Let the games begin!

[Skoll]

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Like I said, long. I'm covering all of the fights that no one else is involved in, though, so I guess it makes sense. It won't be as big a deal for the coming posts, though, since I'm covering six fights this round, but only two fights next time, round one was just crazy since there were so many extras whose fights needed to be covered. Remedy, feel free to have your character announce that she's entering before all this stuff happens, or you could also have her announce that she's fighting Kilborn's other son just after the last fight, surprise challenger! The cheering had died down, and several people looked around, wondering who would be the next to enter the ring. Jantus's younger sister stepped forward, and a heartbeat later, a very cool and very collected Twilight followed suit. They were both had a lot of gray in their fur, but the younger wolfess had a more distinctive coat. This didn't matter to Skoll...Twilight had a beauty all her own, one which it was possible that only fighters could truly appreciate. There was a pragmatism to her appearance and how she carried herself. She was very practical, and very lethal also, Skoll knew. The bronze warrior, the host of the contest, called out for them to begin, and begin they did. Twilight vs. Invitee Cautious after watching the other fights, the young wolf approached the center of the ring while Twilight delayed a moment, moving forward only after her opponent started forward. Jantus's sister stopped two paces from the center of the arena, and Twilight stopped also, a little further out. The younger female's eyes began to smoulder, similar to her sister's...Skoll couldn't imagine what exactly was going through her head to illicit a glare like that one...and she began to walk forward, cold and confident, bringing her hands up from her sides and curling her fingers into fists just as... Twilight blurred into motion. Spinning, one foot went from the air to the ground as the other went from the ground to the air as she turned her back to her enemy for one instant. It wasn't long enough to capitalize on--at least not in an unarmed fight--and it accrued extreme centrifugal force which propelled the heel of her foot into the other fighter's abdomen. The entire movement occurred so fast that he had trouble believing how complicated it was. He had seen her do it before, of course, but it still seemed amazing how complex some of the moves in her style could be. It didn't stop, though. As the full-blooded wolfess stumbled backward, the hybrid Twilight shifted her weight, such that her left leg no longer bore it and could go from its position behind and below her to above waiste-level to impact the girl just above her pelvis. A shout of pain rose from her, and Twilight halted as her counterpart hopped backwards, clutching her side. The young wolfess held her hand out in a stopping motion, shaking her head as Jantus made to enter the ring. Obviously pained, she approached the martial expert again, her arms in a guarding position, waiting for any sudden movements. When Twilight didn't react, she pushed forward. The older woman had given herself enough space to do the spinning kick from before, and repeated the maneuver, striking the girl in the hip this time. Another follow up kick landed the mother's shin into the inside of the younger girl's knee, and she collapsed. This time Jantus did enter the ring, and he carried his little sister out. Seeing the massive were's concern, Skoll wondered just what had possessed him to let them come in the first place. He could see in their eyes that they had a passion to compete...maybe their older brother just couldn't keep them away. From what he'd heard of the Snow-Capped Pine, it was possible that they were simply trying to prove their mettle. Jantus escorted her off the field, and then turned back in, the grin on his face extremely peculiar given the worry that had been there only moments before. Jantus vs. Skoll "Skoll!" he called out across the fighter's ring. "I challenge you!" Some clapping from the more knowledgable wolves in the crowd went up. Every fight thus far had been one-sided. Kilborn's son had been bigger than his opponent; Nikolov had been too small to make for a very good fight unarmed; Twilight's moves had been fancy, but the audience's sympathy for the girl on the receiving end had stopped there from being more than minimal applaus at the end; Samson had soundly defeated his enemy too, without receiving any kind of real counter-attacks. This was the first fight that seemed truly even, and seemed to guarantee a real show. Skoll smiled slightly, before stepping in himself, removing his effects from his waiste and dropping them off outside of the ring. The two of them stood at opposite ends of the arena...Skoll, lean and terribly scarred, tough and wiry, the wolf many of the people here associated with the fabled leader of the resistance against the Shadow Cult. Opposing him was Jantus, a veritable mountain of bone and sinew, the one-eyed giant of that same great conflict, hulking and massive, a bear of a wolf. As Skoll had removed his packs, the gray and white and brown wolf had removed his bearskin, though his eyepatch stayed in place. "Fight!" Aivyr yelled, and it began. They both approached the center slowly. They had both seen the other fight, and knew that any mistakes would be taken advantage of. The bigger wolf moved closer, and