He was determined. He would work his tail off to catch up on the time he’d lost. But no one said you couldn’t have fun while doing it. He grinned as he followed his best friend’s scent through the plains from the border upon his return from visiting Lia—her scent, a pleasant reminder of the very giggly tag contest, still clung to his coat in spots – then veered off course toward the stream that edged the territory, finding a spot where the shore melded with the water in a silty, sandy clearing. Half in the water, and half out of it, he worked several minutes to expose the stones under the water for added experience in dealing with rough terrain. Finally satisfied, he threw up his head in a rollicking howl for Nolan, inviting his best buddy for a spar, his tail waving side to side in anticipation. If he was going to work like mad to improve and hone himself, he may as well drag Nolan along for the adventure, right? With his call echoing over the plains, he waited, water flowing around his paws and a big grin painting his features, tail wagging incessantly behind him. Walk ---- "Speak" ---- "Hear" ---- Think

Nolan was a bit surprised by his friend's howl calling him toward the edge of the territory, but the rambunctious energy in Cai's tone and the promise of a spar made a wide grin spread across the young man's muzzle. He certainly didn't have to be asked twice when it came to getting into a spar with his best friend. He quickly got to his paws and took off in a loping trot with his naturally long strides to meet him. It had been a while since he had gotten to spar and it was one thing that he certainly meant to do more often. Maybe Cairo would be able to help him remedy that.

He slowed when he got close enough to Cai to be able to clearly smell his scent. There seemed to be another scent mixed with his - something he'd have to hound his friend about later - but an idea popped in his head that was too good to pass up. He made sure that the wind was blowing toward him so his scent wouldn't drift toward Cai too soon. He got down in a crouch and hid himself behind the tall grasses and occasional trees as he made a wide arc around where Cai was standing till he was behind him. There was still a good bit of space between the two of them since the grasses didn't go all the way to the edge of the stream, but he hoped it would give him a bit of a surprise attack advantage.

Nolan coiled his muscles beneath him and quickly sprung forward with a grin, his tail wagging behind him. He felt like a pup attacking one of his playmates, but the playful nature of it all was welcome in his book. They could still have a real spar to learn from and have fun with it at the same time. With a couple long leaps he was close enough to reach Cai and reared back onto his hind legs, which he spread slightly to give him a more stable sense of balance. His paws sunk a bit into the soft sandy shore of the stream, but he was able to regain his footing fairly easily. His lighter build did come in handy from time to time. He reached forward with his forelegs to try and wrap them around Cai's haunches or neck, anything to get a hold of his friend and try to shove him into the shallow water.

Nolan Thorben Adravendi vs Cairo Lanze Adravendi for Spar
Round 1/3
Age: Over 1 year
Size: Dire wolf
Build: Light
Defensive Battle Accessory: Leather bracers
Skills: Novice Fighter & Novice Hunter
Specialty: N/A

"Speech" Thought

He was first alerted to the sneaky nature of Nolan’s approach when Chrystal hissed from above a half beat before he heard the subtle rustle of a large form in tall grass from behind him. Oho. A Schiff of sand and thrash of movement sent him dancing sideways to his right with a hop to let Nolan land beside him to his left, tail flagging for balance as he pushed off and aimed his armored left shoulder to drive in just behind Nolan’s right elbow, aiming to put a punch behind the thrust. Hopefully he’d been quick enough to catch Nolan before his larger friend was able to reset his balance. Simultaneously his grinning jaws snaked to his left, and he aimed to clamp his jaws on Nolan’s lower scruff on the larger man’s right side, his own left foreleg lifting and seeking to grapple around Nolan’s right foreleg from the inside and pull it backward, though he kept his center of balance low, not seeking to raise his torso in his efforts, wary of getting caught and thrown by Nolan’s larger frame. He was the smaller opponent in this equation, even if Nolan’s build was lighter. It was always best in this case, for the most part, to not lift up and offer the bigger opponent a chance to drop beneath him and pop upward. He’d be on his back in a trice. Cairo Lanze Adravendi vs Nolan Adravendi for Spar Round 1/3 Age: Over 1 Size: Large Build: Heavy Offensive Battle Accessory: Bear claw bracers Defensive Battle Accessory: Torso armor Companion 1: Barn Owl, Female - Flying Companion 2: Mandrill, Male - Battle Skills: Expert Fighter & Advanced Hunter Specialty: N/A Walk ---- "Speak" ---- "Hear" ---- Think

