OOC: This is an open spar. If there's enough interest Valen's going to fight until he or I get tired of it. Anyone (strangers mind your manners!) is welcome to come watch and when one spar ends (if his injuries aren't too bad) and someone is interested, another will start. Just step up and say you want a go. Default times will apply. The only exception being if one of us messages the other and asks for an extension.

Valentine itched for something to do. He was bored, on edge, and so very restless. On a whim he decided to do something about it. Perhaps it wasn't the wisest idea, but he was going to go with it. If nothing else, his wolves might get a kick out of his antics. Jogging into the range, the King made his way to the old barn. There was a huge, empty space in front of its yawning mouth that would make for good sparring grounds. It was flat and relatively clear save for a few big patches of weeds that miraculously grew through the smashed down gravel. His jaw set, Valentine tipped back his head and howled out a challenge. Anyone in Imperium -hell, anyone, rogue or not, within hearing distance- was welcome to come test their strength against his. Win or lose, he planned on going until he could go no more. Bring it. ""

Cascade's ears caught the sound of Valen's howled challenge, and a sly grin split her muzzle. Oh, taking on all comers was he? Feeling a bit ambitious today? "Getting a bit cocky there Valen," she muttered to herself, but her grin didn't diminish. She liked cocky Valen. Except that there was also a tinge of recklessness, an edge to the call that caught her interest as well - perhaps he wasn't completely over his fury from the Destruction's shenanigans. Well, he was a big boy and he'd work things out in his own way and time and... well, she was more than happy to oblige. Slinking through the dead grasses like she was stalking prey she crept up upon him, coming around the side of the barn structure with quiet, steady steps. Even if he were to turn to look at her, she would disregard and continue to stalk him as though he were completely unaware of her, though a wicked grin continued to bear her fangs. She would seek to see how far he would let her go before he stopped her, trying to reach a distance of approximately five feet away before she stopped and straightened from her crouch. "Hello, sweetie," she purred, and immediately moved to a warrior's stance from which to charge. Her paws slipped to just over shoulder- and hip-width apart, squaring up as she centered her weight and distributed it evenly to all four limbs. Her toes spread wide apart as her claws dug into the ground. Her knees and elbows bent slightly to lower her center of gravity, the joints going loose and soft, ready to move. Her tail flagged level with her spine, her skull dropping to be even with it. Her head pulled back as her shoulders hunched forward to drive up her scruff protectively. Her ears pinned back to her skull, her chin tipping down to cover her throat, and her eyes narrowing as her muzzle and brow wrinkled in a snarl, the folds of skin acting as some small protection to her delicate eyes. With her claws dug in she leaped forward, seeking to come in at an angle to his right shoulder. She twisted her upper body to bring her left shoulder to the fore, seeking to duck down and slam the front of her shoulder along her chest into the outside of his right elbow, seeking to drive it toward his chest and unbalance him. As she did she shifted her weight to lift her right paw, attempting to hook it around his right left forepaw at the ankle with the intention of jerking it forward, hoping to throw him onto his left shoulder. Simultaneously she rotated her muzzle slightly toward her left shoulder, she parted jaws and sought to clamp them deeply into the muscle of Valentine's upper right arm. If he went down she would probably be going down on top of him, but she accepted that. CASCADE vs VALENTINE for SPAR Round 1/2?

The howl brought Angel at a flat out run, his spindly legs knifing through the snow like a weed-whacker. He wanted a shot, but more than anything else, he kinda wanted to see his dad go down. Wouldn't that be funny? Big, strong, imposing figure eating dirt? Of course he wanted to see his dad win, but he wanted to see him sweat a little first. Aw, man! His mom beat him to it! That was alright, but it did change things a bit. "Get him, mom!" he howled loudly, "Put 'em on the ground!" Tongue lolling, the boy trotted over to the barn and plopped down in front of it. Wiggling, he nestled his bum down into the snow to get nice and comfortable for the show. Oh, this was going to be so good! Question was, who would come out victorious? "Speaking" - "Thinking"

A howl. Valentine's howl.

Intrigue.

Miliani had been sick the past few days, or had it been a week now? He honestly wasn't sure. Whatever the number of days, he felt as though she were on the mend - or at least stable enough for him to leave alone while he investigated the situation. He slipped from the den the King had graciously offered them, and slinked, yes, slinked, toward the source of the howl. There was no smile on his face, only curiosity. They said that curiosity killed the cat, but he was no cat. He approached the battlefield just as the woman (Cascade) was throwing herself at him (Valentine). He tilted his head and let loose a phrase he'd only truly meant to think in his head. "What on earth are they doing?"

He'd never seen anyone spar before.

When he realized that he'd spoken out loud instead of just thinking he shrunk an inch or two, slinking back a step - wondering if he should even be here. But the howl hadn't been specific, and had seemed to be an invitation of sorts. Surely if he wasn't meant to be here he would know it? "Why are they fighting?" He queried of the nearest creature to him that wasn't involved in the ruckus (Angelus). Maybe he knew something Shaw didn't.

