It was late, Askan really ought to have gone to bed hours ago, but no matter how hard he squeezed his eyes shut he just couldn't do it, sleep was just out of reach. And so he wandered north till he came upon a frozen lake, shining bright in the moonlight, beckoning him to step onto its frozen surface.

After the incident at the river Askan had sworn he'd never step out onto ice again yet there he was, standing with his legs spread wide, all wobbly and uncertain like a newborn fawn. But at least this time he'd taken a moment to ensure that the ice was thick enough to take his weight, that it wouldn't creak or crack if he stepped on it the wrong way. He looked like an idiot, no doubt, but he was insistent on figuring out the proper way to walk on ice.  Raelyn-wherever the hell she was these days- had told him to scoot along on his belly but if he had to cross another river ...well he wasn't going to stoop that low ever again. The way he saw it, all he needed to do was practice a little, to find a method that worked for him.

The life of a loner left him with a lot of time to kill, it was sort of sad that he had to resort to this. Not that he'd ever think of it that way.

With a huff Askan decided that spreading his legs wasn't helping at all. It made his knees hurt and his movements were clunky, stiff, like he'd forgotten how to walk. He straightened up and squared his shoulders, his tail hanging limp between his legs as he stared up at the moon in the night sky. Maybe if he'd been younger and a bit more jolly he could have turned this into a game, it could have been fun. But all he really felt was mounting frustration, as though no matter how hard he tried he'd never be good at anything.What he needed was a purpose, a point, cause otherwise he just felt like he was chasing his tail.

Moving but going nowhere.

She was far afield from the pack, Lilith coiled in her usual spot, wrapped around the albino's neck. Recluse had been preoccupied as of late, her prisoners were proving a bit harder to break than she'd hoped. She needed a night away, the pair were safely tucked away in the pack and would be watched by her family, as for Recluse? Well, she was going on a bit of an adventure, it had been a bit since she'd explored beyond her bounds. It was a little bit exhilarating. Or maybe it was also just her heat making her a bit stir crazy. The winter had hit the lands quick and with ferocity. The pale woman worked through the snow and ice, moving closer and closer to the volcano that had just a season ago still threatened the continent. She could still see smoke rising from its mouth though it was quite pale and not nearly as thick as it had been mere seasons ago. She was a little fascinated honestly, and near its base was an almost paradoxically nice forest, she wondered idly what it'd look like in full bloom. Still, she moved further north and eastward until she found herself approaching the lake. A figure was lit starkly against the moonlight reflected on the surface of the ice... fumbling around like a pup new to standing. Recluse couldn't help but laugh, it was a sharp, loud bark of laughter. Lilith jolted slightly, seemingly having fallen asleep and she slithered up the back of Recluse's neck and up over her skull, resting her head on the lupine crown, her tongue flicking as she tasted the air. "You want to go for a skate?" Recluse asked, a mischievous grin pulling at her lips. "If you drop me I'm never speaking to you again." The serpent said. Recluse laughed and took a tentative step onto the ice, feeling her claws scrape against the surface and her paw sliding a bit. It was a bit of a process to get her full weight onto the ice but once she was there she took some tentative slides. WC: 353 (715/1500) "Speech"

Askan's ears flicked back against his skull at the shrill sound of laughter. His eyes narrowed, squinting in a resentful glare as he glanced over to see a large white wolf, almost glowing in the moonlight. He didn't notice them at first, having assumed she was just very white but after a moment he realised that her coat was lined with intricate markings, swirls and curls that marked her out as anything but a normal wolf. She had a snake coiled around her neck like a fancy scarf, a tasteful dark contrast to her pale coat. His nose twitched. Aside from the telltale pack smell she carried another scent, one that was wrong, almost sickly sweet like rotten fruit. Askan decided that he didn't like it, that this whole situation rubbed him the wrong way.

He wanted to leave and probably should have, but the Selwyn found himself standing his ground. It was more of a pride thing than anything else, being a loner he didn't have much to hold onto, to protect, but he'd be damned if he let a stinky woman chase him away from the lake he'd found first.

The snake and the woman conversed with one another, acting as though he wasn't even there, that he wasn't even worthy of their attention. Askan gritted his teeth at that. Then with a sense of ease and grace that Askan could only dream of, she stepped onto the ice.

"Do you mind?" Askan asked, brow raised and tail twitching. "I was here first." Oh how petulant he sounded, like a pup who didn't want to share.

