"I have... water magic." said Comet. Many times when she said that people always thought that she was weak, and couldn't fight. But that wasn't true. They hadn't seen the destruction that she had caused before. Too many had underestimated her before.

Deep breath in, then out. A huge pool of water formed at her paws that submerged her up to her chest. She was in her natural environment here, and anything could happen. The water was deadly, and waiting to strike.

@Imperia

Water magic...Certainly not as destructive as fire, but it was often overlooked. Imperia watched as she cast her magic. A pool of water formed at their paws, and it was...rather impressive looking. Yes, damage could be caused with this for sure. They nodded approvingly, a slight smile on their face.

"Good, good. And you seem to have quite the grasp on it, too. Not bad, kid." They flicked an ear and prepared to cast their own magic. They had to one-up this pup. They may have water magic, and be quite good at it, but it certainly wouldn't be as destructive as their own fire magic.

They took a deep breath and focused on the gem in their claws, hoping to bring their fire magic out. It'd probably help melt the snow around them a bit, too.

But as they tried to focus, they soon realized...nothing was happening. They barely suppressed a growl. Of course they'd fail now. It was probably because they hadn't used magic in so long. "Damn thing...Magic is finicky. Though I'm...sure you know that." They eyed the pup for a bit. "No matter, there'll be other chances for me to use it. I've got fire magic. Perhaps the most destructive of all the types. It's come in handy, but in fighting, the real strength comes in...well, your strength. Or your agility, or speed, or whatever. Point is, it comes down to you, not your magic. It can help supplement you during your battle, but if you don't have the strength or the power, then you won't win."

"Speech" Thoughts

@Comet

Comet smiled at their approval; praise was one of the best awards that could be given. Could the caracal... do better? Probably, they were much older and experienced at fighting. She waited for the spectacle of magic that Imperia would do. See if they would be one-up her.

The pup held her breath as she watched them focus on their gemstone claws. And nothing happened. "Yeah, sometimes my magic doesn't work too. I'm sure you are really good though!" Fire magic sounded really dangerous and destructive.

Comet listened in when they talked about how the real strength came from agility and speed, but not magic. She sort of thought that the only reason that they said that was because their magic was not very strong. Magic could certainly help win battles. But they were far more experienced than her, so she took their advice. "Okay!" She nodded. "So when I practice I should not use magic, right?"

@Imperia

Imperia grunted. It was just downright embarassing that they had failed their magic, but no matter. There'd be other opportunities later, they were sure.

As the pup continued speaking, they flicked an ear. They didn't necessarily need to not use magic, but..."No, no. Feel free to still practice your magic. It is undoubtedly powerful that could certainly give one an advantage when in battle. Just...don't always rely on it. Magic is, as I said, a finicky thing, and may not always work." They'd used magic in battle before, but admittedly didn't have many spells. Imperia tended to just depend on their strength, which unlike magic, had never failed them.
"Speech" Thoughts

@Comet

Comet smiled at that statement. So, magic could be helpful in battles, it just wasn't a very good primary since it didn't always work. That was fine, she was a wolf after all! But if she was going to be honest here, there were many battles where she had used only magic and that had helped her win. But it was true that she needed to train the physical component a bit more.

"Are you going to teach me some cool fighting moves?" The thoughts flitted through her mind of what she could do. Her current tactics were just tackling the opponent, but that usually wasn't enough to win.

@Imperia

Imperia smiled briefly at the pup. It was refreshing to have someone actually wanting to learn how to fight. When Aaliyah was young, she was eager to learn. Or, at the very least, eager to please them. Whatever the reason, she had listened attentively and gave it her best. And she had gotten very good at it. Not as good as Imperia, of course, but...good. She could certainly win her fair share of battles if she just tried. But she had stopped trying eventually, she had started to resist. And Imperia...well, Imperia couldn't let her get off that easy.

But now there was Comet, this young pup. And she was clearly very eager to learn.

"Sure, I can teach you a couple of things. Though...it's always best to learn with experience." They eyed the pup, a smirk now on their face. "So how about we spar a little? Just a small fight between the two of us. At the very least, it'll let me know how much you already know."

"Speech" Thoughts

@Comet

Comet couldn't wait to start learning. Perhaps if she got good enough at it then she would be able to take down big things like... deer! Or maybe even huge monsters! But that might be a bit too dangerous, she already had too many scars for someone so young. She couldn't even count how many there were.

"Experience." Comet nodded to show she was listening. She had a decent amount from all her adventures, but that had been a different kind of fighting. This time she was against someone who seemed much more experienced. Oh, a spar sounded fun! There was probably no chance she was going to do very well against the caracal, but it didn't hurt to try. She wouldn't play and dirty tricks though, and definitely not any eye gouging or things like that.

She did not reply to Imperia's words, one of the things she had learned was the element of surprise. Staying sitting, she pretended to be waiting for something, but suddenly, Comet burst forward and aimed to tackle the caracal.

@Imperia