Cascade's approach didn't go unnoticed. The brute watched her move through the grass, watched her stance slowly grow more predatory. A wicked grin split his lips. Oh, this would be good. "Hello," he simpered back. With the other spectators in mind, his voice dropped significantly and he murmured across the distance for Cascade's ears only, "I didn't know you liked getting spanked." There was an ass whoopin' in someone's future--hopefully not his. His grin grew sharper at the edges as he too quickly set his defenses. Regardless of the winner, this was going to be so, so good. The brute's ears fell back against his skull as his eyes narrowed and his lips curled to bunch the skin around his eyes and along his forehead. His stance widened, knees bent and weight centered as his tail rose, each of these things working together to better his balance. His head lowered until it hung even with his spine and his chin tucked as his shoulders rolled forward to create a protective hollow around his throat. Along his back, Valentine's hackles rose. As Cascade came in towards his right shoulder, Valentine readied himself. Being such a big target, it made sense for Cascade to try to topple him, and it was for this reason that he was able to read the signs and guess at her intentions. Dropping into a low crouch, the brute braced for impact by leaning towards his right and stiffening his limbs except for his right foreleg, which he took most of the weight off of. This move may have seemed counterproductive, but with Cascade pushing him in the opposite direction he was confident he would be fine. Of course, if she suddenly flitted away at the last second he would fall to the ground unceremoniously, but no one was that fast, right? Valentine also curled his right shoulder further in so that its meaty exterior would take the impact. Cascade's left shoulder made contact and the blow jolted through him, forcing Valentine to step back with his left hind foot as the energy traveled through him. Cascade was largely unsuccessful in off-balancing him, but her shoulder throw would later create moderate bruising along the outside of his right shoulder. The brute recovered quickly, his weight redistributing among his left foreleg and his hind legs. Having been prepared for the shoulder throw, Valentine guessed it would be accompanied by an attempt to further unbalance him, and, feeling wicked, he decided to do something about it. With the weight largely off his right forefoot, it was easy to lift the limb and use her target against her. He was firing blind, but it made sense for her to target his right forefoot. Valentine intended to slam his right forefoot on top of the upwards facing left side of Cascade's right forefoot. He sought to smash all of her toes together and pin the paw to the ground. It all came down to who was faster, him or her. [counter; damage pending] Pain flared up along the right side of his neck as Cascade's jaws found purchase. Because he'd crouched down, instead of sinking her teeth into his upper right arm, she managed to snag a mouthful of the lower right side of his neck just above where his right shoulder met his chest. The bite was deep, creating moderate puncture wounds. Springing forward with his hind legs while keeping his left foreleg planted, Valentine attempted to slam the meaty outside of his right shoulder into the top of Cascade's left shoulder. He didn't have the momentum she'd had, but he was hoping his superior strength would aid him in this and be enough to fling her away from him. Of course this move wasn't good for the bite wound Cascade had created, but damn the consequences. Perhaps, if she wasn't fast enough, his jolt forward would catch her off guard and he'd bloody her nose. THAT would be worth whatever extra damage might be done to his neck if she didn't let go. To complete his attack, Valentine's head snaked down and to his right as he attempted to grab the top of Cascade's muzzle. He sought the center of it, wanting to hook his upper teeth along the right (Cas' right) side of it and his lower teeth on the left (Cas' left). He sought a grip that would give him control over Cascade's head. VALENTINE versus CASCADE for SPAR Round ONE of TWO ""

OOC: Just so the judges know, Laz was working on the assumption that Cas had been face-to-face with Valen and at a slight, around 40* angle with his right shoulder because I forgot to put it in the post and she asked me about it. Whoops! Sorry Laz.

