Jupiter was feeling...well shitty, honestly. He'd been out late with what could only be described as a horse-faced ho nanny but damn could that girl brew some shit and he had the hangover to prove it. The giant had slumped over the dry river's edge for the better part of the morning and had himself a good long sulk, but he couldn't do that all day. He needed to get up and get moving no matter how much it sucked or how badly he wanted to melt into the dry ground.

And what awful better way to get himself back into shape than jumping feet first into a terrible idea? Yep, he was going to fix himself with his second favorite 'F' activity. So he'd fixed himself a small drink to take the edge off, downed that, and then set off for a good place to plop down a bad idea. He was going to fight everybody. No, really, he was literally going to fight everyone who showed up.

Once out in no man's land Jupiter stopped, planted his feet a little too wide, threw back his head (saw shooting stars and winced) and howled for anyone crazy enough to fight a bunch of strangers at once.

Natha slinked around the battlefield. She knew she needed to improve her skills in fighting wolves if she was going to aspire to be part of the muscle of Shorty's gang. But she wasn't quite sure on their customs. What was she supposed to do just… yowl? Would anyone even show up if she yowled? Further more would she end up attracting predators by doing so?

A howl rang out and her tufted ears twitched. She was not overly familiar with wolf howls but that one didn't seem distressed. Perhaps the caller was seeking an opponent. She loped gracefully to the source of the call to find the strangest looking wolf she'd ever seen. What the fuck was that? Her golden eyes widened as she stalked forward. Natha wasn't even 100% sure he was actually real. Well, only one way to find out.

Natha strode forward. "You seeking an opponent, wolf?"

What was this, Jupiter was calling for melee fighters? Hell yeah he was in. Even though he'd been in his fair share of spars Tyrian had never been in a melee fight before. He'd only ever fought against one opponent and even though he was going for the intrigue of it, if anyone asked he would say it was a learning experience. Totally, 100% for science. Or whatever.

He leaped onto the scene and was unsurprised to catch the yeasty scent of alcohol on the breeze. Ahhhh. Now those bizarre noises from the lake made sense. His nephew was nothing if not predictable. The post night out melee was a new twist, though.

What was this, a cat? Interesting. He had been beginning to think the only felines interested in wolf society were his companion and Alarr's, so it was pretty cool the cat had answered the call. "Opponents," he corrected Natha with a smile before glancing at Jupiter to be sure he'd interpreted the howl correctly. "You are wanting a melee, right Jupi?"

Morning stretched languidly across the flat terrain at the heart of Boreas. Lúta had no destination in mind and no where in particular she wished to head to. She settled down to consider her options when she heard a call for not one but multiple opponents. She hesitated. She was supposed to be turning her life to more tender and helpful pursuits such as healing but even so she'd been raised a warrior. It was in her blood.

She stood, ears twitching for a moment. Well, she reasoned to herself, this would be a good way to get an idea of what the wolves of this area were like and how they fought. If she was to tend wounds she needed to know what sorts of injuries were most likely. When she arrived she saw an interesting trio. A wolf with a pelt just as extravagant as hers and a young male with saber fangs and a lynx. Of the three her gaze lingered longest on the lynx. Did the wolves here routinely spar against other species?

"Pardon me. If you have room for one more, I wish to participate."

Torrent moved with quiet grace as she followed her brother. Not that she regularly made it a habit to stalk her brothers - well, not that regularly - but she'd been feeling a bit restless. Asriel had been no help at all, as the snow leopard had been apparently out of sorts and not inclined to be particularly friendly. Finding out what Tyrian was up to was a better alternative than strangling an irritable cat, so she'd followed. Asriel had joined her not long afterwards, his pale, spotted fur bristling in annoyance that he'd given in. When Jupiter's howl suddenly broke through, calling for a melee, her ears flicked forward in interest. Was that where Tyrian was going? Even if it wasn't, the prospect of a brawl was interesting enough to pull her away from her self-imposed task, and she set out directly for it.

It turned out that was where Tyrian was heading, or he had heard the call as well and been closer, because he was there when she came into view of the little group. So, too, were two strangers, one who caught her eye with an interesting combination of blue and gold that was reminiscent of a brilliant gold sunset on a cloudy evening, but the other who kept her gaze by virtue of being something new. Torrent stared unblinkingly at the cat, who didn't seem to be accompanying anyone as Asriel did her, and tilted her head to the side in contemplation of it. The cat looked quite a bit like a bobcat, but much bigger. If there hadn't been the promise of a melee, Torrent might have approached the cat to ask her questions about what sort of creature she was, but the anticipation of violence overruled any thirst for knowledge. Instead she nodded shortly to both her brother and her nephew, and positioned herself at the edge of the group where she could best decide where to jump into the coming brawl.

Talon gallomphed along with his nose to the ground and his tail in the air, a banner waved back and forth at a speed that made it quite possible that was what was propelling his body clumsily past all obstacles as he followed the scent trail of a skunk. But not Lefty. Oh, not Righty either. Those guys were off-limits because they were family. But this stranger-skunk, hooooboyyyyy he was definitely going to find it and claim it as his own so he could be just like Grandpa Valen and Uncle Tyrian.

He found the skunk.

The skunk did not appreciate his well-reasoned argument about why it had to go home with him.

It really didn't appreciate that he resorted to pouncing on it when that didn't work.

With runny eyes and nose, and smelling to high heavens in a way that would have horrified his mother if she hadn't gotten lost in the volcano night, he went looking for less painful entertainment.

