[Thunder]

"Oh my goodness, why'd you have to drag me to such a nasty place?"

Ridge, the Serraptor, simply grinned as he, Mira, and Paryth trudged along in the sand, trying to find a suitable place to train. There was going to be a tournament soon, and Ridge was eager to join in, so he practically forced his war buddies to do it too. Wilt'no was a tough place, and the Serraptor thought that it would be the best spot to train for battle in, and while he and Paryth, the Hollowheart, didn't mind the heat, their little Rexxel friend was almost ready to collapse.

"You're a jerk, Ridge," Mira growled, flopping into the sizzling sand. "Can we rest?"

"Ok, ok," Ridge sighed. "Let's take a break." The three of them settled into the sand, only then realizing how tired their feet were from pushing through difficult dunes.

[Thunder]

"So why'd you bring me along in the first place?" Mira asked Ridge.

"I thought you looked like a fighter," Ridge said, shrugging.

"But that doesn't mean I'll enter the tournament with you!"

"Hey, I know fighting talent when I see it. You've got sharp eyes, sharp claws, a sharp tongue..." Mira raised an eyebrow at him. "You've got the ability, so you'd better exercise it."

"But I won't enter this tournament."

"Fine, fine," Ridge sighed, rolling his eyes. "But you're here already, so you might as well train with us." He took a big gulp of water from the water bottle he brought along with him. "And maybe, when we get back, you can show your boyfriend what we taught you, heheh." Mira glowered at the Serraptor boy and looked over at Paryth, whose expression did not show any kind of opinion.

[Thunder]

After a while, their feet felt better, and the three of them rose from the sand. Ridge and Mira brushed the grains off their clothes, while Paryth gave his body a quick shake and rid his scales of the sand.

"Right," Ridge went on. "It will be hard to teach a newbie in this terrain, although Paryth and I could use some practice in here... Perhaps we should find someplace a little more even, but also close to tougher land."

"An oasis would be a good choice," Paryth said, possibly the first time he spoke up during the whole trip. "Things should be calmer around one, and we'll also have water."

"Sounds good to me," Mira replied. "But I can't see anything that looks like water or trees..."

At this, Paryth flapped his wings and took off into the air, circling around in the sky. After a while, he dropped back down to the ground, kicking up a bit of sand as he landed and making the other two shut their eyes. "There is one close by," he announced. "It should only be five or ten minutes away, to the north."

"Alright then," Ridge said, heading in the direction Paryth indicated. "Let's go."

[Thunder]

Five to ten minutes felt frustrating when you're pushing against loads of sand and trying to resist the blistering heat, but eventually, the trio found the oasis Paryth had seen. It was a pleasant little pool of water with a few trees to provide shade, and surrounding the oasis were hills of sand that would be ideal for the kind of training Ridge and Paryth wanted. But the land closer to the pool was relatively flat, perfect for training Mira.

"Ok...Mira, do you want to start now?" Ridge asked.

"Whatever," the girl said. After dumping her things next to the pool, there was the sound of clothes unfurling as she dropped down on all fours into her Rexxel form. A similar noise from nearby indicated that Ridge had also transformed. They walked out some distance from the oasis, leaving Paryth to enjoy the shade.

"What shall we begin with?" Mira asked.

"Attacking and defense, for starters," Ridge replied.

[Thunder]

"Now then," Ridge began, "seeing as you're a Rexxel, you're probably very agile and can evade attacks easily. But you have an issue with your light build." Mira nodded, listening closely. "A strong attack will likely send you flying, so you should probably focus on something like a hit-and-run method. In my case, although I'm pretty fast on my feet too, I'm heavier and won't reel as much from a blow. My claws are designed to latch on to stuff, so I've been thrown off writhing enemies quite a few times."

"But I suppose I can hang onto people too," Mira said, "seeing as I have four sets of claws to latch on with."

"True, and you should use that to your advantage, but be sure to grab somewhere so it's not easy for the foe to shake you off. And I guess half the time you'd land on all fours if they do fling you away, but it's a direct blow you should be more concerned about. How 'bout you show me what you've got?"

Mira nodded, and grinned as they prepared to spar. Paryth watched them wordlessly from a distance.

[Thunder]

Ridge moved first. He came at Mira so quickly that she hardly had time to react. He lunged at her with his teeth and tried snapping at her neck, but Mira managed to dodge to the side just in time. Ridge skidded to a halt and turned around, running at her again. This time Mira wasn't so lucky. She tried dodging once more, but got caught on Ridge's foot and tumbled over in the sand. She picked herself up and spat out some grains that had gotten into her mouth.

"Not bad," Ridge laughed, "but you can be better."

"I'll show you!" Mira growled playfully.

While this was going on, Paryth dipped his snout into the pool and took a deep drink, contemplating something.

[Thunder]

Mira saw that Ridge was running for her again. He was swift and hard to land a hit on. If she was against a slower opponent, Mira would have a much easier time, but this was not the case. Ridge almost kicked her aside a second time, but she dodged it, nearly getting tripped by his sweeping tail.

