Coughing heralds the approach of another coydog, this one a too-thin albino with brindling such a pale gray it is barely visible against the coat - the obvious shadows of her ribs are darker. She squints watery pink eyes against the light to try to see the fighters then indicates Ignis and Valdis. It’s not immediately obvious if she can actually see them or if she just picked shapes at random. Coughing again, she leads them to a bunch of stones set into the ground in a ring. ”Don’t put a foot outside the circle or you lose automatically,” she says before she has to stop for breath. She has a surprisingly pretty voice for such a sickly creature. ”I will decide who wins.” That seems to have taxed her breath, because she simply nods at Ignis to indicate they should go first.

Ignis was pumped! He got to watch his uncle fight along with most of the other spectators. The yearling watched the other fights intensely, gathering what he could learn to apply to his own fight to come. Before long, a sickly looking coydog walked up and chose him along with someone else. He could hardly hold his excitement, the crimson boy practically bouncing in place. So excited in fact, that he didn't even really care that this sickly creature might potentially get him sick. Oh well. If it happened, it happened. His companions glanced at each other, a wild grin on the Wolverines face and a cheeky grin on Jab the cockatoo. Oh yeeaaahh! The trio couldn't wait to get started! "Alright, let's get this pahrchoo stahrted! Too right, cobber." Jab squawked as he took to the air. He stepped into the ring and faced his opponent. His tail wagged and a grin split his maw as he listened to the rules. Alright, simple enough. He could do this! He hadn't been in an official fight before. He only had the training from his uncle and Rhyme, and then there was a couple times against some other predators, so a fight with another wolf would be a piece of cake, right? "Name's Ignis, nice to meetcha!" He barked. That was good etiquette before a fight, right? Introductions? He wasn't sure, but he did it anyway. When the coydog told him to start, Ignis squared off right away. He was way, way too excited though. He fell into the defenses that he learned, and once he was done with that, he stood there and thought for a moment. Alright...what to do now? He wasn't being attacked first, unlike the time he fought that tiger. So...he just had to...attack her...right? Or...run at her and go from there? "You gonna move or what?" The annoyed voice of his wolverine companion caused him to glance down, ears flattening with embarrassment. "I er..." The wolverine sighed and rolled his eyes, "Follow my lead and your instincts will kick in...I hope." With that, the wolverine charged, leaving Ignis to stand there confused for a moment. What was he...oh...OH! Okay, now he got it. The wolverine charged towards Valdis. His path had initially started going straight at her, but he eventually drifted off towards her right side as he aimed to run past her before pivoting around on his heels to charge at her hind legs. The grumpy creature aimed to ram his body into her legs like a battering ram, head twisting upwards as he sought to bite at her stomach. Hopefully, he was distracting enough for that bonehead kid to figure out what to do... Meanwhile, Ignis charged forward as he aimed to come head on at Valdis. He was much, much bigger than her, something he didn't really think about as he charged for her. He still didn't quite know what the hell he was doing, so he just did whatever he could. He barreled for her, the crimson boy aiming to crash into her with his broad chest as hard as he could. After that, his head snapped downward and slightly towards her left side, aiming to bite the side of her neck where it met her shoulder. Ignis vs Valdis for TOURNAMENT SPAR Round 1/? Size: Dire Wolf Build: heavy Offensive Accessory: N/A Defensive Accessory: N/A Companion 1: Wolverine - Battle Companion 2: Cockatoo - Flying Mutation: N/A Disability: N/A Fight Skill Level: Advanced Specialty: N/A "Speech"

Art by Naiterion

Valdís waited eagerly for her chance to join the fray. Much as she wanted to get right down to the fight she had to admit it'd been worthwhile to watch some of the earlier rounds. She could see a great number of battle tactics and noted that many fighters adorned themselves with crafted weapons and armor and that many battled with companions. She was beginning to feel outmatched as well as outnumbered. This seemed like it would be the case as she was paired up with a young man who was flanked by two companions. She dipped her head in greeting to him as she moved to her starting place in the ring.   "Valdís, a pleasure." She knew enough of wolverine's to know how nasty they were but she didn't know what to make of the bird. Valdís set her defenses easily. It was second nature to her now though it had been awhile since she'd been in battle against another wolf. Come to think of it most of her fights over the past year or so had been against a number of predators. This tournament would serve as good practice to get her back in fighting shape. She waited, and waited. Valdís looked at her opponent expectantly. Was he trying to psyche her out? If he was expecting her to drop her guard even a little he'd be waiting ages. Her eyes narrowed as the wolverine took charge and dove towards her, he sailed past and she knew that he was going to go for her hindquarters but then the male wolf charged and she sprang into action herself. Valdís took a wide step to her right, causing the male to start to pass her. The movement caused his charge and fangs to miss. With luck she'd avoided most of the wolverine's assault though his right shoulder did graze off her left hind leg and she knew she'd have some significant bruising as the fight went on. She didn't waste a moment. The second she was over she kicked forward, angling in as she sought to slam her right shoulder forward, seeking to crash it into the young man's left knee cap with the hopes of dislocating it. Her jaws opened wide as she sought to dig into his body with her fangs, where his left leg met the left side of his body. Her goal was to cause as much damage as she could before she needed to move again. Valdís vs Ignis for Tournament Spar Round: 1 of 2 Size: Large Build: Medium Skill Level: Advanced No accessories, companions or other items of note. "Talk" "You" Think

