"Katherine lost teeth in her training?" Betty asked curiously.
"Armando was very firm in his training measures," Marie answered, "as from the Lupman's point of view, Katherine had volunteered to train for a war. And as with nearly every Lupman, Armando knew that in war, it does not pay to be timid... so he did whatever possible to get Katherine to be more ferocious. He knew that if the two truly came to a fight to the death that he could win. He was bigger and stronger and had endured more in his own Pack's hunts, but if he bring out some deep buried ferocity, he could get Katherine to put up enough of an effort that many Lupman and even some Leoman would back down from as the victory would not be worth the wounds sustained in the fight."
"But if her final placement on Marie's team is dependent on her defeating Marie in a sparring match, wouldn't it have been to Katherine's detriment to be recovering from wounds?" Samantha asked.
"By the time they got that far, Katherine was given plenty of time to rest and recuperate with only mild exercises to keep her mind sharp," Marie commented, "but before then, Armando would do everything possible to prepare Katherine for what he assumed would be a war."
"It would be a war though?" Lawrence asked nervously, "wouldn't it? I mean the witches surely didn't lay down and surrender. Kurse didn't on Big Bad Island."
"Yes, but Armando had no experience in fighting witches," Marie answered, "the Roman pack had fought alongside the Papal guards and local Italian dukes to protect the Papal lands from political threats... but things like the witches were commonly left to the Inquisition, as they were perceived as religious threats to the Faith whereas what the Roman pack fought were commonly outside political forces."
"But did not Marie mention the witches?" Alice asked.
"Armando still assumed that the fight would be similar to those his Pack had fought before," Marie answered, "something to be overcome through strength and personal bravery... which when it came down to it would probably be the situation. Remember that Draco would insure that the witches were drugged before the battle began to reduce their ability to use their magic effectively. Forcing them to turn to basic sorts of elemental attacks rather then outright trying to change their forms or something along those lines... which would reduce the fight closer to what Armando knew and could understand."
++++++++
Meanwhile while everything else was going on at the manor, both in the outside world and in the mirrorverse, Sabrina and Trevor were going through their day at school. Settling into her seat, Sabrina sat beside her very best friend, Elaine, who's bronze tail twitched behind her.
"Was that your brother with you when you came in?" Elaine asked Sabrina while waiting for their class to start.
"Yes," Sabrina smiled, "He came back yesterday. The happiest day in my life. The day I got my brother back!"
"That's great!" Elaine gave a soft cheer and swished her tail behind her, accidentally knocking the pencil holder of another girl off of the desk behind her. "Oops... sorry Natasha."
The turned to see a young African American girl getting out of her seat to pick up her pencils. She looked at the two leoman female cubs with a friendly smile. Sabrina with her gray and black fur that looked like someone had crossed a lion with a tabby, which made her look cute. And Elaine had boundless energy and as generally fun to be around, and Natasha enjoyed it, though she occasionally continued to let curiosity get the better of her and ask if they were from Africa, as everyone knew that's where lions came from.
"It's okay Elaine," Natasha answered as human hair fell out, "Sabrina, you said you're brother's alive?"
Sabrina turned back as dark chocolate brown fur began to grow on Natasha's face and body and as her clothes seemed to vanish.
"Nala," Sabrina insisted on the nickname, even if she didn't remotely look like the Disney lioness, "but yes, Trevor's back! He's alive! I'm so happy!"
Natasha picked up her pencils as her finger and toenails shifted into claws and then pulled inside the protective sheaths that every cat, with the exception of the cheetah, had. She then approached Sabrina as her feet began to lengthen into a digitigrade stance and a dark chocolate brown tail sprouted behind her.
Natasha then hugged her friend with a slight chuckle.
"That is wonderful, Nala," Natasha chuckled as her face pushed forward into a short muzzle.
"Okay, now class, everyone in their seats!" the teacher spoke as she got up from her desk.
+++++++
Later that morning, during a mid-morning recess period, Trevor and his friends gathered in an open area with rather soft grass.
"And she flung Father Paul against a wall, leaving Amy and me alone against the monster!" Trevor continued his narration of what he remembered of the battle against Kurse.
"Amy? Gamma-Zack's daughter?" one of the other male cubs asked.
"You fought this evil witch thingie with a girl!?" the second said shocked.
"Yes, Gamma-Zack's daughter, and she's a Lupman," Trevor answered, "daddy's told me that they expect their females to help their males protect their territory."
"Weird," the second cub commented, "not bad, mind you but weird."
"Well," Trevor shrugged, "they aren't Leomen. They're Lupmen."
"What's going on?" came a new voice.
They turned to see another boy come toward the four Leoman male cubs and one human boy. He had always tagged along in the hopes of hearing a good adventure story, and it appeared he had stumbled onto one.
"Hey Aaron!" Trevor turned to see him.
"Trevor's back!" the third cub announced to Aaron with a happy smile, "and he's been telling us about his adventures with someone named Serenity. He's up to the point where he, a Catholic Priest, and Gamma-Zack's daughter are facing off against some witch calling herself Kurse."
"Pull up a seat, I'm just getting to the good part," Trevor said to him.
Aaron joined the collection of male cubs listening to Trevor's story. He barely noticed his human hair and clothing vanish.
"And there we were, Amy and I, temporarily alone against the witch!" Trevor spoke, and doing various pantomime gestures to make it look like he was putting himself in front of Amy.
Aaron watched as faded yellow fur sprouted and a sheath formed around his young boy member.
"But she was crazy and suddenly went off yelling into nothing," Trevor continued.
Aaron gave a slight snicker as his feet lengthened and he stood up on his toes as the other cubs were and as his musculature enlarged, not like many of the adult male Leomen and Lupman, but still larger then what one would expect on an eight or nine year old.
"Amy fired an arrow into her," Trevor spoke and moved like he'd been hit by an arrow, while a Aaron grew a tail behind him, the tip covered with yellowish-orange fur.
"She tried to attack again, but Paul returned and caught her around the legs with a lasso, taking her to the ground," Trevor continued, "and then Amy finished off the witch with another arrow."
"Wow," the first cub spoke, as Aaron's ears rounded and a short muzzle pushed out.
"Yeah, but the black cat that started it all was somehow separated from Kurse when Amy defeated her," Trevor finished, "she began to stagger away when I pounced on her and ended it."
"You killed the cat?" Aaron gasped.
"She was evil, uncivilized, and would have spread the curse if she wasn't stopped," Trevor told him, "Amy, Paul, and I did what we had to do."
"Sounds dangerous," Aaron commented.
"It was, and Madame Serenity didn't want me to go, but I had to," Trevor answered, "to help Father Micheal's cat, Judas, and Amy couldn't go alone... and we all made it out okay."
"I'm glad for that," Aaron commented, "It's good to have you back, Trevor."
Trevor nodded and was about to say more when the supervising teacher blew a whistle and every student out on the playground moved to line up. Trevor and the other leoman male cubs got into their respective line, where Trevor did wave to his sister who was with a small group of leoman female cubs.