The young woman was on a mission that day. The sun sat high in the autumn sky, and her bi-colored eyes shown with a certain brilliance as she marched towards the battlefield. She had heard tale of the place from a loner, of one who was kind enough to tell her that if she was searching for a battle that was the place to go. She'd breathe in, confidence radiating in her very core. While there was no shame in losing, one shouldn't lose the fight before they even began. Go in like a winner, come out like a winner regardless of how the spar ended up. Bernadette would come to a stop upon the blood strained ground. The femme would look around her, her body shivering with excitement. Here. Now. This would be the place to train to get better. So that she might have a usefulness to give to Yfir. Head would tilt back, her song carrying into the wind. If anyone was interested in a spar then let them come. She'd take on anyone who showed interest.

Birna refused to leave the battlefield until she was satisfied with her performance and so she opted to camp within the battlefield for awhile, tending to her training. She did not know if Valentine would approve of her taking off like this but she was certain that Imperium could look after itself just fine while she trained. For when she returned she would truly be a force to reckon with and could lend herself that much more to her pack. A powerful howl caught Birna's attention and she quickly moved to answer the call, coming upon a strangely marked woman with a dark pelt that almost appeared stained in blood though the scent would say otherwise. The woman appeared to be almost two years old, a bulky muscled femme standing 36" tall. Hmm… she seemed like a worth opponent. Birna would dip her head in greeting. "You have sung the cry of battle and I am here to answer it, the first move is yours." Birna quickly set her defenses and waited. Birna vs. Bernadette for Spar (Rd. 0/?)

Bernadette would not have to wait long before her call was answered. A woman, larger than even she, would come to the battlefield. The woman had to easily be another six inches taller than her, half a foot. This would definitely be a worthy opponent to test her skills against. Berny honestly felt a bit excited, her gaze shining. This would definitely be a good fight. With a nod to her opponent, Bernadette would begin to ready her defenses. There was no more need for talking here. Legs would be spread in a widened stance, as would Bernadette’s toes. Her claws would bite into the soil, shoulders being rolled forward as she distributed her weight across her four limbs. Her tail would be held out behind her like a banner, hackles raised, and head lowered to align with her spine. Chin would tip forward, muscles tense, with her eyes narrowed and her ears pinned. It was time. The first move was hers, and Bernadette knew that there was still much she had to learn when it came to fighting. She was no expert, as her mother had once been. But by the gods she would try her hardest here today. Spar or not, it was serious business. Bernadette would move forward, attempting to close the distance between Birna and herself. The femme would try to come in seemingly head on, shifting about sixty degrees to her {Berny} right at the last foot or so. Bernadette would shift her weight into her back legs, rearing up and forward as she attempted to wrap her right foreleg around the left side of Birna’s neck. Meanwhile, her {Berny} left foreleg sought to land upon the front of Birna’s right shoulder, claws out, to dig into the flesh. In addition to this Bernadette sought to slam her weight into Birna so that the “hug” would have her weight pressing down upon Birna’s neck. Finally Bernadette would turn her head to her own left and upward, aiming to clamp it down upon Birna’s right ear with her upper jaw on the inside of the ear and her lower jaw upon the outside of the ear. Bernadette vs Birna for Spar || Round One / Two

Birna's call was swiftly answered by a black and red femme and they got straight down to business.  Birna's defenses were set, her skull and tail aligned with her spine, her chin tucked, neck scrunched back and shoulders rolled forward.  Hackles laced down her back, her stance widened just slightly as her limbs spread out equidistant apart, her weight shifting evenly over them.  Her joints bent as she lowered her center of gravity.  Her toes splayed wide, claws tearing into the earth as her jaws parted, the flesh of her brow bunching as her eyes narrowed and her ears pinned to her head.

Bernadette would charge and so to would Birna.  As the black and red would try to come at her at a 60º angle Birna would seek to swing her rear-end to her own right in an effort to bring them back into head-on alignment and charge in low, her hind legs would coil sharply as her weight would shift evenly back to them, her front legs lifting as she attempted to wrap them around Bernadette's chest.  Her right forelimb seeking to wrap around the left side of Bernie's chest just behind the armpit, her left forelimb seeking to wrap around the right side of Bernie's chest also just behind the armpit.  Her foreclaws sought to dig into fur and flesh to help her maintain a grip more than to do any damage.  Her back legs would uncoil sharply in a powerful lunge as she attempted to throw the center of her chest forward and up seeking to slam it just below the center of Bernie's chest in the hopes the force and angle would push the other woman over onto her ebony backside as well as cause bruising

Simultaneously her jaws would lunge forward, her head tilting to her own right as she attempted to latch onto Bernadette's throat, a few inches below the corner of the ebony woman's jaws.  Birna's upper fangs seeking to land on the left side of the woman's windpipe her lower fangs directly opposite on the right side of the woman's windpipe.  Birna sought a powerful grip from which she could strangulate the other woman and bring the spar to a swift conclusion.

Birna's sudden lunge forward as well as her sharply coiling limbs and attempt to put them back into head-on alignment managed to displace her opponents attacks.  Bernie's right foreleg would rest along the left side of the base of Birna's neck but the shift in angle, plus being so close to her shoulders, would not be an optimal position for the black and red femme to force her weight on Birna's neck and the larger woman remained mostly unaffected apart from some mild bruising.  Bernie's left foreleg would glance off the front of her right shoulder, the impact leaving mild bruising but the claws were to dull to dig through her thick fur and pierce skin.  With Birna's lowered stance and sudden lunge up for the underside of Bernie's neck the other woman's fangs would fail to grasp her right ear and instead tear moderate lacerations into the flesh of her upper right neck just behind the base of her right ear but failing to get a solid grip.

-- You Can Bury My Body But I'll Never Die --
Birna vs Bernadette for Spar Rd. 1 / 1
given our struggling muses we've decided to drop this to 1 round

BERNIE vs BIRNA for SPAR ROUND ONE BERNIE CLARITY - 2 “shifting about sixty degrees to her right” How? Degrees are tricky. How are you measuring this? Are you twisting, moving, sidestepping? Total: 8 POWERPLAY - 0 Total:10 DEFENSES +1 (legs) + 1 (toes) + 1 (shoulders) + 1 (claws) + 1 (tail) + 1 (hackles) + 1 (head) + 1 (chin) + 1 (eyes) + 1 (ears) Total: 10 ATTACK + 2 bear hug + 2 body slam + 3 bite attempt + 1 grip Total: 8 INJURIES - RND 1 Total: 10 Total for Round One: 46 / 50 BIRNA CLARITY - All clear! Total: 10 POWERPLAY - 0 Total: 10 DEFENSES + 1 (head) + 1 (tail) + 1 (chin) + 1 (neck) + 1 (shoulders) + 1 (hackles) + 1 (knees) + 1 (toes) + 1 (claws) + 1 (eyes) + 1 (ears) Total: 10 ATTACK + 2 bear hug + 2 body slam + 3 bite attempt + 1 severity + 1 grip Total: 9 INJURIES - RND 1 Total: 10 Total for Round One: 49 / 50 Totals: BERNIE 46 / 50 BIRNA 49 / 50 And the winner is... BIRNA BERNIE must give up by submitting, fleeing or passing out. Damage: BERNIE - None BIRNA - mild bruising to both shoulders - 2 OOC days - Mod laceration to upper right neck - 1.5 OOC days Notes: Tips for writing and some suggestions. (no points are deducted here): Both For a one rounder this was really fun to judge. You both did amazing! Keep up the good work. My notes are above. :) - By [Arin]