How to Kill with Kindness

(March 13th. Army-wide hero training thread! Bit of light-hearted fun through some serious training but the odd minor injury may be sustained here and there. I've made out as though there's a decent-sized crowd in attendance just to get the ball rolling a bit if thats all right, not that I expect that big a turnout lmao. I make reference to the odd 'General' or two here but I left it ambigous a) for godmodding reasons a bit and b) so a few high-ranking officials can maybe lend a hand with the training if they want! Also, I'm not entirely sure if/just how bad Scruffy and Malkia are gonna mess each other up, but once that becomes apparent I'll make sure to reference it B) )

 The giantess of the Pridelands stood in the clearing normally designated for training, although it was hard to see where it began and where it ended. Torches had been placed in a ring, about five meters apart from each other, around the arena, filling it with just enough light to illuminate the entire clearing almost as clear as it had been in the daylight. Malkia would have of course preffered to do an excersize like this on such a day; clear blue sky, bright wide clouds, scorching sun...Such conditions would have been the ideal morale booster, and would have made for a rousingly good session of training. But Malkia would have to make do with what she was given, such were nature's laws.
 Don't worry, she thought to herself as she looked up to where the stars were once, even the most timid of beasts will walk away from this clearing as brave as five lions and three elephants! I'll make you proud of them all, then maybe you'll shine for us again.
 While making idle conversation with one of the generals two "days" prior, they had casually mentioned that one of the issues that had been brought up at the council was the lack of training going on, which Malkia hadn't really considered until it was pointed out to her. Instantly eager to help, she had been fast to offer herself as drill sergeant to a little training session, and of course, had made an elephant out of a mole-rat hill. After asking around, she had found a day that was apparenlty of little importance, and had spread word through the camp that the session was to be held on that day, while she and a small group of helpers had got to work brushing up the training ground.
 She looked around at the chattering fire-lit faces in the crowd before her; some eager, some anxious, and some flippant. But it made no difference to the elephant, who expected the same ammount of effort from every creature present. She took a deep, satisfied breath to herself, then bellowed. "Soldiers! AteeeenTION!"
 She began strolling down a corridor amid the ranks, waving a stick grasped in her trunk around not unlike another notable military elephant. "You all know why you're here! To work your muscles, strain your hearts, sharpen your skills, and get that extra bit closer to giving the enemy what-for eh?" It was rather hard to be intimdated by her booming, jovial tone, her flamboyent manner as she waved the stick around, or the wide smile etched on her wrinkly face. 
 "You'll have noticed by now how the training ground has been divided up into sections; to my left," she gestured with her trunk. "You will see a rack of weapons. The more dexterous among you I encourage to practice with something you're a little less familiar with, you never know what oppurtunities an enemy stronghold might present you with! You'll notice that the right side of the grounds has been filled with straw-filled dummies of all different sizes and species so don't be afraid to go all out! Even if you are working on four legs I encourage you to have a swipe at them!
 Behind me there are several targets for the archers among you to practice on. Some of them are lit with torches but others are not, there wont be light to see your enemy in a battle after all! But if you want to just plain spar, the left side of the clearing here," she made a big sweeping gesture with her long appendage. "has been cleared for that purpose. I encourage you to pick a fight with someone drastically different to yourself; learn to exploit the weaknesses and avoid the strengths of other species and body types. Smaller ones, work in groups and learn how best to use teamwork to bring down a larger enemy!
 Ah but the pacifists among you; the message-runners and the medics, or those who don't feel up to a rough-house, don't think you're forgotten." (There was an elephant rememberance joke to be made in there, but she ignored it.) "Look to the trail of torches that goes off from the left; a simple obstacle course to test your ability to navigate different types of terrain. There's a wall to be scaled and a swamp to be crossed and a pit to leap over, and so forth."
 She began striding back up to the top of the crowd, clearing enjoying this and getting way too engrossed in it, but her boundless optimism for the session would hopefully be an encouragement to the army. She turned around and faced them all with a satisfied beam. "Right, I think I've said enough, don't you? Okay heroes," she yelled happily, letting loose a rousing, army-style trumpet. "Let's show those villainous cads what we're made of!"

