"Sir, the boy uttering his newly established title had the Leader turning away from the sinew he was picking away from the shoulder blade he had procured, "my old pack, they never really taught me or my sister much of anything other than how to be responsible for ourselves." Mapplethorpe had to fight the scowl that was threatening to make its way back on his masked face. "I mean... I learned to hunt from my aunt, but other than that I've had no formal training." To this, the older man raised a brow - well, at least Karpos was quick to mention that he did have some experience, some being better than none at all. The black-coated cub continued, The issue I guess is that all my life, I've aspired to be a Guardian. But I don't know how to fight. Would you be able to give me a few pointers?"

Mapplethorpe's bloodied tongue stuck out and dragged itself down the front of his nose, ridding it of the few snowflakes that had gathered on it. "We shall see about that," he mused. "We'll finish up here and put away the rest, then I can probably show you a few things. Do we have a deal?"

He stared at the young Slayer for some time, awaiting the boy's answer before returning to the shoulder he had splintered in his jaws. His stomach gave an involuntary lurch (again, he had already lost count of the days and nights he had let himself go without nourishment) and he opted to finish it later if no one else had visited the place where he hid it away. Mapplethorpe had every reason to want to pick this carcass clean; by the looks of it, the bear had left enough for the pack to live off of it for a week or so after one sitting. Abandoning the shattered bone pieces at his feet, he slowly began to skin the corpse of its rugged hide, tugging at it with his teeth and the energy he still retained from the deer he consumed roughly two weeks ago. pausing only once before managing to get a hold of a section of ribs and wandering off into the thorny thickets and dense woodlands, "You've shown a decent amount of promise, Slayer; don't you worry about that. Now finish up and start helping, I can assure you that I have never let my promises go unkept."

(EXIGO.)