Wretched weaponry

He waited at the heart of the meadow, the sun's first weak rays casting a cool glow over the surrounding landscape. Countless flowers in every imaginable hue lit up with sparkling dew still clinging to their petals, creating an ethereal shimmering effect as they gently swayed in the chill breeze. Autumn had just begun its hold over the land, and mornings were far more brisk than they had been of late.

The grey wolf shifted awkwardly. He didn't know how to call for Izumi, but he was certain she wouldn't forget.

The minutes ticked by.

It was rather early. He had said 'morning', but he failed to mention that it would be at, well, dawn.

Should he shout? Yell? That seemed extreme.

Oh. He could howl. Wolves did that - he himself had never partaken in such a beastly act thus far, trying to avoid going full wolf if at all possible in an effort to cling to the last vestiges of his humanity, but... it seemed pointless.

He set his jaw, feeling the muscles tense as he narrowed his eyes.

One could not delay the inevitable.

Tipping his head back, Osamu took a sharp breath, formed a very reasonable 'O' with his mouth, and uttered his first proper howl. The sound startled him, and he wavered for a moment, the note reaching a strange pitchy point halfway through, but he corrected himself quickly and finished the summons as best he could.

Izumi would begin her training today.

the staff team luvs u

---

❁

Mid-day came, and Izumi would head straight to their meeting place -- she did not forget at all.

It was something she was anticipating for the past couple of days ever since their arrangements, and though the crane was admittedly nervous to dabble in something she had never imagined herself doing, she was also quite...excited to at the same time? Osamu would provide her and the group added protection, as well as teach her his own was so she could do the same as their future leader. Izumi was more than ready to take the challenge on. If it meant proving herself worthy of rebirthing her clan into a fresher, stronger and better-protected generation -- she would do it.

The sound of his howl was tracked easily, and the monochrome princess arrived within the field of flourishing blossoms with ease. As she stepped towards the samurai to face him, her cooled gaze refreshed their surroundings a bit -- this was a rather lovely place for such brutish practices, wasn't it? A frivolous thought -- more like stalling -- built on by the slight nervousness which hid behind her otherwise dignified mask.

“Alright, I am here...” the bird's eyes settled back onto her mentor, ready and not so ready at the same time for what he had in store for her. “Where do we begin?”

---

---

the staff team luvs u

Izumi appeared.

Ever regal in her carriage, she swept across the field like a monarch ascending her throne, long fur brushing against the tops of the wildflowers that stood before her. She was a vision wrapped in dignity and grace, and Osamu fought the urge to bow his head, but he knew she would not like it. Would not want it. She was humble, for a leader; something he admired but still felt was wrong. Izumi was worth following, and she should behave accordingly.

But it was not his place to chastise.

Instead, he rose at her approach, head held high as he regarded her with the same cool, silver gaze that he had upon their first meeting. Osamu was unreadable at the best of times, and emotionally constipated at worst - but today he felt... good. Comfortable. He enjoyed teaching, and he wanted to become more adept in this form as well.

“My lady,” he greeted cordially, dipping his head in disregard of any protest, “We will begin.”

He squared his shoulders, crouching low, the long fur of his neck just barely grazing the colorful field below. His tail was held out behind him evenly, perfectly in line with his body - it felt natural, somehow. It was so much like being human, and yet he had more feet to keep track of. It was confusing - complex - and yet without his sword, so much simpler, so much cleaner.

“I am not used to his form,” he admitted plainly. He had never told anyone before - but it needed to be said, now. “I am hopeful that experience can win over the newness I feel in this body. But to start - stillness. Steadiness. The earth is your anchor; it holds you, centers you.”

Osamu moved slowly, carefully, hardly making a sound as he forged a path through the tall grasses, circling his opponent like a lion would his prey.

“But you are not tethered. You are light. It is not a prison; it is an embrace,” he went on, walking in careful, wide strides, never once breaking his gaze with Izumi. “To unfetter your enemy with confidence is but one step. They will fear you. You know something they do not. You are a weapon.”

He dared command her.

