Valentine was on the prowl. He wove around the willows with a predatory slink, his gaze lazily drifting over the distance in a passive search for interesting things. The King wasn't actively seeking out people and things to occupy his time with, but he wouldn't pass on the opportunity should it present itself. He was a bored and a bit agitated, a restless need to move and do keeping him from returning home. Besides, Imperium was well looked after. It was in capable paws and he felt comfortable with wandering more than he ever had. The results of the meeting still troubled him, but Valentine was confident that it would all work out. Pausing at a stream, the King bent to drink. This stretch of the woods was surprisingly quiet. He'd seen neither hide nor hair of any other animals so far, which was unusual. This wasn't his first trip to these parts and in the past this place had made for good hunting grounds. It was entirely possible that he was the reason for the silence, that word had spread about the silent passage of a large lone wolf, and if that was the case then he was a bit disappointed. Valentine straightened and licked his lips, his eyes once again roving his surroundings. A frown depressed the corners of his mouth. It was far too quiet for his liking.

The boy had found himself wandering at this point. He felt he didn't need the nurturing of the pack he once came from. That scent was long gone now but may have still been somewhat intact since he stayed around the lands in case he couldn't make it alone in the world. He believed he was better than everyone, no one could change his mind about that. Finding his way south, he trekked many days through rivers and forests but wasn't really going anywhere in particular. He had no destination, he didn't have a home anymore. But he didn't care one little bit. He was young and free, and that's exactly what he wanted. He wandered into some draped trees and the scent of other wolves took his senses around in circles. As did most places he had been, the scents of wolves occupied and left stale marks all over the place. But he took a note on the wolf that had really been in this area. That was until he came feet from him. Realizing that it was too late to hide, the boy would turn to the grey male taking a drink from a stream and take a second to pull his ears back lightly to his skull. He wouldn't say a word but hope that the other wolf would run off or something. He wasn't really trying to scare him or anything, just not wanting to have any sort of contact with him. center>Walk "Talk" Think

Valentine looked up to find another brute staring back at him. The stranger said and did nothing, choosing instead to simply stand there and look at him. The King quirked an eyebrow in a silent ”well?” as he casually regarded the smaller man. His eyes were odd; one somewhere between pinkeye pink and skinned nose red and the other was unequally divided between purple and green. The Rex had never seen such a thing. Absentmindedly he licked his whiskers as he tried to place the peculiar familiarity that he found in those weird eyes. Perhaps their strangeness just reminded him of Dione and her crew, or one of Cataleya's many odd minions. Curiously he continued to look the stranger up and down. He seemed...stuck. Like a fawn staring into the face of a predator. Too late to hide. No chance of fleeing. Interesting. His tone dry, the King queried, "Cat got your tongue?" Dark amusement presented itself as a glitter in his eyes. Just standing there like a fool stank of disrespect and a challenging boldness. Who was this man?

G

The larger brute wouldn't have a problem staying where he was, Alvin admiring his size but jealous that he couldn't be that big to one day crush his enemies. He would keep eyes on this man, ears still pointed backwards but not necessarily in a threatening way. He would watch as the brute looked him up and down and raise his own brow as if to say "well you look funny too." His attitude was definitely sprawled across his face, not that he wanted to hide it or anything. "Maybe I don' know how talk." His brow relaxed as he spoke, jokingly but with words of fire. "What would you do then, hmm?" Alvin had a knack for still acting like a child, though he was far from a true adult. But everything about him was just so devilish and cocky, he didn't pay no mind to his own safety. The man before him could step on him like a bug but he still acted like he was this big tough guy that could take over the world. And he sure wish he could. He would be a fine ruler of the world. Walk "Talk" Think

The more he studied this man the more certain Valentine became that he'd never seen him before. He was sure he'd remember those eyes; like the King's height they were bound to make the stranger stand out, even in a crowd as large as Arcanum. His whiskers ticked forward like a cat's in interest as the stranger sassed him. Wicked amusement brought a glitter to his eyes as he regarded the other. He wasn't particularly fond of disrespect, subtle or not, and there was a very fine line between what he was willing to tolerate and what would elicit a correction. The King's tongue flicked out as he smoothed his whiskers back and, without skipping a beat, he rumbled with a faux amicable tone, "Clearly you do so there's no point in entertaining the idea, is there?"

