one foot in front of the other

Vesper · 11-22-2011, 02:09 PM

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WC: 512 :: I'm just as bad at this
as she is. xD

Ezekiel shed his weapons, and the woman glanced down at the bow again curiously until the blonde cracked his back. Her ears pricked forward sharply as she ceased her rambling remarks, her expression intent as he explained that luperci fighting did not have to rely only on hands. She nodded then glanced quickly at her own fingers, sheathing and unsheathing her claws. It was the action of the growing talons that had spurred on her first transformation, she remembered. It would be nice to put them to some use; the memory of the golden man tearing into her was still fresh in her mind.

The Aquila stated that she needed to think he wanted to kill her. Without uncertainty, she nodded—though it was a philosophy she was not used to. As much as Vesper loved to fight, she did not relish killing; the sound of Oliver’s choked crying as her teeth crunched his windpipe returned to her, and her eyes froze over. No, she didn’t like to kill—but she would have no problem imagining that others would want to do so to her.

The other coyote hybrid prepared himself for the fight, exhibiting the bristling and bared teeth and tensing that was universal to all canines, luperci or not. Her own lips wrinkled back, though while her ears flattened reflexively against her skull in case they would become a target, the action was also one that bespoke of unease. This was new territory for her, and she did not have time to think when the Aquila ran at her with paws lashing.

Vesper noticed the hand coming at her throat and managed to bring her wrist up in time to block it, but then fingers scraped her belly. She staggered back with a sharp snarl and quickly tried to put space between them. She was not used to having to be aware of different places the opponent could attack from; she normally had to worry just about teeth, perhaps the occasional awkwardly raised paw or tripping leg. Look how easily I am disemboweled, she hissed mentally, and this time she placed herself on the offensive.

His attack served its purpose in teaching her a lesson, but she did not want to copy his same move so early. A trick was useless against one who was still freshly thinking about it. Instead, she darted toward him, claws carefully retracted though she doubted he would be harmed if they were not, and reached up with both hands to get his face. She anticipated that he would block the move, but she kept her head down even as her arms were raised, trying to bash her head into his hopefully unprotected chest and abdomen.

Balance was crucial—that was something she drilled into her head even more than was necessary. If she could compromise balance or steal some wind, she could follow up with an even more effective attack. However, she knew that her footing was more feeble than the older luperci’s, and she doubted she could make Ezekiel stumble enough to count.

Image courtesy of henrikj@Flickr; table by the Mentors!

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