With a giddy spring in his step, Valentine crossed the line that divided Imperium from the battlefield. He was feeling unbelievably good and to celebrate, today he was going to put someone in the dirt or be put in the dirt himself. It seemed like a grand way to end a fine spring day. Oh, it was going to be so good! He could tell already. The sun was warm, the air was still, the field was bright with flowers and there were dainty little songbirds flitting about. Didn't that just sound like a perfect day for a fight? Slinking to a halt, the King cast a quick glance around him in the hopes of laying eyes on a partner. VALENTINE versus OPPONENT ROUND ZERO of UNDETERMINED ""

Voltage himself was feeling oddly giddy, but with Serefina down and out he needed to, once again, search else where to expend his extra energy. History had proven that fighting and moving seemed to do the best at allowing Voltage to lose some of his boundless energy..and with the children on the way he also felt a fantastic need to hone his skills. He needed to be strong and fit, not only to protect his children, but to be able to keep up with them as well. Plus, wasn't it always good to make sure you were in tip top shape? So he'd take the time and travel the distance to the battle field, his mother's lullaby on his tongue as he ventured to find an opponent to help him achieve all the things he needed too. It didn't take too long, and with a grin he'd look upon a rather large male. Oh he liked the challenge. With a bright smile he'd dip his head to him, stopping close to 10 feet away from him. "Since your here I'm going to assume you'd like to fight." He said with a toothy, boyish grin before lowering his head, eyes narrowing. "You go first." He said with a smirk, lips curling as he did and ears pinning back. Within a few seconds he'd set his stance, his limbs widening to a good shoulder length apart, his hind legs bending and flexing. His tail would swish behind him before tucking to protect his rather...sensitive place. He did want more children after all! Shifting his front legs he'd push his shoulders forward, bunching the excess fur and fat along his neck to protect it, toes and nails biting into the dirt. His hackles and fur would raise along his back as he smirked, waiting for the brute to move. Voltage vs Valentine 0/2 Practice

OOC: Arin and I have decided that they are facing one another head on

His gaze casual, the King watched as a smaller man approached him. He returned the polite nod that was given to him. "Since your here I'm going to assume you'd like to fight." At this Valentine flashed an impish grin and rumbled a deep, throaty chuckle. "Oh, indeed I would," he purred back. "You go first." The King dipped his head in a show of acceptance before beginning to set his defenses. They fell rapidly and with a fluidity that spoke of years of practice. His grin took on a fiercer edge, lips curling higher in an effort to bunch the skin around his eyes. Slate ears slicked back and lay flat against the slope of his crown as his eyes narrowed to protect his sight. His head lowered and his shoulders rolled forward to create a protective hollow around his throat. Along his back, Valentine's hackles rose as he leveled his tail with his spine. To make himself hard to displace, the brute placed his paws slightly wider than shoulder and hip width apart, bent his knees slightly, splayed his toes and dug his nails into the dirt. Lastly he tensed, muscles going taunt as he prepared to launch himself at his nameless opponent. He should really introduce himself, shouldn't he? Manners and whatnot. "Name's Valentine." His opponent had come at him head on and left a distance of roughly 10 feet between them, which Valentine found perfectly agreeable. The only thing he really had an issue with was the distance. It was awfully hard to bite someone who stood so far away. He'd have to fix that, now wouldn't he? Kicking off suddenly, Valentine attempted to close the distance between himself and his opponent at a startling speed. He wanted to maintain their head on positioning as he began his attacks. First order of business was to get as close as he possible could. Seconds before impact he intended to rear up (his weight redistributing to accommodate the move as he did so) and then slam his chest downwards in the hopes of ramming the entirety of it into both the lower portion of his opponent's neck and the upper portion of his chest. Given the size difference he figured the width of his chest would easily cover the width of his opponent's chest. The movement was oddly reminiscent of a ram seeking to drop the weight of his horns onto the head of his opponent. As he began his descent, the King straightened and stiffed his forelegs in the hopes of stomping on both of his opponent's forefeet. He intended for these moves (the slam and the stomps) to be in one fluid motion, with the slam landing a split second before his weight carried him to the ground and all for feet were planted solidly once more. Valentine hoped that the pad of his left forefoot would land squarely on top of his opponent's right forefoot and that the pad of his right forefoot would land squarely on his opponent's left forefoot. He aimed to pin each forefoot in the hopes of severely limiting his opponent's ability to move. Hoping to use his height to his advantage, Valentine rotated his head to his left and then suddenly snaked it forward. Jaws flinging wide he attempted to sink his teeth into the top of his opponent's muzzle. He sought to drive his upper canines into the right side of his opponent's muzzle directly in front of his right eye and his lower canines directly across from them, hopefully sinking them into the skin in front of his opponent's left eye. The King sought a strong grip that would not only give him control of his opponent's head, but cause blinding pain. It was a fine day indeed. VALENTINE versus VOLTAGE for SPAR Round ONE of TWO ""