Brow raised at the man's response. Alvin would stand at his normal height now, still slouched but not as low as he had been. He wasn't threatened by this man's height or his whiskers being all puffy. He would squint as he licked them back, and after the man finished his sentence, he would answer. "Well, I'm jus' saying." A more relaxing tone, but still full of his average attitude, "If I coul'nt talk you jus' be lookin at me like I was stupid or something." He would take a seat and turn his eyes away from the stranger. He didn't have much interest in him, but taking a seat he wouldn't mind taking a moment to relax from his trek up north. Maybe he would even stay somewhere close around here. His stature showed he didn't fear this man. And if that wasn't as noticeable, his attitude sure showed it. But he never paid any true mind to how rude he was. Sure, he loved seeing someone's fur ruffle; but he never tried to get himself killed or anything. Just liked to be an irritating brat most of the time. Walk "Talk" Think

A breeze wafted through, ruffling the King's fur and causing his ears to flick in mild annoyance as the thin hairs on the insides of his ears were disturbed. The feeling made his skin prickle, but he shook it off. For some reason minor things like that got under his skin; which was, perhaps, an odd thing for one so accustomed to far bigger physical annoyances, like wounds. Valentine snorted a dark chuckle at the stranger's words. "That's under the assumption that I wouldn't catch on pretty quickly and that you're the kind of mute who would just stare at me stupidly instead of trying to communicate your inability to speak." Was this seriously the conversation they were going to have? Hypothetical bullshitting about a stupid situation that was never going to be because this stranger clearly wasn't mute?

Alvin would notice as the wind bothered the giant brute, but he thought it was something he said instead of the wind. The boy would squint his eyes as the man spoke but he would be polite enough to let him finish. "You gotta problem with me or somethin'?" But immediately his face would show a joking grin though he was serious. "Is it because I'm brown? I don't got no fancy things like you." His brow raised at the man, Alvin could be the most annoying being on this earth. Sometimes it was intentional, but most the time it wasn't. He could act pretty stupid well, all the time. "Is it because my eyes all crazy? Maybe because I'm tinier than you?" Walk "Talk" Think

Valentine was beginning to wonder if he was conversing with a simpleton. This whole, weird conversation had a surreal, too-outrageous-to-be-true vibe going on. Was he dreaming? Had a branch from one of these wispy trees fallen and knocked him senseless? Surely this wasn't reality! He couldn't tell if the man was trying - and failing - to be funny or if he was serious. Bizarre, bizarre, bizarre indeed. "I don't have a problem with you, no. But," he said candidly, "I do think you have a problem." This man seemingly had no respect for others and that was a very dangerous quality to possess. Mix that with a man who held respect in the highest regard was just asking for trouble. "It's in your best interest to keep on walking." He said idly before his gaze sharpened and he parted with the words, "...while you still can."

Raising a brow to the man's words, Alvin would look him up and down before rolling his neck and standing to turn away. "Pfft, whatever." He would then start to walk away, not scared of the man's threat. The two hadn't even gotten each other's name but it meant very little that they didn't. Alvin had no interest in meeting him again and it was sure that the man didn't want to meet him again either. That was okay though, Alvin wasn't looking for friends, and he sure didn't care to have someone on his tail. His carefree lifestyle would eventually hurt him if not kill him... Little did he know this man was an alpha, and he would soon be living as a neighbor. -Exit Alvin- Walk "Talk" Think

OOC: I see you're going on vacation - don't worry about posting here! This will be here when you get back, I'm okay with starting the default timer on 8/31.

