Small But Mighty
Solveiga still wasn't quite sure what she was doing here. The earth was hard and unforgiving beneath her tender paws, and here and there she smelled the tang of dried blood. This place would have terrified the old Solveiga. That cowardly little girl would have spun on her tail and run for safety. But not anymore. Solveiga was a whole new woman now, and she was dedicated to making herself tougher and stronger. She'd been doing a lot of extra running lately, and had been eating more to try and put a little meat on her bones. She had changed a great deal, and most of that change had been emotional; a hardened shell now encased her once soft and frail heart. But to protect herself, she knew she needed more than just emotional and figurative armor. She needed a bit of claw and fang to go with it.
So, almost by their own free will, her paws had carried her here: the battlefield. If she was going to learn how to protect herself, she was going to have to learn through experience. Her heart thrummed like the wings of a hummingbird in her chest, and her pupils were dilated with what had to be adrenaline. Maybe adrenaline was the only thing keeping her here. But she was sure as hell going to go with it. |
It had been a long while since he stepped foot on this part of the land. The smell of blood tickling his nose as he walked. Amber gaze sought out one thing; an opponent to satiate his need to spill blood. He was riddled with scars both old and new, and today he sought to add to that collection. He had nothing to lose anyway, but did his potential opponent? Maybe. Maybe not. He wouldn't know until he found him...or her. Right?
With a stone cold look in his eye, he walked on until he saw a smaller form up ahead of him. Head tilted slightly as his eyes narrowed on her, a slight grin curling up his lips. Well...what did he have here? A little toy? Hmm...this could be interesting. "My my...what delicate looking thing you are...looking for a play mate?" His grin grew a little wider, canines flashing as he stood a good ten feet from her. |
The only thing Solveiga had really hoped for was an opponent that wasn't too big. Had that been too much to ask? And if she did end up with a sparring partner who was twice her size, then she hoped he or she would be relatively friendly. The male who approached her now was nowhere near what she had hoped for. He was very tall and well built, and the first words out of his mouth were insulting. Great.
He called her delicate, and asked if she was looking for a play mate. Well, not all wolves had the capacity to take part in a polite and civil spar. She was going to have to deal with it, because she was determined not to back down until she had shown what she was worth. So the little cream colored woman held her chin high and looked her opponent right in his icy yellow eyes. "I'm looking to spar, if you'd wish to be my partner," she said. "I'm ready whenever you are. You can have first move if you'd like, or I can go first. I'll leave the decision up to you." she gathered up all the friendliness she had and gave the man a small smile.
She prayed to the heavens that she'd have it in her to prove him wrong. She had worked hard for this moment; she wasn't walking blinding into a fight. Solveiga was only here because she believed she was ready for this. And now moment of truth was fast approaching. |
The male watched the runt of a woman, yellow gaze narrowed as she spoke. Why was she here? She acted too sweet, too innocent, too...vulnerable. Perfect. He didn't care who she was, or why she was here, but he came for a fight and he wasn't going to hold back for some little temptress, or anyone else for that fact. Maybe he could even toughen her up and show her that he wasn't here to play nice. Obviously. He tsked when she smiled after offering the first move. Who did that? It was just as he thought. He had found a naive little woman. Maybe she wasn't too familiar with how the world worked, or that there was darkness out there and not everything was sunshine and rainbows. It sucked, he knew there were some out there that thought that. And when he was a pup he had thought that too, but he quickly realized that was not the way of the world. Much less so when he had come across someone who had started to make him see light in the dark tunnel again until she was torn away from him in the siege. And then the fact of the siege itself, when he had lost so much. Takira. His pack. His family dispersed and disappeared. Himself. He had lost part of himself that day, and he wasn't referring to the fact that he had been castrated, but he had lost part of who he used to be. He discarded it, didn't bother to find that part of him after that, and instead embraced the darkness and sins that he knew now. And now this unfortunate woman had come into his path, and he wasn't sure if he would hold back. Or if he even wanted to.
