[duel] eitri v azar

[Puhterodactyl]

Eitri had followed her friend and fellow reaver, Creve'coeur off and away from their first raid as reavers in the Myrsky Stynyt. He had said something about striking out and finding a new pride where he would not be related to a hugely significant part of the pride. A day later she had made the same decision but not so much for the same reason. She had a large family but was not in Creve's position given that Aesir had so many offspring in the pride who had their children and their own cubs and so on and so on, mostly marked by the distinct forehead marking.

Eitri had stayed about a day behind Creve during her travels. They were friendly but not especially close. Maybe they would be once spending more time together in the new pride, but it wasn't a pressing issue for the female at the moment. Her primary concern was to win a duel for entry. Ideally on her first try, but time would tell. She roared out a challenge at the sparring pits and waited for an answer.  

[Puhterodactyl]

Azar, though a huntress and not a guard or soldier, went to the sparring pits for some training. It was still important to be as physically fit as possible when the opportunity to take down a large prey beast arose. It did not take long after she walked into the sandy arena that she heard the roar from a foreigner. She roared back in response and invitation and the other black lioness padded down from the cliffs to meet her.

"You're here to duel for entry, is that correct?" Azar inquired. The other lioness nodded her head and the lionesses began to circle one another.

"As the guest, I will allow you the first move. Good luck." She nodded and began to steel herself for the first strike.  

[Puhterodactyl]

Eitri sized up her opponent as quickly as she could. The other lioness had the advantage of size but maybe Eitri could make that her weakness, too. The now former Stormborn lioness was smaller and she hoped that meant she could be quicker as well. She decided to try a hit before really giving it her all and darted in and swiped at the lioness’ face. She only managed to land a glancing hit but the Firekin female had not been able to fully dodge the hit so that instilled a slight little bit of some hope in the darker black lioness. As she had sailed past Azar, she quickly pivoted to face her once more and see what her first move would be. Soon she should have this lioness figured out and know if she would win or lose.  

[Puhterodactyl]

Perhaps Azar had not quite anticipated the speed of her foe or maybe she had not been as on guard as she had tried to be. That was a good lesson if nothing else, she assumed. She shook her head to try to get the ringing out of her ears and she coiled all her muscles to prepare to lunge. Like a tense spring, she unleashed her energy at Eitri with her paws and claws outstretched. But perhaps she had taken too long to gather her momentum because Eitri stepped to the side out of her way with ease.

Azar scowled but it was more at herself than the other lioness. She turned to face the challenger and watched her closely.  

[Puhterodactyl]

Eitri allowed herself a small smirk when she managed to avoid the larger lioness’ hit but she quickly wiped it off of her face. She could not afford to get too cocky, not now. The fight had only just begun and hubris could certainly lose it for her. She furrowed her brows and made a quick move to get on Azar’s side instead of face on where she was easier to predict. She got low and threw her shoulder up and into the large lioness’ side, hoping to throw her off her feet. 

Her hit landed and the Firekin huntress staggered backwards and grunted. Eitri hopped back and waited anxiously for the next attack. Could she dodge that one, too?  

[Puhterodactyl]

Azar turned to face Eitri and felt a sharp twinge in her side. She did not think that any ribs were broken or anything else that severe but it certainly impeded her ability to fight. That much she was certain of. She narrowed her eyes as the wind cast the sand across their sparring ground. There was a thick and tense silence hanging in the air between the black lionesses and they would quickly begin to overheat with their dark coats. Again they began to circle one another.

Azar ran forward to attack again, but the hitch in her side hindered her. She tried to strike out again, but the weakness inhibited her and she missed by a wide margin again as the lithe lioness dodged out of her reach.  

[Puhterodactyl]

Even with all of her success so far, Eitri, too was beginning to tire. She had dodged yet another one of the black firekin lioness' attacks successfully but was hoping to put an end to the total ordeal sooner rather than later, for the black ex-Stormborn lioness knew that her luck could expire at any moment. It would only take one small misstep, one poorly timed reaction and a blow could land on her head and knock her out cold. The point of this spar was not to permanently damage one another, but safety was not guaranteed, even between the most honorable combatants.

The lithe black lioness reared up on her back legs and pulled her foreleg back to land a heavy blow. She caught the other lioness near her neck and on her shoulder with a deep thump that she could hear echo through her opponent's body. Would that be enough to end it?  

[Puhterodactyl]

Azar at least had size and bulk in her favor against the inky-coated black ex-Stormborn lioness. Had the blow that she just suffered been a few inches higher it may have snapped a smaller lion's neck. She bit her tongue and spit out blood, not relishing in the taste of her own iron-flavored life. She worked her jaw and scowled and cast another spray of red into the thirsty sand. Her shoulder was hurting her worse, now, and she tried to rally for another strike. Her paws outstretched, she lunged toward Eitri, but the ever-changing sand shifted beneath her foot and she barely brushed the challenger.

The other lioness leapt away from her spritely out of reach to begin to pace and circle Azar and plan to land another blow.  

[Puhterodactyl]

Eitri ducked in close to Azar after having leapt back from dodging the blow and the onyx-black lioness tried to sweep the feet out from under the firekin lioness. She did not have great enough reach to take out all four of them, but she got two of the paws out from under her and the David-esc Stormborn lioness managed to fell the Goliath of the Firekin huntress.

She watched with alert green eyes and the Firekin grunted and struggled on her side to regain her feet.  

[Puhterodactyl]

From her side, Azar was just in reach enough to strike out at the other lioness, her claws extended a bit, she thrashed wildly and grazed her opponent's flank. She watched Eitri cringe and recoil, leaping back away and giving her the opportunity to right herself and get back on her feet. The firekin took a few measured, slow, burdened steps backward to watch the ex-stormborn from under a furrowed brow. It had not been a significant hit, but it was better than her last few attempts. She could quickly see how this would end, but she still owed it to herself and to the challenger to give it her best.  

[Puhterodactyl]

Eitri eyed her side, open and spilling ruby red blood into the sand. Azar's blood had already turned a dark brown under the baking sun. She roared furiously, not out of anger, but to draw strength from somewhere primal deep within her. She reached out to repay this blood-debt and crashed into Azar. It was not a graceful or well-aimed hit. It probably was a little desperate and didn't do much, but at least she did something. When they separated, she limped back, surprised by how quickly and how badly her side was hurting her.  

[Puhterodactyl]

Azar, with not much left in her either, tried half-heartedly one more time to make something happen, but all of her resources were drained, she was tapped out. Her blow didn't land. Her breathing was heavy and the pain in her side and shoulder was sharp and aching at the same time. She staggered a little bit and sat down.

"It looks as though you have bested me, challenger. Congratulations." She smiled but it was quickly replaced with a wince when drawing a breath in caused an especially sharp pain in her side.  

[Puhterodactyl]

Eitri was flooded with relief and took the opportunity to sit down as well. She grinned cheekily and laughed, but her joy was also cut short from her battle wounds. She followed, when Azar tilted her head and indicated that Eitri should join her in finding a medic to tend to them, as well as scrounging up some kind of victory meal to reward Eitri for her success and welcome her to the pride.

the end