[Duel] WRASSLE FU (Moto'Seide vs. Bimnono)

[Hopefolly]

((OOC Note: ICly takes place before Veru knocks up Seide.))

Bimnono was more corpulent a lioness than some of the Firekin were used to seeing on their borders, with her short legs and stout figure. This hadn't shot down her confidence from the looks of things. Every step had a bounce playful as any cub. Concealing her face was a hood, and on her back the long cloth attached to it. The way she carried herself was an awkward contrast to this mysterious choice of dress indeed.

There was nothing sombre about the jovial, round-faced lioness who, uh oh, was lost! Kind of. Could you be lost when you had nowhere to be?

She was born of the desert and this weather was a nuisance, but not unbearable. Not as long as she found some water sometime soon.

Dying was kind of a bummer and all...

How did that song go again, the one her mother used at burials?

"Be still da sun," she sang quietly. "Ma heart beat on."

She muttered the parts she couldn't quite remember, which ended up being everything but the chorus. That, however, she belted out.

"BE STIIIIL DA SUN!" Her singing voice, while lovely -- and made more exotic by this peculiar accent of hers -- was still disturbing the peace around here. "MA HEART BEAT SLOW!"

--Errr.

"--ON!" Nono fumbled.  

[Kaelyndra]

There was a floating piece of fabric moving through the desert. Moto'Seide squinted at it, a low growl moving in her throat.

Momentarily, she glanced behind her, then forwards again. The Legate's eyes moved beyond the figure, but saw nothing else. It was evident that there were four legs attached to this floating fabric.

"Halt." Her voice was strong, as was the stance she had taken on all fours.

"You've reached borderlands." Moto'Seide's tail flicked and snapped behind her.

"If you are not here for a challenging duel, turn around."  

[Hopefolly]

Bimnono threw her head back so that her hood fell in a heap onto her shoulders. A few seconds passed where she was nothing but curious about Seide. Black. White. Red. Borders.

Ooh. This was a Firekin, was it?

Nono knew enough about them to assume. Who'd have thought she was so close? Been around here her entire life and managed to not overstep her boundaries.

"Setta, setta, missy," she quipped. To Seide, it would mean nothing. In Nono's native tongue, it was what you said when you were scolding unruly cubs with no patience or manners. She shook off the hood, and when that was done, charged.

Her presentation was not that of a novice, though perhaps it took experience to see experience.  

[Kaelyndra]

Posture remaining rigid, Moto'Seide scanned the eyes of her opponent, looking for a betraying lip raise, or a crinkle which would mean something else.

It seemed that there would be no discussion between them. The attack was alarming, because it did not appear to have any premeditated purpose. Indeed, Moto'Seide had said joining duel, and the lioness had charged.

A warning snarl came from the Legate's throat, but when the other did not slow, she spun, and then lunged for the back of the opponent's soldier.

Moto'Seide's mind was not thinking joining duel, it was thinking Nergui, and so her claws were out, and she battered down heavily with both her paws, ears laid completely back.  

[Hopefolly]

Miscommunication was hard at work. The first blunder was that of Nono's mother the day she told her daughter the Firekin fought every chance they got and would attack on sight, so always be where mama can find you. Or else.

In reality, the long-dead lioness used them as blackmail to get her cubs to behave. She also claimed snakes or cubnappers would get them if the Firekin didn't.

Nono spoke the common tongue. She would have understood "joining duel" if that's what had been said. Challenge was another word entirely. From her prospective, her options were go along with it or be attacked without consent.

Where she came from, there was no system in place; lions frequently fought to the death over resources. Nono had never liked this chaotic atmosphere and, frankly, she didn't want to kill anyone. Her claws weren't out when she swung at Seide and missed, even as she bled from the aggression shown to her.  

[Kaelyndra]

It had been a good counter swing, and Seide had narrowly avoided it.

Had the Legate not already been mobile, it would have clocked her across the face. If she knew anything about fighting, more swings would be coming, and the Firekin hastily sidestepped to take herself back out of range.

The moment to think could have ended the game for both of them. Moto'Seide had never fought a real battle before. Did she kill a foe, or simply knock it unconscious?

It was much to late to be considering these things. "This is your last warning. Stand down."  

[Hopefolly]

Stand down?

Nono put enough distance between them she was comfortable with the idea of waiting. It was stupid to stay in range of a surprise attack if you yourself were not attacking.

She clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth and regarded the lioness again, serious this time.

"Missy threatens me, and tells me ta stand down? Ya bled me. My claws are clean."

