Verdandi had been taking care of various genin training as of late. Some more or less successful. She was finally aware as to what her own sensei Gin used to say. That it is nice to invest into someone that seems actually worthwhile. Verd had to admit, that the failure rate for new Genin to actually become real shinobi was so immensely high that she wondered how she and her other misfits from the Ahoban Squad made it into the next rounds. But for today, training would be less serious. A freshman from the academy would be subject to Verdandi's training. Verd was supposed to get a feeling of the girls' skills. Auntie Ayakashi was busy again. But eventually they could discuss the latest progress on the newbies if she had some time off from her normal Kage duties. With delight Verd would notice, on her info sheet, that the girl in question for todays training was supposed to be one with an active frost bloodline. Verd was surrounded by Yuki people all day. Especially when she was working at the Administration centre and doing errands for auntie Mizukage. But most of the Yuki people around her, being from either branch… Aisu… Kori… Dao… Solstice. There were so many sub-clans Verd had long lost track of whom was related to whom in which way and manner. But again. Most of them never unlocked their bloodline limit. Most would remain normal shinobi. Not rarely would the power over Hyouton be seen as curse rather than a blessing.

But certainly not for the Mizukage and certainly not for Verdandi. Whom both enjoyed their unique powers found within the frost with exceptional length. Verd was always excited when she had potentially new Hyouton users at hand. From the last three she trained only one really ended up being able to somewhat control his powers. It was intriguing to wonder whether this girl would end up in the bigger 'failure' stack or the one she'd actually have hopes for. Back in the days of the bloody mist, academy students used to fight each other to the death and only the strongest survived the generation. While Verd found this an absolutely immoral and disgusting idea. She had to admit that back then probably less failures made it past the academy. It was always a crushing moment when she had to send them back to school or face someone with the mere fact that they just aren't cut out to be shinobi. She had done it so many times as of late it was kind of depressing her. Maybe it was unfair, but she'd put a lot of hope into this one potentially being able to positively surprise her and lift her mood once again back into a more positive outlook on Kiri's next generation. The day passed. Verdandi would sit in her usual spot at the training grounds as to whenever she cam here. Near a tree stump. Sipping tea on her makeshift picnic blanket.

Avalanche was nearby, swimming in the pool and scaring young children away with his size and growly mass. Verd was wearing her ANBU padded armor plates beneath her usually tight fitted blue and white shinobi outfit. Her custom fabrics potentially looking a bit odd but it was her own style anyhow. Her left eye was closed blind by a simple contact lens. The sharingan was sleeping but the lens would hide its existence for now completely. It was only required in combat anyhow. She was checking the time by the constellation of sun that shimmered through the misty clouds of Kirigakure. Pretty sure that the student should be arriving any time soon and they could begin.


620

Typically, Kousetsu would be excited about days like today, however, something was stopping her from enjoying herself. It may have had something to do with the fact that she didn't have any clothing to hide her tail and ears. Unfortunately she was rather insecure about the extra appendages. Ever since she had arrived in Kirigakure many years ago, she felt as though she would be mocked for the abnormality, or not taken seriously. She absolutely despised it when people treated her like some sort of doll, and that wouldn't ever change. The fact that she was out in public exposed like this now was daunting to her, it made her stomach turn. All she could do was try her best to be confident, and hope that this meeting didn't end poorly.

She tugged her casual jacket around her body as if it would save her from embarrassment. Glancing around, she eyed what seemed to be a polar bear, terrorizing kids in a pool. It looked as if the animal was having fun, but I don't think the children were sharing that sentiment. It was a very odd sight, but the bear had to have belonged to someone right? It was unusual to Kousetsu to see that no one was attempting to defuse the situation. Maybe her soon-to-be instructor would be able to do something about it, at least she had hoped so. The woman was supposed to be around her somewhere, Kousetsu thought. She glanced around, cringing back a bit as she witnessed the polar bear scaring away yet another victim. It seemed to have completely vacated the pool at this point.

