Dragoncrest Cliffs we are one kru

A wild (kind of) puptivity appears! @Bobby, @Dalia, @Artaax, @Blixen, @Sirio & @Thuringwethil; very loose/no posting order. :D

Eske is nervous and yet she is also jittery with excitement. She has never before been the teacher. Thus far in her life she has always been a student and to know that she has grown and is trusted enough, that her skills are enough to warrant the honor makes her humble and proud all at once. Admittedly, she has not spent much time with the pups — and really her reluctance is understandable given the first time she made the venture to see them she startled Wildfire into accidentally killing little Phoenix; oops); but thankfully the children are not so small and fragile anymore and they need to be taught how to properly fight and defend themselves. Perhaps, even, she thinks, one of them will decide to become Gona and she can take them as her apprentice. She gets ahead of herself, she knows, and she tucks that thought away before the hope can betray her (though she is quite alone at the moment). She is not the oldest nor, likely, the most experienced but Heda has entrusted this to her and it is important to Eske: Heda’s support and her trust. Thus, Eske tips her head back and lets out a summons for the children of Drageda, calling them to her.

It is time for their training to officially begin.

ooc: slight pp of little sirio, if this isn't okay then I can change it!

The little girl could hear the howl and felt herself grow excited and curious as she nudged her brother with her muzzle to get him going. It looks like there was a new adventure ahead. Dalia loved Sirio with all of her heart and didn't want to leave him behind. So, she gently waited for him and kept her shoulder pressed against his before the little two waddled their way towards the caller.

Artaax was on his feet and moving at the sound of the call. Nomi's lesson was still fresh in his mind from when she had last gathered the family about her. He didn't want to get in trouble like Bobby had, and he'd very much enjoyed the praise he received at being the first to arrive last time. But even without this experience so fresh in his mind, the boy would have been eager to answer the call. It was not often that all the kids were summoned by other packmates, but it was always exciting whenever it happened. Artaax didn't want to miss a second.

In his eagerness, Artaax didn't bother to wait for his siblings. He darted from Hougeda at top speed, barrelling past Dalia and Sirio. He was breathless and panting by the time he reached Eske, but he grinned proudly and lifted his chin, feeling like a champion. He looked at the older wolf with this posture for only a few seconds before he remembered himself and shrank respectfully, feeling suddenly, inexplicably sheepish. His tail wagged as he crept forward to greet her, his head bowing low, but eyes still glinting with energy.

This is more a cameo than anything. I'll maybe post periodically but don't hold up because of me. :)

The call catches her interest as Eske decides to begin their training. At first, she debates not going and letting her do as she pleases but she’d told the girl she would have back up if she needed it. Plus, Thuringwethil has felt a little weird since their last discussion when it came to Julep and the guardians, uncertain if she’s capable of teaching them with Drageda principles behind their movement. Not wanting to make an assumption that she can’t do it, Thuringwethil decides to shift her direction and turn back to the clearing once Hougeda opens up. Once she’s there, she finds the tutor as well as Dalia and Artaax first, then Sirio in the background. Her lips purse in thought, glancing back for her other two children but not yet seeing them in the wake of their older brother.

lol Bobby is never ever gonna be the first one there <3

When Bobby heard the call, he was half asleep. He was lying by the entrance to Hougeda, his golden eyes lazily looking at the sunlit lake before him. His eyelids would droop over and cover his vision for a minute, but then jolt back open suddenly. So at first when he heard Eske's howl, he didn't respond to it. It was just noise that he was blocking out, muffled and foggy. But after a good minute, his mind processed what it was, and he snapped awake. He was going to be late again! He didn't want to get in trouble like he did last time, so he sped off as quickly as he could to find everyone.

