Plague made his way out into the training area for the pack with his snow leopards following closely behind, his armor in place and a determined look in his eye. He had been helping some of the pups train here and there whenever he would catch them at the training area, but he wanted to do something more purposeful today. He had a few plans, but he hadn't decided on one thing in particular just yet. He'd wait and see who showed first and then tailor the activities to fit them. He stood in the middle of one of the sectioned off sparring areas, lifting his head to howl for anyone and everyone who wished to attend. He assumed pups would be the most interested, but if some of the other adults wished to join in he certainly wouldn't send them away. She settled back onto his haunches, watching the trees that faced the rest of the pack lands expectantly while Viridis and Procella laid near by, for once behaving instead of climbing all over one another.

Plague | Viridis | Procella

Lesson time? Oh yes, she was dying for attending one for quite some time now, eager to learn new things on her trade of fighter she rushed as soon as her cousin called for them to join him. She grew bored for the past few days and it was time to get her life on the move again. Her training has been okay but not as active as she would have liked it to be, her mentor hasn't been too active so that was another factor that made her training slow.

She rushed to see Plague there. "Hello, teach me all you know!" She said almost in a demanding way, but that was how she did things. She always put the things straight over the table, not wishing to just wait.


"Speech!"

TABLE & CODE © SKELLE 2021

The little princess Kiyohime raced towards the training ground when she heard her uncle call out for a lesson. Excitement immediately took her as tiny mismatched paws scurried beneath her. Ike loved her uncle Plague and she knew that he adored her as well. She could count on him to be there to teach whatever lesson that she came up for him. He always had a smile on for her, and he was so smart he would answer any question she had to come up with.

She flew into the training ground, her tiny form had finally begun to grow. Shuriken tried to ignore the fact but she was suddenly almost as tall as her two brothers. She was looking down at her sisters now, a fact that she willingly ignored. For now she could pretend she was still just as small but the reality would soon begin to wear in the innocent child.

”Oji-san!” She called out brightly when she caught Plague in her gaze. Her clumsy paws carried her forward but she had to stop and give Procella a nuzzle to her cheek on her way to sit before Plague and next to Panic. She managed to keep her excitement in hand enough she didn’t fall on her face on arrival.

Plague didn't have to wait long for one of Hela's children to come bounding toward him with a demand that he teach her everything he knew. He chuckled softly and grinned slightly at her tenacity, telling her, "That's an awful lot to fit in one lesson, miss Panic, but I'll certainly pack in lots of useful things for you." He waited a bit and then his ears perked when his niece called out to him, making him turn his gaze to look at his favorite speckled niece with a grin. "Hello, Kiyohime." Procella purred happily when the girl came to nuzzle her cheek and got up to follow her friend over to where she would sit in front of Plague, rubbing against her side and settling against her. Viridis, jealous of how much attention his sister was getting, got up and slinked over to sit between the two girls with a huff, looking to Plague to just get the training going already.

He chuckled softly at the antics of the snow leopards around the pups and then turned his attention to his students for the afternoon. He figured if anyone else came along they could always hop in but for now he had a nice even number to work with. "Well, thank you for coming you two," he began with a proud smile. He'd have to adjust some of his plans to fit the smaller group, but that was fine by him. "I thought we could focus on some counter attacks today. Being able to either dodge or take a hit during a fight and using that time while your opponent is resetting from their attack to your advantage is extremely important. It really does make the difference between a good fighter and a great one and can finish a fight faster than you might have otherwise - meaning there is less chance for you to get injured in the fray."

He nodded to the open fighting ring behind them, adding, "Go ahead and pair off with my snow leopards here. Viridis, you go with Panic. Procella, stay with Kiyohime. They'll be your partners for the training portion then perhaps you two can see if you can best me at the end." He grinned a bit at the thought and then got to his paws, leading them out into the ring and waiting for a moment for them to get set with his companions standing across from them. "Don't forget to really think about your defenses during this as well. The more you can avoid attacks during this the better."