(OOC Note: Duel stalled due to IC circumstances. Continues on pg. 2 using the rolls from the post below this and onward.))  

[Kaelyndra]

The Legate was unsure whether or not to feel manipulated. Whether or not the lioness' claws were clean was of little importance to Seide. The black and white cloth-wearer could simply have missed, or been too afraid to flex her own tools to fight.

"'Turn around' is not a threat," she examined calmly. "Charging is."

Even though distance was put between them, Moto'Seide was anything but relaxed. Momentarily, she reminded herself to make another scan of the region.

No one.

Once again, her eyes focused onto the rogue. "You may offer an explanation."  

[Hopefolly]

Ah, now, what was the common word for one like this? Sounded like itch.

Nono snorted. She tracked the eyes of this stranger and snorted again. "I may, may I? How about advice for ya... Ya think I'm 'ere to kill ya and yatake your eyes away? Arrogant." She shook her head, almost like a disappointed mother. "Ya have lions turn around to cut their throat. Not me, missy. Nono dies in battle or not at all."  

[Kaelyndra]

It was not any Nergui accent that Moto'Seide had ever heard. Still, she could barely understand a great deal of it. It was much like conversing with the Hongshan rogues as they began to learn the common tongue.

She knew she was being called arrogant, and a few other words. None of them particularly mattered.

"State your purpose or leave." The Legate flicked an ear back, then alternated which ears were forwards and which were back. "Or I will escort you out."  

[Hopefolly]

b***h.

Oh, that was the word! Mama should have made a song about it. She always remembered things better that way.

Nono sighed and tried to stay calm. She had a feeling half of what she was saying was being heard, but not heeded. What do to but speak slowly and patiently?

"Setta, setta," she echoed. Everything from then on was enunciated in the hopes her accent would not hinder their communication. It made her sound strange when she spoke as Seide did. "I... am going... through the desert."  

[Kaelyndra]

Going through the. . .

Moto'Seide took a deep, long breath. The strong, warriors stance dissipated and her tail lowered. It seemed the massive influx of rogues had not ceased. They had not listened to her when she had told them of the drought, and she doubted they would listen to her tell them about a war.

A small hum moved in her throat, as she pondered over the words and how she might order them.

"To pass into the Firekin lands, you must either be a Firekin, or an ambassador." No one had told her of this one's arrival, and so she knocked the second off the list.

"Or," she began again. "Become Firekin. Gain entrance through battle."

The Legate jerked her head to the left, across the shifting sands, towards the great open south. "Training can be obtained from an outpost, a half-day's walk in the opposite direction of noontime's sun." There was a pause, as she considered the lioness' actions. "You may not need it."

The Legate was clearing her throat now, rolling out the tension that had built in her shoulders. "You may fight any member for passage in the desert. Should you win, you will be allowed to pass into the land under surveillance and remain there until you find your place."  

[Hopefolly]

The drought scared Nono but not enough that she would leave the only place she knew. She was a child of the desert -- lived by it, died by it, rain or not. No matter what anyone said.

Besides, the world of sand and merciless sun would always be too hot and too dry.

She tried to listen, but got lost in some of it. Ambassador? Surveillance? What did these words mean?

When speaking, the most trouble she had was with 'R'."Ambassada is not a wa -- word I know, missy. If I have ta fight ta pass..."

They undoubtedly had water. That was good enough a reason for her.

Just one problem.

"Ya kill lions in these challenges?"  

[Kaelyndra]

It was not a question that should have surprised her. And still, it did. Of all the things she had been asked, never before had anyone so humbled her to tell her of killing lions.

Perhaps, at one time, they had. Moto'Seide knew the Firekin had a bloody, merciless history ruled over by slaving Kings. Her father had been a part of that rule, for a brief time.

"No." Moto'Seide's answer was firm.

"A challenge, or a joining duel, is an honorable fight done with sheathed claws and no use of teeth." A mistake that could leave a friendly opponent with a broken spine. "The challenge is made by the rogue against an adult Firekin. It consists of five sets of actions and reactions. A win is determined based on the number of successfully landed hits."

If Moto'Seide had any sort of vulgar humor, she may have taken the time to make a crude joke on what would happen to the losers. Instead, she stated it exactly as she knew.

"The loser must leave the border, train, and may return when he is ready to challenge again." However, very few continued their assault once a Firekin easily bested them. Some, like her mate, tried until their skulls were permanently ringing, and then won by some sort of dumb luck.

It was Moto'Seide's luck now. "The outpost is open to rogues."