When at last he found them, all the kids were there... except Blixen! Aha, so he wasn't last. A smug smile came to his face as he trotted over to Eske and gave her a quick bow of his head before going to sit by Artaax. He refrained from winking at her when he bowed, even though every muscle in his body told him to. Once he settled to wait, he gave his big brother an affectionate nudge and an excited smile.

sirio & blixen are welcome to jump in at any time! ♥

The goufas arrive. Sirio stays in the back while Dalia takes center stage. Eske’s gaze lowers to take her in offering the girl a soft smile. Eske realizes that in all reality this will be her first actual interaction with the children aside from the times she’s seen or spoken to them in passing. As she is Heda’s trikova — her shadow as Cheka — she has come into contact with the Goufas as such is inevitable as three of them are her’s and Wildfire’s. Artaax arrives next, grinning like the cat that got the canary with the lifted chin and all before he shrinks low and sheepishly comes forward to greet her with bowed head. The Cheka’s head dips in acknowledgement but still she does not break her silence yet. Bobby is next to appear on the scene and as his brother before him, he, too bows to her and it is a strange thing to be bowed too, if only because she is not Hedonakru. Hedakru is close but being close is not nearly the same thing. Still, she thinks it is a good thing as it shows her they acknowledge her as their teacher today.

She waits for a little while more for Blixen but figure that if the girl should show she is more than welcome to jump right in. She glimpses at Heda who watches nearby before she looks at the three children amassed in center stage before her. “Monin,” Eske greets them. “As I am sure you have all heard, today marks the beginning of your Gona lessons,” She pauses and her ears flutter back to rest at half mast atop her skull before they cup forth, alert. “No one here expects you to become Gona just because you are being trained.” She emphasizes upon this because she believes that they should not feel pressured into pursuing it; it is hardly fair and the choice needs to be theirs and theirs alone. She was gona because it calls to her, because (though she will deny it) she is valkyrie born. The call of war is in her blood. Perhaps they will hear the call, too and pay heed and perhaps they will not; regardless there are no expectations upon them other than to do their best.

“We will pick partners to play spar with in a moment, to show me what you have learned so far,” She does not say so she can analyze their strengths and weaknesses. They are children and though she does not seek to make it so they leave from her lessons arrogant she does not wish to crush their spirits either by telling them they have weaknesses. They do. She, herself does. Eloquence, for one, has never been Eske's strong suit. “There an uneven number of Goufas,” even with Blixen present and Sirio deciding to join in they would still be uneven. “one of you will have to spar with me.” Though Eske would be sure to hold back, of course. Idly, she cannot help but wonder why Portia or Wildfire couldn’t have pooped out another puppy when they gave birth so the numbers would be even. “First, I want you to each tell me why you think these lessons are important and then name your sparring partner.” Eske’s gaze touches all of them one by one waiting with a patience a long time learned and hard earned.

ooc: I know they can't speak completely, so I'm kinda just flingin' her sentences together *-*

Dalia made sure to quietly listen to the lady in front of her, or whoever this wolf was. Obviously, heda liked her a lot and trusted her, so Dalia considered her a pretty good wolf too. Tiny ears perked forward, the little flower tried her best to pay attention, though even the smallest beat of a butterfly's wings would catch her attention just for a bit, her bi-colored eyes would linger in a nother direction before finally relocating Eske. When Dalia heard her ask a question, her head was tilted just a bit as she began to think.

"Protecting important! Protect each other from stuff" she said with her bright eyes glittering just a bit with excitement with her poorly made answer. Hey, at least she's trying, she wasn't even sure if Sirio was going to speak or not. Dalia tossed Artaax a small, questioning look with a small smile to see if he wanted to be her partner.

Bobby listened intently, his ears perked and his body straight up. He looked like the perfect little student. He was mostly just trying to prove that he wasn't a slacker, that he could do this. A look of determination on his face, the boy waited until Eske was finished talking before blurting out his answer. So we don't umm... Die! And so we can be good protectin'! He then stood, his tail wagging at what looked like a million miles per hour. He bounded over to Eske and plopped himself in front of her.

I'm gonna be you spar partner! The boy gave her a huge smile, his tongue lolling out of his mouth. He wanted to be her sparring partner because of two reasons. The first one being because she was the teacher, and he could learn more from sparring with her than if he sparred with his brother or sister or the other pups. And two, because he thought she was awesome and pretty and he wanted to be her bff!

