The day was dreary, a light snow dappling her earthy pelt as she made her way across the plains of the battlefield. Her body heat was enough to melt the granules of ice on contact, but the wind still whipped at her extremities. Her eyes blinked rapidly to dull the sting, but remained far away, cloudy with thought.

Plague. Cairo. Sirius. So far she'd lost every single one of her spars, save for her bouts against the two Armada heirs. She huffed, ears leveling at the tally -- of course she'd only won against pups. How long would it take to beat fully grown fighters? It was one thing to lose, and Malalia had made her peace with that a long time ago. No master becomes great without making a few mistakes, bearing a few defeats. It was part of the process, one of her old mentors had told her. But it was how often she had lost... it ate at the young warrior, frustration lying behind polite sportsmanship. (Or barely constrained adult-tantrums, let's be real).

Well... she couldn't get better without practicing, right? And what better place to do so? Malalia tossed up her head and howled, calling out for an opponent. If she had to come here day and night, if she had to lose every battle, she would. Until she won.

"Speech"

Corvus still wanted to get better at fighting. He'd won his fight in the raid versus Winterfell, but it had hardly been a real fight at all, and nothing worth bragging about.. and he felt he could only learn so much by sparring back home. Fighting against strangers was a different kind of challenge entirely. Not wanting to spent too much time away from home today, Corvus was quick to travel to the Battlefield. Maybe he should've gone slower though; he was tired by the time he arrived, but the sound of someone searching for an opponent caught his interest. Guess he wasn't about to stop for a nap...

Slow paws carried him toward the sound. The female that looked like she was the source of the call was visibly younger than him, possibly a yearling, but he knew that didn't mean much. Some of Abaven's most practiced fighters were younger wolves, some with even more experience than him. He'd opted to leave his armor at home today, only wearing his red bandana out of habit. "Looking to spar?" Corvus offered, his tone friendly, and a small grin on his lips. He wasn't always great with small-talk but he felt weird just jumping into a fight without at least introducing himself. "I'm Corvus by the way, of Abaven." He had no trouble admitting who he was - he wanted a friendly, low-stakes practice fight, nothing more and nothing less.

It wasn't too long before the sound of footsteps drew her eyes and ears towards the stranger. Earth-toned, like her, and as he approached she saw his eyes were an ocean green to her sage-colored ones. But the comparison ended there; he was, yet again, another large and heavy-set wolf brute to spar against... But hey, all the better for her. Malalia had less trouble grappling others in her weight class, but she had yet to best a wolf that out-sized her. Perhaps today would be that day.

The man was friendly, offering a name and a smile, and her tail gave a brief wag as she paced forward for a polite sniff. "How'd you guess?" She returned his grin with one of her own before stepping back. "I'm Malalia, of the Ashen Armada. We're... kind of neighbors, I guess?" The approximation came with a huff of laughter. Abaven was just about the nearest pack besides Ashen, though other packs were relatively closer to each other. Of course, she'd never  actually met an Abaven wolf before, but there were firsts for everything.

"Speech"

Luckily she returned his polite greeting, introducing herself as Malalia of the Ashen Armada. What did he know about that pack? Not very much, if anything. He made a point to bring it up, possibly to Theory. If they were kind of neighbors, as this female said, it would be a good idea to know some things about them - and hey, maybe this was a good start if nothing else. Luckily he realized that her first question had been a rhetorical one, not one he was actually meant to answer, just before he opened his mouth to speak. He kept his grin as she spoke, glad to redirect the conversation to pleasantries. "Nice to meet you, Malalia, my kind-of neighbor."

What now? Corvus had only fought against a stranger once, when he'd been much younger and less experienced. All of his other training had been more formal - fights against packmates, dealing with predators that threatened him, things like that. This was relatively uncharted territory for him. "Well," he cleared his throat, suddenly feeling awkward. "You can start, if you want." With that he moved to a more defensive position, hunkering down and bending his limbs just enough to give him some room to be tackled, but not enough - hopefully - that he'd go tumbling over right away.

Malalia cracked a smile. "You, too." A brief silence passed between them, which might have been awkward had she not be content and wait politely for him to attack her. The tables were turned, though, and she was gifted with the first move.