The darned owl above them gave away his approach and his sneaky attack was foiled before he had a chance to fully execute on it. His front paws landed on the sand with a thud and he shot Cai a playful glare. Luckily his glare unintentionally made him see that Cairo was trying to shove his shoulder into his side and Nolan was able to skitter away just enough to avoid it, feeling the armor that covered his opponent's torso brush his side just to emphasize how close he had been to being knocked over by him. That wide, playful grin never left his face, even as he reset his more defensive, stable stance. He was having a great time and he certainly wouldn't let a missed attack sour his mood.

He saw Cairo's jaws darting for his scruff, and in a moment of quick thinking Nolan let him do it. He wanted his cousin to be in as close quarters as possible for what he had planned. He tried to quickly angle his head and neck a bit so Cai's grasp would solidly land on the thickest part of his scruff. Nolan's legs bent slightly, lowering his stance enough to make him more solid and harder to move so when Cai's leg went to pull at his own to pull him off balance he was able to hold his ground. It made him wobble a bit, but not enough to shake his foundation.

Then, hopefully while Cairo's left paw was still off the ground, Nolan made a quick, hard shove with his shoulder, hoping to push Cairo over with the motion and send him flopping into the water. Now he knew full well that with Cairo's jaws gripping his scruff there could be a strong possibility that he might get pulled into the water with him, but that was a small price to pay in order to see Cairo drenched in the river, right? Or maybe if he was lucky the surprise would make Cairo let go and make it all the sweeter.

Nolan Thorben Adravendi vs Cairo Lanze Adravendi for Spar
Round 2/3
Age: Over 1 year
Size: Dire wolf
Build: Light
Defensive Battle Accessory: Leather bracers
Skills: Novice Fighter & Novice Hunter
Specialty: N/A
"Speech" Thought

Nolan, by his own playfulness, was able to spot Cai’s shoulder thrust in time to evade it, though Cai managed to land his grasp and grapples successfully, though his experience told him always to expect something if he was able to catch his holds that easily, and it was thoroughly true here as he noted Nolan’s crouch. He both saw and felt Nolan’s next move coming and was in motion at the same time, seeking to tighten his grip on Nolan’s scruff and dig his free paw down into sand and stone and as Nolan made his shove, Cai sought to jerk him hard by the scruff to their right, releasing at the last second, while seeking to maintain his grapple for a split second on Nolan’s leg to seen at yanking backward to rob his larger buddy of the pillar of support. Cairo’s end goal was to jerk Nolan off his feet, partially witrh his own momentum and partly with Cairo’s own hard yank on his scruff as he sought to move his fore-end to his right with a slosh of water, tail flagging for balance as he danced aside, jaws laughing. Cairo Lanze Adravendi vs Nolan Adravendi for Spar Round 2/3 Age: Over 1 Size: Large Build: Heavy Offensive Battle Accessory: Bear claw bracers Defensive Battle Accessory: Torso armor Companion 1: Barn Owl, Female - Flying Companion 2: Mandrill, Male - Battle Skills: Expert Fighter & Advanced Hunter Specialty: N/A Walk ---- "Speak" ---- "Hear" ---- Think

As he had feared, his attempt at getting his friend into the water ended with him causing his own demise. Cairo somehow managed to use the momentum he created with his shove to let him go tumbling over into the water. It seemed like he had gotten the front end of Cai's body into the water a bit, but not in nearly as spectacular of a manner as he had hoped. Nolan tried to catch himself and stumbled a few steps before falling and taking quite a tumble into the steam, the water quickly soaking the fur along his right side. Cai's laugher was contagious and even though the water was chilly and making his fur stick to his skin he couldn't help but grin and chuckle as well.