Valen's quiet words drew a grin, and she stuck her tongue out at him. They'd see who spanked who here, wouldn't they? The initial flurry of movements didn't end well for Cascade, though it could have gone much worse. Her left shoulder struck the meaty part of his upper arm, the softer contact painting only a minor contusion along the point of her left shoulder. As she moved to lift her right forepaw though, the larger male stomped his own down on top of it. Since she'd already been in the process of actually moving her paw, he wasn't able to pin it, but as his paw dropped on top his blunt claws fell between her own smaller toes, scoring the sensitive webbing with stinging, bruising welts. The sudden itchy pain of it causing her to jerk back in surprise, releasing her newly acquired bite grip and bringing her paw up the rest of the way and shaking it with a hiss. Just in time too, as Valen lunged forward with his shoulder. Planting her stinging paw back on the ground she pivoted her hindquarters to her left, seeking to bring herself nearly perpendicular to him, once more at a slight angle facing his right shoulder. This allowed the attack to slide off rather than striking head on, leaving only slight bruises along the top of her left shoulder and hopefully allowing momentum to carry him past her a little. She mock-scowled at him as the bruises - and the welts between her toes - stung fiercely, but her eyes widened instead to see his gaping jaws coming at her. Her head was, after all, in more or less the same position since she just pivoted on her forefeet, but at a slightly different angle so while his teeth weren't able to latch around her muzzle they did gouge deep cuts from the right side of her nose diagonally across nearly to her left eye, a pair of bone-deep gashes along her muzzle. Using the momentum of her pivot she sought to jab the point of her left shoulder as hard as she could between two ribs just back from the center of his right-side ribs. Simultaneously she shifted her weight to her right hind foot and her left forefoot in order to attempt to smash her left hindpaw onto his right hindpaw - hopefully to be able to once more assist her balance as it returned to earth. Meanwhile her stinging right forepaw sought to lift and once again attempt to hook around his right forepaw with the intention of jerking it to the right. Her jaws parted (though she winced, and her breath caught as it disturbed the new and very painful wounds) as she attempted to latch her teeth into space between his right elbow and his chest, seeking to push past loose fur and skin to the muscles and ligaments that bind the leg to the chest and latch on despite the blinding pain in her face. She kept her defenses intact as much as she could. Her weight was centered, evenly distributed over the points of contact she kept with the ground, and her legs always returned to a stance that kept them just over shoulder- and hip-width apart for greater stability. Her toes were spread wide for added contact with the ground, and her dull nails dug in for traction. Her shoulders had remained hunched forward to drive the skin of her scruff up protectively, her hackles raised, and her head and tail both level with her spine. Her joints were loose for freer movement, ready to dance away from his blows at a moment's notice, elbows and knees both kept bent to lower her center of gravity. Her ears pressed back against her head, and her eyes were narrowed, though the pain of her wounds kept her from attempting to bunch up the skin of her face. CASCADE vs VALENTINE for SPAR OF DOOM Round 2/2

OOC: I asked Tea about this and she said she meant to say that Cas moved almost parallel to Valen, not perpendicular, so I'm writing this with that in mind.

Hehehehe. She was so fuckin' sassy. The hiss, the pretend scowl and then the sweet look of surprise. In the span of a few short seconds she'd managed to make his day. He felt a pang of guilt over the damage done to her nose, but he was more than happy to try to make up for it later. If that final thought had been verbalized it would have been accompanied by an eyebrow wiggle. They moved on at a rapid-fire pace. A split second after Cascade pivoted to her left, Valentine pivoted to his right. He intended to line the two of them up so that they were head on and lined up arrow straight. These quick steps saved him from the brunt of his opponent's attacks. As her targets were no longer in range, Cascade's shoulder throw, hind paw stomp and forefoot swipe missed their targets. There was no escaping the bite though. It didn't land where intended, but it did land. Cacade's teeth sunk into the lower right side of his neck for the second time. The bite was deep, the moderate puncture wounds nearly overlapping the marks she'd made previously. Honestly it made him feel a little less guilty for what he'd done to her nose. Attempting to break free of Cascade's bite, Valentine stiffened and sought to rear up. As he did so his weight redistributed to accommodate the move and his tail rose to become parallel to the ground. His firmly planted hind paws were spaced wide, his toes were splayed and his nails curled down to dig into the dirt. To help hold him aloft, the brute's knees locked and his back stiffened. Hoping to capitalize on their height difference, Valen attempted to bring the center of his chest (between his forelegs) crashing down onto the top of Cascade's head. As he did so, his forelegs sought to scissor tight around her neck just behind the base of her skull in a choking grip that would give him control of her head. Lastly, his head darted out and down as he sought to sink his teeth into his opponent's shoulder blades. He intended to dig his upper teeth into the fatty scruff that covered her right shoulder blade and his lower teeth into the equally fatty bit of scruff that covered her left shoulder blade. Valentine hoped to drive his teeth in deep, snap his jaws shut and achieve a firm grip. Through this many of his defenses remained the same. His eyes were narrowed, his brow was furrowed and his lips were curled to bunch the skin around his eyes and protect them from harm. He kept his ears firmly pinned and his hackles raised, and even if he tried, it would have been nearly impossible to loosen the tension that ran the length of his body. VALENTINE versus CASCADE for SPAR OF DOOM DESTINY Round TWO of TWO ""

ooc: Hyder calls dibs on next spar is possible. The lion had smelt fighting from afar when he was exploring nearby area's. The sound of two dogs fighting each other was not uncommon, but somehow two wolves it had brought upon his curiosity. The albino beast hearing the call prior, knew that he would be welcome there as he moved into the range and came upon the small gathering of wolves. It seemed like not many were here, other than the two fighting and a wolf..... almost the same size as Hyder himself. Tail moving behind him a small gruff left his throat. He wanted in on the fighting with this male. Even if he didn't know who he was, the cat unsheathed his claws waiting patiently. "I want to spar next." Hyder would say roughly. The male's mane shaking a bit. Pink eyes looking over at the huge wolf almost his size. He was a stranger here, but there was no harm in being here after invited. The lion needed to polish his fighting skills against these animals anyway. Whether he won or not, he would be using the experience to claim more slave and to protect the ones that he already had. speech