Cassie had gathered among the other soldiers, scouts and medics of the hero army. Since her arrival almost a month prior, there had been little done in terms of training, which had cost her in her first battle in the desert with a nasty leg scar. The teen pup was determined to not let that happen again, and jumped at the opportunity of every training session she could get her paws in.
There had been quite a turn out, many faces among the crowd, some that she didn't know, others that she'd seen in passing. She couldn't spot any of her friends through the crowd, but she wasn't here to mingle, she was here to train.
The light from the torches cast dancing shadows on her white-cream fur, her brown eyes looking around at the set-up.

"Soldiers! AteeeenTION!"
Her ears perked up at the booming voice. It didn't take long for everyone there to line up in ranks. She joined one of the rows, sitting with her head high at attention, like she would if her pets' were telling her to "sit" for a treat. Her gaze found the owner of the voice, a large elephant who was walking between the lines of members, explaining what they were to do.
Cassie listened intently to the explanation of their training session, ears perked slightly and brown eyes following the large grey creature.
"Let's show those villainous cads what we're made of!"
At these words, Cassie let out an excited howl of agreement, tail wagging back and forth.

As the large group began to split up, Cassie sat for a moment, pondering what to do first. Should she practice with a dummy? or try and find a partner to spar with? She wasn't really sure.

"Mon roi. You must wake up, today is the training session."
The soft whisper of Dante's voice and the weight of the wolfdog's paw on his shoulder was enough to awaken the gypsy king, who had once again fallen asleep at his table, head resting in between the covers of another tattered book. It wasn't all too uncommon for Clopin to fall asleep like this; he had spent the nights after rescuing Cinderbelle trying to find out exactly how he could bring his love back to her original self. The books that he had acquired during his travels held no information as to how to perform such a feat. And the demons that now followed him only teased him, whispering that he would never find a way. It was quite stressful for the gypsy, as he already had enough on his shoulders, with him and the other generals attempting to take the helm and lead the hero army.

It wasn't too long after their summit that Clopin had run into Malkia, and they got to talking, where Clopin briefly mentioned the lack of morale and training.

The gypsy king jumped out of his chair, and the sudden movement caused Dante to stumble back a bit. Clopin grabbed his large hat, and straightened it upon his head, before motioning for Dante to come along. The two passed by the sleeping form of Cinderbelle, and Clopin knelt down to whisper a few words to her, before kissing her forehead. Dante, who still displayed a bit of jealously towards the other canine, waited impatiently for his king outside of the tent. Clopin emerged, and the two were off again, towards the training grounds.

On the other side of the camp, by the mess hall, Bob had been finishing his breakfast, which consisted of eggs and broiled potatoes. The unicorn had never had anything like it before, but it was heavenly. His ears picked up a trumpet from the other side of camp, and that was when he realized he was late for the training session. Pink hooves broke into a gallop, as the unicorn barreled through the camp, making a beeline straight for the training grounds. He nearly knocked over General Clopin and Dante, and he whinnied a quick "Sorry y'all!" as he galloped past them. The pink-haired unicorn then skidded to an immediate stop, before he knocked over anyone else. He stood next to a small cream-colored Labrador, and a Dalmatian. He, along with Clopin and Dante, arrived just in time to hear the last part of Malkia's speech, in which she announced what each training area was for.

The general was impressed by what he saw. Clearly, Malkia knew exactly what she was doing, being that she was able to get quite a turnout of soldiers. He nodded to Dante, who stood with Bob and Cassie, before joining Malkia where she stood.

"Malkia, I am impressed. I'm sure you've got most of this handled, but if I may, I would like to offer assistance. Perhaps in the weaponry area?" Clopin asked.

The huge shape of the dinosaur moved closer towards the little group that had gathered for training. Having just caught the last half of the elephants speech, much like the others in the group Aladar stood alongside Bob quietly. Until he thought of a question to ask or decided what method he was going to use to help train, there was nothing to say.

