Her paws struck at the sand, and she ran through the sprung-up cloud with a burst of speed. Faster! Legs trembling with the effort, she flew across the sandpoint, and swiped her paws at an imaginary foe. She stopped abruptly on the other side, chest heaving. Hearing the blood roaring in her ears, the cries of seagulls overhead, the waves washing at the shore.

Build and stature could only take her so far. She was fast, but she'd never be faster than a split second reaction. She frowned slightly, thinking back on Sirius' words. 'You'd do well to listen to him...' Attacking so directly had gotten her results in part because she was lucky: her opponents had been inexperienced, or caught off guard. But the cost was too high, and with the upcoming raid being her first.... Her tail lashed in a frenzy behind her. She wanted to win. And, practice raid or no, it wasn't the time to be taking risks.

The yearling gave a shake of her neck, turned, and bolted in the opposite direction. Whatever her strategy, speed and endurance were good company to keep.

"Speech"

H E S T E R

Hester watched the girl from beneath a tree, the shade providing sweet relief from the sun beaming down on her. It was certainly fall, but without that stiff wind to accent the change of seasons, the sun did what it could to provide what warmth it had. Unfortunately for Hester, that meant that her fur spent a lot of tome eating the warmth the sun offered.

She'd stumbled upon the girl and was making no attempt to hide herself. She merely watched the hairpin turns the girl made, weaving through invisible enemies. She was, at the very least, most likely faster than Hester herself. Being of a heavier build than most, maintaining such speeds became a hindrance after a spell of it. Experience, though, and quick wit, kept Hester ahead of her peers some days. Most days, it seemed, they were either evenly matched or Hester was found slightly lacking.

A small grin split her face. All the more reason to challenge more opponents. Hester craved battle like a pup craved milk some days, and after offering herself for the role of mentor, it occurred to her that she needed to more often be on the greater side of things rather than equal of lesser. Being a mentor meant she was preparing the youth for battle, and nothing less than extraordinary effort would do here.

She stepped forward, then, deciding to send a sound forward; nothing alarming, just enough to grab the girl's attention and let her know that she had an audience of one.

She walks. "She speaks." She thinks.

Heat bloomed beneath her pelt from the effort. Her muscles had ached before... but on her fifth or sixth go round, she only felt the rhythm, the beat of her paws on the sand and the rise and fall of her chest. Mal only pushed forward, intent on completing at least another few cycles. But Hester made her presence known soon enough.

She heard the she-wolf before she saw her, but soon enough spied the earth-toned woman from a distance as she came around the bend. Mal slowed to a canter, loping towards her with a friendly twist of her tail. "Hester, right?" The two hadn't formally met, but the younger woman had noted her at the pack meeting.

As she slowed to a stop, she noticed the spots of gold that adorned her fur, only made brighter in the light of day. Mala smiled, gave a slight tilt of her head. "I'm Malalia. Good to bump into another warrior around here." Training on her own was a solitary thing, and as much as she relished her lessons with the Warlord, well... hopefully she'd actually blend in with the rest of the pack at some point.

Still, she hadn't been a member quite long enough to meet everyone. The yearling was happy enough to cross one more off her list. "How's mentoring going so far?"


"Speech"