Plague | Viridis | Procella

"I thought we could focus on some counter attacks today. Being able to either dodge or take a hit during a fight and using that time while your opponent is resetting from their attack to your advantage is extremely important. It really does make the difference between a good fighter and a great one and can finish a fight faster than you might have otherwise - meaning there is less chance for you to get injured in the fray."

Her face brightened upon knowing today's lesson, which certainly interested her, and in the moment many questions crowded her mind. She wanted to learn everything about this topic, but luckily for Plague her verbal abilities didny match the speed of how her questions poked into existence and at the end, she couldn't ask yet.

She then was paired with one of Plague's snow leopards, she felt excited at the very least. She now faced the snow leopard with her blue eyes fixed on them. Defenses were still very unknown to her but she would do what was available with her instincts. Her ears pinned, tail tucked and her hackles rose. Ready to take on the feline. Fear her copper head viper rested around her neck, ready to help.


"Speech!"

TABLE & CODE © SKELLE 2021

Plague greeted her warmly, but not near as affectionately as his snow leopard Procella. Ike enjoyed the cat’s purring, and grinned as she sat close by, leaning against her as well as attention returned to Plague’s words. The little princess felt like she was old friends with the snow leopardess, she had been training with her since she was so young; their friendship came easy. Ike smiled brightly ad leaned into the cat’s pelt as her mismatched ears perked towards Plague’s words. Counterattacks, they hadn’t gotten into that much their last lesson together. Mostly they’d been having fun trying to attack.

Shuriken nodded lightly as Plague explained them pairing off and taking their places at the practice ring. The tiny princess took her place, running shoulder to shoulder with Procella until the last moment when the two of them would square off. The quills in her scruff stood up and she extended her cat like claws just as procella did. ”I’m ready,” she said with the first hints of a Klein smirk playing on her young features. Even diluted her heritage still shone through in more ways than her expression.

Her joints were bent and her chin was tucked, much like she had done before in similar situations. Soon enough she was going to be taller than her snow leopard opponent, not that she would accept the fact as true just yet.

Plague grinned as he watched the two young girls get ready and set their defenses, squaring off against each of his snow leopard companions. He thought back to his first lesson with Ike and could already see the improvement she was making, pride swelling in his chest. He nodded when Ike mentioned that she was ready and a glance at Panic told him that she was ready as well. "Alright... ready... go!" With that the two leopards leapt at their respective opponents, Procella bouncing toward Ike while Viridis charged in toward Panic.

Procella leapt to the side of her pup opponent before jumping up with a spring in her limber movements to try and hook her large paws around Ike's neck, aiming to get her claws into her scruff and chest as she hugged around her shoulder and aimed a bite toward the young girl's neck. Viridis darted around to try and get to Panic's side in an attempt to avoid the snake that hung around the girl's neck, aiming his teeth for her back leg.

Of course the snow leopards new better than to really hurt the girls. Their claws wouldn't dig deep and their bites wouldn't be more than just a prick in their skin. This was just practice, not a real battle, but he wanted it to feel more real than perhaps they had experienced in the past. Plague watched them curiously, wanting to see how they would respond.

Plague | Viridis | Procella

Shuriken was growing quickly, she was still a clumsy mess especially as her legs lengthened and her paws just continued to swell. The princess didn’t have the best control over her exaggerated limbs. Her size was growing fast, she wasn’t the tiny princess she was only a few weeks ago. She was growing in skill as her body grew but she personally didn’t see her accomplishments. She was getting better at hunting and fighting but all she wanted to do was be a beautiful, proper, lady just like her sister Ikigai. There was no competing with her decorum and grace, but that didn’t keep Ike from wanting to and feelings and when she didn’t reach her goal.

Procella was given the first move and the snow leopardess leapt at her, aiming to grab her neck with big kitty paws. Ike used the closeness to her advantage, raising the quills alonger her hackles as her own cat-like paws grasped for Procella’s neck as well. She reared up to wrestle with her leopard friend.