carve your name [challenge]

Leo had never been much of a fighter. It wasn't that he couldn't, it just had never been something he truly enjoyed. His strong build disagreed, but his nature was much more one for being a cheerful lover. However, has he finished settling into his defenses and waited for Bacchus to do the same, he made himself get into the mindset that he was fighting to defend his place in Fiori. No, he was defending his home. He didn't know what Bacchus had planned if he won. He didn't know if he and Svetlana and their children would suddenly be looking for a new home. He was protecting the life that he was building for his pups and his family. He made himself ignore all the onlookers and focus in on the large male ahead of him.

He ensured that he was firmly set in his defenses. His paws were spread evenly under him and his toes were spread with his claws dug firmly into the ground. Bacchus was much larger than he was so he knew he had to brace himself for whatever would come next. His hackles were raised and his neck and tail were laying evenly with his spine. The skin around his neck was bunched around it protectively while his chin tucked down to guard his throat. His lips pulled back in a snarl to expose his teeth as he saw Bacchus's legs tense with the first signs of movement. His ears remained pinned back against his skull and his eyes were narrowed to protective slits. He bent his knees slightly and tensed his muscles in more efforts to brace himself against Bacchus' attack. He'd pull in a breath to steady himself just as Bacchus leaped from his perch toward him.

Bacchus would go barreling out of the gate, not that Leo had expected any less. He saw Bacchus' front legs come up off the ground as he reached toward him, the male's chest quickly coming at him. Leo let the distinct height difference between them be a slight advantage and he would duck down and slightly to his left. He adjusted his stance as he did this to keep his paws equal distance apart and his paws firmly in place. This caused Bacchus' chest to collide with the top of Leo's right shoulder instead of with the area between his chest and neck. Leo would shove his shoulder into Bacchus' chest right as they collided, hoping that would deepen the bruise that the contact would leave on the other male's chest. He knew it would do the same to himself, but he was willing to take that. His movement also disrupted Bacchus' attempt to wrap his legs around Leo's neck. Instead, Leo would feel Bacchus' left leg fall across his shoulders and his right leg would hit the top of Leo's neck, but Leo would pull his head back enough to cause the limp to fall towards the ground. What Leo wasn't anticipating was Bacchus' open jaws. With their change in position, his nephew's teeth would land on the back of Leo's neck, getting a mouth full of his scruff. Leo winced when he felt his teeth sink into the thick skin there, but the adrenaline kept the worst of the pain away.

Quick to respond with an attack of his own, Leo took advantage of Bacchus' leg that had fallen in front of his head. His jaws opened wide and he turned his head to his left so he could reach forward to attempt to grab onto the upper portion of Bacchus' right leg. He wanted to sink his teeth deep into the limb and bite down hard in hopes of impairing Bacchus' movement and potentially forcing him to keep some weight off the leg. Leo also shifted his weight to this other three paws so he could lift his left paw without risking throwing himself off balance. He'd aim to use his left paw to slam it down on top of Bacchus' right paw, hoping to crack the toes there or at least bruise the paw badly to impair his movement even more. He was very aware of his opponent's leg across his shoulders and his jaws on his scruff. In the same movement of his first attack on Bacchus' leg he raised himself out of the sight crouch his ducking had caused him to do, pushing his neck toward Bacchus in his reach toward Bacchus' leg. He hoped that by doing this it would put enough strain on Bacchus' lower jaw to force the man to let go.

"Speech"
Bacchus vs Leo for Kingship of Fiori
Round 1 of 3
ooc: 3 rounds is fine! Sorry if this post is confusing. I had to type it really quickly before work. I'll be on Skype if you have any questions!