fighting seasonal: aka slapping each other with fish.

Word count: 241

The big fish flopped and flailed, near whacking him around the head with its long and thrashing tail.  But the boy didn't care at all, was pleased as a plum as he strutted up the beach, tail high and confident in his hunting prowess. It was the biggest fish he'd ever caught, long and silver, thick and chunky, enough that he had trouble holding onto it with his straining jaws. He wasn't sure what he really wanted to do with the fish now he'd caught it but...well, he wasn't very hungry and wasn't smart enough to think ahead and plop this in the pantry so.... Time to swing the thing around with wild abandon, have a mock sword fight with the air as he hacked and slashed. Imagined foes falling down at the tip of his blade, letting out overly dramatic wails as Ajax giggled to himself behind clenched, fish squished teeth. He twirled on the spot, the heaviness of the fish nearly sending him stumbling as it trashed again, weaker than before but still strong enough to bonk into the side of his head. Enough to send him reeling. If he hit someone with this it might really hurt, huh, the thought passed through his brain in a rare show of common sense but was gone the next moment. Moments of reason and clarity were few and far between when it came to Ajax, after all he was a pirate. W E T

His dad was being a righteous jerk lately. Something about staying on the beach and not wandering off. Something about that Eden lady and her pup disappearing? Not sure what that was about but not like he really cared either. The beach was boring! He wanted to go on adventures! Outside of the beach was so much better but he guessed he would make the best of it for now. Even on this nice, sunny, warm summer day, Scald stood in the shallows of the beach. Its murky water tempted him with the defining shadows of fish. Might as well test his hunting skills since there wasn't anything else to do... A few minutes later, he had a rather large fish (compared to his size) between his jaws. It felt slimy and rough, was grey in color, and would not stop flinging around. Stumbling back away from the water, Scald shook it a few times until it calmed down. Proud of his catch, he turned to head back toward the cavern so he could show his parents his efforts. Trotting happily with paws prancing in the sand and his tail wagging happily over his back, he was in his own little world. Nothing could beat this! That was until the sight of a slightly smaller red wolf flailing around on the beach caught his attention. If anyone knew the pirates, it was no surprise that Scald marched right over so he could show off his fish to Ajax. Surely, his fish was much larger than Ajax's fish! As he approached, his fish limply waving about, Scald was sent reeling backward. One good slap to his cheek from Ajax's fish made him choke on his own catch and lose his balance. A playfully aggressive growl ripped from him as he righted himself. Swiveling his head toward the side, he swung his own fish in Ajax's direction as if he were wielding a club. word count: 565/1500

Friendly competition was the name of the game - certainly in Rexx's pirate book. Live free, fast and loose, that was the motto he lived by and would live by for years to come. All arrogant, swagger and wit. Nothing short of his father's characteristics. He truly was Gilgamesh's son with that in mind. The mottled boy was inwardly grumbling about his growing tusks, with the aches intensifying with each passing day. But the teeth were curling, getting bigger and sharper. Soon he'd have to be really careful not to accidently wound his siblings and other spar partners, or stun them too badly as the tusks gave extra heft to his already solid skull. His crystal spines were sitcking out a bit more, rising from tallest around his shoulders to the shortest at the base of his nub tail. But enough grumbling! There were fish everywhere, too many to ignore. The pain of his growths were forgotten as his little puppy brain was distracted by the flopping, massive fish that writhed in the shallow waves. He didn't question why the fish were so close to the shore, especially ones as big as these. But he was a pirate, and like Ajax and Scald, he impulsively snatched a fish for his own fun. A massive, long silvery fish was now trapped in his jaws by its tail, his tusks almost jutting into its flesh. He wanted it to be alive, flopping around so he could play with it. Spotting his brother and that cool red guy up ahead with their catches, Rexx smirked, smug as he dragged what he believed to be a fish bigger than both of theirs combined. Take that, guys! "Think fast!" He yelled, muffled from holding the fish's base of the tail in his maw. He used his bulk to start spinning around, much like a shotputter about to fling a ball. He aimed the spinning fish at both their feet, aiming to trip them up and sweep them to the sand. Nothing like getting swept off your feet by a slimy fish to kickstart your day! "speech"

