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 Posted: Mon Apr 25, 2011 12:39 pm
The territory Ralastor had claimed was still small; he knew better than to take more than he could defend. Still, he couldn't do all the border patrols on his own, and in the last few days he had finally given his children permission to do the task themselves. As Tasso followed the invisible line, stopping to refresh markings as she went, she mentally compared herself to the pack's omega - the only other "adult" in the pack aside from her father - and scoffed. Even at two-thirds his size, she knew she was stronger than Dumaka. The relentless training of her father had seen to that.
The adolescent kept her ears perked, nose testing the air, as she walked the now-familiar route along the edges of Warugaruga territory. Despite this, she did not know her father was nearby, keeping a close watch. For a large wolf, he had spent his entire life moving silently, watching silently, to the point that it was his natural inclination to stalk even those that were his allies. Tasso, unaware, diligently paused to reapply her family's scent to a bush.
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Posted: Mon Apr 25, 2011 11:30 pm
 Arcadius was a wolf who most often spent his days alone, dreading the company of minds and strength he thought lesser than his own. It applied to most wolves he had met, and the few exceptions he had grown to know had, unfortunately, parted ways, and it wasn't his style to go chasing the company of a wolf for his presence alone. As a result, he was most often seen as a recluse, for he not only refused to seek society, but he chased it away as well. Despite being a pack animal, he did not mind the isolation, simply because he did not feel the loneliness which often accompanied it. And it didn't hurt that most feared the associations made with those of his packless rank - disease, hunger, desolation - for it kept them at bay. Indeed, many factors worked in his favor, and today, he thought, would be no different than the numerous, solitary days he had spent before.
Or at least, that was what he had thought before he caught sight of a small wolf (its size most likely attributed to youth) from a distance. The direction of the wind, along with the meager boundaries of what he could only assume was a pack, had hidden the scent from him, and he wrinkled his nose with open disdain, both because he had not noticed the pack sooner and because the one marking the territory seemed unfit to do so. Packs were supposed to be the cooperative work of a body of wolves, united so that they would be able to accomplish goals impossible to do alone. They were to be proof of bonds, and signs of strength, yet many he had examined since the destruction of his birth-pack had only been laughable. And, seeing the adolescent wolf now, in a rank little better than that of an omega's, making an attempt to warn others away... it was infuriating, to know that the pack he had belonged to could have fallen so quickly, while others like the one he was close to now survived.
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Posted: Tue Apr 26, 2011 4:52 am
It took her a few moments, but at last Tasso's senses warned her she was being watched. Fur prickling, she searched for the creature whose scrutiny she was under, unaware that her father was behind part of the sensation. The wind, however, was in her favour, and as a fresh breeze cleared the sharp aroma of the marking she had just placed, she immediately caught the scent of the strange male. Her eyes locked on his.
Fear and eagerness rushed through the young female. Fear of death, of failure, of injury - eagerness for success, for a fight, for the chance to prove herself without any help from the pack, such as it was. As she had seen her father do, she held her head high. "Who goes there?" She demanded, perhaps more loudly than was necessary. "These lands belong to the Warugaruga." She puffed up her chest. Repelling an intruder by herself would surely earn her rank, recognition - love - from her father.
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Posted: Tue Apr 26, 2011 8:40 pm
Arcadius' ears pricked and pressed forward when the female spoke, but that was the only acknowledgment he gave, for he neither replied nor intended to. Instead, he stayed silent, and it could have seemed as if he were ignoring her if he had not kept his good eye locked onto hers, his lips frozen in its expression of disgust. Past that, however, he did nothing. He did not move towards her or away, for although he thought the pack already weak from the one challenging him now, their numbers and members were unknown to him and, as she had yet to howl for them, remained unwilling to risk it further, for he knew that, for a wolf, the difference of numbers, even those in the single digits, could have a great impact.
That didn't mean, however, that if it occurred, he would simply run with his tail between his legs.
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Posted: Wed Apr 27, 2011 8:10 pm
Mistaking the stranger's contempt for fear, Tasso felt encouraged. She could take this wolf. He was bigger than her, she supposed, but she felt a ferocity born of determination and a sudden, unexpected spike of self-confidence. She knew the proper thing to do was call for reinforcements. Unaware that the pack's alpha watched the interaction with dark interest, the young female decided impulsively that she would fight with this stranger - and win.
"You are intruding," she growled, demonstrating a certain gratuitous aggression. "Leave now, or face the consequences." The adolescent took a sharp step towards him.
