Speech

The grey stranger turned to face her and introduced himself as Anthem. His posture remained neutral and to Seraphina this was tolerable. They were on neutral lands and she did not expect a stranger to submit to her without reason. However, Seraphina was irked by the way he allowed his eyes to remain on hers. As he announced that he was looking for a sparring partner, Seraphina weighed her options carefully and measured her words.

She could tell that he had battle experience, given the scars on his legs, but the Faye princess was not so easily intimidated. Though her land had been isolated from the outside world and she had never been in any true battles, she had spent all of her life working hard to prove herself a more worthy successor than her brother. Constantly in competition with all of the males in her pack, Seraphina was confident of her fighting abilities, but not cocky. This male was larger than her, and could very well be a better fighter. In a level voice she said, "Where I come from, it is considered a sign of disrespect to hold another wolf's gaze as you have. I would like to believe that this is not how you meant it. If it is not and you are merely looking for a friendly sparring match to keep your skills sharp then I see no reason why I should not benefit from that as well. If, however, you did intend to show me disrespect then our sparring may not be so friendly. I warn you now, I belong to a pack that will come looking for me should that be the case and you prove yourself the stronger warrior." To be honest, Seraphina wasn't totally confident that her new pack mates would care. Possibly @Phineas and @Celandine . Of course, @Myrrhis . But the other women were far from caring about Seraphim's life, or lack thereof. Refusing to avert her own eyes, Seraphina held his gaze. Was this stranger truly just looking for a friendly sparring match? It would be a relief if he was. A casual fight with none of the tension of rank challenges could do the Faye woman some good.

OOC: I would like to try the dice thing if that's alright?

As the words flowed out her lips in a level voice he wondered if he could sense some irritation. He was aware that looking into another's face was considered disrespectful, but they were out in this place alone. No challenge for dominance had been issued, they were just two strangers coming together. Yet, even as she told him it was disrespectful she kept her own eyes on his face. So he ignored her words on good etiquette. Her words kept coming and he had to smile a little as she warned him that she had a pack that would likely come to her aide and go after him if she were hurt.

His voice was a little lighter than before as he spoke. I believe that our little match will go to you. He was being truthful after all it had been quite a while since he had needed to battle. It's been some months since I have fought anyone other than my prey. He didn't tell her that he was alone and without a pack. She would figure it out when she got close enough to him. If she won he wouldn't be able to stop her if she decided to cripple him. Of course if she went to that he would fight some more but he didn't think that would happen.

It almost seemed like she was relieved that if was just a spar. Yet he couldn't be sure after all he hadn't been around others for a while so he didn't quite trust what he thought her emotions might be. A faint smile crossed his face. Shall we begin?. This was his way of giving her a chance to back out if she decided that she actually didn't want to spar with him. Yet for some reason he thought that she would be able to test him better than anyone else that might be in the area at the moment.

Speech - Just get rid of the text in between here so it isn't in the way.

As the silvery male explained that he believed he would lose, Seraphina had to stifle a giggle. He was larger than her and though he may not have fought in a while, he had certainly seen his fair share of battles. It was not that she thought she would lose, but anyone who looked at the two of them would certainly put money on Anthem. Th only exceptions being her own family who had seen her fight and new her strengths and talents. But Seraphina was aware of the fact that she didn't look like much so she was surprised when his expression remained serious. He really believed that she had a good chance of winning. Was he really so humble? Seraphina was impressed already.

With a polite, but sincere smile the dappled Faye nodded her head to assent. She was ready and they could begin. Excitement flowed through her as adrenaline filled her veins. "Begin!" She called, letting the word ring through the air for a moment before launching herself towards the larger male. Seraphina usually enjoyed hanging back and reacting rather than initiating, but she also knew that getting the first hit in could decide the fight sometimes. When a wolf got in the first hit it usually raised their confidence and lowered their opponents, especially if it was unexpected. Brown eyes stayed glued on blue ones, as Seraphina's paws pushed off the ground bringing her closer to her opponent. Once she was close enough she lurched forward, aiming low, hoping to take his legs out from under him.

OOC: Ok and if I do something that I am not supposed to tell me so I can fix it. ^^

He smiled when she nodded and her voice rang out starting their match. He could already feel the adrenaline flowing through him and he hoped that his skills hadn't diminished too much. If they had this fight would be rather quick and likely leave him looking like a fool. Their gazes were locked and his complete focus went to her smaller form. Her movement was quick and Anthem had to admit that there was a chance that she was faster than him. Anthem was prepared for her attack though and he swiftly moved forward and to the left. His paws were sure of the movement and he flowed out of the way not even bumping into Seraphina's smaller form.

He felt his confidence go up. Maybe, just maybe he had a chance here. The fight wasn't set in stone and he was aware that things could easily turn. It was the way things were.

Swiftly he whirled around and lunged forward putting all his weight on his back legs for a brief moment before going forward. His head was low and his ears back as he moved. Didn't want a torn ear now did he? He was aiming for her left leg. He was going to try and make that one leg give even for a brief moment. A four legged wolf was fast but disable one leg and that speed is drastically decreased. Especially if its a hind leg, because they help propel one forward. If he could just get her to topple over he could end this swiftly. Ever second counted and he needed to make the most of each of them before he became tired.

OOC So for the dice is it over when one of their HP reach zero or when one gives up?

He was committed to the movement he was making so when she stepped out of the way, using his own move, he couldn't change course. Of course she added her own signature to it but at the moment he was more worried as he actually tripped. Then to top it off Seraphina's small form bumped into his. He wanted to growl in frustration but any noise he would have made was stopped when his bottom jaw hit the ground. He felt blood fill his mouth with a sharp pain. He ignored it as he tried to scramble to his feet not noticing if Seraphina had gone down with him just needing to get himself straightened up now.

Twisting so he was crouched instead of laying there helpless he felt blood drip out of his slightly open mouth to splash onto the stirred up ground. He ignored the pain that went with it as he snapped his jaws were he thought the smaller wolf might go for next. Even though he was using teeth if he felt flesh at all he would do nothing more than give a nip or pinch and maybe leave a bruise and nothing more.

He was almost done he could feel it but he would fight for as long as he could. He needed to know that he was able to still defend himself and this was a good way to learn if he was still capable of it. He needed to know if all his training as a pup had been wasted.

Speech

As Seraphina hurtled into Anthem's side, she was surprised by his sturdy build. She was able to knock him over, but she did not go toppling with him. Instead, she feel right where Anthem had been before she knocked him over. Luckily, she landed in a way that made it easy for her to get to her feet and seeing that Anthem had not gotten up yet, the dappled woman attempted to quickly get on top of him and pin him down. Too predictable. Anthem easily guessed what she was up to and before she could get to him, he had twisted around so that he was crouched instead of laying flat and snapped powerful jaws at her. Caught off guard, Phina was unable to avoid the bite and he managed to catch the skin between her neck and collar. The bite was hard, but not overly aggressive. Blood may have been drawn, but it was not a sever injury. Still, it was very close to her neck and though that was most likely unintentional, Phina grew nervous. Too close, the Faye woman thought. She needed to end this soon.

With that in mind and all determination and resolve renewed, Phina quickly turned her body and tried to grab Anthem's muzzle. Going for the muzzle was her favorite move because she knew all too well that once you had a wolf's muzzle firmly between your jaws, size became less of a factor. She had wrestled her brother's, who were much larger than her, to the ground and always it was because she had managed to get a solid grip on their muzzle.