[Duel] Since I'm Here (Azar and Niu)

[Kimaria]

Slowly but surely, Azar'bijan was working his way back to full strength, extending his trips little by little each and every day. Some might have thought he was pushing himself too hard in his eagerness to get back. Azar would have said that those people were lazy idiots who didn't know what they were talking about. And now, having travelled some way, the wound healing close by his right hind leg was only just beginning to ache. It'd probably be quite uncomfortable by the time he was back at his den, but the progress could not be ignored. By his estimation it'd only be another week or so before he could get back out on patrol. And, really, it couldn't come soon enough. He was used to working. What he wasn't used to was resting or taking it easy or loitering around the pride's heart with nothing to do but be insulted by civilians and approached by cubs dreaming of grandeur. He was also secretly annoyed that his son hadn't come by to check on him and wondered if he was still out on patrol.

Wondered if something had happened.

Even his grandkids seemed to have scattered without a trace and, thinking of how old they were now, he realised it was quite likely that they had all begun their apprenticeships by now (hopefully they had all been smart enough to become guards, or at least join the military!) Sometimes it felt like he was the only one who wasn't busy.

And it sucked.

Oh, and look, someone was heading towards him from the border. A female, by the looks of it, with dark fur. He narrowed his eyes as if to try and bring her into focus to better see who she was. Please, he thought don't be any of those damn regent kids. He'd had enough of them to last a life time, thanks.

Hopefolly

 

[Hopefolly]

If only he knew.

If only she cared.

Niu would only learn of her relatives in the pride after she was granted entrance. Their shared blood would make no difference to her. She'd had enough of her family for one lifetime, thank you. This was about her and her alone.

In the distance, she saw him. Her ears propelled forward; her nose took in the humid air and the faint scents; her eyes committed to memory what was before her. As was true of anyone who came to the borders with intent, Niu knew of the Firekin. She had not seen one until now.

He was beautiful in a dangerous way. Angry.

She was going to like it here -- and she was going to thrive here as well. Anyone who said they were not nervous approaching this place she felt was a liar, but her tension sprouted from excitement, not fear. They would come to appreciate her here. She was hard-working and efficient about it. They couldn't ask for a better soldier, not even one born among them.

Niu's body language was anxious but confident. Whether Azar translated it as bravery or arrogance was up to him.

"You're quite a specimen, aren't you?" Niu lived a life of clarity. He was even more impressive of close, thus she said so. Simple as that. She had no plans to inveigle him into letting her pass. The compliment had as much seduction in it as her voice would have reciting the names of her twenty-one siblings in alphabetical order. "And a Firekin?"

Kimaria

 

[Kimaria]

Hopefolly

He didn't recognise her. Not really. Sometimes it was hard to tell one lion from another with their uniform colours and the array of different markings. Still, if he didn't recognise her then she wasn't a guard and seeing as it was (mostly) guards out on the borders, it was probably safe to assume that she was a rogue. Had she already won herself a successful duel, though? Or was he about to get some additional training he hadn't planned for?

Slowly, he drew to a halt and squared off his paws in the sand, watching as she approached, taking note of her body language. She exuded an unmistakeable confidence and energy that he couldn't help but pick up on. These rogues were all the same. Overconfident weaklings come to try their luck against the warrior elite. And, unfortunately for this one, she'd come across him. She clearly had bad luck coming across the one lion in the pride that she didn't have a chance against. It wasn't fair, really, that some rogues got off lightly by duelling lesser lions than himself. Perhaps the whole system needed looking at again. Perhaps rogues should only be tested against their best. Unfortunately, Azar'bijan had neither the inclination nor the courage to make the suggestion to either No or Kidondo. He wasn't sure that they'd take the constructive criticism very well and he didn't want to put his rank in jeopardy. Pointing out flaws in your every day Firekin was all well and good, but there had to be a line drawn somewhere (even for him) and the Regents were that line.

At her compliment, though, he drew up his head and gave a lot chuff of acknowledgement. At least she wasn't stupid if she had recognised how strong he was just by looking. "Of course." Was his growled response. "And let me guess. You want to join our pride? I'm warning you now, rogue, it's not going to be easy. No amount of training can prepare you for a fight against a Firekin and you were unfortunate enough to cross paths with me. What makes you think you will be able to win? Perhaps you should just turn back now and save us both the trouble of your defeat."  

[Hopefolly]

Kimaria

Want to roll in advance? XD Just in case we roll all 1s or something hilarious like that. BD

Niu hadn't met No to say whether or not she'd take criticism with a grain of sand or hold a grudge against Azar for his nerve. If the latter, it didn't run in the family. No's unknown niece, who stood before him now, never had a lot of problems being constructively insulted under the condition the one doing so was worthy to. He probably saw a lot of rogues just like her. Probably thought she was 'just another' of them. That's what she would think.

