"Tellka..." Kate stepped into the training room. She was wearing her Colosseum outfit and her claws, her feet shuffling along the sandy ground as she headed over to where Tellka was sparring with her shadow. The older woren had her back turned to Kate, but the young teen could sense her guardian's agitation. Kate rubbed her arms uneasy and batted an ear as she watched Tellka. After a couple of minutes, the warrior finally turned to face her, Tellka's ear lay back in annoyance as she studied Kate silently. The young woren fidgeted under her gaze.

"You," Tellka stalked up to Kate and gave her a scolding look, "need to learn to stand up for yourself."

"But Tellka..."

"But nothing, Kate!" Tellka let out a hiss. "Stop letting other people fend for you! Stop backing out of confrontations and expecting other people to take care of everything for you! There is a reason why I've been training you like this, Kate, and it's because I want to see you be able to take care of yourself! I don't want you having to rely on other people for the rest of your life!"

Kate honestly didn't know what to say in reply. She could only stand and stare at Tellka silently and meekly as the older woren continued her rant. Tellka threw her hands up in the air and let out a growl, her ears flicking in annoyance.

"Luke got up into your face today and what did you do? Nothing! Not a thing! You just stood there!"

"But Frank..."

"But Frank," Tellka rolled her eyes. "Landon! Kate, Frank's not going to be there every second of every minute of every hour of every day! I'm not even going to be there every second. Kate! You need to learn to defend yourself! You need to stop being such a pushover!" Tellka narrowed her eyes at the young woren and waited. "Well?"

Kate blinked in wonder. "Well what?"

"You're doing it NOW!" Tellka let out a loud hiss and shook her head. "You don't even talk back to me when I'm yelling at you like this!"

"Well...." Kate shrunk back a little, her tail waving just slightly as she stared at Tellka in uneasy wonder. "What do you want me to do?"

"I told you! Stand up for yourself, Kate!"

"But... Frank..."

"What about Frank?" Tellka snapped and let out an annoyed snarl. Kate pulled back again, fidgeting under Tellka's glare.

"He and Luke... are fighting next Wednesday... here at the Colosseum."

"Are they." Tellka was looking in Kate's direction, but her gaze was turned inwardly as she thought for a moment. "Well then, I'm just going to have to get a hold of Frank."

"What?" Kate blinked in wonder. "Why?"

Tellka let out a snort, her tail flicking. "After what that damn wolf said to you? I just want to make sure Frank's ready to give that dog a lashing!" Tellka shook her head and brought up her staff. "Come on, Kate, enough talk. Let's get to practicing."

After a bit of reluctancy, Tellka finally managed to pressure Kate into getting practice started, and the two worens sparred for a couple of hours as Tellka studied the younger woren's movements. After about two hours of practice, the older warrior stopped and turned to Kate, considering her for a minute.

"Hey Kate, remember when I said you had a different fighting style that just seemed natural to you, and I wanted you to use it?"

Kate was attempting to catch her breath as she took a seat on a small wooden crate. The younger woren looked thoughtful for a moment before nodding up at Tellka. "Yea..."

"Have you been doing that?" Tellka batted an ear. "I mean while we were just sparring, those moves you were doing, were those really your natural reactions?" Kate nodded and Tellka flicked her ears again, staring at the younger woren. Kate began to fidget under the look.

"Why? Was there something wrong with what I was doing?"

"No no no." Tellka shook her head. "You were fighting just fine. I just realized though, I recognize that style."

Kate blinked in wonder. "You do?"

"Yea, it's an old style that used to be used by woren hunters way back when. There are a lot of fighting styles that you don't see anymore because there's never been a need to use them. The way you're fighting, it's a lot like one of those styles."

Kate blinked again. "It is?"

"Yea." Tellka chuckled to herself. "You'd be surprised to know the name of the style though. Woren's used to call it 'Chari Jusha,' or translated, 'the Fighting Tiger.' Like weretiger..."

Kate just stared at her guardian in disbelief. "Wait.... what do you mean?"

"What I mean is," Tellka chuckled lightly, "you fight like a weretiger. That's your fighting style." An uneasy silence hung over Kate as she sat there and thought about that. Tellka shrugged lightly and sparred with her shadow a bit. She knew Kate's outlook on weretigers, so she wasn't surprised by the younger woren's reaction. "Anyway, we've had enough practice today I guess. Go on home and rest, I'm going to be here a while longer."

Kate nodded and headed out of the practice room, leaving Tellka behind.

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