However, he was still determined to get his revenge. Nolan jumped back to his paws and resisted the urge to shake off any of the water that was currently dripping off of him. Instead, he jumped forward toward Cairo, flinging water everywhere as he went. He laughed as he went and reached for his friend in hopes of wrapping his forelegs around Cairo's neck in a huge, wet bear hug. He had pretty much accepted that he hadn't won this one, but he still couldn't bring himself to give up entirely. Because of this, he still reached for the brown, dappled man's scruff and attempted to get a solid hold on him to he could try to pull him deeper into the water. At this point he was already soaking wet so he didn't care if he went back into the water - not as long as he got Cairo into the stream with him.

Nolan Thorben Adravendi vs Cairo Lanze Adravendi for Spar
Round 3/3
Age: Over 1 year
Size: Dire wolf
Build: Light
Defensive Battle Accessory: Leather bracers
Skills: Novice Fighter & Novice Hunter
Specialty: N/A

"Speech" Thought

Aurielle’s training was definitely paying off. Cairo allowed a smirk of satisfaction flash his teeth before the smirk turned into a laugh as Nolan went unceremoniously into the stream. Cai didn’t escape the resultant splashing, but his dance aside spared him a thorough wetting as he flicked a paw through the water, aiming a playful splash for Nolan’s face as the taller man jumped back up. Cairo grinned out a tongue lolling laugh as Nolan went for a bearhug, seeking to dance aside to his left out of the way of Nolan’s hug and bite as the younger man came down for him, pivoting on his hind end to his right and bracing to drive his chest into Nolan’s right shoulder, hoping to catch him with his front paws off the ground on unsteady footing and send his bestie in for another dunking. Might as well give Nolan a full bath experience. His tail wagged almost madly at the thought, a manic grin on his dark masked face. And, okay, maybe he giggled quite a bit in the process. Cairo Lanze Adravendi vs Nolan Adravendi for Spar Round 3/3 Age: Over 1 Size: Large Build: Heavy Offensive Battle Accessory: Bear claw bracers Defensive Battle Accessory: Torso armor Companion 1: Barn Owl, Female - Flying Companion 2: Mandrill, Male - Battle Skills: Expert Fighter & Advanced Hunter Specialty: N/A Walk ---- "Speak" ---- "Hear" ---- Think

And the winner is...

CAIRO

NOLAN must give up by submitting, fleeing or passing out. Totals: Adjusted rolls: 64.4 34.1 49.35 58 NOLAN'S total is.. 205.85 Adjusted rolls: 13.5 109.2 99 73.7 CAIRO'S total is.. 354.48

After yet another unceremonious dunking in the water Nolan finally accepted that he had been bested... this time. There would be plenty more chances to get his revenge if he had his way, but for now when he finally got back to his paws he made a spluttering admittance of defeat. "Fine, I give! I give! he called to Cairo, the statement quickly followed with his own cackling laughter. His own attempt at ambushing his friend had gotten turned around on him, but he had a load of fun doing it so he couldn't even say he was mad about it. He waded out of the water and once he was on dry land - and hopefully standing close enough to Cairo to get him caught in the spray - he shook as much of the water as he could out of his coat. He grinned and chuckled as he looked to Cairo, giving him a playful glare. "One of these days I'll get you back!" he declared even though he wasn't entirely sure that'd ever be the case. It certainly wouldn't stop him from trying, but he would be the first to admit that Cairo was far more skilled than he was and was certainly putting in far more work than he currently was. It was something he meant to improve on, but he wasn't sure he'd have the time or space in his mind for that level of work while he was still looking after his mother. Either way, he was happy to keep sparring his best friend in the mean time and hopefully one day he would catch up. "Talk"