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 Posted: Fri May 04, 2012 9:11 am
The thing about Kalama was that, when she wasn't in the mood to beat someone up, she was precisely in that mood. See, it was a cycle. She wanted to hit things when she wasn't happy, and when she was happy. She was feeling rather grumpy and lazy today, which made her not want to hit things, but that made her unhappy, which in turn made her want to hit things.
So yes, she was ultimately pleased to learn she had another rogue to duel today. A part of her wondered about all these hopefuls she dueled. Were the firekin really so good at hiding their issued from the outside world, that lions still wanted to join? Perhaps a kinder, less proud lion might try to warn rogues to come back later, wait for rain to come, for the war to be over. But... misery loves company, perhaps.
Besides, that would mean admitting to the outside world the firkein had issues. It just wasn't cool.
"So you that Tchekro person." She wasn't here to learn how to pronounce names correctly. "You wanna join the Motoujami?"
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Posted: Fri May 04, 2012 9:15 am
She watched the lioness approach without comment, though she did rise to her paws. She allowed the pride member to look her over, having nothing to bother proving in merely standing here. It was merely about the fight, that was all. She had little enough to say as it was, and at the almost rude greeting, she gazed at her opponent with a flat, almost blank look.
After a few moments of pointed silence, she narrowed her eyes and spoke. "I would not be standing here if I didn't, would I?" Stating the obvious did not raise the lioness in 'Kero's esteem whatsoever, nor did her snide attitude. "Do you plan on pointing out the obvious the whole time, or are we going to get down to business?" Nothing else mattered right now. In fact, this very nearly didn't matter either, but she felt drawn to remain in this unforgiving desert. Perhaps it was an unconscious reflection of her deepest feelings about herself. Regardless of the cause, she had a task to perform now, and that was all that she cared to focus on. This lioness' bad attitude was inconsequential to achieving that goal.
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wooga Paes generated a random number between
1 and 3 ...
1!
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Posted: Fri May 04, 2012 9:16 am
Kalama wasn't the smartest lioness. It wasn't the sort of thing she would admit aloud, but really, she wasn't. She also found too much intelligence to just be pointless. You didn't need to know everything, you just needed to know the right things. She knew the right things. "Oh my, we got us one of those clever-types?" She grinned, unperturbed by the apparent insult to her intelligence. "Let's see how much good that will do you." When you're gasping for water, or shade, or mercy.
She would admit this first blow had hardly been her best, particularly because it failed. She had been rather straight forward, making a quick dash over to whack the other lioness with her paws. The timing of it all had just been off enough for her paw to cut through the air, rather than smash against the other lioness' head. Well, damn.
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Talencia generated a random number between
1 and 3 ...
2!
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Posted: Fri May 04, 2012 9:18 am
The direct sort of approach had been relatively easy to avoid. Seeing the rush coming, she'd simply stepped back two paces and let the lioness' paws wave in front of her face. 'Kero's eyes narrowed further, and her ears began to tilt backward. This was not her idea of a challenging beginning. She shifted sideways slightly, then began to circle to the right, her red eyes not wavering from her opponent. She didn't even know the female's name, only that this was who she had to defeat in order to gain entrance to the pride.
Her ears grew flatter to her head as she circled, her tail lashing in a slow, aggressive rhythm. Hopefully there was more to it than this. This was... anticlimatic. She'd somehow gotten the impression this was a trial by fire, a challenge difficult to surmount. Thus far, the difficult part was lacking. So rather than attack, she continued to circl, assessing and waiting to see if it would get any harder, or if this was it.
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wooga Paes generated a random number between
1 and 3 ...
3!
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Posted: Fri May 04, 2012 9:18 am
She quite disliked being made a fool of. Or at least, that's how things looked in her mind. But Kalama was good at one thing, and that was fighting. She was very good at fighting. Losing her patience didn't make her worse, rather, it typically only made her focused. And better.
It looked like this lioness was trying to get a read, get a distance. Well, that was not gonna happen. She followed her opponent quickly, and would make a point to be in her face this whole fight. And the good thing about following and keeping close was, if it looked like you could attack any moment... well, that made predicting the attack even harder. She briefly indicated an attack on the other female's paws.
She went for the head, claws unsheathed. No need to be nice about it.
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Talencia generated a random number between
1 and 3 ...
2!
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Posted: Fri May 04, 2012 9:20 am
As she tried to dodge the next incoming attack, wondering why a fighter would dive for her paws, she discovered that this lioness was not quite as foolish as her first impression had implied. Quick as a blink, claws were raking her face. One caught just inside her ear, drawing a snarl of pain and fury from the dark lioness. Another claw caught the edge of her nose, carving a shallow furrow through the sensitive tissue. She jerked backwards, then ducked her head to the side, to avoid any further swipes.
Her ear bled freely, blinding one eye with the dampness. She growled and darted to the side again, reaching one forepaw up to swipe at her face to try and clear the blood. She didn't dare tip her muzzle upward to prevent the blood from streaming into her eyes, for that would invite attack that might end in more serious damage to her throat. She could still fight if she could only see out of one eye. She could not continue to fight if she couldn't breath.
This whole maneuver to gain space to clear her vision had robbed her of her chance to counter-attack, however. Thus when she had sufficiently redirected the blood flow, leaving her forehead a dusky rust color, she found herself facing the lioness already on the defensive again. Snarling at her missed chance, she crouched, readying herself once more. This time, she would be ready.
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wooga Paes generated a random number between
1 and 3 ...
1!
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Posted: Fri May 04, 2012 9:21 am
Kalama had originally intended a follow-up blow, once she'd found her paw-to-the-face had been successful. She had chased after her a couple paces, and this time actually aimed at her paws, hind paws. After all, the other female was already all tripped up, busying herself trying to clear the blood off her face, Kalama may well trip her up more.
