Valkyrie wove through the jutting rocks and under fallen with the utmost care. She ghosted over crinkly leaf litter with nary a sound. Each step, each breath, was taken deliberately. Why all of this if she wasn't hunting? Because she was stalking a very important man.

Eldi had split from her for a time and it was time to bring him back into the fold. She was close to having her band but she couldn't do it without her friend at her side. So naturally she had to not only track him down, but pounce on him, right? Right.

He was close; his familiar musk came to her on the breeze. He had to be just on the other side of the rise.

Valkyrie coiled her legs beneath her and strained her ears for any sound he might make. After a beat she thought she knew where he was and readied herself to pounce. Three, two...

She leaped over the rise intent on tackling Eldi and hoped she'd guessed correctly.

dark mists are cloaking what the eyes can see

Clouds were building in the distance and despite the sunlight beaming down on him the air was still bitterly cold. A northern wind wasn't helping matters, nor was the fact that he was still drying out from his little swim. Éldi had wanted to explore the majestic island before winter fully set in and he figured it was now or never, especially with a storm looming on the horizon. The clouds were heavy and gray, clearly saturated with snow. He'd better make this quick.

Loping through a forested area, Éldi moved at a quick pace that suddenly slowed as he caught the smell of turkey. He wasn't famished but perhaps he should get a bite to eat before the swim back. That would give him time to explore while he digested and a burst of much needed energy for the eventual swim. Éldi set his mind to the task with a laser focus. He was so involved in what he was doing he had no idea that Valkyrie was zeroing in on his location.

WHAM! Éldi let out a startled snarl as Valkyrie's chest slammed into him, knocking him right over onto his left side and pinning him there with her weight. He'd recognize her scent anywhere and was able to stop himself from retaliating like his life depended on it. Instead he kicked his hind legs out toward her stomach. "Ach! Val! What's the big idea? You want to fight or something? Where have you been anyway?"

"Éldi!" came a sharp cry as Askr landed on a low hanging branch above the pair.

"I'm fine, Askr. Askr this is Valkyrie, Valkyrie, Askr."

The much anticipated collision wasn't without its cost. Eldi, bless him, was a bit taller than Valkyrie and a whole lot heavier. Knocking him down required her to throw everything she had into the shove and the ache in her chest promised to blossom into a large bruise later. It hear his startled snarl made it worth it, though.

The kick to her belly came as no surprise and briefly knocked the wind out of her. Valkyrie's breath left her in a huff and then she grinned down at Eldi. "You kick like a pup. And you know, little brother, I'm always looking for a fight."

Valkyrie peeked up at the bird and cast a crooked grin its way before dropping her attention to Eldi again. She quirked a brow at him. "I've been around. Gathering recruits and all that." She stiffened her legs and tensed her stomach before giving Eldi a significant look. "So about that fight..."

dark mists are cloaking what the eyes can see

Éldi snorted as he scrambled back to his feet and shook out his coat. "Be careful what you wish for!" He grinned, more than happy to talk Valkyrie on. The had a pretty even record and he really wanted to come out on top during their next match. Hey, no time like the present right? His ears flicked forward at the moment of recruits, his attention momentarily snatched by that snippet of information. "Oh? How's it been going?" He'd been so busy taking in all the new land had to offer that he hadn't really given a thought to recruiting. Not that he expected to be much good at it. That sort of 'leadership' business was more Valklyrie's skill set.

So about that fight…

"Steel yourself!" He growled playfully as he set his defenses. He widened his stance, bending his knees slight as his toes splayed and his nails dug into the dirt. Along his back, his hackles rose as his tail shifted to level with his spine. His ears flattened tight against his head and his eyes narrowed. He rolled his brawny shoulders forward and lowered his chin to help guard his throat. Éldi shifted easily over his center, balancing his weight amongst his limbs. Askr sighed and took to a low hanging branch to watch the spectacle.

Kicking forward suddenly, Éldi attempted to close the distance between himself and Valkyrie. He wanted to approach her squarely head on. That was just like him, after all, to barrel right in, but it was a feint. Éldi dodged to his right in an attempt to line the front of his left shoulder with the crease between her left shoulder and her chest. He sought to jut the front of his left shoulder forward into that crease, hoping to hit with enough force to cause severe bruising and maybe sprain the limb. Simultaneously, he lifted his left forepaw and attempted to slam it down on top of Valkyrie's left toes. Again he hoped to severely bruise or even strain them them. He shifted his weight evenly across his three grounded limbs as he lifted his left forepaw. Askr, safe from his perch, examined the pair. It was clear that Éldi was still coming to terms with his growing body and his size but the bird had confidence in the woman's speed. Either way, the bird had no intention of joining in on this fray.

Lastly, Éldi's head tipped to his right as his jaws opened. He attempted to lean forward and bite into the left side of Valkyrie's neck. He aimed to sink his lower teeth into the crook of her neck, just below her left jawbone. His upper teeth sought to drive in directly behind the curve of Valkyrie's jawbone, directly beneath her left ear. He sought a solid grip that he hoped would force her into submission.

Eldi vs Valkyrie - Pre-determined fight - Round 1 of 2?

In response to Elid's question about recruiting Valkyrie grinned. "It's going well. One more recruit and we can make it official." They had a hexe and two thanes. One more thane, another fighter of some stripe, and they would be ready to go.