The man was pushed to the back of her mind for a while as she got used to the more slippery footing but was quickly drawn back into the forefront of her mind as Recluse heard him speak up, his tone that of indignation. Recluse paused, pulling her gaze from her paws up to the mud-colored male. She narrowed pale cherry eyes and ran her gaze over the man as if really looking at him for the first time. In her quick assessment, she found him to be rather unremarkable, he was earth-colored which was in her opinion very boring and even from the distance between them she could tell she was taller than he was. A wicked grin spread across her face. "Oh I'm sorry, I must have failed to scent your borders." She said, her tone made it clear she was anything but sorry, more mocking than anything else. "Or maybe they were just really weak? Which would make sense." She gave him a slow, deliberate look over, her head even moving as she did so. Recluse pushed her way across the ice towards the man. "If I'm in your space than make me move." She said, hoping to bump her chest into the smaller man, her voice just above a hiss. Her tongue slipped at her lips, and Lilith picked her head up from the wolf's skull, her tongue flicking almost threateningly. The last time Recluse had been in a situation like this she'd been out weighed, and she was hoping the man would rise to her challenge. WC: 261 (1244/1500) "Speech"

fight post 1/3. Fight predetermined with recluse as the winner.

Askan's ears flicked back as his lips pulled into a tight, resentful frown. So that's how she wanted to play it? All high and mighty, hoighty-toighty, as though when compared to her he was just shit on the ground. Sure, in a sense he'd brought this upon himself, but her words were leagues more venomous than his own. He had simply asked her to leave him alone, but instead she moved closer and continued to poke and prod at him with barbed, goading words. He really ought to have taken the high ground and backed off, after all it was just a frozen over lake, she could have it if she really wanted. But Askan had no intentions of rolling over for her, it just wasn't in his nature.

"Fine." Was all he said.

They were close by then and Askan eyed her for a long, lingering moment. She was larger than him, considerably so, but if she thought that height alone would give her the advantage over him than she was sorely mistaken. He moved then, a brown blur as he wove in close, paws skittering on the ice as he rammed his shoulder into hers. He gritted his teeth at the force of the collision, the heavy thud of muscle meeting muscle, and then before she even had a moment to respond he pushed forward again, forcing her back over the invisible line on the lake. His nails clicked, clacked and scratched against the ice, he was moving all wrong,  all loose legged like he was back on dry land.

Oh ho, so he would take her easy bait. His body slamming into hers and he'd dig into push her back. Recluse smirked, what a little cute show of bravado. If that was the worst he could come up with then he'd be a pushover. Recluse started by pushing back, digging in and bumping her chest into his as she pushed. Recluse snapped her jaws near his ears, more teasing the danger of her fangs than actually trying to draw blood. In truth she was more interested in toying with him right now than actually doing any harm. Recluse was after all nothing if not petty as shit. WC: 1614/1500 (woo) Recluse Ithuriel-Klein vs Askan for dominance Round 1/3 "Speech"

fight post 2/3

If nothing at least Askan could respect the fact that she wasn't all talk, that she could withstand the brunt of his weight shoving against her shoulder. He wasn't the largest of wolves but he carried a lot of heft and the fact that her footing hadn't been disrupted at all was...well it was something, Askan supposed. More than a little unwilling to offer her a compliment of any kind his mind drew a blank, like he forgot how to form coherent sentences. His ears flicked back at the sound of clacking teeth and it took him but a moment to realise her intentions. She could have landed a hit there, his head had been ducked so she would've had a perfect angle for grabbing a hold of his ear, but she hadn't. Instead she dangled the prospect in front of him, reminding him that he probably ought to look before he leapt. Not that he cared to think of it that way for long, he was quick to shove that thought aside as he spread his gait, his paws slipping a little on the ice as he resisted her forward momentum. It hadn't been his intention to start with but if she wanted to get all snappy then two could play at that game. Or in other words, he'd fallen for her bait like a fish on a hook.

With teeth bared he went to grab at the scruff of her neck. Not so forward that he intended to chomp at her throat, like he was going in for the kill, rather he knew that the skin was loose there so even if he did land a hit no real damage would be done. At worst she'd sting for a few days and at best she'd feel like a scolded puppy being scooped up by an elder. He was so intent on hitting his target that he didn't notice that his footwork was getting even messier, sloppy and skittering. Leaving shallow little grooves in the ice in his wake. Instinctively, his tail arched high, swaying slightly in an effort to help maintain balance but it didn't help all that much.