CASCADE vs VALENTINE for DOOM/DESTINY ROUND ONE Cascade: 8 for clarity: 'seeking an angle to his right shoulder, her left shoulder in the forefront' - vague, later clarified 'lifts her right paw to hook it around his right left forepaw' - which one? right or left? 10 for powerplaying. 10 for defenses. 5 for attack. +1 shoulder slam to outside of his right elbow +1 attempt to hook her right paw around his ? forepaw at the ankle +3 bite into the muscle of his upper right arm 10 for injuries. First round. Cascade's round one total: 43/50 Valentine: 10 for clarity: 10 for powerplaying. 10 for defenses. 6 for attack. +1 attempt to slam right forefoot onto her left forefoot +1 right shoulder slam into her left shoulder +4 attempt to grab top of Cascade's muzzle, extra points for attempt to gain control 10 for injuries. First round, no points off for the following injuries. moderate bruising, right shoulder moderate lacerations, lower right side of neck Valentine's round one total: 46/50 ROUND TWO Cascade: 9 for clarity: Clarity of angle issue 10 for powerplaying. 10 for defenses. 7 for attack. +1 shoulder jab just back from the center of his right-side ribs +1 smash left hind paw onto his right hind paw +1 attempt to hook around right forepaw +4 bite between right elbow and chest, extra point for a grip attempt 3 for injuries. -1 minor contusion, left shoulder -2 bruising/welts, right forepaw -1 minor contusion, upper left shoulder -3 bone deep gashes, muzzle Cascade's round two total: 39/50 Valentine: 10 for clarity:   10 for powerplaying. 10 for defenses. 9 for attack. +1 bringing chest down onto her head +4 attempt to wrap legs around her neck, extra point for trying to gain control of her head +4 bite to shoulder blades, extra point for grip attempt 5 for injuries. -3 severe lacerations, lower right side of neck -2 worsened previous injury, lower right side of neck Valentine's round two total: 44/50 Totals: Cascade: 82/100 Valentine: 90/100 And the winner is... Valentine! Cascade must give up by either submitting, fleeing, or passing out. Damage: Cascade: minor contusion, left shoulder - will heal in a matter of days bruising/welts, right forepaw - will heal in 1 OOC week minor contusion, upper left shoulder - will heal in a matter of days moderate lacerations, right side of nose diagonally up toward eye - will heal in 1 OOC week bone deep gashes, muzzle - will heal in 2 OOC weeks, should be seen by a healer Valentine:   moderate bruising, right shoulder - will heal in a matter of days moderate lacerations, lower right side of neck - will heal in 1 OOC week severe lacerations, lower right side of neck worsened previous injury, lower right side of neck - will heal in 2 OOC weeks, should be seen by a healer Notes: Tips for writing and some suggestions. (no points are deducted here): For Tealah: You put up a really good fight. Cascade took a lot of damage which penalized her quite a bit, but that wasn't really your fault. The only advice I can really give is to watch your clarity, as it lost you a few points here and there. Overall, good fight! For Lazuli: Excellent fight, since this is a continuation for you.. just make sure you include the damage he took in any following fights. For both: This was really fun to judge. Love ya'll! <3 - By [Andy]

Ashmedai sprung forward as Valentine finished Cascade off. On one hand he was heartbroken that Cascade had lost, but on another, he was stoked that his daddy had won. It was so cool! His dad was so cool! Ash was sure he was going to be a leader just like his daddy. He was going to show everyone how strong he was. Esti was quick behind the boy, so he knew he had to act fast. Running into the clearing, Ashmedai puffed out his chest, "Me, Daddy! Fight me! I can be big and strong too!" Even though he offered to fight, his tongue rolled out of his maw to the side and his tail wagged crazily, "Fight me next!"

