[Fallen_Snow]

Two Rollabies were rolling along, kicking up sand. Marie had sent them off to train here, saying she'd come for them later. As they were having fun "training" the way they wanted to, they saw a group of pets up ahead. "PETS HO!" Sage, the Common Rollaby shouted, and Mri was right behind him. "PETS HO!" she copied. She was always doing that. "Childish." Sage said, sarcastically. Mri was always copying him. "Childish." Mri said sarcastically, repeating Sage. Sage scowled at her. She scowled back.

[Kittyms]

"Good, then that'll work, I suppose," Elle said. "Benedicto, you're with Epoh, and you're with me, Striker."

Predictably, Cadoc complained. "What about me? Who am I with?" He looked pleadingly at the Tali. "Please don't ditch me for that horrid Kamo Kuhna!" Neither of them seemed to notice the two Rollabys that had arrived. But the Imperial Hollowheart did.

"Look," he growled quietly, facing toward the two newcomers. "Who are they? More friends?"

[Elle: 11, Cadoc: 11, Benedicto: 11]

[Fallen_Snow]

Sage got up and smiled. "Hi!" he said. Mri did the same thing. "Hi!" she said. Sage glanced at her with an annoyed look, and she knew not to copy anymore. "You guys training too?" Sage asked. Mri smiled. "We're trying to get ready for the war." they said at the same time. They looked at each other and giggled. They calmed down after a minute. "Mind if we join you?" Mri asked.

[Kittyms]

"Oh, of course you can join us! Cadoc here was just looking for a sparring partner," Elle said, grinning, and pushing the protesting Calamikuhna toward them. "I'm sure he would be delighted to join you!"

Naturally, Cadoc denied any such thing. "You wanna be partners with Striker so you toss me with the newbies?" he groaned, but grudgingly walked over to the two Rollabys. "What'cha wanna do?" he asked them in a bored tone of voice.

Nodding his head, Benedicto turned to face Epoh. "Shall we begin, then?"

[Elle: 12, Cadoc: 12, Benedicto: 12]

[Fallen_Snow]

Mri Did a little hop step, and Sage nodded to the group. "Thanks." he said. He looked at the Calamikuhna, sizing him up. "How about some attack techniques." he said, and Mri hopped up at the thought. "Ooh, sounds lovely!" she said. Sage readied himself, and Mri stood lightly on her feet. Although bouncy, she was very daunting when fighting.

[Ghostlily]

Epoh narrowed his eyes. Great. A pair of immature Rollabies, here to watch him fail. What could make things worse?
"Let's get going... The Blood Hollowheart growled softly to Benedicto, but he gave a small nod.
"I'd rather be out training before more people show up..." Epoh felt slightly conscious around others, not wanting them all to fuss about his blindness.

Striker narrowed his eyes with pleasure. "Well, Cadoc, you have fun showing those two some of your moves. Me and Elle will just go and train." But Striker was fully intending to watch the Calamikuhna suffer with the two Rollabies. Striker wasn't too fond of them himself, but it wouldn't affect him if he trained with Elle.

{81--41}

[Kittyms]

"If you insist," Cadoc said wearily, then without warning pounced on Mri. He kept his claws sheathed, though, not wanting to get into extreme trouble for killing one of them by accident. Kitty would never forgive him for that, and he would probably end up stuck in his pen for the rest of his life. So it was better to play safe.

"Very good," Benedicto said, and walked a little ways away from the others, then stood waiting. "You strike first." The reason he wanted Epoh to go first was because he really thought the Blood Hollowheart would not be able to hit him, and would simply embarrass himself in front of the others trying to.

"All right, what do you want to do first?" Elle asked Striker. Now she was feeling a little nervous, since she had never trained before. "Should we work on defensive or offensive maneuvers first?"

[Elle: 13, Cadoc: 13, Benedicto: 13]

[Ghostlily]

Epoh narrowed his eyes, but let all thoughts escape his mind. He had to concentrate...concentrate. He let his ear tune in on the wind, how it moved and how it flowed. Luckily, it was coming from behind Benedicto, and his form blocked part of the wind from reaching Epoh. Yes. He was there. A little in front of him, standing there, waiting. But how to attack? The Hollowheart stalked forward, circling Bendicto, always using his ears and nose to locate his position. Then, Epoh attempted to grab the Imperial Hollowheart by the leg, using his tail to avoid having to get closer into range.

