[DUEL] Three-way Brawl (Khanyo, Neze, and Helle)

[Jovi of Shadows]

((Luck roll))

He had met one of the most amazing lionesses the other day, and he couldn't help but invite her to spar against him and his brother this morning. Neze had been a little apprehensive at the idea, as it disrupted their normal morning routine, but Khanyo was pleased that she had jumped at the chance to join them. He and Neze had made it to the sparing grounds first, as they were used to getting up early for their morning spar just around sunrise. Today would be a little different, today there would be another participant in their training exercise, and Khanyo was very keen on seeing how this would affect how he and his brother fought.

It wasn't long before Helle made an appearance at the sparing grounds, and Khanyo grinned at the sight of the massive lioness. She was perhaps the largest female he had ever seen, and she knew her way around a good spar! "Good morning!" Khanyo called. He was eager to get started, and quite pleased that she had accepted his invitation to join them.  

[Jovi of Shadows]

((Luck roll))

Neze was a little skeptical of Khanyo asking someone else to join them for their morning routine, but his brother was rather keen on the idea and Neze didn't mind shaking things up once in a while. The one thing that concerned him, was that it was a lioness that Khanyo had apparently met the day before and would not shut up about. He hoped she had the skill to keep up with them, because Neze wasn't willing to hold back just because she was a female. His claws slid out to scratch at the dirt underneath him in an impatient gesture. They had apparently beaten her here as well.

When Khanyo called out a 'good morning', Neze curiously followed his brothers gaze to what had to be the largest lioness he had seen in a very long time. She almost reminded him of the firekin lionesses that use to spar at the Outpost of their old home in the Bonelands. Only, her pelt was more of a ruddy brown, then a red. Hmm, maybe this would be interesting. The darker male inclined his head in greeting but did not offer any words.  

[Jovi of Shadows]

((Luck roll))

Helle wasn't typically a morning person, but she would have been hard pressed to refuse Khanyo's offer. To spar against two opponents, now that intrigued her! She had asked Jord to wake her around sunrise, as she knew she would have probably slept through it, and her friend was typically an early riser most days. Still, she would be lying if she said she wasn't still a little bit sleepy. Her guard duties were mostly in the afternoon and evening hours, so Helle tended to sleep in fairly late. The large lioness gave herself a shake to get rid of any last-minute stiffness to her muscles and approached the two dark maned males waiting for her. She recognized Khanyo immediately with his golden pelt, but the other one she had never seen before. That must have been his brother.

"It's a good day to die," she grinned at them, falling back to the old Stormborn saying that was so familiar to her. She saw their puzzled looks and she gave a little laugh. Sometimes she forgot she wasn't back home with a bunch of reavers. "It's a Stormborn thing," she assured them, but that seemed to do little to help their puzzled stares. So instead, she simply shrugged at them. "Good morning."  

[Jovi of Shadows]

((Round 1))

Huh, he'd have to remember that one. With the greetings out of the way Khanyo gave an eager rumble in the back of his throat as he adopted a more battle-ready stance. It was clear that he was ready to start the morning's events, and the others best be ready as well. We waited a few moments for Neze to step away from him and adopt a similar stance, and for Helle to square up her shoulders in the general direction of himself, though he could see her particular stance would allow her to react to Neze who was at her side. Smart.

Khanyo was used to battling with his brother, and though he had been squared up to charge at Helle, he could not seem to break from tradition. The short, golden male wound up pivoting on his charge to knock into Neze and shove his shoulder into the other male's chest where they clashed briefly with swatting paws and snapping jaws.  

[Jovi of Shadows]

((Round 1))

Neze knew his brother a little too well and knew Khanyo could not resist coming after him first. It was their morning routine after all. They had been sparring together since they were young cubs in the Bonelands, and it would be difficult to break from tradition after all. With that being said, Neze was able to intercept Khanyo's charge, but he was fiercely aware of their other opponent, and that perhaps had him stumbling over his paws a little bit.

He rose on his paws to bite at the back of Khanyo's mane and hopefully drive the other male back a bit, but that move seemed to cost him as he misjudged Khanyo's ability to simply push back against him. Neze was left struggling to stay on his paws as Khanyo shoved into him and attempted to drive him to the ground.  

[Jovi of Shadows]

((Round 1))

Helle had been prepared to meet Khanyo head on with a charge of her own, but he surprised her by pivoting towards the other male instead. While the two lions clashed briefly together, Helle took her time to circle forward and study their movements and how they fought. She could tell that Neze still had an eye and an ear trained in her direction, and though he was currently dealing with Khanyo, she didn't doubt he was more aware of her presence. In fact, that may be why Khanyo had him at such a disadvantage right now. She'd fix that.

Without further hesitation, the large ruddy colored lioness charged towards Khanyo's unguarded flank and slammed her body into his hip. She took care to give her momentum a more upwards approach than she had before, as she remembered how sturdy the golden lion had been before. He likely wouldn't have buckled under her weight alone, but she was hoping to throw him off balance by lifting his hind paws off the ground.  

[Jovi of Shadows]

((Round 2))

He probably should have been paying more attention to Helle and what she was doing, but his mind had been trained to go against his brother during the early morning hours of the day. It had been their routine for years, ever since they were cubs, and he didn't realize how hard that instinct was to break. As soon as Helle slammed into him he lost control of his grapple with Neze and was sent stumbling away from his two opponents for a few paces before recovering his stability.

By then Helle was already upon him, ready to finish her charge with a grab to his throat! Khanyo widened his stance and caught her mid-charge with a hard smack from the butt of his head to her jaw. Which thankfully threw her off her charge and gave him time to recover his paws.  