Artaax smirked proudly as the others filed in, even as he stood passively in deference to Eske. The presence of Nomi did cause him to straighten a bit, but not enough to cross a line into insubordination. He nipped affectionately at Bobby's cheek in greeting and offered a grin to Portia's and Dio's pair before his attention was swept back to Eske as she began to address them.

Excitement turned to sharp, focussed attention as the Cheka informed them of the day's activity. Pride and determination swelled in his chest at her words. Though she informed them it was not required to become Gona, Artaax became 100% convinced in that moment that there was nothing else he could ever possibly want to do with his life - much in the way kindergarteners go on a field trip to the museum and decide they all want to be artists until the trip to the zoo where it is determined that their life's passion is to be zookeepers (I may or may not be speaking from personal experience).

He was anxious to get started, but hesitated to answer the question. Eager as he was, he was not one to rush into things too quickly as it was not lost on him that speed increased the likelihood of errors. Artaax wanted to be right. He also wanted to look good and to be the best. So, he listened to Dalia and Bobby as they gave their answers, considered them, and then gave his own, "To take care of each other, and to be helpful and protect Drageda. And get strong." The idea of getting strong intrigued him most, but it was driven by an honest desire to protect the territory and those within it. Plus, it was something else he could be the best at - that was its own reward.

The question answered, his eyes hopped quickly to Bobby who he assumed would be his sparring partner. Bobby, however, was walking away from him to Eske, and Artaax felt his eyes narrow at the sight. Jealousy rippled through him, followed quickly by resentment. Why didn't Bobby want to be his partner? Why was Eske so much better? And how come he got to be Eske's partner? Artaax huffed softly to himself and glanced around, hoping Blixen might have joined them. Instead, he spotted Dalia smiling at him, and his negative emotions settled as he smiled back and made his way over to her.

The children all reply among a similar vein: though she is amused and cannot help the soft laugh that slips from betwixt her lips when Bobby dramatically begins with “so they don’t die” …which she does not contest because it’s true to a degree. “Very good,” The Cheka commends her young pupils, her gaze touching each of them before it strays briefly to the silent Sirio in the background. She is disappointed he does not want to join in on the activities and she is disappointed that Blixen failed to appear entirely but she does not linger upon these thoughts long. At least three of the children are present and eager to learn. “The Gonas protect Drageda, they protect us all just as I protect Heda,” Eske brings The Commander into the light for a moment with a gesture of her muzzle.

But she feels the talking part of the lesson is over for they children have eagerly begun to pick their sparring partners. Dalia is first to lay claim on Artaax while Bobby drew nearer to her and declared that the wished for she to be his sparring partner with a huge grin upon his face with his tongue lolling out of his mouth. Admittedly, it was going to be a bit hard to try to assess them as she “sparred” with Bobby but her inattention would, at least, lower her guard and aid in having her tone it down for the boy’s sake. She has never sparred with someone so young before …especially not a child she was afraid of hurting (even if it was on accident). “Remember, today is just for fun. I want to see how you do without instructions, to see what you have learned for yourselves. There is to be no hurting or blood drawing.” She emphasizes upon the last simply because she remembers how rambunctious she was as a child and how that line was easily, if unintentionally, crossed (but then again she was an aggressive little heathen).

“When you are ready,” Her gaze touches Dalia and Artaax before it settles upon Bobby. “you may begin.” She drops to a play bow before her sparring partner and invites him to engage.

Blixen, stricken with an upset stomach, weighed her options as the minutes ticked by. She was, once more, off on her own and away from the general noise of the pack's center in an effort to relieve her stomach of what befouled it. Her breakfast wasn't agreeing with her and, as she sat with a woozy head and topsy-turny stomach, she wondered if it would be wise to ignore the call completely and get some rest. However, she was far too competitive to let Robin and Artaax get all the attention—she wasn't about to be the absentee.

So she rolled onto her feet just as a wave of nausea hit her, and caused her to expell the offending contents of her stomach in a greenish heap. Blixen curled her nose at the smell, and spat out a few gobs of spittle to clean her mouth of the taste. Never again would she tempt fate by eating meat from god knows how many days ago. Her appetite for all things food would take some time to recover, as would her poor stomach.