the bronze wolf waited a moment before jerking to the side. His right fist shot forward to his enemy's blind side, and hit home even as he skipped to the right, preventing the bigger wolf from bearing down on him. The blow was solid enough to be audible, but it didn't slow him down any. He wasted no time, immediately trying to back Skoll against the wall as his sister's friend had done to Nikolov. Skoll ran around him, just missing getting boxed in. Once, twice, three times, taking jabs at him each time, usually from his blind side, but sometimes switching up to throw him off. By the fourth pass the crowd was getting bored of watching a smaller wolf try to escape the inevitable. His jabs were ineffectual, only one had actually landed since the first...blind on his right side though he was, Jantus could put his thick arms to good use when it came to guarding his head. Skoll jumped backward...he would need a little room for what he wanted to do. He wasn't getting through his opponent's defense this way, he would need to try something different. The hulking wolf smiled, seeing that the renowned warrior was done running, and he closed in. Skoll broke into a run, he only had a few steps to build up speed, and he brought his right knee forward as he kicked off from the ground with his left foot. Jantus read the intent of the attack too late, and couldn't move his arms from his head in time to protect his torso. He received the full force of the flying knee into his abdomen, just below the solar plexus. He gave ground, one step, and Skoll rebounded from him. His left fist lashed out, his right followed right after, both impacting his enemy's head. Jantus replied with a powerful left hook just as Skoll struck him a third time. The world spun and the yellow warrior backed off. His adversary wasn't as skilled as he was, but he was a lot stronger, and could throw a lot of weight into those punches. Skoll recovered from the single blow about the same time that Jantus came back from his salvo, and they were at yet another stand off. Jantus approached again, moving faster to prevent another charge that had given the golden wolf the upper-hand last time. Skoll leapt aside again, feeling the larger wolf's claws slip through his fur...it had been close, and he only had a fraction of a second before the giant rounded on him again, no time to get behind him, no time to think. He opened up with another salvo of punches, but they were all deflected or absorbed by those massive arms. A surge of kinetic force met his chest as Jantus finally caught him, which would have sent him to the ground if he had not instinctively clutched at the ogre's upper arm as it came to bowl him over. The bear of a wolf threw his arms around his victim, bringing his bulk to bear on his adversary. To the giant's surprise, Skoll didn't try to escape, he actually pushed himself forward, almost like he was trying to push Jantus back. Jantus laughed at this realization, Skoll was big as far as werewolves went, but Jantus was far larger, he outweighed him by more than one hundred pounds. The cocky confidence of victory persisted for a moment until Jantus felt Skoll's arms lock behind his head, and a dread entered him as he felt Skoll's weight shift. His head was dragged down and he felt Skoll's shoulder press in on his throat. The massive were brought his hands up around Skoll's arms, but they were conjoined tightly behind his neck, where Jantus couldn't summon enough strength to break the hold. He moved forward, trying to bring them both to the ground, but Skoll's legs locked, preventing them from doing so. Anywhere he turned, the same thing, and he was feeling the cartilage in his neck warp...it was painful. An agonized choke erupted from his throat as he pulled them both sideways. The relief it bought was fleeting, and consciousness began fading. Skoll couldn't see his face, but he knew what was happening. He hadn't used this hold more than a few times in his life, it was risky to attempt and hard to pull off...if it failed, the user would be right in the clutches of the opponent. It would get the job done here. A few more moments passed, before the Giant of the Evergreens patted him twice on the shoulder, an acknowledgement of defeat and plea for release. The bronze wolf, exhausted, released his grip...his muscles had been screaming. He rolled onto his back and heard the massive lungs in Jantus's chest inflate with his first free breath. A roar of applause rang through the air. Not everyone was necessarily pleased with the result, but it had been the closest fight so far, and they'd certainly made a show of it. Skoll was the first to rise, and stood a moment while Jantus stay on his back, enjoying his breath. He accepted Skoll's hand up, and patted his friend on the shoulder. "It's a shame to go out so early, but I came to this thing to fight you, and I wanted to make sure we were both at our best when we fought, no previous injuries to make us wonder, heh," Skoll nodded. "They liked it well enough," he said helpfully, indicating the crowd as it discussed the events of only moments before. Jantus smiled and nodded, before heading back to his seat beside Vera and his sisters who were already out of the contest. There were three fights left, he wasn't sure who all of the remaining competitors were. It didn't surprise him when he turned around from the congratulations of his friends to see Aivyr standing in the circle. The mutt that had come in with Tanya and