[Jovi of Shadows]

((Round 2))

Neze was grateful for the brief reprise from Khanyo's onslaught, as it allowed him to regain his footing and form a better strategy. He had to admit, anyone that could knock Khanyo off his sturdy stance was a worthy opponent, and Neze wanted to test her mettle. With a rumbling roar of exhilaration, he charged towards the large lioness just as Khanyo struck her in the jaw. Neze was also on the smaller side for a male, and though he wasn't as thickly built as his brother, Neze still sported finely tuned muscle. Typically, he was more mobile than Khanyo, and that's where their fighting style differed. Where Khanyo stood his ground and fought to grapple his opponent to the ground, Neze moved around to attack vulnerable areas with heavy blows.

And right now, Helle was vulnerable. He saw her break concentration on her attack to shake off the hard smack that had rattled her jaw, and he took that momentary distraction to charge her and shove into the lioness' torso. Had this been a fight, she likely would have been met with claw and fang instead; but, for the sake of the spar Neze was simply trying to bowl her over instead.  

[Jovi of Shadows]

((Round 2))

The blow to her jaw rattled her brain and stopped her dead in her tracks as she attempted to shake white hot jolt from her. She hadn't expected Khanyo to headbutt her, but then again it had been a pretty good move. Before she could completely recover from the shock of such a blow, Neze was upon her! He was certainly smaller than her, and though she had plenty of muscle herself, she just wasn't able to keep her paws under her with such a blow.

Helle hit the ground hard, but there was no time to waste lying around. Both males would be upon in a matter of seconds if she didn't do something! With a growl Helle rolled back to her belly and swiped out with claws only partially extended to keep them at bay, but her strikes did not find flesh.  

[Jovi of Shadows]

((Round 3))

With Neze's attention on Helle, Khanyo was able to recover fully and stalk to his brother's other side. Neze was attempting to get closer to Helle, while avoiding the strike from her claws, so Khanyo figured he'd help him. Sort of. Khanyo lunged forward to tackle his brother, and wound up sending both of them toppling over Helle on the ground. The three of them scrambled and kicked at each other to untangle themselves, while avoiding snapping jaws that attempted to grab hold of each other's throats.

Khanyo managed to untangle himself first, but not before striking out with a back paw to catch Neze in the nose, and swatting Helle in the shoulder to push her back down as he regained his paws and stalked away for several paces.  

[Jovi of Shadows]

((Round 3))

Neze shouldn't have taken his attention completely off Khanyo, and he knew that now. The tackle had sent all three of them scrambling on the ground together and Neze wound up getting a face full of swiping paws and fangs that nearly missed grabbing purchase into his throat. The three of them struggled for a moment, but when it seemed like Khanyo was going to be the first to pull away from them Neze went to snap at him. Instead of feeling his fangs hit flesh, a hard blow to his nose caused him snarl and roll away.

Khanyo had unfortunately gotten out of the mess he'd caused, so Neze wasn't able to retaliate further against him; however, he still had deal with Helle who was still too close for comfort and was already making a move to come after him. Quickly Neze pushed himself partially into a crouch to pounce her and keep her from getting to him first.  

[Jovi of Shadows]

((Round 3))

They had both piled on top her and Helle had snarled at the both of them. They may have been small for males, but both were heavy with muscle, and she didn't appreciate being squished underneath them. At that point her fangs had sought their flesh and her claws poked and swiped at them to get them moving and away from her. This was a bad position to be in for both a spar and a fight, and she wasn't keen on losing so ridiculously. Luckily, they seemed to get the point and both of them were scrambling to get up from atop her, though that didn't stop her from kicking out and snapping at them as they did so. She could show no weakness in this position or give them any openings to pin her.

Khanyo shoved her back down as he made his escape from the tangled mess, and Neze pounced on her to keep her from coming after him. Which she would have if her paws had gotten under her any faster. His blow knocked her back down, but at that point she was able to get her paws somewhat in a position so she could push back against him. As he attempted to pin her, she pushed hard against the ground and wound-up shoving Neze away from her as she stood. His paws had not been very sturdy underneath him; it would seem.  

[Jovi of Shadows]

((Total: 19 - Win))

Khanyo watched the two struggle to rise, and he laughed at the chaos he had caused. That had certainly been an experience. "I think we'll call it there," he told them as a grin spread over his maw. He had been first to untangle himself, so as it stood, he was victorious. Neze and Helle both shot him an annoyed look, but Khanyo simply shrugged at them. "We can do this again? I promise you can kick each other's butts some other time," he told them as he shook out his dark mane. At the very least he had enjoyed himself. It seemed shaking things up every once in a while, just may be what he needs.

His fiery eyes turned to Helle and he was glad to see her annoyed look had been replaced with one of intrigue. He was certainly glad to have met the feisty lioness, and he looked forward to sparring with her more often.  

[Jovi of Shadows]

((Total: 17 - Lose))

Neze was a little annoyed that Khanyo had called it so quickly, but at this point there was a clear winner, and it wasn't him. Neze sighed as he relaxed and accepted this. He had struggled with two opponents and was too focused on keep an eye on both of them instead of focusing on his fighting technique. In the end, it had cost him. "Well fought," he told the both of them as he stretched out his limbs and rolled his shoulders. He'd be feeling some of these blows all day, but honestly it could have been worse.

Neze then turned to Helle with a quizzical look. "We usually go out to hunt something after our morning spar. You may join us if you'd like?" She held her own against them, so Neze was inclined to accept her. It had been different having a third participant in their morning routine, and Neze wasn't sure if he could get use to that, but at least it had been eventful.