Dancers and Highsteppers [Amos]

As Amos arrived, a smile flickered into place as she took in his appearance, nodding at his question. As he paused to greet Paladin, Aurielle approached, squinting at his nose and grinning, a front paw lifting to poke at the top of his muzzle. “This is my cousin Paladin. You’ve got dirt caked here, by the way.”

A light swipe of her paw dislodged it and she was bouncing lithely back to put a short distance of four feet between herself and Amos, turning to face him fully and grinning at him, gradated blue eyes twinkling with a bit of challenge. “Of course I’m ready. I’ve been looking forward to this first dance.”

Her tail waved cheerfully behind her in a flowing banner before she flicked it out behind her, falling level with her spine as her head mirrored that height, shoulders sliding forward in a rolling shrug. Her mane made it difficult for the hackles along her neck to rise, but the shorter tufts of fur that insulated the base of the long hair stood on end as best as it could. Her hackles along her spine had no such issues and rose in a stiff ridge from her shoulders to her tail.

Her chin tucked over her throat, though his larger size made such an area slightly less vulnerable to his teeth, and let her jaws part slightly, long upper canines glinting in a grin of mischief that morphed into a snarling expression as her eyes narrowed slightly, ears flicking back to pin against her cranium. Her scruff rolled into a protective layer of fat, fur and mane.

Each of these defenses fell into place even as she pushed off, hoping to close the four-foot distance between herself and Amos swiftly enough to catch him by surprise and hit hard. She veered slightly to her right, aiming to come in on his left side while still face to face— merely slightly off center. Her head tipped sharply to her right, parted jaws opening wide as she sought to slash her upper canines into the center of the left side of Amos’ neck, wishing to inflict mild lacerations.

Simultaneously, her weight shifted smoothly to her other three limbs as her left shoulder and foreleg lifted, left front paw leaving the earth as she sought to slam the bony point of her left shoulder into the base of Amos’ windpipe, roughly central in his chest, hoping to choke him as well as drive the wind out of his lungs.

While her weight remained on her other three legs, her left front paw, still raised from the ground, sought to slam forcefully down on the toes of Amos’ left front paw, hoping to leave him with a few bruises to think about as the spar progressed.

It was clear that her father had been working hard on her training. Now all she needed was some real experiences to build upon that solid foundation.

Extra Notes: The cute thing has sharp teeth! Let's have some fun and see me learn (or relearn) how to fight with a smaller, more agile character. Distance is agreed upon by Monster!

Walk ---- "Speak" ---- "Hear" ---- Think