Word count: 239
total: 1153

Ajax hadn't meant to hit Scald, it just sort of happened! But he was pretty sure the wallop he got in return was on purpose. A blur of grey fast approached and Ajax didn't even have a second to consider dodging out of the way, let alone attempt to do it. The world record scratched into slow motion, all glittering wet scales and spraying beads of sand as the hefty fish collided with the side of Ajax's head. Hard enough to make it all wobble and jiggle, like he wasn't actually a wolf pup at all, rather a jelly creature who liked seaweed and splashing. And then he was sent hurtling, knocked off all four paws as he flopped to the ground like a fainting goat. And just as stunned too. Little blue narwhals swam around his head, bobbing and weaving as he blinked owlishly up at the sky. The colour blue was so pretty, so nice. He wished he could be blue sometimes, blue and free and- he shook his head, snapping back to reality as he rolled onto his belly and pushed himself back up onto his paws. He was super wobbly, legs uncertain and ready to collapse under him at any moment, but he was still raring to go! Still somehow gripping his fish, he swung it in the air, determined to Rexx a good donk on his head. Just as Scald had done before him. W E T

Even though he had aimed at Ajax, he hadn't been expecting to wallop him that hard. A quiet gasp left him as he stumbled backward. Before he could profess a shoddy apology, fish still grasped tightly between his teeth, his brother came swinging up toward them. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the burly boy spinning like a top right toward them. What Scald hadn't noticed was the maybe large fish also swinging around like a ready-to-be-released projectile. One second he was standing there on his paws, ready to whack either boy and the next he was also being sent sprawling to the ground. Stars flickered in and out around his head as he felt rather cartoonish, laying there on the sand, covered in small granules. Squeezing his eyes closed until he didn't feel woozy anymore, Scald blinked rapidly a few times as he watched Ajax get up and aim for Rexx. Well, who was he supposed to go for now? A giggle sputtered between fish flesh and scales as he quickly hopped up onto his paws and decided to also go swinging for his brother's dome. Payback for knocking him down! word count: 1349/1500

Upon noticing he'd knocked his brother - and likely the strange orange boy - off their feet into the sand, he stopped spinning, skidding to a halt and staring dumbly with the flopping fish still struggling in his tusked maw. "Oops, thorry!" Rexx said, muffled from the fish flesh he was grasping onto with all his sheer strength. Then the retaliation started - both boys seeking revenge by swinging their large catches towards his head. He tried to duck from the impacts, using his fish to block some of the blows, but a good two bonks still reached the top of his thick skull. Rattling the jiggly little (arguably nonexistant) brain underneath. Now it was his turn to see stars, collapsed into the sand with a muffled grunt and groan. He forced himself to blink a few times, rising to wobbly feet like a newborn fawn. Shaking off his pelt, the top-heavy child came to his senses and gripped the large fish tighter in his jaws, gaining a sudden thrashing from the fish while doing so. He giggled from deep within his throat, a playful grumble as he aimed to slap both the boys across their cheeks with the fish - which had stopped thrashing and was, in all likelihood, already dead. Because, you know, it needed water to live. And where was it? Not in the water. Duh. "speech"

Between them and their shared efforts lot of brain cells had been smushed, rocked around in their skulls like fruit in a blender. But they were all having a grand time of it all, judging from the goofy expressions lingering on their faces, so what was the harm?  Nowhere to be found, if you asked little Ajax who had taken to swishing his fish around like a sword once more, a muffled growl passing his lips as he slashed and cut at the air. Just barely missing the top of Scald's head as he spun on his paws in a fancy pirouette. Far more graceful than a pup like him had any right to be, maybe he was a dancer like his not mum. Arching the fish high, Ajax gave Scald's rump a good fish slap that near left him in hysterics. Oh kids, they found anything and everything funny. W E T

So much fish-slapping was going on! Scald barely had any brains before and now he was sure to have nothing left. Ducking out of the way of his brother's swing, he couldn't dodge the swing from Ajax. A peel of laughter left his lips as the limp fish slapped across his rump. Teetering unbalanced, Scald fell over into the sand as his fish went flying from his mouth. Hearing it thud against the obsidian sand of their home, he let his face rest against the beach. Breathing heavily as his tongue lolled from the side of his mouth, he glanced at the other two boys. "Ajax wins, I surrender," he said in a breathy voice as he let out one more laugh. Man, this was fun. He really did have a good time being silly with his friends. winner: ajax