[DUEL] Looking to Brawl (Roho & Ruber)

[mouselet]

RUBER

The big red lion approached the Firekin outpost with a swagger in his step and his head held high. He'd learned the rules and was determined to join the pride and prove his skill. Good thing he'd been born with the right coloration to get in, now he just needed some sucker, er, opponent already in the pride to come out and lose.

Confidence was definitely soemthing Ruber had in spades.

"Hey!" he called out. "I heard Firekin like to fight. Who's going to come out and prove it?" the red lion sneered as he watched the outpost.

Oh yes, confidence was one thing. Overconfidence though, was probably the more relevant term.  

[Kimaria]

A large female, lightly scarred from recent duels, heard Ruber's challenging words and moved across to meet him. She, like him, had not been born within the lands but unlike him she had joined as a refugee with a small group of her own people (the Hongshan). It seemed a long time ago since that fateful day, however, and Roho had immersed herself fully in this new culture - though not forgetting her own. And, in an attempt to prove sceptics wrong, she had been practising her duelling skills with dogged determination for many weeks now. The practise showed physically on her lean body as she squared her posture and eyed him with her intensely blue eyes. It seemed to her - judging by outer appearance - that he was a good candidate for joining them. He was big and strong and confident (like most males here) and his pelt blazed with fiery red.

Some females might have found his initial sneering an irritation but thankfully for him, Roho was a patient sort. She was also used to Teketeza's unrestrained negativity towards her and her people and nothing could have compared to that.

Her face was kept stoic - as it almost always was - and after her evaluation of his appearance, lifted her head to speak.

"I will accept your challenge, outsider."  

[mouselet]

A female? Really? They would send a female out to fight him? Obviously the so-called fiercest fighters were low on soldiers and wanted him to join them easily and quickly. It never once occurred to Ruber that this lioness could be his equal or better in combat, that she might have had extensive training and experience that his brawling could never match.

He did have a sister, but she'd never shown much interest in wrestling, so Ruber tended to discount her along with his mother. In his mind, women were not warriors. At all.

"So be it," he replied with a nasty grin. The red lion skipped up to her and took a swipe, mentally cursing as his claws missed even grazing her fur.  

[Kimaria]

Move 1/5: Miss

It was lucky that Roho could not hear his thoughts. It was enough to be considered weak for being a Hongshan, let alone for being a female. She had been born and raised in a pride that held male and females in equal standing amongst a military - just as it was here in the Firekin - and to think otherwise would have been unforgivable.

Thankfully for her, she could at least begin to show her worth by dodging his first attack, leaping to the side to avoid his paw. That was something she was accustomed to doing having faced Teketeza in battle on more than one occasion.

And, no sooner had her paws touched down on the sand again did she thrust out her own paw in retaliation, exhaling sharply when she felt nothing but air against her pads.  

[mouselet]

Move 2/5: Miss

She'd gotten lucky, dodging out of the way of his claws. But of course no female could ever hope to have the same coordination and skill of a male, so it was no wonder that her attempted retaliation missed. It was no more than Ruber had expected upon finding his opponent to be a lioness.

Grinning, he extended both paws, one after the other in quick succession intending to swipe her in the face. Unfortunately, her face was not where it had been and Ruber snarled in frustration at this fresh example of his poor aim.  

[Kimaria]

Move 2/5: Miss

She'd dodged again, ducking beneath his swipe and sidling to the left in an attempt to get into a better position to attack. Her eyes were focused, watching for any sign of an opening that she could manipulate. So far they had both proved quicker than one another - neither able to land a hit but not receiving any, either.

Digging her claws into the sand to help give her some more speed as she launched, she tried another swipe - lower this time to catch him across the chest.

And again he avoided her! He was swift on his paws for such a large male, she would give him that.  

[mouselet]

Move 3/5: Bide

It was...odd, Ruber decided. He was managing to dodge her easily enough on the unstable sand, but couldn't seem to get enough traction in order to make his own attempted hits land. Maybe that was because he was doing a lot of er...sliding...as he dodged. Yeah. And for a lioness who was supposedly from the area, this female sure didn't seem to know how to handle the terrain any better than he did.

