She got both feet on the ground
And she's burning it down

Somehow she hadn't really expected Hati to be into the whole "review the training before jumping into spars" thing, not so soon after the disappointment of the siege. This was good though, Cas certainly wasn't going to argue. The siege had left a lot of Imperium on edge and ready to bite at the slightest provocation, Cascade among them, and the quick and dirty sparring was just what everyone needed to work through the frustration. Who'd really be able to concentrate on a lesson right now anyway? Oooooh but she was paired with Mercy. It was tempting to give her a talking-to right now, but... no, she really needed this spar and Mercy likely did too. She wasn't going to slack off just to have a chat they could easily have afterwards. Grinning at the younger, taller girl Cas moved aside and set herself into a fighting stance. "Well, you wanna go first or should I?" she asked, offering the girl the chance to pick if she wanted to make the first move. Whether she picked what she was more comfortable with or what she needed to work on was up to Mercy - she was old enough to make her own choices in training unless Valen said otherwise and assigned her a mentor, so Cas wasn't going to tell her what to do. Besides, this wasn't official training anyway, was it? This was just Beat-the-hell-out-of-each-other Time, courtesy of Hati Hroovitnisson the Masked Wonder.

""

She got her head in the clouds
And she's not backing down

She eyed Hati with a bit of a bitterness in her gaze. She had a name, and she didn't really like being called something other than that. Unless it was a nickname from a friend. 'Purple Eyes' sounds like something you would tease a pup with. She may only be a year and a half, but she was only a season away from turning two. She was no child and should not be treated as such. Grumbling and rolling it off her shoulders, Mercy made her way towards Cascade with a smirk on her maw. It would seem that no matter what she was doing here, Cascade had a way of weaseling her way into her life. But it was fine, she did rather like the woman.

She was offered to have the first move or give it away, and she thought on this for a moment. Usually she was the one to offer the first move, so perhaps she should practice going first. "I'll take the first move, thank you Cascade." She said softly, nodding her head as she set her defenses. Her ears pinned flat against her head as her eyes narrowed, head lowering to align with her spine as her chin tucked towards her chest. Shoulders rolled forward as her tail rose to align with her spine, legs spreading equal distance apart as she bent her limbs slightly. Toes curled as her claws bit into the earth, her jaws parting as she let out a growl. Oh how nice it was going to be to get an actual fight done.

Springing into action, Mercy ran at Cascade. She attempted to come at the smaller woman slightly to her own (Mercy's) left, her right shoulder jutting out. Trying to close all the distance between them, Mercy attempted to thrust the lower front of her right shoulder blade into Cascade's nose, hoping that the force of the blow would daze her opponent and make her eyes water, leaving it harder for the darker woman to see. At the same time her neck would dip downward, head tilting towards Mercy's left as her already parted jaws aiming to bite down into the lower portion of Cascade's neck, just before it met her shoulders. Mercy's upper jaw was aimed for the left side of Cascade's neck, while her lower jaw was aimed for the right side. The white girl tried to bite down as hard as she could, careful not to come too close to the spinal cord as she tried to achieve a grip on the smaller woman. As a final attack, Mercy attempted to lift her front right leg, trying to bring it over Cascade's front left paw. Mercy then attempted to return her own lifted right paw to the earth, hoping to slam it on top of Cascade's left paw. She was trying to sprain some toes, hopefully making the smaller woman favor that leg.

MERCY vs CASCADE for SPAR
ROUND 1 of 2

Mercy chose to go first and Cascade cast her a lopsided grin as the girl readied herself. The contrast between the pair was stark, Cascade's delicate-seeming features dark against Mercy's pale fur, Cascade grinning manically at the younger female. She too set her defenses, sliding her paws to just more than shoulder- and hip-width apart and rocking her weight slightly to center it evenly over all four limbs. Her toes spread, flexing to drive her claws into the ground for traction, and her joints went loose and ready to move as she bent them slightly to lower her center of gravity. She rolled her shoulders forward, bunching up the skin on her neck and helping as she arched her back slightly to round it up and bring her hindquarters under her slightly for faster movement. Her tail lashed in gleeful anticipation before settling level with her spine, a level her head also took as her chin tucked toward her throat to protect it. Her ears pinned back, and she dropped one lid shut in a wink toward Mercy before she narrowed the mismatched pair protectively. A distinctly demented grin bared her fangs in a gleam of ivory. Time to dance, sweetheart. Mercy charged, a move so old it was practically a tottering old man at this point, and - anticipating it - Cascade casually sidestepped to her own left a step, simultaneously stepping around with her hindquarters to her left to bring herself to nearly a ninety degree angle to where she'd been facing before. She didn't escape unscathed; Mercy wasn't a slow wolf by any means, and Cascade hadn't been in a particular hurry to move, so as she moved Mercy's right shoulder - aimed for a nose that was no longer there, clipped the front of Cascade's own right shoulder before Cas could continue her movement to angle herself, the faint ache heralding minor bruising there. The attempt to stomp on Cas' paw missed entirely by virtue of their paws not being in quite the same places at the same times, but Mercy's attempt to grip behind her neck instead drew a line of fire down Cas' side, moderate lacerations at the top of Cas's ribcage right behind her right shoulder where Mercy's teeth slice cut her as Cas moved. Digging her claws in, she sought to throw herself forward, the center of her chest aimed for the top part of the side of Mercy's right shoulder, her rear toes digging into the dirt in an effort to propel her forward and up with sufficient force to throw the girl off balance. In an effort to assist the strike, simultaneously she shifted her balance to her hindlegs and sought to lift her forelegs, her right foreleg aimed to curve around the front of Mercy's forelegs to try to hook around Mercy's left foreleg just below the elbow joint with the intention of jerking the legs toward her own chest. Her left foreleg was aimed to drape over Mercy's back behind her shoulders, and her toes flexed in an attempt to drive her dull claws behind Mercy's left elbow with the intention not of injuring but - Cascade grinned toothily - of tickling the younger wolf. But it wasn't all hugs and tickle fights... Cascade aimed a bite for the midpoint of the top of Mercy's neck - Cascade's top jaw seeking to fall on Mercy's left side of her neck, and her lower jaw on Mercy's right side - with the intention of gaining a grip and squeezing. CASCADE vs MERCY for SPAR Round 1/2