Moonspear Scorpio rising

Leta patrolled with him, admitting, never, in a soft breath. Her daytime patrols had also been limited. Now and then Leta had done so, to be helpful... but thankfully she had never been met with anything that meant she had to act. While she was glad for that, it also made her feel out of her element. Her experiences paled in comparison to his, or anyone here, when it came to fighting. Leta hardly knew the bare minimum, but fortunately she had the basics down (she thought, anyway). Applying them? She had never needed to. But she knew them. 

The approaching nightfall was beautiful. Normally she could appreciate such a thing, but her focus was split on her own woes. The mountain terrain was hard on her paws, soft and used to the gentle give of dirt and grass. Her feet ached, and sometimes she fell a bit behind to sniff at the earth to intentionally give them a bit of a break. And her muscles, they had never been so tested before. Her hazel eyes lifted to see Osiris up ahead; the sight of him heartened her, and she jauntily moved in his direction—

She hardly noticed the wolf coming toward her. And she definitely did not notice when Osiris was suddenly right next to her. It was only the Ostrega that connected with her, and she was but a dandelion seedling being blown in the wind. The drifting was far more rough as she was pushed out of the way, an oof expelled from her lungs. 

No one had told her how fast things like this all happened. Because now, he was not next to her. In the blink of an eye, he was going for the stranger, and Leta stood frozen and helpless for a very long second. 

Seconds are meant to be quick, and in her experience, they usually were... like just then, for example. But as she watched, Leta saw how slow it could be, too. Nothing had yet connected, between the two of them, and Leta was just standing there, thinking all this: 

Wh—oh!—whatdoIdo?—Ican'tdoanything—Iwillgetintheway—Imafraid—yelloweyes,yellowteeeth—Osiris!—bebrave—

Be brave!

She had come here to be brave. 

And Osiris! No—

Leta did not think, not really, because these things that flashed through her mind were feelings, not true full-fledged thoughts. Iamafraid—crouch against the earth, melt, be invisible—Osiris!—stand, ears press forward—bebrave—fight...

Be brave! FIGHT—

Standing, more falling forward than lunging, Leta released a snarl that was more scream than anything else. GO AWAY! She willed with the sound, GO AWAY! Do not hurt Osiris, do not come any closer to him, to me, even as she became closer to him. 

As Osiris went for the chest, Leta drove toward a shoulder. For all of her lessons in self defense, she applied only the instinctive desire to look after her throat. That was it, though, and she was not aware of it as she moved. Inexperience was likely more than evident, but it certainly did not make her any less passionate. She had come here to be brave. 

Her aunts voice rang in her ear. Be brave, came again—and she swore she could hear @Nanook say it again.