Nikolov stepped silently out from across the field. Aivyr vs. Xark The two began circling one another immediately, their blood still hot from the last fight, perhaps. Aivyr wanted to show his teacher how much he'd grown, Skoll felt sure. The white-furred male zig-zagged closer to his opponent while Xark approached more slowly...the hybrid's yellow eyes belying something fell and dangerous that Skoll couldn't quite place. Aivyr struck first, a white arm darting out faster than Skoll's could, but the effort was spoiled by the forearms of the opponent, set into a guarding position. Aivyr struck twice more, he was blocked each time; the fight had taken itself close enough to Skoll for him to see a smile creep onto Xark's face. The white fur on Aivyr's face rippled from an impact that had been almost too fast for the old wolf to see. Xark had moved in a little closer, his advance facilitated by his excellent defense, and delivered a strike so quickly that the outline of his hand was the only thing he had ever seen. Aivyr backed up, but the dog hybrid did not relent. He kept in step with the retreating werewolf perfectly, and delivered two more blows directly to his face, around his arms which hadn't yet formed a solid defense. Switch gears, Aivyr... Skoll thought to himself. His pupil had fought mostly with an axe in the war, a skill that he'd taught him, but he'd had less opportunity to practice unarmed techniques. One thing that Skoll had always noticed during their training sessions was that the young wolf would focus on one thing at a time, if he was on the attack, he was on the attack; if he was on the defense, he would often hesitate to shift into an attacker's stance when the enemy presented a weakness. The white wolf's arms came up to protect his face, but the dog's fists shot lower without missing a beat, impacting his solar plexus and then getting around his defense with a hook shot as he doubled over. Aivyr continued trying to back-pedal, but Xark remained on top of him, merciless in his attack. Eventually, frustrated and in great pain, the three-year-old wolf roared in exasperation, charging forward and catching Xark in the chest with his shoulder. As the dog got back up, he brought his arms back up for another go at the exchange of blows. He's too fast for you, Aivyr...you need to use something else. Grab him, tackle him, do something differently. As he neared again, the same thing happened, he took several blows, tried to back off, and received several more in the retreat. The audience was quiet as it became clear that this match was of a different tone than the rest had been. The wolf was being beaten ruthlessly, and though he was persistent, will power didn't compensate for speed. Finally, Aivyr grabbed for his enemy, trying to get a solid hold with which to take him to the ground. Skoll could see the clumsiness in his movements, though...he'd sustained too much cranial damage, he shouldn't have still been fighting. Still, Aivyr had brought his packmates here, he was probably respected there, having his teacher come to protect him or call off the match would make him look bad. If he surrendered...it had to be of his own volition. Xark shook off his awkward grappling attempts with a frenzied fervor, cracking him in the head several times. His opponent was slowing, obviously seriously damaged, but Xark didn't slow down or let up. The abuse kept on coming, until finally Aivyr stood, swaying dangerously as he struggled to keep his balance, and Xark backed up to view his handy work. A sickening smile crawled onto his face, as conspicuous as a spider descending down a web from the ceiling. Skoll recognized that gleam in his eye, now...it was malice. He shot a look to Tanya, whose eyes were glued to the mutt she'd brought along, wide in disbelief at what Skoll assumed to be a huge shift in personality. Skoll stepped into the ring to put an end to it. It was clearly over, Aivyr just wasn't thinking clearly enough any more to see his situation. As he entered, Xark flew into motion. While his other blows had been swift and calculated, this one possessed all the power he could generate, and was thrown with animal fury into Aivyr's gut, doubling him over. Before he fully fell, the hybrid brought his elbow down onto his spine, sending his back into spasms as he collapsed face-first onto the grass. Skoll got there a split second later, the beige and gray mutt backing off from his destroyed victim. Skoll heard a disgusting sound and saw a wad of spit hit the dirt by Aivyr's feet. There was silence from most, uproar from others. The brown wolf rushed out to tend to Aivyr. Skoll helped move him out of the arena. "Skoll! Skoll Axehand!" The bronze wolf turned to see the old wolf, Kilborn, approach him. Xark had gone off to a secluded portion around the ring. Everyone gave him his space. Kilborn's face was concerned and angry. "I don't want my sons facing that psychopath! You said this was a friendly competition. It is clear that this is not entirely true. If he stays in, we head out; I'm not letting my sons die here!" Skoll fixed him with a stare that would have shaken most people, but the outraged father was fearless in the face of this new foe. "Don't worry," Skoll said, turning his gaze to the vicious mutt who had cast doubt on the whole event. "Your sons won't be facing him. In the next round, I'll make sure of it." ~The lyrics are from the best song ever written.

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