"So, I just dig 'em in there and scrape to see how far in they went?"

"That's pretty much it. Now, this is hard wood; flesh isn't typically going to be this strong, so if you can put a good mark in this, that's a good sign."

"Okay...Do I need a running start?"

"No, try to see how deep they go with just a thwack and a pull."

"Alright."

She balanced herself(shakily) on her left foot, stretched the talons on her other one as she raised it, then with one good, hard wack, sent the tips of her black claws careening into the wooden block, and they stuck there. When Ginger tried to pull and leave a scratch mark, however, she found that her claws might have stuck in there a bit TOO well. She couldn't pull them down.

"Um..."

"Just pull your talons straight out of there and don't worry about a slash."

She obeyed, pulling her foot out of the wood. Nyra examined the four holes she'd made; for puncture marks, they were nice and deep, but no slash marks, as she'd hoped.

"...Try it again. And this time, focus more on the muscles in your feet themselves instead of just making the starting holes."

"Yes, General."

So Ginger tried again, and this time, her claws succeeded in leaving scratch marks across the wood. Nyra looked over her work again; not bad for someone just starting out, and especially with just the natural claws alone, but it still needed some work.

In time, however, that raw strength would be put to good use.

...

"Alright, now this time, we're going to shift right into level flight from a dry takeoff. And trust me; it's not as hard as it sounds."

"I'll take your word for it."

"Now, align yourself with me, Tyto."

She stood by Nyra's side, a good few feet away in order for them both to stretch their wings right.

"Now, listen closely. Once you get into the air, we don't want the plain up and down motion; you need to reach forward a bit and then bring them back as you flap down, sort of like pulling the air under your wings to propel yourself. And remember to keep those wingbeats in sync with each other. Don't want it to be sloppy, do we?"

"No."

"Then repeat after me."

Nyra spread her wings out, and the younger owl readied to follow her move. Then, one after the other, they bent their legs, leapt up and began flapping.

"Pull the air back as you go!" the Ablah General reminded her as she fell further back.

"I'm doing! What I! Can!"

It turned out that rotating the wings wasn't all she had to do; Ginger had to make sure they weren't tilted all the way back as she flapped in order to actually CATCH any air.

She hadn't considered this in her first attempt, and therefore ended up falling flat on her stomach back onto the rocky ground from five feet above.

"Oh, dear..." Nyra mumbled to herself as she banked and turned to land beside her. But she couldn't help but stifle a laugh at the sight of young Ginger, wings spread across the floor, and with an amusing scowl across her white feathered face.

"I suppose it's a good thing we weigh so little compared to other birds and beasts. Otherwise, that could have been a nasty fall."

"Erm...That begs the question. From how high do we need to fall in order for it to kill us?"

"Thirty feet. Maybe forty. Depends on which part of you hits the ground first, really."

"Which is the worst part to hit?"

"Head."

"Oh."

"But, anyway, enough dilly-dally. Let's give this another go. This time, maybe give your wings a bit of stretch beforehand so you can really spread them wide."

...

"I guess...I guess I've gotten better at that?"

"You most certainly have. And it only took you ten crashed attempts."

"Egh..." Ginger groaned at herself, wrinkling her beak a bit at the thought of how many times she practically humiliated herself out there.

"Oh, lighten up, soldier," the white owl teased, leading her over to another section of the training grounds. "This last exercise should be easy enough for you."

"What is it?"

"Well...Before we get down to business, why don't you slip these on?"

Nyra grabbed something off the wall and tossed it to her, and the object landed at Ginger's feet. They looked like...owl's talons. But they had no bottoms, and were made of old, rusty steel and some sort of animal skin.

"...What are these for?"

"They're training claws, Tyto. Slip your talons through the sock, fit the claws in the hoops along the bottom and then pull on the string to tighten it. Simple."

Cocking her head curiously, Ginger followed her instructions; she slipped her left foot through the left leather sock, aligning her own talons with the metal ones, lifted it up to see each of her black claws go through the hoops on the bottom, then tightened the knot along the inside of the sock, fastening the training claws securely onto her left set of talons. Then she did the same with the right foot, even finding that the added space the left claws gave to her foot actually aided balance.

"If they weren't so worn, I'd say that you look about ready for the battlefield already...Of course, I'm not sure how well you'll fly in them right off the bat."

"So, these are weapons?"

"Absolutely. And even though they've seen better days, those battleclaws can still pack a punch on the right owl."

