[Thunder]

She gazed down at the water in front of her, trying to imagine the pool freezing over. A bit of ice appeared in front of her, but the temperature was still too hot to freeze the whole thing. After holding the spell for a few seconds, Mira sighed and dropped it again. The ice melted in the heat.

"Hey, that was better," Ridge said.

"You should be aware of your surroundings when using magic," Paryth said. "It may be harder or easier depending on where you are..."

"I'll keep that in mind," Mira said. "Thanks, Paryth."

[Thunder]

"Ok," Ridge said. "Paryth, do you want to spar with Mira? It could teach her more about fighting a larger foe."

"That would be good," Mira added. Paryth nodded in consent and plodded off towards the sand, the Rexxel following close after. Ridge followed too, so he could give instruction to Mira as he watched the spar.

Paryth and Mira took a couple steps away from each other and then turned to face one another.

"A word before you begin?" Ridge asked.

"Sure," Mira replied.

[Thunder]

"Obviously," Ridge began, "Paryth is much larger than I am, and he's going to fight differently. With your small size and speed, it will be easier to dodge him and approach him, but you won't be able to knock him off his feet. A blow from him will also send you reeling too." Mira nodded. "So how will you tackle this?"

"Latching on and not let go?" she suggested. "It will be harder for a Hollowheart like him to shake off someone so small."

"Good idea. Do as much damage as you can while you're holding onto him." Ridge stepped back, and Paryth and Mira got ready to fight. "Ready? Set? GO!"

[Thunder]

Mira immediately started into a dash towards Paryth, who stepped a little closer and waited for her to come. When she got nearer, Paryth turned around and began whipping his heavy tail at her. The first time he bowled her over, but Mira quickly got up and kept running at him.

Ridge watched the fight from a distance. Yep, he thought. She's a quick learner. Zears should be proud. He chuckled quietly to himself. He wished he had a girl who could fight...

[Thunder]

Paryth turned around again and this time began snapping at Mira with his teeth. Mira leaped speedily away every time his jaws neared her, and she kept up her approach. "That's right!" Ridge called out to her. "Just keep going towards him!" Mira sped up her pace a bit as she neared his leg, ready to leap onto it. When she was close enough, she bunched up her hind legs and sprang, claws out in order to grab onto Paryth. She latched on, and Paryth let out a small growl of pain as the claws sank in.

"Sorry!" she called up to the Hollowheart.

"It's fine," Paryth responded. "If this was a real battle, you'd be doing the right thing."

[Thunder]

Mira used her claws to climb her way up Paryth's side, making the Hollowheart growl from the feeling of her claws in his scales. Paryth began so shake himself, and Mira tightened her grip so she wouldn't fall several feet to the ground. Ridge got a little closer to the two, ready to catch Mira if she really slipped. But she didn't, and now she was on his back where he couldn't easily get her.

"That's a good position to be in with a large creature!" Ridge yelled to her. "They cannot reach you there and must shake you off!" Mira nodded and began scratching at Paryth's back, careful not to do too much harm. Thankfully, the Hollowheart's scales provided good protection from her slashes.

[Thunder]

Mira kept swiping at Paryth's back. Suddenly, she felt the wind blowing through her fur, and realized that Paryth had taken to the air. He began twirling around and flying upside down in an effort to get her off.

"W-whoa!" Mira exclaimed, feeling her grip slipping. First came one paw, then the other...and soon Mira was plunging down towards the sands. Ridge gasped and ran underneath her shadow, but then Mira felt herself hit a hard material. Paryth had turned and flew to catch her on his back.

"Flying creatures will do this," he murmured to Mira. "You must be careful and focus on not dropping when this happens. Keep your claws in firmly."

[Thunder]

"That was close," Mira sighed. Her heart was pounding from the feeling of the fall, and she was breathing heavily. "Thank you, Paryth." The Hollowheart dipped his head in welcome. Paryth slowly descended to the ground, his wings blowing sand up as he landed. Ridge ran over, panting too.

"Phew!" he exclaimed. "I thought you were a goner."

"The sand would probably have cushioned it anyways," Mira said, hopping off of Paryth's back.

"Yeah, but we can't risk returning you to Zears with a broken bone," Ridge laughed. "Say, where is he? I thought he was gonna train with us."

"Dunno," Mira said. "I'm sure he'll show up for the tournament though."

[Thunder]

Only then did Mira look down at her paws and see the blood that was covering it. She gasped in alarm and took a quick sniff of the blood. It was Paryth's. They looked over to see Paryth craning his neck and examining his back. It seemed that during the flight, Mira had accidentally pulled out one of his scales.

"We should get something for that," Ridge said, frowning. "I should have brought some first aid..."

"It will be fine," Paryth said. "I can bathe in the water for a bit."

"Are you sure?" Mira asked. The Hollowheart simply nodded.

[Thunder]

The trio slipped back to the pool. Paryth slipped into the waters and let it wash the wound out. Blood stained the water red, but the color was soon diluted. Mira also put her paws in, washing off the Hollowheart's blood.

"Next time you should bring some medication," she said, looking at Ridge.

"Yeeaahhh," the Serraptor laughed nervously. "I guess I forgot about that while reminding myself to bring lots of water..."

[Thunder]

They idled around for a bit, enjoying the shade of the trees. Paryth finally stepped out of the pool and headed over to a sunny spot to dry his scales. He spread his wings and shook the water off of them.

"I hope I fight someone good in the tournament," Ridge said. He was daydreaming about what kind of pets he'd face... Lucain were pretty nasty with those spikes of theirs, and Khimeras and Battlehearts looked deadly...

"I hope you do well," Mira said.

[Thunder]

Right now the sun was beginning to set. Soon the temperature would start to drop, until the desert became freezing and not burning. Ridge took note of this and got up, stretching his limbs.

"Should we start to head back?" he asked.

"Sounds good to me," Mira replied, yawning loudly. "I'm tired of this place!" Paryth got up from the sunny spot and nodded, giving himself a vigorous shake.

[Thunder]

"Don't push yourself too hard," Ridge said to Paryth.

"It's only a small wound," the Hollowheart replied. "I will be fine." They gathered up their canteens and Paryth took to the sky again, searching for a good route to take. He soared around in circles before landing and reporting his findings. "The dunes to the southwest seem easier," he said. "We should go there."

"Alright," Mira said. "We'll follow your lead." Paryth nodded and flew up again, and the two others followed.

[Thunder]

The sand was significantly cooler at this time, and Mira had stopped complaining. They were all exhausted from training and were too tired to say much about the desert. Mira felt as if she had gotten significantly stronger after Ridge's workout.

"When we get home," she said, "how 'bout we show Zears a little of what I learned?" She gave Ridge a mischievous smile, which he returned.

"I bet he'd like that," Ridge laughed.

They listened quietly to the beating of Paryth's wings, following the shadow he cast on the ground.

[Thunder]

"So what do you think of the desert?" Ridge asked Mira.

"Well it's not the best place on earth," she said, laughing. "But it sure made me feel stronger after fighting in it. It takes guts to survive here."

"Lots of pets came here to train before the war," Ridge said. "They all wanted to toughen up in this harsh land."

Paryth turned after a while and started flying towards the east, and the two on the ground also changed course.