"Malkia, I am impressed. I'm sure you've got most of this handled, but if I may, I would like to offer assistance. Perhaps in the weaponry area?" Aladar heard General Clopin say, and he gave a small swish of his thick tail in thought, wondering how they, as animals lacking thumbs, were going to use weapons in the first place. Sure, the dogs could hold stuff in their mouths, and Malkia would of course use her trunk, but what of the rest of them?

 The elephant swelled with pride for the soldiers as there was a roar of enthusiasm and the group dispersed to try their skills at different areas, though some still looked uncertain as to where they should be, particularly those who had arrived late. She was about to go over and help them to find where their talents would be best served, before she noticed the lanky form of General Clopin striding towards her, just who she had been hoping to see.
 If an elephant could blush she most certainly would have, instead she flapped her ears and made a swishing motion with her trunk at the man's compliments. 'Oh come now it's only a rough, quickly-made little training ground. I'll admit I had help with the human aspects, so if you'd like to help oversee those I'd be much oblidged." She nodded, and lifted her head to look around the arena.
 "Hmm, it would be ideal if we had at least one 'official' to oversee every station, maybe two for the bigger ones. That way everyone would get the most benefit and take something away from today. General Robin would be ideal for the archery, as would General Stitch be for the obstacles, though of course we'll take who we can get at this rate. I was thinking that for now, I could perhaps oversee the sparring and the obstacle course while you supervised the archery and weaponry sections? Until we can find others who fit the criteria for the job that is." she suggested, tilting her head down towards him. 
 "Oh and before I forget, have we done much in the ways of battle tactics? I was thinking we could all maybe stop at one point and work on pinscir movements, guerrilla warfare, defensive shield tactics and the like. Smashing a few front-lines into the enemy is effective and can work but I think," she looked over at Cassie, noting the horrendous scar on leg. 'If we can prevent more blood being spilled, then why not eh?"

Mega bounded across the dirt towards the group, specifically to Cassie, a grin plastered on his muzzle. "Excuse me, Cassie is it? I was wondering if you would like to spar with me?" he asked, motioning with a paw towards the sparring area, red colored orbs flicking over to gaze at it. "Don't worry though, I'll go easy on you," he chuckled before taking a seat on his rump while waiting for an answer.

The elephant's call hadn't been missed by one little egret. Ono had been flying about the area when he heard the call, and although startled by it he decided to see what was going on. A few flaps of his wings and a dive later, he found himself flying right toward the area that Malkia had set up. Now that was intriguing to say the very least. Ono hadn't thought that the heroes would be this resourceful when he had first shown up in this part of the Pridelands. No matter, though. He wanted to see what was going on and see if he could gain a bit of battle prowess. Even though Ono was wholly convinced that his position was meant to be that of someone that saw from up above and reported as needed, a bit of skill in combat wouldn't hurt him.

However, as Ono flew nearer he heard more clearly what was going on. They were meant to be picking out opponents drastically different from themselves if they were going to spar. Ono landed on the ground and tucked his wings in close to his body before taking a look at the others. There was a small canine, a land walker that he couldn't place the species name of, a larger canine, a large lizard-like creature, a strange hoofed creature with a horn on his head, and a lion. Great Kings, he was sorely outmatched. A squawk escaped the egret when he realized this much.

"Um... W-With all due respect, miss," Ono said as he hopped forward, "I'm all for trying to hold our own against opponents bigger than ourselves, but... Well, I'm pretty sure I'd be crushed by anything that hits me right now. Especially that guy." Ono waved a wing in Aladar's direction. Even with his flying prowess, one whack with the dinosaur's tail would send him crashing down in an instant. The last thing Ono wanted was for his wings to be damaged during a simple training exercise. Of course, he could easily try to handle the training dummies. They shouldn't have been a problem for him.

"So... Sh-Should I try with the dummies instead? I'd really rather not have anything damage my wings if I can help it. At least not this soon after I've decided to help you all."