Well, he wasn't as successful as he hoped. In fact, he hadn't been successful at all. She had moved enough to where his attacks missed, much to his disappointment. His Wolverine had at least managed to hit her though, so that was something. Ignis wasted no time, however, the yearling deciding to stop on a dime and pivot to face her, and as soon as he did he shot forward. As soon as he did that, he saw her fangs fly at him and he braced for impact. With his quick movement and second attempt at charging into her just as she charged at him, the pair collided chest to chest and he could feel a big bruise forming already. The impact practically rattled the yearlings bones, but the adrenaline had kicked in which helped to dull some of the pain.

Her jaws came flying at him, and so Ignis ducked his head and lowered the front half of his body until he was below her head. He felt fangs grasp into his scruff, tearing skin. That didn't stop him, though! Immediately, he twisted his head up and bounced his front paws off the ground as he opened his jaws, aiming to close them around the woman's exposed throat where her jaw met her neck. Hopefully with the force he was using, he would be able to grab her neck and lift her off the ground, or perhaps even flip her onto her back entirely.

Ignis vs Valdis for TOURNAMENT SPAR
Round 2/2
Size: Dire Wolf
Build: heavy
Offensive Accessory: N/A
Defensive Accessory: N/A
Companion 1: Wolverine - Battle
Companion 2: Cockatoo - Flying
Mutation: N/A
Disability: N/A
Fight Skill Level: Advanced
Specialty: N/A

The pair collided, chest to chest. Valdís exhaling rapidly just before the collision so that she'd be able to draw breath right after. There would be bruising and her opponent being larger and heavier, caused her to bounce back a bit a movement she'd take to her advantage. Being lighter and faster than her opponent, Valdís hoped to capitalize on her speed. As her opponent ducked she rolled her shoulders forward, her chin tucking sharply as her head aimed down. She maintained her other defenses and as his jaws shot up her shot down. She twisted her head sharply to her left as she sought to catch the boys lower jaw betwixt her own. She hoped for her upper fangs to land on right side of his lower jaw and her bottom fangs on the left side. Her goal was to snap her jaws powerfully together and fracture bone to bring a swift end to this battle. Valdís vs Ignis for Tournament Spar Round: 2 of 2 Size: Large Build: Medium Skill Level: Advanced No accessories, companions or other items of note. "Talk" "You" Think

And the winner is...

IGNIS

VALDIS must give up by submitting, fleeing or passing out. Totals: Ignis: 301.14 Valdis: 157.99

A cry rang out, followed by a coughing fit, that the fight was over and Valdís halted her questing jaws. Shuffling quickly to the side she turned and look at the coydog. It didn't take her long to piece together what had happened. When she'd collided with the much larger male the force of the collision had pushed her back and out of the ring. Likely do to a coughing fit the coydog had needed a moment to catch her breath and call out the results. By that time Valdís had sprung in to attack. She sighed. Not the result she'd like to have brought back to Chaos but the rules were rules. She turned to Ignis and dipped her head. "Good match. You've got potential." Valdís exited the ring to view some of the other matches. If she was not mistaken, she'd have another chance. -exit- "Talk" "You" Think

"Talk" Walk Okay, he couldn't lie to himself. This chick was terrifying! The whole fight he swore she was trying to break his bones! When he saw her fangs striking for his own jaws, he tucked his head and squeezed his eyes shut. But luckily, the coydog would be his saving grace and call an end to the match, naming him thr victor. He stood there, nearly petrified to the spot before that realization sunk in. He had been waiting for those jaws of hers to rip him to shreds, and when she backed off he felt like he might melt into a puddle of relief. "Good match. You've got potential." Ears perked and tail began to wag as his eyes lit up. "And you're a great warrior!" He blurted out as she took off. He stood there for a few moments, wondering if he might be able to find her later on and ask if she'd be willing to teach him some of her moves. He knew he would learn from his uncle, but it wouldn't hurt to learn from someone else too, right? With another sigh of relief at those close calls, he took off on wobbly feet, glad that he managed to come out with his limbs still intact.