Kira sat near one of the walls in the Warder Yard, the confinement easily enough to make her sweat under the midday sun. Her ashanderei sat beside her, it's blade in a leather case that buckled around the guard. As always, her sister Dust Storm sat on her other side, equally unsettled about being inside of walls.
The girl suddenly smiled, her eyes glinting as she turned her head to look directly at the wolf by her side. She picked up the ashanderei, and, using it as a walking stick as she made her way to the stables. We are going for a little walk, Kira thought to her sister as they progressed down the paths to the barns. You are in as much need of a good break from walls as I am. She bared her teeth in what was meant to be a smile, but the end result was something more of a snarl.
The stables were closer than she had thought, and her horse was already waiting in the hands of a stableman. "How did you know I was coming?" she asked automatically, her face not showing the amusement she felt.
"Word travels fast, Ji'alantar," was all he said, handing the reins over to the girl. She nodded absently, checking her tack and saddle bags to see if she had everything. Once she was satisfied, Kira strapped her ashanderei on top of the saddle bags firmly to keep it from bouncing, yet in arms reach.
She mounted quickly, putting her horse into a brisk trot once the three, wolf, girl, and horse, had left the yards. The trails were well worn, and Kira knew which ones to follow. The wolves had taught them to her on one of her numerous visits, as they had seen the necessity of her using the hard-footed four-leg to keep up with them on long hunts.
The horse began to tire long before they reached the clearing where Kira was headed. Her ashanderei came to her hands as if it had never left them, the feeling of it making her shiver in expectancy. She dismounted, tying the beast to a tree to fool any who wished to catch her by surprise. Not many knew how long she could run now, both from her Warder training and her long hunts where horses sometimes could not go. Not many, but the wolves did, and she could feel them, just out of sight, trotting easily with her to the secret spot she had claimed as her own.
She reached it at roughly four after high, a good time considering she had left at two after high. She was getting faster with her running. Normally, it was five or six after high by the time she made it here, and she sometimes had to spend the night or head back right away.
Kira looked around, watching a wolf pack filter into the clearing as it greeted her as they greeted. Welcome, Running Wind, came Wind, the pack's alpha, along with the wolf's name marker and scent. A image of Wind, sweeping through a forest and rustling leaves during the heat of the day when buck's were in season sifted into the girls mind, and for a while, nothing mattered but wolves, and names. Her own was hard to describe accurately, but it was a horse running through fields of wheat, the wind in its face as the wheat rippled. Below that all was Kira herself, looking sad as the wind touched her hair.
The girl smiled, but sadness lit her eyes and her thoughts as the wish for her to remain with them was announced. I can't she said, though it was more a sending of her leaving, the emotion of necessity strong. She felt no longer Kira, but Running Wind. She was one of them, a member of the pack, one who had a home.
The wolves didn't mind, however much they protested. Their thoughts were joyful, and most sent back the same thought she had given them, but with hope instead of necessity. Hope that she would return again to hunt.
The sadness faded from Running Wind partly, for however much she wished to stay, duty kept her at the Tower. Duty, and her human friends.
She smiled again, her eyes laughing this time, and said out loud, "Shall we?" Kira let out a playful yip, sounding the wolf even if she did not look it. Her ashanderei quickly came into position, its tip pointed down as she put it in low guard. She had not taken of the leather covering, for she did not want to actually hurt any of her pack.
The wolves all looked at her, playfulness playing across all of their thoughts as the first came at her. Hamstring and throat; that was how wolves fought. She drop to a knee just as Wind reached her, lifting her ashanderei to the side and rolling past the wolf. Yips, howls, and congratulations came from the watchers at her move. She smiled, her golden eyes watching her adversaries, which had increased in number to two, who were circling on either side of her.
Kira stood, her ashanderei going into Reverse High as her right foot went forward into one of the stances she had made when first learning the weapon. It was meant for multiple attackers and was as good as useless against one. Both wolves attacked at the same time, hoping to catch her between them. The leather covered blade came out of high reverse in a spin as Kira pivoted on her extended foot. It took one wolf on the side as the blade came down, and the other on the underside as it ascended the area in front of Kira.
She smiled, finishing the move with the sideways sweep and foot positioning that allowed her to attack to the side as well. Once again, wolves expressed their appreciation of their pack-mate's skill with her long stick with sharp-shiny hard-metal. Kira, Running Wind, smiled at the name for her ashanderei as the images came into her mind in a succession.
Wind was not the pack's best fighter, but she was often the one that Kira faced. The next wolf, however, was not Wind or any other she had faced. It was one that usually watched, and the girl noticed the shredded ears and scars running along his body that named this wolf a veteran fighter. She readied herself mentally, preparing for the worst. This wolf had never aknowleged her, but neither had he expressed any feelings of dislike. However, he had had time to watch her, know her fighting style, while she had never even seen him during a hunt.
You will fight me, cub he said, the tone he took making it clear that the term was not meant to insult, but becasue ot him she was but a cub in the ways of the wolves.
Kira saw a flicker of movement to the side, and turning saw Dust Storm trying to come at her but being held back by two of the older pack members. Sister, came the thought from the distressed wolf, He is dangerous. You are new, and he will not hesitate to hurt you in the form of a lesson.
Kira nodded, her eyes only on the wolf desperately trying to come and save her. I will be careful, sister, but you could not help me. The wolf stopped struggling, moving back carefully back to the edge of the clearing. No thought was sent in reply.
The grizzled male gave a growl, saying they were wasting time. Before Kira could react, he was starting toward her. She pivoted smoothly as he neared her, landing next to him. She swirled her ashanderei above her head as she did this, bringing it down as he came by, but she missed by a hair, barely brushing his tail as he passed her. Kira was remotely impressed. She had not considered one so old to be so fast. She smiled, her face forming tha mask as she sought the void that the channelers used to touch the source. For her, the void made her concentrate on the here in now, seperating herself from emotion.
She attacked first this time, moving into the Low reverse guard, getting ready to attack with what he did not see coming. She moved forward, jumping at the wolf as she brought the butt end of the staff toward his side. The wofl had expected the blade again, and had jumped to avoid it. Her butt cap struck the male firmly on the back, sending him sprawling to the ground.
The wolves came back into veiw, as if she and the male had fought in their own, seperate world apart from the others. They were yipping fanatically, some howling even. Kira joined in with them, adding her victory howl to the clamour of the rest. The old one got up from where he had landed, and yipped softly.
Every eye turned to look at him, every sound dying away as he walked toward Kira. She prepared herself mentally, readying herself for an attack, readying to perhaps face death. Welcome to the pack, wolf, he said, sending his name mark and secent along with the words, aknowleging her for the first time. He was Grizzly, a fitting name in Kira's opinion. Grizzly, the eldest and most skilled hunter. Welcome, and may the hunting be good while you are with us, Hunter. His thoughts were happy, even if he had just been beaten. A new hunter, more skilled than himself. More meat for the pack.
Kira smiled, her thoughts dancing in joy at the welcome. Now, she was a true pack member, tested and found worthy of the title Hunter. She belonged.