Spotting a important looking individual sitting under a tree, Kousetsu shifted her body in that direction and approached them slowly. When she got close enough to clearly make out a face, Kousetsu scanned the area once more just to make sure that she wasn't bothering the wrong person. It wasn't often that she made any sort of effort to be social - not that she had a choice in this matter - so the whole situation was daunting to her.

Sighing to herself, she managed to get herself to speak up. "Excuse me, ma'am." She started, already regretting it all. "I think I'm supposed to be meeting you here, no?" It probably wasn't the best approach to the conversation, but Kousetsu didn't know, she was just mimicking how her father would conduct himself.

"Also, that polar bear isn't going to harm anyone, right?"


435 ~ 435

Verdandi was about to sip down her tea when could hear a new set of footsteps in the distance. Senses at higher education levels really got more refined than she ought would be the case. She enjoyed herself greatly with all the newfound powers she had obtained in the war in suna. Apparently, the girl she was supposed to meet had not really been phased or impacted by the latest conflicts of the world just yet. It was wonderful to meet someone that still had hope for a world of peace. Maybe. It always brought back hope to Verdandi as well, within the otherwise rather depressing results of war. Even though they basically won their last conflict, it came at the price of too many life's for Verdandi's taste… But then again, it was time to concentrate on the young lady. Verd scratched her head and coughed a few times into her palm as she arrived and mentioned the bear. Avalanche quickly turned around. Gazing up to Verdandi as she'd tilt her head. He currently had a young student between his fangs. While he was careful and surely didn't intend to harm either of the kids. The young woman was correct as it was not necessarily the best way. "Avalanche, put that boy down." She'd say as if scolding a child. Chuckling to herself however as she could see the young student slowly stumble away after its snuggly contact with the playful bear. "He's alright. He just gets bored a lot if we're not on missions."

Verd gazed back at the girl and would of course but notice her rather… unique additions to her physique. A certainly interesting story would hopefully be behind those. The girl herself seemed rather mature. Potentially older than Verdandi. But that was very common as Ver had also entered the shinobi ranks late and only just recently made it to be a Jōnin. Age meant little in this profession however, it was rather unusual for any of their kind to become very old either. Most shinobi, even the skilled ones eventually find a stronger opponent that will best them in battle. Verd smiled brightly and gestured to the fox girl as to take a seat on the picnic blanket. "Ahh you must be Kousetsu right? Welcome, welcome… please have a seat. I'm Verdandi. I haven't figured yet how we're related but I figure cousins of sorts? I lost track of our clan's branches long ago." Verd laughed and almost spilled some tea on her armor. Eventually catching herself as to not appear too silly already. "I'm always happy to meet a common Yuki Clansmen. Hmmm tell me about yourself… Since when did you realize you could do weird stuff with snowflakes and freezing peoples drinks huhm?" Verd genuinely wondered. Remembering that one of her first experiences ended with her freezing herself into the bathtub. Coughing once to herself to swallow that memory quickly and have it forgotten just as quickly. Trying to look professional here today.

510 / 1130

Avalanche? Fitting. She thought to herself, looking back over at the snow white bear who was now putting down a small child he had in his mouth. Kousetsu was still concerned, but it wasn't every day that she got to see a polar bear loose in Kirigakure. It was still a very odd culture shock to her, being in Kiri. She hadn't been to any of the major villages when she was living in the Land of the Snow. Being secluded on an island away from the rest of the population had made her sort of socially awkward.

She dragged her attention back to the woman, who was now eyeing her. It wasn't hard to tell that her ears and tail were now peaking he new acquaintances interest. With almost no warning of course, Kousetsu's ears flicked down in embarrassment, as if it were a natural occurrence - which it was, ever since she spontaneously grew the furry protrusions, every emotion was telegraphed through them. It was mildly frustrating. However, the woman's smile brought her back to a comfortable level, and Kousetsu allowed herself to sit down on the picnic blanket as she was welcomed to do so. Her tail coiled around her waist in a natural fashion - another quirk that had been picked up since the incident - and she listened closely to the woman in front of her, who she introduced herself as Verdandi.

