Dark blue eyes, their irises ringed in pale lavender, look back and forth between the two adolescents that rested upon the border. The well muscled hindquarters of the warrior lowered to the earth, his tail wrapping around and resting at his side. Sleekwing was not altogether surprised that it was the young she-wolf who stepped forward and spoke first, her confidence radiating from those royal blue eyes of hers. She speaks eloquently, a well composed speech that the elder male inwardly wondered if she had prepared, or if the dignity of her words came to her naturally. Either way, for one so young she was quite well mannered, and the Castellan of the mountain was impressed with the young delegate Coszcotl had sent with his son. He nodded to Amoxtli as Shiloh introduced him, and then she asked if he was in fact that wolf they were looking for. A smile pulled at the edges of his lips and his head lifted slightly from the nod he had given. “Welcome Shiloh and Amoxtli of Taviora; I am, indeed Sleekwing - Castellan of Spirane.” His eyes turned then to focus on Amoxtli as the boy made to speak for himself. At first his words came out slightly disheveled, but with every word spoken he seemed to gain confidence.

Sleekwing remembered a day when he had thought that he might someday assume the throne in his parents’ places. That had not been meant to be, but Alcide had trained him for the trials of battle all the same. It would seem that today would be the day to test that knowledge, and his ability to pass it on to the next generation. The granite hued brute rose from his position sitting within the territory and pivoted so that he stood at a welcoming angle for the two teens to join him. “Come along then; the borders may be where a challenge someday befalls you, but such flat open land makes for easy lessons. And without challenge, there is nothing to be learned.” His brows rose slightly, looking to the boy to see what he thought of that. A smile was given to the girl, and his finally motioned with his head for the duo to follow him.

Once more he pivoted his body so that he stood on the opposite side of Amoxtli from Shiloh. The girl was more than welcome to accompany them, to observe the lesson and make sure her charge was safe and treated well. Of course the boy might go home with a couple bruises, but the heather marked brute had no intentions to actually harm his first student. But being knocked around a little bit could teach a wolf many things.

He flashed back to those early lessons from Alcide, when he’d been a mere pup on the peaks of Solevion. There hadn’t been much to learn back then, when he was no bigger than his father’s paw. But he’d been shoved around, learned how to keep his balance even upon oversized puppy paws. After the sky had fallen and their family had finally been reunited, he had put what he had learned in the years beyond Moladion to spar with his father and ever improve his abilities. He would be starting at a different point with Amoxtli, but the basics were the most important thing of all. Sleekwing led the pair further into the territory, without gaining much altitude. He showed them into a large clearing, fringed with lodgepole pines. The area was free of large rocks, but the ground was not entirely even, a few dips and divots offering unsure footing if one was not careful.

Moving to the center of the clearing, he turned to face his pupil. “The most important thing to learn, before you ever move to strike, is how to defend yourself. Show me what you know, or what comes natural, and we will start there.” Sleekwing circled the boy, giving him a wide berth, and waiting to see how he would position himself to stave off an attack. He knew not if the boy had had any prior training, or if this would come as naturally to him as diplomatic endeavors came to his companion. This was where the trails began.