It all started with a slashing attack targeting the captain's side, which was swiftly dodged. Then, it was quickly accompanied by one, two, thr- You know what? It's pointless trying to count these. What matters is that Tash blocked and deflected the relentless barrage of blows with minor difficulty.

  "I expect better." the mother taunted as her paws darted with imperceptible speed. "Are you actually worthy of becoming an eira?"

  Lien gritted her teeth. Amidst her unyielding offensive pattern, she stopped attacking and lowered her knees. Before Tash could ask, the pup propelled herself, striking her opponent with a bone-shattering tackle powered by her white aura, like an almighty comet.

  The captain's toe claws anchored her enough, so she was sent only a few meters back. She regretted her choice, or lack, of clothing from her waist up.

  Tash hissed. "You understand your assignment..." She clutched her chest, her eye slightly twitching. "Making a trained soldier flinch is no small deal, but..." She flashed a challenging smirk. "How can I know this wasn't a lucky shot?"

  Lien returned her grin, her fur bristling with excitement. "You don't get to act tough with me, Mom! I heard you squirming just now..."

  The captain scoffed. "I just got stabbed yesterday, if you need reminding."

  "And you got healed. What's this excuse?"

  Tash chuckled while facepalming. "You are so..." She recomposed herself after a deep breath. "Never mind." A smile defiantly persisted on her lips. "Let's keep going!" Her aura calmly sept through her pores and clung onto her frame like an extra fur layer.

  It was the captain's time to lay on the offensive, testing her daughter's reaction time with purposefully weak blows for her own standards. Nevertheless, it impressed her how much Lien's guard had improved, though not enough to remain unbreakable after she picked up the pace, resulting in her leg slipping through and impacting the pup's ribs, flinging her against a tree. Concern crept into her mind until the young huntress jumped back to her feet.

  Lien ran on all fours straight at the older Wolf, only to redirect herself inches away from her target. She distracted her mother with weaker variations of her wind spell blowing from her mouth to her prey's neck and ribs, not strong enough to penetrate the outer Saniya protection. It proved irrelevant, however, when she dashed at her mother, who greeted her with a paw strike, only to dodge it by crouching and curling herself into a ball and then conjuring enough air to unnaturally propel her ball form and impact Tash's chin! Then, the young pup uncurled herself and struck the captain's snout with an axe kick!

  The mother hissed with ache as her daughter prepared for a second shoulder tackle. "Enough!" A Saniya Barrier shielded her from the blow. Then, the inner energy converted into a powerful air gust, pushing her daughter much farther than expected, almost reaching the Training Rock's base.

  Tash was not expecting the need for breathing space. If Lien wasn't blind or was taller, her axe kick would've crashed against the top of the captain's skull rather than her muzzle. The mother shuddered at speculating how much potent her daughter's blows would become with adulthood...

  Hōkō's remark was no exaggeration...

  Scarier than her pup's potential growth was her present, unyielding determination. Time and time again, Lien fell to the ground and came back with a familiar fire metaphorically blazing through her punches, kicks, slashes, and bites. That drive to prove herself...

  ...

  Lien really took after her mother, huh? Tash was laser-focused on becoming a proud member of the Dragon's Guard, which started as a simple, childish taunt from her older brother, who had just been enlisted after a gruesome year of training. He told her he'd be the one giving the orders from now on, a bald-faced lie since their mother was still living with them, but that was enough to stir his sister's resolve to make him eat shit. The day she was promoted to captain was one of the best days of her life...

  ......

  Shit. What was she doing again?

  Oh, right... Her daughter was chewing on her ankle.

  Swinging her foot wasn't cutting it. Lien's teeth were too deep. Blood was staining the sandy soil with crimson blots.

  Damn it. Tash couldn't electrocute her own pup... But maybe a little voltage-

  "Gah!" she growled when a massive rock shattered on her back. "Who has the guts?!"

  Turning back, she saw the Human firmly standing up as if that last beating was a figment of her violent imagination. Though, her face was still very...

  Yeah...

  A smile endured on the girl's bloated face. "Even in my old home..." She casually spat some blood. "...I went through worse thrashing."

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  "By Tizohi's Antlers, this kid..." Her contempt was halted by the realization that her ankle was free. However, it hadn't come fast enough as she was blindsided by an invisible projectile striking her gut.

  Lien gleefully chuckled, inconspicuously lying with her belly exposed. "Gotcha, Mom!"

  Tash pondered what she'd do until her feet sank into the floor again. Stella rushed at her, fist blazing with golden Saniya. "Rocket..."

  Rather than wasting her stamina with a barrier, Tash concentrated enough energy into her ankles to effortlessly destroy her earthly bindings by jumping really high.

  The Human kept running, her basic spell remaining activated. "Lien!" She pointed at the captain. "Hyper Vacuum!"

  Tash cursed to herself as she was dragged down with a higher force than gravity would exert. Her pup inhaled so much air her lungs almost expanded into two balloons. To resist their tactic, the older Wolf manipulated some of the wind pulled to propel herself away from her daughter. Before she could count her victory, Stella shouted.

  "Air Bullet!"

  All the air gathered in Lien's lungs returned as a single, powerful attack from her muzzle! Tash lifted a half-assed Saniya Barrier, enough to barely soften the spell's force of impact on her stomach. The invisible projectile pushed the mother to the other side of the battlefield, where a golden glint caught the corner of her eye.

