He set his defenses with practiced ease; ears flattening, eyes narrowing and lips curling to bunch the skin around his eyes and forehead. His stance widened, his knees bent, his toes splayed and his tail leveled with his spine, each action coming together to better his balance and lower his center of gravity. Tension ran the length of his body, muscles coiling as he waited for his opponent to do as he was instructed. The brute's shoulders rolled forward and his chin tucked in an effort to not only loosen the skin at his neck, but enable him to protect it with ease should his opponent make the mistake of going for his throat. Valentine's hackles rose to protect his spine and aid in a carefully cultivated display of dominance.
The moment Soliloquy began to move, Valentine kicked off also. He aimed to close the distance rapidly (and maintain their head on positioning for the time being), hoping to build enough momentum to not only counter the force behind his opponent's assault, but to inflict serious damage to the other should he be successful in making contact. Valentine dodged to his left and jutted his right shoulder forward in the hopes of using the bony front of it as a lance. If successful in his new positioning, it would line the front of his shoulder up with the center of Soliloquy's neck and prepare him for his first attack. Valentine sought to drive the aforementioned shoulder into the upper trachea of his opponent with the intent of crushing it and putting a humiliatingly fast end to the fight.
His opponent's own shoulder throw met with minor success. Given that Valen had moved to his left and rolled his own right shoulder forward, the front of Sol's left shoulder grazed the outside of Valentine's right shoulder as it (Valen's shoulder) moved inwards. A modest bruise would form later along the path Sol's shoulder had taken. Since he moved to his left, Valentine unknowingly dodged Soliloquy's attempt to smash the toes on his right forepaw by moving them out of harm's way.
Teeth sank into the right side of his neck four inches above the bulk of his shoulder. Given that he'd moved to his left, the damage to Valen's neck wasn't as grievous as intended. Instead Soliloquy's fangs managed to grab a mouthful of loose skin, fat and fur and created moderate puncture wounds. In retaliation, Valentine curled his head to his right (maintaining his tucked chin) and attempted to sink his teeth into the right side of his opponent's face**. If successful, his left upper canine would sink into the corner of Sol's right eye while the rest of his upper teeth would find purchase along the bridge of his nose. His lower teeth would dig into his opponent's right cheekbone and drive upwards. Valentine sought a grip on his opponent's face that would enable him to disfigure and blind in one fell swoop.
To complete his attack, Valentine lifted his left paw and moved it inwards toward his own right forepaw (his weight instantly redistributing between his remaining three limbs to accommodate the move). From there he immediately attempted to slam it down on Soliloquy's right forepaw in the hopes of catching the brute's two outermost toes and severely damaging the ligaments that held them together, possibly even giving the brute a limp to remember him by.
VALENTINE versus SOLILOQUY for FORCE CLAIM OF FAMILY
(Soliloquy, Isolde, Caesar, Colette and Shakespeare)
Round ONE of TWO
OOC: **I asked how Sol's head is positioned and Eld says his head is twisted slightly to the side so that the left side of his face is closer to Valen's head. Permission given to edit by Eld! It's actually the right side of Sol's face that's closer to Valen.
"Speaking" -- "Thinking"
NOTE: Valentine has a female striped skunk companion named Lefty. Unless stated otherwise assume she's present.