“Show me.”

the staff team luvs u

---

❁

Osamu was a mystery to her.

In ways she couldn't comprehend, the crane had ended up with a he-wolf who stood so loyal to a cause she merely proposed, and it made her wonder what she could've done to deserve a wolf of such chivalry. Osamu was such a noble man -- how could someone like him put his trust in someone like Izumi? Who he'd just met days prior speaking some grand dream of creating home for her fallen brethren?

.....

No. It was no dream, what was she even thinking?

This was necessity. She would drive this group to safety and rebuild what they have lost. The crane had been so worried about dissapointing the people who now looked towards her for guidance that she'd nearly forgot why she started in the first place. With the help of Osamu, her family and the rest who chose to help on her endeavors, the siamese would take back the peace and prosperity that once belonged to her and her family, no matter how long it took.... starting with becoming stronger than the woman she was right now.

--and that started with Osamu. The man she trusted as her instructor.

He'd greet Izumi, and she'd bow her head in return. The she-wolf was still admittedly a little flustered hearing the title 'my lady' with no land to call her own yet, but one day she'd have to get used to it, wouldn't she? He begun without much talk, much hesitation, and Izumi would get into position as best she could.

She was akward in her footing, not knowing where to put which paw in order to square herself in a similar fashion with Osamu, but would eventually settle for more of a lowered posture in the end. Her floral gaze followed the Samurai as he circled -- as he spoke. The earth was her anchor, yet why did she feel so unsteady? She was lighter than he on her feet, yet how was that strength? There was little confidence in her thoughts and her movements, and the crane largely sought Osamu's guidance to let her flow into that next move. Then it all came down to Osamu's next words, and suddenly it was up to Izumi to figure out what to do next.

She breathed.

But focused -- hard onto the man before her, as if analyzing him up and down. Thinking of which area to target, and which one could bring him down the fastest....and charged.

--except hesitation would get the best of the woman first, and suddenly she was skidding to stop right infront of him instead of making the move she intended to.

Was he really okay with Izumi trying to....hurt him? Could she even do that?

---

---

the staff team luvs u

As uncomfortable as she felt, her movements said otherwise. Light and soundless, she would tread through the flowers, brilliant rays of morning light shining through the mountain crags to light up the tender petals around them. It was something out of a dream, surreal and still but for their warm breaths sending plumes of steam through the chill air.

He waited - anticipated. She would make the first move.

Izumi lunged, and her aim was true, her purpose was pointed, yet at the last second - she faltered.

She hesitated.

If she had been a man, a boy, he would have admonished her with terse words; there was no true gentleness in the world of samurai, of men. He bit back his tongue and straightened instead, gazing down at her mere inches away with his leveled stare.

She was a woman. Kind and soft and feminine - it would have been wrong to speak out against her like he would a fellow warrior.

However - was that not what she wanted?

The grey wolf bolstered himself, squared his shoulders, and made the decision. She wished to train as he had, and so she would learn as he had.

“Again,” he said curtly, motioning her to resume her initial stance at a distance. “You do not hesitate. Fighting is power, dominance; you wield your will over another. It is your life against theirs. You will not have a second chance if you falter.”

Osamu lowered his head, readying his position once more.

“Even now - do not hesitate. Seek my neck. If you are... uncomfortable... my nape. It is a spar, and this is your first time. It is acceptable.”

the staff team luvs u

---

❁

'Again', he said -- and just like that he'd confirm her own quite question. He was right...she'd hesitated at the worst possible moment -- a moment where, if this were any other person, she would've been overpowered quite easily. Was she really so weak that even the thought of attacking sent her into a state of paralysis? If Izu were to start acting up now, she would never survive an actual fight for her life, nor call herself a protector of her own people.

Even if the thought of doing such a thing to Osamu made her uncomfortable....it is something that the both of them had signed up for, right? Yet there still came the idea of harming someone she sought no malice towards in the first place -- so the crane would come up with an idea. Slowly, the femora would back up from where the Samurai stood and into position, all the whole closing her eyes...

