.It Had been quite a few moons since they had been lost from their homelands. At once they were fearful of the things that could happen in a scenario such as theirs. But eventually they grew braver, and almost welcomed the idea at being on their own. The only thing Dene knew he really missed was his family. Especially Cas.
But for now his mind was on other things, as it had to be. The crème female with the blood red dorsal stripe looked back at them with interest. Her own hazel eyes glittering as she watched them. She was waiting for him to move, waiting for him to show her that he had understood her latest attack method. She had a decently large pelt of a cheetah, and she was using it as a dummy for him to attack.
He focused his eyes, and glowered. “You can do it.” She supported, intently watching to make sure he followed her footsteps. Samm was next, and he was doing decently at learning them. Together as a team, they were rather clever.
Dene took a running start at the pelt, but once he had gotten halfway there Dearbhail stepped in front of him. He went to put on the breaks and she grinned narrowing her eyes. “Keep comin’ Dene. Don’t give up.” She encouraged. So he narrowed his eyes again and rolled underneath her pushing at her with all his force in her belly as he got underneath her. He managed to knock her down, and he turned to bite at the pelts throat, making sure it was a clean “kill.”
Samm was watching carefully, every move that Dene and Dearbhail made, he absorbed it into his memory for future reference. Dene was stronger than him, not by that much but enough to make the difference if he and Dene fought. He too was missing home, Cas especially, the three of them seeming to have had a stronger bond, but none moreso than Dene and Cas. Sam knew how it had hurt his brother when they'd been lost and he felt bad that it was mostly his fault, he's invented the game that had led to it. He had been more afraid than he had let on, not wanting to burden Dene more than he already seemed to be.
Meeting the lioness had been a very lucky stroke for the boys, she was teaching them to fight, not just to hunt, they knew how to do that (mostly) already but the skills they were learning from Dearbhail would be esseintial to their very survival, even if neither youngster knew it yet. He cheered Dene on when he made the 'kill' despite the lioness blocking him suddenly.
Once Dene had pulled back from the pelt, he stood taller. He was cockier than his brother, a bit bulkier too. Though Samm had the compassion of the two boys, as well as the height. Samm was a tall guy, standing a paw or two taller than his older brother. With a grin, he flicked his tail and snorted.
“No bad guy stands a chance against me.” He mused. He was proud of himself, even though he was still a youth. He couldn’t wait until he was an adult, and he had the muscle of an adult to do the job. They were lucky to have Dearbhail.. A demon hunter and a strong warrior. She was the strongest female Dene had ever met, and it caused him to be attracted to her a great deal. Though he pushed the thought away, she was his teacher after all! Though it didn’t stop him from flirting off and on.
“Don’t get too Cocky Dene.” The female replied. “Being too sure of yourself can be the quickest road to death.” She lectured, but it was for his own good. She saw Dene swell with pride at each successful attack.. If he did that in the field, then he would put himself and Sammy in danger.
“I’m not. Geez.” He groaned, rolling his eyes but it was quickly forgot when he looked at Samm. He grinned and leapt in front of his brown brother.
“Come on Sammy. Your turn.” Dearbhail called, motioning him over with her head as she crouched in a defensive stance.
“Remember what I showed you. Keep on your paws, don’t let them knock you down.” She smiled, and waited.
“Come on Sammy. Show her how its done.” Dene chuckled.
Sam smiled at his brother, how proud he was to have made a successful 'kill' He was taller than his brother but not by that much just yet, the difference would show as they grew, Samm leaner and taller while Dene would be a little shorter but with more muscle behind him. The two of them made a good team...WHEN the worked as a team. "Us Dene.... no bad guy stands a chance against us" he corrected with a chuckle. Dene definitely had more confidence than Samm.
He stifled a laugh when Dearbhail reprimanded his brother, despite being defensive he knew Dene had to learn, they'd both taken enough cuffs from the adult lioness when one or the other weakly tried to defend the other. Samm guessed that by teaching them to fight seperately she was teaching them to fight better as a team. Each honing their own skills rather than focusing on backing the other up.
Sam stood when called over "Bet i'll do better than you Dene" he taunted as he walked past. Standing at the starting 'marker' Sam also moved into a sort of half defensive, half offensive crouch, he was more cautious than Dene, sometimes maybe too cautious. He hung back too long sometimes and that time difference could mean life or death in the long run.
Dene rolled his eyes, but he was happy to see his brother with a bit more confidence behind him. Samm lacked that most of the time, and usually relied on Dene to make the tough calls. But Dene didn’t fight with his head most times, he fought with his anger. The angrier he was, the easier it was to see him as a wild tornado. He didn’t care what happened, if he was hurt, or if he caused others to be hurt.. He wanted the other to die. It was one of his flaws, a hotheaded mess that he was. But the brothers sort of equaled each other out. Samm was cautious, protective and smart; where Dene was foolhardy, cocky, and brave. The two just were made to complete each other. Though the more that Dene thought that way, the more he missed the third part of his puzzle..Castiel..