"Forgive me, but I am not well versed in our families lineage. My immediate family seemed to have set out to isolate themselves as much as possible, what with an island and rarely presenting themselves to the mainland. It was very difficult to receive any information from them about that subject either. It was almost as if they had a falling out of some sort? That's only speculation, though." She quickly realized she was rambling, and started fidgeting with lose hairs on her tail. Kousetsu looked back up at Verdandi and spoke again, despite her insecurities. "Honestly, I believe the first time I realized there was any sort of affinity for anything was when I received these." Kousetsu gestured to her ears and tail. "It was not until we arrived here in Kirigakure after the tragedy that I noticed anything else unusual." She finished, trying hard to remember if she had noticed anything sooner. She hadn't really thought about it before, so it was not necessarily common knowledge to her. "What of you? When did you first experience your abilities?" She asked, curious as to what her new acquaintance was about.


432 ~ 867

Hmm it was fun to watch her. Seemingly insecure. Not sure yet of her own characteristics as a shinobi. Potentially awkward. That was fine. Verdandi was not much different when she first started. Remembering her inability to deal with her empathic overload and her extremely awkward way of talking with people. She admitted that she preferred shy and humble students over bratty ones that bragged right away over the king-sized ego they were wielding. She would have patted the cute fox on the head but it seemed inappropriate. Verd gazed back over shortly to find Avalanche simply and casually swimming around in the pool. Claiming it for himself yes, but otherwise not seemingly annoying anyone else at this point. "If you are from the southern islands, then you probably have never seen a bear like Ava. They tend to live in the coldest parts of the tundra in the north. Near mount Aisu. It’s a freezy place. I do not recommend going there even as a Yuki, unless you specifically wish to try and climb the worlds highest mountain there's only bears and tundra up there." Verd chuckled. She picked up a little baked cake-like cube and dropped it in her mouth. Offering a few of them to the fox girl, seemingly as if they were to try some of the strawberry vanilla mix in it. "I like sweets and shiny things…" she chuckled again and listened carefully to the girl's words, trying to get a feeling of her persona.

As she asked for Verd's primary experience she refused to mention the bathtub incident and then tried to remember the second or third time. "I think I froze my elder sisters' legs to the ground once when she annoyed me and I told her to stop running after me. She wanted to thwack me! I got scared and then… well let's say she had cold feet for a day haha." Verd grinned. She was aware that it could have gone way worse. Sime primal releases of bloodline often ended in tragic bloodshed within the family. Some frosty toes were a mild way to learn the truth. "Hmm ever had a good spar at the academy. Any martial arts you prefer? Any weapons or styles you're particularly fond of?"  Verd specifically poked into the area as she tried to figure how she was going to test her. Training her all-around will certainly be required to put her into some basic shape at least. But then it was necessary to specifically train her in the arts and skills she was potentially good at. It wouldn't make much sense as to train her in num-chuks if she ended up only using bo-staffs as weapons. But maybe she needed to learn about the different weapon types first? Maybe she was another Taijutsu maniac? Those close combat specialists appeared more often of late than before. Verd was rather old school and belonged to the supremacy of pure Ninjutsu with some sealing additions. Still learning about the arts to become a Sage as well.

520 / 1650

Kousetsu tried her best to relax herself. It was only friendly conversation, right? On top of that, it had been a while since she had allowed herself to congregate outside. Ever since she arrived in Kirigakure, the frequency in which she left the house was dwindling. It was unfortunate really, she loved being out in the fresh air, taking in her surroundings. So what was her problem? Kousetsu shook her head slightly, knocking away the jumbled thoughts as Verdandi finished speaking, she had almost missed it all, being lost in her head. "Wildlife seemed few and far in between on our island," Kousetsu started, smiling slightly as Verdandi offered her a sweet. Taking it politely in her hand, she eyed the small cube before quickly popping it in her mouth. The burst of flavor caught her off guard, her eyes widening a little. "We had owls, the occasional arctic hare... foxes-" She stopped, giggling to herself. The irony of it all caught up to her finally. "But there was nothing like Avalanche on the islands, no." Kousetsu looked over at the bear again, briefly watching it wade through the water before reverting her attention back to Verdandi.

