Blackfeather Woods Darkened soul, darkened actions

@Burke

Patiently, she waited for the ache to subside. She would be fine, just a little head hurt, she was. Actually, she couldn't remember what had happened. It must have been a faulty branch that knocked her out. She remembered noticing the rotten bark, ready to collapse any second but she couldn't recall what caused her to travel under it. It was unlike her to mess up in such away, she almost felt ashamed because of it. But that had occurred hour's ago and she was in perfect health, nobody could tell her different.

She picked herself up from the red covered ground, where she was currently residing. Shaking herself, she recovered from the weary state she had been in and started to run. The cool air felt comforting as it rippled through her fur, clearing her mind of any ailments she still carried. The broken ground crunched beneath her feet as she leaped over a fallen tree, already sprouting moss. But the warm days were now residing and the winter air blew a little stronger everyday. But she needn't worry, she had located a den, near the Grove that was comfortable enough to spend the nights.
Circling back around, she retreated back to the Grove where she plunkered down to take a breath. She didn't expect any visitor, she wasn't so popular among the rest so she didn't care for how she looked. And frankly, on any day, she didn't care about what other's thought of her. No doubt she was in ill mind of many but as long as she got the job done, nothing else mattered. She did however wonder what it was like to be.. liked. Her world would be different if she wasn't so stuck up and arrogant to everyone around her, she knew. But she couldn't help the way she acted. It was involuntary, her temper and her attitude.
But she was here to work, to train, to achieve and no comments or opinions would stand in her way. She had let them before and she wouldn't go back. Ever.

Burke was usually found by Meldresi if he wasn't doing is duties. Luckily none of them were foolish enough to actually come to his and Meldresi's home somewhere in the web. He believed not a lot of wolves knew where they were located. The alpha trotted on over the upper grounds. He was more than eager to get his round done and watch Meldresi and be with her. It felt good to spend so much time with him. The dark male didn't expect however to run into Nemesis that didn't look very good. His pale eyes fell on the female and trotted towards her. "You look horrible," he pointed out before nudging her shoulder, wondering if she was okay. 

"What happened? Do you want me to get Meldresi?," he asked. Burke was no healer he knew how to treat an injury or two but he wasn't really knowledgeable on all that other healing stuff. Maybe Potema would be a better to call for help since Meldresi might need her rest. Burke tipped his head for a moment. Confused of what the female picked up. Had she been too long by that damn clearing in their territory?

Nemesis lowered her head slightly, in the presence of her Alpha. She did not feel at all comfortable, her head spun marginally as she fixated her gaze onto him. 
"Oh no need, i'm fine. But thank you" She shortly replied, not wanting to go into detail on her own stupidity.
 Even then she huffed about her incapacity to consider the possibility that the branch would collapse on her, in that moment. And she wasn't about to declare it in front of her Alpha, who was currently training her to become a professional Assassin, for goodness sake. But she did take in mind his consideration for her wellbeing, she had no doubt in her mind that he was a strict but considerable Alpha, the best fit to run the pack. 

Though what she wanted was to continue the training that she had been so eager to start. One lesson had already been completed and not many more left to go.Then her final exam would take place, to determine if she deserved it or not. But she still had loads to learn, no matter how close it seemed to get. 
"I was wondering, however, when my training would resume?" She asked, not suggesting anything at the moment. Burke was a busy Alpha and had better things to do than spend his time instructing her. But she couldn't help feeling a little thrilled at the thought. It was a definite change in topic, that would for sure not go unnoticed, but she suspected that Burke would respect her privacy if she didn't seem too ill.

Burke looked at the female and wasn't so certain about the fact that she was okay. He wondered if she was not hiding the fact who bad she would feel. Burke was a caretaker and a counselor of the pack. He was very diplomatic and considerate. "Are you sure? If you don't feel well you should visit some of our healers, Nemesis. We wouldn't want you to grow worse because you think you have nothing," he pointed out, his counselor voice coming up. He wanted to show her that he did care for his pack mates, even the subordinates in the lower tier, though Nemesis was in thimble tier before. Once a wolf was accepted Burke was usually more civil towards them.

"Ah yes, training. With Meldresi being pregnant and managing the pack by myself I was just too busy to think of your Dark Sister training," he explained. "Feel free to also do some of the training with another member if that suits you. Sometimes there aren't enough hours in a day for me to be honest," he spoke towards her. "But I wouldn't want to exhaust you with a training if you aren't feeling okay. I like the idea of pushing yourself but doing over do it. I did that and I had a horrible bloat experience. If Meldresi hadn't been there I might have died already,' he spoke. It was still a weird thought, he had been so close to death.

