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Riddick stood and waited for her to work something out for herself. Alcyone was a fighter, but Raven obviously was not. He wanted to see precisely how little she knew for herself before he decided where to start. It was always interesting to see what a completely untrained person would try to do in a fight; they often had interesting and unpredictable ideas, that were just as often flawed out flat out the wrong thing to do. Being unpredictable made it a bit harder to react to them sometimes, but in the end it only helped so much because they all had one thing in common. They didn't have a clue.

He stood completely at ease as she circled, figuring a loose stance might be best since he what he needed to do was to be ready to move, rather than attack. And when Raven finally made her move he almost laughed. Almost. He jumped instead, lining himself up with and landing mostly on top of her, body weight aimed to stop her slide and pin her arms against her body, but stopping himself short of actually squishing her.

"Interesting idea, sweetheart, but not the best move. See here? This is now a ground fight, and I'm on top. If you're pinned under someone there's only a few things you can do to get out from under them, and those are sort of specific to different situations." He hopped off. "Unless you're sure you can pin someone down yourself and be the one in control of the situation, it's probably best to avoid a ground fight. You want to try and keep your feet under you if at all possible, so you can stay mobile. A fight is as much about footwork as bashing someone else in the head."

He shifted a few feet away and stood again. "Now, let's try that again."

Riddick was trying to figure out how she ticked, how she thought, the way she would go about a fight. And he was trying to stop her from doing really stupid things right off the bat. She didn't have to be the one to attack outside of these little training sessions, but here, if he told her to do it then she'd better. Dodging was only one part of a fight. You had to counter-attack. Sometimes you had to make the first move to end the fight before it could start and get people hurt. Sometimes you had to train yourself to do it so you wouldn't hesitate at a crucial moment later. There were lots of reasons, and maybe he'd explain it later, maybe not. He approved that she wasn't making a fuss over it before doing what he asked, at least. Maybe she'd even figure some of it out for herself this way.

Now this second try was much better. Uncertain where she was going with the dive-bomb, he was forced to wait and react until she kicked out at him. He dropped and rolled backward, bouncing to his feet and then jumping at her. Would she shift in time to avoid being dragged down? He'd see, and then they could continue from there.

He lacked the necessary appendages to maneuver in the air in the same easy fashion that Raven had, but he more than had the reflexes to raise a forepaw up and push off of the jutting bone plate. The momentum followed her roll and sent him into one opposite, which he carried with him when he hit the ground. Twice he wound up rolling before he got his feet properly under him, and when he stood he was smiling. A slightly disturbing smile, perhaps, but it was just a quirk of his to always have that mild reminder behind the way he moved that kept anyone from forgetting that he was a predator. But he was a far different sort than the one that haunted Raven's dreams.

"Not bad, birdy. For a beginner." He stretched and motioned her to land. "Pop quiz is over, time for the simple stuff, strikes and blocks. C'mere."

Raven was obviously having some issues, but she was trying not to let them get in the way. Inner demons were something he was familiar with... but not something he could help with. Everyone had to learn to deal with their personal demons on their own, or be destroyed by them. That was just how it went.

"We start," he drawled lazily, "with showing you proper form. Then where to aim. Then how to block things in case you get cornered and can't get out of the way. Simple enough? Now watch, birdy, and maybe you can teach those paws of yours how it's done."

He proceeded to shift in slow motion, repeating that first move he'd made back beneath the trees, mock striking toward her face. This time it was aimed a little to the side, however, so she could more easily the way the strike lined up. "Never lunge if you can avoid it. Leaves you off balance and gives an enemy a lot of openings. You do want to put your weight behind it, though, because it gives a blow that much more force. Just remember that you need to stay in control. You can use fear and anger as a fuel, but you can't let them drive you. Makes you sloppy. Gets you killed." He should know, after all. He'd baited enough guys into leaving themselves vulnerable to a kill shot.

"You aim for the face and most people will try to guard it. That gives you a chance to hit other places that are more vital." He tapped the side of her face with his extended paw, then shifted it down to her collarbone and throat, then tapped the side of her chest where the ribs had the least padding and were most exposed to being seriously damaged. "Those are your best shots at taking someone out, and unless you try to rip them open it shouldn't kill them." He pointed at the general area of the scar on her abdomen. "Impact shots to the belly might hurt but they don't really do a lot of damage. If you want to hurt them there, you'd need to puncture or cut. Don't do that unless you're desperate or prepared for blood." He sat back a bit and grinned. "And of course, there's always a well placed knee or kick to the groin."

"And last. When you block, you want to do it from inside the blow, heading out. Unless you're planning to move your body as well you don't want the blow deflecting across your body, because odds are it will hit you somewhere. Blocking isn't as much about stopping the attack as guiding it away from where they're aiming. You're less likely to break something taking the full impact of a strike, and it's a lot less tiring for you. They still get just as tired from each swing as they normally would, though, which is good for you. Get it?" He stood again, taking a more defensive position, and motioned her forward with his head. "You practice trying to hit me, and I'll show you how to block."

Riddick watched, blocked, shifted, uttered corrections. After a while he switched and had Raven practice blocking. Then they shifted back again, and he offered no warning when he began to strike out. "Fights aren't always predictable, birdy. Pay attention."

They were at it for a couple of hours before he called a halt, ordering her then to jog around the clearing, then walk. "Best to cool down slowly after a spar. Especially if you aren't used to it. Keeps you from fatiguing as bad."

He stretched himself and flopped down in a rather lazy fashion, watching for a few minutes before calling her over. "All right. We're done for today." He sat up and canted his head at her, regarding her with goggled gaze. "So what about tomorrow?"

Riddick peered at her for a long moment before lazing back down on the ground as he had previously. "Well, I guess it's time to think about it, hm?" He stretched his forepaws out and yawned, claws and teeth on full display for a moment, before resettling himself. "What are you getting away from, and where are you going?" He raised an eyebrow at her. "Running with nothing else in mind won't get you very far. But you have a lot of experience with that by now, unless I'm mistaken."

Riddick waited, and listened. It was hard to mistake the far away look on his face as he stared off somewhere past her head, even with the goggles, to some place no one else here would ever see. "I think it's more that where you're supposed to be finds you," he murmured, more to himself than to her.

Suddenly he was looking at her again. "It's not you that's hurting them, birdy. Just that they can't do anything for you. No one else can fight your demons for you. The one that started this, maybe, but not the ones inside." He stood and looked around thoughtfully. "But now you're making a start on that. That's more than a lot of people do."

He started to walk off then, going a few steps before turning to look over his shoulder at her with one brow raised. "You coming or what?"

He shifted at the first question, shrugging lightly. "A lot of people just keep running forever. Or drown themselves in drink. That sort of thing." He began to move off again then, seeing she'd stood up. "Not everyone is willing to face their fears and try to conquer them. So I guess you can have a little pride in yourself for that, if you feel like it."

Riddick didn't look back when she asked where they were going, but a grin quirked at the edge of his maw. "You would like to know, wouldn't you?" It seemed that he wasn't going to be particularly forthcoming, at least until they got to... where ever it was. The going wasn't particularly easy, but he purposely set a pace that wouldn't lose Raven there under the trees, even if it would likely push already straining muscles far past the point of what was comfortable.