Now and then, a prodigy was born, but true talent? Real talent? That was made. Niu wasn't a glutton for punishment, but if given the choice, she'd rather improve by any means necessary than stay mediocre with her ego in tact.

She hoped they were all such detestable, arrogant assholes. What a welcomed contrast to those idiots that raised her.

There was no shame in losing to this lion and she wouldn't gloat should she win.

Niu snorted and had a good look at him before she said anything. Sizing him up, not admiring him. That critical stare suggested as much. She chose to omit any banter about her being worthy, so on and so forth. Words were most effective when used sparingly.

"Are you going to start or should I?"  

[Kimaria]

1 - Miss

Azar loved words. Words were addictive. Words flew out of his mouth without any real thought, whether they were kind or mean. And with him it was mostly the latter. Still, one way to shut up was to challenge him to a duel - although even then it was only sporadic silence. He was also fond of fighting talk and he liked to think himself a master of it. Although it was usually more fun when the other combatant responded to it. Her refusal to respond to him was annoying. It was far more fun to get the other person riled before - and during the fight - and if she wasn't going to comply then that was just not...not fair.

He exhaled sharply, drew up his head and threw her a confident smirk. "I will." And with the words barely out of his mouth, he launched himself straight at her, swinging a paw straight at her face. A good hard slap across her muzzle would be a great way to show her that she'd made a mistake in coming here.

Maybe she'd even give up straight away! He couldn't say he would blame her if that was the case.  

[Hopefolly]

Niu had gotten in a lot of scuffles ever since she was young -- especially when she was young. The one thing she'd gotten from her mother, the runaway queen, was an apathy about her social status. If others disliked her, it didn't matter. If she made them angry, it didn't matter. There were no superiors in her life as Azar had in his with the regents; Niu said what she wanted to who she wanted.

And sometimes that got her smacked.

'Sometimes' being a lot of times. From experience, she'd learned the smartest thing to do was keep an eye on your opponent's paws rather than their face. It took practice and a lot of screw ups, but she'd learned to accurately judge how long it took to get from where they were standing to her with a 50-50 success-fail ratio on a bad day.

Her weakness, obviously, was when she had no time to prep for an assault. Preparing was what she did when more boisterous types like Azar were talking.

Niu's timing was not flawless, but close to it. She threw her weight to the side and rolled out of the way to avoid the attack. Her follow-up was not especially fierce: she lunged at Azar from an unsteady stance with her claws out.

Another hurdle standing between her and improving her fighting prowess was training herself to think and fight instead of lots of thinking with some fighting mixed in.  

[Kimaria]

2 - Bide

She dodged his attack? How dare she dodge it? How was he supposed to teach her a lesson if she managed to somehow avoid his paws? Well, two could play at that game! He could dodge just as well as the best of them.

Her unbalanced attack proved easy enough to avoid, too, the large lion side-stepping swiftly. Moving to the side when evading seemed to have worked well for him in the past, forcing the competitor to turn - a move that could delay them or throw off any follow up attack they might have made. Moving backwards could lead to them making another good attempt and there was no way he was going to allow himself to be baited into that trap. Not here; out in the open. And, no sooner had he moved to the right, did he pause to throw a few words in her direction.

"Poor attempt. Stop wasting my time. I've got better things to do than tutor talentless rogues."

And he planted his paws and seemed to lower himself as if readying to charge.  

[Hopefolly]

1 - Miss

Azar didn't bother Niu as much as she bothered herself. How had she been so sloppy? She carried on close-mouthed, as flinging insults would take more than one missed attack. This was her first fight of this caliber. Gone were the days of knocking down prey and squabbling with other rogues with nothing to lose but some blood -- and she didn't care much for what was in her veins, lest anyone forget.

As anticipated, Niu moved backwards to launch another attack, but Azar had already moved. That got her growling a little.

Still, she said nothing. To the untrained eye (untrained in the ways of Niu, not the ways of combat), it appeared she was lining up for another try...
 

[Kimaria]

2 - Bide

Oh. A growl. About time she started showing signs of getting annoyed. Apparently that was all he was going to get though. She appeared to be determined to remain quiet - not that it would do any good. Azar recognised the signs of an attack a mile off and, as she came at him again, he evaded once more by side-stepping in the other direction.

A second later and he was smirking again, suddenly enjoying how easily he was able to avoid her. It wasn't often that he bothered to take the time to avoid, tending to just brace himself and take the hits as they came. But playing defensively was the task of a guard and that was his speciality. Being a wall was all well and good but perhaps being a moving wall was even better. He'd think about the potential of it later.

He 'tsked' mockingly, shaking the mane back away from his eyes. "How do you expect to win favour if you can't even land a single hit?"  

[Hopefolly]

2 - Bide

Win whose favor, exactly? Niu made a mistake upon hearing this and looked into his eyes. Just for a second. Brief enough of a blunder she could rectify it. Eyes on the paws, eyes on the paws. That was the golden rule.

