Sirius stood proudly over the small pup and her first kill. She wasn’t even a season old, and she already had blood under her claws. She had acted with poise and bravery, and he was the proudest teacher in the world. A part of him… a largely growing part of him, wished that she was his child, but such foolish thoughts would get him nowhere. He was her mentor, and protector, and he took those duties seriously.

“Alright, now that you’ve taken down your first kill, you need to learn to skin it” He told Venom. He didn’t add in the don’t tell your mother part it was an unspoken trust between them, that the lessons and skills she was honing under him was something the Empress might disapprove of. Without explicitly being told no, he was running under the assumption that was part of his job. If Venom was to tell Deathbelle, and she confronted him, this would end. Neither of them wanted that.

“Your cat claws are going to be valuable here” Sirius explained, as he finished hanging the cat upside down by its feet. He had shoved a pup-sized boulder beneath it so Venom could stand on it and reach the deceased cat. “Start here, and make cuts upwards from here to here.” he said, pointing under its feet, and up the leg. Normally Sirius would use the point of his fangs like a blade, but he wanted to see how Venom managed with her cat-claws.

Venom stood proudly over her kill for a long moment, her breath came in gasps and adrenaline raced through her young veins. The striped and spotted cat lay dead, the young Princess had successfully beaten back her opponent with a little help from her guardian and mentor. She grinned brightly and turned towards the fanged titan as he was quick to take one lesson and shift to a second flawlessly. Not only had she killed it, but she was to learn how to skin it. Her pink and purple eyes brightened as she grinned eagerly.

As Sirius took the body and hung it before her Venom bounced forward, her dark ears perked and ready while her forked tongue flicked eagerly from her lips. She knew these lessons were to mostly keep her mom from worrying about what they were doing. Deathbelle was much more aware of their antics than she let on, but the Empress trusted her Vessel to watch the young princess.

She took to the boulder to heighten herself as Sirius showed her where she needed to cut. The young she pup unsheathed a sharp claw and cut through its coarse hair to the skin beneath. She couldn’t really harm the muscle tissue below with her young tools, but one day her claws would be deadly. ”Like this, Seer?”

Sirius Warlord He looked at the little serpent pup, a satisfied smile on his face as she moved from one lesson to the next. She was determined, and never backed down. She took every challenge he gave her. He knew there was dangers in adding more to the list of those he was possessive protective over, but how could he not? This sweet child of Deathbelles had won him over, but she had entered the game with a greater chance than most to do so. Her sharp cat claws began to saw through the skin of the creature. They weren’t as effective as his fangs at puncturing, but they were curved, and dragged through the coat with more ease then he would have managed. “Perfect, exactly so.” he agreed, marking the next points she needed to cut to. She was going to struggle to reach the higher ends of the hanging animal, even with her rock. Sirius placed himself beside the coat, holding still and steady, so she might jump on him like a stepping stone to reach the parts she otherwise couldn’t. "Speech"

Venom already found herself enjoying her time with Sirius, the fanged wolf was a harsh teacher, but a soft one would do her little good with how rough the real world was. She missed his proud grin, but felt accomplishment as the inscisions formed. He encouraged her forward, telling her she was doing it exactly right and showed her where to cut next. She did as much as she could reach, and as the girl found herself limited by her size Sirius seemed to read her mind and positioned himself so she could perch on his shoulder.

Venom did just that, her white gloved paw was positioned on his shoulder and she vaulted herself up to continue her work until all of the limbs and belly were scored. ”What’s next Seer?” She asked curiously as she retreated from his back so he could explain the next step.

Sirius Warlord Sirius was still and steady when Venom vaulted easily and comfortably onto his broad shoulders. She finished making her incisions along the body and looked to him for direction. He assessed her work quickly with a critical eye, moving his head forward, careful not to bump the pup as he snapped his fangs across a few points her growing claws hadn’t managed to fully puncture. Once he was pleased with the work he gave a brisk nod, and moved the lesson onwards. “Bring your claws here and drag them along the natural barrier between skin and muscle” he instructed, using his fangs as pointers, rather than his paw, so he didn’t tip over his precious cargo. This time, he would be the ladder, and he would move exactly as much as was necessary for her to reach different points of the cat. “Your going to alternate tearing and pulling the skin free.” he instructed his little pupil. "Speech"

Sirius only had to make a couple of corrections to her work, and Venom filled with pride at her excellent job. She grinned brightly and flicked her tongue excitedly as they moved on to the next step. Now they moved on to really taking skin from body. Seer demonstrated briefly, and Venom nodded atop his back. He told her what to do and Venom would make motion to execute his instructions.

