A familiar scent had struck Justice hard while she was hunting up pack members to test, and the burly fighter was following it now at a lope with her nose to the ground like a hound, eyes narrowed and lips pressed tightly together. Was that the scent she thought it was? She couldn't be sure, it had been so long. Years. It was fresh, and hadn't yet crisscrossed the territory like the pack scents that were there longest, so it was clearly a newcomer. Or, a come-back-againer? Frustrated with the time it was taking to track them down, she finally planted her paws widely and flung up her head, calling out a demand for the wolf she was following. They couldn't be far now.

That Sea is just a Gambler at Heart

Dómari was slowly settling into life as a pack wolf again but it took some getting used to. He'd been on the move constantly over the past few years. To get up in the morning and not immediately start traveling was strange and unusual but despite the strangeness he had to admit that it felt good to have a place to call home. He smiled softly to himself and left his den with the intent on patrolling. Spying the nearest section of wall he leapt on top of it and started his patrol. The wall made it easy to tell where the boundaries were and it also gave him a bit of added height from which to see the surrounding territory.

As he wandered he a familiar voice called out. Justice? That had to be her! Dómari flew off the wall, patrol momentarily forgotten with the anticipation of seeing his friend. Of all the wolves that had been part of Celestial she was the one he'd felt closest to. As soon as she came into view he let out a joyful cry. "Justice! Hi!" He barreled toward her, seeking to tackle her in greeting.

To say she wasn't expecting to be tackled was an understatement, and Domari managed to knock her off her feet as he slammed into her. Justice wrapped her paws around him in a gesture three quarters hig and one quarter purely survival reflex. "Domari! I thought that was you!" she cried out happily.

Then shoved him back and aimed a fierce thwack to his nose with one heavy paw. "What the fuck, Domari, you monumental ass, you just take off without a wprd to me and stay gone for years? I thought you were dead!" Paws clinging again she sought to bury her face in his fur, breathing in the familiar-new scent of the wolf who had been her only friend.

That Sea is just a Gambler at Heart

Dómari bowled Justice clean over in his enthusiasm before she suddenly pushed him off and thwacked him hard on his nose, eliciting a surprised yelp. But as she spoke he immediately felt a stab of guilt. That's right, he hadn't said anything to her. His plans to leave had all gone awry. He figured he would tell Regulus and that Regulus would pass on the news to everyone else but when Regulus failed to show he'd just left. That was foolish. He should've at least informed Justice.

"I'm so sorry! I definitely deserved that and it won't happen again. I don't know what I was thinking!" She buried her face in his fur and he did the same. "I just suddenly felt like I had to find Alarik. Like he might be in trouble. I tried to let Regulus know but I never did get an answer so I thought I'd just start looking and…" He sighed heavily. "There's no trace of him. There's no trace of any of my family. So I came back. It was foolish to leave in the first place." If his family didn't want anything to do with him he couldn't force them. They'd gone on with their lives and it was time he got on with his.

Justice lay there quietly in a rare moment of shared affection. She couldn't remember the last time she had this, and all her rage and hurt slowly ebbed away until she finally sighed. "I get it. And... I understand how you feel," she told him, voice still muffled by his fur. "It seems like everyone just kind of faded away. With Da murdered, Valor being kidnapped, and Mum just giving up and dying... Fable and Exodus just never coming back, and Paladin always busy... and then you disappeared too and I thought you were never coming back. I didn't think I had anyone left."

Well that was enough of that. Any more and she would lose her badass card. Reluctantly she squirmed out of the embrace. "So, hey uhm," she said in an awkward attempt at a change of mood. "So I'm the Sentinel now, that's the beta in charge of the fighters, and I'm testing everyone in the pack who has any sort of fight skill for fight readiness. I don't know what your rank is here, if Aurielle tested you or not, but... You used to be kind of a badass fighter. You kept up on that at all?"

That Sea is just a Gambler at Heart

Guilt still gnawed at Dómari's stomach as Justice listed the wolves that were gone for one reason or another. It had seemed like Celestial had just folded in on itself. He hoped that would change. "Well, it won't happen again if I have a say in it." He couldn't guarantee his own future or prevent himself from dying but he definitely wasn't planning on up and leaving again. There was no need for it. The family he was looking for was right here.

