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This was the deepest part of the forest Rebel had ever visited. Tucked away in the furthest reach of the trees, a wolf could go no further without venturing across the Spirit River. As the mountains to the North were his homeland, Rebel had not encountered much marshland.. at all, in his life. He disliked the way it felt soft and squishy under his pawpads, much preferring the firm certainty of stone or hard dirt. This Earth was squelchy and made him feel as if his paws would sink right into it if he stopped moving for long enough. He knew already that it would be a challenge to move quickly or dodge attacks on this ground.

The adolescent had not completely healed from his previous bout with Issun; his face was still lined with the cuts the adult's paw had left when he hit him. At least he had cleaned the blood away, and regained the use of both eyes, but the last vestiges of pain had yet to dissipate. He would try to put that to the back of his mind, though. Up ahead, he could see that his opponent had arrived early. Rouqie was not one that he had envisioned himself fighting, though he knew very well that she would be participating in this tournament. The younger wolf had hoped to make her acquaintance without them ripping each other to shreds... but it seemed that Olek had other ideas.

Rebel approached Rouqie with his head held high, feeling less than dignified as his paws made awkward wet noises in the mud. "So... we meet again," he offered.

At once, the wolf's yellow eyes narrowed and his fur began prickling to make his coat look even bushier than usual. Roquie had really not said much more than his initial thoughts of this fight, but she had added one heckling phrase "you're still an adolescent". So she thought she would easily beat him, according to her advantage of age and experience. Which really meant that she didn't want to fight him, because he was beneath her. She would not respect him as an equal, thinking of him as younger and not worthy of the challenge. A gruff growling had started deep in Rebel's throat. If he was allowed to walk away from this fight, or if he was given any advantage whatsoever, no other wolf would ever give him their respect, and he could never respect himself either.

Giving the older female a calculating look, Rebel squared his legs on the unstable ground beneath him. He would fight, not because it was expected in this tournament, or out of any desire to hurt her, but because he needed to not be "still an adolescent". He would not allow himself to be pitied, or given the advantage, or helped along in any way. It undermined his ability to fend for himself, to be his own wolf. "We're standing on the same ground," he began, raising his voice over the rushing water behind her. "I don't think much of honor or prestige, but by the end of this fight, others will stop calling me a pup." He would make sure of that.

Giving a slight shake to each of his paws to throw off the excess mud, Rebel gave one firm nod to Roquie as he steeled himself to make the first move. He truly did not wish to engage in this fight, but he would because he knew that this alpha contest was more than the sum of its parts. This was a fight for status within the pack, no matter who ended up being the wolf on top, and others would remember this day. He believed that as long as they both fought bravely, they would both come out alright, no matter the outcome.

"There will be no animosity between us," he stated, against his better judgment (or what he thought was better judgment), but because he had to make sure that she knew they were on the same page. But this was the only way to test their mettle, and so the fight would commence. Rebel started forward, running on the wet ground towards Rouqie, and aimed his open jaws for her shoulder.

Rebel cursed the mud that kept sticking to him and slowing him down. His paws were a mess already, and he could feel the cold, sticky mud squelch between each individual toe. His attack had nearly connected, but he released a frustrated snarl as he could not maneuver through the muck quick enough. Rouqie's counter-attack nudged Rebel backward as her paws transferred a considerable amount of dirt to his coat, and he irritably snapped at them.

((HP: 16))

At first, he turned his head to protect his eyes from the stones she was flinging at him along with the muck she kicked up. The last thing he wanted was to risk another eye injury. Rebel growled and bared his teeth as he chased after the retreating female across the wet bank of the river, bits of mud flying out behind him as his hind paws kicked. "This isn't going to turn into a swimming match, is it?" he jabbed, only half humorous. He knew how to swim, as any pup learns for survival, but any river could become very treacherous very quickly. He didn't think anyone here deserved to be killed here today.

He was struck with her rock nearly square in the chest, causing a shooting pain to erupt in the area and a yelp to come from his mouth. It felt as if he had gone weak in the legs, as he started drooping because he couldn't quite catch his breath. He heard his heartbeat in his ears, pounding to a beat that was much too fast for him to follow. It took a few moments, but Rebel straightened up, snarling, and went for Rouqie again. He charged and tried to barrel into her.

((HP: 10))

Although his chest still ached and Rebel's breaths were coming in shorter pants than they should have, somehow he managed to connect for his first hit. His rush of adrenaline numbed the pain in his chest momentarily as he rolled with Rouqie on the flat stone that he had knocked her onto. The wolf was still snarling in the heat of battle when he felt an explosion of white-hot pain on his neck where the femme had lunged. Rebel howled out his distress and agony as blood began seeping into his thick pelt. As a reflex reaction, he twisted his body and shoved at Rouqie with his paws in an attempt to throw her off.

((HP: 5))

((ack! Sorry, I fell asleep!))

Rebel jumped to his feet at once, even as lightheaded-ness threatened to send him back to the ground. He spread his legs apart a bit more to stabilize himself as warm blood trickled down his neck at a slow pace. His eyes had gone wide from the moment Roquie slipped and called out to him in panic. His heart skipped a beat as he scampered over to her, leaving mud blots on the stone from his dirty paws. The adolescent would have no more traction than she, he knew, but he was not a cruel enough wolf to leave her there to fall into the river. There were no thoughts in his head of the possibility that Rouqie could be tricking him. Even if someone would be stupid enough to come so close to falling into the river to play a trick, he knew Rouqie was not like that. And he did not want her to risk life and limb for this. It was only a test, and not worth it.

Rebel lowered his body to the boulder's surface so that he could reach Rouqie's neck. "Don't worry," he muttered, before he could even think about what he was saying. Did he just attempt to comfort someone? He grabbed the scruff of her neck in his mouth, careful not to bite down too hard, and pulled. His paws began to slip too, but maybe with their combined efforts...? Rebel took steps backward, hoping to drag the adult with him, but he was going to need her help.

((You can decide if they both fall in, lol >> ))