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Posted: Sun May 08, 2011 7:30 pm
Arcadius couldn't say the adolescent's reaction was unexpected – he was, after all, near pack boundaries. The fact that she seemed to be trying to pick a fight with him alone, however, was. He narrowed his eyes at this, wondering if it was a bluff or a trick, but the very thought of it being either – that she would dare to attempt it on him – was enough to irritate him more. Even if she would call for help as soon as he approached, or she knew allies were nearby which was the reason for her behavior... regardless of which, he told himself, he'd be done with her before anyone could stop him.
Most wolves went through a series of steps if they chose to fight – acknowledgement, studying, circling: all these were done in anticipation of the battle, in which both parties were fully aware of what was to come. Arcadius, however, skipped the preliminaries and lunged straight for the adolescent's throat (he had never been particularly known for his chivalry, to be frank), for he had learned early on that straying from the norm and catching his opponent by surprise could give a considerable boost to his chances of success.
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Posted: Sun May 08, 2011 8:00 pm
If Tasso had had a normal childhood, one that hadn't involved her father "training" them, one that didn't see her constantly pitted against her sibling and forced to fight, and fight, and fight, up to and past the point of exhaustion, she would have been instantly defeated. This stranger was faster, bigger, stronger - quite likely smarter. As his teeth began to close down around her windpipe, her upbringing kicked in. She had been lunged at like this before, and while her brain struggled to catch up, her muscles acted. Tasso jumped back, feeling the sharp pain of skin tearing and fur being ripped out from the root. He had scored a painful bite on her neck but her reflexes and thick ruff kept the hit from damaging anything essential.
"You--!!" she snarled, but then stopped talking. She needed to focus, to think only of the fight. Counter-attack! Leaving herself no time to think (and hopefully no time for her opponent to think) she lashed out, biting at whatever was nearest.
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Posted: Mon May 09, 2011 12:00 am
The distance between Arcadius and the adolescent was shortening at an exceedingly quick rate, and before long, he snapped his teeth shut precisely in the location where the female's vulnerable throat had been only moments before. Only the very tip of his fangs had managed to clutch onto the object he had aimed for, but before he could register surprise at the speed such a young wolf had shown, he was already leaping back in an instinctive attempt to dodge what he felt was now coming towards him.
His ears pricked, and the one word the female had spoken was enough for him to more accurately and quickly assess the location of her head. Every fraction of a second was vital to him, and with this new-found information, he wasted no time in plunging towards her again.
He was cautious, yes, but not as cautious as most. On the contrary, he could be quite the risk-taker. When he saw glimmering fangs heading his way, he did not back away but, instead, attempted to propel himself forward quicker, trying to both swerve a bit to the side to dodge and get a grip on the female at the same time. He was assured in the knowledge that wolf fangs were made to crush, not slice, and made an effort to avoid them as minimally as possible, so long as nothing was able to slide between her fangs (because, even if he was off a mark, a graze wouldn't affect him too much). Claws were another matter entirely, but any that ventured to come close were equally subject to the attention of his fangs, and, when he wasn't worrying about that, always, always, he aimed for the very maw that attacked him, for a good constraint could subdue her entirely and, if not, it was always close to her eyes, her ears, and her throat, all of which were prime targets.
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Posted: Mon May 09, 2011 6:26 pm
A rough, wordless snarl erupted from the adolescent as their weapons clashed. Fang to fang, Tasso was vaguely aware that her gums and the end of her snout would not go unscathed. Despite the pain, she grew more determined to win the fight somehow. Ducking down, she tried to bob back and then back up again, hoping to bite down on face or neck.
Watching quietly from the background, Ralastor's hopes for his young daughter fell, bit by bit. She had made all the mistakes he had in his youth - arrogance, aggression, underestimating the opponent. Soon she would succumb to surrender, to save herself, as he had. She'd had training - a proper upbringing - and still she failed to perform at the level he demanded of his pack. Undoubtedly her genetics were to blame - her mother's weakness was her weakness, and she would suffer the consequences. Her father continued to observe, showing no inclination to intervene.
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Posted: Mon May 09, 2011 10:40 pm
Arcadius discovered soon enough that the very vulnerable spots he was aiming for were, at time same time, being aimed at. This female was not like most adolescents he had met, who often tried to bite as much as they could, wherever they could. Their imagined idea, that the number of attacks that hit were directly proportionate to their ability to defeat him, were quickly dispelled with a single, well-placed snap from his end. And certainly, they were not as aggressive as her, for it was rare among wolves to want to kill their own kind, and the murders that did happen were often accidents committed in the passion of mating season.
Still, he did not dwell on why or how the female was so different from the rest, only that she was. He changed tactic and forcefully plowed his way towards her, regardless of the wounds he would have to deal with as a result. They would not be so great, after all, he thought, and even the cloth about his eye and the various decorations upon his pelt (former symbols of his status) were tied in such a way that they wouldn't hinder him; they would simply snap, and their presence alone played no factor in his skills as a fighter.
