[IC] The Werewolf's Apprentice (Between XxLyraxX & Alear)

[XxLyraxX]

Lydia softly patted Larkin on his nose when he nudged her shoulder. She smiled when she then saw him give her a pleading look. "Oh no, you already had three apples today. If I give you anymore Aren wont be pleased." She said with a giggle as she kissed the horse on the nose then filled a bucket full of water for her horse to drink. She looked over at her mentor, who was leaning against a tree in the sunlight. She rolled her eyes teasingly and filled a cup with water and strode over to him. She nudged his leg with her boot, holding the cup out with a smile.

[Arlear]

Leaning against a tree indeed, Aren seemed to be having a nice nap- Until Lydia's little nudge. A sigh escaped him, eyes opening to squint at her before he gave a soft chuckle, taking the offered water with a nod of thanks.
"Thank you, Lydia. Any sign of big red?"

Big Red, his fond term for the rogue dragon they were on the hunt for. He straightened with a muffled grunt, sipping at his water and striding forward a small ways.
"And I'm already not pleased. With as many apples as he gets in a day his gut will sag to his knees soon enough."
Thankfully, his tone was light with humor. It was fairly hard to seriously displease Aren, really. He turned his eyes to the sky in a bored manner, slipping the thumb of one hand into his belt and letting it hang there, the other idly sloshing the water in his cup back and forth between sips as he scanned his gaze over the clouds above. It was hard to tell whether he was looking for 'Big Red', or just watching the clouds because he could.

[XxLyraxX]

Larkin gave Aren a baleful look and tossed his head in disagreement while Lydia smiled softly. She shook her head at his question. "No, no sign of it." She watched as her mentor turned his gaze to the sky, a thoughtful expression on his face. She retreated back to Larkin, leaving the man to his own thoughts. She patted Larkin's neck and took a sip of water before replacing her water-skin back on the saddle. She shaded her eyes and looked up at the position of the sun, figuring they had a few more hours before sunset.

[Arlear]

The news of a lack of dragon-sighting almost seemed to leave Aren a bit deflated, shoulders slumping and stance loose. But then, he was probably just bored. Eventually, he shook his head as if to clear it before making his way over to Lydia and Larkin's side, letting out a whistle. Soon after, his own horse trotted up to them from a small ways off, where he'd been grazing. Aren spent a few moments showering the steed with attention, the two apparently sharing a joke as they glanced at Lydia and Larkin, Aren snickering and his horse tossing its head in an amused manner.

After a few more moments, Aren peeled away from Apache's side, peering at Lydia.
"Alright, I suppose you have to get a bit of training in while we wait on Big Red..."
He glanced around for a suitable target, eventually pointing to a small copse of trees.
"Right, stick a quiver or two in those."
'Those' apparently meaning the trio of large knots on one of the trees, each perhaps a foot in diameter, and digging fairly deep holes into the trunk.

"Shoot frommmm...."
He pointed to a spot some sixty yards from the trees.
"There."

Because giving complex instructions takes too much effort. How he ever ended up a teacher is a mystery.

[XxLyraxX]

Lydia gave Larkin a confused look when Aren and Apache looked at them in amusement. We're missing something here. Larkin's eyes seemed to say and Lydia was inclined to agree. Lydia listened to her mentor's instructions and nodded, striding over to the spot her had indicated and taking her stance. She slung the recurve bow from her shoulder and notched an arrow, bringing the bow as she came to a full draw. She took deep breaths, keeping her hands steady as she focused. Once she was sure that the shot was good she released the arrow. It sped through the air and slammed into one of the knots. Before the arrow had connected, Lydia had another arrow notched and soon sent it spinning after the other one. She kept practicing, keeping tension from her shoulders and arms.

[Arlear]

Aren, meanwhile, made quick work of flopping onto his back on the nearest hill, watching her practice as he lazily soaked up the remaining rays of the sun. Occasionally, he shouted out an instruction or two her way, ranging from directing her to shoot a specific spot on the tree to instructing her to take a few paces forward or backward, side to side. Generally he seemed to simply be trying to get her to keep moving while she shot, and continuously change target.

"Top left! Three paces back!"

And all the while, he just kept laying on the ground, directing from a few meters back. Lazy teacher is lazy.

[XxLyraxX]

Lydia followed Aren's shouted commands, eyes as wide as they could be so she was able to see everything. Used to the man's way of randomly calling out a command, Lydia was shooting quickly, body reacting instantly to the order as soon as she heard it. She didn't allow for herself to break concentration as she kept shooting, the poor trees were the victims of her practice.

[Arlear]

Slowly, Aren watched as her quiver depleted, round after round. He was keeping her busy, certainly. At one point, he hopped to his feet with a sigh, suddenly shouting out.

"Knife, top right!"

Even as he shouted, he himself pulled the immense longbow from his back. In the always-smooth motions brought on by a life of training, he pulled an arrow from his quiver, nocked, drew, aimed, and released in hardly a few seconds, sending one of his shafts ripping just past her head, apparently trying to see how she would react to the sudden 'threat', either trying to break her focus, or test her reflexes. Perhaps both. At least he was unpredictable in his teachings...

[XxLyraxX]

At the shout, Lydia slung her bow over her shoulder and drew the throwing knife at her belt. She remained on her guard, knowing her mentor was up to something. Sure enough, she heard the tell-tale hiss and forced herself not to flinch as the arrow sped by her head. She drew her arm back and threw the knife, watching it spin end over end through the air to slam into the tree.

[Arlear]

Aren gave a proud grin at he lack of flinching or loss of focus. He slung his bow onto his back with a slight nod.
"Good job. Gather up your arrows, take a break for a while."

Even if she wasn't looking at him at the moment, she would hear the tell-tale cracking and shifting of his bones and the few pained grunts that always spoke of him shifting between his forms. After a moment, the human Aren was replaced with the snowy-furred werewolf form that he seemed to prefer. He shook out his mane with a sigh, coughing into his hand to clear his throat, always needing a moment to adjust to the different voice that came with a new form.
"Much better. I'll never understand how people can go around eternally stuck in one form."
Because Aren.