"Voltage" He said with a polite dip on his head, his lips curling into a toothy grin before they pulled back to reveal white canines. It was like the cheery elementas transformed in the face of battle. There was a different sort of happiness that fell off of him like waves, it was intense and shocking. He would shift himself a tad on his forepaws, readying himself when suddenly his opponent would bolt. Instantly his body tensed as he growled, waiting, one second, two seconds as the distance ate between them. Valen's impressive size managed to swallow the distance shortly, but Voltage was ready. His muscles were tight in his hind legs, bent at the knees like springs, waiting for just this moment. Just as Valentine would rear Voltage would strike. He leapt, also rearing up on his hind paws, distributing his weight to his shoulder-width hind legs in the mean time, to try and meet the chest slam with one of his own, legs instantly aiming to wrap around Valentine between the joint where his legs met his body and his bony shoulder blades. Dew claws would attempt to hook into thick fur, hoping to get a hold. [counter, damage pending] Due to his raised forepaws, Valentine's paw slams would miss entirely. Following his momentum, Voltage would attempt to reach with gaping jaws for the thick fur lining Valentine's neck, trying to use his smaller size to his advantage and sneak under Valentine's jaws when Valentine aimed for him. He'd try and hook his teeth into the thick fur just beneath his jaw, his upper teeth on the left of his neck and the bottoms to the right. He didn't want a throat grip, no, he wanted to grasp onto the thick fur and fat in an attempt to chock the beast. Due to his movements Valen's jaws wounldn't latch to his muzzle, but would rather glance off his skull and grab purchase where the fur and skin grew thicker at the base of his skull. The pain was imminent, blossoming as the blood welled and slipped through his fur. He almost wanted to shudder at the feeling, but he kept with it. His tail had swung out behind him now to try and aid his hind limbs in his balance, his hopeful grip on Valentine with his forepaws would help keep him upright as well, if he managed the hit. Eyes were narrowed still, lips curled even if he didn't manage to get the grip he wanted, his ears pinned at the back of his skull. Due to his close proximity he didn't feel it need to duck to protect his throat, but his shoulders would attempt to bunch, to further protect the back of his neck, and his hackles and fur would raise. His muscles would remain tight, ready to any blow. Voltage vs Valentine 1/2 Practice

