Drooping Willows gunpowder and lead

Meeting with @Craw for a spar.  After the last thread, me thinks.

Capable stretched stiff limbs – she’d known she shouldn’t have hunted before going to train with the white wolf.  Still, she had a belly to fill, and raiding a cache seemed a waste when she was perfectly capable (heh) of setting out to catch her own meal.  Not strenuous, no, but to rest on warm muscles made for difficultly to get moving shortly thereafter.

Finding no use in berating herself, the redhead shook out her luscious coat.  She’d not seek the man right away, but perhaps patrol the border first.  Do her civic duty, and warm her legs back up into fighting shape.  A small smile curled one corner of her lips, and the woman allowed herself to get lost in her post-nap run until she’d come across a familiar scent.  At least it was no longer meant with disdain.

“Craw,” she murmured, rolling to a halt.  Ears pricked forward as she scented the air, head on a swivel as she glanced around.  “I know you’re there.” At least she wasn’t being followed this time, had only come across the white wolf by chance.  “Was going to find you later.  To spar.  Lest you’ve got the time now?”  The woman turned her head, glancing towards the shadows.  Eyes narrowed.  There.

bring me home, bring back what's stolen,

Capable

like you're supposed to

He'd been considering heading to the dens early, having spent the better part of the day running around trying to distract himself from what was to come. His earlier talk with Capable, while spawned from a desire to predict 'what was to come', had proven interesting in its own rights; that she had begun to treat him with something like cordiality was a welcome change. He regretted the manner in which they had met, but could not begrudge himself of it; much had changed since that time.

When her soft voice called out his name, he paused, head turning in the direction the sound had come. The corner of his mouth twitched up into a smirk as he realised that, yes, Capable had just sought him out, of her own free will and everything. As she made clear her intentions, and her searching eyes finally found him through the trees, he stepped towards her, ears pushed forward in curiosity and pleasure at this apparent change of heart.

"I didn't know you were so keen," he rasped, stopping several feet from her, always mindful to give the prickly red woman her space. Keeping his eyes on her, he strained his neck from side to side, joints quietly popping, rolling his shoulders to ease out the aches and tightness there. It was clearly a display of readiness. Planting his feet, his front half lowered just slightly as his forelegs sank forwards, tail raised and stiff and eager. "I could do with the distraction."

“Of course I’m keen.”

Sometimes it was hard not to look at these boys like they were all stupid.  Isuni snorted softly, raising one brow as the man approached.  It was a worrying thing that he saw her as anything but – to not gain strength was to be static.  To be static was to forget to live.  Never did she want to be pinned to a task against her will, kept where she did not want to be, and this freedom she sought would not come freely to her simply by asking for it.  So she would be prepared to fight, if she ever had to, with all the experience she could notch up in the meantime.

Claws prickled into the damp earth as she rolled her shoulders upwards, taking a moment to do the same as the older wolf.  It wasn’t a bad idea, truly.  Stiff muscles were entirely more likely to become injured ones.  Before long, Craw sunk into the same position Morganna had when they’d tussled playfully.  Unable to keep the grin off her face, the woman readied herself.

“Good.”

The woman bolted forward – Craw was big, but so was she.  A slam from her shoulder would hurt no matter where it landed, and she had every intention of running at the older wolf until he moved – or didn’t.

bring me home, bring back what's stolen,

Capable

like you're supposed to

A wild dissertation appears!

Of course? So he was supposed to be making assumptions about her wants and intentions now, was that right? Craw was pretty sure that he'd never, ever be able to do the right thing with this one, so it was lucky that he didn't particularly care. It wasn't like Capable made a secret of the fact she disapproved of everything and everyone, so it was hard to take anything too personally.

If her blunt reply wasn't obvious enough, the message was received loud and clear when the swarthy red woman began her own stretching, the two large wolves readying themselves for what was to be an interesting match. Capable was certainly quite a different creature to Morganna, not least because her fighting style was entirely unknown.

He was ready by the time she lurched forward. Clearly she favoured the same kind of combat as he; making the most of her brawn. He could have tried to dodge the battering ram and risk being caught off-balance, or he rush forward to meet her, which is exactly what he did. Their shoulders would roughly crash against each other, and with their weights and momentum and stubbornness so well matched, neither would fall back. The impact smarted but was not enough to deter him. Instead Craw would plow on, his flank rubbing hard against hers, head lowered and jaws opened, stretching for her nearest hindleg.

If able, he'd get a hold of it just long enough to ruin her stride and balance, pulling it out behind her as he carried on moving forwards before letting go. This early in the game, it was all about testing limits, seeing how she reacted.

Oh, sweet pain~!

Craw rushed forward to meet her and fire sparked in her eyes eagerly – finally, to be met, head on!  A contest of strength!  She reared up in the last second, shoulder catching shoulder with a meaty smack.  It smarted, though not quite enough to give her pause.  Where the male went low, his counterpart did quite the opposite, riding her rear up and into his body.  That he dove was only a lucky happenstance – a hind leg would simply have to be the price she gambled with.

As the white wolf drove into her, she bore her weight down on top the man.  Where she was gentler with Morganna, not wishing to cause any harm to a budding alpha, she did not have to take the same care here – Craw matched her in size, and he did not hold such a crown ‘pon his brow.  Lips curled backwards in delight as the woman twisted, more alive than she’d felt in years.

He grabbed her, but she came down on his back.  Were he to pull and leave her on the ground, there was no way her weight would not drag him to earth as well.  But what would he do, with her bearing against him--?  Curiosity might be her worse enemy.

bring me home, bring back what's stolen,

Capable

like you're supposed to

A wild dissertation appears!