Chuckling to herself as Verdandi shared her story. It was amusing to her how others came to find out their abilities. To go from mundane every day living, to becoming a living weapon for combat. Maybe it wasn't quite like that, but Kousetsu wasn't exempt from having cynical thoughts every once in a while. It was hard to live life taking it as seriously as other people do. Kousetsu thought it better to make things lighter - so as to soften the blow.
Her mind shifted gears as Verdandi asked her preference on fighting style and weapons. She pondered quickly on the matter, looking back at her time in the academy and all the escapades she got into. "Taijutsu was never a strong suit of mine, however..." She shifted in her spot on the blanket, curling her tail further around her body, almost like a belt. "I had an enormous amount of fun using a rapier. The elegance of the weapon, coupled in with the allowance of speed and maneuverability; It was overall just an amazing experience." She made a fist with her hand, imagining holding the rapier that she did back in the academy, it was almost as if she could feel the weight of the weapon without it actually being there. "I never had the opportunity to obtain one myself, however. I would like to at some point." She stopped momentarily, before looking up at Verdandi with a little hope. "Will I have a chance to wield another during our training?" She asked quickly. Kousetsu realized she sounded a little too eager and stopped herself, easing back and letting out a slow breath. She didn't think that she enjoyed the weapon that much, but then again, no one had ever really asked her what she liked, either.


498 ~ 1365

Verdandi nodded. It'd be fun to train a little now. But first off Verd finished the little cake sweets she brought with her. Offering another three or four to the cute fox lady. In time and after some tea to swallow all of it. Verd would prepare herself for a bit of combat. However, she did keep an eye on the fox during her conversation. The way she played with her tail was quite adorable. But in time, small talk would become a bother. The girl was still figuring herself out. There was no need to question her too deeply about her backstory and future plans as just yet. Verdandi thought, it would be probably better to just help her get the basic training out of the way with. Knowing well how annoying it could be if you were still at the very basic academy skill level. Things could quickly change if you only practice a bit. So Verd would slowly raise from her sitting position. Once Kou-chan would move away, she'd seal the picnic-set back into a sealing scroll. Putting it into her belt. Leading the foxy one to follow her towards the grassy sparing fields of the training grounds.

"Alright. We will work with weapons in a bit. But despite liking Taijutsu or not. All ninja need a basic level of martial arts knowledge. Supposedly you should have trained into one of your liking at the academy. So let me see what you got. Come at me. Try to land a hit."

Verdandi would slowly go into her knees. Lifting her palms as she entered a rather simple Judo defensive pose. While having learned mostly Karate in the academy. Over the years, Verd adapted into many styles. From Muai Thai, to Kung Fu, Judo and Jiu Jitsu. But most of it ended up as a simple mixture of movements in her muscle memory. If someone attacked. She'd either evade it or try to catch the punch in her palm. Deflect it to her knees and elbows. Most likely for it to only grace her at the muscle parts instead of bone which would be painful. Verdandi, despite being physically rather on the weak side. Was still a Jōnin and hence her punch, if landed correctly. Could dig into one's skin. Cause deep internal bruising. Minor bone fractures even and massively knockback an enemy. Meanwhile the young Genin was still at entry level strength. She would need some practice to get some tissue deep bruising going. Verd chuckled to herself. It was going to be fun.

"Don't worry about lacking strength just yet. By the end of our training your legs and arms will be glowing with newfound chakra within them. Energy enhanced muscles are part of being a ninja. I promise it’s a lot of fun to feel that power inside you. To run as fast as the wind and jump as high as a building. To see with your eyes far away and to hear things of even miniscule ambient."


