[CHAL] Valberger x Leomaris [Loss]

[Depawsit]

 

[Depawsit]

Leo had been agonizing over his coming challenge for days. He'd known it was approaching, but exactly when? Well ... that largely depended on his nerve. He wasn't always known for having a nerve of steel, but he was known for doing what had to be done.

A challenge was something that required both, and as much as he knew that, his gut didn't want to accept it. Which is exactly why it had taken so long for him to climb to this ledge and proclaim his challenge.

Was he capable of fighting?

You bet your bottom dollar!

But did he like to do it? Not especially.

But none of that mattered now, as he stood in the vast clearing preparing to bellow out his challenge.

The male sunk his claws into the dirt, took one last deep breath, closed his eyes, and let loose a bellowing roar.

Now all that was left to do was wait.

 

[Depawsit]

Valberger hadn't been out and about for any particular reason. More just a leisurely stroll, one he took every now and again to get his mind off of ... well whatever it was his mind felt like obsessing over at the time. This time it was his past, as usual he couldn't get the mysterious circumstances surrounding his Father's death from his mind and it drove him batty.

Today was especially bad, the many stories of his Dad's crew kept pounding in his ears as he pushed forward. Every single one told a VASTLY different story. It was as if not a single one could keep their story straight!

A roar crashed through the empty morning air and cleared the male's thoughts right up.

If it was a challenge they sought, he was more than willing to offer his services.

 

[Depawsit]

Leo watched as his competitor entered the clearing, he didn't seem to be in much of any type of mood. The look in his eyes alone told the blue male, this wasn't just an ordinary challenge. He could tell immediately that he had picked the wrong lion to tango with.

His nerves immediately flooded his brain as he tried to think of his first plan of attack. He knew what he had to do, he had always known, but would it work?

Shaking the questions from his mind, Leomaris shot forward towards the male, his claws extended and prepared to give him a good beating.

The aridness of the dirt, failed to give the male the traction he needed. As he came in for his swipe, he found himself sliding right past his target. Panic filled Leo's face as he swiped his claws out in a blind attempt at maiming his target.

 

[Depawsit]

Valberger stepped into the clearning and finally set eyes on his opponent.

'Well, at least he won't be disappearing on me.' He thought to himself as he took note of the vibrant bright colors within his coat.

He watched with keen eyes as the inexperienced male took his first shot. Nearly completely missing him in the process. As the male slid by to his left, Valberger looked down at the barely visible claw marks on his front leg.

A snort passed his lips as he tried to encite the male to do better.

"It's not much of a fight if you miss me everytime." He grumbled to himself as he closed the space between himself and the blue male. "The least you could do is study how the ground will react to your steps."

With a mighty swipe, he lay three scratches across the blue male's right cheek.

"Now that's more like it. Now you look like you've been in a battle!" Valberger cheered as he turned to prepare his next attack. He paid little heed to the lion behind him. He obviously wasn't going to be much of a threat at the rate he was fighting.

 

[Depawsit]

Leomaris yowled in pain as the older and obviously wiser male struck his claws across his face.

His eyes glowered, and his stance fell lower to the ground. His hind quarters haunched as he prepared to pounce. A small smile grew across his face as he noticed that the male had turned his back on him.

How dare he have the audacity to mock his fighting skills, when he would so stupidly turn his back on an attacker.

Leo gritted his teeth and allowed himself to spring at the male once more, this time he had a grin on his face, sure that he would be taking down his opponent this time.

His grin quickly turned to a jaw drop as he watched the white male, with his back fully turned to the attack, quickly duck his head down.

Leo landed with a thud a few feet away, pushing himself to his feet, you could hear the terrible growl that emanted from his throat.

 

[Depawsit]

Val smiled to himself as he caught the male's scent on the wind behind him. He had been right to turn his back on the male, for as soon as he did, the male pulled his first rookie mistake.

The white male slowly counted to 3 before slowly ducking his head to the ground, as if to sniff a flower. It was a mere second later that he took note of the bright blue flash that flew over his head.

"You're down wind, never attack from down wind and expect the upper hand." Again he approached the sprawled lion, this time choosing to headbutt him square between the eyes.

"Don't waste my time with this childish lay fighting. Fight like you mean to be here, or take your tail and run!"

 

[Depawsit]

Leo's ears began to rang as soon as the other male pulled his head away from his. He felt like he was seeing doubles ... maybe even triples! He tried to shake away the wooziness, but it persisted. It didn't seem to plan on going away any time soon.

