[CHAL] Brooo. [Kuaminiwa`moshi x Tethys]

[Ctrl F Greenie]

His adventure began with the decay of his homelands. It was truly a blessing in disguise for the grey lion, his home was dominantly female and he was finally free from involuntary enslavement, now he was gifted the opportunity to test himself in the world outside of what the females had provided him. Fortunately they weren't left dumb, deaf and blind so survival was still of the fittest with little in the way of handicaps.

Naturally he sought out strength at this point, specifically with a predominantly male environment (little did he know that although that may have been the case in the past it wasn't so much the case now). So he approached the borders of the Vikings with confidence in himself at proving he was worth while, yes he'd heard of the pride and what it took to get in - so he'd developed goals and his final one at this point was simply to succeed.

Now his pale blue eyes sought out a member that may have been patrolling the borders.

Epine de Rose

 

[Epine de Rose]

Take a number... That was how he could summarise this day.

To say hit had been busy was an understatement and he was already feeling the bruises. Secretly, he was beginning to suspect that his beloved twin had insider info and knew when things were going to be busy. As such, rather than letting her darling brother relax, she made sure to get her moneys worth. As a Priestess she certainly did her job well, but he still made a mental note to hide tomorrow so that he didn't get thrown into the mix again.

Yep, to say he was going to sleep tomorrow was an understatement. He was going to be dead to the world and he would put the heads of those who disturbed him on bloody pikes if he had to.

Still, now that he was warmed up, he was at least a little less disgruntled and he regarded his next challenger with a raised brow. This one had a different air about him, while Mseto had certainly had something to prove, there was something different about this one. Wherever he had come from, he'd arrived here with a very specific point to make and it seemed he was going to make it against Tethys.

"I'm going to assume you know the rules," he remarked as he waved the male forward.

Abominable Greenie

 

[Ctrl F Greenie]

It was just as he imagined it to be, no formalities, little to no exchange at the borders and a grin that played at the corner of his lips was evident that he was satisfied with his time spent at the border already. Of course that was of little importance to the pale lion, but it meant the world to him and he personally hoped that things kept living up to his expectations. First thing was first he eyed up Tethys - the lion was a pale brute that was clearly more muscle than much of anything else, so Kua knew he'd need to use more speed than anything - if he could manage it.

"Yes, I do."

He stated proudly, not dimming his approach with nerves or the like. Kua was a proud lion. he took his approach smoothly and with his head held up high, deep down he had the excitement of a boy encountering his first challenge in life. To him this was truly his first challenge, though nothing else was handed to him, this would be the first thing he could honestly say he would do for himself.

It seemed, to his delight, that the lion before him wanted to get down to business which meant moving on with proving himself - so, continuing to stand tall, he narrowed his eyes and pulled his ears back. This wouldn't be an easy feat by any means, but he was bounded and determined to do well. Quick on his paws he chose to begin with a unique maneuver that he'd seen a female use before (which is where he learned most of his fighting) and so he immediately leaped to the left and then lunged forward intending to bring a heavy paw down onto his opponent.

Epine de Rose

 

[Epine de Rose]

Tethys had seen a similar move before, but it certainly wasn't an identical one. It was however, just enough for the lion to find his paws and dodge quick enough to avoid taking the full force of the hit. Regardless of how well he had intended to dodge however, Kuam had managed to land a considerable blow and it was enough to leave the Captain smarting.

Tethys could have put it down to the fact he had been at this all day, but that would have been unfair to his challenger. A challenge was a challenge and he was built to take this type of damage, the fact he may have had a series of battles before this one was irrelevant. Unsurprisingly, Tethys was soon seen to shake the irritation of the gash away and he resettled himself comfortably back into a combative stance.

Nevertheless, Kuam had done enough to unbalance him and if the lion was quick enough, he might be able to take advantage of it. For now though? Well, for now the Captain responded to the attack in kind with an assault of his own, choosing to use speed and brute force to simply throw himself towards the grey lion...

Abominable Greenie

 

[Ctrl F Greenie]

Feeling the connection of his attack was extremely satisfying. He noted the agility of his opponent and could appreciate the ability to maneuver himself free from the blow. Impressive. Kuam hadn't had a chance to get himself fully sturdy after his assault and so the sudden mass thrown at him caught him by surprise.

"Oh." Was all he had been able to mutter when he accepted the full mass of Tethys hitting him like a wall. His grey eyes widened in the nearly silent shock of the blow. Focus, was the word he kept echoing in his mind. He'd worked through pain before and so he tried to convince himself he could work through this too.

Hm.

The lion pondered the situation. Forcing ones weight onto another really opened up opportunities. Those lessened as he found himself knocked to the ground, but what it did open up was his hind legs. Perhaps the strongest muscles in his body were there. Without truly knowing what was in the area he began to kick with all his might while still within range of Tethys.