510 / 2160

Kousetsu finished the picnic with Verdandi, enjoying the share of sweets she was allotted. She was almost frustrated with herself that her enjoyment couldn't be contained due to the seemingly involuntary wag of her tail. It was like it had a mind of its own sometimes. Kousetsu tried to shrug it off, however. She promptly stood as Verdandi started cleaning up. She watched the woman use a sealing scroll to get rid of it all. Kousetsu was glad that Verdandi was a relatively nice woman, not that she expected anything bad. However, Kousetsu was typically always worried about meeting new people, what with being sheltered for most of her life. Of course, it was probably best to let her worries go at this point, Verdandi seemed to have no ill intentions.
She followed her new teacher to the designated spot on the training field, taking her place relatively close in front of the woman and waiting for instruction.

Kousetsu listening intently as Verdandi explained what they would be doing, she made a point to keep eye contact so as no to seem disrespectful, or give the impression that she wasn't listening.
After prompted to attempt to hit her instructor, she watched as Verdandi lower herself into a stance, which was clearly something akin to a defensive position; Which made sense, there was no way Verdandi would just allow the fox to hit her. Kousetsu was going to have to work for it.

"I am not entirely sure how cut out I am for this sort of thing, but I will try my best." She said, her ears drooping ever so slightly.

Stretching a bit in front of the woman, she would then center herself and roll her shoulder. Kousetsu's tail would stand out a bit as she got ready for her attack. The fluffy appendage would flick quickly before she would reach out with her right fist to strike Verdandi in the chest. Obviously the very direct strike would be of no effect to the woman at all, her intentions were merely to see what she could get away with - which was probably not much. Kousetsu hoped that she would be able to gain a lot from this training, but her confidence only stretched so far, the idea that she would become a great shinobi someday was completely out of the question in her mind. But Kousetsu would try to make the best of it.


408 ~ 1773

Verdandi adjusted her movements. There was no use for her to move at the speed she could other than to show off maybe. Which wasn't particularily one of her personality traits. So she silently and without much notice toned down the chakra that passively enhanced her senses. Lowering her bolstering of abilities back down to the level of a normal human being again. Sinking from A to B, C and lastly D-Ranked physical powers. Since her abilities were now similar to that of the fox again. Verdandi had to actually be careful over not being hit directly. Having only one eye she could really see from was another handicap while the Sharingan was sleeping. The contact lens might hide it, but she was blind on the left while her eye was not being charged with chakra. As the first punches of Kou met with Verdandi's palms to capture them. She'd be reminded of the soft touch that yet untrained palms had to themselves. It was almost like a gentle brush to her. Verd giggled to herself silently. It reminded her oh too much about her own first sparing matches. Verdandi danced a bit left and right with her feet to give Kou a feeling over her need to keep movement. A little back and forth was necessary during combat. To analyse your opponents' reactions and to find an opening in their defense. Verd's eye, gazed upon Kou still having a lot of holes in her defensive stance.

"Try to mimic my movements a bit. Hands up, closer to your body. If you lift them away from your face too much I can just punch your hand and the recoil would make you punch your own face. When my kicks and punches come. Your arms will be your shields at first. Deflecting the major damage. Later, when you become more aquainted with combat. You will use your superior perception and reaction to intercept an attack. Like I catched your fists in my palms and basically pushed them away rather then letting you hit my arms."

Verdandi would test the foxes defense for a bit. Slow and yet specifically aimed punches would go for the holes in her defense. Neck, chest, belly, hip. She'd see which parts she could defend. Then if the fox missed out on defending a spot. Verd would show her the right motion to pick in order to get her arms into position to defend said spot. Then Verd would do the combo again and again and again… until the foxy student would be confident and able to block the four weak spots in her defense promptly.

"You're doing good. Try to kick me. If you do. Its important to take care of your own balance. Try to move sideways. So that if I end up pushing you while you kick. You can abort and return your foot to steady your balance again. A really, perfect kick comes so quick I can't even try to push you while you do it."