Esti was in hot persuit of her boy. He begged her to go see the spars. He wanted to see his daddy fight. Esti couldn't blame him, she liked a good fight too, but Ash was still tiny. At least Esti thought he was tiny. As soon as she relented, the pup bounded towards the call. It was everything Esti could do to keep up with the ball of energy and fur. Once she entered the area, she saw Cascade and Valen, looking like they had just finished the fight. Of course they had fought and of course she had missed it. What she didn't expect to see was Ashmedai basically under his dad, begging for a fight. Esti's pace quickened, scooping the boy up by the scruff and setting him down behind Valentine, "NO, you will not be fighting your dad." the mother stated in a matter-of-face tone. The pup began to pout immediately, pouring out an incomprehensible mouthful of questions. Why couldn't he fight, wasn't he big, didn't she trust him, didn't she trust his dad, and others. It kept going and the boy looked like he was about to cry, "FINE! Fine! How about-" she glanced at Valentine, "- I fight Daddy instead, so you can learn. You can cheer us on too. You've never seen Mommy fight before, have you?" There was a good reason not to fight around him. Even for her size, she had never considered herself a great fighter in all honesty, but she'd be damned if she didn't at least try. Ashmedai seemed to cheer up at least a little and he let out a long, "ooookayyyy..." She knew as soon as the fight started that he'd be all over it. Giving her son an affectionate lick on the head, Esti turned to Valentine, "Shall we?" she called out with mock politeness, though she herself was setting into a more serious mode. She walked past him, grumbling, "Make it hurt," but as she got up to his ear, she corrected, "but not so much that I can't keep up with him." The gods knew all she needed was for her to be any slower in comparison to the boundless energy that was Ashmedai.

Esti distanced herself from Valentine and gave him time to adjust. She spent the time loosening up and waiting for him to get reoriented. She stretched and called out, "Whenever you're ready!" and prayed to whoever would listen that she wouldn't make a total fool of herself.

Ashmedai Esti Vs. Valen for Spar
Round 0/2

OOC: Iko and I both agree that these two are facing one another head on and at a distance of eight feet.

Winded, Valentine rolled away from Cascade and flopped down on his right side to recover. He regretted it immediately. The move jostled the wounds on that side and as one they complained. Sucking in a deep breath, the brute was on the verge of letting it out in a stream of curses when the exuberant voice of his youngest son reached his ears. Valen swallowed the words immediately. Esti was fast on their boy's heels and as she quickly shot him down, the King slowly got to his paws. He shook out his coat as the pair hashed it out. Esti was going to fight him next, eh? This day just got better and better. The giant white cat didn't go unnoticed. His gravelly voice had sounded during the fight, claiming the next spot. ...Valentine didn't know if he could make it much farther than that particular spar. He'd do it of course. Mercy had fought a tiger. The King himself could claim no such feat. How many wolves had fought big cats? Win or lose, here was the perfect opportunity to earn some bragging rights. "If you don't mind it," he said to the lion, an amused smirk on his lips, "I'd rather take you on at the end. It's just a feeling, but I think you'll be my last." Alright, Esti. Her words made his smirk grow wider. "No maims, got it." Nonchalant, he shrugged and said, "Of course, I could always watch Ash until you're better." His smirk grew wicked. Of course he was teasing. Turning to face Esti head on, the brute began to set his defenses with practiced ease. His ears flattened and his eyes narrowed as his lips curled back and his brow furrowed to bunch the skin around his eyes. Valen's hackles lifted to stand rigid along his back and his head lowered and his tail rose to bring his spine into alignment. Beneath him, the brute's stance widened, his knees bent slightly and his toes splayed as his nails dug into the frozen gravel. "Whenever you're ready." Valentine needed no further encouragement. He kicked off suddenly in a spray of loose grit, his paws rising and falling rapidly as he attempted to quickly close the distance between himself and Esti. A split second before he began his attack, Valentine dodged to his right. His aim was to line the forward facing part of his left shoulder up with the left side of Esti's chest. Hoping to use it like a lance, the brute jutted his left shoulder forward and attempted to ram it into the space where Esti's left shoulder connected to her chest. He wanted to hit it hard enough to numb and temporarily weaken the limb. As he jutted his shoulder forward, Valentine also raised his left forefoot. He redistributed his weight immediately to compensate for this move. Reaching out, Valentine attempted to slam his left forefoot down on top of the innermost toes of Esti's left forefoot. He sought to pin her paw beneath his in the hopes of giving him some amount of control over her movements. To complete his round of attacks Valentine snapped his head to his left. Jaws flinging wide, he aimed to bite into the left side of Esti's neck behind and beneath her jawline.The brute sought to sink his upper teeth into the hollow behind her jawbone and directly beneath her left ear while hooking his lower teeth into the muscle below her jawbone and just to the left of her windpipe. Valentine sought a grip that would give him control of Esti's head and hopefully stifle her movements. VALENTINE versus ESTI for SPAR ASH'S ADORATION Round ONE of TWO ""

Shaw's question briefly drew Angel's attention away from the fight. Sparing the boy a glance, he parted with the exuberant words, "For fun! Isn't it great?" It WAS great! Oh, this was so exciting. He could watch them spar all day. Glancing at the boy again, he somewhat offered, somewhat commanded, "You can sit next to me." Through the rest of the fight Angelus alternated between cheering on his mother and booing his father. That is, until the lion appeared. The appearance of the cat and his subsequent dibs stunned the boy into wide-eyed silence. That wanted to spar with his dad? Holy..bad word..that was a big cat! It was bigger than the tiger he'd played tag with. And his dad said he'd fight it. Bug eyed, Angelus just sat there as Esti and his dad squared off. He was quiet for several long moments and then he turned to look at Shaw. Proudly, he stated, "My dad is going to fight a lion." Where did Ash go? His head snapped around as he sought to lay eyes on his little brother. "Ash! Come sit over here! Did you hear? Dad's gonna fight your mom and then a lion!" "Speaking" "Thinking"

