Moonspear when people become numbers

@Amekaze hopefully!!!! but open!

 

Hydra sought her mother out openly, nose hovering over the scent trail she had discovered that seemed recent. As to that, Hydra was still learning... and still easily distracted on top of this. There were a myriad of scents, and some sometimes diverted her from her mothers decided path. Hydra forced herself to ignore those of rabbits and squirrels and other critters, if only because she was not with her sisters at the moment to harass them, wanting to coerce her mother into patrolling with her as her father had done with her. He himself had said that the two of them patrolled the most and so it made sense, to her, to find Amekaze to see what else she could learn... and also, get more time on the borders.

On the backend of this bitter wintertime, it was getting easier to range about and cover ground on the mountainside. She still tended towards the lower reaches, on her hunts and patrols alike since many of her favorite pathways further up were covered in snow and ice yet, but it was easing back bit by bit. Time, and good sunshine, would help.

But she still found a lull in her motion on a quiet swatch of mountain, and stole pause somewhere just above the eastern borderlands to consider whether she was hungry enough to eat yet or not. Consensus said.. she wasn't, skies overhead were all clear, and restlessness quickly disagreed with anything less than moving. Her tail lashed and she moved on again with a slow slink, unknowingly pivoting closer to the trail looking to align with hers.

Unknowingly, at least, only for a short while more. Amekaze's ears pulled forward towards the sound of paws.

Hydra soon heard the sound of footsteps, as her mother had. It caused her pace to quicken, and her thickly-furred plume swayed. Hydra loved both of her parents, and respected them too. They were her greatest teachers and unquestionably her idols. Two figures of power, strong and assured and brilliant. They could do no wrong to she or her sisters, who felt the same degree of fondness toward her parents as she did. Although she was closest of all to her sisters (which truly went without saying), her devotion and her love toward her parents could not be doubted. Not by those who knew her. She was not the most outwardly affectionate, and she was the roughest of the three triplets... but Hydra had her way of displaying these things. 

Now, for instance. That she sought them out lately to teach and guide her. Hydra let out a low whuff to let her mother know she heard her, and picked up the pace to see her.

She twitched her ears a few more times and soon found herself stretching out long strides to close the distance between them soon after she saw her. Not bothering to concern herself too badly with which one exactly she had here, she'd begun to get better at addressing their similarities without being able to fully understand how intricately woven together the three dark daughters were. It startled her, to a point, but it was life's bizarre masterpiece at work and she was grateful to behold their wild beauty.

Ame matched the chuff and moved to nudge the girl's cheek, offering her a fond nip when she brushed her snout over her. Affection from her, while a little coarse in its presentation with a few bites and growls at times, would be reserved for her very few; the girls would know this, and she suspected, perhaps would grow to reflect much the same back to her. In sliding away with half a spin, she sized up the juvenile over her shoulder. "Busy?" she asked with her tail waving slow arced over her hips.

Hydra responded to her mothers affection with a rougher (but no less fond) brand, moving after the woman who spun away from her as her shadow would and nipping with pinching teeth at whatever she could reach, a warm light in her eyes for the woman who raised her. Looking for you, she informed, her own tail swaying behind her hindquarters and ears flattening submissively atop her crown for the alpha female. Though she was young, she was learning to assimilate into adult hierarchy. Amekaze was the only woman she wouldn't test, because time and time again Amekaze had proved that her place had been earned to the observant Hydra who always sought to exploit weakness in others for her own gain. There was a natural bias toward her family that would ever work in her mothers favor, and her ambition was not so far-reaching that she would ever think to overthrow either of her parents. Only if they were not suited for the task would that ever transpire, but she did not believe such a thing even possible and so the thought had never even occurred to her. 

Can you teach me how to fight? She inquired innocently; this was for her own goal of becoming a mercenary, and she actively worked toward it.

She chuffed softly, then dotted the silence after it with more affectionate rumbles. At least she had found what she was looking for, and Amekaze perked her ears for the girl's question. None too surprised by this considering herself and how that transposed onto her offspring, she nodded without a shred of doubt. "I can," she replied readily, shifting her paws very subtly. So very few had been victim to the fullest extent of what she could, or would, teach— but these robust young daughters of hers were the most rightful recipients of any. "A lot of learning to fight is practice.. tons of it. Experience, and having a good feel of your strengths, and how to wield them, comes with it." She had learned to fight in motion, too, only imparted with pointers and a basis from her parents that had taken years to hone properly. 