When he had said that the brute should walk away while he could, it wasn't just an empty threat. No, he was giving him a way out before his mouth got him in trouble. Clearly the hint had not been taken. Alvin's dismissal was like a spark to dry tinder. Instantly Valentine's anger ignited and his features contorted into an expression that promised wrath, and he went rigid as his hackles flared up instinctively. His lips peeled back to expose stark white canines; the crystal clear threat serving to also bunch the skin around his eyes and along the bridge of his nose. Valentine's eyes narrowed to slits and the blue of his eyes was nearly swallowed up by the blackness of his pupils as rage dilated them. His ears slammed back against the slope of his crown and remained fixed there as his opponent had the audacity to begin to walk away. If Valentine had his way the respectless man would not get far. With practiced ease Valentine adopted a fighter's stance. His toes splayed and his nails tipped downward to bite into the grit of the riverbank. He bent his knees and elbows just enough to add a useful looseness to his joints, and he placed his paws slightly wider than shoulder and hip width apart. The King's tail rose to lay on the same plane as his spine, the long-haired plume held perfectly straight in the hopes of bettering his balance. Finally his rage erupted and the King lunged, his paws momentarily scrabbling in the loose sand of the bank before he found purchase and managed to propel himself. Aiming to approach his opponent's left side, Valentine hoped to line the center of his chest up with the center of the meaty exterior of his opponent's left thigh. He sought to line the two of them up in a near perfect 'L' shape with his body held in a straight line and his opponent's haunch directly in front of him. Shifting his weight to his other three paws, Valentine lifted his left forefoot and aimed to slam it down on his opponent's left hind foot in the hopes of mashing his opponent's toes and causing severe pain as well as pin the appendage beneath the his superior weight. As his left forefoot rose, Valentine also jutted the bony front of his left shoulder forward. Hoping to use it like a lance against his opponent, the King sought to drive the aforementioned shoulder into the outside of Alvin's left kneecap in the hopes of driving it inwards and dislocating it. This move would hopefully render the limb useless for the foreseeable future. Given the proximity of the two body parts (his shoulder and his chest), Valentine also hoped that the whole of his chest would collide with the meaty exterior of his opponent's left thigh. The King hoped that this, combined with his attempt to pin Alvin's left hind paw, would unsettle his opponent and force him to stumble to his (Alvin's) right, if not fall over completely. Jaws splaying, Valentine's head snaked forward as he sought to bury his teeth into the back of his opponent. He sought to wrap his jaws around his opponent's spine approximately six inches above the base of his tail. The King intended to sink his upper teeth in just to the right of Alvin's spine and his lower teeth in directly across from them on the left side of Alvin's spine. He intended to scissor his jaws together in the hopes of fracturing the capture vertebrae and causing, either through intense swelling or severity of injury, temporary paralysis. VALENTINE versus ALVIN for FORCE CLAIM Round ONE of TWO(?) (OOC: How does two or three sound?) ""

Unaware that the man was on his way to Alvin's blood, he would be surprised when the giant came over him, but tried his best to prepare for the impact when he heard the  man shuffle. He tensed his muscles and curled his body inward (to the left towards Valentine) just as the brute hit him where his thigh and rib cage met (Image). His lips were flipped as he scrunched his neck and attempted to keep his balance, tail curled to the left to try and push his body toward the man, but quickly failed as the right side of his back end hit and slid a little bit on the ground and he scrambled to get himself back up but the man had smashed his massive paw onto his back left toes, crushing at least one or two and causing Alvin to struggle more in a painful effort to get back on all four of his feet. The man would once again drive his body into the left side of Alvin's body, this time hitting his shoulder to his knee, giving Alvin at least a really bad sprain if not more. He had finally hit the bottom and his body fell to his right side. The only thing he could think to do was kick his legs as if he were swimming hoping the man wouldn't take another blow to a different leg. Alvin would tense with another successful attack, this time to his back and stop his legs from kicking so he could try and lunge his own teeth to his opponent's front left leg around where the paw meets. Every attempt Alvin tried to get back to his feet had horribly failed since he was set on a very low experience than his opponent. Alvin had only fought his brother and held a desire to fight more, but never had the chance. His words were a lot bigger than his actions. He may have acted cocky, but he was no match for this man. He was far from winning, but he wasn't going to give up. He would give it his all before deciding it was too much to take. "Talk" (OOC: two rounds sounds fine ;3) Alvin vs Valentine for Force Claim Round: I | II Attacks: Kicking paws, attempt to bite Valen's front left leg Defenses: Lips curled, tail curled for balance, neck scrunched Injuries: Crushed toes, sprained+ knee, All on back left leg, puncture wounds next to spine