Striker shrugged. "How about offensive? We could work on different moves, that kind of stuff...I know a bit about different battle moves. I used to fight a lot, before I met...my trainer...But let's just start out with some easy moves. I don't know how much you know, so it'll be best to start out from the beginning." Striker was more of the mentor type; he did well in teaching others how to fight. And he figured that Elle had what it took to be successful, but would she be able to physically hurt someone else?

{82--42}

[Kittyms]

Epoh's attack took Benedicto off guard. He hadn't been expecting the blind Hollowheart to be able to strike at him, let alone with his tail. He staggered clumsily, then caught himself with his other leg, digging his talons into the ground for purchase. Then, he whipped out one wing, attempting to strike Epoh with it.

"Good. I'm glad you know so much, Striker, 'cuz I don't know anything at all about this." She grinned nervously. "What do you think I should do first?" Elle was starting to feel like the Kamo Kuhna was more her instructor than anything else. Which wasn't a bad thing, since she could use some instructing now.

[Elle: 14, Benedicto: 14]

[Fallen_Snow]

Mri didn't expect Cadoc, but quickly got her bearings and pushed Cadoc off with her powerful hind legs. Then, Sage jumped, rolled and bowled Cadoc over. "I'm sorry, but my sister wasn't ready. Can we try that again?" he said calmly, though his eyes were daggers. Both Rollabies were dangerous, and probably the best fighters of their zoo. They were very proud of themselves. Mri clapped and hopped. "Ooh, that was fun! Let's do that again!" she said happily, unphased from Cadoc's sudden attack.

{{Mri: 4 Sage: 4}}

[Kittyms]

"Sure," the Calamikuhna grumbled. "How about you go first this time.." He braced his legs, and spread his four wings, ready to evade any attack. His claws dug into the soil, holding him in place, and he narrowed his eyes. Let them attack, he was ready to repel them, whirling dervishes though they might be.

[Cadoc: 14]

[Fallen_Snow]

Mri and Sage exchanged glances, then got into their rolling position. They rolled around Cadoc, faster and faster, until they were creating a whirlwind of snad around him. Then Mri exploded through the sand behind him, falling on top of him. "Ooph," she breathed, then pressed harder. She was trying to push him into the sand. Meanwhile, Sage kept going around him, faster than ever, the sand becoming a little tornado of sand. "Had enough yet, Calamikuhna?" Sage sneered. He could tell the moment he got there that the Kuhna had a bad attitude.

[Kittyms]

"Gerroff!" Cadoc roared, trying to throw Mri off of him. His eyes were sore from all of the whipping sand, and it was hardly good purchase for his claws, which he felt shifting in the sand. Suddenly, his outspread wings caught on the wind, and he was sucked up into the vortex. Flapping all four wings furiously, he attempted to break free. "Stop, stop!" he yowled.

[Cadoc: 15 -- level up]

[Ghostlily]

Striker grinned, and was about to speak, but he was distracted by Cadoc's yelling. Wow. A whirlwind of sand. Striker had to admit, it was creative. But would it work in battle against different opponents?
"Looks like Cadoc's having fun," Striker mewed, trying to keep the laugh out of his voice. "I thought we'd start off with tackling, that sort of thing. I'll go slow for you, since I might be faster. You know, with the Lightfeet and all. But I expect Cadoc is the same way."

Epoh felt satisfaction when Benedicto's grunt reached his ears. Good. At least he had surprised the other Hollowheart. But how was he going to actually last an entire fight like this? It was much harder than just getting up and walking around...
Epoh just barely heard Benedicto strike out at him, and he could feel the claws just scrape part of his own wing. Luckily, he had moved before real damage could possibly be caused.
"Nice move," Epoh commented, trying to decide what to do next.

{83--43}

[Kittyms]

"Yeah.. well then, I guess I'll go first," she said nervously. Crouching, she narrowed her eyes and focused on the Kamo Kuhna. Then, Elle sprang forward, betting that he would be able to easily evade her attack.

The Imperial nodded his head, forgetting that Epoh was blind, and therefore couldn't see him. "Your move," he said quietly, and braced himself, knowing now that his opponent was more skilled than he appeared. He folded his wings tight against his sides, out of the way of harm, he hoped.

[Elle: 15, Benedicto: 15 -- level up for both]