Spring silently glided over the grounds of the hero camp, leaving a trail of fresh grass and foliage behind her as she went. The camp seemed rather quiet, or at least she'd thought so until a loud noise and talking caught her attention.

Making her way over the parched land, her gold eyes finally came to rest upon a large gathering of what she could only assume were members of the camp. She'd met a few in passing, but it wasn't until she saw them all lined up like this that she realized just how many there were.
As the group dispersed into smaller groups to practice their training, Spring made her way down to the training grounds, coming to a stop beside the Elephant and the human general. It was clear the two had their hands full with training an army so large. The sprite wondered if perhaps she could help in any way. But for now she simply stood out of the way as they conversed.

-----
Cassie meanwhile, was starting to head over to the dummies, before a lion came bounding up to her. Needless to say, the large form of the lion racing towards her put the small pup on edge, and she backed a few tail lengths away, brown eyes wide.
It took a moment before she could register what he was asking her. Spar? with a lion? All by herself?

True she did need more practice taking on animals bigger than herself, but she thought she'd work up to that at a slower pace. Not to mention, her last encounter with a lion on the battlefield, though it had ended peacefully, still left an uneasiness in her gut. She could remember how heavy the paw on her head felt, the claws resting on her skull that could have easily punctured her skin if she moved too much. The feeling of hot breath on the back of her scruff as teeth clamped themselves around her neck.
She wasn't sure she was ready to relive that, even if it was just a sparring match.
"Umm... well I..." Her brown eyes darted to the ground as she stammered to find the words to say.

Peg hadn't actually planned on attending the training session. She'd stopped to listen and watch actually due to the simple fact that she had happened to be passing by when it had started. Sure, there were a lot of larger and more threatening animals and creature sin this war, but none quite the same as the large elderly elephant named Malkia. She demanded attention all on her own, let alone when she let out that trumpet of a horn from her trunk. The loud noise would grab the attention of any stragglers, Peg included.

Those china blue eyes scanned over those the elephant had collected to train before her gaze was stolen by a fast moving orange mass. A lion, one that didn't exactly have a reputation of being the brightest from what Peg had ever previous observed and heard during her time on the heroes. And what did he think he was doing, approaching the small white lab? Nothing but a child in comparison to his large lion size. Eyeing the child a little more while she padded closer to hear she realized she was familiar. But her thoughts were interrupted when she heard the lion speak.

Excuse me, Cassie is it? I was wondering if you would like to spar with me?

Peg's eyes widened. He couldn't be serious, could he??

Don't worry though, I'll go easy on you.

Peg shook her head, the mess of her cream fur tumbling on her shoulders and she stepped between the pair of them as the lab girl began to stammer. It came back to her, Peg knew this kid. She was in the same pet store that she had been in not too long ago. Frown turned on the lion and she peered up at him with a disapproving scowl past her bangs.

"You don' think that's a good idea, do you?" Peg asked skeptically. "You're s'posed to be here to train honey, what good is fighting a pup gon' do for a lion like you? Why don' you go find someone better suited for a big cat n'leave the girl alone." Peg scrutinized, jeering her head upwards at the lion with a harsh exhale through her nose before turning to Cassie. Unlike the cold frown she bore before towards Mega, however, she let a small soft smile tug at her maw.

"I know your face," Peg laughed, bestowing the girl with a gentle gaze, "Been a little while, hasn' it deary? Gone an' got yourself all banged up too." she nodded to her hind leg, which still bore signs of seeing some action. Tutting her tongue against her teeth she shook her head, "Best start with somethin' easier than a lion for that then.." she suggested softly. None of Pegs words were demeaning, not even a suggestion at underestimating Cassie's abilities. But Peg was a street dog, and she knew very well what was taking on more than one could handle. And Cassie fighting a lion? That was no contest.

Clopin looked up at the elephant as she spoke, and listened to her suggestions. She was right, General Robin would certainly be ideal for archery, and General Stitch for the obstacle course. His head swung towards the weaponry section, and a smile formed on his face. Yes, weaponry was perfect for him. He would see to it that they would be proficient with blades and weapons of all kinds. Upon looking at the archery section, his smile faltered slightly, at a brief memory of Belle, when the two of them trained with bows and arrows together.