Niu's aggressive stance was all too misleading. She did not move, and would not move. If she couldn't land a hit yet, she would bide her time and wait for the opportunity. Until then, she only had to avoid him and hope for a one-hit wonder.  

[Kimaria]

1 - Miss

What was she doing now? Nothing? How did she expect to win by standing there staring? Was this some stupid female trick? Was he about to walk into something here? Well, there was no way of telling and Azar wasn't about to just stand and gawk back at her. No. It was time to end this now. The 'dancing around one another' thing was getting old quickly.

And, with a snarl, he lurched his body forwards and swung up a paw - aiming for her face again. He didn't want to get any closer than he had to - with her being all silent and mysterious - and her face was the closest thing for him to try and strike. Unfortunately, that would lead to him making a rather predictable attack; though he supposed he could at least test to see if her basic knowledge was there.

She would be no good to the Firekin if it wasn't.  

[Hopefolly]

2 - Bide

Niu ducked under the paw, avoiding the swipe. Was he serious? Was this a trick or was he making fun of her? She had been raised patient, albeit by circumstance rather than her guardians. He wasn't going to goad her into a premature attack.

She thought she saw an opportunity as she dodged. It didn't matter. The chance to seize it had gone by whilst she was thinking about whether or not she should.

Niu ended up several paces to his right. She turned to meet him face-to-face and bent her legs just so.

She did not speak nor ponder, only waited. She couldn't let a second chance slip through her toes.  

[Kimaria]

1 - Miss

Damn it. Why wouldn't she just stay still? Was it too much to ask? These flighty females were not exactly the easiest combatants and Azar'bijan did not trust them. Not one bit. Well, perhaps he wouldn't give her a chance to dodge, this time. How about that, HUH?!

As she moved to the right, Azar shifted his weight around as quickly as he was able and brought his paw up again, intending to draw it right around and strike her across the side. It was a gamble, to be sure, but taking risks was part of the job. If she had been bracing to defend or dodge, he could take her by surprise and end the duel with one swift strike.

But if she took her chances...  

[Hopefolly]

3 - PEWPEW

Rarely was Niu determined to not think. There was enough stupidity in the world. But this win would be decided by instinct and timing -- and what was instinct but one's intelligence on a subconscious level?

Later, she would replay the fight in her head and fully comprehend what Azar had been doing and why he'd tried the tactic he had, even though it cost him in the end.

Gambling on chance would not have turned out well had she tried it either. The catch was, to her, there was no such thing as chance, only opportunity.

A little closer to his claws and things would have ended differently. Niu could not dunk under such a low hit, so instead, she tottered just barely out of reach as she got closer. The unbalanced move was, this time, planned, and she used gravity to launch her forward and bash their heads together.

Had they any observers, perhaps they'd have sworn they heard a skull crack.

While Azar was dazed from the collision, she swung her front leg around and forced him down by the neck. At this point, it wasn't unlike the way she delivered the killing blow to prey.

This was the part where she attacked with her teeth instead of her claws and went for the throat. Niu flung her entire weight onto his side, but obviously, spared him the full force of her jaws. She only mouthed at his mane, yet it was clear had she intended to bleed him, she'd have gotten the chance.

Ahem, opportunity.

Niu pulled her face away from his neck, lifted it to his muzzle, and licked the side of his nose.

"It's Niu, by the way."  

[Kimaria]

His paw missed again and in that moment the impatient anger flared inside of him. That was it. He'd had enough. Clearly someone wasn't playing fair and it definitely wasn't him. Had Fia really damaged his abilities this much or did he really just suck this bad. No. It was definitely Fia. Blame her. Not himself. It could never have been his fault.

His unsuccessful paw began its trip back to the sand just as he opened his mouth to yell at her (again). "I swear, if you--" And then there was a blinding pain that killed his half-formed complaint and put brilliant, flashing lights into his eyes. His words transformed into a cry that was something between pain and rage, enhanced by his surprise that she had actually managed to land a hit. The burst of agony exploding between his eyes seemed to be expanding right through his temples and, utterly dazed, he was almost grateful to feel the comforting ground against him - though not so much when his brain caught up and he realised what it meant.

No.

No!!

His eyes flared open when her teeth came down at his throat but, by the time they had regained focus, she was drawing away again - although not without first licking his face. What the--!? Was she mocking him!? With a growl, he lurched back to his feet, hackles up and teeth laid bare. Stupid rogues and their stupid luck. Where had his good luck gone? Surely he'd had more than his fair share of bad luck by now. What a joy that he could add this little incident to the ever growing list.

"Fine." He blurted angrily. "You passed the little test. Lucky for you I decided to go easy on you this time. Next time, I won't hold back." And he reached up with a paw to rub at the side of his nose, like a petulant child. And then, almost as an afterthought: "If anyone asks, you didn't duel me. Got that?" Had he given his name? No? Good. He'd be safe then. His reputation was still (mostly) intact.