To take herself back in time.

Back within the tundra, where she was alone and there was no one around but the crane -- and the raven who cannibalized the flesh of another. She was scared, weak, and left injured by the end of things. The missing patch of fur on her shoulder reminding Izumi of what would've happened if things ended badly that day. When her dark lids would open again, the image of Osamu would warp onto that of her assailant that day. The very image she would use to lunge once again.

Opening her maw, and aiming her teeth towards her neck.

---

---

the staff team luvs u

He could see the shift in her demeanor as it occurred. Her body tensed, eyes turning harder, more calculated - she was formulating an idea, and he would let her see it through. Osamu had little doubt that she was more than capable of growing into a warrior in her own right; she had resolve bolstered by a core of steel, and all that needed to be done was to temper it into something she might better wield in the future.

Izumi retreated slowly, never once breaking away from his gaze. Good. Never turn away from your opponent; a glance apart would have been acceptable if there was any usable terrain nearby, but all they had around them was wide open field.

Something happened.

The crane looked to dive deep within herself for a moment, her expression shifting, contorting into something like -

- fear? No -

Rage.

He would not usually recommend fighting under the influence of any emotion - a cool head was always a safe one - but in her case, she seemed to be... seeing someone. Someone else, in his place.

Using emotion as a tool, perhaps, was not unwise.

Osamu made to twist out of the way as she lunged, but she was fast. Her lithe form shot out toward his own like a viper, and before he could complete the movement, she was already holding firm to a loose bit of skin near the nape of his neck.

The samurai grunted approvingly.

“Good,” he said, rotating his head so that he might have a better look. “Use your swiftness to your advantage - you may be bested in size and strength, but your speed can tire your opponent and wear them down.”

Suddenly, he yanked himself free, spiraling down and out from her grip in a complicated movement as he bounded away.

“Now - I will attack.”

Osamu paused, balanced on the tips of his paws, swaying gently - then sprinted forward, banked off to the side at the last second, and aimed for her flank.

the staff team luvs u

---

❁

She'd gotten a hold of hide -- a taste of Osamu's fur and skin upon her tounge -- if only for a moment. Before loosening her grip and making eye contact with her captive, ears flattened upon her head; in regret. Had she hurt him? Osamu had encouraged this -- Izumi had been the one to ask for it. Yet in the realization that Osamu was no longer the shadow of a woman that had attacked her back then her stomach began to churned in guilt....though the cranebird took a moment to breathe.

She could not afford to express weakness in the middle of training. The woman could not hesitate -- as her sensei had explained -- and decided to focus upon the fight. If the crane was to grow stronger and seek the silver Samurai's help, she'd need to become more conditioned to it.

As he pulled away, her lilac gaze couldn't help but linger in the spot she'd caught ahold of him just a moment ago. If it was not torn or bleeding in any way -- and seeing that it hadn't, her eyes would meet his again as he talked. As he moved and skirted about her with skilled motion. It was almost instinct that drew her gaze and attention sharper to his moves. Osamu's movements were graceful, yet in possession of strength and practice -- she could tell. Could the speed he'd said she possessed really become an advantage towards someone of his seasoned skill?

Only one way to find out.

The Samurai was quick on his feet himself, so much so that Izu had let her fight and flight kick in with an instict that had told her to run, yet she forced herself still. Instead she would wait, for the right moment to make an attempt at swerving Osamu as well. Her paws had slipped a bit, upon a dampaned peice of grass, which might've even missed the accuracy of her next targeted place: Osamu's shoulder.

---

---

the staff team luvs u

Had they not been in the heat of physical training, he might have admired the concerned way her eyes lingered upon the area where her teeth had met his ruff. Although they continued to dance around each other like two koifish circling a pond, Izumi's gaze kept shifting back to her point of contact, likely checking for missing fur or broken skin - he hoped she would not be so worried for her opponent in a real fight, but in this instance it merely showed her gentle character.