The red lion decided that instead of taking another useless swipe at his opponent, he'd circle instead. Perhaps get a better feel for how he moved over sand, maybe watch and see what she did in response.

He might be stupid enough to swipe twice and miss twice, but he wasn't stupid enough to do that three times. In a row.  

[Kimaria]

Move 3/5: Hit

She paused, planting herself firmly in the shifting tide beneath them, her tail whipping back and forth as she watched him. A muscle in her shoulder twitched as she fought back the urge to leap in and make another attempt. She needed to do this carefully if she was going to land a hit. Nothing made in haste. Only careful precision.

Hold. Hold. Now.

And, with a short intake of breath, she lunged again, bringing her paw around and up towards him - putting as much strength into it as she possibly could. If this was the only strong attempt she made, boy was she going to make it count.

 

[mouselet]

Move 4/5: Hit

Ruber snarled in unexpected, and entirely unwelcome pain, as the lioness paw impacted with his face. Hard. This was totally undignified and completely unacceptable! Not only was he somehow losing to...to a female!...but she'd also drawn first blood! This was so...unfair!

Perhaps that was the motivation he'd needed, because in retaliation for his blood seeping down his face, Ruber opened his mouth on a roar and went to bite down on the offending lioness' paw. Make him bleed, would she? Well, she would pay for that insult!  

[Kimaria]

Move 4/5: Miss

The success of her attack was short-lived as a sharp stab of pain lanced through her limb as his teeth bit down into the sensitive toes of her paw. Her breath hissed through her clenched teeth as she wrenched back the wounded limb, backing up a step or two as she shook it vigorously. Hopefully the wound wasn't too deep. Limping around on sand didn't sound like that much fun...

And, in case he had any ideas about chasing after her whilst she was recovering she thrust out her neck and snapped her teeth at him, her face distorting as she snarled menacingly.

Only then did she gently set her paw back to the ground.  

[mouselet]

Move 5/5: Hit

Releasing the lioness' paw when she tugged on it, Ruber licked the blood off his teeth considering how this had gone. Clearly he'd let his guard down too much in the first half of this fight, now he would have to remember to keep it up. The red lion laughed aloud as she snapped in his general direction - he recognized it as a tactic to keep him away while she recovered from his bite. As such strategies went, this was the poorest execution he'd ever seen. But what else could you expect from a female?

Taking advantage of her distraction, Ruber ran for her side, claws outstretched to rake through the thick fur there. There was something...satisfyingly visceral about using one's claws.  

[Kimaria]

Move 5/5: Miss

She gave another hiss of pain at the glancing blow he dealt her, twisting to defend herself and wincing at the pain in her paw as she did so. Sand in wounds was not the most pleasant of experiences and she had learnt that well enough from living here. Sand itched. Sand burned. Sand irritated. It was bad enough in the eyes and nose, but in open cuts, it could delay healing and become a nuisance. She'd have to keep her paw clean over the next few days so that it could heal and let her get back to training.

Her next strike was thrown merely to keep him at bay and not to try and hit him - though she wouldn't have complained if it had.

"Enough." She called, her voice authoritative. "You have proven yourself adaptive and swift, outsider. You may join us as kin."  

[mouselet]

There was no use beating a dead horse, or in this case, a half-dead lioness, and Ruber didn't mind stepping back and laying off the damage. Hah, that had been easier than he'd thought, but it was probably due to fighting a female. And now he'd have to be acknowledged as one of the best. Hadn't he just won his way into the pride? The pride renowned as the best warriors?

Oh yeah, life was good.

"Thanks," he replied, a sneer in his voice. "I'll just follow you home, eh?"

Well, not to her den or wherever this lioness lived. But into the pride where he could get a more comprehensive...introduction. Meet some males! That sort of thing.  

[Kimaria]

"Not me." She replied. "One of the guards coming off of patrol can escort you back and do the necessary introductions." And then, likely, one of the civilians would do the rest, such as showing him around and ensuring that others knew he was an official member. The sorts of things that the military didn't have time for.

"We'll find you a guard to take you back."

And that was it. The duel was over and she had her wounds to nurse.

/fin