Fangs Reveal Your Fury

[Repede]

(ooc: September 10th. Open to all canines. For Repede's canine self defense class. Class has already begun, so no one should be just arriving unless you want them to be late.)

The sun shone down on the students present, making it all the more obvious how hot the day was, but one individual cared not for that much. Repede had gathered the students outside for the open space and free reign the field provided. If he was going to teach his fellow dogs anything about how to defend themselves, they would need the space. He almost idly wondered if the students he had before him might find his appearance the least bit intimidating. He wouldn't have blamed them if they did find it so; anyone might have thought a scarred dog with a blade would be scary. Repede had elected not to teach his students how to use a blade, though. He had learned out of necessity and to insure that he could better protect Yuri after he lost sight in his left eye, but he doubted his students would need the same skills.

"All right," Repede began at long last. He rose to his paws and started to walk past the line of students before him. "Let's make one thing clear right now. This isn't the sort of class where you'll be able to coast on through. I expect each and every one of you to do the very best you can to prove to me, and yourself, that you can defend yourself. If I catch any of you slacking, there will be consequences. These are your lives we're talking about. I will not stand for any of you taking this class lightly. Understood?"

Another idle thought passed through Repede's mind as he finished speaking. What would his father have to say about how he was beginning? Lambert had been a canine knight, so how was his son faring so far? Rather than asking out loud, for he knew that he wouldn't get an answer, Repedge turned his attention to the dog he had stopped in front of. This one... Well, Repede wasn't sure what to think of them just yet. He was going to refrain from showing favoritism if he could help it.

"To start, I want to know what each of you know about defending yourselves thus far. What tools do you suppose you have at your disposal in a fight?"

[Tripod]

"YES SIR!"

The young dalmatian at the very front of the class - the one with a green tie around his neck, a turquoise sweatband at his brow, and only three legs - barked out the response as though it was more an instinctive reaction than anything else. Upon recieving his timetable, Tripod had been pleased to find himself in a class that sounded particularly useful this period, and so he had been one of the first to show up; and now that the class was underway, he had no intention of doing anything but his very best. It wasn't just a matter of proving himself, athough that did enter into it too; but with the arena he'd seen it could, without any exaggeration at all, be a matter of life or death here.

He had to forceably keep himself from panting visibly. It was hot on the field, and even hotter inside his uniform, and Tripod would have given an awful lot right then just to let his tongue loll out and pant heavily. He was determined, however, to make a good impression on the teacher; and if that meant not showing any visible signs of discomfort, then so be it. He wouldn't pant, or tug his shirt's collar, or do anything of the sort while the adult dog had his eye on him; the only clue Tripod gave to his lack of comfort was the slightly strained expression he wore on his face.

The young dal drew himself taller still, until his spine was almost literally ramrod straight, as the teacher came to a stop in front of him. Tripod faced the larger canine without a trace of fear - but definitely with a substantial amount of awe - as the animal posed his question; a question that it apparently fell to him to answer.

"We have our teeth, for one. Physical strength; if we can ram an opponent off-balance, it would give the chance to go for another strike while they're disoriented. And there's also our claws. They're not ideal for combat, but sometimes you have to use every trick at your disposal." There might have been more, but that was all that immediately sprang to Tripod's mind; he fell silent, waiting to see if any of his classmates would have anything more to add.

[Elijah]

Elijah saluted Repede and heard what Tripod had to say, he done his best to prove he has what it takes to listen and obey. "Sometimes you would have no choice but to use your claws." Elijah added in, he sat down still. "But that doesn't mean you can just use your claws alone, the teeth are just as effective if you use them, they along with the claws are what we mammals use for self defense if we actually run into danger." He didn't show any sign of weakness but determination to at least impress not only his brother but also his teacher as well.