The girl came upon the scene just as Eske was directing them into the first motions of sparring—her attention was diverted to the streak of black-and-red that stood opposite of Eske herself! She was torn between anger and shame that Bobby had somehow ascended to a lofty position in her brief absence. Blixen turned to Artaax for reassurance only to find he was paired off with the shy girl... Dahlia, if she recalled correctly, leaving her entirely alone.

To make matters worse, she could see her dusky Nomi observing nearby. Her stomach did another somersault, this time not from off-meat, and tears burned at the corners of her eyes. She was utterly embarassed that she had arrived so late, and now stood without a partner. So, instead of getting immediately involved, she slunk around the side to observe from a place out of reach and out of the way to sort her emotions out. Hopefully she wouldn't get called on right away, or be asked to explain herself...

Thuringwethil considers taking a step back and leaving Eske to the challenge of wrestling with a bundle of eager children, sans Sirio. And her daughter. She takes a moment to rescan the cloud only to see a blip of red in the distance, sweeping up to take the rear, as the children break off into pairs. Her sons leaves their sister hanging though the odd number of them, it is always bound to happen. The dynamic between the trio changes often and she hesitates to intervene more than she has to.

When she glances to Eske, preparing the battle Robin, and Artaax off with Dalia, she moves around to the back and gives her girl a chuff. With Dio’s son lingering in the background, she doubts he can do her daughter much justice. An easy flip of her tail is all she gives Blixen for invitation.

Eske gave some more instructions, and Bobby listened but not entirely. Most of him was too focused on the battle to come, he barely had time to think about why they needed Gonas or whatever. At last the safety speech ended, and she turned to face him. Bobby had a huge smile on his face, and he was biting his tongue which lolled out of his mouth to contain his excitement. Finally she said the magic words, and boy did Bobby begin.

He bounded towards the much larger wolf, and started by grabbing her foot in his teeth and shaking it. If this was a real battle, this attack would be probably useless, and make no sense. Bobby wanted to learn and be a good student and please everyone, but also he wasn't taking this super seriously and instead, he was sort of just playing. This was a game right?

It seemed taht everything was getting done smoothly, soon enough the puppies wer given free rein and they were allowed to start. With her tail high in the air, the dainty little girl got into a play bow position, her paws rapidly tapping the ground before she launched forward, jaws open and ready to latch onto something she could grab.

Artaax listened attentively as Eske continued, in spite of the still burning jealousy in his belly. He glanced at Blixen when she arrived on the scene, and nearly abandoned Dalia to partner with his spitefire sister, until he saw her puke all over the place and slink away to a corner. He wrinkled his nose in disgust and turned away again, setting his gaze on his partner.

He ducked into position, his lips peeling back as he gave her a snarl. There was some playfulness in the expression, but it was vastly overwhelmed by determination. It was unsettling to him that Eske had not given them any real instructions, except to not draw blood. When Dalia launched herself at him, Artaax leaped to meet her. He twisted his head towards her open jaws, intending to meet them with his own and clasp the bridge of her muzzle with his teeth. He'd try to force her down if he could, but already his balance was thrown off by her unexpected weight.

To the Cheka’s surprise Blixen eventually arrives on the scene, bringing all the children into the group though Sirio remains in the back, an unwilling participant. She frowns slightly as her blue-green gaze touches upon him, disproval at his refusal to take part in the (fun day) lesson evident. She makes no moves to hide it because she is the teacher and he is here to show her what he can do so that she can partner him up with the child that is best suited to him, so that she could discern his weaknesses and strengths. Regardless, she does not push. She leaves him to the corner, focusing upon the other children. Heda steps forth to invite Blixen to spar and now that everyone is matched up she studies them as they begin their individual “spars”.

Her attention divided between Bobby and the other children she misses his attack as he bounds forward only to draw out a low hiss of pain as his teeth sink into her paw. His teeth are sharp and as he shakes her paw her gaze rips from the other children down to him. Her black, leathery nostrils flare. She could pin him down easily but the goal for the day wasn’t to show him a real fight: it was to engage him so that she could analyze. Perhaps the next lesson the children could witness her spar with another adult in the pack for visualization of how a true fight would go and then she could have them practice with one another. “Always remember,” She grinds out as she snaps her teeth at Bobby’s ear: careful not to actually bite him. “tuck your muzzle. Keep your throat protected at all times.” She tells the children…because it was still a lesson. She attempts to grasp Bobby’s scruff to get him to dislodge his teeth from her paw.