"How heavy are they?"

"Why don't you find out for yourself?"

The owl looked down at her training claws, then tried to lift up her feet; she could lift them off the ground, but they did weigh her feet down more than she hoped.

"We're going to be keeping those on for a while; the longer we do, the faster you'll get used to them."

"...Yes General," she accepted, somewhat hesitantly, however.

"Come on, owlet, give those legs a stretch, see how long you can follow me in those."

"Where are we going?"

"Oh, nowhere in particular. Just in circles, I suppose."

So Ginger followed the Ablah General around the training grounds on foot. Lifting her claws up in order to take a step was the bigger issue, as the weight of them required her to put a bit more effort into her stride. The good news was that planting the foot back on the ground was easy enough with the weight...for a while. She'd just gotten used to walking this way when Nyra called out.

"Sounds like I'm being followed by a moose in boots back there, with all the stomping!" she mused. "Try lightening your steps a bit, keep those claws from just plopping."

Oh. Well, she could try it...But her legs were already beginning to get accustomed to the weight of the claws, so it wasn't...quite as hard as she thought. But with all the effort she was putting in, Ginger found herself breathing in a bit deeper. She hopes she'd get a break soon.

"Is that as fast as you can go, soldier?" Nyra teased. "Try keeping up with this!"

She quickened her gait, and Ginger refrained from letting out an enervated huff before trying to step in time with the white owl. She managed this, but not after dragging behind for about a minute beforehand.

"Not bad, thus far...But can you do this, Tyto?"

That was when the Ablah General spread her wings and became airborne. The owl following her barely had the strength left to spread them, but she did, and she leapt up to try and fly herself with the heavy claws attached. But the heavy steel weighed her down, and her wings had to pump twice as hard just to stay in the air. It wasn't long before they gave out, and Ginger fell back to the earth, just barely able to slow her fall enough to land clean on her heavy training claws.

But the fact that she'd managed to land on her feet this time after a fall was actually somewhat impressive. Nyra landed beside her again.

"Maybe I should order up a lighter set for you to start out with..." she thought aloud. "...But anyways, there's just one more thing I want you to try before we break."

"Break...?" she huffed, still trying to remain enthused. "What...What are we gonna do now?"

"Over here. Towards the west wing."

She lead her over to the western end of the grounds, and there towards the center, almost right up against the wall, stood a bust of an owl, held together by stitched leather and stuffed with tree bark. There was a red line across its neck, and an 'X' mark over where its heart would be, and the wings and talons of the bust were painted yellow.

"What's this?"

"Training dummy. All you need to do is deal some damage to it, preferably where you see the red lines. Those are the vital areas; you want to either severe the head or take out his heart. On a real bird, you'd kill instantly. Now...Give it a shot."

"Do I need to fly for this?"

"However you want to try to do it, as long as you hit the vitals."

Ginger nodded, then looked at the training dummy from a distance, eyes locked on its head and heart. She breathed in, then started walking slowly towards it, then walking faster, then running as best she could, then spreading her wings, just barely getting up off the ground and gaining speed, and then kicking her right foot out and sending it tearing across the fake owl's neck. There was a ripping sound, and a few of the bark chunks flew out of the torn leather. Ginger tried to stop herself, her metal claws scraping across the stone floor as she drew closer to the stone wall, but she ultimately collided with it.

"We'll have to work on your landings more within the next moon, it seems," Nyra remarked as she approached the dummy to study it.

The head was still attached along the left side, but not by much. Most of it had been torn off. Any real owl would have been decapitated, had they not seen her coming.

"As for damage dealt, however, you pass."

The younger owl heaved out a sigh of relief.

"I think it's time you get a chance to recharge yourself. Nearly midnight, it is. And now that you've passed the beginning course, I'd say it's about time we introduce you to the other young Tytos you'll be training alongside with. Now take off those burdensome claws and follow me."

"Wait...There are more?" she asked as she loosened the string, wiggled her feet out of the socks and followed her to a foreign part of the grounds.

"Four others, right now, to be exact. You seem just a bit younger than most of them, but that shouldn't be a problem for them...unless they want to hear what I have to say about it. In fact, there's one young leia among them that you may find good company in. She's just about your age."

"So...Where are they?"

"Tyto, I'm taking you to their assembly hollow now."

"Wait, we're going there now!?" she almost squawked, not sure if she was ready.

"Trust me, young Ginger; you'll get along just fine."