Epine de Rose

 

[Epine de Rose]

Woohoo, at least the Captain still had brute force at his disposal when it came to these duels. He had even done enough to temporarily shock the lion who opposed him; however, it seemed that on this occasion the lion had learnt from his previous mistakes and he had reacted accordingly. Another bonus point for Kuam on that one, it had only been a short space of time between the first and second duels and he had already knocked some sense into himself.

However, Tethys really didn't have time to muse over this for long, with Kuam's recovery also came the necessity for him to respond in kind. If the grey lion was already on the move again, then it would be ill advised for Tethys to get distracted. Thus it was with a rather undignified mutter that Tethys hopped, skipped and jumped away from the other lion's legs in an attempt to get away from them.

Yep, for want of a better word, he had booked it.

It was a tactical retreat before they both ended up in an unnecessary scrap (whereby Tethys could potentially lose his other ear) and he could have a brief moment to strategise. It would only be an instant of course, but he needed it, after all... there was no way he could just tackle the lion again, was there? I mean he could, but that didn't mean it would be successful...

Ctrl F Greenie

 

[Ctrl F Greenie]

He could almost feel the pride of his opponent. Of course he couldn't be the only one to appreciate himself in a job well done. A small smile broke onto his maw as he enjoyed the moment. It was a brief moment, but seemed much longer.

Retreat. It was a move that the grey, grounded, lion hadn't anticipated from the other fighter. His eyes narrowed and Kuam even felt a brow raise. If he had thought about the choice of move he'd have considered it a good one - get out of range of the blows - but he hesitated on that thought and chose to get himself up. He took his time with this. Standing had been his priority, but doing so slowly allowed him to see where he felt sorest. There were a number of places, but nothing was damaged beyond a nights rest or so - good.

Kuam took a moment to breathe. He was sure he'd run out of these fairly quickly. Instead of waiting any longer than he had to he decided to act quickly and dart forward. Tethys had the advantage of having already been on his paws and even had the chance to asses what was going on, Kuam had a small trick - but he wasn't confident in it.

Tackling, effective as it was, wasn't the only thing. Realistically he wouldn't be able to tackle and throw himself up on the lion.. or could he? The duel was just that.. a duel. Why not give it a go.

Epine de Rose

 

[Epine de Rose]

He'd had Naima do this before, he knew what was coming and he also knew that slamming backwards on to the grey lion wasn't going to be quite as successful as it had been with the dinky female. Consequently, he did the one thing that his vikings probably would have rolled their eyes at. He didn't run, but he did step to the side so that the lion might run passed him and leave him reasonably intact.

Kuam had given as good as he'd gotten, on some occasions even pulling out moves that Tethys hadn't considered, but would file away for future musing at a later date. There was something to be said for these duels - while they were minor inconveniences when he was busy, they certainly gave him a greater scope of the talent that did exist in the rogue lands and the methods they used to win their battles.

"All right," he said finally and waved a paw. "I think we'll call that a win," he remarked as he lowered it once more and turned to face Kuam with a raised brow. "You had more than enough blows and they were all solid, I'd surmise that on this occasion you have the upper paw," he paused briefly and then motioned towards the inner pride. "You'll need to have your victory acknowledged by the Lawspeakers, one of my men will escort you as they witnessed it," he instructed and offered a wry smile.

"But now that you're here, you're going to need a little more finesse for the rest of your stay here," he finished and glanced back towards the queue that had apparently formed on the borders today.

...Quite the surge, and he couldn't really identify what the occasion for it might be.

Ctrl F Greenie

 

[Ctrl F Greenie]

A loss of breathe quickly subsided in favor of a grin and more relaxed appearance. The battle was over and he'd won. The way he'd won was unique - it definitely wasn't what he had expected. The opposing lion had a great amount of respect for the duel and easily gained his respect in return. It was impressive.

"Appreciated." He said. Noting the lion that was prepared to escort him. The final comments were regarded with a thoughtful expression. "There are always ways to improve." He agreed. Then he was taken away. This was it, he'd found a home that he'd be able to feel equal.

Epine de Rose

 

[Epine de Rose]

There certainly was room to improve on that score, but whether the new Stormborn would embrace that way of life completely, or simply become one of the Freeborn remained to be seen. After all, there were some who joined the Stormborn simply because they respected their way of life, though they had no aspirations to acquire glory for themselves... While there were others who had visions of greatness and once they had set paw in this land, they set about making it a reality.

Granted, he had wanted to settle himself, but the longer he had dwelled in the Viking lands the more he had realised he was more useful at gaining resources. Admittedly, that had resulted in quite the chain of events, but overall, this was his life and one he thoroughly enjoyed. Meanwhile, his sister had very much settled in to her role of Priestess and looked perfectly set to remain there for the rest of her life.

Regardless the lion had no further time to dwell and with that in mind, he turned towards his next challenger. "All right, who's first?"

Ctrl F Greenie

/fin!