Yes! If there was one thing she could count on with Eldi it was a good fight. As he set his defenses she set hers. With a devilish grin she crouched down and waited for him to make the first move. She was quick to oblige her; charging her head on. Valkyrie made no move until he was close, but it seemed they both had the same idea. As he jumped to one side she jumped to the other. Because they were moving in opposite directions none of Eldi's attacks landed where he wanted. His toe stomp and bite missed entirely while his shoulder throw simply clipped the outside of her shoulder as she jumped away.

Pleased by her narrow escape, Valkyrie belted out a laugh. She didn't dwell on this little success though. There wasn't any time for that. Instead she retaliated immediately. She dove towards him, intent on driving the outside of her left shoulder into the outside of his left shoulder. At the same time she reached out with open jaws and sought to grab hold of the back of his neck at the base of his skull and gain control of his head.

dark mists are cloaking what the eyes can see

Éldi snarled as Valkyrie nimbly leapt out of the way but he wasn't honestly surprised. He found it difficult to keep up with her speed and it seemed his feint failed in buying him the edge he needed to compete with her agile movements. She laughed and he twisted his upper body sharply to his left to face her. He knew he wouldn't be able to get his full body all the way around in time. He'd just have to work with what he could and dodging was just not going to be possible. Valkyrie dove in, her shoulder colliding sharply with the center of his chest where he knew a good sized bruise was going to form.

He sought to counter her fangs with his own, launching his open jaws forward as he tried to grasp her face, seeking for his upper fangs to pierce the flesh above her left eye and his lower fangs below her left cheek. At the same time he tried to lift both his arms up, intent on wrapping them around the middle of her neck and pushing his weight on her. His weight shifted evenly over his hind legs as his abdomen tensed to help his balance. His ears were pinned to his head, his hackles raised, and his tail tucked tightly over his underbelly. He knew what a spitfire Val could be and if it was between protecting his junk and aiding his balance he was going to protect his bits!

Eldi vs Valkyrie - pre-determined fight - Round 2/2

Valkyrie whooped ecstatically when her shoulder made contact with Eldi's chest. This was good fun. A little spilled blood and broken skin wouldn't cause any lasting harm. She relished the chance to spar with Eldi; every fight, even a soft one such as this, was a chance to learn and to improve.

 

Perhaps she should have spent less time making noise and more time thinking about strategy, because while Eldi may not have been feeling very fast Valkyrie couldn't quite match the speed of his counter.

Valkyrie ducked, but she wasn't fast enough to escape harm. Eldi's teeth glanced off her head (earning an amused cackle from Valkyrie) and left furrows from directly above her left eye to the middle of her forehead. His paws, however, swiped empty air as she crouched down.

Fully committed to taking him down no matter the cost, Valkyrie dove forward in the same motion, intent on shooting under Eldi and using her chest to sweep his planted hind paws out from under him. It was likely that he'd fall on her if she was successful, but this was all in good fun and she wasn't taking it too seriously.

""

dark mists are cloaking what the eyes can see

Valkyrie was terribly fast which made her even more difficult to catch for the brawny male. He had some luck though, his counter was just quick enough that his lower fangs managed to graze the top of her head. Finally, a hit! At least he wasn't going to completely die of embarrassment. Éldi's victory was short lived however. He failed to get a hold of her with his fangs or his upper arms and so she ducked right under him and lanced herself forward. Éldi was planning to let himself just fall right on top of her. She wanted to be squished so bad then fine! It would've been fine to, expect he'd underestimated her speed yet again and she crashed into his hind legs sending him falling face first into the dirt.

Éldi crashed, stunned and knew at that point he had lost. "Alright, alright, I give." He sighed. Éldi seemed to be on quite the losing streak lately… well against wolves anyway. He supposed he should count himself lucky that he was winning against the predators that seemed to keep finding him. Coyotes, bears, he knew he shouldn't pin everything on this fight with Valkyrie or the one against Zell. Still, he clearly had work to do. He was supposed to be a raider. They were raiding wolf packs, not bear…. bear packs? What was a group of bears even called?

 

Valkyrie succeeded in sweeping Eldi off his feet. What she hadn't been expecting, though, was just how heavy he'd be. With him sprawled out half on the ground half on her Valkyrie had to fight to wiggle out from underneath him. In a flash she whipped around and was facing him, fully prepared to continue the fight. There was no need, however. Eldi submitted. She grinned at him, her expression one of pure enjoyment and without so much as a shadow of smugness. "That was fun. We should fight more often."

"Now that we've scared everything off for miles around, how about we go find ourselves a meal, eh?" Two hunters was better than one; she had no doubt they could get their paws on something good.

-exit?-

""

Éldi shook himself off and turned to lick lightly at his wounds. There was nothing serious that would need to be looked at which was probably just as well. Lately he'd been wracking up a ridiculous list of injuries. Seemed like every time he turned around this winter he was crossing paths with another predator. He nodded. "Yea, same. I feel like I learn a lesson teach time." They really did need to spar more often. Éldi tended to battle those more his own size, so a lighter opponent like Valkyrie really threw him for a loop. He grinned. "Ahhh… a meal would be fantastic. You know how to speak to my soul." He wasn't one to neglect his stomach and battle did always make him hungry.

-exit-