As for how she would need to learn it, she would have to find out. "What do you know already?" she flipped her muzzle in invitation, so she could see where they stood exactly for herself. Finer detailing could always come later once she knew where to begin.

Hydra had ample experience in sparring with her sisters, and was gaining more from sparring with her father when she could. She wanted to become the best of the best—that was truly where her ambition rest. As her mother spoke of a lot of learning to fight was practice, Hydra supposed she ought to spar even more than she already did. She nodded to show that she understood what she was being told, and then her mothers inquiry, and gesture, spurred her into immediate movement. 

No hesitation was one of the first things that she had learned, no warning. It was an advantage she consistently held over her siblings—and sometimes, her dominant nature had her lash out at them to remind them that she was the head, and though they could become her as she could become them this was her own place. No sister was better than the other, that was not what her behavior insinuated; it was simply nature, at its most basic. 

She did not lunge for her mothers front, but instead moved to her rear, reminded of what her father had said. Though her mothers stature was not so large as her fathers, and in fact was more like her own, Hydra knew that getting her mother into movement was the best way to begin things. Her own speed surprised her as she feinted forward, behaving as though she intended to grip her mothers hock, before she withdrew sharply to move to her mothers other side in preparation for her next maneuver. Her defenses were set, though likely not so set as one with ample experience—still, her chin was draped over her throat and her lobes remained flat atop her head, though now and again they lifted upward to listen for movement, or verbal advice.

A forwardness that could keep her driving towards her goal would serve her well in learning how to fight successfully. It had been an early ticket to various victories herself, so an old sense of deja vu crept on her watching the juvenile make her moves. For Ame, keeping such technique in mind surely helped ensure a share of her wins. The first strike was important, and as a wolf of speed, it was one of her greatest assets; it was good she knew this. "Mystify, mislead, and surprise the enemy," she quipped softly through a playful leer. The words were not corrective, instead to further encourage. These were perhaps among guidelines she knew the girl followed already, just put to words alongside the motions. She was well on the way to having it plenty understood, most likely, and Amekaze continued to track her movements carefully.

Her defenses had already slid into place, so there was little need to remind her there. With that said, though, she curved around—when she fought, there was much motion. She liked it with a flow, circling and spiraling constantly if she could work with the footing. "And as so, the expert moves the enemy, and is not moved by them," she imparted, then demonstrated by swinging snapping teeth towards her limbs, and using her body language to attempt to pressure her into moving too.

Her mother spoke, and Hydra listened. The words, to Hydra, were thus far easier said than done. Her attacks would be easy for her mother, or anyone else, to anticipate. Hydra would always look where she sought to struck before doing so as it was not something she was aware she even did. That would make it difficult to complete any of the things Amekaze had just mentioned, and so her mother might need to expressly inform her just how she might (and might not) do that. Hydra continued to circle her mother as her mother circled her, and Hydra thought she was doing exactly as her mother said—inciting her to movement. But her mother demonstrated what she meant, and it was Hydra who needed to adjust her footing and her step as her mothers body language and teeth both did their work. 

Hydra mirrored her mothers body language, though the effect her mother had upon her might not echo for her mother. The effort was made, but perhaps when against her mother it was halfhearted—though her instincts were more dominant in nature, they had never tempted her to rally against her mother. Still, Hydra returned her mothers movement after circling her twice over, snapping herself once more at her mothers hocks to see what way this would inspire her mother to move.

She was greedy, and had always liked to take the lead in battles because she was comfortable being brash in them. It was a lot of using what worked to her, and what could match well to tactical speed. Hydra's skills were just now starting to make it clear what would, and would not, suit her needs in this field as she learned the spectrum of it all.

Still, her steps were light and dance-like as she moved away, point demonstrated. Her words served the framework--control your enemy. From an individual to a group, separate them, divide, and carve away at them piece by bitter, brutal piece until there was nothing left. But those were drastic measures, and ones for another time. Next, she'd just let motion say the rest and have a little fun with it while she was here with a sharp student. She drove up the intensity of her next motion, and let it all unfold.

narrative away to your heart's content~~~~

What Hydra was best at was reflecting the things others did. It should be no mistake that behaving as another would and doing as they did came so naturally to her—after all, she was one of three, and morphed between Alya and Lyra at will (rare though it was as of late, her skill in it would never fade). When her mother began to anticipate all that she did, and used it to her benefit, Hydra learned to alter herself accordingly then. The day was one she learned much for, and up until mother and daughter were spent did they practice. Even afterward, they remained in each other's company before she eventually departed to find Alya and Lyra both.