All of his attacks earned him some amount of success. His efforts forced his opponent to the ground as he'd hoped they would. Feeling that his bite wasn't worth keeping with the odd-eyed man down, Valentine released it. He was in the process of formulating another attack when he felt what he guessed to be his opponent's paws strike the middle of the inside of his right foreleg one right after the other. The force behind them wasn't that great, so only mild bruises would form along the points of contact. Pain flared up Valentine's leg as Alvin's teeth sunk into his wrist directly above the paw of his left foreleg. The thin skin there torn and wept readily; his opponent's efforts tearing open a moderate wound. Thankfully, the King's weight had been shifted back and distributed among his other three limbs during his attempt to smash Alvin's toes, so the leg wasn't bearing much weight. Blind rage and pain pulled a guttural roar from the King's lips as his jaws parted and he sought to land a damning bite across the back of his opponent's outstretched neck. Valentine sought to sink his teeth into the back of Alvin's neck. He wanted to grab right at the base of Alvin's skull, to drive his upper front teeth into the center of the vertebrae there and his lower front teeth the left side of Alvin's neck right behind his left ear. The King wanted to slice through the skin and fat there and apply enough pressure to the base of Alvin's skull to hopefully cause intense pain and force him to submit or risk paralysis. Such a grip would hopefully also greatly limit his opponent's movements and give Valentine control of his head. Faced with a downed opponent, Valentine decided he may as well get down on the ground too. Carefully, so as not to put too much weight on his captured left foreleg, Valentine shuffled his right forefoot in closer towards his left forefoot and rolled his right shoulder in so that the bony front of it was jutted forward. He then began to drop to the ground, seeking a dead fall that would drive the point of the aforementioned shoulder into the meaty exterior of his opponent's left thigh with as much force as his hefty weight and a shove from his hind legs could offer. The blow would hopefully land on the very back of the outside of his opponent's thigh (his left butt cheek, I suppose). Because there wasn't much distance between his shoulder and his chest, Valentine was also hoping the midway point between the point of his left shoulder and the center of his chest would strike the kneecap of his opponent's left back leg. He wanted to worsen the damage previously done, to jar the injured kneecap and further strain the fibers that held it together, and in doing so, hopefully cause a considerable amount of pain. Through all of this most of his defenses remained the same. Valentine's ears lay flat against his skull, his eyes stayed narrowed and his lips stayed curled. Along his back, the King's hackles stood tall and rigid, and his tail was held straight out behind him for balance. He was careful to keep his weight evenly distributed among his right foreleg and hind legs in case his opponent decided to give his left foreleg a yank. His knees and elbows were bent, his toes splayed, and his stance slightly wider than hip/shoulder width. Valentine was tense all over, muscles held taunt and at the ready for quick movements. VALENTINE versus ALVIN for FORCE CLAIM Round TWO of TWO ""

The man released his jaws from his back but would turn them to the back of his skull again in a direct hit to his intentions. Alvin refrained from moving his head, hoping not to do any damage himself. Instead he would try and pull his legs, even the injured one, underneath him and try to push what little weight he had up and into the man through his haunches. He would struggle as the man pushed his chest against his back left leg in order to damage him more, but he would still try to pull his legs under him even if it meant causing more damage to that leg. Meanwhile, he would keep his muscles tense, his eyes narrowed, almost closed, and tried to scrunch his neck by pushing with his shoulders. If he was able to get his paws under him, he would try to shuffle his nails into the soil in order to get better ground with his paws spread as much as possible. His ears had also laid themselves back on his head, one moving around his opponents jaws. He was close to his breaking point. "Talk" (OOC: If Valen wins you can say Alvin Submitted under his weight) Alvin vs Valentine for Force Claim Round: I | II Attacks: Trying to pull his legs under himself and push Valentine off Defenses: Last paragraph Injuries: (Round One) Crushed toes, sprained+ knee, All on back left leg, puncture wounds next to spine (Round Two) More damage to back left knee, puncture wounds in the back of his skull/left ear area.

Sorry about the wait guys! Life was sucky and then siege.