Luckily by the time he found it, his nose had become basically inured to scent wafting off him, so he thought nothing of throwing himself gleefully into the group that waited for him. "Jupiter! I want to fight too! Can I? Can I please? I want to -" He froze, gaping suddenly at the adorable fluffy cat that was easily as tall as a lot of wolves. Oh em goodness, was that cute little kitty going to fight too? That... that was awesome! "Awwwwwwwwwwwww it's so cute!" he crooned, wriggling his entire back half along with his tail.

Jupiter blinked bleary eyes at Natha and was on the verge of replying when Tyrian beat him to it. So he blinked bleary eyes at him instead and then rolled his head over and gave Natha a 'yup' look. The next wolf to arrive was one Jupiter was going to call - possibly just in his head possibly out loud depending on how his morning booze settled in - Destiny because damn that kind of blue was just meant to mix with his kind of blue. He was gong to be immensely disappointed if he discovered they were related. Dibs, dibs, fucking dibs she was going to be his opponent if he had to kick down all of these young'uns and the cat to make it happen. "Do we have room," he purred teasingly. "You bet your ass we do."

To Talon whose exuberance was as much a kick in the face as the aroma Jupiter had yet to pick up on, he said, "Sure, kid-" The smell hit him then. "Holy mother of fuck did you crawl up a skunk's ass before you came here?" He wanted to tell him no, get thee back Satan...but honestly the stench added an element to the melee he couldn't really object to. And in Jupiter's opinion it made the odds of Destiny flying into his arms/jaws greater because let's be honest, they were all going to play hot potato with Talon and his skunk funk. "You can participate but if you lose we get to dredge you along the bottom of the nearest river until you or the stink is gone, capisce?"

"Well, I think this is enough of a party. It's every man for himself. If anyone objects to this," he said while lunging for Luta aka destiny, "Now's the time to run away like a little bitch!" Because he really wanted to get his arms around her one way or another, Jupiter sought to approach Luta head on. For now he would settle for something platonic.

He sought to slam his chest into hers while rising up on his hind legs so he could wrap his forelegs around the top of her neck. Doing so would hopefully give him control of her head and the option, should it present itself, of being able to look longingly down into her eyes.He wouldn't because that would be real fucking weird but the thought  would give him warm fuzzies for sure.


Jupiter versus Luta, Natha, Talon, Torrent and Tyrian for Melee
Round 1 of 2???
Age: 1+
Size: Extra large
Build: Medium
Companion 1: Emporor Tamarin, Male - Battle
Skills: Advanced Intellectual & Expert Fighter
Specialty: N/A

More wolves filed in and Natha felt her stomach flip a little. It was one thing to be around one or two wolves but at the moment she felt like she was surrounded by a pack. Her nose wrinkled as a young male wandered in smelling of skunk. Was this part of his strategy? If it was she had to admit it was working, she didn't feel much like taking a bite out of the little scamp. It was time to begin and she swiftly set her defenses unsure how this would all start. Who should she go for? It all felt a little overwhelming until the blue male raced for the blue female and Natha's prey instincts kicked in. It was just so difficult for her to resist something moving so she leapt forward after Jupiter.

Her claws unsheathed as she lanced her left forepaw forward, seeking to rake her claws across his back left ankle, hoping she might trip him up a bit. At the same time her head rotated to her left as her fangs sought to dig into the back of his left thigh.

Natha Críoch vs Jupiter vs Tyrian vs Lúta vs Torrent vs Talon for Melee Spar
Round 1/2
Age: Over 1 year
Size: Other species
Build: Medium
Skills: Intermediate Navigator & Advanced Fighter
Specialty: N/A

Having been the recipient of a few sprays himself, Tyrian was nearly immune to the smell Talon had brought with him. Yes it made his eyes water in the beginning but he recovered quickly. It was for that reason he decided to be a champ, take one for the team and go after Talon first. He could handle his smelly nephew. As things got underway Tyrian lunged for Talon. He sought to ram his chest into Talon's left side and was aiming for the hollow between his ribs and hip. They were the same height but Talon was a great deal lighter than Tyrian and Tyrian was hoping to handily fling Talon over. Sending his nephew rolling would give him a chance to go after someone else. Tyrian wanted to win so he was going to do his best to drop opponents as quickly as possible.

Tyrian vs Jupiter vs Natha vs Luta vs Talon vs Torrent
Round 1 of 2
Age: 1+
Size: Extra large
Build: Heavy
Companion 1: Snow Leopard, Female - Battle
Companion 2: Black-footed Langur, Male - Battle
Mutation 1: Retractable Claws - Offensive
Mutation 2: Saber Teeth - Offensive
Skills: Master Intellectual & Advanced Fighter
Specialty: Bard (not useful in this fight)

What madness! Everything exploded into action as the large blue male rushed toward her. Lúta held her defenses and sprang into action herself. She dove forward and as he rose on his hind legs she let her center of gravity fall as she attempted to scoot under him, jaws wide as she attempted to bite into his belly just behind his sternum. She knew it was dangerous to be right under him like this but they were fairly close in size and her body had moved before her mind caught up. As she tipped her head to try and bite her weight shifted to her right foreleg and hind legs as she sought to lance her left forepaw forward to snag the man's right ankle. She simply sough damage in an attempt to unstable him.

Lúta vs Jupiter vs Tyrian vs Natha vs Torrent vs Talon for Melee Spar
Round 1/2
Age: Over 1 Year
Size: Extra large
Build: Medium
Companion 1: Japanese macaque, Female - Battle
Mutation 1: Cat claws - Offensive
Skills: Advanced Healer & Expert Fighter
Specialty: N/A