Learning To Soldier

"Ah...hola..."

This could possibly be the biggest man that Hector had ever seen. He was one brick of muscle, the dead man noted, and he thought perhaps he'd found the wrong training session. Or one he wasn't up to par for. He was in human form when he approached but quickly let the gold petals fold over him to lose his skin. He'd noticed that when he was human he was subject to the same bruises bumps and he would assume injuries that a human would. And if he was sparring with this giant he wanted to be able to send his bones bouncing about rather than his squishy human flesh.

"I am Hector Rivera," he said, "Are you...Fergus?" The accent didn't really throw out the name properly but he tried his best. Scottish was unfamiliar to his Spanish tongue.

"I heard we can come here for training?" He rubbed the back of his fluffy head. "As you can see I don't have many skills to work with."He chuckled. "So, have fun training a musician I guess?"

Danielle had a bounce in her step as she approached the training grounds. She was unusually lively given how early it was, especially since Dani was never a particularly early riser, but this morning was a whole lot more interesting than most. The training grounds had opened. The young canine was giddy at the thought of learning to fight. She'd spent her childhood roughhousing with her siblings, tackling and pulling ears and trying hard as she could to be the one who came out on top. They never really hurt each other of course, and she always felt horrible when a misplaced paw or snap of her teeth left one of her siblings whimpering or limping away. But this was different. They'd be fighting bad guys.

Excitement swelled through her body as she stepped onto the newly established training grounds. Equipment was everywhere; training dummies and targets, racks upon racks of weaponry — not that Danielle knew how to use any of that stuff, but it was exciting nonetheless. A few of her fellow soldiers had already arrived on the scene. Unfamiliar faces all of them, but Dani was ever eager to mingle with a new friend. Though she was taken aback the moment the lankier man shed his flesh in a flourish of golden petals.

"Whoa!" was all she could manage, her shock slowly unfolding into an awestruck smile.

Quickly taking note of the other members gathered within the grounds, Dani stepped forward to introduce herself.

"I'm Danielle, uh... sir," she said with a nod in Fergus' direction. The man was huge, and carried himself with the confidence of a leader. She could only assume he was the one in charge. As the lion cub beside her voiced his concerns, Danielle became suddenly aware of just how human-centric most of these activities seemed to be. She nodded along in agreement.

"I've got claws too sir, and teeth!" she said, baring her teeth in a playful growl that slowly descended into giggles. Maybe it wouldn't be all that different to the scraps at home after all. Dani bounced from paw to paw, eager to get stuck into it. 

"So, where should we start?"

Fergus set his sword down before turning to face the approaching soldier, ans abruptly paused, eyes wide, as he saw a skeleton walking his way, having turned too late to see the stranger shed his flesh. It took him a moment to comprehend the walking, bony corpse was speaking to him, and a moment longer to stop staring in astonishment. Having the dead rise from their graves to take part in this war was something he couldn't have imagined even in his wildest dreams.

"Aye, yoo're in th' right place," he confirmed, taking a moment to look the lanky man over as he recovered, but before he could say anything else, two youthful voices piped up, and he found himself gazing down at a lion cub and a pup, neither of which quite reached his knee. He couldn't help but grin at their enthusiasm. He glanced towards the Scots still hard at practice, then shook his head slightly. "Nay, lad, ye doon't need ta be concernin' yerself wi' all that," he stated. "Them claws an' teeth will do ye both jus' fine."

But what to do with them? The training ground wasn't meant for just humans, after all. Or just those who walked about as humans did. He just hadn't had the time to think about how best to train anybody who didn't have thumbs. But then, it looked like he wasn't going to be the only one doing the training. "Good mornin' to ye, Hercules," he greeted. "An extra hand'll be more than welcome. Right, you two, take a quick lap aroond th' track fer starters! And doon't be cuttin' any corners! Off wi' ye!" he ordered, gesturing towards the currently-unused horse track, a clearly-marked, rectangular field sectioned off with wooden posts and fences. That should do to get the young ones warmed up.

"Aye, somethin' simple. But first, let 'im choose fer 'imself what kinda weapon feels right tae him. Go on, lad, take yer pick," he invited Hector, gesturing over the myriad weapons lying on the table. Spears or varying lengths, various axes, maces, blades of all manner of lengths and designs, from Fergus's own mighty great-sword down to simple daggers, the variety of weapons was considerable.

Dani's attention swiftly turned to the newcomer, another hulking man larger than she'd seen anywhere else. Although that wasn't particularly difficult to achieve, given Danielle had spent most of her life in the confines of her little town of Marceline, where such extensive physical strength was not a common sight. In any case, she beamed at the approval both Hercules and Fergus gave her 'weapons' of choice.

It was admittedly a little strange to be encouraged to use her teeth and claws in such a way, to inflict violence and aggression. Such behaviour was not permitted in her home, and was not looked upon favourably by her parents, or by their humans. It wasn't very becoming of a young dog to bite and scratch, especially with the intention to hurt. But as long as she was putting those skills to good use, Danielle was sure they wouldn't mind too much. Not that their rules had much power over here here, in a literal war. 

The young dog's eagerness was thwarted somewhat when Fergus suggested she and the cub warm up with laps around the training grounds. Danielle was hoping they'd get right to battle training. Running didn't seem... quite as fun as learning combat skills, but she guessed she had to start somewhere. Besides, Dani liked to run and race and gallop through her yard, she supposed she could have fun with this too. 

"Race ya back!" she challenged Kopa gleefully, before bounding off toward the horse track. 

Hercules looked at Hector with interest. "So you came from the Underworld?" he asked. Hercules hadn't realized how lax his uncle had become on who he lets back into the world of the living. The blonde however, decided whatever deal had been made had been made and quickly turned his attention back to the selection of weapon.

"A short sword is good," Hercules said with a smile. As Fergus had said, it was best to let them choose the weapon that spoke to them the most. It was better than trying to force something that didn't feel natural or right. "It's close and efficient and can get in tight spots quick."

"However," Hercules continued, "you have to be careful when someone engages with you from a distance. Because it's a sword that works closely, you have to be close to the person." He gave Hector an understanding smile, in fear that he might be overwhelming the poor skeleton.

"I know that it's a bit tricky to understand at first, but believe me, soon enough you'll be a pro at it in no time."

Hercules unsheathed his own sword and took a few paces backwards. He looked at Hector with a friendly smile. "Right now, we'll just get you used to your weapon before we go on any further," Hercules said, narrowing his eyes into a determined look. "Right now, I want you to come at me."

”Have...at...who?”

Hector wasn’t really understanding. He honestly buckled under the weight of the shield even with its small size. He thought briefly about turning human again (at least then he’d have muscles to help hold the things) but shook the thought off. He was weak as a human too. There was a reason he didn’t get involved in a trade that required him to lift anything besides an instrument or strain anything but his voice. He held the objects up. The sword glistened in the sun. It was a nice piece of equipment, nothing he ever thought he’d be holding.

You’d better be proud of me, Imelda.

He looked next at the shield. “Do I just hold this up,” he asked, “Like...like this?” He held the shield high, covering his face. “I cannot see this way. There has to be a different method.” Taking the shield and placing it on the ground, he looked up at Fergus.

“Without my human skin I’m a lot more...protected, senor,” he huffed, “I probably would just be weighed down by the shield. Just give me the sword and I shall be ready to attack!”