VALENTINE vs ALVIN for FORCE CLAIM ROUND ONE VALENTINE CLARITY - All clear! Total: 8 POWERPLAY - None! Total: 10 DEFENSES Toes splayed, nails in ground, knees bent, hackles raised, lips snarling, eyes narrowed, ears pinned, tail aligned with spine, legs evenly spaced, weight adjusted for three legged stance. Total: 10 ATTACK + 1 paw slam + 3 shoulder slam + severity & maim attempt + 1 chest slam + 4 bite to spine, severity & maim attempt Total: 9 INJURIES - First round! Total: 10 Total for Round One: 49 / 50 ALVIN CLARITY - “...just as the brute hit him where his thigh and rib cage met...” How much damage did this cause? What side? -2 - “...but the man had smashed his massive paw onto his back left toes, crushing at least one or two...“ How much damage is this? Are they broken, sprained, bruised? -2 - “.The man would once again drive his body into the left side of Alvin's body, this time hitting his shoulder to his knee, giving Alvin at least a really bad sprain if not more. ” Which one is it? A bad sprain, or more? What knee? You NEED to be more specific. -2 - “The only thing he could think to do was kick his legs as if he were swimming hoping the man wouldn't take another blow to a different leg.” This is not specific at all. He had to at least have a target in mind, and cannot flounder like a fish out of water in hopes of hitting. -2 - “Alvin would tense with another successful attack, this time to his back and stop his legs from kicking so he could try and lunge his own teeth to his opponent's front left leg around where the paw meets.” Where the paw meets what? And how much damage did he do with the bite to the back? Did he get a hold? Where on the back? -2 Total: 0 POWERPLAY - - There is a lot of movement in your response to Valentine's attacks. Since they all happened at once, it if very unlikely that Alvin would even be able to try to get back up to be knocked down again. And then for him to try and bite, as well as the fact that he keeps trying to get back up, kicking his legs, stopping, bitng. A toooon of movement in one round. -3 Total: 7 DEFENSES Lips curled, neck scrunched. Total: 2 ATTACK + 0 for leg flail. (minus points for clarity issues.) + 2 for bite to front leg. Total: 2 INJURIES - First Round! - (Moderate bruise to left thigh, decided by judge) - (Sprained toes on back left toes, decided by judge) - (Sprained knee on left back leg, decided by judge) Total: 10 Total for Round One: 21 / 50 ROUND TWO VALENTINE CLARITY - All clear! Total: 10 POWERPLAY - None seen! Total: 10 DEFENSES Shoulders rolled, weight distributed on three grounded limbs, ears pinned, eyes narrowed, lips curled, hackles raised, tail aligned with spine, limbs bent, toes splayed, stance widened. Total: 10 ATTACK + 3 bite to back of neck + grip attempt + 1 shoulder check to left thigh + 3 chest drive to already injured knee + for worsting damage and severity Total: 7 INJURIES - Minor bruises on right foreleg. -1 - Moderate bite to left front wrist. -3 Total: 6 Total for Round Two: 43 / 50 ALVIN CLARITY - “The man released his jaws from his back but would turn them to the back of his skull again in a direct hit to his intentions.” How much damage did this cause? Did he get a grip? -2 - “e would struggle as the man pushed his chest against his back left leg in order to damage him more, but he would still try to pull his legs under him even if it meant causing more damage to that leg.” Did this do more damage? How is he managing to push up with all the weight that was bared on him? -2 Total: 6 POWERPLAY - Did Valentine's shoulder check land? -3 Total: 7 DEFENSES Muscles tensed, eyes narrowed, neck scrunched, nails in ground, ears pinned Total: 5 ATTACK No attacks Total: 0 INJURIES - Major puncture wounds to the back of the neck/base of skull. -4 (decided by judge) - Further sprain to left kneecap. -3 (decided by judge) - Major bruise to left thigh. -2 (decided by judge) Total: 1 Total for Round Two: 19 / 50 Totals: VALENTINE 49 + 43 = 92 / 100 ALVIN 21 + 19 = 40 / 100 And the winner is... VALENTINE Alvin must give up by submitting, fleeing or passing out, and now belongs to Imperium. Damage: VALENTINE - All healed by this point. ALVIN - All healed by this point. Notes: Tips for writing and some suggestions. (no points are deducted here): Lazuli Nothing to note, great fight! Amazing attacks, SO CLOSE to a perfect 50 first round. Chrono Most of my notes are listed above, but you could have EASILY gotten some more points here if you just listed ten defences. Even an inexperienced fighter would still know the basic defences, they are almost automatic. Also you listed none of the damage done to your character, which hurts a lot. I could be mean and make it do a lot more damage than it did, and maybe more than you intended. You need to watch your clarity and make things way more clear and precise. Watch ignoring attacks as well. - By [Evelyn]