Justice broke the embrace and Dómari was almost sad to see it end but it was probably for the best. She mentioned that she was Sentinel and he smiled. "Wow, really? Congratulations!" He glanced at Justice, a bit embarrassed about her referring to him as a badass fighter. Was he? He didn't really think of himself as such. Thought it was the only area he'd really done any training in. He shook his head. "Unfortunately, I haven't kept up much with anything. I spent all my time searching and traveling. It didn't leave much time for anything else. Fighting is the only thing I've had any training in though so I definitely want to get better. Say, I was wondering. Do you have much experience fighting on difficult terrain? Or something other than just flat spaces? I wouldn't mind a lesson!"

Justice grinned sharkishly at him, her demeanor saying in a way she could not do verbally that all was basically forgiven. "Yeah I could maybe teach you a thing or two. Why don't we head over to the avian estuary after I test you and we can do some work in the mud?" Ok so maybe not ALL forgiven... but he deserved to get tossed in the mud a little, after getting a workout, and then all would be forgiven. "So why don't you show me what you've got, and we'll see if you're in shape still." She slipped into her defenses, adding a grin and a beckoning motion that was playfully taunting. "Come on then, old man."

That Sea is just a Gambler at Heart

Dómari grinned as Justice agreed though it looked like he was going to have to fight first. He wasn't as in shape as he wanted to be but he had to start somewhere and there was no one he'd rather spar right now than Justice. "Hey now, I'm not that old." He swiftly set up his defenses and sized up Justice for a moment before kicking off to start the fight.

Dómari attempted to approach Justice at a 45 degree angle facing in to the front of her right shoulder. He attempted to throw his weight behind his right shoulder as he tried to strike Justice's right shoulder halfway up from her elbow. At the same time his jaws lanced forward and tried to seize hold of her face. His upper fangs seeking to rest below her right ear with his lower fangs just under the right corner of her jaw.

Dómari Xanilov vs Justice for Spar
Round 1/?
Age: Over 1 year
Size: Large
Build: Heavy
Skills: Intermediate Fighter & Beginner Hunter
Specialty: N/A

Justice wasn't a particularly quick fighter. It was more her style to stand her ground and trade blows with her opponent. Domari, however, was taller and heavier than she was, and if she tried to stand against his rush he'd just shove her back without breaking a sweat. So when he charged, she skipped to the left to avoid it, though his attempt at a grip on her neck sliced across the skin just behind her ear and opened a gash there. Justice returned it with a bite of her own, aiming upwards in an attempt to grip his muzzle from below.

Justice Ancora vs Domari for spar
Round 1/2
Age: over 1 year
Size: Medium
Build: Heavy
Skills: Expert Fighter & Novice Healer
Specialty: N/A

That Sea is just a Gambler at Heart

Justice nimbly shifted away from Dómari's attacks and so his shoulder throw would fail. His fangs just clipped her neck. He maintained the defenses he could and as her fangs shot upward Dómari swiftly rotated his head to his left, muzzle open wide as he tried to launch his own attack. Justice's bite was displaced and instead seized onto the flesh of his left cheek. Risking more damage Dómari pushed through seeking to break her hold and bite onto Justice's face. It was risky but part of him also felt that he owed Justice his blood in a sense. She deserved that much for the way he'd just gone and disappeared. But of course that didn't mean he was going to make it easy for her either, in some ways that seemed a greater insult.

Dómari Xanilov vs Justice for Spar
Round 2/2
Age: Over 1 year
Size: Large
Build: Heavy
Skills: Intermediate Fighter & Beginner Hunter
Specialty: N/A

When Domari pushed forward despite her grip on his face, her first instinct was to stubbornly hold the bite and let him damage himself more - but this wasn't a raid, this wasn't some stranger that she could gladly cause harm to. This was Domari, her packmate... her friend. She let go of her grip and twisted out of the way of his bite with a vicious curse, perpendicular to where she was and rising up on her hind legs in an attempt to wrap her forelegs around the base of his neck in something of a parody of a hug. She was dimly aware that blood flowed down her cheek from where his teeth had gashed before she'd moved, but she ignored it to seek to bite the back of his neck behind his ears in the hopes of obtaining a grip there that he couldn't guilt her out of.

Justice Ancora vs Domari for spar
Round 2/2
Age: over 1 year
Size: Medium
Build: Heavy
Skills: Expert Fighter & Novice Healer
Specialty: N/A

And the winner is...

DOMARI

JUSTICE must give up by submitting, fleeing or passing out. Totals: Domari: 238.15 (87, 45, 24, 56 - Adjusted to 87, 49.5, 24, 56) Justice: 139.62 (7, 50, 12, 42 - Adjusted to 7.35, 55, 12, 42)

- nyx