Haunted Wood this is an old story, with an old beginning

it is @Vengeance she searches for amidst the early morning fog, the barest glint of light touching the bleak stretch of sky. the silence all around is heavy, and though she considers merely calling for the man, she'd prefer to avoid any irritation that might stem from it. no, Hela will settle for trailing after his most recent scent trails, the sound of her footfalls her only companion. "yikes" says her player, "sorry that this post is disgusting and short"

that last part made me giggle xD

After speaking with Revui, convincing him to stay and to wreak havoc in the ranks, Vengeance began to focus more on the children and preparing them for what would come next in their lives - being adults and full-blown mercenaries. @Clay would have to learn to sack up, to forget his fears and embrace the darkness he called home. @Valour was already front and center, ready to please and prepared to do much more than romp around, he had the desire for violence and perhaps that is why he remained as Alpha pup even to this day. But the two made each other weak. He could have to fix that soon...

First, there was one of the three pups that he had not seen in a while. Hela. The one that Valour brought to the woods, the one who chose to stay with them despite her crooked leader coming to take her home. Quickly the two crossed paths, his heavy footfalls slowing to a halt as his tail swayed from one side to the next in one movement, staying poised on his left side as he eyed the growing female. 

Just who I've been looking for. He offered a sharp grin.

it appears the feeling is mutual, to her satisfaction. it's probably a good thing that she seems to have caught him in a (relatively) good mood, and she relays her intent quickly. "I'm going to be Centurion." she tells him as if it is fact, and then, "I want to spar, if you'll teach me." Black Hat is a good teacher, and rarely denies her requests to spar, and yet she finds it stupid to learn from one person, and one person only. Besides, she'd seen Vengeance defeat Black Hat in the past, and though she was a ways from gaining the upper hand over either of them, that was a poor excuse for failing to be prepared. 

gimlet gaze is even as it settles on him, a far cry from their last meeting. perhaps she's realized the potential for knowledge outweighs her grievances against him, or perhaps she's simply moved on, but for the first time, she's at ease in his presence. 

xD I entirely lost the ability to write for 3 hours

Good, we are in need of one. Her resolve pleased him, she had a goal, unlike most who seemed to have their own secret agenda - Hela was focused on something else. The determination in her eyes alone was enough to have him pleased that she chose to stay. She had promise, more so than the oldest pup who constantly seems to be too afraid fo embrace what the Nightwalkers had to offer. 

What have you learned thus far? We will begin from there. He was tough with her the last lesson, charging forward and thrusting his lesson onto her. Instead, he would go into detail from what she knows now. There was no way for him to know who had taught her what, certainly everyone had a chance to test out the pups in one form or another.

he accepts her proclamation easily, and she is pleased to see he appears to approve, rather than condescending. at his question, she considers a moment, thinking how best to consolidate her knowledge. "I've learned mostly from Black Hat, but sparred with others, too. Basic offense and defense, the best places to target; snout, scruff, and flank. Legs are good if you can get them, that way you can incapacitate an opponent early." It's a broad overview of the past three months of her training, but she hopes it will suffice. Her piece said, she watches the man clearly, aware that others have a tendency to begin a spar without warning.

I see. Was his short reply to her explanation of what she had learned since joining the pack. So tell me, how would you approach an opponent like myself now? of course he was referring back to when they last sparred, the spur of the moment spar that had ended with her furiously stomping away. she had certainly changed much in attitude since then. He was interested to hear about her thinking process before they began a fight. 

While he waited for a response, he began to circle around the girl slowly, preparing himself for what was to come. Like a tiger stalking its prey, he was anticipating to see how much she had improved since that day.

he begins to pace, and she to continuously angle herself so that her front remains facing him. "use whatever advantage I can get." she answers, mind already working. "I'm smaller, but faster, so I—" and then she's moving, breaking off mid-sentence and attempting to use as much of the element of surprise as she can get. she charges for his face, a head-on blur of fangs and curled muzzle, until inches remain between them. and then she drops, aiming for the left side of his scruff while at the same time attempting to hook a forelimb across his and tug in an attempt to unbalance him.

Her attack wasn't as much of a surprise as she possibly had wanted. Bracing for contact, what he didn't expect was for her to hook at his leg to take control of his stance, but he had a different surprise up his sleeve. Having lived in the woods for a while now, he had come up with a few ideas in combat among the misty trees. 

Being sent off-kilter, he was in control just long enough to channel his fall into the trunk of a tree in the attempt to pin her where she shooked and grabbed onto his scruff. I am bigger, stronger, more experienced. Should his pin have worked, he would continue to crush her under his weight for a while longer before releasing. 