When he had gone so close they crashed into one another, he made an effort to grab onto the female's neck while, at the same time, keeping his female momentum in an attempt to knock her off her paws.
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Posted: Tue May 10, 2011 5:27 am
Jaws closed around her neck, pushing her backwards, and then up, and then, Tasso realized with a sudden stab of panic, over and down. Time seemed to freeze in that horrible moment where none of her paws had contact with the ground. Then she made contact again, shoulder first, and felt the jarring slam of her body hitting dirt. She flailed briefly with her teeth, but then changed tack and started kicking wildly with her hind legs and pushing at him with her fore. She knew she had to get out from under him, or she was in serious trouble.
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Posted: Tue May 10, 2011 5:30 pm
Arcadius was glad that this, at least, managed to stop her, if only for a little while. He shook his head vigorously, and although he had failed to clamp down on an area that would kill her from the action alone, he hoped to pause and stun her from her desperate flailing, which even he would not be invulnerable to. Already he could feel a few gashes dripping from his stomach, and he growled and shook his head all the harder for it, trying to maneuver around the female without releasing her while continuously increasing the pressure of his fangs. Crushing, he could do, and easily at that.
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Posted: Mon May 16, 2011 3:21 pm
Tasso gasped for breath as the pressure on her throat made it increasingly difficult to breathe. Baring her teeth in a now-silent struggle, she continued to kick but found no enemy there to strike.
At last, Ralastor emerged from hiding.
“I suggest you release her. My pack does not approve of those that murder our own – even when they foolishly bring it upon themselves.” He surveyed the damage done to his daughter with a cold aloofness, contemplating. She implored him for help with her eyes, and yet he seemed unmoved. “She failed to see you as a serious threat, even when you had given multiple indications you were no hapless wanderer, and that was a blunder I won’t forgive. I’m sure she will remember the consequences of her over-confidence, though, with or without my disapproval.”
The female made a noise of pain, rich with all the feelings of fear and shame and regret and inadequacy and hurt that she had never put into words. Ralastor glared at her, annoyed by the weakness of the exclamation and making no move to force the outsider off of her.
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Posted: Wed Jun 29, 2011 11:30 pm
Arcadius had soon broken through the skin, and the flow of blood coated his fangs and tongue. Had it been another creature, the taste would have pleased him, for despite the weapons and prowess nature had gifted the wolf, it was still a rare occurrence for one to make a successful kill. Still, despite his dark ways, he was no cannibal, and the knowledge that what he held was one of his species was enough to repulse him. Or at least, it had used to. He had drunk a wolf’s blood far too often for it to bother him now, but it didn’t change the fact that it was still a discomfort. He would have ended the adolescent’s life quickly after the initial tearing, if only to relieve himself of the burden, when a movement caught his eye.
He turned immediately in response, putting the adolescent’s body between himself and the stranger, already assuming it was a pack member coming to the female’s aid. If so, he was less likely to be attacked in his position, and although his action may have seemed cowardly to another, it was simply a measure taken to better ensure his life, for that was the one thing he could never replace and prized above all.
When an attack did not come, he assessed the newcomer more carefully, judging from the male’s appearance and scent that he was of high rank. His words only assured this. Still, Arcadius was not part of his pack. He was not under any obligation to obey the male, for an alpha in one pack could be weaker than the gamma of another. But the wolf had revealed from his words that he had been here since the very beginning, and had kept himself hidden purposely the whole time. If he showed himself now, he was either bluffing or had seen enough to know that he could win.
But Arcadius could not test it now. Not yet. The adolescent he held was but one young member – nothing compared to a pack. He was still at a disadvantage, and he knew this. He held onto the female a while longer, but, slowly, he began to let her go.
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Posted: Thu Jun 30, 2011 7:08 am
Tasso coughed and spluttered as soon as her airflow was unblocked, and started to move instinctively in a bid to get away and get back up on her feet. Making eye contact with her father, she froze. Ralastor glared in rebuke, issuing tacit orders for her to stay where she was and not mess things up more than she already had.
Seeing his daughter obey, Ralastor turned his attention back on the outsider. “Not many wolves can resist the temptation to banter and bluff a little before a fight. As you clearly demonstrated, that ability can be quite an advantage. Do you really have that amount of self-control and confidence, or are you a mute?” The alpha held himself high, his tail clearly expressing who he believed to be in charge of the situation. His tone of voice was calm, interested. Apparently once the outsider had showed intent to release the girl, Ralastor felt confident that there was little to be upset or forceful about.
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