He turned back to Malkia, before speaking again.
"That sounds magnifique, Malkia. I would be honored to supervise those two sections."

"As for tactics, no we have not covered those yet, but we can certainly all stop and work on those as well." Clopin said, turning to address the other soldiers. He clasped his gloves hands together, and stood up a little straighter, as he rolled his shoulders back and puffed out his slim chest. He summoned his scythe to his side, and it appeared in his hands, as the blade stood just over the golden feather of his hat.

"For those of you who wish to master weapons, come with me! I will teach you all you need to know." Clopin announced, bowing as he tipped his hat.



Dante tilted his head, as he tried to figure out where to go. Upon seeing Mega bound over to Cassie, however, the silver dog knew exactly where he needed to go. With the regality that could only be expected of a king's dog, Dante strolled right up to Mega and Cassie. He could immediately see the uneasiness in Cassie's chocolate brown eyes. But before he could say anything, another dog appeared and began to speak to Cassie, as she told Mega to find someone more suited to his size.

"Ah, there you are! I was wondering where my sparring partner went!" Dante began, as he turned tail to face Mega. His emerald gaze slipped to Peg and Cassie, and he winked at them, as if to let them know that he had Mega handled now, and that they could continue. The wolfdog then shifted his full attention to Mega, as he led the lion a little ways away from the dogs.

"Prepare yourself, mon ami. I won't be going easy on you!" Dante said, as he lowered himself to the ground in a crouch.



Bob's eyes were as wide as dinner plates, and he tilted his head in a strange mix of curiosity and disbelief.
This was impossible! Dinosaurs had died out long ago, how was one walking around? No, someone had to be playing a trick. He narrowed his eyes at Aladar, as he attempted to figure out the elaborate costume he was sure his fellow comrades were behind.

"How are y'all alive? Last time I checked, dinosaurs were dead!" Bob said, as he began to circle Aladar, examining him from all angles. It didn't look like a costume...but still. He had to make sure. The unicorn craned his neck, and extended his head towards the dinosaur's back leg. He licked Aladar's knee, and then retracted his tongue, examining the taste.

"Y'all taste like a lizard..but I still don't get it!" Bob cried, as he trotted back to Aladar's front legs. He looked the dinosaur in the eyes, and tilted his head once more. It was then that a fantastic idea came to Bob. Clearly, this dinosaur was a zombie. Yes, that was it. His horn began to glow, and a similar glow began to envelop Aladar, with the intention of lifting him into the air.

He had to be buried.

(just a quick ooc to Aladar, don't worry, Bob won't bury him. Clopin's gonna intervene in the next post once he sees Aladar levitating lol.)

Cassie's uneasiness was soon relieved somewhat as another canine came trotting up. Something in the back of her mind was telling her she knew this dog, but she couldn't quite place who she was. She watched as the fluffy dog turned on the much larger feline, and told him off. Cassie couldn't help but let out a small sigh of relief at this. 
Once the dog turned to face her, with a kind smile on her face, it clicked in the pup's mind. She did know this dog, she was one of the dogs at the pet store along with Cassie and her siblings.

"I know your face"
Cassie cracked a small smile at the first part of the statement.
"I know you too, you were one of the dogs at the pet store.... I don't remember you're name though, I'm sorry."

"Been a little while, hasn' it deary? Gone an' got yourself all banged up too."
At this, she shuffled her leg a bit, It served as a reminder to her not to act so foolishly about jumping into battles.
"Yea... It was a stupid mistake on my part, I'm gonna make sure it doesn't happen again, at least as much as I can..." she explained. "I need the training before I jump into any more battles..."

"Best start with somethin' easier than a lion for that then.."
The lab's ears drooped slightly, brown eyes flickering back to the large lion. Had he really expected her to be able to take him on? Even if he did go easy on her, she was still only a quarter of his size. She gave a small nod, agreeing wholeheartedly with what Peg was saying.