510 / 2670

Kousetsu tried unsuccessfully to land a hit on her instructor. Punch after punch, her focus started to dwindle as the strikes were blocked seemingly effortlessly. It was clear to Kousetsu that she was inexperienced, completely and utterly incapable of completing this simple task. Her self esteem was seemingly shot down in a matter of moments. She had thought that her training in the academy was adequate enough to at least allow her to land one punch out of the many that she had thrown so far, but that had seemed not the case. Taking a deep breath, she calmed herself; there was no reason to completely shut herself down - this was a process that would take time. With a flick of a tail and a perk of her ears, the fox had acquired some newfound confidence. She began throwing punches once more, attempting not to discourage herself regardless of whether or not she landed a hit.

Listening to Verdandi as she explained how to block more efficiently, she nodded her head in confirmation. Kousetsu realized her tail was swaying, presumably because she was actually starting to enjoy the training, but it was yet another quirk she had that Kousetsu wished weren't there. Suppressing her furry appendage, she centered her body and mimicked the stance Verdandi was showing her. After getting comfortable in that position, Kousetsu would begin attempting to block ever punch thrown at her over and over again. Unfortunately at first, the fox continued to get hit, blocking maybe one punch out of every five or so. It her a little, but she couldn't allow that to stop her. Over time Kousetsu began to get in a good rhythm, slowly recognizing where she needed to block and how she needed to block. It felt good to Kousetsu, finally seeing some progression; It was nowhere near the amount of strength she wished she had, but it was a start.

Kousetsu found herself getting slowly exhausted after a bit of training, which was odd, considering she was in shape for the most part. After Verdandi instructed to demonstrate a decent kick, she shifted in her spot in the grass, positioning herself to preform a kick at Verdandi. She would lift her leg at the woman, before losing balance immediately, and falling clumsily on her side, sprawling herself out on the ground. She huffed heavily, laying there with her face in the dirt. At this point Kousetsu was unwilling to get up, not because she was too tired to do so, but because her frustration with herself was almost crossing the line. Kousetsu would continue to lay there in disappointment, tail flicking in obvious agitation.


445 ~ 2218

Verd watched the fox move in motion with how Verdandi did. This whole training was not unlike learning the supernatural walking technique. It is about moulding chakra in the right places of your body instinctively. An S-ranked subject could kill a human with a single punch. That wasn't due to insane muscle mass. It’s the chakra that is wielded within their body that empowers them to become superhuman. Kou might have not noticed that her punches were gradually becoming stronger. Leaving tighter push-backs and soft bruises on Verdandi's arm where previously there was nothing but a gentle touch to it. Ninja naturally had the gift to unlock their chakra enhanced physical powers. However, it still depends on the users experience and skill to use them correctly. As Kou pulled out to aim that kick to Verdandi. The princess glared at its seemingly flawless execution until her feet completely lost balance. The seemingly gorgeous kick suddenly turned into a bad joke, potentially for theatrical purposes. Verd couldn't help but giggle about how the fox basically face planted herself to the dirt but it was also sort of adorable to watch she was doing. Verd wasn't necessarily a meanie though so she would quickly move in to help Kou up and brush up the dirt from her clothes. Giving her a gentle pat on the head as to let her try again. Verd would do this for at least another half an hour. Letting Kou practice her punches and kicks until she felt more secure about it.

Also, until she would get a proper balance about it as well. She couldn't fall just like this in the midst of a serious battle. Her enemies wouldn't be as kind as her current instructor was. But for now, it was all just fun and games. Nothing to worry about. They could potentially do this for weeks if needed. Verd was a patient trainer as long as she could see progress and the determination of her student, to be willing to advance and put some work into it as well. In time, their martial combat training would seemingly become bland and one sided. While Verd was sure that Kou had made a certain amount of progress, she still didn't want this to become an utterly boring exercise and hence decided to shift to something else. With a simple motion of her palm. She formed two rapier blade from thin air. They were made of frost and slowly became solid, usable weapons. Despite being ice-born, they weren’t naturally cold to the touch and Verd would swing one with her right hand while tossing the other one to fall in front of Kou so she could pick it up. Verd would move her left palm aside. As to get into a sort of fencing position.