None of this crept into his expression, of course. Osamu kept his jaw set and his eyes firmly forward, studying her legs carefully as she stalked around him in tandem. She was growing more confident in her stride, limbs fluid and body loose to keep herself at the ready should he lunge unexpectedly - good.

The crane learned quickly. She was no fool.

The two wolves circled each other in silence, now, each staring levelly into the other's stony gaze. The flowers surrounding the landscape would soon wither with the coming season, winter's chill already cutting through the air between them with a brisk reminder, but it was still an oddly tranquil scene.

Osamu lunged -

- Izumi held fast, quite unexpectedly -

- then she slipped, also unexpectedly -

- his jaws met only the very outermost part of her flank, snapping together against the barest tips of her fur with a hard clack, meeting no flesh (but likely tearing a small tuft out, from the sensation) -

- as he felt her own teeth wrap firmly around his upper forelimb, squeezing tightly.

Osamu tried to tear himself away, jerking backwards, but Izumi did not falter; her fangs remained precisely where they had landed, and all he managed to do was jostle her along with his movements.

“Well done,” he praised, glancing down at her from their awkward position. “Although you lost your footing, you were able to save the motion and still hamper your opponent.”

He shook his leg to disengage their embrace, and although he was not often one to smile, a broader sense of respect shone from his eyes as he chuffed approvingly.

“Continue to hone your reflexes, and I believe you will make a formidable opponent. In the rush of the moment, and -”

Osamu suddenly cut off his speech and moved to attack her a final time, attempting to use her position of vulnerability to his advantage.

His final lesson of the day - never assume anything.

the staff team luvs u

---

❁

Izumi felt like a pretzel. A very warm pretzel that had been left in the toaster for a little to long, because she could feel her cheeks beggining to burn in embarrassment from being in such an undignified position.

The crane felt the cutting metallics of Osamu's gaze look down upon her, though the crane could not (would not) will herself to make eye contact with him. Not when she was currently on the verge of spontanious combustion right now. She simply froze in place while her maw held the girth of his shoulder.

Finally, they would separate, and Izumi would unfurl her spine from the position it was in to stand up straight -- wordlessly. She couldn't help but feel a sense of dissapointment, even as he praised her. If it hadn't been for the tilt of her balance just then, would she have been able to land that hit on him just then? Just why had she been so clumsy?

There was really no way to tell what would happen next while she listened to Osamu's advice, ecspecially not when she'd been lost within her own head about what could've improved. Izumi didn't even have time to react nor protest, because by the time she looked up again, the Samurai lunged at her once more.

The crane flinched, throwing her head back as if to protest the soon-to-come impact -- yet within the same beat, her eyes had shut tightly together and swung her crown back forward. A headbutt.

-- a less than disgraceful one, but eh.

---

---

the staff team luvs u

Luckily for the crane, he could neither see nor sense her embarrassment. Those locked in combat often found themselves in variously compromising positions anyway, and very little ever bothered the samurai when it came to moments of awkwardness or less-than-favorable angles; fighting was an art, and it was expressed however possible. Within the realm of self-defense it was not the journey, but the destination itself.

And yet -

- a rare moment.

Osamu staggered back and swore he could suddenly see gentle snowfall in the distance, falling in silent crystals upon a beautiful earth - or was that his vision distorting? - as his eyes crossed, the world shattering around him with a blinding BANG.

Izumi, it seemed, possessed a remarkably strong headbutt.

Osamu let out a sharp breath, puffing out his cheeks, and shook his head to clear away the fog.

“My lady,” he breathed, stunned, and might have fallen upon his sword as a makeshift support had he been human. Instead, he merely widened his stance, all four paws spread to their maximum distance as he struggled to maintain his composure.

“I think... you have completed lesson one.”

The grey wolf coughed, a constrained sound as he fought to keep it casual, as he righted himself and lifted his head to look her in the eye with at least a fraction of his former composure.

He regarded her with new respect.

Izumi had set out with a defined goal, and he knew now she had the strength and determination to see it through. The path would be littered with plentiful failures and detours into the mundane, of course, as was the journey of any warrior, with repetitious exercises bordering upon madness, but the woman was as smart as she was wistful. Osamu had thought she may be too delicate for such a pursuit, but she had proven him wrong.