Before she could say anything else, Dante had trotted up to the three of them, addressing Mega, and giving Cassie a reassuring wink. She checked to see that the lion wasn't looking, before mouthing a small 'thank you' at the silver dog. She felt more relaxed knowing the large feline was handled, and turned her attention fully back to Peg.
"so um... I still don't really have a clue how to start this whole training thing. would it be too much trouble to ask..." she trailed off, unsure how to finish the question, but she figured that she'd gotten the idea none the less.

Thumper hopped over. He like Cassie, didn't have an opponent. "Hey, I think I remember you. Kelly? Casey? Cassie?"Thumper said trying to remember her name fully.

"Wait, a second, it was "Cassie"? wasn't it? It's me Thumper! You remember me, right? I heard you singing, that one time, and I complimented your singing voice?"trying to refresh Cassie's mind just in case.

Thumper looked around for an opponent. He like Cassie, didn't know where to even begin looking for a sparring partner.

Peg padded around Cassie, circling around her rear before coming on up to her right to stand next to her. Head tilted as Dante arrived, throwing a wink their way before turning back to the lion to keep that big old doofus busy. She nodded her head, appreciating the intervening that would keep the lion from being too upset at Peg for robbing him of a sparring partner. But a lion targeting a small dog, hardly more than a pup, was not acceptable. She opened her mouth to reply to Cassie, but a small furry rabbit hopped on up and interrupted. Peg blew a tuft of bangs from her visage, eyeing Thumper skeptically before heaving a sigh and laughing.

"Now hold on there, champ. We were jus' talkin' about how she should start with bases before she starts scrappin'." Peg explained, lacking that certain gentle tone as she was getting a little tired of all these clueless wanderers. Peg was a small dog and she knew better, but maybe it was due to living in the streets that gave her the advantageous smarts that these animals apparently lacked. You'd think living in the wild would have given them something more to work with.

"Cassie." she repeated the name, as Thumper had gone ahead and filed through a few names before landing on the correct one. As soon as he had said it, it came back to her and she knew it to be true. "Not to worry deary, you can call me Peg. N'if you don't mind me sayin' you'll need to build yourself up b'fore you start tangling with the likes of these boys." she gave a sharp nod of her head towards Dante, those messy bangs going askew across her face and covering one of her china blue eyes.

"N'with your leg maybe s'not a bad idea to take some slow steps. Don' have to be a race to recovery, you can walk there jus' fine. How 'bout that obstacle course, deary?" she suggested. No shame in building up nimbleness and technique before launching into a scrap. Peg was going to turn and suggest Thumper maybe do the same as his species didn't offer a lot as far as danger went, when she saw it.

A giant lizard being levitated into the air. For a moment Peg's maw had fallen ajar as she stared in awe at the creature, china blue's wide as she tried to figure out just what exactly was going on there, glancing between the massive leathery creature and the pale horse with the pink hair and tail. Pure astonishment was what fueled her to call out the next command in a panicked hurry.

"Drop 'em!"

She needed this, the training that the large elephant had started. Red colored eyes peered across to look at the training equipment then back at Malkia. Tail twitched in excitement over the thought of really proving the others around her that she was just more then a crippled lioness, an outcast from her original pride. But mother leopard had loved her none the less. She snapped back to the present at the sharp voice of Ono, an egret who was asking about training dummies. Vunjika glanced at her paw then at the bird.

"I can spar with you if you like?" She asked,a meek smile graced her lips at the offer.

A low bellow is given as the tell-tale sign that the bull Kula was on he way over to the group. Dull, reddish-brown colored eyes scanned the group in search of someone to spar with. As much as he wanted to spar with the lions and lionesses present, he would surely go over board and injury them for real if his blood-lust for the big cats got in the way. His eyes turned upward to the large cow elephant and he moved toward her, craning his head to speak to the cow.

"Mind if you and I do a bit of sparring?" he snorted out, ears twitching as the flies swarm around his head.