Following the rules of the tournament, she left her armor behind and sent Marigold away with Dandelion to go sit with the rest of the Armada wolves that were lingering near by. When she heard that she would be paired off with one of Artorias' sisters she was excited to get their fight started, eager to see if the skill in battle was exclusive to Artorias or if that spread through to the rest of the fighters in their family. Plus, she just hadn't had a good spar in a while and it was always a good opportunity to test her skills and see how she had improved with all her recent training. She took her place across from the other yearling with a good natured grin as she sized up her opponent. She was a bit smaller than herself, though they seemed pretty even in build. Size and build only told half the story though and she had no way of knowing how skilled Avantika was or not until they faced off. She settled into her defenses easily, her grin widening. "Say the word and I'll start," she told the Hallows girl, spacing her paws evenly from one another while her claws flexed and gripped at the ground with anticipation. "Briar" | "Marigold"

It was odd not having Kaata beside her, but Avantika had to leave her behind according to the tournament's rules. She wasn't sure where the bird was. It didn't particularly matter. Both wolf and hawk were grown and able to take care of themselves. They'd discuss the results after, whether Avantika won or lost. It was always nice to see what was going on with everyone else. She was already betting that Artorias would do well, and she hoped Rudyard and Ezra would also. As for herself, she'd try to win as much as possible, of course, but she'd be content if she won one or two matches. She was grateful for the distraction regardless of what happened during the tournament. She had something to think about that wasn't Resin's death, even if she couldn't stop thinking of how proud she would have been if Avantika won the whole tournament. The expression that would adorn her face... The joy Avantika would feel... She wanted that. But she had to make herself proud now. Resin was gone. Avantika pulled herself out of her thoughts to watch her opponent. She was thicker in build but around the same height, a decent match if their skills were as similar. The girl said that she would start when Avantika said so. She fell into her fighting stance. "Ready when you are." "Avantika to Kaata telepathy" "Kaata to Avantika telepathy" "speech"

Briar gave a small nod when Avantika told her she was ready and wasted no time getting their fight going. Keeping her defenses in place, she bounded forward with a few long strides, leaping toward Tika's right side at the last second. She attempted to pivot in place before her opponent could react so she could lunge into the smaller woman's right shoulder while turning so she was nearly perpendicular to her. As she jumped forward she lifted one paw with her sharp claws extended to try and hook around the back of Tika's neck while her jaws went reaching for her scruff. She just needed to get in close to her sparring partner to start being able to get some attacks in and hopefully keep her close to keep up that pressure to make her cave. Since this was the first time she had fought in front of a crowd like this there was certainly a feeling of having something to prove. She was proud of her family and her position in it and she knew that a Fatalis princess couldn't go down without a fight. Briar Zee Fatalis vs Avantika Carpathius for Spar Round 1/2 Age: Over 1 year Size: Extra large Build: Medium Mutation 1: Antlers (small) - Offensive Mutation 2: Feline claws - Offensive Skills: Expert Fighter & Expert Intellectual Specialty: N/A "Briar" | "Marigold"

It was lucky that Avantika really was ready because Briar didn't waste any time starting her attack. She ran forward, and Avantika tensed for a collision. It didn't happen, with the young woman instead moving to her right side and pivoting to attack before the Hallows woman could react. Because of Briar's fast action, she was able to get her sharp claws hooked around her neck and her teeth in her scruff. Avantika couldn't pull away easily, but she could attack back. She turned her head into Briar, attempting to get a similar grip on her scruff. If possible, she would grip part of the underside of her throat, using her muzzle to push her head up and keep those antlers out of the way as much as possible without tugging too much on Avantika's own neck. Hopefully, they would be locked together, which may not have been a good move considering Briar's sharp claws, but hey, what is done is done. Avantika Carpathius vs Briar Zee Fatalis for Spar Round 1/2 Age: Over 1 year Size: Large Build: Medium Skills: Expert Fighter & Advanced Intellectual Specialty: N/A "Avantika to Kaata telepathy" "Kaata to Avantika telepathy" "speech"

There was a moment of satisfaction as her claws hooked into Avantika's neck and her teeth latched into the smaller girl's scruff. She clearly hadn't done what her opponent was expecting which certainly worked to her advantage. She started leaning more into Tika to try and put more weight and pressure onto her and push her down toward the ground, but before she could fully do that she felt Tika's head turn and pull against the hold she had on her scruff and then she felt the sting of Tika's teeth biting into the lower part of her neck near her throat. Briar's hackles bristled and immediately she brought her free paw up toward the side of Avantika's face to try and claw at her cheek and push her away to make her let go of her neck while still not releasing the grip she had on Tika's scruff. If anything the pain from the bite she received made her tense and bite down harder on the loose skin and grip her claws in deeper. Her hind paws shifted into a slightly wider stance to hold herself steady now that she was fully standing on just her back legs, her claws gripping at the ground to help hold her steady. Briar Zee Fatalis vs Avantika Carpathius for Spar Round 2/2 Age: Over 1 year Size: Extra large Build: Medium Mutation 1: Antlers (small) - Offensive Mutation 2: Feline claws - Offensive Skills: Expert Fighter & Expert Intellectual Specialty: N/A "Briar" | "Marigold"

Avantika succeeded in getting her grip on Briar's neck and was momentarily proud of herself. But she couldn't let her mind move her away from the action of reality for too long, as sharp claws scratched and pushed at her cheek. She tried to ignore it and bite Briar's neck even harder. She didn't want to draw blood, and she would, of course, never cause serious injury in a spar like this, but she hoped her opponent would figure out that she wasn't going to let go. Although perhaps it would be better to. Switching her ideas in a second, Avantika would release Briar as fast as possible and attempt to make her do the same by intentionally throwing herself onto the ground in the opposite direction of Briar's body, rolling over until, hopefully, she was on top and could hold the woman down. She hoped it wouldn't hurt too much. Avantika Carpathius vs Briar Zee Fatalis for Spar Round 2/2 Age: Over 1 year Size: Large Build: Medium Skills: Expert Fighter & Advanced Intellectual Specialty: N/A "Avantika to Kaata telepathy" "Kaata to Avantika telepathy" "speech"

And the winner is...

Avantika

Briar must give up by submitting, fleeing or passing out. Totals: Avantika Rolls: 59, 55, 67, 39 Adjusted rolls: 61.95, 57.75, 67, 44.85 Total: 277.86 Briar Rolls: 54, 4, 49, 1 Adjusted rolls: 64.8, 4.2, 49, 1.2 Total: 143.04