He turned around again and this time leaped high into the air, claws extended, ready to pounce on her. Mira reacted quickly and moved out of the way. As Ridge fell into the sand, she saw her chance. As he was getting up, she closed in and gave him a quick swipe with her paw, claws sheathed so she wouldn't hurt him.

"That's more like it!" Ridge exclaimed.

Paryth turned to watch the sparring again. Perhaps I should practice my spell, he thought. He had picked up a little bit of knowledge about Earth magic after the war. Closing his eyes, he calmed his thoughts and focused his mind...

[Thunder]

"It's opportunities like those you have to wait for," Ridge explained. "No one's going to keep using the same attack pattern over and over. It's too predictable. When they change their tactics and you find an opening...that's your chance."

Now he headed at Mira again, but this time he zig-zagged in a way that made it hard to tell which direction he would come from. Mira stood there, eyes darting back and forth, concentrating on him. But she waited too long, and before she knew it he was right in front of her, and she was sent flying. Quickly she twisted around mid-air and plopped down safely on all four paws, but she felt a bit sore in her side.

"When you don't know what to do," Ridge called, "don't just stand there! Do something that will throw off the opponent if you can't make a good defensive move!"

As Paryth emptied his mind, there was a tiny crackling noise as roots began sprouting from under his feet, despite the dryness of the soil. This was the spell he learned, one to seize enemies with the roots and hold them in place. He hoped it would serve him well in the tournament.

[Thunder]

Ridge turned around and repeated the zig-zag dash. Mira shook herself out and focused on him again. Come on, don't just stand there! she told herself. Then, she got an idea. Mira began to ran towards Ridge, hoping that her advance would make him change gears. And it worked. Seeing that she was approaching him with an attack readied, Ridge stopped the zig-zag and began a straight run.

Paryth stared down at the roots he had summoned, trying to hold them in place for as long as he could. One minute...two minutes...he was doing well.

[Thunder]

Right now it looked like a head-on collision, and Mira knew she wouldn't be able to resist that. So when he was close, but still a good distance ahead of her, she leaped into the air, aiming for his head and yowling. Ridge blinked and looked up, seeing the feline flying towards him, and Mira managed to bounce on his head. The impact sent him off-balance and made him crash into the sand.

"Dang!" he exclaimed, rubbing his chin. "That was a good one. Didn't see it coming."

"Girls can fight too!" Mira laughed, sticking her tongue out at him.

"Anyways, I'm feeling kinda tired." Ridge picked himself up and shook the sand off. "Wanna go take a break and see how Paryth is doing?"

"Sure. I could use one." They headed back to the oasis, only to see the roots, a bright green against the gold sand, and Paryth staring down at them.

"Umm..."

[Thunder]

Paryth, hearing the two's voices, turned to blink at them. His focus having been broken, the roots slipped back into the earth, leaving holes where they had grown out from.

"What was that?" Mira asked, stepping over to see the holes.

"A spell," Paryth replied.

"When'd you learn that?" Ridge asked, scratching his head with a claw. "I never saw you use that in the war..."

"I learned it afterwards," the dragon responded. "It will be of good use..." Paryth turned back to the soil and shut his eyes again, coaxing the roots back out. Mira gasped in awe at the spell.

"Looks like it takes a good bit of concentration," she said. Paryth nodded wordlessly. "Then, should we not bother you?"

"In battle..." Paryth murmured. "It will not be silent. I must learn to hold this while in the heat of battle..." Mira nodded and went over to the pool, jumping into the refreshing waters. Ridge followed after her.

[Thunder]

"This feels sooo good," Mira sighed, letting the water flow over her whole body. "Thank god there was an Oasis nearby. I would have died in this heat." Ridge nodded and shook out his mane, sending droplets of water flying.

"If Paryth was a little smaller, then he'd probably fit in," Ridge said, looking over at the Hollowheart. Paryth was still fixed on the roots that were growing from the sand. "But in this case I think he'd just empty the whole pool." He looked back at Mira. "Hey, I thought cats hated water."

"Well not me," she replied, splashing her paws in the liquid.

[Thunder]

"Speaking of spells..." Mira began, glancing over at Paryth. The Hollowheart had stopped the vine spell and was now relaxing in the shade.

"Yeah?" Ridge asked.

"I picked up a bit of magic too." Ridge blinked.

"Really? Could you show me?"

"Erm...it's ice magic though, and I don't know how well that would do in this hot weather..." She laughed. "But I guess I could try."

[Thunder]

Mira and Ridge climbed out of the water, shaking themselves dry. The Rexxel began to focus her mind much like what Paryth was doing earlier, and suddenly there was a slight, chilly breeze blowing through the oasis. Paryth and Ridge both looked around in curiousity.

"Was...that...?" Ridge asked.

"Yeah," Mira sighed. "Guess Blizzard doesn't work too well in a desert, huh."

[Thunder]

"Give it another shot," Ridge said. "At least you got a breeze going."

"Alright," Mira said. She shut her eyes and pictured a blizzard blowing through a field of ice. This time, small snowflakes blew into their faces, but it quickly dissipated. "Ok, that was a little better."

"Perhaps it would be easier to use the pool," Paryth suggested. "You only have to focus on a large target, and not small particles of water..." Mira nodded and walked closer to the pool.