Voltage reared up to meet him as Valentine fell forward and the two collided in a teeth rattling, non-celebratory (or was it? Both parties appeared to be rather gleeful) chest bump. As expected, the blow stung and the upward motion of his opponent worsened things. Later a patchwork of bruising was sure to form across the entirety of his chest, but overall it could best be described as moderate. A split second after impact he became aware of his opponent's forelegs running up over top of both of his shoulders but below his shoulder blades. He could feel Voltage's claws digging through his fur and leaving what felt like thin welts in the skin directly beneath his shoulder blades, but the damage was very light and no blood was drawn. Valentine's bite missed its target completely, his teeth instead finding purchase at the base of his opponent's skull. His upper teeth sunk into the right side of Voltage's scruff just behind his right ear and his lower teeth sank into the left side of Voltage's scruff just behind his left ear. Jaws snapping shut on a mouthful of thick fur and skin, his teeth sank in deeply and created moderate puncture wounds. A sudden constricting feeling around his throat drew a bubbling hiss from between the King's teeth as his opponent's teeth found their mark. As he'd hoped, Voltage's teeth managed to grip the bunched skin, fur and fat that covered Valentine's throat just below his lower jaw. Thankfully, because he'd tucked his chin, the skin there was looser than it would have been had he kept his lower jaw parallel to the ground. His opponent's teeth sank in, slicing through the skin and creating a moderate wound. Fortunately for Valentine, the blow wasn't deep enough to damage anything major. While his opponent succeeded in restricting the King's ability to breathe, he didn't achieve a deep enough hold to choke Valentine out. The collision didn't keep Valentine from returning his forefeet to the ground. The height difference alone contributed to much of his success in this regard. His opponent was also light enough that his balance hadn't been thrown off too terribly and he was able to continue his descent without too much ado – something he intended to use to his advantage. With his paws back on the ground, Valentine widened his stance so that his paws were place slightly wider than shoulder/hip width apart and he bent his knees and elbows just enough to keep the joints loose. For balance his toes were splayed and for added traction his nails bit into the hard ground of the battlefield. He kept his ears slicked back and flat against the slope of his crown, and his eyes narrowed. The skin along his muzzle and around his eyes bunched up as his lips curled back, hopefully adding a protective circle of loose skin around his eyes. His hackles stood tall, the stiff hairs spanning the length and width of his back, and his tail rose to lay level with his spine. Hoping to keep the skin over his throat loose since his opponent was hanging off of it, the brute kept his chin tucked and he rolled his shoulders forward in the hopes of further bunching the thick mantle of fur and skin around his neck. Seeking to maintain his grip on the back of his opponent's neck at the base of his skull, Valentine intended to bite down harder and thrash his head from side to side in the hopes of worsening the damage done. As he did so he shoved forward in the hopes of ramming the whole of his chest into Voltage's chest. It was a very general strike, the size difference enough to almost guarantee that the entirety of his chest would cover the width of Voltage's chest. With his opponent's forelegs around his shoulders Valentine hoped to strike the whole lower half of Voltage's chest and hopefully force him over backwards and knock the wind from him. VALENTINE versus VOLTAGE for SPAR Round TWO of TWO ""

Their chests would slam together with Voltage's momentum meeting Valentine's weight. Volty knew he hadn't been strong enough, nor weighed enough to do a thing to Valen's balance, so when he did little but touch the ground Voltage would merely grin inwardly. Pain was instant, swelling through his own chest in bruises, deep enough to blossom almost instantly. Beneath his fur, the colors would be dark, almost worrisome as the days went on, but luckily his fur was dark enough to hide such a sight. There was a slight moment of triumph as his paws found purchase in Valentine's fur along the sides of his shoulders, as his teeth met their mark. It had been such a long time since he had felt such joy, it was an odd sliver of the feeling, something that belonged only to fighting. He loved the feel of his teeth in flesh, loved the rough and tumble way of battle, he didn't even mind the pain that followed because the adrenaline he felt weakened the feeling slightly, (at first. Voltage always whined about it after to whomever would be willing to listen.). And this man, this Valentine, was surely a fantastic sparring partner. When he achieved his grip, Voltage would tighten his stomach muscles and further dig his hind toes and claws into the ground for purchase. His hind limbs were extended, knees locked to keep him solid and upright against his opponents brute strength and size. His lips would curl as a savage snarl ripped from his throat. He had never been a quiet man, especially in battle. Eye would narrow as he thought, the miniscule moments between seconds before Valentine would react, and his ears remained forever plastered to the back of his head. Valentine's head would thrash, teeth ripping through flesh and causing Voltage's eyes to water. He'd hiss into his hold, his eyes narrowing even more as the blood would seep through the thin and then thick fur along his head and neck. The pain was instant, harsh, but it did not cause Voltage to falter, he had felt worse from his siblings. Instead, he'd allow the thrash to move his own head, and thus would possibly and inadvertedly allow him to hopefully cut harsher lacerations into Valentine's neck. The moment he felt the sudden, added pressure to his chest Voltage would suck in a breath of air. Because Valentine hadn't taken a step back to create momentum, nor did he seem to be adding it with any steps forward, the shove (albeit strong) wasn't much more than just that, a shove. He would stumble only slightly, taking a step back and behind him with his left hind paw to create a more tripod stance and his tail would whip out behind him, to further manage his balance. Toes would continue to press into dirt and his forlegs would clench, attempting to dig his dull claws further into Valen's skin where they had purchase to help hold on. Since there was not so much of an impact, but rather a pressed hold and then shove, the pain was not extravagant. It did anger the bruises he had there from their previous impact, but it wasn't anything he really blinked at. The moment Valentine began his push Voltage would take advantage of the momentum given to him and he'd relax his jaws just enough to hopefully keep his bite, but also enough that when Valentine shoved forward he could attempt to dig in further to the thick flesh, to grasp a tight hold and hopefully achieve the choke hold he had wished for the last time he tried this. All this time his fur would remain raised, his shoulder would keep clenched to protect the back of his neck. His hackles were risen, and his body remained clenched to try and keep his balance strong against the brute he was facing. Voltage vs Valentine 2/2 Practice

