Bears. There were a lot of bears in the world. Bears seemed to like to tangle with wolves a great deal, so Asla thought this would be the perfect large predator to start out on. After their run-in with the snake, Aslatiel was intent on training Satira so that she would be able to protect herself. In the spring, they would be leaving and the skills that the girl gained through the winter would aid her greatly on their upcoming journey.

Together, mother and daughter traveled to the orchard. The air was chilly and the first snow had yet to fall, but it was on the way. Asla could smell it in the air. They'd had ample frost and the last vestiges of autumn could still be seen in the piles of fallen fruit that lay scattered haphazardly across the orchard. The pair of ladies had passed the scent and scratches of bears and followed until one came into view.

"We obviously aren't trying to kill it," Asla said to Satira as they watched the lumbering ursine in the distance. "We just want to run it off. We don't even have to hurt it too badly. Keep to its backside. Avoid the front." Simple instructions.


The bears were all fat and ready for a long winter's sleep. They were tired and slow, so this would be the perfect opportunity. "Ready?" With that final question, Asla began to run. She snapped and snarled as she came close to the brown bear. It lowed and groaned an annoyed warning, but it was ignored as Aslatiel darted in and nipped at one elbow. In doing so, the bear turned in that direction. She was trying to show Tira how to herd the beast where she wanted it to go.

"Aslatiel Fatalis"

Winter was coming quick onto Boreas. It would be the little girl's first, but already she was excited by it if it made the grass all crunchy like it had been! Satira followed close by her mother's side while they wandered further from Armada territory and into the dense orchard of fruit trees. The sickly sweet scent of over-ripening fruit lingered here, but so did the pungent musk of ursine. Tira didn't know until they got here what Asla had planned for them today, especially not after their recent scuffle with the anaconda. After that day, the little Fatalis girl had been so afraid that she'd disappointed her mother or frightened her to the point where she wouldn't be allowed to leave the Armada anymore. She was glad that wasn't the case.

While the two ladies wandered through the cool day and through the trees, Satira kept her wide eyes opened and took in everything around her. The trees, the boulders, even the structures off in the distance in some land that smelled like lots of wolves all looked so much bigger than her! Silently, Tira began to wonder just when things would stop seeming so impossibly big to her. Following dutifully and quietly at her mother's side, the fawn-furred girl paused when Asla did, following her mother's gaze to the rotund, groggy brown bear while it scavenged from the fallen fruit. Asla gave her instructions: they weren't aiming to kill it, just drive it off, avoid the front, don't hurt it too badly.

"Got it!" Satira said with a determined nod of her head and narrowing of her steel blue eyes. She nodded and gave a quick "Mhmm!" when Asla checked her readiness, the tiny girl already crouched and ready to pounce with her tiny rump wiggling in anticipation. Then Mom ran, and daughter was right behind. It took Tira three leaps for every one of Asla's one strides, but eventually she caught up as the fight began. Tira watched with an attentive stare while Asla got the bear to shift its attention and turn with her snapping jaws. She was herding the predator, manipulating it to do what she wanted. Growling the most fierce (albeit least threatening in the history of wolves) growl she could, Satira followed her mother's guidance and stayed behind the bear, only running in to nip at its ankles when she saw an opening before bounding back to a safe space and circling around the bear while Asla held its attention.

"Satira Fatalis"

Asla ran circles around the tired bear and Tira would be able to as well. It almost wasn't a fair fight. Perhaps this bear had already been asleep once and had woken for some reason or another. Or perhaps it was just getting one last meal in before it bedded down through the coldest months of the year. Either way, it was slow and wasn't putting up much of a fight at all. That was all well and good for the fawn colored fae. It would be a nice and easy beginners lesson for Satira.

With one eye on the bear, the other eye was on the girl, watching as she made her small bites and retreated. That was exactly what Asla had wanted. Small attacks while she learned what she was and wasn't capable of. So far, the girl was doing very well.

Another nip to the side of the bear pushed it further away from the pile of fruit that it had been feasting upon. It was already tired of this shit and had decided that it really didn't need any more sugar before its long sleep. The beast didn't even raise a paw to them, it simply began wandering off. Asla released a soft snort of amusement, but continued to harry the bear, careful not to draw blood though. She almost felt sorry for bothering it.

"Aslatiel"

Deep down inside, Satira didn't know whether to feel sorry for the dopey idiot bear that the two wolves were so much better than it, or disappointed at how little of a fight it was putting up. Compared to the giant snake in the forest, this was a cakewalk! Satira continued to harass and confuse the bear by keeping to its backside, glancing up at its ridiculously huge backend and nub of a tail at the end. The bear was big, but it was also slow and easy to outmaneuver. She watched her mother in turn, studying the way she moved and struck at the bear. Asla was so graceful, so precise and practiced. Tira, meanwhile, was doing the equivalent of a guerrilla attack on the poor bear, alternating between which fat-laced ankle she was chewing on for the moment.

Once the bear decided it had had enough and was about to fuck off, Satira gave a triumphant bark, but refused to let it leave so easily. She followed Asla's lead, heckling the bear as it tried to turn tail and flee. She yapped and yipped as she darted between its hind legs, careful not to get too close to those huge, heavy paws as it lumbered away, taking bites where she could until the bear was pushing on further out of the orchard back to wherever its lair was. Her bravado had begun to return some, that Fatalis pride rising in her while she basked in the shared victory with her mother. Satira turned sparkling blue eyes up to Asla, her tiny tail wagging so furiously it was almost spinning in a circle. Compared to the snake, this had felt much more like a fight, and Satira felt much more like a winner.

"Satira Fatalis"

Back and forth the ladies went. Bite bite bite. The bear grunted here and there, but still made no attack. After a while, the sleepy, waddling beast pushed through the thicker foliage at the edge of the orchard and was gone. Reaching out with one paw, Asla stopped Satira from following it. "That's enough, Tira." There was no use in chasing or fighting a beast that would teach the girl nothing. Perhaps they would find a more worthy opponent later.

With a pull of her skull, Asla motioned for her daughter to follow. Together they moved back through the orchard. "You did well," she praised the girl. "You stayed out of its reach and you helped to herd the bear right where we wanted it to go." Stopping for a moment, Asla pulled the girl close and gave the top of her head a nuzzle. "Let's go get a drink, shall we?" There was a big river nearby. The rushing water there should be nice and cool now that winter was beginning to take hold.

"Aslatiel"

The fight ended, and Satira was stopped by her mother's paw catching her by her chest. The girl had been so caught up in the enjoyment of scuffling with the bear, she hadn't realized it was trying to retreat. She watched the giant sleepy ursine lumber off, giving a few parting growls to warn it not to come back, then settling into a girly giggle as she basked in the triumph. Asla told her she had done well and praised her for following her instructions. Tira's smile grew wider, as did those big puppy eyes, and her tail was moving so fast it might have fallen off! "Thanks, Mom!" she replied, eager to return those loving nuzzles to the underside of her mother's chin. Satira smacked her dry lips together and nodded, realizing just how thirsty work battle was. "Okay, Mom!" With a giddy spring in her step, Satira followed alongside her larger mother, wondering what the rest of their day together would hold.

"Satira Fatalis"