[Repede]

Repede's long tail gave a brief wag at Tripod's answer. This particular dalmatian reminded him of himself, and that seemed to be a good indication of what he ought to expect from the three-legged male. The fact that the both of them had something hampering them in one manner or another, Repede's being partially blind and Tripod only having three legs to work with, made it that much better. He chose not to comment on that much, though, and instead took in both Tripod and Elijah's answers. Tripod's, of course, was the sort that Repede had been looking for. As for the answer Elijah had given... Well, there was a problem with it.

"Yes," Repede said before too long. "Your fangs are your best resource in a fight. Your claws, on the other hand, are not. If you would look at them, you'd see that they are much too blunt to do any real damage. You're more likely to get them caught in someone's fur than you are to harm someone."

This wasn't necessarily because the two students who had spoken were house dogs, though. By nature, a dog's claws really weren't meant to be used as weapons. They were only good for scratching at one's own itch. Repede's could have been an exception, but that was only due to all the traveling and fighting he did with Yuri. Claws could be broken and made sharper by the process of wear and tear. A house dog didn't get to see much of that.

"Besides... Last I checked, we dogs didn't go around trying to mimic the battle techniques of feline kind," he chuckled. Now of course, he knew that he was another exception. He wielded a human weapon, though, and that was the only reason behind that much. It wasn't even a tool he relied that heavily upon. Repede much preferred using his teeth and agility as opposed to claws or a blade. But back to the class at hand. So far, only two students had spoken up. He assumed the others weren't in the mood to talk, and so he decided that it would be best to demonstrate his point.

"You brought up another good resource when you brought up the use of our physical strength. There is also one other, though, and that is our resourcefulness. The ability to think on one's paws could mean the difference between victory and defeat."

He needn't mention his own incident. The fact that he bore the almost lightning bolt shaped scar that had cost him his vision in his left eye was proof enough of that. But it was time to test what the students could do in a mock fight. It wasn't the best idea to do it while they were still in their uniforms, granted, but they needed to learn sometime. This was the best opportunity they had for the moment.

"For our first lesson, I'll be testing how resourceful you are and how well you can make use of your fangs. I'll be your opponent, but don't worry. I won't bring harm to any of you," Repedge said. To ensure that much, he quickly unbuckled his weapon's sort of sheath and placed it aside. The end result was him being as bare as any dog could have been... Minus the chain he wore around his neck.

"You may come at me however you see fit. Do your best to react to me when the time comes, and remember that we are only practicing for the moment. I do not wish to see blood drawn this day."

[Tripod]

Tripod had been about to speak up to correct his sibling about the nature of canine claws for himself, had the teacher not beaten him to the punch; probably for the best, since Repede was in charge of the class for a reason. Instead, Tripod held his silence, and simply drew himself up even straighter with pride as the adult canine confirmed that each part of his answer had, indeed, been correct. And resourcefulness as well, the teacher pointed out; Tripod's head nodded in understanding. He had been thinking more in terms of physical resources, but he understood exactly what Repede was getting at.

In honesty, Tripod wasn't all thet surprised when, a few moments later, the large canine offered himself up as the opponent for the lesson. As valuable as the pup was sure one-on-one sparring could be, it made more sense to pit themselves against the expert; and the three-legged dal crouched expectantly as Repede set his weapons aside, quickly taking stock of the bigger animal. He hadn't missed the scar across Repede's eye, nor its implications, and Tripod was already planning how to take advantage of the teacher's potential blind spot.

Finally, Tripod allowed his tongue to spill from his maw for a couple of moments, as he panted heavily to cool himself before making a move. As much as he wanted to appear disciplined in front of the canine teacher, going for at attack while in the process of overheating himself wouldn't get him anywhere, and the three-legged pup was smart enough to know that. He was also smart enough to realise that he, his adoptive sibling, and the rest of the students had the potential to be seriously disadvantaged by their uniforms. While Tripod's tie was in no danger of tripping him or getting under his paw as it hung to just slightly above his ankle - even if she wore hers longer, Cadpig had got his to the perfect length for the athletic dal -, it could still be used against him in a scuffle; as could the empty shirt sleeve that flopped limply where any other pup would have had a left foreleg.

