At last the grump of a wolf had forced himself to sleep, and had awoken to sweat coating his pelt. The nightmares seemed to never leave him alone, no matter what he tried to do. No herbs could help him, generally just staying up until he succumbed to darkness worked. But he needed to be rested for this, nothing worse than having a grumpy teacher. Sitting in the darkness of his den, Fendar calmed his heart and started to clean his fur, calming the clumps of auburn that had gathered with the sweat. Letting out a sigh, he stood and made his way out. Might as well start now, no harm done, right?

The large male blinked as he walked into the daylight, the morning still fresh as the sun was just coming over the rise. Stretching out his muscles, he groaned as his bones creaked and cracked into place. It was Spring now, meaning he was one year older. Five years old... Maybe he was an old grumpy man. Smiling, he remembered how his cousin used to tease him about being old. He missed her, and hoped that she was safe in her adventuring. Ebony was safe within Kassander's paws, he was changing it for the better. A pack of protection and training, just what this land needed.

He couldn't put this training off any more, so the brute tipped back his head and called for any wolf in Ebony that wished to train. He was probably going to go over a bit of tactical stuff before he pitted them them against themselves, he wasn't that cruel to just toss them into the water and demanding they swim. Moving to a large clearing, Fendar sat and waited for the wolves to arrive, eyes casting around.

The call startled Sigmarr violently from his nightmare, heart racing he wretched suddenly, dry-heaving for a moment before gulping down breaths of cool morning air.  There had to be some way to knock himself out so cold he wouldn't dream at all.  Still shaking slightly the young man got crawled out of his den and shook out his quote.  If he remember correctly that was the call of the man who agreed to hold the fight training… hmmm… maybe some hard core exercise and a little blood loss would help him sleep easier.  Sigmarr approached the older male and nodded politely in greeting before taking his seat. "Talk" "You" Think

Nikolai had already been awake for several hours when the howl went up to call them together to train. While his sleep was mostly dreamless these days it still seemed to be few in far between. Either he would lay awake for hours in the darkness before finally falling asleep out of exhaustion or he would fall asleep fine and wake up again before the sun had even risen. Today had been the latter and so when the howl reached his ears he gratefully rose and shook the dust out of his muted-colored fur. At least today he would have something to do. More often than not he felt lost and purposeless here, strangely more unsettled being in the pack than he had when he was out wandering on his own or, even more strange, when he was hiding and running from those that were hunting him.

Perhaps now that training sessions were picking up he would finally settle into the new Ebony and get used to the idea of pack life. It was the first time since he was a not even a yearling that he had really even had the chance after all. He padded up to where Fendar and Sigmarr had gathered, giving each of them a pleasant smile. He hadn't really associated with either of them too much, but he did know of them and their names at least. "Good morning." With that he settled onto his haunches to await the others and for the training to start.

"Speech" 'thoughts'

Sge didn't recognize the call, but then again there were many within Ebony that she had never met before. Many of them had connections to Ebony that far surpassed her own, but she would forever consider Kass and the rest of their siblings as family, and so would also almost consider them her own. Back to the call though, she'd been eager to start training in fighting. Gaia wouldn't hold very high expectations, there were few who could teach her as well as Natalya, but she wasn't an option right at that moment. She would nudge Solo softly, surely her paws had healed well enough by now that she could easily start to participate. Rising from the den the silver she wolf would thank the gods she wasn't feeling nauseous that day, with care her cardinal companion would climb to her shoulder and they would be on their way out the den. Maybe even Nemesis would show up and they could continue their spot of training with the help of those more experienced. Even with her disability Gaia held a timid grace that would show through as she made her way to the clearing, the excitement causing her tail to wag slightly at her ankles. She'd take in the sscents of the wolves who were already present, almost surprised to catch a whiff of Sigmarr. She'd smile softly, tipping her head in greeting as she took a seat. ""

Keeping her promise, Sindri heeded the call. She would train like the rest of them, fears be damned. She didn't expect it to be easy or pleasant and she did expect it to give her anxiety and rip her from her comfort zone, but it needed to be done. For her family, for her pack and for her own well being, both physical and mental. Reaching the small gathering of wolves, Sindri was pleased to see that some of her siblings were in attendance. Gaia. She was pleased to see her sister there. They hadn't spoken since she'd returned to Ebony and it was about time they reconnected. Maybe once this training session was over they could talk or something. Dipping a nod in Sigmarr's direction as a greeting, Sindri veered towards Gaia with the intention of sitting beside her. She wasn't avoiding her brother, simply choosing to sit beside the sibling she hadn't seen in many months. "Hey, Gaia." ""

Why was she always late? The Xanilov Lady felt as if it was becoming habit to show up just after things started. She heard a call but was late getting to it. Her eyes narrowed as the wannabee queen rushed forth, a spring in her step. She took a deep breathe and looked around before arriving at the scene. The only face she recognized was that of Fendar's from whom the call originated. "Fendar, dearest cousin, it is good to see you once more." She hadn't seen them nor had they actively talked since she returned from her disappearance. The royal mask turned to look at the others, confident with her position, before taking a seat towards the middle of the area.

