Shadewood we’ll go away when you let yourself grieve

set in Balconi Escapade

issun was tired. this constant routine of hopping from place to place was draining. when he stepped into the keep, it didn’t have the impact it usually did. not the relief of escaping winter’s troubles. not the joy of new company. too many times had he poured hope into one place, only for it to crumble before his eyes. he was numb to it now.

the warrior silently patrolled the territory. every smell, or rock, or tree, would be carefully mapped in his mind. the echo of rushing water drawed him towards a cave like structure. he crouched near the water’s edge to take a quick drink.

The girl had decided to wander to the first place she'd come to in the forest.
The Balconi Escapade.
She hoped to find the bird again yet suspected she'd left with Kai.
Kai, the sweet girl who Phex would've loved. She was still part of the Family in her eyes and was almost certain in Crys too. She hoped that she was safe and would return.

She trotted calmly down until she spotted a dark form that she couldn't quite place. She chuffed in greeting, however, suspicion of the other filling her eyes. His butt looked funny, like one of those danger cats. 
Ah yes, a Lynx. That's what his tail reminded her of.
"What happened to your butt, eh?" She asked casually, not expecting a touchy response. It was a fact after all.

She moved to the water and quietly sipped at it, expecting an answer or, even better, a story. 

he pays little mind to the approaching footsteps. a twitching ear is the only sign of his acknowledgment. for once he was not keen to meet his new pack mates, but she had spoken to him thus a conversation would take place.

the comment confused him at first. “huh?”  issun glanced at his backside and raised a brow. oh right. he had forgotten about the stub at this point. “i was attacked awhile ago.”

Woah! This dude must be a warrior of some sort to have some gnarly scars like that.
"Wicked,"  she whispered, lifting her head to inspect the rest of him.
His markings intrigued her. She'd never seen one with spots around the eyes.
She gave him a charming grin, her tail waving softly.

"What did you get attacked by? doesn't look like a wolf wound." 
Her eyes sparkled with wonder. The girl didn't have an inkling on how to fight, she just managed to flail her paws a lot. She was too kind to truly hurt another she supposed.

her childlike wonder was confusing to say the least. the wound never warranted such a reaction from anyone. it was always disgust, or shock, but it had never been curiosity like this.

“no, definitely not a wolf.” ha. like he’d ever let anyone rip his limb off. if it had been a wolf, he probably still would’ve had his tail. but it was no sadistic stranger that approached him that day, it was a monster.

“no, no. it was a cougar or something. one moment i was alone and the next thing i knew, the thing was chasing after me.”

Her eyes widened and her mouth parted,  "Wow you survived a cougar! You must be some sorta powerful warrior."  She beamed, thinking highly of the man. She was glad to have such characters to call Family. "I could never do that," she continued, "I couldn't fight off a duck, let alone hunt one!" 

At least the youth knew of her flaws, she had no problem with that. Her tail waved in her happiness, her bundled up energy turning the air into a static fizz. Gosh, she must have been thinking of Laroche on her way down. Of his soft touch, his purring, teasing tone that made her fur stand on ends and her heart beat faster...
"Teach me, please." She blurted out, needing to take her mind off him until she sought him out again.

he had a hard time figuring out whether she was serious or not. everyone knew some level of combat, so of course she had to be joking, at least that’s what he thought. but her bright eyes and glowing awe reminded him so much of a whelp new to the world. thus he questioned his logic.

her sudden proposal took him aback. he had never been approached with such a request. “oh, um well i can surely try.” he rose and stretched out his forelimbs. “i’ve never really taught anyone before but i’ll give it a shot.”

it was best to know what she could do before trying anything out. he turned around, put some distance in between them, and turned to face her again. “come on,” he beckoned, “give me all you got.”

She grinned, letting her sing-song laughter trickle into the air. She barely expected the man would accept her proposal.  "I'm sure you'll have a lot better time than me. Names Phex."
She spoke as he walked from her, her ears tilting when he turned and commanded her to give him all you got. 

She blinked. Now nervous. She'd certainly make a fool of herself but she could certainly try. The youth bounded forward like a summer fawn, completely unsophisticated and rose up when she was nearer the man, expecting him to allow her to make whatever hit she could, and brought her front paws down on him. One aimed for his muzzle and the other swinging for his neck. Now, at this point Phex knew she should bite him but she didn't want to hurt him. So she just kind of awkwardly dropped to the ground and grinned.
"Didn't I do great?" She asked expectantly.

issun had to stifle an amused chuckle when she ran toward him like a newborn fawn. he wouldn’t try to counter attack or dodge, this was just to see how much she knew, so he braced himself for the blows. one paw pushed his muzzle towards the earth, while the other came down on his neck. when she pulled back he shook the dirt from his fur.

“not bad, but you got a ways to go.” he circled around her and sat away from the water. “when you charge an opponent you must be steady. i could’ve knocked you down easily. and keep your body low and head down. expose your neck and it’s lights out.”

She beamed, not bad was better than absolute shit without any hope of learning, right? She nodded, wondering if she could get someone to train her. Maybe one day she could be a guardian, or something awesome. 

She trailed after the man, sitting across from him and nodding. 
Steady and low. She could do that. 
"How would I stop someone attacking me?" In all her life, she'd never needed to fight. Not once. Of course, she'd seen fights but she was a runt. She always got put down by her brothers without a clue of what. Usually, she closed her eyes and when she opened them, she was facing the sky. Luckily for her, though, she was told how to make an attack. Sort of.

The neck was what you went for -- she was taught to rise up and push her opponent down, though she didn't suppose Batair considered her size or capability. Oh well, she was glad for her brothers. Family was family and yet, this Family felt more to her than her blood relatives.