It was all kind of insane. One wolf fighting another, for.. fun? And yet, it had an appeal to it that hadn't really occurred to him until now. He hadn't known you could fight without killing each other, and now that he'd seen it done, he was intrigued. "Kinda," came the tentative response from the pale and frail boy. It did look fun, but the after part where you laid there hurting didn't seem appealing. An offer was made, he could sit next to the boy. Shaw pondered this for a moment, but decided he had no real reason to say no, and so his hindquarters would settle along the boy's left side. For a while everything was a blur. The boy at his side seemed to be cheering Cascade and booing the King (something Shaw didn't think was quite kosher) and seemed incredibly wrapped up in the chaos of it all. Shaw tried his best to keep up, watching the warriors square off and watching the King win. Another wolf stepped up and decided to fight, though it seemed she was only doing it to keep her son at bay. There was an extremely large cat that had also joined the.. was it a party? He seemed eager to get in on the 'fun', as Angelus had put it. Shaw watched in absolute silence, taking it all in. This place was chaotic, but for some reason - he liked it. The boy at his side invited the other one over, 'Ash' as he was called. Shaw wondered if he ought to let them be, but as Angelus hadn't dismissed him yet he would remain stationary for the time being, eyes wide with a somewhat dumbfounded look on his face. "Have you fought like this before?" he queried of Angelus - unsure if the larger boy was even listening. Perhaps children weren't allowed to fight, Shaw wasn't really sure what the rules of the fight club were. ""

He was late to the party, and boy, was it a party he regretted being late to. A devious smile split across his lips as he approached the scene, noting that Valentine had succeeded in besting Cascade and was now squaring off against a woman he'd seen before but couldn't name. Most of the wolves and creatures had their backs turned to him, and he tried his best to see who else was spectating. Mercy wasn't there, which was surprising. Perhaps she was off fighting another tiger. Lysis wasn't either, and he wondered where on earth his sister had gone off to to be missing an event such as this. Rhythm wasn't even there. Kyarst felt oddly out of place without any of them to congregate near, and so he would settle off to the side, nearly parallel to the lion, with Valentine and Esti in between. Eyes fell upon the large feline almost instantly, and he found himself bristling out of instinct. There was little he could do, because the beast had been invited, but that didn't mean he had to like it. Being tardy to the party also meant that he had no clue whom was next in Valentine's spar-a-thon, but he knew he wanted in. "Count me in," he snuck in as Valentine was setting his defenses. He wasn't going to simply watch the fun, he wanted to be a part of the main event. His haunches graced the earth, tail curling neatly around his hips. He would watch this spar closely and learn a little bit about how Valentine liked to fight, it might not benefit him much - but it sure couldn't hurt. ""

He had heard a certain call from the other side of the battlefield. And the moment he did he set himself towards it. And it would seem, the closer he got the more scents would fill his nostrils, fueling him on as a certain need clawed at his belly. Sin hadn't fought in some time, though perhaps this was the perfect opportunity to do so. He'd arrive to hear the words "count me in", and ahead of him would be a pelt and figure familiar to him. It was one of the whelps that had grown up in Glaciem, so did this perhaps mean that his father had fallen? Well, that wasn't surprising. He then looked towards the commotion of such a gathering, a large male going against a smaller female, and another woman nearby licking her wounds. He then saw the white lion, and everyone else standing around and cheering on their support or that they wanted a piece of the action. He approached though kept to himself, somewhat away from the group as a sneer spread upon his lips. "I'd like a piece of this" He'd say it loud enough for Valentine, and perhaps others to hear. Though he was a possible stranger to them, he didn't care. The call he had heard had a certain ring to it, and if that's what the larger male wanted then he would get it. And he had quite the line of autographs to sign too. "Speech"

Laz and I excused and time over for this round.
Got permission from Tea to add the rounds and stuff.

She hadn’t noticed the lion. Valentine was going to fight the lion? Esti shot a look to Cascade that was half worry and half amusement at the agreement between the two species. Turning back, Valentine agreed no maims, then joked about watching Ashmedai while she was recovering. Esti didn’t even have to look, she could hear their son’s tail hitting the ground excitedly as he called out, “Really Dad?! Would you!?” He made the emotion to run up alongside his father, but Esti shot him a look that sent him straight back to his haunches. Right, as long as Ashmedai stayed out of this, it would be fine.