She smiled softly at his worry, but he didn't need to be. She was fine, a little headache wouldn't stand in her way. No, she reassured herself. She would be fine by morning. 
"Thank you for your concern, but I really am fine. I feel fine" She stated, not batting an eye. She would admit, if it got worse, she would see a healer. Not the new one, Abelinda, who she suspected had already started to plot her death, but perhaps Meldresi who seemed patient enough to check her out. But it came to mind that now Medresi was carrying, she may not feel in the best way to treat such a minor ailment. For now, she would suppress any pain or discomfort, medical attention was not on her agenda right now.

She listened quietly as Burke reaffirmed her suspicions. She had realised that Burke had other priorities and she wouldn't have approached him on the topic if she had known of the training with other packmates. The idea seemed odd to her, practicing with another who was not her instructor but she kept it in mind anyways, there could be no harm in asking. An alarm went off in her head when Burke suggested that she may be tired or too unwell to train. Instantly, she replied, not wanting him to get the wrong idea. "Your concern is warming to me but training, I assure you, would not exhaust me" She replied, truthfully. But when she heard of her Alpha's near death experience, her emotions flipped, almost scared on his sake. The thought of her Alpha .. dead, was unfathomable. She had not known an Alpha before Burke and the idea that another would replace him was angering. As she seen it, Burke was the only fit to run Blackfeather so successfully. "Are you okay?" She asked, with slight anxiousness in her tone.

I though she had after effects from Zaria, lol

Burke looked over Nemesis and then nodded. "Alright," he agreed. At least she knew that he had some concern for her wellbeing which was a good thing. Burke genuinely wanted his pack members to be okay and if they weren't then he wanted to know that too so he could know who to call for a hunt or a patrol around the borders. The alpha stood before her and then tipped his head. "The training is to exhaust you," he pointed out. 

Burke was slightly surprised at her question. Because often members did not think to ask him that. "I am good," he assured. He was a bit of a workaholic but he was good. Plus he had some extra care and duties towards Meldresi. Often he liked to think how much better of a mate he was compared to Grimnir. "So your next lesson is about using blindspots. Do you know any of them?," he asked.

Oh I totally forgot about that! I'll have her start showing symptoms after this thread

Nemesis let out a breath she realised she hadn't been holding when Burke said he was okay. Still, the thought was haunting and she quickly cleared her mind from the idea. It was time for her to focus, and no pain would guard her from the one thing she was adamant on achieving. 

Blindspots, she did know a few but her knowledge on the topic wasn't very extensive. She nodded her head in confirmation, "I do know a little about them and how to use them to your advantage but like I said, not very much" She said, not wanting to sound like a know-it-all. It was time for her to learn the right way, the Blackfeather way. While some pack's had their little moral codes, in Blackfeather she knew that nothing was restrained when fighting. No mercy, and no honour would they consider. Even the borders were permanently dyed red from all the trespassing blood that had entered their lands. It was quite a thought to know that any deemed inhumane acts upon helpless others were wholly accepted here. Learning blind spots could be her advantage against larger opponents.

Not to worry! This thread can happen before that.

Burke looked with a bit with a deadpanned expression, because she spoke about knowing blindspot but not which ones she knew. This wasn't really helping him because he didn't feel like repeating himself. The alpha looked at the dark female and tipped his head. "Well then tell me which ones you know and how to use it to your advantage," he pointed out. He sat down to listen to her, keeping his pale eyes on her. He wasn't so sure about Nemesis yet, if she was true Dark Sister material. That could all change of course, he had being unsure about some members before, even vise versa.

He had been very wrong about Ayana for example. That dirty female had betrayed Black Feather Woods and Burke was rather pissed about it. He was going to tell the pack about that later that Ayana was a traitor.

She pondered for a mere second, before voicing her knowledge. She realised that she wasn't being very helpful with her vague answers, and quickly set a different tone of mind. "As you said, I can use being quick to my advantage. If I was approaching from behind, the opponent could well very see behind them so I could position myself almost directly behind. Depending on which way the wolf turned his or her head, my choice would be to maneuver myself to a spot where my form could not be reached' She explained in the most detailed way she could. It all made sense in her mind, and normally she was not required to explain herself but she would have to adjust to the methods taught by Burke if she was to continue the training.

Burke nodded slowly. The one behind was the most basic version. An assassin wasn't always attacking from behind. "That is technically correct yes," he pointed out and then moved closer to her. "Stand still," he pointed out and moved in closer. He wasn't sure if he ever had been so close to the female, alas, he didn't do that out of pleasure. He stepped more and more to her right side. "Keep looking forward," he added. He moved out of her field of vision, the only hint he was there was his warm breath on the side of her neck. He could just bite her right now and hold her down. That thought went briefly through his mind. Burke was still a killer. Nemesis would have to trust him to not do that. Before Meldresi he would often attack without reason. She really calmed him down.