For once - he did not mind being wrong.

“Where did you learn a move such as that?” he asked, a touch of incredulousness lacing his tone. No lady knew how to headbutt... that he was aware of.

the staff team luvs u

---

❁

It was an act of impulsion, really.

The cranebird had never seen his attack coming and couldn't have prepared herself for a proper counter, so it was as if instinct took ahold of the woman and told her to use whatever she could -- why her own forehead, of course.

Though such an action came with it's consequences -- as their crowns collided, she too could've sworn she'd seen the 5th layer of the afterlife and before she knew it, Izumi had landed on her backside. With a tail curling over her hip, and a paw dabbing against the now tender skin of her forehead. The crane was a woman who never had doubt in her greed for knowledge nor intellect, yet there were sometimes where she questioned the state of her own sanity. Why the fuck would she headbutt him, of all things?

To her suprise though, the Samurai would praise her, once again, which caused her to pause in a look of dumbfoundedness. She....she completed the lesson....really? Suddenly the searing pain in her head and the taste of blood from her bitten tongue meant nothing, as the praise from her mentor brought upon a juvenile-like light within her lilac eyes. Even the tip of her tassel swayed in content, so faintly that it was a mere rattle. Before this spar, Izumi had little confidence in her abilities -- yet Osamu, a man she regarded as a respectable warrior, saw a potential in her that she hadn't seen in herself. That was enough to give her hope in becoming the Empress her people needed to carry on strong, and she was now looking forward to the very lessons with Osamu she'd been dreading earlier.

A faint smile graced her narrow features....

...and quickly turned into a frown.

“おさむちゃん大丈夫?” — Holy fuck Osamu, are you okay? she questioned, eyebrows twitching in concern as she began moving towards him. Obviously, this man wasn't okay, but the siamese still felt the need to ask of it as she'd felt responsible for such a feat. Gently, the crane would reach to place a paw against the man's temple if he would allow. Yet a question of his caused her attention to drift momentarily. A good question.

Thinking back to the incident with Quicksilver, then Atreyu. Until a makeshift answer came into fruition.

“I have the tendency to headbutt men.” She explained calmly, as if it was a legitimate explanation. Truth is Izumi had no damn clue where the habit of headbutting other wolves had come from, but it seemed to become a thing for her now.

She also found her own words funny for some reason, and after a few seconds of silence would she turn her head away to let out a small snorting noise.

---

---

the staff team luvs u

Osamu, still partially dazed, had not immediately noticed the way she landed on her rump - but once his vision cleared, he made a small noise of surprise, hurrying over to reach down and help her up by bracing her shoulder against his. If the impact had given him pause, he could only imagine what pain it had wrought upon a fine-boned lady like herself (hard-headed or not).

"私は元気です," — I am well he said reassuringly, before his brow suddenly creased with worry. “But what of you, lady Izumi? I apologize for not inquiring sooner.”

It dawned on him, then, that she had cursed - quite proficiently, in fact - and he gave her a puzzled look, wondering where she learned such obscenities. The woman was full of surprises, between her innate defensive talent and florid vocabulary, and he was more than a little intrigued as to the details of her history.

He had joined up with her cause in a hurry, it was true; he hadn't bothered with pleasantries or dry retellings of history prior to his pledge, so eager was he to carve out a niche for himself in this new world, but now that they had time...

... He tilted his head, barely perceptible, and wondered.

Who was she?

"I have the tendency to headbutt men."

She said it with a straight face, completely serene. Osamu blinked in return, and opened his mouth slightly with the intent to ask -

- and then Izumi turned her head away. He thought something was amiss, but then he heard a small noise, and realized she was laughing.

The samurai hesitated.

He was a stranger to humor on a good day, but the mental image of the graceful crane going around knocking men's heads was enough to make even the corners of his sullen mouth twitch up in a ghost of a smile.

It was comical.

She would make a fine warrior, no doubt.

the staff team luvs u