VOLTAGE VS VALENTINE FOR SPAR ROUND ONE VALENTINE CLARITY clear! Total: 10 POWERPLAY -2 "seconds before impact he…"  This partially assumes he closed the distance as he intended to.  You opponent may have moved in this time. Total: 8 DEFENSES + 1 for each seen Total: 10 ATTACK +2  chest slam +2  double paw slam +4 bite + grip Total: 8 INJURIES - First round! Total: 10 Total for Round One: 46 / 50 VOLTAGE CLARITY -2  how is Volt trying to collide their chests?  Is he hoping to line them up center to center?  upper to lower? -1  you say he didn't want a throat grip but it sure seems like the target is the throat and you mention trying to choke Valen out.  It's lead me to doubt I understand this attack. -2  how severe is the damage to Volt from the bite?   Total: 5 POWERPLAY none seen Total: 10 DEFENSES + 1 each seen Total: 6 ATTACK +1 chest slam  (point removed for clarity) +1  paw wrapping +3 bite Total: 5 INJURIES - First round! Total: 10 Total for Round One: 36 / 50 ROUND TWO VALENTINE CLARITY all clear! Total: 10 POWERPLAY none seen Total: 10 DEFENSES + 1 each seen Total: 10 ATTACK +5  bite + grip + worsening damage +1 chest slam, they're very close quarters will diminish the force of this attack. Total: 6 INJURIES -1 moderate bruising -2 moderate bite wound to throat Total: 7 Total for Round Two: 43 / 50 VOLTAGE CLARITY all clear! Total: 10 POWERPLAY none seen Total: 10 DEFENSES + 1 for each seen Total: 10 ATTACK +5 bite + grip + worsening damage Total: 5 INJURIES -2 severe bruising -3 severe bite to back of neck Total: 5 Total for Round Two: 38 / 50 Totals: VALENTINE 89 / 100 VOLTAGE 74 / 100 And the winner is... VALENTINE Voltage must give up by submitting, fleeing or passing out. Damage: VALENTINE -moderate bruising to chest will take1 ooc week to heal -moderate bite wound to throat will take 2 ooc weeks to heal VOLTAGE - severe bruising to chest 2 ooc weeks to heal - severe bite to back of neck 3 ooc weeks to heal Notes: Tips for writing and some suggestions. (no points are deducted here): Good work guys!  Anything that needs to be said can be found in the deductions.  My apologies for the brevity but I'm under the weather and have to get to town. > - By [Lunarcat7]