Kassander had heard the call he'd been waiting for... a call from Fendar for them to begin training. He was relieved the warrior had taken his speech to heart, and he was excited - though nervous - to begin, but he loitered among the rocks, lurking out of sight to see who would show up. The sight of Sigmarr, Sindri and Gaia all gathered brightened his countenance, but a count of the remaining wolves made his stomach sink. Really? This was how low their numbers had dwindled? And it didn't look like Maximous intended to join them either, though the gods knew the healer needed as much practice as the rest of them in defending himself. All right... here goes. Kassander braced himself, then moved into the group. "Fender," he greeted with as much calm as he could manage. "Thank you for calling us together. I'm not going to try to take control of the meeting... I am not a warrior, I know nothing about fighting or teaching. This is yours to command... ok?" Meeting the older wolf's one-eyed gaze he searched it anxiously for a sign that this was... good, and the correct thing to do, and not just him abdicating responsibility. ""

OOC: Ok Eve, the floor is yours. You decide the groups (it's uneven so you decide who sits out per Fendar's personality) and the deadlines for spars and all that. I'll make sure it gets into the pack page. :) And guys, you ARE expected to participate.

Stars are only visible in darkness ,

Fear is ever-changing and evolving.

Fendar eyed the small number that had gathered, a mumbled growl leaving his lips. Pathetic. He made sure to nod to each wolf in turn, trying to smile at each. When at last Kassander arrived, he met the younger boy's gaze as he stared at him. He was handing this all to him? He saw that the Alpha was looking at him for confirmation, and he offered Kass a smile. "Of course Kassander, I will be happy to assign partners," he said, his two-toned gaze roaming the pack that had gathered. There seemed to be an uneven number, and his gaze landed on Gaia. She was fully blind, and he knew that he was not going to be the best teacher for her. Huffing slightly, his tail tapped on the earth. "Gaia, do you mind sitting this one out? Later on we can have our own sort of training. Since I am blind in one eye, I only know a bit about fighting blind. I think that it would be best if we spent time alone to work on it, when there is not a lot of noise and commotion going on," he said, waiting for her to agree before he went on.

"So, these parings are going to go based on size. Since everyone here is a varying skills, I would like it if you were paired off with a partner of similar size," pausing he looked around to see if others agreed with him. "Sigmarr and Nikolai, you will be the first pair as you are both the exact same size. Koro, you will be sparing with me," he paused again, looking towards the last wolves. Sindri and Kassander weren't exactly similar size, but he knew that they both had their problems with fighting. He grinned at the two of them, not being able to help but letting out a small laugh. After he had gone on about similar height, the last two had more than a little bit of height difference. "Sindri and Kassander, are you comfortable fighting each other? If not, you can switch so that Koro and Sindri fight, and me and Kassander can spar," he fell silent, lips pursing slightly. "Beside that, please break off into your groups. If you have any questions before hand, please ask me now."

Fendar Xanilov

OOC : Okay, so I am going to say you have until January 19th to finish your spars. Please post in a different thread for the spars, but if your wolf has any questions you may post them in this thread. Good luck guys! And if you don't get the spars done, Fendar might get really cranky. ;) Kat, whenever you want you may start a thread for Gaia and Fen.

The man had taken his time coming to Fendar's call for training. He had wanted nothing to do with fighting yet Kassander still expected him to make an appearance. The entire distance from his den to the rock gargard had been spent grumbling and growling about how the boy king hadnt listened to a word he had said.

Uppon his arrival however his grumbling had stopped. Fendar's words had let him know just how slow he had actually been moving. This also let him know that he would most definitely be in trouble as the boy king himself had requested that everyone be present for the damned fight training. But he would sit quietly and wait for what he knew was to come. Either yelling from both the Ebon Knight and the boy king or disappointment.

He was about to break off from the group when the healer waltzed in. His one eyed stare became harsh indeed as both eyes narrowed towards the man. Well this just went and messed everything up, didn't it. Fendar growled and stood tall, shoulders squaring towards the darker brute. "I would punish you by not letting you fight, but I have a feeling that forcing you to spar will be more of a punishment than letting you sit out," he grumbled. Eyes shifted to Sindri, smiling a bit at the woman. "Sorry love, going to have to change things around since apparently showing up os too hard for some. You will be fighting Max now," he turned and pointedly glared at the healer. "Kassander, you will fight Koro now. Looks like you're going to be fighting anyways Gaia. I will help you since I have some experience with fighting blind. Come along," with one more look towards Kassander, he made sure that this was okay before he made his way towards the silver woman. "Ready?"

Wolves slowly filed in, most of them wolves that Sigmarr didn't recognize.  He turned to nod a greeting to the taupe colored male, certain they could all become acquainted later.  A blind girl, Gaia if he remembered correctly as well as Sindri appeared.  He returned Sindri's greeting but kept himself silent, too afraid of what words might come spilling out of his guilt-ridden mouth.  Sigmarr instead focused on the meeting and he nodded switftly as he was assigned his partner, Nikolai.  

"Hello, nice to meet you.  I'm Sigmarr Xanilov."  It was a plain greeting but all he could manage to muster. The young man had never been good at small talk.  The older man led them off to begin the spar.

-exit-