The male's persistence was beginning to wane, and he could feel exhaustion beginning to swallow him up. Already he was aware that he would likely lose this battle, but still he knew he couldn't give up.

Forcing himself to his feet, the male's woozieness became stronger than ever. His feet wobbled under his weight, and now it seemed like his target had super speed. His vision showing him as simply a pacing blur.

Leomaris took a big gulp of air and tried his best to pad closer to the subject. What resulted could probably best be summed up as a drunken crawl.

Finally within reach, he woozily stretched out a paw and raked it across the male's flank.

The complete lack of a reaction, told Leomaris he was still losing this fight.

 

[Depawsit]

Val rolled his eyes in both boredom and incredulousness at his opponent. How could one enter a challenge without so much as a tiny bit of preparation? His patience was wearing thin, and even more troublesome was his anger that swelled toward the challenger.

"You offend me with your complete lack of preparation." He paused as he circled the woozy male, his eyes following his body as it swayed.

"A warrior should study their opponent, know how they stack up against them. Its as though you simply mozied in and decided today was the day you joined our ranks."

Val tried not to spit venom in his words, but he found it so hard not to take offense at the male's actions.

"I will teach you what it means to disregard one's skill."

He growled angrily before squaring his shoulders and running straight for the other lion.

"I am not to be taken lightly." The words escaped his mouth just as he tackled the male in the gut. Knocking his clear off his feet, and watching as he rolled into the dirt.

 

[Depawsit]

All of the air escaped the male's lungs as he was rammed from the side. As he flew through the air and hit the dirt bed below, his gaze finally began to clear. He could see the male standing over him with a clear glint of victory in his eye.

But Leo wasn't ready to give up just let. As he lie there in the dirt, he chose to ignore everything the other male said.

So what if he hadn't prepared? This was what he had expected to happen, he had hoped it wouldn't, but it had. He was accepting of his fate as he lie there inhaling the arid dirt. But it was OK that he had lost ... it only served to educate him on his mistakes. Which he would be sure to never make again.

Grinding his teeth together once more, Leo watched as the male stood over him, egging him on. Hardly paying attention to the lion the words were meant for. A glint passed through his eye as he saw his opportunity and took it.

A quick swipe of his paw and the white male was down on his belly. Not a complete take down, but he had managed to swipe his two front feet from under him, and now he watched as the other scrambled to right his stance.

 

[Depawsit]

It took all of two seconds for his world to tumble to the ground with him. What he had taken as pride had been his downfall. His head hit the hard dirt with a thud, as his paws scrambled at whatever they could to try and ground themselves.

His mind raced with a dozen different attacks he could use to defend his now open stance. But the only one that his claws saw fit to act upon was a weak attempt at bringing the male down with him.

What had been meant as a leg swipe, turned out to be nothing more than a simple scratch. With the wounds the blue one had already obtained, it was believable that he wouldn't notice such a tiny flick on his wrist.

 

[Depawsit]

He felt the snag on his wrist the moment the other's claws found his skin, but with the nagging pounding in his joints from all the take downs, a scratch barely made him flinch.

Leo looked down at the male he had successfully managed to knock off his feet, and for a moment he felt pride. Pride in himself for accomplishing something he didn't think he could do, and in that moment he didn't really care that he had lost.

He knew he had, his body wasn't going to take much more before he took a knock out and he knew it His breathing was heavy and his chest ached from the gasps of air.

Lowering his head he tapped it to the older lion's chest as a gesture of assistance.

"Thank you for showing me how a real battle is meant to be fought. I-I will take this knowledge into my next challenge." He paused attempting to catch his breath once more. "I will take this knowledge into my next challenge, and push to better myself."

He dipped his head in respect, and stood once more to his full height.

"I will endeavor to someday join your ranks, and show you that I am worthy of having battled you."

 

[Depawsit]

Valberger felt the other male head as it softly bumped into his chest. He knew then that the fight was over.

He had won, as he expected, but it seemed that despite that this other male had won something of his own. It was strange to think that someone who had just been humiliated so completely could have gained something from it.

But as he spoke, it only served to validate Val's thoughts.

So he had gained the experience he would need to fight again in another time.

That was respectable, and he nodded in acceptance of the male's words.

"Just try to do it sooner rather than later. You'll find i'm not that patient of a waiter." He grumbled as he completely regained his balance and turned to leave.

"I look forward to seeing you again ... and perhaps learning your name in that time."