Bluesky's Declaration - The Stargazer's Journey

Chapter 3

"Wake up newbie, rise and shine," someone was squeezing Bluesky's throat. "Ouch," she complained, and sat up, groaning. She blinked and rubbed her eyes, still half-asleep.

The she-wolf released her grip, seeing that she was up. "Hey newbie, how's life here?" she smiled, although Bluesky, for a brief moment, couldn't tell whether it was genuine after she thought this wolf wanted to strangle her.

"I'm Elodie," The she-wolf offered. "And the sun's shining very brightly, so you better get up."

"Uh-- hi. I'm uh, Bluesky," Bluesky stammered.

"You're a Bluesky? Yeah, I can see that," Elodie replied cheerfully and laughed. "You, like all of us, have a very busy day ahead. Tell you what, I'll save some tasty food for you later as a welcome."

"Um, thanks," Bluesky replied rather awkwardly.

"You know Bluesky, you're lucky to have such a good Stargazer name," Elodie commented. "You better go for training. Your mentor wouldn't be very happy if you were late." She grinned and set off towards the exit of their chambers.

The Omegas' chambers were really small for such a large number of them. As expected, Omegas usually got the worst treatment, so it was no wonder their dens seemed so crammed.

Bluesky retrieved her knife from a hook on the wall and exited the chambers. Grabbing a roasted rat along the way, she was glad to see that she wasn't as late as Elodie said she was. Nova was just arriving too.

"Hey, Omega," Nova greeted.

"Uh...hi."

"Alright. Let's just start already," she commanded. "Other mentors don't think it's important to teach their trainees fighting styles meant for their special weapons, but I make it a point. I see it's true you won't stick to the same weapon during battle, so I'll have to train you with both long and short blades, and long and short-range. We have lots to cover in these moons, so you see," Nova explained, putting down the armour between her jaws.

"You were eating something, huh?" Nova said teasingly. "Quick, eat it and get into position!" she barked.

"Alright, so we'll be using your knife today." Nova started, "Now tell me, when you fight with a knife, what must you be careful of in order to gain the upper hand?"

Bluesky hesitated, swallowing the last mouthful of meat, "Um, being fast?"

"Well... yes. Anything else?" she prompted, flicking her tail impatiently.

"A short blade's much shorter than long ones, so I'll have to be closer to the opponent and I'll get injured more easily. But a sword is heavy, so the attack and defence speed would be much slower," Bluesky replied thoughtfully.

"Yes," Nova replied, nodding. Then she instructed, "Hold your knife in your paws."

"I'm going to land two different blows on you. You'll be injured if you don't catch them, but the spells in the training grounds will heal them soon enough," Nova warned, raising her dagger.

The first blow was aimed accurately at her right shoulder. She caught it on the edge, dodging at the same time, but she wasn't fast enough. Besides, the dagger caught her paw and cut a nasty cut on the side of her forepaw. "Ow," she yelped, and watched in awe as the wound closed up and the blood faded into nothing.

"You see, the opponent can cut you easily. So you'll have to retreat sometimes, but remember you can't retreat forever. You have to dodge, and quickly. Your opponent will stab you in a heartbeat when they have the chance."

Bluesky nodded.

The second blow came immediately when Nova finished, and Bluesky was half-unprepared. She dropped low out of the way, but then the dagger's blade came flashing down. Bluesky didn't dodge fast enough and it grazed her side.

"Now, beware of downward swipes right after you dodge a horizontal one. A classic trick, but we all forget it sometimes," Nova explained.

"Isn't fighting with a blade like fighting with an elongated claw?" Bluesky said, unfocused.

"Well, in a way, yes. But this claw can drop. And you can hold it in your mouth too. Besides, it way sharper than your actual claw. It's sharpened to a point barely visible to your eye, and it'll hurt you faster than you can see," Nova replied, holding her dagger casually.

"Fighting is a control of how fast you attack and the timing, while dodging your opponent's blows at the same time, at the right time. Dodging too much or too long will cause you to lose many chances when you can attack your opponent, but if you don't dodge your opponent will get you," Nova explained further.

"I'll have you train with Elodie tomorrow, but for today you have to sharpen your skills as much as possible so that you are prepared enough," Nova said.

Elodie! I'm really starting to think she's a friend, Bluesky thought absent-mindedly.

Claws flashed and Nova sent a blow to her nose, jolting her out of her thoughts, "LISTEN UP!"

~Stargazing~

Elodie was on moss-duty at night. Bluesky learned that the Omegas preferred not to call it "bedding cleaning" which sounds a lot more disgusting and awful. Bluesky came back from history lessons a while after Elodie returned.

Elodie had saved her a roasted rat and parts of the roasted deer, and Bluesky was so thankful for that. She was starving after a day of training and history lessons.

"Nova said I'm training with you tomorrow," she said after Elodie got back. Elodie nodded and raised an eyebrow. "Well, get ready to die, then," she smirked.

"But, sadly," she continued, "Newbies like you usually get assigned moss duty on their third day. Tomorrow. It's the day you usually get taunted by the others. I mean, introduced to the others. Yes, it's certainly just you seeing the other wolves, and maybe tuck just a lil' bit."

Bluesky shivered just slightly. "Moss duty? Sounds awful," she said softly. "It is! The Scouts always think they're so much better than us poor Omegas. I tell you, there's this one particular wolf who's such a big bully..."