As the male began to set his defenses, Esti began to do the same. She started with widening her stance, bending her knees slightly while her toes spread, nails scraping into the cold, rocky ground. Trying to remove her excited smirk, Esti’s lips curled up, narrowing her eyes and flattening her ears, her whole face scrunching to provide ripples of extra skin. Her head lowered and her tail rose, forming a line as her spine evened out. Along this line, her hackles rose and a small growl rippled from the woman’s chest. She was ready.

As Valentine charged, Esti charged. The two running for each other head on, attempting to minimize the distance between them. Just before they met in the middle, Valentine dodged to Esti’s left. Esti reciprocated, attempting to jump to her left to meet Valentine head on. His left shoulder would not clash with her left shoulder, since she had moved over, instead hitting her directly in the front part of her right shoulder. The area had little fat to protect it and it felt like bone collided with bone, though it would only bruise moderately later. For now, the shoulder stung and Esti was sure Valentine would be feeling it too.

Valentine’s next assault was to stomp on Esti’s toes. With Esti’s position now being head on with Valentine, his left forepaw slammed down directly onto her right forepaw, his nails scratching between her toes and onto the webbing between them, but not fully securing the forepaw. Blood would well up from the moderate scratched, stinging, though Esti would still be able to support weight on the forepaw.

The last attack was to bite the left side of Esti’s face. Now being face to face, however, Valentine’s bite latched onto the right side of her maw, with only the left side of Valentine’s teeth hitting her skin. The teeth would drag down from the bridge of her snout to the end of her lips, causing moderate scratching that burned like fire and bled like a waterfall.

A snarl left Esti’s now bleeding maw as she prepared for her attacks. Esti sought to reach out and turn her head to her right to secure a grip on Valentine’s left ear, just at the base where she could control his movements and attacks. She would aim to latch her top teeth behind his ear while the lower jaw sought to clamp onto the inner ear. Esti intended to twist his ear to his right, seeking to throw off his balance. She attempted to hook her left forepaw around Valentine’s right forepaw and pull it towards her to throw off his balance further as she redistributed hers to her three remaining paws. Esti lastly attempted to push forward and slam her whole chest squarely into the middle of Valentine’s chest, seeking to push Valentine off balance. They were the same height, so pushing him down wouldn’t hurt much, but it might throw him off guard.

VALENTINE versus ESTI for SPAR

Round ONE of TWO

"Speech"
'thoughts'

As Ash's mom said something to his dad, the pup's ears perked. He couldn't hear them though. When they faced each other, his dad offered to watch him while his mom recovered from the fight. This offer kicked Ash's tail into motion, wagging, hitting the ground with loud, hard thumps, "Really Dad?! Would you?!" The pup moved to run up to his dad to confirm the exciting news. He just barely got his rump off the ground when his mom sent him a hard look that put his rear back on the ground in an instant. Why was she being so MEAN?! He just wanted to ask his dad if he was serious about watching him! Ash heard his brother call him and with a few glances to his mom, Ash darted towards his brother, his body kept low. He sprung up beside Angelus, his tail making circles, "I KNOW! I wanna fight a lion! I bet my mom's gonna win- no, maybe dad! I think they are both big and can be scary, so maybe they'll both win! Where's the lion! His butt's gonna get whooped! Dad is big and scary and could probably eat a lion!" Ash had clearly never seen a lion, "Where is he anyway, I need to tell him he's gonna lose!" He turned off, skirting around until he saw it. The large white cat sat, having too little fur on its body and too much around its face. Ash was scared for a split second, his heart jumping. He swallowed, then padded up to the lion all cool like, "Hey! Aren'cha cold without your fur? Did you pull it all out, or did it just all grow on your head? Can I have fur long like that? Oh, but i don't want short fur, because I'd get cold! And you're snow colored! Maybe you tricked the snow into not making you cold? I'm storm colored, so sometimes I feel like it storms more around me because the clouds need a friend! And Daddy is storm colored too, so they come to see him too. That's what Momma said, that I'm like a storm and that Daddy is like a storm! She said if a storm cloud got snow on it, that would be me, but even though I have snow color on me, I still get cold! Did you know my Dad's a good fighter and he's going to beat you up? Especially because you don't have fluffy fur! I think Cascade said that fur protects your skin from bites, but maybe that was Vana or Gelus. I'm gonna be a fighter like my Dad, so you can come back and fight me after you get beaten up by dad today! I want it to be fair, so I'll let you heal first, but then come and see me, okay? My name is Ashmedai! Ashz-Meh-DIE! I'm their son! Ash finally took a break from talking to motion to the two fighters, suddenly realizing that they were actually fighting. Lion forgotten, Ash ran back to Angelus to watch, "Did you see that, Gelus? Dad BIT Mom!" The pup's maw formed a small "o" as he watched. This was gonna be a good fight! ""