“Right Samm. Put your money where your mouth is and show me.” He taunted.
Dearbhail chuckled, and lunged at him, her claws unsheathed as though she wasn’t going to hurt him, a few cuts and scrapes would help him realize this was a fight for his life. He wouldn’t get it easy from the bad guys, so she had to do her best to prepare them for that. The two had taken up her cause, fighting the darkness that plagued the lands. Dene because it thrilled him, and Samm because it was something noble. Samm was always looking for the noble thing to do. She rather liked the boys, proud of their desire to do good. They were strong, and tough, and a little blood didn’t phase them.
Dene watched with baited breath, his hare Jasira running over to cling to his ankle as he watched Samm. Jasira was Denes companion, when Samm wasn’t around. She was a sweet girl, brave little thing that she was. She was no taller than midleg, but still she was prepared to do combat. She liked Samm too, and she knew he wasn’t the stronger of the boys and that scared her for him. But Dene just chuckled.
“He will be fine Jas, just chill.”
Samm tensed, he knew Dearbhail would attack but when, was another matter. He flicked his gaze away from the lioness for a second as Dene taunted him and was about to reply when he recieved a cuff, he hadn't had the time to doge and by the time he's seen her out of the corner of his eye, he'd been too late to do anything but roll with the blow, letting the motion take most of the impact.
He shook dusty fur and smiled, rubbing his cheek with the back of a paw. He had to think fast because he knew that if shown the slightest hesitation, Dearbhail would act upon it. She was preparing them for something bigger than he had ever known. Back in the pride there had always been others to look out for them, to do the defending. Sure they'd have trained to fight and hunt but this was different, this was pure survival.
She batted him across the face, hard enough to rock him backwards. She frowned that she was able to do it, but he got back up and rolled with the punches. When she saw that, the frown was replaced with a more determined, focused gaze.
“Never turn your back to an attacker, Samm. Don’t let anyone distract you.” She warned, and when she saw the opportunity, she lunged at him again. She pushed at him with her paws, and leaned in her maw to try to bite where it was you would kill an attacker. She wouldn’t actually bite him, but if she was able to get to that spot, then others would be able to too. That would surely end the males life.
She did, however, reach out to strike him across the face with her claws extended and ready to go. Claws could hurt, but they didn’t hurt nearly as much as a well placed bite.
Sam nodded at Dearbhail's words but didn't take his eyes off her, he saw her tense, reading to lunge and he dodged this time but he still wasn't fast enough, she caught him and pushed at him. He rolled away, out from her grip and bounced back to standing, facing her, still unwilling to strike back for the moment. He always had trouble with this part of training. He didn't have the same stuff in him to lash out at a friend. He barely avoided the slash of her claws because of this uncertaintly though, stepping backwards at the last moment.
When he managed to avoid her, s he grinned and nodded. Stopping and coming to a halt, the female chuckled. “Samm you better get over that worry of yours. You don’t want it to kill you. But if one person is going to be good defense, Im glad its you. Your brother has the offense covered pretty well I think.” She chuckled again and sat, her tail flicking around her paws.
“Why don’t you and your brother take a bit, and rest up. Ill find you someone to fight against, that isn’t me. And then we will see what you are really made of.” She winked, standing and sauntering away. She was thirsty, and she needed a break herself.
Dene grinned, looking at his brother and teasing him.
“Yeah Sammy. May not wanna get too rough with her now.” He mused.
Samm sighed at her chuckle, she knew she wasn't being mean, just honest but to Samm, the comment stung. It would do him no good if he hesitated in a real fight, it also stung that she praised his brother on his offense, as close at they were they were still brothers and the rivalry was there, an undercurrent between them.
He nodded as Dearbhail told him to take a break but just gave his brother a look when he teased. "she's our friend... i couldn't fight her" he said strangely.
“Don’t let it get you so upset, Sammy. You’re learning, same as we both are. You heard her call me a hothead the other day.” He hadn’t been too happy to be called a hothead, but when someone was right, they were right. Dene didn’t think things through, not really, and that was his own downfall.
“Besides, Id feel safe with you backing me up.” He grinned, and pulled Samms head down so he could nuggy it with his paw. Releasing him, Dene chuckled, and Jasira ran up from her hiding spot and grinned up at Samm.
She knew that he wasn’t happy about being as cautious as he was. But she liked that about him, same as the rest of the others who met him did. He was the logical mind, and Jasira was happy –someone- was.
“C’mon Sammy. Lets go down to get a drink of water or something. My paws hurt.” Dene complained, turning his head to smile once more at Samm before heading in the direction that Dearbhail had gone.
