Sunny and Moon - New Claws

Chapter 15: "Second Training"

The next few days in the village were too slow for Ruby. The Chief's trainer was busy until Friday, so Ruby had to wait three whole days to be trained.

Luckily Carson hadn't given up on the idea of training Ruby himself, so when he wasn't helping out Val or doing his village chores, he and Ruby spent time in the dungeons practising running or hunting.
One lesson that Ruby particularly liked was one in which Carson had left fake and real mice running around the dungeon, and Ruby had to hunt all the real mice. Besides practising her already developed smell, Ruby had learnt to hunt on her own. The other new skills she developed were perfected speed running and strength.
Still, for Ruby it was not enough. All she wanted was to be trained professionally and get back to her family as soon as possible, and that couldn't happen until Friday.

Finally, Friday came. Ruby woke up as early as she could and ran with Carson to Idhun's home. Idhun took Ruby to the dungeons, and Carson tagged along until they had to leave her alone with the trainer.
"Good luck." Said Carson, before he left the cold stone room, shutting the gate behind him.

Ruby turned around and saw a woman she had never seen before.
Being a woman with short curly brown hair, dark skin and hazel eyes, Amanda Berlin was certainly a catch in the village. Ruby could notice she was a strong woman by the shape of her body. Clearly a sporty person, with a defined structure and strong legs. Her muscles were visible under her soft clothing, which was perfect for moving around freely.

"Hello Ruby." She said, handing her some black clothes. "My name's Amanda Berlin. Feel free to call me Amanda or Ber, that's what most of the people call me." Ruby nodded, thinking how nice the nickname "Ber" sounded. "Those clothes I just gave you are training clothes." Ber continued. "Put them on– and we can begin."

Ruby didn't expect the training to go how it did. She had put on the black clothes, which were very similar to Ber's, and came back to the stone room to find Ber setting up many different artefacts in it.
The walls had different spots all over it. There was a machine that Ruby recognised as one of those things that throw balls in tennis. There was a jar filled with different insects. And Ber was holding other jars filled with different coloured things.

"May I ask..." Said Ruby, catching Ber's attention, "What all of these things are?"
"I'm glad you asked." Said Ber with a cheeky grin. "As Idhun and little Carson told me you have already developed your smell, hunting skills and speed running. Am I right?" Ruby nodded. "You have also begun strength but you're not there yet."
"Right." Said Ruby.
"So, today we are going to practice speed, again, but in a different way. You are also going to practice your smell, hunting and hearing."
"Hearing?"
"That's right. Now get ready. The sooner we begin the sooner you will get back to your family."

The first thing they would practice was smell, since Ruby had already learnt how to do it. Ber blindfolded Ruby and set the colourful jars open just in front of her. Ruby had to smell them and identify the jar with strawberries, blueberries and bananas under one minute. The catch? All the smells were diluted.

Ruby concentrated on her being a wolf. That's what Carson had told her and what Ber had reminded her. She thought of herself as having a wet, black nose and greyish hair. When Ruby had already set her mind in what she liked to call "wolf-mode", she smelled the air and concentrated on the strawberries. Strawberries... What did they smell like? She felt the scent of strawberries fill her nose. Now, where did it come from? She concentrated even more and felt like her head turned left by itself.
"The strawberries are in the left jar." She said, and felt Ber smirk behind her blindfold.
"Continue." She said. "You have 40 seconds."

Ruby felt a knot in her stomach. This was not like training with Carson, when everything was relaxed. This had time and she had to prove herself.

Alright. Bananas. This should be an easy one. She concentrated really well, and felt the bananas straight away.
"Right. Bananas."
"Very good!" Said Ber.
"And the blueberries are in the middle, since they're last."
"Did you smell them?" Asked Ber.
"No, but it's logic."
"Try again." Said Ber.
Ruby breathed out a 'what?'.
She had no time to think. Concentrating really hard on the scent of the blueberries, Ruby finally managed to find them behind her.