Jugular, axillary, femoral, penis and tongue if you are lucky enough to grab the last two. He began, Making them hemorrhage a fair amount will cause confusion, fatigue and eventually death if left untreated. A pause, a breath. Ears, joints, and eyes to dull their senses and locomotion that may cause intense pain and might give you a leg up.

within a moment, she is crushed beneath his grip, but she takes it in stride. it was, after all, expected. her determination and attempt at strategy meant little against a fighter like him, but that did not mean she couldn't try, or learn. when he releases her, she finds her paws again, auds pressed forward to catch whatever advice he offers. the healing wounds throb, and she'd the shiny recipient of a new bruise, but he hasn't scared her away.

his advice is valuable, and she commits it well to memory. "hemorrhage," she echoes, "if I can make them bleed, do I keep fighting close? or back off and wait for them to weaken?" 

She was asking all the right questions, her eagerness to acquire knowledge and climb the ranks as quickly as she could once she was of age was a welcomed sight to see in one of the many pups he had gathered here in the woods. As he spoke, he continued to circle - and this time, he moved in for a bite. Nothing deadly, but he wanted to test out her own way of evading. To use the terrain - did she learn just as quickly with action as she did with speech? Did she learn of his own tactic or did he have to tell her?

Once his teeth clacked, at the air or in skin depending on how quickly she reacted or her own tactic - he continued his lesson. She was advanced enough to listen while physically being engaged. He hoped so at least. Every opponent will be different, some will come at you regardless. Assess your opponent, how desperate are they? How feral? For example, Vengeance wasn't the type to walk away and pray for the bleeding to stop. In his case for her, she would have to continue fighting despite any wounds.

he moves, and she reacts almost as quickly. shifting her weight away and dropping low to evade his snap, she whips her muzzle upward and snaps on the empty air next to his jaw, realizing in a moment that this is not the beginning of a fight but merely a test. his fangs snap on fur and air; she not quite fast enough to evade entirely. 

nevertheless, when he withdraws and continues with the lesson, and she retrains her focus onto his voice. "what if they're better than me, desperate? how do I tire them out, besides making them bleed?" much in the same way prey, pursued, should eventually tire and come to be seized by fangs, surely the same applied in a fight. if she should be unable to target the places he'd outlined, she wanted a plan b.

Sometimes a victory is never certain. The life of a mercenary is often short. But, to give you a better possibility, aim for the joints. Knees, elbows. Cripple them - or find a way out if you don't desire to die that day. Sometimes the man has to realize that he doesn't take his own advice very well. Vengeance was headstrong and he couldn't remember the last time he turned tail and chose to leave a fight rather than tempt fate. The meeting of the Moonspear wolves after Alison's attack on the white woman was perhaps the only one he could - but they were severely outnumbered.  

Even he was not stupid enough. 

If you know you're going to battle someone better than you, preparations are wise. Poisons, traps, bringing a partner to outnumber your opponent might be an idea. As she snaps at the empty air next to his jaws, this was when he realizes she had clued in on his plan. She was indeed a great warrior in the making. With that he swatted at the ground, lifting a plume of dirt to try and blind the girl in a surprise action that she may not have thought of previously. Fighting dirty is always an option. If your opponent is dead, there is no shame in it.

he certainly gave her a great deal to consider, mind already working at possible scenarios, preparations, maneuvers. she did not expect the plume of dirt in the slightest and twisted away a second too late. gaze burned as she blinked away the dirt furiously, scowl etched firmly across her features. squinting, she glared back at Vengeance, but could not hold onto the scowl long. a moment later, the ghost of a grin replaced it. 

"thank you." not for the dirt, most definitely, but for considering her seriously. her gaze cleared, slowly, and she swiped a paw across her face in a final attempt to rid herself of the remaining burn in her gaze. "for teaching me." a true grin splits her muzzle then, edged with something not exactly placeable. with that, she dips her muzzle to the man in gratitude and turns on her heel, determined to find someone, or something, to practice on immediately. one day, she will face Vengeance and win. that day is not today, nor in the near future, but she promises herself it now.

Hela was growing into a fine warrior, perhaps someone who might be some trouble to him down the road... but with her among them, the Nightwalkers would rise above all else as a pack to be feared by all. She took his lesson in stride, even the dirty tricks he used against her. Without a word more to share, he dipped his head in return and watched as the young lady walked off into the mist. He, on the other hand, would go look for something to chew on... To fill that everlasting void within his belly that clawed at him even before the famine. Maybe some weakling was near enough to hunt - and off to hunt he did. Some poor soul would meet their end soon enough.