the journey calls

Caught up in the swiftness and fog of a battle Tor was only dimly aware of his mother's presence and he had nothing to spare to wonder why, and certainly nothing to spare for any sudden shyness or stage fright though if she had appeared before the two yearlings had tangled he might have been self conscious. There was success through the far-away pain of fresh wounds, but very little. Tor caught his hold on Ashmedai's face, keeping him from wounding Tor's shoulder, but though he also caught Ash's foreleg he was unable to topple the older boy over from the angle he was at. He grunted as Ash shoved back at him, the point of the boy's shoulder digging into the bruises on the side of Tor's left shoulder from Ash's initial charge causing the already-abused muscle to knot up painfully atop the bruises. Dull claws dug into the webbing between the toes of his left forepaw, a sharp stinging pain easily shunted aside as the claws dragged short welts into the more fragile skin. Releasing his hold on Ash's face Tor jerked his head backwards, chin angling up in an attempt to pull away. Ash's canines caught at Tor's jawline, dragging a deep wound along the bottom of Tor's right lower jaw before sliding off.

Releasing his hold on Ash's foreleg Tor dropped his right forepaw back to the ground to counterbalance, keeping most of his weight on his hindquarters to compensate for Ash pushing against him his weight was still evenly balanced between his right and his left. His stance he kept widened, his knees and elbows bent slightly to lower his center of gravity and his joints loose and fluid. Monotone hackles were raised, calculating blue eyes narrowed to protect them and ears flattened to his skull. He tensed the muscles in his pinned left forepaw to prevent further injury to bone or tendons, and dug the claws of his remaining three paws into the earth for grip. He brought his chin back down to cover his throat as he lowered his head once again to the level of his shoulders, blood staining the white of his chin red as it dripped thickly from his wound. His shoulders hunched forward to drive his scruff into rolls of fat and skin over his neck, and he flicked his tail down between his legs to protect it in these closer quarters.

He did not stop his motion as he allowed his defenses to resettle, instead continuing to let his body drop into a deep crouch, releasing his shoulder from Ash's push and hoping that the other boy's momentum would drive him partly over Tor's shoulders. He made no attempt to free his paw from under Ash's, instead simply pivoting around it as he let his upper body curve towards his own left side and he sought to use his powerful hindlegs to drive forward and up beneath Ash's chest - seeking to bring the tops of both his shoulders up under Ash's chest in something like a fireman's carry in the hopes that his forward-and-upward motion would allow the throw to slam Ash onto the ground on the other boy's right side. As he did, Tor curved his head further towards his left and attempted to bury his fangs on either side of Ash's right foreleg halfway between elbow and wrist, aiming to come in from the back of the limb with his nose to the outside of the leg and his lower jaw aiming to clamp around the inside in an attempt to gain a sturdy grip.

Other than the faint sounds of pain as he was wounded, Tornach fought with no sound, no snarls or growls, just the bright gem-blue of his eyes as they shifted constantly over his opponent in complete concentration, as though memorizing the fight to replay over and over after to see what lessons he could glean from it - which he was.

TORNACH vs ASHMEDAI for SPAR
Round 2/2