He fell hook line and sinker. Moonlight flashed off of fangs as the man barred his teeth. He lunged, jaws parting dangerously and she knew where he was aiming. Recluse felt Lilith moving quickly back along her spine and out of the way of the fangs moving her way. The albino woman grinned she even knelt down a bit, letting him get his hold if he wanted it so bad that he was willing to compromise his balance. Recluse gritter her teeth against the fangs that gripped at her flesh and with a grunt she shoved herself as far under the man as she could then swept her forepaws out, aiming to hit his forelegs and if she was lucky sweep his paws out from underhim. Once her forepaw was back under her she'd lift herself back up to her full height quickly, hoping that if he was still holding on it'd further unbalanced him or at the very least force him to let go of her, she was done letting him feel like he had any control in this situation. Recluse Ithuriel-Klein vs Askan for dominance Round 2/3 "Speech"

fight post 3/3

Warm, plush fur met his tongue as he bit down, just enough to get a firm grip. He strained his neck, hoping to twist her scruff to force her to relent, a move his uncle had painfully demonstrated on him not too long ago. But his plan fell to shambles right about then. Instead of pulling away as he'd anticipated, Recluse moved closer and ducked beneath him, sweeping his paws out from under him in a clean, graceful motion. Askan wobbled unsteadily for a moment as he struggled to stay afoot and then, rather inevitably he toppled over like an old tree with rotten, shallow roots.

Askan hit the ice hard and the wind was knocked out of his lungs in a sudden, painful woosh.

He laid there for a moment, staring up at the moon, stunned and a little dazed as his mind worked overtime to rewind and figure out what the hell had just happened. It didn't take a genius to realise that he'd fucked up, not that he'd chosen the wrong opponent, rather that he'd chosen the wrong stage. What kind of fool picked a fight on ice he could barely stand on? He exhaled sharply through his nose as his sides throbbed and pride ached. What a fucking disaster this was. She'd read him like a book, laid out a neat little trap at his paws and he'd blindly walked into it like a senseless fool. He ought to have known better but he just didn't. His bad.

And what of her? Ugh. No doubt she'd see this as a victory, a job well done and all that jazz.

With a grunt Askan sat up, his side twitching as it throbbed in tune to his heartbeat. He was pretty sure that no real harm was done, he was a sore, but he knew that he wouldn't keel over and die from taking a bit of a tumble. The same couldn't really be said for his ego though. It ached like something was gripping his heart, squeezing it tight till it's rhythm was out of tune. His ears flattened against his skull once more as he looked up at Recluse, he wanted nothing more than to leap to his feet and have another go at her but even he knew a lost cause when he saw one. It was over, he was done. Slowly he clambered to his feet then shook his coat out with a bit of a wince, his hackles deflated and his tail hung limp between his legs. A shadow of his former self.

"Fine." Was all he said. Again.

Success, the man went down like a sack of bricks and Recluse couldn't help the thrill of satisfaction that went through her. She pulled back triumphantly as he fell onto the ice. In an instant she snapped forwards, baring her fangs close to the man's throat and Lilith slide forwards so she was hovering off the girl's neck, her jaws parted and saliva dripping dangerously like venom as she hovered above the man's nose, a threat in duplicate. But then she pulled back, Recluse knew she'd won and the young woman offered the man a smirk, watching him pointedly as he rose to his haunches, the same single word dropping from his lips. "Well then, does that make this my lake?" She asked, the tiniest hint of aggression in her tone but she was almost ironically light and teasing. She stuck her tongue out between her fangs and offered the man a wink. It was almost a totally heel turn but Recluse very much found the fight to have been fun and she frankly was feeling quite a bit more due to her heat. Recluse Ithuriel-Klein vs Askan for dominance Round 3/3 "Speech"

To rub salt into the wound she put her teeth to his throat but if her actions earlier said anything Askan knew she wouldn't follow through. His eyes narrowed into a squint, his ears twitching back a little but he said nothing, did nothing. Pretended that he was better than this, like he didn't give a shit about it all. It was a hard part to play, heavy on his shoulders and as unnatural as seeing a wolf walk on it's hind legs, but through sheer stubbornness he managed. Just barely holding back the rush of fire that burned behind his eyes, scalding him from within. She pulled back then and offered him a smirk,all cocky and proud just as he'd anticipated. If she wanted the lake so badly then she could have it, he should've said that sooner probably, but now that all was said and done he was- through clenched teeth- willing to throw in the towel.

And then she took him by surprise again. What was with this woman? And why was she like this? All strange and unpredictable, nasty but not viciously cruel. He pouted, nose wrinkling as she poked out her tongue and turned to leave, like it had all just been a game to her in the end. Like she'd simply being putting on a show for the moon. He expected more mockery, and perhaps in a sense thought he deserved it, but instead she'd done such a swift turn about that he... Well he wasn't sure what was going on, to be honest. He wanted to be mad but it was hard for that emotion to settle when he was just so lost, out of place and element.

"Uhh. Bye then, I guess." He mumbled beneath his breath.

Recluse was a mystery to him, one he wasn't sure if he wanted to solve anytime soon.