She got both feet on the ground
And she's burning it down

Cascade knew when she'd been beat, and her survival instinct definitely trumped her pride so when his legs closed around her neck and his teeth into her scruff she went limp beneath him in surrender without the slightest qualm. They'd begun to attract quite the crowd while they'd fought, and even as Ashmedai leapt forward to eagerly challenge Valen (and be shot down by his mother, who jumped in to take his place) others were expressing their desire to fight the Imperium alpha. She flopped down at the edges of the group to make room for his newer "suitors" while she watched. Even a big cat showed up, an albino as pale and rosie-eyed as ever an albino wolf would be. Cas grinned, a very bloody grin as she licked at the blood streaming from her muzzle, and shrugged as Esti shot her a look. Hey, if he was going to be dumb enough to fight a big cat, she wasn't going to stop him. If nothing else it would be entertaining to watch him get his butt kicked by something larger than him for a change. She'd just patch him up again.

She let her attention be drawn away from the fight to Ash's antics as he cavorted around, but she winced internally as he practically tackled the big cat with a veritable flood of words. Esti, let alone Valen, would probably not appreciate it if she let their son get eaten by the very same big cat Valen was supposed to fight, and so she pushed her way back to her paws (wincing as she did at the pull of new wounds without adrenaline to counter them) and padded over to the fast-growing pup to deftly insert herself between him and the lion. Though, being Cas, she couldn't help a jab of her own. "Hey, Ash, the kitty knows he's outclassed already, that's why your dad's going to have him go last so he stands a chance right? So let's not rub his nose in it too much ok?"

She bumped her shoulder gently against the boy who, if she was any judge of things, was going to be every inch as tall as Phim and Vana. Hardly surprising since Esti was the same size as Valen and Cas herself carried the blood of dire wolves. She wondered very briefly if Valen's height would be expressed in a smaller woman's litter as well - very briefly, since if Ashmedai was anything like Angelus she'd need to actually pay attention to make sure he didn't slip around her and physically poke the big cat. Hey, he wasn't her kid, she wasn't going to stop him from drowning the cat in questions, but at least if he pissed the kitty off, Mr. Kitty would have to go through Cas before he could hurt the pup. "Who do you think is going to win, Ash?"

"Speech"

She got her head in the clouds
And she's not backing down

Bone struck bone as Valentine's left shoulder made contact with Esti's right shoulder. Her quick movements saved his intended targets from harm, but didn't stop any of his attacks from landing. His left forefoot stomped down on his opponent's right forefoot, but instead of pinning it, his paw slid off. Instead of biting into the left side of Esti's neck, Valentine's teeth raked down the right side of her snout and glanced off, his jaws snapping shut with a click. Quickly Valentine sought to reset his altered defenses. Planting his left forefoot back on the ground, the brute widened his stance, centered his weight and bent his knees. His toes splayed, nails dipping down to grip the gravel underfoot. Along his back, Valentine's hackles remained rigid. Body tensing for quick, instinctive movements, the King then lifted his tail so that it was level with his spine, rolled his shoulders forward and dropped his head so that it was level with his shoulders. His chin tucked to create a protective hollow around his throat and he made sure to keep his eyes narrowed and his ears pinned. In dropping his head, Valentine saved his left ear from serious harm. Instead of gaining a grip, Esti's teeth merely skimmed the top of his flattened left ears as he ducked down and created minor scratches along the points of contact. The damage was blessedly light. The last thing he needed was a river of blood running down the side of his head. Hoping to spare his right side from more harm, the brute quickly sidestepped to his right in the hopes of lining the front of his left shoulder up with the center of Esti's chest. In doing so he unwittingly saved his right forefoot from getting hooked and the nails of Esti's left forefoot merely scraped the front of his right ankle as he moved out of range. Sensing what Esti intended to do next, Valentine decided to intercept her shove. With his left shoulder jutted out, the brute attempted to kick forward sharply and drive it into the lowest part of Esti's throat just above the center of her chest. Given how short the distance was between them, Valentine couldn't hope to pack much of a punch, so he was hoping to use Esti's momentum against her and double the damage that way. [counter to shove; damage pending] Using his left forefoot, Valentine again sought to stomp on the innermost toes of Esti's left forefoot. As before he hoped to smash her toes and pin them to the ground in a move that would hopefully restrict her movements and give him some amount of control over her. Seeking to put an end to the fight, the King next tipped his crown to his left. Doing so naturally caused his chin to rise to his right and it was like this that Valentine's head snaked forward and to his left. His jaws wide, he intended to sink his upper teeth into the right side of Esti's throat just below her lower jaw. He hoped to place his bottom teeth directly across from that that by hooking them into the left side of her throat just below her jawbone. Valentine intended to drive his jaws closed around her windpipe. Of course he didn't seek serious damage- instead he wanted a solid grip that would force Esti to submit or risk being choked out. VALENTINE versus ESTI for SPAR Round TWO of TWO ""