The male then stepped back, feeling like he proved his point. "Don't charge at a wolf from behind. If you really want to grab him or her good you stalk them from the side, especially the side you think weaker. Once you grab hold of their neck it is a done deal."

Nemesis stood, abruptly still as Burke maneuvered himself to a spot unreachable to her eyes. A red flag when up in her mind, but she held her ground. Instinct told her to move away from the vulnerable spot she was in, fatal if Burke was not her Alpha. But she kept her eyes trained ahead of her, not daring to disobey him. She would have to trust him, regardless of the fact that she did not know much about him. All faith she had, was put to her Alpha, who at any moment could have easily snapped her neck. The realisation was haunting to her, and left her wondering how she could muster that much trust to begin with.

She let out a breath of relief when he started to explain, gracious to the fact her had no thought of demonstrating the lesson on her. She had been working on building up her body strength, but not yet could she take down a wolf of Burke's magnitude. It had never occurred to her that attacking from the blindside you be much more quicker and efficient than her usual tactic of sneaking behind. She would use his advice from now on, deeming it a worthy change of habit.
"But if they flip me, or attack first, what must I do?" She asked intently. Burke himself was proof that the opponent could strike back, heavily.

Lol Burke was really testing her wasn't he? :P

Burke noted down mentally that the female didn't move. She trusted him not to do so. He might have bitten down on a wolf that would have moved away, just to make them learn that they should always trust him. But this female behaved perfectly so Burke couldn't complain. He even gave her a few of his bonus points for trusting him like that. He really approved. With such wolves he could work with. Burke nodded at the question. "Well, I'd say don't make them attack first, but if they do dodge it and come back twice as fast so they don't expect it and hold them down," he explained. It was that or try another time, but you  usually only get one chance while attacking someone.

"You must attack in such skilled way they don't see you coming," he spoke. "This takes practice and I advise you to practice it on prey. Maybe even weaken a deer and panic it so much that it is just frozen in fear." He often did that to learn youngsters how to hunt and were to grab their prey, or where to weaken it.

Short reply, didn't want to keep you waiting!

Nemesis let out a breath when Burke moved himself away from her. But it was carefully covered up, she didn't want him thinking she didn't have trust in him and his actions. Quite frankly, it was the opposite. She had always relyed on instinct, regardless of who it hurt. Her consious was unpredicatble in situations it deemed hazardous.

She nodded, fully understanding the tips he gave her. Her usual hunting tactic was to simply stalk her prey and silently strike, not one to carefully plan out her actions. But she would give the new ways a try, if it was to improve her skills.

Thank you! <3

Burke nodded shortly. "I think you know what to do now. You need to train this as much as possible so it becomes something automatic. Maybe you can buddy up with someone and train it, let them say it when they see you in the corner of their eyes," he advised. Burke was rather busy with Meldresi right now so he wasn't sure if he could give her another training soon which is why he wanted her to practice. "Also practice your sparring," he added as a bit of an advise. 

The alpha then looked over Nemesis. "This is going in the right way. We will meet up soon again," he pointed out. The male then nodded her goodbye and moved off to take care of his mate and secure the borders. He might work a bit in overdrive because Meldresi is pregnant, he just wanted everything to be extra safe.

I'll wrap it up!

Nemesis watched as Burke bid his goodbyes, that left her once again in deep thought. Sparring with another troubled her, her restrain only held back the bare minimum. Though Meldresi's remedies and self calming advice did seem to shake off the impending stress that led to her aggravation, she had long to go before any significant improvement showed. Though she valued every member of Blackfeather, one thought always led to another when faced in a possible danger situation. What stopped her from going too far? She was not melodramatic, but the concern for her well being weighed on the thought of one little slip up. All it took was one little taunt, one little mistake to send her flying over the edge. 
But her success relied on her ability to restrain her conscious, that was so heavily soaked in the toil of every fault that had come her way. She had to resist, no matter the situation. 

Turning the opposite direction, she walked solemnly to her moderately comfortable den. The only good news that had been graced upon her was Burke's approval of her work so far. Yet, however promising the fact was, there was still plenty of time to mess up. Aren't you a little ray of sunshine today, she spoke to herself, grovelling at the feeling. But she refused to feel sorry for herself, it was weakness in itself. She raised her head, narrowing her eyes. If tactic was what he wanted, she would train to give the best. Lifting her nose to catch the breeze, she picked out the scent of deer, not too far away for her to tire.