Kite had been out of the den for a week now. She’d learned to avoid the Col during daylight hours, which pushed her into a more nocturnal life-style. During the day, when she wasn’t sleeping, she crept through the caves. On one such excursion she had overheard the Warlord Azure’s disgruntled voice speaking of the weakness in the Sirius litter. The weakness that was herself, and two other of her siblings.

Slitting her crystal eyes, the girl had slunk back into the darkness, and thought and planned. She had spent a week with her Reaper father, learning how to fight in the late evenings when the harsh light was fading. A week to learn how to scramble at the giant Warlord's legs, or bite his tail. She had even pulled on his scruff while he had roared in pain. She had won! And she was ready. Ready for this.

She strolled out into the heart of the pack, near the campfire. Puffing up her little chest, and looking up at the half-moon sky. Would he come, if she called? There was only one way to find out. She tossed back her head and let out the mightiest cry she could. Engoring the squeak of youth in it as she summoned the Warlord.


"Speech"

The last thing Azure expected from his newest litter of siblings was to be addressed by them, and while he considered not arriving to her call at all, he assumed word would get back to Sirius if he ignored it. There was only one thing the day-blind pup could be calling for in such an official capacity under the moon - something Azure didn't even have to wonder if he deserved, as he'd not bothered to hide his disdain for the broken children in the litter.

Calling to him his companions and donning his armor, the Warlord arrived fully kitted to meet his young sibling. There was to be a lesson here tonight; Azure did not go easy, he did not play-fight, he did not validate ridiculous aspirations from puppies who had no business striving higher than a common page. Raising his brow as he approached, the Warlord levelled his steely gaze at the child and waited for her to speak.

"Speech"

It wasn’t long before the towering green-tinged Warlord appeared. He was knitted out and looked ready for war. She swallowed, and stood her ground. Trying not to fidget with the tiny little bracelets around her forepaws. Her forest cat leaned slightly against her however. A silent and steady pillar of support. Yes. She could do this.

“I challenge you! You think I’m weak, and I'm going to prove you wrong!” she declared. Bold and fearless as she stared down the towering form of the tried and true warrior before her. She glanced at his tattered ears, and stern expression. Her stomach felt like it was trying to crawl out of her body, but she couldn’t and wouldn’t back down.

She didn’t give him much time to start, instead launching herself at him as she attempted to slide under his belly. Clawing at any limbs she could reach as she did so.

Kyanite vs Azure for dominance
Round 1/2
Age: under 6 months
Size: Dire wolf
Build: Light
Defensive Battle Accessory: Front bracers
Companion 1: Norwegian forest cat, Female - Battle
Companion 2: Peregrine falcon, Female - Battle
Mutation 1: Feline claws - Offensive
Mutation 2: Thicker fur - Defensive
Disability: Daytime blindness - Moderate
Skills: Beginner Fighter & Beginner Hunter

To the broken child's credit, she did not back down at the sight of him. He drank in her fear. "If you wanted to appear strong, you should have come to me during the day." Az rumbled his reply. It was her disability that made her weak; dodging the circumstances where she was disabled did nothing to prove to Azure her worth or courage. Swiftly the child sprung on him, barrelling across the grasses with all the fury of a Fatalis but none of the worth.

It was entirely expected for the pup to go low and Azure moved quickly to return the attack. His wide, mutated paw swung out in an attempt to intercept the child - intending on slamming the pawpad against her ribs to knock her aside and off balance while at the same time reaching swiftly forward with his jaws so that should his hit succeed, he might be able to grab ahold of her scruff. Neither attack was meant to do anything more than to secure a quick hold upon her. Azure had a plan, one that had formed the moment he'd realized he'd been challenged. One that hopefully would put the child in her place.

Azure vs Kyanite for Dominance
Round 1/2
Age: over 1 year
Size: Dire wolf
Build: Medium
Offensive Battle Accessory: Bracers with knife
Defensive Battle Accessory: Condor body armor
Companion 1: Large flying fox, Male - Battle - Boosted
Companion 2: Clouded leopard, Female - Battle
*Companion 3: Fisher, Male - Battle
Mutation 1: Saber fangs - Offensive
Mutation 2: Bear paws - Offensive
Mutation 3: Bone spurs - Offensive
Skills: Master Fighter & Master Hunter
Specialty: Bloodletter

"Speech"

She growled almost involuntarily at him. “Why, do you fear facing me otherwise?” she snapped back. Did he want her weaker? She would find strengths where she could. She would seek to best him and prove there were ways around her disability. She would prove herself worthy of the Fatalis name. She would do that first by taking first blood, if she could manage it.

As she raced towards her frontal end Lioness suddenly darted in front of her. Forcing her to skid to a halt as the cat took the paw blow aimed for her ribs. As Lioness yelped, Kite let out an even angrier rumble as she launched herself at the very paw that had hurt her friend. Attempting to grab it with her maw. If she managed, she would hold on and be hard to shake free.

