[DUEL] Are We Fighting or Flirting?

[SilverLutz]

It was a surprisingly cool morning on the dueling grounds as two figures slowly strolled across the flat sand. Laughter and teasing could be heard, though words were hard to make out if you were far away. Up close, though, it was easy to hear the conversation.

"Oh come on!" Malie said with an incredulous laugh, bumping into Menkar in a good natured way. "Hunters are definitely not as good as fighting as Soldiers are. We train every single day to battle! You guys hunt. There's so many different things that go on in our day to day that there's no way you're a better duelist than me."

"I didn't take two times to get into the pride, did I?" Menkar returned with a little smirk. "I've also held my own against a born-in Firekin who is determined to become a Battlemaster. Maybe Hunters as a whole are less skilled in battle but I could totally take any Soldier."

"Oh yeah? Wanna put that to the test?" Malie stopped and motioned to the space of the dueling grounds. To her they were familiar, she knew every inch of the sand here. Menkar smirked at her as he turned to face her, arching a brow in amusement.

"Sure. Ladies first."  

[SilverLutz]

"You'll regret that," Malie said with a smirk of her own, not giving Menkar much time to react as she lunged forward. The move caught the male off guard much to Malie's delight and her strike to his shoulder landed heavily. She twisted away after the hit, trying to avoid any sort of counter attack.

Total: 3  

[SilverLutz]

"Whoa!"

Menkar didn't even have time to flinch as Malie made her move, his shoulder stinging from the strike. He turned to try to land a hit of his own even as the female twisted away. She was too fast though and his paw hit nothing but air.

"You've got speed, I'll give you that," he said as he turned to face her, realizing she was going to take this pretty seriously. He'd have to step up his game a bit if he wanted to impress her.

Total: 1  

[SilverLutz]

"Speed and strength," Malie corrected as Menkar turned to face her, a smug look on her face. "Hunters have to be patient and quiet. My targets know I'm coming so I can't rely on stealth to win."

To prove her point she let out a fierce roar and pounced at Menkar, both paws shoving her whole body weight into his chest. She didn't bother moving away, letting the full force of the pounce hopefully throw Menkar off balance.

Total: 6  

[SilverLutz]

Menkar had to admit, Malie was a much more skilled fighter than he thought any Bahari could be. He didn't have time to respond to her quip before she was flying at him, her paws shoving into his chest and throwing them both back. She really wasn't pulling her punches!

They both went to the sand but Menkar was quick to get back on his paws - at least he had plenty of experience picking himself up after falling off a large prey animal - and put some distance between him and Malie.

"Can't stay close to you," he said with a little chuckle, trying to figure out how to land a hit on the lioness.

Total: 3  

[SilverLutz]

"Aw, why not?" Malie asked as she got to her feet again, grinning sweetly at Menkar. "I thought we were having a good time this morning. You're kind of nice to be close to."

She hoped her comment would disarm Menkar a bit as she charged forward again, though she did worry she didn't have quite enough proximity to land her hit. Indeed, he apparently read her move because her attack hit nothing but the air where Menkar had been.

Total: 7  

[SilverLutz]

Roll for Malie.  

[SilverLutz]

The extra space was what he needed, allowing Menkar to read Malie's next move. He watched as her muscles bunched just a split second before she moved, but that was all he needed. He dodged her attack neatly and twisted to try to land of hit of his own now that he had the upper hand.

Well. Maybe not. He didn't hit her! How was this even possible?

"If you like being close then don't move away so quickly," he teased, not at all bothered that he might lose this bet. He was sure a smug Malie wouldn't be awful to be around.

Total: 5  

[SilverLutz]

"Not while we're dueling, Menkar," Malie teased as she dodged his attack and turned quickly to try to go for Menkar's backside. She kept her claws withdrawn but she let his butt have a hearty smack, drawing a little yelp from the male as she laughed. Was this even a duel anymore?

"You're not even trying!" she accused, holding her ground this time to see if Menkar would actually attempt to hit her. She could take it!

Total: 10  

[SilverLutz]

The smack to his backside made Menkar yelp in surprise and whip around quickly, the look on Malie's face totally worth the sting.

"I am trying, I promise," he said with a laugh. Was he really doing that poorly that she thought he wasn't giving it his all? Maybe she did have a point about Hunters and Soldiers...or maybe she was just really intense about her training. Maybe both.

Either way, he couldn't let her think she won because he was letting her. She really was kicking his butt...literally! So he pounced instead of circling like he normally might, throwing his whole weight at the lioness, sending them both to the sand once more.

Total: 8  

[SilverLutz]

"Prove it- oof!"

Before Malie even had time to finish her taunt Menkar was sailing towards her, colliding with her chest and knocking her to the ground. She was pinned under Menkar and, as much as she knew her battle skills were better than his, there wasn't much she could do about him weighing far more than her.

"You're squishing me, you big oaf!" she said with a laugh. She was on her back with the lion atop her, so she used her pinned hind legs to kick him in the belly to toss him off just a bit. It worked enough that she wiggled out and get back on her paws, panting softly from exertion.

Total: 13  

[SilverLutz]

Menkar was ready to keep Malie pinned under him to try to squeeze a 'win' out of her, but two paws solidly in his gut knocked the wind out of him and made him roll away instinctively. As he moved he tried one more swipe as she retreated, only catching her tail with his movement.

"All right, all right," he wheezed. Malie looked ready to continue but he was done. "You win."

Total: 8  

[SilverLutz]

As soon as Menkar conceded the win, Malie moved over to him to check to make sure was all right. There was a very satisfied grin on her face though, even as she prodded at the places she'd landed her hits.

"Aw, that's nice to hear you say," she cooed teasingly as she gave his mane a little pat, getting the sand out of it. "So, Soldiers are better than Hunters at dueling, right?"

"I don't know," Menkar said as he got to his feet a little shakily, still trying to get his wind back. "But you're definitely a better duelist than me." He offered her a small smile of his own, pleased even though he'd lost. Seeing her so happy was worth it.

"Guess I'll have to duel some more Hunters to get better data," Malie returned with a little laugh. "Or duel you more."

"Nah, I think once was good," Menkar returned. "At least not unless you promise to not hit so hard. I'm gonna have bruises!"

"Oh, you big cub!"

The teasing continued as the duo left the dueling grounds, once again walking close together, perhaps a bit closer than when they'd arrived.

WC: 1276