"Alright, for this exercise be a bit more careful. These weapons can actually hurt. Still, your goal remains the same. Show me what you got and try to hit me! Don't worry about me… I can always do a last minute save in case you end up hurting me, hihi."

530 / 3200

Verdandi watched the young Yuki Clansmen do her best on the line with the frosty weapon. At first she could barely keep a grip over the icy blade and it was easily taken off her palm once again whenever Verd just barely charged even on simple power. But Dandi insisted. She kept going. There was no going back. She made sure to show the fox lady that only patience and endurance would, at the end of the day, give back the rewards she was hoping for. Verd kept most of her powers back during the whole spar but she kept lifting certain blockades to get more and more chakra through. While the fox lady must have felt as if nothing ever changed. Not being aware of how she kept growing in strength, reaction and speed herself. Verdandi couldn't show much of her appreciation or how proud she was of her student as the whole purpose was to keep her slightly frustrated and, on the edge, the whole time to see if she can do it. If she can prevail past the initial hardships she'd definitely make a good shinobi. Verdandi was sure of it. But the foxy women seemed to get more and more pressured and more and more frustrated over the whole progress. It was all but a test and the longer it took the more sure Verd was that she was going to fail it after all. Maybe it was just that she was used to the fact that her pupils would give up at a certain point.

But ultimately, some of them still prevailed. Making it through the initial phase. So there was but a small bit of hope left that she would overcome her fear of failure. Her fear of trying and her fears of it all but costing too much effort with seemingly too little reward. Verdandi didn't judge her. She never judged any of her students for not moving on. She herself almost broke on her way to Chuunin a few times and yet, luck and faith were with her, but also her Squad, her sensei, her family and her Kage were all supporting her. Maybe all the fox needed to get herself properly and thoroughly going into this and all of it was but a proper support from a really caring mentor? Was that it? Would it remain ultimately Verdandi's fault and error if her pupil failed at the end of the day? She couldn't tell. For now they would fence. Train. Throw punches. Kicks. Show her how all of it is done. Is there anything else she could do to begin with? Verdandi didn't know. She wasn't an all-knowing tree of wisdom. But a simple princess with the wish of giving to the next generation what she was given to when she was at that stage. Support. Effort. Belief and trust. So Verdandi would trust that the fox girl would eventually capture herself and find her own reasons to remain here and keep going. In the end, it would all be her decision.

All good things however, come to an end. And so did the sparing session. Verdandi was sure she had poured as much into it as possible and now, in time, the fox would realise how much she had already improved with only seemingly little effort as such as a single sparing lesson. Verd wasn't sure if Kou was satisfied or frustrated at the end of the day. She could only tell that she was already way more powerful than before the sparing lesson. Maybe give her a few days, weeks or months to get accustomed to all this new energy? See what she can do with it? See how much she had already changed from her previously weak and powerless self? Verd had to leave it up to chance. She would give a few strict words of affirmation and training hints to her pupil and instruct her with some self-training lessons she could apply on herself and do it all on her own. That being done, Verd would give her honest, smile and pleasantries to her student and eventually leave the training grounds. It had been an exhausting day. She was usually quite the teacher in most situations but she felt like she didn't really fully commit or come through to this one, yet. She sighed. A little cup of sake and a good shower. Maybe a visit to her lover Chigetsu would make her more self-secure about her skills as a sensei. Anther five pupils will be up for a training session the coming week. But she rarely had the chance to meet with one of her own blood. She wasn't afraid to say that the Yuki Clansmen were her favourite. But maybe she was just selfishly hoping to find a prodigy, a heir to her own desires.

[EXIT]

820 / 4020

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