"Alrighty." With a roll of her shoulders, Mal began a quick trot around the male, eyeing him. She had left her steel claws at home for the day -- she needed to be enough, to hold her own. She made a full circle and a half before bolting for the man. She would run parallel to his left side, head low, her teeth aimed to catch his left armpit and rip up and across his body as she sailed by. Soaring out of range, she would pivot on her forepaws in an about face, her head lunging forward like a snake to grasp his right hindleg just above the ankle, attempting to pull him off balance with a hard yank.

Malalia vs (opponent) for (fight type)
Round 1/?
Age: Over 1 Year
Size: Medium
Build: Light
Offensive Battle Accessory: Steel claws
Companion 1: Wolverine, Male - Battle
Skills: Novice Fighter & Expert Fighter
Specialty: N/A

"Speech"

Malalia was polite enough, which he appreciated. Though Corvus was far from the best conversationalist, he always tried to show a relatively friendly demeanor, especially when it came to wolves who weren't his packmates. He needed to give a good impression of Abaven, after all. He'd been raised to be respectful and kind, even toward strangers, unless they meant to be a threat... and this female clearly didn't. He grinned as she moved around him, as if sizing him up, and he let his head twist in an attempt to follow her lead.

When she came barrelin gby him from the side, he was far too close to dodge her attack completely. He stepped to his right, just enough to extend the distance between them a bit further and force her to move an extra step to meet him there. Her teeth grazed the skin where his left forelimb met his side, and he felt a sting blossom there as she dove behind him. Unwilling to let an opponent out of his sight completely, he made to rip his right hindleg out of her grip, twisting to face her head-on. Hopefully his size would work to his advantage - he tended toward using his brute strength rather than swiftness, which was what he did now as he made to rush her to wrap his front limbs around her neck, pushing down toward the ground.

Corvus Aadar-Destruction vs Malalia for Spar
Round 1 / 2
Age: Over 1 Year
Size: Extra large
Build: Heavy
Offensive Battle Accessory: Spiked helmet
Defensive Battle Accessory: Badger pelt front leg bracers
Skills: Advanced Fighter & Intermediate Hunter
Specialty: N/A

Mal's jaws snapped on empty air as Corvus yanked his feet out of reach. Damn. She bristled, preparing to move backwards when the larger male came barreling towards her. Damn! Well, that just wouldn't do. She wasn't quite far enough to leap completely out of the way, but the man had left himself open, and she wouldn't let the opportunity pass.

As his forelegs stretched to wrap around her neck, her head would dart under, and then up to strike the junction of his neck and left shoulder with her jaws, sinking her teeth into the soft skin there. She wouldn't dig too deep, not enough to seriously injure -- but enough to urge the man to break himself away from her, which was unlikely as long as he kept his hold on her.

As her forelegs spread out to distribute her weight, her front end would sink while he pushed her down -- and she would go down, he was big enough to ensure that -- but, teeth locked into the vulnerable flesh of his neck, she would aim take him down with her.

Malalia vs Corvus for Spar
Round 2/2
Age: Over 1 Year
Size: Medium
Build: Light
Offensive Battle Accessory: Steel claws
Companion 1: Wolverine, Male - Battle
Skills: Novice Fighter & Expert Fighter
Specialty: N/A

"Speech"

Unfortunately, every attack he made would leave him open for a counter-attack. That was just the reality of things, and he had to remind himself of that as he swiveled around and tried to lift himself on his hind legs and throw his forelimbs around her neck. Instead of pushing up, as he'd expected she might do despite her smaller size, she ducked down - and then up, her jaws coming down on the flesh between his neck and shoulder.

Her hold was a surprisingly good one, even given her angle. Her positioning made jerking away a dangerous prospect - she was just inches away from his throat, and though their fight was just for practice, that didn't mean he trusted her completely to not actually injure him. As she was anticipating he instead chose to loosen his grip on her and bring his weight down hard, hoping he'd send her stumbling... though he'd likely go down with her, hopefully he'd fall on top of her and find a way to regain his balance before she did.

Corvus Aadar-Destruction vs Malalia for Spar
Round 2 / 2
Age: Over 1 Year
Size: Extra large
Build: Heavy
Offensive Battle Accessory: Spiked helmet
Defensive Battle Accessory: Badger pelt front leg bracers
Skills: Advanced Fighter & Intermediate Hunter
Specialty: N/A

And the winner is...

CORVUS

MALALIA must give up by submitting, fleeing or passing out. Totals: Adjusted rolls: 56.25 7.35 92.4 7 MALALIA'S total is.. 195.6 Adjusted rolls: 81.6 99.6 56 14 CORVUS' total is.. 288.88