<8>

	Breakfast came and went with few changes in the dim light that struggled to pass through the thick trees high above.  Carson came and went about his hut while Starla did her best to pass the time on her own, at least until her grandfather gestured for her to follow him outside.  He did not speak as he strode toward the treeline, but as the pair passed beyond it, Starla couldn't keep quiet any longer.  "So... what are we doing out here, pops?"

	Carson snorted softly.  "Combat training."

	This prompted a devious smile to cross Starla's face.  "Pssh, what for?  I'm a damn good fighter."

	"I don't doubt that.  I imagine you excel in combat when you cut loose and unleash your worgen fury.  But tell me: have you ever injured a sparring partner, be it purposeful or accidental?"

	Starla's ears immediately drooped.

	"I figured, and know that I don't judge you for it," he added gently.  "Using that fury as a powerful tool in combat is exactly what you must do, but even in combat there must be some restraint, lest you injure yourself or even a bystander in your frenzy."  As casually as could be, Carson reached out toward a rather thick, low-hanging branch from one tree and snapped it clean off the trunk with a flick of his wrist.  The four-foot-long branch flew through the air as he tossed it to his granddaughter, followed by snapping a second branch for himself.  The old male squared himself up with Starla, then paused as he eyed her brand new clothes.  "These branches can be a bit sharp-"

	The ever-keen Starla caused the words to catch in his throat as she nonchalantly shucked her new clothing, leaving her buck naked within moments.  Her snowy cheeks were tinged with color, but rather than cover herself she simply snapped her branch in half to make two shorter weapons, brandishing them like daggers.  "Don't wanna rip 'em, right?"

	Carson quickly followed suit and stepped out of his tattered shorts, and it became rather clear that the first inch of his canine tool was peering out from his sheath as he looked to his granddaughter.  "And what brought this cocky Starla to light?"

	In truth, Starla wasn't entirely certain, but considering this was a male who she'd already pounced on like a bitch in heat, being naked around him seemed like such an unimportant act in comparison.  "What, am I too distracting?" she dared to tease him and puffed out her impressive chest.

	The elder worgen clearly struggled not to stare, though the harder struggle was to keep his own hardness down as much as he could.  "Lesson one:" he evaded.  "Offensive restraint.  Come and try to strike me as best as you can.  You cannot hurt me."

	Starla's grin turned menacing as she fell into an offensive crouch, both sticks flipping deftly in her hands to grip them in backhanded fashion.  "Bullshit," she growled, and with a vicious roar she charged him, leapt several feet into the air and lashed out with both sticks simultaneously.

	Carson remained stock still until the very last moment.  His eye never left her as he innocently stepped to one side and cracked his single stick against both of hers to knock her off balance.  A second step brought him just past her body in motion, and, to perhaps add some extra insult to injury, his silver-furred hand shot out to sharply smack her squarely on her bare ass.  "Try again!"

	Ferocity melted into shock as she tottered forward, unable to slow her momentum as his hand made contact with Starla's rump.  Her charge turned into a stumble as she struggled to cease her charge and whirl around to face him, her full face flushed angrily.  Perhaps her nudity gambit had backfired, but that was hardly the last trick up her sleeve.  Another growl of rage escaped her as she charged a second time, this time falling into a dive as both her sticks aimed for the male's ankles.

	The elder worgen saw her dive coming a mile away, and all he had to do was take steady steps backwards until she lost her momentum in her dive, causing Starla to grind to a halt several feet away from him.  As she tried to clamber back to her feet, Carson lashed out with his stick, this time cracking her faux daggers hard enough to knock them both from her grasp.  The tall male towered over her as he aimed his stick at her neck.  "Enough," was all he said.

	Starla looked up at him with nothing but burning rage in her eyes.  A much more menacing growl left her as she bared her teeth at her grandfather, and as quick as a whip she reached out, sunk her claws into his stick, and snapped it in half with one hand.  Her feet shifted beneath her and the naked worgen launched into the air at him, crashing hard into his chest to tackle him fiercely to the ground.

	The ever-disciplined Carson merely gritted his teeth as he fell flat on his back.  His one eye looked up at her as he shot both hands up to grip her bare shoulders tight.  "ENOUGH!" he practically roared.  "Look at yourself!"

	It wasn't immediate, but gradually her snarling, feral rage began to abate, and moments later Starla realized that she'd been within inches of sinking her claws hard into his chest out of sheer anger.  Rage was replaced with confusion and hurt.  "Grandpa... I..."

	"Shh," Carson returned as he released one shoulder and placed his palm tenderly on her cheek.  "The first step is to recognize how easily it is to lose your grip in combat, especially if something doesn't go your way.  Incapacitating your opponent is important, but had you channeled your rage differently, you may not have been disarmed or thwarted at all.  Momentum requires practice to manipulate, but isn't a natural ally."

	Starla flinched a bit at this, her ears drooping as her entire body seemed to un-tense itself in silent shame.  "I understand," she added quietly.  "I'm so sorry...."

	Again Carson shifted, this time to pull her into a tender, caring embrace.  "The worgen half of you is intense and difficult to work with.  This will happen again, but it must happen to learn its intricacies.  You did well in merely controlling that rage and halting your attack.  I've had students nearly claw my chest off in the past who couldn't stop themselves."

	This seemed to brighten Starla's mood a bit.  "Really?"

	"Oh without question," he followed.  "One time your mother nearly took my right arm off during a sparring match when she was young.  I learned the hard way to stop things a bit sooner and not feed that beast."

	Starla chuckled softly and let herself relax a bit more, her head somewhat reflexively laying itself atop her grandfather's bare chest.  "Was she difficult, too?"

	Carson paused for a few moments before answering with a sigh.  "Her and her sister both needed a great deal of extra training to manage their curses."

	"It runs in the family, huh?"

	"It does."  Carson's head fell back to the ground to stare up in the sky for a long moment, his embrace tightening on the relaxing Starla, simply enjoying feeling her naked body so close to his own.  "But we learn, we grow, and we manage well with it, like all Gilneans do."

	"Yeah," she agreed, finding herself sinking deeper into his soft chest.  His toned body was wonderfully warm to the touch in the dark woods.  Something about just being out in the open in nature, naked in such a gently intimate fashion with him felt... natural, right, and altogether comforting.  Her curvaceous form shifted again atop him, and suddenly she felt something quite hot brush between her thick thighs.  She knew immediately what it was, and as if by instinct she tenderly slid her legs open and shifted her hips downward until it made contact with her bare, snow-furred nethers.