Sadly, she underestimated the other female's speed as she tried to gain distance, and missed her. She laid her ears back, frustrated, but at least the other female had been too busy to see the miss. She could comfort herself with that.
When Tch'kero turned, Kalama stood facing her, crouched and ready to pounce if the opening came. Or at least not to get hit. The only thing worse than missing was getting hit.
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Talencia generated a random number between
1 and 3 ...
1!
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Posted: Fri May 04, 2012 9:22 am
For a moment, neither of them moved, both crouched and ready. It was time to do something, 'Kero decided. She was tired of being chased, blooded, and swiped at. She circled to one side, staying low, tail lashing, looking for a chance to score on the other lioness, to give as good as she'd gotten. However, such an opening was not forthcoming. It seemed it was up to her to try and make such an opening.
She darted forward and to one side, aiming at the lioness' less protected shoulder and flank. This wasn't what she meant to strike at, though, and rather than reach to swipe at her implied target, she spun and dove for the lioness' face. Her timing was thrown off by her attempt at subterfuge though. Her attempt to create an opening failed, and her claws swished through open air, completely missing the other lioness' face entirely.
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wooga Paes generated a random number between
1 and 3 ...
2!
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Posted: Fri May 04, 2012 9:23 am
That was the worst part about attacks that came from far away. They were easier to see coming. Sure, Tch'kero had done a nice job of faking it, but... well, Kalama had just done something of the sort. Such a strategy was not foreign to her, and she was even a little amused at what she perceived as mimicry.
She ducked beneath the paw, spinning as she went. Instead of spinning away, she went towards the other female, bumping her back against the female's chest, briefly, before slipping away before she could be hit. It was a reckless, stupid little tease, but Kalama was hardly above such acts.
The red lioness didn't flee as far as her opponent had, she didn't need to gain distance to access the situation. Instead, she circled much closer, only a lunge away. She wanted to keep the pressure on, not give irritating little breathers.
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Talencia generated a random number between
1 and 3 ...
2!
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Posted: Fri May 04, 2012 9:24 am
A growl rumbled in her chest after being bumped so insultingly. Her cold, flat eyes were beginning to show a spark now, a faint light of fire. It also made her focus better, react faster, and feel less fear. Thus when her opponent stayed close, staring her down, 'Kero did not back down. Rather, she stepped up, taking herself closer to the other lioness, staring right back.
One advantage is that she was not just within lunge range, but close enough to where a lunge was less than productive. In fact, they were close enough to reach out and touch each other now, face to face as they both circled, eye to eye. She peeled back a lip to show her teeth, her tail no longer lashing, but poised and balanced, ready to react. The sting of the two scores on her face had already faded into the background, the mere nuisances that they truly were. Though later her nose was going to be extremely tender, for now it was no worse than an insect bite.
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wooga Paes generated a random number between
1 and 3 ...
1!
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Posted: Fri May 04, 2012 9:25 am
Her next attack was, actually, rather well executed. She had timed it well, a moment when only one of the female's front paws was off the ground, which was supposed to make it harder for her to simply jump away. She avoided any theatrics, and struck from down to up, so she blow couldn't be avoided by ducking. And she hadn't even tensed a muscle out of time to give off the indication that she might be attempting to hit.
Yet, somehow, she found that her paw didn't hit anything. Well, darn.
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Talencia generated a random number between
1 and 3 ...
2!
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Posted: Fri May 04, 2012 9:26 am
She had been ready this time. She had watched carefully, and though no indication of the strike came early, once the movement began, 'Kero was ready to react. It was a well-timed attack, to be sure, but no attack was completely without flaws. The angle made it too awkward to try and counter-strike to deflect the blow, as well as making it impossible to dodge under. However, it left one area open for avoidance, and it was just the right timing in her footing for it. With a paw up on the side towards the lioness, it made it easy to shift her weight not away, but towards her opponent.
The swing went wide, and they ended up a whisker's width from touching nose to nose. For a frozen moment, they stood like that, before 'Kero let out a hiss, drew a breath, and roared right in the lioness' face. Granted, she could have potentially closed her jaws on the other lioness' face, but she wasn't here to maul or kill. This was supposed to be a sort of spar, to prove herself worth of being in the pride. The question was, what would the other lioness do at the failed chance to brutally attack?
'Kero was no killer. Would that be held against her? Or would she regret the chance she hadn't taken?
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Posted: Fri May 04, 2012 12:08 pm
Kalama watched the mouth open and close before her, pulling back only slightly. Roars were quite stupid in such close combat, too slow, not even intimidating at this point. Kalama could have clamped down on the female's muzzle, for one. An awkward place to bite, but if she tilted her head the right way, it would be even worse for Tch'kero to defend, the angle too wide for her to get a strong bite in. The proximity would limit the other lioness' visibility with her mouth open like that, and Kalama could have ducked, and gone for the throat.
But she didn't. The fight was over. She sat back, as if they hadn't just gotten in a fight. Everything about her body said 'not impressed.'
"You don't fight well." She pointed out. Not that Kalama's opinion should matter much, but she would give it freely. "You waste time." Too much planning wasn't too good in fights, they were too chaotic to plan. At least this rogue was quick. She had failed any attack attempts, but also had managed to avoid most hits. "You won't win any real fights if all you do is dodge. Start training today. No more time wasting. The grounds are that way." She indicated with her nose, in towards the desert. This was all she would do to indicate this rogue had 'passed'.
She better improve, though. Kalama had her doubts she'd made a good choice here, in letting the female join the pride. But they were at war, and so long as this female learned to get a few hits in, her speed would be useful. Without another word, she turned and walked away, towards the outlands. There was more prey at the outskirts of the desert, and she could use a bite to eat.
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