Carefully she used her claws to pull the loose skin from the muscle, and she’d use the sharpness of them to shear the membranes beneath. She did make more than one mistake and the pelt would have a couple holes in the end. However, she felt like she did rather well over all. Working together with Sirius Venom would eventually pull the last bit of skin from body. They’d even gone over how to best skin its face. ”That was fun, Seer.” She told him proudly as she held the raw pelt.

Sirius Warlord Venom didn’t utter a single complaint, but dug in and got the job done. She was an avid pupil, and she took their lessons seriously, differentiating them from play with ease. She was going to make a stunning queen one day. At the end of it, Venom held the loose pelt out proudly before her, holding it over his back as they both admired her handy work. He moved to bury the scraps from the cat, so they didn’t attract pesky scavengers into the territory of Ashen. “Works not over yet little Snake” he warned her as he walked her and the coat away from the scene of the bloody killing. He took them to a sunny spot and got her to hop onto a rock that put her at equal height to him. He then crouched over her and the coat, and turned it over to show her the remnants. “Now we stretch it, and remove any extra flesh, before we preserve it, so set those little claws to trimming” he said, already starting on one portion of the coat himself as he began to clean from one corner upwards. "Speech"

They weren’t finished quite yet. Venom looked to Sirius with a tilt of her head in curiosity, what else were they doing? ”Seer, why don’t we eat the cat?” She asked curiously. She’d killed it why couldn’t she make a snack out of it? Either way she followed along with interest as her guardian relocated the two of them to a better location. Venom got to work after watching Sirius stretch the pelt out and got to work helping her shave off the excess.

Venom tried her best, but she still thought her work quite sloppy compared to Seer’s and she quickly grew frustrated. Her long forked tongue flicked in irritation as she focused heavily on her work, and the tension built heavily until she accidentally tore another hole in the pelt. As her claw punctured the delicate skin she growled and swore. ”Raspberries!” Venom about dropped the pelt and walked away at that moment. Her quills stuck up and her tongue flicked as she lifted herself from leaning over the pelt. ”This is so much harder.” She complained as she tried not to pout in front of Sirius.

Sirius Warlord “Because I’m concentrating on making this a lesson for you” he said, and because he had had quite enough of cat meat lately. He felt like the creatures suicidally threw themselves at him far too often, he was starting to grow sick of the taste. Sirius bit down a laugh as he watched his young pupil grow frustrated at the task ahead. He found her choice of swear word especially amusement. “If you give up when it starts getting tough, you’ll never get anywhere in life.” he warned the bull-head Princess. He knew her determination, and didn’t really think she would give up just because she didn’t like it. Sirius painstakingly continued the task, slow and precise, before pausing and moving the pelt so it lay flatter on the rock. “Here, try this angle” he suggested, demonstrating starting low and working her way along in an upward motion. "Speech"

She gave a soft, ”oh,” as they moved on with the lesson. Venom was doing mostly okay, but her frustration was palpable. She let out a huff at his wise words, she could easily feel the truth in them. Still, it was hard to keep going after she felt so defeated in the project. She was just going to make more holes. She sat back and watched him as he demonstrated again, his movements were soft and practiced. ”How long have you been preserving pelts, Seer?” she asked as he rearranged the pelt and offered her to try a different way.

Venom took a deep breath and pushed herself back into the task. She mimicked the movements her fanged guardian showed her. She did better this time, but it still couldn’t reach the quality of Sirius’s work. ”Will you let me keep practising?” She asked, looking to the future. They could get together even when mom was around to do this.

Sirius Warlord Her determination reminded him of her mother, as she set her face just so with a stubborn lift to her chin. He grinned at her, showing a hint of fang as he patiently continued the work in front of them. “A while now. Before I was Daimyo, I was a servant, so I was often doing odd jobs for the wolves of your family. Bringing down large prey, and then skinning and cleaning the pelt was one part of that.” he explained to the Princess. “Of course,” he agreed at her question. “You are my pupil, and you have a lot to learn ahead of you. I will organise lessons for you, but know you can always come to me and I will answer any questions you might have to the best of my ability” he promised her. "Speech"

Her work didn’t improve a great deal, but she wasn’t tearing anymore holes. She slowed down her movement and even though she wasn’t as graceful the quality improved slightly. Venom was going to have to keep working at the task, or have Sirius do it for her. She perked a light brow at him as the thought crossed her mind, but Seer wouldn’t be teaching her how to do this herself if he didn’t think she should know it. She might have been a princess, but she liked to know how to do things herself.

Sirius offered to give her lessons and answer any of her questions. He was a good third party option when she didn’t want to go to her mom or dad. He was her confidant when she needed one and Venom knew he’d never tell anyone her secrets. The pup flicked her tongue happily as she stood back from what she believed to be the near finished pelt.