[MATCH] Blackwater Raptor vs Mudsullied Jackal

[medigel]

So. She was at last in the final battle, somehow. Sully still wasn't sure what overarching being thought pushing her through this little exercise in inter-pack teambuilding would be fun, but considering who had also made it to the finals, they must have been a lover of irony.

Blackwater Raptor. The Head Healer hadn't even considered him a candidate in this excuse to fight each other, assuming he would have just had an episode sometime in his first fight before being ushered back to the healer dens to cool off and sit in the dark. The weird thing was, she knew he had suffered headaches throughout the day - there was no way Blackwater could avoid them between the exertions, the collisions, and being out and active for that long - and yet...there he was. Standing there, just like any other wolf, looking nervous but not as much as before.

Sully felt another small spike of irritation she couldn't put a name to prickle her. Yes, there was some satisfaction in seeing him not be a liability...But. Always a but. For the first time in a long while, she felt annoyed with herself.

"You look decent," she said to him as the round began.  

[medigel]

Blackwater Raptor seemed to vibrate ever so slightly during his last rest. Proud. It wasn't that he didn't get showered with compliments by his mom and dad and siblings before--Blood Falcon in particular had all but smothered him in love growing up--but it was one thing to hear it from your family and another to hear it from someone else. Especially after actually accomplishing something. It hadn't been a pity compliment. It hadn't been you did your best and that's ok. He had won. He had kept winning.

At first, he had been sure he had moved on because Snow Rabbit had thrown. But as he had progressed, Blackwater learned something about himself: he was actually pretty strong when he needed to be. Maybe all those training sessions had done something for him after all! His burgeoning confidence flagged a little, however, as he stepped up for the final spar.

Aunt Sully. Just Sully, he remembered with a wince. If she had gotten this far, she must have been tough. She was, he knew, just from having to visit with her multiple times, but despite being smaller than him, she was scary...

He let his tail wag just a little bit in greeting, though she didn't seem amused. Maybe she took these fights seriously? He probably should...So Blackwater took a deep breath and crouched into a ready position.

The tail wagged a bit again anyway, though, at her...compliment? Maybe? It was hard to tell with Sully, but he craved positive words. Even vague ones.  

[medigel]

Sully pressed her lips together. What a doof. "Just don't go easy on me," she added, beginning to circle.

Only then did she really and truly take her nephew in. Mudsullied Jackal was a wolf with a high intelligence, but she used it with a laser focus. She had only ever viewed Blackwater in two modes: as a family member and as a constant patient. Both required different methods of handling, especially the latter as she had to be sure she was giving him the correct doses of the correct plants at an even pace and time. (He did not know that she often double checked her stores just to be sure he didn't try to increase his prescription without permission.) By labeling a wolf one way or another, Sully could better decide the options of attacking them--metaphorically. Socializing was a battle for her.

Now it was a literal one. And it was dawning on her, as Blackwater suddenly sprung from his crouch, that he was actually decently sized despite his mother's petite stature. And he had weight to him despite being slender.

Or maybe she was just a weakling in comparison.  

[medigel]

Sully had asked him not to hold back, but he still thought he had done a bit much for the beginning of the fight. What if he actually hurt her and she got mad and wouldn't help him anymore?? There wasn't any actual reasoning behind it, but anxiety was a hell of a thing and his aunt wasn't the friendliest. She had made it very clear that her service was just because they were family and he was in dire need of some help. Blackwater knew in his bones it was also because she felt sorry for him. That was why Mom had coddled him while growing up, after all, he was sure, why she had made him only go out for so long in the sun until they were sure he wouldn't be so affected. Always...sorry that he was born that way.

Blackwater Raptor had used to wish he had been a girl as a pup. Then either he wouldn't have this problem, or his problem would have actually been a gift. He had never told anyone--indeed he usually didn't talk much at all--because he had been embarrassed. Everyone else seemed just fine the way they were. Everyone but him. He had thought once to ask Red about it as she too seemed uncomfortable about her place in the pack, but she always seemed followed after by his brother, or Milky Way, or Big Bad, or someone else, and so he had stayed away in his extreme shyness. In doing so, in never speaking out and keeping his sea of thoughts churning, he had grown up feeling like he hadn't belonged. After all, it had taken him so long to take up a rank that he was sure he would get sidelong looks--and that wasn't even counting the fact that it had come about specifically to pay back his aunt more than it was out of interest or skill.

He was a gatherer because he couldn't always reliably hunt or scout. He was a gatherer because he didn't have the social skills to be a recruiter. He was a gatherer because he felt he hadn't been strong enough to be anything else.

Until today.  

[medigel]

Maybe it was the string of fights over time. Maybe she just didn't care anymore. It was clear to Sully that her opponent would win with ease, and when situations like that happened, why bother fighting it? Why waste your time and energy arguing against reality when there were better things to use both with? Blackwater had winded her with one solid hit, and while she had tried to strike back, it wasn't with much heart. She coughed and gasped for breath and backed off to reassess.

Blackwater looked...different. Her sharp eye for details noticed that his posture was subtly changed: he didn't have that characteristic hunch in his shoulders, his tail wasn't tucked, and at least in the moment he didn't look apologetic to be there. If she had to guess, either the cheers being loudly shouted around them were actually getting to him (and they were mostly for him as he had become the underdog of the series), or Blackwater was finally starting to grow out of his pathetic pup persona. She approved. It was about damn time he acted like an adult instead of an aimless youngling.

He was trying to grow and better himself, which was better than Sully could say for others, including herself. Who was she to try and tear that down?

Licking her lips, Sully feigned left and then went right to try and unseat him. This time with some verve.  

[medigel]

Sully was getting evasive. Blackwater wasn't sure what to do about it other than try and predict where she would be, but she changed her strategy just enough to keep him on his toes. He was just basically taking her bait every time, but the Head Healer wasn't able to land a strike on him either. The game of cat and mouse continued for several more rounds until--

WHUMPH!

Blackwater was able to get hold of his aunt and executed the move he had learned from Forbidden Oath, tripping her and forcing her to slam on the ground with a decisive blow. In the first second he felt immensely proud of himself for managing to do it a second time. In the second one he felt immensely worried that he had done real damage; the sound Sully had made when she landed was painful. He tried to nose at her with a flurry of soft concerned noises, but she wheezed at him to just let her breathe, champ, damn.

Champ?

The noise from the watchers overwhelmed him as several wolves broke the audience's circle to congratulate him and check on Sully themselves. Blackwater's mind went blank at the attention, but his tail wagged tiredly as he was buffeted about, his name cheered for all in the clearing and beyond to hear.

For a day, he forgot he had ever been afraid.