said a lot about the Hallows craftsmanship. She ran a paw over the leather fondly. “It was a gift, and it’s helped me out in more than a few fights.” She admitted. He started to cut new lines of leather - likely for the straps. Copying him, she grabbed some pieces of her own and began to cut them. Best way to learn was to do

"Speech"

Speech // thought

He noticed that she removed her armor.
"May I take a look? I'd love to see how they made their straps..." After she handed it to him he carefully studied the details of the handiwork. They had a few tricks he hadn't known about in his own self taught studies.

"Ooh, look here, they doubled the thickness and made an interesting double join here with the thread. And the oils of your fur must have kept these straps supple and responsive!" He regarded the craftmanship of the leather piece with reverence as he handed it back to her.

"Lets see if we can copy that trick as I replace this strap." He made sure to invite her closer for her to see him work on the leather. He doubled up the layers and began sewing them together as he had seen in her example.

"There we are, a double layer should keep stronger." Then he nailed the new strap into the same place where it had initially broken and began piercing the holes with a sharp tool.

"The needle isn't strong enough to push through the layers of leather, so when you're sewing leather you have to pre-puncture the holes." He said as he worked and then started to sew the pieces together in a similar style as Lia's armor.

When Eltrys started on one strap, she worked on the other, copying him as he went as best she could. His compliment on the Hallows craftsmanship warmed her, but also left her with a pang of homesickness. She wasn’t sure if that feeling would ever fade. Would she return to them one day? A large part of her wanted to, even as another wanted her to find her own path.

She worked quietly on sewing her own strap, copying his movements with a careful eye until they had two pieces done. His more expertly made, and her rough copy.

She didn’t intend to use the piece she had made, but she put it aside in case the pack had a use for the spare. She watched as Eltrys showed her how to reattach the new strap. A vital part of caring for her armor.

"Speech"