Katyusha's pause at the foot of the mountain would last only a moment before her agile paws began to push herself from one slick icy rock to the next. For one in her state it would honestly be a rather impressive display, even if it was only a fraction of what she would be capable of.

Without even checking to see if Pain could keep up the small fae would push herself far enough up the mountain side to give them several hundred feet of steep rocky slope below, most of it covered in ice and snow, making what was visible dangerously slipper, and concealing the rest.

Carefully Katyusha would pick a platform to seat herself on, only now turning her attention again to the warrior "Okay, from now on I am your mentor, do not expect kindness from me. Do not expect praise or rewards as I will not give them for doing what you're supposed to do. Expect only punishment should you fail me." she spoke harshly. Quickly she would toss her rabbit to the ground, leaning down to pull the head off and then remove both ears, tossing them aside.

With her preparation done she would turn her attention to Pain once more "We are going to play fetch...I'm going to throw this head down the mountain, and you are going to get it. If you do not get it before it stops rolling, you will bring it back to me, and submit for punishment. If you do not submit, I will kill you. Do you understand?" she asked flatly.

Treacherous, that is what these cliffs and mountains were. Not only did a wolf have to watch out for the patches of slippery ice on the narrow mountain paths but also avalanches; torrents of snow that would often thunder down the mountains with the fresh coating of winter snow falling. Pain himself had seen it happen a few times during his time he had spent here in these mountains.

He had mostly come to these mountains for a lonely place to brood, to let himself fall into deep thought without others bothering him. Pain was often in a solemn mood, sometimes quiet and anti-social. He often over-looked others, more focused on training than anything else. Training was another reason he often came to these mountains, and the fact that his first real training session with a mentor was in these mountains was fitting.

The sun floated high above them as the two continued up the mountain range, bathing everything in a bright light. If one looked directly at the bright white snow they would be blinded by the dazzling light momentarily. Pain tried to not look directly into the white snow as they continued on, instead he focused on the ground in front of him, watching for patches of ice or rocks that would come loose with his step.

It was not long before they reached their destination, a large ledge on the edge of a steep rocky slope. Since they left the Elite turned her attention to him, and he respectfully looked her in the eye to indicate he was listening. He did not flinch however as she went over her terms of training before turning towards her rabbit. Normally he would think this was unfair, or unkind, but Pain had already learned there was no place for these things in real training. He simply nodded slightly in reply as she finished speaking.

As she turned her attention back to him and started speaking he became puzzled initially,fetch seemed too easy. This was quickly cleared up however, the training remembered himself of the story she had told him last time they were in the mountains, about when her previous mentor and former alpha threw her down the mountain-face. The only difference was he would barrel down the side of the mountain on his own accord.

Turning to look down the mountain face, looking for a way to get quickly down the rocky, steep icy and uneven face without breaking one of his legs he nodded, "I understand." he said, ready to chase down the mountain after the rabbit's head now.

Katyusha would set the rest of her rabbit down on the rock, nodding to him and getting an almost evil smile "Good, now down you go." and with that she would hit the head with the back of her paw and watch it go rolling down the side of the mountain, bouncing and changing direction with each large icy mound or rock it hit.

With the head dispatched and her apprentice no doubt barreling down the mountain after it Katyusha would dip her head to begin eating, having no interest in watching him, because right now she really didn't care how he did. They had all day to perfect his form and method, and he was well rested now, so however he did wasn't important. As the day went on and he became exhausted her teachings would become more and more important, but for now it was just a matter of exhausting him.

[Sorry for the delay, had to find the muse for it. I promise the next will be much faster. Thanks for the patience]

Pain launched down the mountain as soon as she tossed the rabbit's head off the ledge. Even with his good start he quickly fell behind the rabbit's head as it tumbled down the mountain, bouncing haphazardly in all directions while doing so. As he ran down the side of the mountain his legs could barely keep up as he gained speed running down the snowy slope.

Soon however the chase ended, as he thought he would have to turn to a less direct angle down the mountain to avoid picking up to much speed the rabbit's head flew in between two rocks and wedged itself in, stopping all movement instantly. It was an unlucky occurrence for Pain, but also one he knew could have been avoided if he caught it earlier.

Frustrated at not catching the rabbit's head before it stopped he went to retrieve it, growling as he shifted the small boulder enough to reach in and get it. He then returned to the top of the mountain to inform Katyusha he had not caught the rabbit in time and submit for punishment before continuing with the training of running down the mountain to catch the rabbit's head for the greater part of a day. As it continued he had successfully caught the rabbit's head a couple of times before he started to get tired. He would need more training though, he would not be content until he could catch it every time, and he figured neither would the elite.

Katyusha ate the rest of the rabbit as her apprentice tried to catch the head. Upon his return the fea would listen closely to his words, giving no look of disappointment, no scolding, only punishment in the form of blood and pain. With his submission the fae would snap at him, if allowed sinking her fangs into the back of his neck enough to draw blood, but not nearly enough to threaten his life.

With the attack the fae would shift her weight, putting a surprising amount of force into him, and if allowed she'd toss him roughly to the ground, potentially sending him on a short tumble down the mountain. With her punishment complete, she would wait for him to get back up if he tumbled, then launched the head back down the hill, repeating this system until the sun barely hovered in the sky. Each time he failed she would sink her fangs into him and slam him into the ground, ensuring he would know of her displeasure with each failure.

As the sun began to wane the Elite stood, yawning boredly "We are done today...meet me at the foot of the mountain where we came up again tomorrow morning. If you do not show up, I will consider it a failure and recommend a demotion." she said coldly, making her way down the side of the mountain to head home.

Finally the first day of his training was over. He never thought he would look forward to finish training until today, as he fell in a bloodied heap of exhaustion after he had hobbled down to the base of the mountain, for some time behind the Elite. Every time he had failed, which became very often as he became more and more exhausted, the Elite would give him a new wound- superficial but still painful, or would toss him down the mountain a little ways, his drained form bending easily to her as she pushed him. She had shown him truly how weak he was in those moments. Still however, he managed to get back up every time, he did not simply want to become stronger, he needed to, his sole desire was to overcome any thing that stood in his way. Perhaps it was this determination that kept him forging on, albeit pathetically towards the end.

As he lay in the snow and watched the Elite waltz away he silently cursed his body for failing him so before falling into a deep sleep, the slight reprieve of lying down enough for exhaustion to take him.

Ooc: we can time-skip to next morning now.