Bobby continued to gnaw on Eske's foot, slobbering all over it until he felt her teeth snap near his ear. He barely caught her next set of advice, the snap had surprised him. When she bent down to grab his scruff he did not move out of the way in time. Her teeth closed gently on the flap of skin on the back of his neck and he was pulled away from her foot. Nuh! The small boy grunted, straining to get back to her to continue his attack. He knew that he probably didn't stand a chance against Eske, but he wanted to keep trying anyway.

He kept grunting with determination, as he pulled against her grasp.

The group is paired up about their own. Bobby and Eske, Artaax and Dalia. She gives Blixen an encouraging smile to ease her up. She has learned her mistake about answering calls but she doesn't notice the yellow expression across her face. Still, she helps the girl along and as they go back and forth in the midst of the rest of the children, she gives her helpful nudges along the way.

With Artaax joining her leap, the two collided and had changes of weight and balance. Dalia didn't expect for Artaaz to grab ahold of her muzzle, her little eyes widened with unexpected fear, she was far too late to pull away. His teeth clamped down on her muzzle and Dalia did what she could to remove him, she began to vigorously twist and turn her body to get Artaax to loosen his grip. Then, a small idea popped into her head. With the last bit of courage she had, Dalia pushed forward to hopefully to get Artaax on his back should he be unable to regain his balance.

Artaax's attention was laser-focused on his spar with Dalia. He felt a thrill of excitement as he landed his grab at her muzzle and went to work twisting against her movements to try and force her down. It felt as though it was working, but he had failed to realize how all of this hopping around would be a detriment to his own balance. When Dalia threw herself up at him, Artaax was taken by surprise. His jaw loosed on his grip and fell away completely as he was knocked over. He rolled onto his back and scrambled to try to right himself before his opponent could seize her moment. Unfortunately, he was also impaired by the fact that his landing had knocked the wind out of him, and so he was not too quick to take action to protect himself except to do as Eske had told them and tuck his muzzle over his exposed throat.

Sorry for the wait everyone. :'( This is the concluding round, feel free to reply once more if you'd like but you don't have to; I'll keep this thread open until September 4th.

Eske lets go of Bobby’s scruff when the boy struggles against her and rounds for another attack. She is distracted, however, studying the other children, how they move, how they attack. They are still young and still growing into their bodies, she thinks, and their builds will ultimately help her to decide where they will best fit: offense or defense, whether they are built for speed or for bulldozing their way through a battlefield …and she can’t properly teach when she’s partially distracted by her own sparring partner. By this time, they’ve gotten a few rounds in and the Cheka is ultimately pleased. “Good,” She praises all of them, but ultimately thinks that this big spar pit is too chaotic. Individual lessons would be better, lessons that Sirio would not be able to stand on the sidelines, she thinks, as her gaze touches to him. “wrap up your spars, goufas. Remember to practice and prepare for individual lessons next.” Eske speaks up to them, her gaze touching upon each child because next time, when she sought them individually, there would be no sidelines, no refusing to participate. Her gaze lingers on the only child who had refused to participate for a moment longer, to emphasis that she meant him, too.

In addition to watching Blixen, she’s able to keep an eye on Eske. The others, as much as she’d like to focus on her two sons, are in good hands as the cheka battles with ones and Artaax battles with Dalia. How she handles the situation, between sparring with Robin and watching the others, shows impressive enough that after a few sessions, her teaching skills will like improve e and sharpen, able to figure out how to work between the children as they grow. When Heda hears the call to end the session, she glances to Blixen, whom she’s just body slammed to the ground, and smiles with an encouraging lick to her face. Nudging her up to all fours, she pushes her forward to follow any further instruction. In the meantime, Thuringwethil backs out of the group and slips away wordlessly.