[CHAL] Brother vs brother (Truls, Tall)

[Annchen]

Truls had done everything right. He'd been out on vikings more than he'd been home lately. He'd really worked hard, he'd messed people up, he'd brought in loot but he was still stuck doing grunt work. How long would it take for someone to realize he'd be a great captain? He deserved it.

When Breytast Vindar was announced he didn't have to think for very long before deciding who to challenge for Captaincy. Tallskog. Tall wasn't better than him, but he'd still managed to get out on his first viking way before him somehow. And as if that wasn't enough he'd proceeded to make Captain before Truls had even gone out once. ******** only good thing about that was when Tall took pity on him and brought him out with him. Good, but slightly humiliating to have his brother as captain... Truls had changed bands as quickly as he could after that. It wasn't that Tallskog was a horrible captain, but Truls could not deal well with taking orders from him.

"It's a good day to die, brother," he said, flexing his claws.

Princess_Feylin

 

[Princess_Feylin]

"Yes, yes it is," Tall agreed, smiling toothily at his brother.

He and Naaja had disagreed last night about how he ought to deal with his brother's challenge. Naaja had been of the opinion that he ought to put on a good show but let Truls win. Her reasoning had been that there was no reason Truls shouldn't be a captain, and it would look good for Tall's family to have another captain in it. Obviously Tall had disagreed. It was his feeling that if Truls wanted to be a captain, he should have to go through the same steps Tall had gone through, which would earn him more respect in the long run.

"Are you absolutely sure you want to do this?" he asked. "You know I'm going to beat the snot out of you, right?"

Naaja had eventually stopped arguing, conceding that it was ultimately up to Tall how he wanted to handle things, but confessing that she didn't understand why he wouldn't band together to support a family member seeking advancement. Tall wouldn't have been able to explain it to her if he tried, so he hadn't tried. He also hadn't changed his mind. If Truls decided he did, indeed, want to go through with this challenge, Tall would fight to the utmost of his ability.

Annchen

I'm sorry Tall is such a jerk.

 

[Annchen]

"That's the point," Truls said and rolled his shoulders, "You try to beat the snot out of me, I try to beat the snot out of you... The best lion wins."

That was a fair description of them growing up. Truls had always measured himself against his darker twin, and while they were still young they were quite evenly matched. One day he'd manage to defeat his brother and the next day he'd be the one eating dust. It had been a while since he sparred with Tall, but he was sure he could still beat him. It might be a close one, but he would do it and then he'd be Captain. Then they'd be on even footing again, and balance would be restored.

With the pleasentries out of the way Truls attacked, using an opening move that had served him well in many fights.

Princess_Feylin

Well, Truls is an entitled, whiny little jerk so he deserves it.

 

[Princess_Feylin]

Tall thought back to when they were cubs, recalling that while he'd always held pretty much everyone in disdain, his brother actually was a good fighter, capable of beating him. In fact, they had been pretty evenly matched back then. It had been a while, though, and Tall would have liked to think that he had improved since those days, through practice and experience, and he harbored serious doubts that practice was something Truls had done a great deal of. Well, they would see.

"All right," he said with a rarely-seen grin that only came out around his family and those few lions he counted friends. "But by saying 'the best lion wins' you're definitely guaranteeing yourself a loss. We all know I'm the best lion here."

Truls' immediate attack came as something of a surprise, as Tall had honestly expected him to take a more, well, lazy approach to all this, but it seemed his brother was truly serious about this fight. Good. It would mean more this way, however the fight turned out. Tall had never really cared for easy fights, and if he lost to Truls, he wanted it to be because his brother had truly bested him. That would make Truls' captaincy far more meaningful.

But! While Tall did not manage to completely avoid his brother's speedy attack, he did twist around and make a valiant effort to sink his claws and teeth into his brother while he was close enough to do so.

Annchen

 

[Annchen]

Truls snapped his jaws shut with some force. He was not going to be distracted by arguing about who was the best lion (Definitely him, not Tall). Arguing in a fight had got him in trouble before, and he was smart enough not to make the same mistake twice. Unfortunately, thinking about not arguing was what made him distracted now. Ow! Son of a...

Tall had grabbed the opportunity to try to take a bite out of him, and Truls could feel he meant business. He showed hard with his shoulder, hoping his brother would let go. In hindsight it might not have been the Best Idea to push into teeth, but oh well. What was a fight without a bit of blood?

Princess_Feylin

Ooops...

 

[Princess_Feylin]

Had Tall not been used to his brother, he might actually have been thrown off by Truls' unusual tactics. However, he was used to Truls, both as a lion and as a fighter, and if he'd been given the opportunity to review this fight later, he would have definitely been able to say that Truls was exhibiting his usual lack of foresight in pushing himself into teeth.

It sort of worked in Truls' favor though, because Tall didn't actually want to cripple his brother. (Well, probably he couldn't have anyway, but there was always the possibility Truls would do something really stupid which would take the choice out of Tall's paws.) So, rather than risk mangling his brother's shoulder, Tall widened his jaw and released his bite.

Of course, that meant that he had to sort of fling himself out of the way to avoid whatever Truls might think to do next, but Tall had a good idea it wasn't going to be anything he couldn't handle.

Annchen

I am so sorry. This got buried and I forgot and I'm terrible.

 

[Annchen]

The smell of blood was refreshing, but Truls resisted the impulse to say something clever or taunt Tall about it. How he was going to taunt someone when he was the one bleeding was not entirely clear in his mind, so perhaps it was a very good thing that he decided against witty remarks. Truls could fight with his words or with his teeth and claws. Both at once resulted in so-so results, and this wasn't a play fight. His future rank was at stake.

Pleased that his painful move had worked Truls tried a low sweep that with a bit of luck would swipe his brother off his feet, unless he jumped out of the way first. Truls liked to fight close and dirty and it would be soooo satisfying to push Tall's stupid face into the dirt. And failing that he might at least get to give him some super annoying scratches on his ankles. Those could hurt like a b***h.

Princess_Feylin

I hadn't saved the link. But now I won't lose it again...

 

[Princess_Feylin]

Tall probably could have been quicker on (or, rather, off) his feet when it came to evading Truls' low sweep. His hop came a little late, and was not as high as he would have liked. This produced the odd result of actually landing with Truls' paw ending up beneath Tall's feet, which the captain had not anticipated, but decided he could work with. He added more weight to the paws atop Truls'.

Absently he hoped that his weight landing on it hadn't permanently mangled his brother. Truls might be a bit of a moron, but he was family, and Tall didn't want to be responsible for maiming him.

"This is ridiculous," he grunted at his brother. "You're ridiculous. This is embarrassing for both of us."

Actually, Truls could probably get a good bite in to Tall's face right now if he felt like it. They were that close. But Tall was fairly confident he could distract his brother by talking, and less confident that he could convince Truls to forfeit before he earned himself the name Pancake Paws or something equally ignominious.

Annchen

Geez, I'm sorry. I will do my best not to vanish before we actually finish this challenge.