"Excellent." Said Ber, once Ruby told her where they were. "You can remove the blindfold."
Ruby sighed. If this was just smelling, what did Ber have in store for her now?
"Remember, Ruby," said Ber, setting up the next task. "You must not be blinded by your confidence. It's never a waste of time to double check if everything's okay."
Ruby nodded.
"So. Next skill, speed."

Ber explained to Ruby what the dots in the wall were.
The thing is that Ber had a button that made certain dots light up. Ruby had to touch every single dot that lighted up, with her wolf speed.
It was that simple, but not that easy, Ruby found out.
The first times the dots lighted up Ruby failed miserably. She barely touched one. That's when Ber intervened and told her that it was okay, and most people failed. She slowed down the speed and told Ruby to concentrate on her wolf form. She'd get it eventually.
They continued with the activity until Ruby caught a few spots, and then they stopped to take a break. Ruby was already feeling a little tired from all her training.
Ber took out two sandwiches from her back and two bottles of water.
"For you." She said.
"Both of them?" Asked Ruby, holding the sandwiches on her hand.
"Trust me, you need the food."
Ruby looked at the sandwiches and once again felt that weird urge of ripping the food into pieces. She managed to control herself, but did eat the sandwiches quite cave-manly. Once she finished them she looked up to Ber, who was staring at her interestingly.
"You know those are no ordinary sandwiches, right?" Said Ber. Ruby shook her head, a piece of meat hanging of her mouth, which she removed quite quickly.
"They are special for werewolves. Full of nutrients just for us. Naturally, they attract us more, and make us lose control like we would on a full moon. What you did just now shows that you've progressed." Ruby's eyes widened. "Carson taught you well." She smiled. "Well, drink that water up and let's go back to training."

After a few minutes Ruby finally managed to catch every spot. Finally, it was time to practise something new– hearing.

This was what the bugs were for. Ber plugged Ruby's nose with a nose clip so she couldn't smell the bugs, then blindfolded her, and told Ruby to catch the bugs by hearing their steps. She wasn't serious, right? But Ber told Ruby she thought she was ready. Ruby definitely didn't agree, but she had to give it a try.

All Ruby saw was black. If she moved, she would fall. But if she were a wolf she would be standing on four feet and being blindfolded wouldn't be a problem. Wolf mode. That's what she needed. She put all her strength into feeling like a wolf, and perked her ears up. Were the bugs released? She didn't know. She made her ears focus even more. And then, she felt it. Little feet crawling up a wall. The bug was there! She sprinted with her wolf speed and caught the first bug.
"One down, ten to go." Said Ber. Seriously?
Ruby sighed and got to work.
It was literally fifteen minutes of Ruby standing still and listening, then catching bugs. When she had to catch the last three she was feeling as tired as if she had stayed up all night. Once Ruby caught the last bug, she fell to the floor, defeated. Ber came trotting up to her.
"Sorry. Shouldn't have put you through so much work on your first day. Here. Have this." Ber gave Ruby another one of those sandwiches. The urges were too strong for this one. She ripped the sandwich like it was the last food on earth and threw it inside her mouth chomping every last bit of it.
She felt her face turn red once she swallowed the last part.
"It's alright." Said Ber. "Not even I would help it feeling that tired."
"Huh." Laughed Ruby.

...

"So? How did it go?" Asked Carson, sitting on his bed. Just that night Ruby had moved from the Cassidy's (Val's) home to the Webber's, since Carson had fixed everything with his dad.
"Great. Ber's great. The dungeon's great. The training's great! Everything's great." Said Ruby.
"And you?" Asked Carson.
"Not so great." She laughed.
"It's fine." Said Carson. "I can't remember my first days but I was certainly a big disappointment. I mean, not everyone can catch those spots on their first lesson."
"Really?" Carson nodded. "Then I guess I'm lucky!" Smiled Ruby.
"Yeah." Said Carson. "Lucky."