"I don't know who you are, and you certainly don't know me. But I wouldn't smile at every stranger you meet, darling. Not all of us are as friendly as you are." He growled, teeth showing in a devilish grin. He wouldn't really be at fault with anything that happened here now would he? After all, she had walked onto the battlefield. She had come calling for a fight. She must have known what kinds of things could happen out here. Even if he hadn't come along, someone else much more worse could have. But he was here now in front of her, and his tail lashed as he quickly settled into his defenses. In quick succession, his ears pinned to his skull, head lowered over his throat as it aligned with his spine, tail flagging out to fall in a straight line with spine and skull. Teeth bared, muzzle wrinkling as the skin and his scars bunched up around his narrowed eyes. Hackles lifted, legs spread equidistant apart as his toes splayed and claws bit into the dirt. Lastly, he lowered his center of gravity, legs bending so he was lower to the ground. He didn't care who had the misfortune of crossing his path, he wanted to do to everyone what had been done to him. Were she a male, he might have been inclined to try and castrate them like what had been done to him. But since she wasn't, he had something else in mind. His last fight had been with Xephyris, and that day quickly flashed through his mind, tongue briefly swiping out to curl around the scars that had been left on him. Yes...that's what he could do. He could show her just how ugly the world could be.
Without warning, he burst forth like a bat out of hell as a hellish and guttural growl erupted from his maw. He aimed to come at her head on and at full speed, left shoulder jutting forward like a javelin. He sought to bash his chest into her own while simultaneously attempting to slam his left shoulder into the front of her right shoulder. The potential impact would surely bruise them both, but the adrenaline would soon be pumping through him and hide any pain he might feel throughout this match. If he had any sense of moral compass, he might feel bad about hurting her. But who was he kidding? He didn't have any remorse or sense of empathy for anyone anymore. And he wasn't sure if he ever would again. Those thoughts were fleeting, however, as he was focused on the task of fighting now. He lifted his right forepaw, weight redistributing among his three grounded limbs as evenly as he could as he sought to slam his right forepaw right on top of her left forepaw. His main goal was to pin her to the ground, though he wouldn't be surprised if he accidentally broke a toe or two in the process. Lastly, Enigma's head tilted slightly to his left, jaws opening as he then sought to attack one last part of her. Through narrowed eyes, he sought his target. He aimed to bring his teeth across her face, an attempt at slicing her skin that if successful, could leave her scarred just like him.
Oh how he missed fighting. How long had it been since his last one? He couldn't recall the last time he had met Xephyris...he supposed it was whenever that Adravendi boy had his pack, but that was old news. And it didn't matter now. If he saw either of them, he'd do the same to them that he was trying to do now...though he was sure he'd do a lot worse to them.
Enigma VS Solveiga for: MAIM [Facial Scarring] |
Those cold yellow eyes looked Solveiga up and down, appraising her. And it seemed he was entirely unsatisfied with what he saw. Surely he was looking at how small she was, her baby blue eyes, the friendly way with which she smiled. Surely he was thinking that she was pathetic. But he still wanted to fight her. Solveiga narrowed her eyes a bit at his words. What sort of man was he to reject a bit of common courtesy?
Unfortunately, the poor girl was about to find out exactly what kind of man her opponent was.
She took a deep breath to try and calm the nerves whizzing like a swarm of bees in her stomach. Her opponent began locking his defenses in place, so she took the time to do the same. Solveiga tried to recall all of the things Regulus had taught her, as well as trust her instincts to tell her to best protect herself from everything that was about to come. She started at her feet, spreading them equally with her front legs placed a little wider than the width of her shoulders and her back legs placed a little wider than the width of her hips. She took a moment to test her weight and make sure it was evenly distributed. Then she spread her toes for stability and dug her claws into the earth for a little extra balance. She unlocked her knees, lowering her center of gravity and engaging the muscles in her abdomen, knowing that she was going to need all the balance and stability she could get, especially with an opponent so much larger than herself.
Then, in the final seconds she had, Solveiga lifted her tail and her head so that both were aligned with her spine, tucked her chin to protect her throat, pinned her ears flat and narrowed her eyes to protect them. Her face went into a snarl, wrinkling the flesh above her nose and around her eyes to make it harder for teeth to find purchase. And then, the fight began. The man launched himself into a run, barreling himself at her with astounding speed. Solveiga braced herself for the impact as well as she could, keeping her knees loose but still keeping herself strong and steady.
But in the end, it felt as though no amount of preparation could have prepared her for the sheer force that came pounding into her. The man crashed into her, slamming his chest into hers and jutting his left shoulder forward to bash into her right shoulder, causing severe bruising in both areas. Solveiga was forced backward nearly two feet from the impact, her previous stance coming apart as she staggered and regained her balance. The small woman gasped for a moment, trying to retrieve the air that had been snatched right out of her lungs. But she didn't have much time to recover, because the brute was making his next move. His right forepaw came down in an attempt to hold his victim in place, but Solveiga had been knocked farther back than perhaps either of them had expected, and so his paw only caught the empty patch of dirt where Solveiga used to be.