Kyanite vs Azure for dominance
Round 2/2
Age: under 6 months
Size: Dire wolf
Build: Light
Defensive Battle Accessory: Front bracers
Companion 1: Norwegian forest cat, Female - Battle
Companion 2: Peregrine falcon, Female - Battle
Mutation 1: Feline claws - Offensive
Mutation 2: Thicker fur - Defensive
Disability: Daytime blindness - Moderate
Skills: Beginner Fighter & Beginner Hunter


"Speech"

[PP Approved by Sea]

Azure's swipe of the paw missed the child, landing instead upon the guide-cat that had followed her into battle and sending the beast flying with a yelp instead. It was an unfortunate thing, but it did not change the fight enough that he could not proceed as planned. Her teeth sunk around one of his mutated toes, pricking droplets of blood from where tooth punctured through the flesh there. Azure growled lowly - the only acknowledgement he'd give of the pain - and immediately moved to hoist his paw upward. As the pup maintained her grab, Az graciously moved to assist. He flexed his toes, enclosing his curved claws around the pup's shoulders so that even should she wish to let go, she'd need to fight harder to get out of his grip. The movement only deepened the punctures between his toes, but Azure had suffered worse pain and he could suffer this now.

With the angry pup more or less immobilised by her own bite, Azure sidestepped. Shuffling quickly across the ground (and swinging the extra-heavy paw through the grass as he did so) he maneuvered to the nearby firepit she had chosen as a backdrop for the challenge. With one heavy swing of the burdened limb, he aimed to slam the child down upon the stones that made the pit's protective ring - her face held in position toward the heat and brightness of the flames in the hopes of blinding her as well as scaring her with it's proximity. If she singed a few bits of facial fur, that'd be fine too. The little broken shit had taunted him, and now it was time to taunt her back. "You are broken." He seethed above the cracking of the fire. "Deal with it like a Fatalis, and the next time you choose to challenge me, overcome it, or do not waste my time."

Azure vs Kyanite for Dominance
Round 2/2
Age: over 1 year
Size: Dire wolf
Build: Medium
Offensive Battle Accessory: Bracers with knife
Defensive Battle Accessory: Condor body armor
Companion 1: Large flying fox, Male - Battle - Boosted
Companion 2: Clouded leopard, Female - Battle
*Companion 3: Fisher, Male - Battle
Mutation 1: Saber fangs - Offensive
Mutation 2: Bear paws - Offensive
Mutation 3: Bone spurs - Offensive
Skills: Master Fighter & Master Hunter
Specialty: Bloodletter

"Speech"

And the winner is...

Azure

Kyanite must give up by submitting, fleeing or passing out. Totals: Kyanite : Attack Roll: 20 Defense Roll: 37 Agility Roll: 53 Perception Roll: 93 Total: 203 Attack[20] + 40% Bonus[8.00]: 28.00 Defense[37] + 20% Bonus[7.40]: 44.40 Agility[53] + 5% Bonus[2.65]: 55.65 Perception[93] + 0% Bonus[0.00]: 93.00 Total[221.05] + -45% Bonus[-99.47]: 121.58 Azure: Attack Roll: 10 Defense Roll: 99 Agility Roll: 4 Perception Roll: 56 Total: 169 Attack[10] + 110% Bonus[11.00]: 21.00 Defense[99] + 10% Bonus[9.90]: 108.90 Agility[4] + 0% Bonus[0.00]: 4.00 Perception[56] + 0% Bonus[0.00]: 56.00 Total[189.90] + 40% Bonus[75.96]: 265.86

She felt her teeth sink into his paw and felt glee rise up inside of her. First blood, first blood! She dug in tight, trying to turn her head to rip the wound further and make the blow from her tiny little puppy incisors more devastating. She didn’t realise her danger as Azure hauled her upwards, not until his curved claws bit into her shoulders and she began to realise she had lost all ability to move.

Her kitten let out a yowl of warning, but it was far too late. They were moving, she was swinging across the ground but there was no fun to be found in the motion. Her heart began to hammer in her chest as she realised the danger she was in. She began to snarl and writhe in his grip, which only served to further hurt herself against the claws that held her. She didn’t so much as hesitate at the pain, fighting against it until the very last moment, when she was slammed against the stone by the fireplace. She could feel the heat as it reflected into her gemstone eyes, the pain of the blow to her head furthered by the sudden firelight in her eyes. Dazed, she fought like a hellcat, scrambling against him as she tried to turn her hate-filled crystal eyes from the fire and onto him. “I hate you, I hate you! I will bring you down one day, Azure!” she yowled


"Speech"

The child in his paws yowled and flailed, contorting herself with the fury of an angry kitten. Azure scoffed at her visible anger, holding her to the fire only a moment longer before swinging his paw out wide and releasing her in a moderately hard throw back onto the grass. Her hate made little difference to him, Azure had grown very used to wolves who would rather see him dead.

"Oh no, I'm so scared." He deadpanned, turning from the obelisk to stalk past her back toward the winding cavern paths of the Col. Pausing as he came parallel to her, the Warlord drew his judgemental gaze downwards briefly to meet the pup's abnormal one. "Try not to fall blind into a pit and die, yeah? You'll never achieve higher, but even a defective pup can grow into a workable grunt." With his piece said, he continued forward. Fully intending to put his back to this child, her affliction, and the time-waster her challenge had been - but not without one last over-the-shoulder taunt. "After all, we could always use someone to clean the latrines."

"Speech"