But there was nothing he could do about either of those. If he took the tie off, he'd never get it back on again until he next found Cadpig, and he'd already resigned himself to the trailing sleeve. He'd just have to be quick, alert, and keep them both out of the bigger dog's reach.

"You may come at me however you see fit."

That, Tripod took, as the signal to start. As soon as Repede had finished speaking, the three-legged dal was leaping into action; rounding to the teacher's left, his potential blind side, Tripod chose the target that any dog who knew anything about combat would go for to bring a fight to a swift end - the throat. Out of his reach though it was, the pup wasn't without a plan; Tripod sprang, caught his claws into Repede's fur to give himself a foothold, and snapped towards the bigger dog's throat. Conventional tactics, not so much; but as the teacher had said for himself, resourcefulness was the key to the battle.

[Elijah]

Elijah was a little disappointed, but not by much, he still wanted to prove his worth, as he heard the teacher say to attack him, he was about to have Tripod team up with him that way they would probably have an easy time with the teacher, but he shrugged when he saw Tripod go for the action, he saw some dirt and drew out a plan with his claw, just in case if the attack that Tripod is attempting failed, but knowing Tripod how could it not fail?

He saw that Repede was blind in the left eye, but there had to be another weakness that should exploit itself easily. Not wanting to butt in on Tripod's action waited patiently for his turn, he was actually happy the school would allow him what kind of Tie for him to wear, he didn't seem to care for the clip on, seeing how it pretty much bothered him.

Judging on how Tripod is taking advantage of Repede, is telling me he's pretty much blind in the left eye. Elijah thought when he saw that Repede was blind in the left eye. I'll wait for my turn to start, before I attack.

[Thakur]

Thakur sat there in silence, not really having anything much to offer. After all, Tripod had answered the teacher's question as well as Elijah and the young pup didn't see much of anything he could suggest that would be any different. He would've suggested claws and fangs, using the enviroment to your advantage as well as physical strength. Nothing Thakur could think of would add anything new and it seemed his silence went unnoticed as he sat there. The uniform though would get in the way of doing any lessons but he'd really just have to ignore it. That was best, after all he had to focus on the class at paw. It was a important one.

Course it was a great surprise at what the teacher wanted them to do. Attack him? THey were all pups what could they possibly do to the teacher? The teacher had so many skills most likely and whatever the pups would do against him was only going to disappoint. Well...save for Tripod. His three legged adoptive brother was probably impressing the teacher. After all most three legged animals weren't physically active like Tripod was, so that was something. Seeing Tripod take off Thakur wondered if Repede meant for them all to come at him or if was just gonna test them one at a time? Not sure on which to do, Thakur rose to paws and ran forward, going past Elijah.

He didn't say one at a time, he just said he was gonna test us. Thakur thought.

While Tripod had taken to the left side, Thakur was on the right. After all Repede couldn't fight in two places could he? Of course he could! But perhaps by going to the opposite side was the best choice? After all, Tripod was going for the neck and perhaps Tripod served as distraction? Well Thakur didn't want to view it that way he was a loyal pup to his family and so...using his brother; while adopted as a distraction wasn't what he liked to think of it. It was just a class. He was still loyal to family. Jumping as high as he could, he attempted to grab hold of Repede's side with his fangs.

[Elijah]

Elijah looked at Thakur rushing toward the teacher with Tripod. "Wait! Teamwork is the key here." He said to Thakur as he ran toward the teacher with him forgetting the plan. but wonders if his smarts could get him in serious danger than it would if he had taken anyone head on, his idea was indeed to get Repede dizzy if he would keep his eye on him, but judging that Repede was blind in one eye that wouldn't prove much, he had to prove that he was just as impressive as Tripod, he ran toward the back and attempted to attack Repede's backside. Cross your paws, my brothers, hopefully this will work. He thought.