With the break in the oppressive Auster summer heat and the settling in that they were all doing after the conclusion of the pack's big events they all were getting back to sharpening their skills and improving themselves. She loved being a teacher so she was certainly all in on this return to this focus on training. She planned to hold a bigger lesson for more of the fighters in The Hallows, but first she wanted some one on one time with her friend. She knew Lia was still hesitant at best when it came to fighting, but she hoped that perhaps they could work on that together and maybe if it was just the two of them it would be easier to relax and enjoy it.

She walked out to the training grounds with Lia at her side, giving the fire-marked woman a grin. "Don't worry, we're going to have fun," she promised, giving Lia's shoulder a playful nudge. They hadn't gotten to really have any time together since well before the wedding so even if the fighting lesson turned out to be a bust she was still just happy to be hanging out with her. When they got to the marked off training grounds she stood across from Lia, her braided tail swaying gently behind her. "What would you be more comfortable starting with? Attacks or defenses? We'll go at whatever pace you want!" She grinned playfully and added, "Or, you know, if you want to just jump straight into a spar I won't stop you!"

WC: 258
Total: 258 / 1500

"Briar Carpathius"

Lia had a lot of trepidation in regards to fight training, but her adoration for her Mistress meant she had to at least try. She wore the beautiful leather armour that Briar had gifted her. A paw occasionally moved to touch the supple leather, as she quietly admired the gift for the hundredth time.

“Is that an order?” there was a hint of amusement in her voice, but her face didn’t show it. Mostly she was nervous, but she was more confident around Briar then she was around most other wolves. If she had to learn to fight, she was at least grateful that it was with Briar.

They reached the training grounds, walking side by side to a point Briar decided upon. The handmaiden returned the nudge when it was given, another indication that her words were just teasing. A way to shave off some of her anxieties.

When they stopped, Briar set herself across from Lia, and the two women faced each other. Both horned, and Briar's tail braided behind her. “Perhaps… defensive? With our horns, perhaps?” She asked cautiously. She’d never fought with her horns before (which implied she had actually ever done any fighting) and she knew Briar would be the best person to teach her. Unlike Lia, Briar had had her horns all her life. And besides, lowering her head and fending someone off with her horns would keep them at bay. Maybe that would be a more comfortable way to fight.

WC: 251
Total: 509

"Speech"

Standing across from Lia, she gave her friend a grin as she picked defenses first with the added idea of teaching her how to use her antlers. It had been a few seasons since Lia's pretty horns had appeared and Briar had grown so accustomed to seeing them on her that she almost forgot that they hadn't always been there. They were certainly newer than the last time they had trained together so that was a great idea on Lia's part. She was definitely no stranger to using her horns as a tool in her defenses and attacks, but for her sweet Lia who was far more likely to defend and run than she was to fight it was probably for the best that she learned how to use them for defending herself first.

"Absolutely! Briar agreed eagerly and she began to get down into a defensive stance to demonstrate. Some things Lia should be familiar with like spacing out her paws evenly, bending her legs a bit to give her some added mobility and spring, and bunching up her scruff around her neck to protect it. What she did differently was lower her head so the points of her antlers were facing Lia while tipping her eyes up to keep her gaze on her. "The goal when you're doing this is to try and keep your antlers between you and your opponent. If you think of them like a barrier between the two of you it helps with making sure the direction is correct." She started to move in a semi circle around Lia one way and then the other, showing how she kept her head facing her as she moved to keep the threat of her antlers intact regardless of where she went in relation to Lia.

After some demonstration, she lifted her head with a grin and nodded to Lia. "You try! I'll give you some tips as you go so we can make sure your stance and posture is good first." She always felt like it was best to start with he basics and build up from there! Plus, she knew Lia would still be nervous and she wanted to go nice and slow for her so she wouldn't get overwhelmed. This wasn't supposed to be stressful, just an easy lesson between the two of them.

WC: 390
Total: 899 / 1500

"Briar Carpathius"

Briar began with the basics of defence. Lia had gone over these a few times, but knew a refresher was a good idea. She let herself fall into the poses as Briar demonstrated them. Whenever Lia needed a little bit of a nudge to get them just right, she found herself hoping that her Mistress would linger with her touch on Lia’s legs. Her feelings for Briar still felt new and strange to her, and she found herself blushing at the thought. Sex was not unfamiliar to her, but the more rare and precious things like trust and mutual appreciation were.

When Briar’s lesson got to the horns, she demonstrated by lowering them towards Lia. The fire-marked girl watched for a moment. Letting her eyes grace over Briar’s bowed head and was (mostly) successful in keeping her thoughts professional.

When she lowered her own head, she found the position awkward to both lower the antlers, and keep an eye on Briar. It would take some getting accustomed to to get it right, but the idea of a sharp barrier between herself and a threat was a nice one. She wanted to get this right.

Briar began to move then, circling around Lia to demonstrate the right way to keep her horns between herself and the fire marked girl. Lia watched her as she moved and kept her eyes up and antlers down. It was clear that Briar had much practice in fighting with her antlers. When she declared it was Lia’s turn, the red toned wolf lowered her own antlers again. Keeping her eyes up and began to move a little around Briar. She found it difficult to concentrate on her form. To keep her paws in the right balance, and the rest of her body aligned as she kept her horns lowered. So far, Lia wasn’t finding this stressful. They were just practising some stances together. There was no mention of her striking at her Mistress in mock combat. “How am I doing?” she asked after she had moved her angle a few times.


WC: 347
Total: 1246

"Speech"

Briar watched as Lia took her direction and instruction and put that into trying out the moves she had been shown herself. She very clearly didn't have the ease in her movements that someone who had been practically training in this since she was born had, but for the experience she had she was doing very well and it made Briar so proud to see her give it her best shot regardless. She grinned and her long, braided tail wagged gently behind her while she watched and tried to pick up on any little things to give Lia notes on. She seemed to have the broad concepts of things down and had pretty good form. Now it all came down to putting these things into more frequent practice so she could get more comfortable and familiar with the movements so they wouldn't feel so foreign.

"You're doing great!" she replied with encouragement, giving her a proud grin. "The only real note I have is to keep your movements more fluid and to have a bit of a bend in your legs as you move so it's easier to dart out of the way or jump forward if you need to, but all of that will come more easily the more you practice. For this being your first time with these kinds of moves I'm very proud of you." Sometimes it was hard to imagine her sweet, pacifist friend fighting, but when she had her practicing and training like this it got a little easier and it helped ease Briar's worries over her as well. After the time that she had stepped in to protect her from being raped it had been a fear that lingered in the back of her mind over her dear handmaiden and friend, not wanting the same situation to arise again.

Brushing those thoughts away, she got back into her own fighting stance and grinned, saying, "Lets put some of what you learned into practice so you can get a sense of what it would actually be like! You keep your defenses up like you just did and I'm going to try and get past your antlers to get to you. Don't worry, no one is getting hurt here, this is just for practice, alright?" With her reassurances given she crouched slightly and waited for Lia to prepare herself as well before she leapt forward, attempting to duck to Lia's right to try and bounce past her defenses to bump her shoulder into Lia's side.

WC: 419
Total: 1665

"Briar Carpathius"