But still, the brute was not done. He swung his head to the left, teeth exposed and gleaming, and Solveiga reflexively closed her left eye and grimaced, bunching up the flesh of her face to protect it as much as she possibly could. She tried to quickly turn her head to the right, away from those sharp teeth, but they still managed to cut into the lower half of her left cheek. She didn't know how bad the cuts were yet, but they were definitely deep enough to draw blood, and maybe leave a couple of nasty battle scars. Later, when she could assess her injuries, she would find that the two cuts to her cheek were moderate. But the fight wasn't over yet. Her opponent may be playing dirty, but that didn't mean Solveiga planned on rolling over and submitting to him.
The previous events in the fight had left the two wolves quite close to each other. Their chests were now about six inches apart, and this proximity left Solveiga with one advantage: her small stature. Being so much shorter than her opponent meant that Solveiga had a relatively clear shot at his throat. However, she had an idea that might make his throat an even clearer target. Trying hard to ignore the pain in her chest and the blood trickling down her face, Solveiga lowered her body further and engaged the muscles in her legs, taking a single second to gather her energy and coil herself like a spring. Then, Solveiga shoved herself upward with everything she had, her forelegs leaving the ground while her hind legs stayed firmly planted to help her keep at least some of her stability. Keeping her eyes narrowed and her ears pinned, she bashed the top part of her skull into her opponent. Her goal was to slam her head into his lower jaw, crashing his teeth together and hopefully forcing his head further away from his throat, leaving him vulnerable.
As soon as her front paws hit the ground again, she coiled her muscles once more and launched herself forward. There was no time to waste. She lunged forward and her jaws parted, lips curling to expose her teeth as she tried to bite down and sink her teeth into something, anything really. If her previous attack was successful in leaving his throat vulnerable, then she would aim for his throat. Specifically, she would aim her jaws a few inches below the junction of his jaw and throat, so that her bottom row of teeth could sink in just to the left of his jugular while her top row of teeth could find purchase three or four inches further to the left. But she wouldn't bite hard enough to wound him fatally, of course. This was supposed to be a spar, after all, and she would play by the rules even if her opponent chose not to.
If for some reason the brute was able to recover fast enough to protect his throat again after she sought to bash him in the jaw, then Solveiga would aim her teeth for the left side of his face, just below the eye. Whatever her teeth could get a hold of, honestly. She just wanted to give the man a taste of his own medicine. |
They had made impact, and bruises would blossom on his chest and shoulder that had struck Solveiga. The woman had been thrown back about two feet, but Enigma's momentum had kept him going which meant his bite had landed too. He tasted blood as his fangs sliced through fur and flesh, however, just as the fight had started, a howl sounded which stopped him in his tracks. Amber gaze widened slightly before narrowing, the brute leaping back and away from her as he suddenly lost interest in the fight. His head turned away from Solveiga, all indication of his aggression fading away from her only to be targeted towards something else. Narrowing his eyes towards the distance, Enigma stepped further back from the smaller woman, and for a moment he almost completely forgot she was there.
A low growl sounded in his throat, a step taken towards a new destination until he remembered why he was here. "Sorry, but this will have to wait." He turned towards her, gaze cold and hard, though his demeanor wasn't really towards her. "I admire your courage, perhaps we can continue this another day." It was an offer if she so chose to accept, and maybe next time he wouldn't try to rip her face off. He licked his muzzle clean of her blood drops, tail lashing as he was suddenly growing impatient to leave. He wouldn't deny her an introduction though, for future's sake. He did want a rematch later, but now, he had other business to take care of. "What's your name?"
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As soon as the fight had begun, it was over. Something pulled at the attention of her opponent, and he stepped away from Solveiga completely. But the woman was still seething a bit, upset by the nasty turn their "friendly spar" had taken. Now the man didn't want to fight at all? What was his problem? Her chest heaved as she caught her breath, looking at her would be opponent in complete confusion. But at last, he turned to address her.
"Perhaps," she said, trying not to let her reluctance be heard in her voice. He had been distracted by something. What was it? Solveiga hadn't seen or heard anything. "I'm... Solveiga," she said slowly, looking at the man through narrowed eyes as she tried to decipher what was going on. "And you?"
This was her first time fighting on the battlefield, but even she knew this was out of the ordinary. |