  "Rocket..."

  Fuck.

  "CRASH!" The Human's fist connected straight with her back! The veteran howled with overwhelming agony as she flew to the center of the clearing, crashing face first on the dirt!

  Of course, this admittedly adequate show of teamwork was not enough to take down a trained guard with decades of Saniya training. However, it was much closer than she anticipated.

  Legs trembling, Tash slowly picked herself up, watching the two girls slowly approach each side.

  "Tell me if you broke any bone. Then we can call it quits!" Stella teased.

  Lien giggled. "See, Mom?! Just the two of us pushed you this far!" She proudly clenched her paw. "Stella still has ways to go, but when she's ready, we'll be invincible!"

  The Human pouted. "Gee, Lien. Give me some more credit, will you...?"

  Lien sheepishly rubbed the back of her head. "Sorry."

  Tash clutched her stomach with one paw and stroked her back with the remaining one. No bone was broken, but it was damn close...

  She closed her eyes. "I yield..."

  Both girls shouted in unison. "WHAT?! ALREADY?!" Then, they gave a weird glance at one another.

  The captain threw her paws carelessly. "I see your point. You two can look out for each other..." She rested her hands on her hips. "Was this all arranged by you two?"

  Lien grinned. "Nope! I was searching Stella and happened to find you here!" The Human nodded in support.

  Huh. If true, then the girls' battle compatibility was impressive. Perfect for fledgling packmates and...

  And...

  ...

  Tash averted her gaze to the ground. "Are you sure you want to date Stella? Dating packmates doesn't have a good track record amongst our people..." A terrible excuse, but it was the best she could come up with...

  Lien tilted her head. "Weren't you and Dad packmates?"

  "Tash, you dumbass..."

  "Y-Yeah, but-" She growled, burying her face in her paws. "Forget it."

  She couldn't hear her daughter approaching until she touched her shoulder. "It's not like I don't get it. I want you to let me make my own decisions, you know?" she begged. "You keep looking at me as if I still trip over my paws. It's too much." Her lower lip tensed. "Maro and his pals became eira. Auntie Nema is so proud of him." Her voice dropped, almost inaudible. "Why do I have to try so hard for you to be proud of me...?"

  Tash's heart squeezed. She didn't want to cry next to anyone, much less the Human who... ran towards her pup and consoled her with a tight hug.

  They looked... happy.

  Tarb was right about her, after all...

  "I thought the girl would end a pile of limbs!"

  No... Not him...

  Her brother made himself known with his unassuming limp, a result of a mid-life crisis-fueled incident with a trampoline. Rather than his grumpy scowl, his face wore a softer expression. Concern about someone, perhaps her or Lien... Or both...

  "Looks like everyone wants a piece of the Training Rock today..." Tash's voice dripped with sarcasm.

  Tarb ignored her wisecracking comment and stepped closer. "I was searching for YOU, sister."

  She crossed her arm, muttering. "Of course you were

  ..."

  The flat-faced Wolf sighed. Then, his attention was driven to the Human. "The hell happened with your face?"

  "I... Uh..." Stella opened her mouth to explain until she glimpsed the captain and not-so-subtly covered the story. "...fell down some stairs?"

  You did great, sweetie.

  Tarb shot an ugly stare at his sister before grunting. "Go play somewhere else. Go see a healer to fix that ugly mug of yours."

  Stella and Lien saluted him, then quickly darted back to the village, leaving the two adults in a... happy family meeting...?

  Twenty seconds had passed. Not a single sound was uttered from them.

  "Tash."

  "Tarb."

  Ten more seconds.

  The anthropomorphic bulldog growled. "Must I begin every conversation with you now?"

  Tash rolled her eyes. "You could not even try. Save us both the bother."

  "You're acting like a pup." he huffed. "Captain fucking Tash prefers to mope in some corner than have an actual conversation."

  She gritted her teeth, unwilling to look at him in the eye. "Odd to start doing it now, ain't it?"

  Rather than escalating, Tarb slumped his shoulders. "I'm sorry. We should've had this talk ages ago. I should've sought you..."

  She uncrossed her arms. "You not finding Weth was not what hurt the most. You avoided me for a YEAR before we started working together again." She sideglanced him, eyes shining with tears. "A year! And you couldn't find the courage to visit me! I trusted you, damn it!" she sobbed. "Nema was twice the sibling you will ever be!"

  Tarb silently nodded. "You're right. I was a coward. I couldn't look you in the eye after we found out he had crossed the border..." He stepped closer. "I shouldn't be so hurt by your mean remarks. I thought that you'd forget all of that in time. I was wrong. I should've made some effort."

  The captain shook with conflicting emotions. A piece of her heart wanted to move on from this grudge, to return to the trust and camaraderie she and her brother had. However, the resentment that has grown for seven years dug too deep to be rooted out.

  "Let me be clear," her brother reiterated. "I'm not searching for your immediate forgiveness. I know I'm not worthy." He took a deep breath, treading until he was mere inches from her. "I... want you to know that if you ever want to work this out... I'm here, and my ears are always open to you."

  Tash kept herself silent, her frown slowly fading away.

  "I'll consider it."

  Tarb smiled, his own eyes glimmering with unshed tears.

  "I love you too, sister."