Fire & Fury

She paid little heed to Avalon's words in favor of settling into her own defenses, as comfortable as an otter slipping into water. She cared little for the girl's justifications, and she was rather certain that they would make little sense to her. One could simply not have sensible justifications for jumping from one extreme to the next, and since she could not understand Avalon's - or any one else's in these lands, really - reasoning for having embraced a soft life to begin with she could hardly understand this. She simply shook her head and readied herself.

Slim legs slipped slightly wider into a stance just over hip and shoulder width apart, elbows and knees going loose for freer movement and bending slightly to lower her center of gravity. Jet paws spread wide to increase their surface area, toes flexing to drive her claws into the earth beneath her. Her head dropped to be level with her spine, her tail raising to meet the same level, and her chin tucked in towards her chest slightly to protect her throat. Her shoulders hunched forward to drive her scruff into protective folds, while silver-ticked hackles raised. Her ears pinned back against her skull, and silver eyes narrowed though she did not take them from her opponent.

Having prepared her own defenses Avalon charged, and Katja readied herself. Not to take the hit, no - Avalon was larger and heavier, and if Katja let her close there was a good chance of being taken off her feet by the charge. Instead, the viking chose to sidestep to her own right, avoiding Avalon's attempt to hook her foreleg entirely, and when Avalon's left shoulder instead struck the front of Katja's left shoulder Katja let the momentum spin her slightly so that she faced Avalon's shoulder at a slight angle. The sudden ache of moderate bruises blossoming on her shoulder was easy to ignore, and turning her head to her left Katja sought to duck her head - already lower than Avalon's with the height difference - beneath Avalon's attempted bite, seeking to gain a grip on Avalon's lower jaw with her lower fangs to the right of Avalon's jaw and her upper fangs to the left and crush the bone (counter). Keeping her right forepaw planted she also sought to lift her left forepaw in an attempt to sweep Avalon's left forepaw out from under her.

KATJA VS AVALON FOR SPAR ROUND 1/2

OOC: edited to remove random part of another post with permission from Arin