Built for brute strength over agility, Craw was not the sort of fighter who could easily change tactics mid-manoeuvre. Both barrelling towards each other, there was little opportunity for either to rethink their immediate targets as he had gone low and she high, his jaw grasping onto her hock as her chest came thumping down on his back.

Together they wiped each other out. His attempt to unbalance her worked perfectly well, and she did fall, but she fell on top of him, and though he did try to use his momentum to get out in time it didn't work. Not having braced himself for her to come upon him (having been more prepared to meet her head- or side-on) his hind legs crumpled under her weight. His front-half was free, but she had his rear trapped.

That didn't mean they were done. Grunting his exertion, he made to twist underneath her, making full use of his mobile upper body to try and get on his back - so that he could use his hindlegs against her rather than the ground, kicking out to shove her off. Just like Capable, Craw was being deliberately less gentle than he would have been with Morganna, for he was not so concerned with hurting this one, and knew that she could more than take it.

   

It worked!

Perhaps not as well as the woman would have liked, but Capable would mark down the little success to revisit at a later date.  No technique was ever perfected on the first, not in hunting, and not in fighting, either.  It wasn’t perfect, for though the white wolf had half-crumpled beneath his weight, she was left in an awkward sprawl as well.  At least he’d dropped her leg, allowing her more freedom to move.  As she fought to get her legs underneath, the male squirmed beneath, changing position as he began to kick like a rabbit against her underbelly.

Ears flipped backwards, a low growl escaping her as she twisted, not yet ready to get off.  Everything was unstable, and he’d be free soon whether she allowed it or not, so the redhead took the glaring opportunity before it could get away.  On his back as he was, Craw’s throat became visible – so she went for it, as she’d gone for the kill when the boar had lost its life.  She would not use her teeth, of course, not like she had then – she was rough, but this was not meant to cause lasting damage, but to pin, to hold, to convince Craw that he was best to yield.

bring me home, bring back what's stolen,

Capable

like you're supposed to

A wild dissertation appears!

We just need 4 more posts after this to claim for demonstrate LP, we've got 6 actively-showing ones <3

The two burly wolves flailed and thrashed against each other, Craw underneath and Capable on top, the spider striking out with his hindlegs to try and shove her off. She was heavy, though, and just as stubborn as himself, and rather than be thrown off, twisted about so that they were head-to-head. Had this been a real fight, he would not have hesitated to initiate tooth sparring, open jaws clashing to bleed and wound among snarling and growls, but while he bared his yellowed teeth and made all the right sounds, he did not lash close enough to try and draw her blood.

He saw her intention only a heartbeat before she dove for his throat. There was no denying that her position was the superior one, and though he flinched his chin down to try and protect himself, she was too fast, and his jaw was bumped roughly aside as her jaws reached down around his throat.

He stilled, conceding defeat, lips dropping back over his teeth as his pinned ears perked back up. He had totally underestimated the red woman, so used to Morganna's style of fighting and how he had needed to train her up almost from scratch. Some part of him had expected to need to do the same. Clearly Capable had plenty of experience, and only needed him to keep her skills sharp, not to develop them. This would be fun.

@Craw -- remember that one time I was totally the worst?  :'D  I am so sorry.  sdjhfsdf.

Her success was met with some degree of surprise.  Though she had plenty of faith in her own abilities, Craw had proven to be a worthy opponent.  If nothing else, his size made him formidable; that he knew how to use it made him all the more threatening.  All the same, her teeth met soft fur and softer skin and the wolf squeezed just enough to make her point.  It wasn’t a true fight, there was no reason to actually make an attempt at harm – and when the white wolf yielded, the female released without question.

How strange, she thought after a moment, tongue lolling out of her mouth as she took a few steps back, allowing Craw his space as the both of them recovered from the physical exertion.  Arrow would have never—

But she shed the thought for the foolishness it was.  There was a reason she was here, and her brother was not.  There was a reason she opted to train with Craw, and not the wolf born moments before her.  So ears flipped forward and she bobbed her head, tail swinging lazily behind her.

“You’re smarter than you look,” she teased, mischief in her eye.  “Some never know when to quit – even if it’s just practice.”  Winning the battle wasn’t everything, after all, not when there was a war ahead.

“We should keep at it.  No one else is a challenge…”

bring me home, bring back what's stolen,

Capable

like you're supposed to

(This post was last modified: Aug 13, 2016, 08:45 PM by Isuni.)

A wild dissertation appears!

<33 almost done!

Was that a backhanded compliment? Craw smirked at her teasing, still submitting to her win, satisfied with the praise and equally amused by the insult to his perceived intelligence. But the quip, lightly given, had revealed her own state of mind, and now the cold enigma of Capable was peeling itself away, and she finally made sense. She was a warrior. She was a warrior, and a good one, too; this had been but one fight, but Craw was particularly familiar with the practice, and could easily recognise experience. If she was truly the same, then both of them had learned a little something interesting about the other in the last few moments.

The smirk grew into a toothy grin as she relaxed, declaring her wish to continue. It was certainly a wish he was happy to grant. The opportunity to tussle with someone on his level was not something he was about to pass up anytime soon, not now he had just found out, not now they had just started. Capable could help keep his engines well lubricated, better than anyone else he currently knew. He didn't need to go easy on her, and he certainly knew she wouldn't go easy on him.

"Certainly," he rasped, ears flicking back in suggestive hostility again, lips curling back just enough to reveal the tips of his smallteeth again, heavy white canines slick and wet as he salivated eagerly, his tone rough with a playful antagonism, not wanting her to lose her momentum. "So get the fuck off me."