[html] http://i950.photobucket.com/albums/ad34 ... bott0m.png); background-repeat:no-repeat; padding-bottom:240px; background-position:bottom center; background-color:#252237"> ┤Here we go!├
It had been getting a little rough around Souls lately, and that was no mistake. First, his wandering through Halifax had landed him right in the middle of a five-on-one, which had quickly become a two-on-one/three-on-one and resulted in five people dead and two others bloodied. After his little sister had sewn up his eye, he'd needed to go and hunt down their wayward charge, Trigger, the son of the very person they'd come here to pay respects to. Of course, the yearling had managed to get himself into a fight as soon as he was alone, and Jantus had taken a bite on the arm, though it wasn't a bad one (fortunately, the attacker realized there was a new participant and didn't recommit to the fight). Now, he was happy just to be 'home' again, or at least as close to it as they had around here. Disdaining the city as a place to actually live in, his party of eleven had taken up residence a short ways outside the territory of their previous host, Phoenix Valley. The woods had no name that Jantus knew of, but they had served their purpose well enough.
It was something of a secret to the kids, but this was--at least in part--a ploy to see if they wanted to come back to this place where their mother and father had lived. It wasn't that they weren't liked and even loved back at the Snow-capped Pine, they were. It was just that it probably wasn't where they wanted to spend the rest of their lives, and certainly not where their parents wanted them to spend the rest of their lives: in a pack which fought on a near-monthly basis for its continued domination of its territory, a group which had swollen to unnatural numbers in order to sit as king of hill (or valley, in this case) and be able to drive away all comers. He liked the Pine just fine, and had become its alpha a year or so after joining it. Nevertheless, while Skoll and Asphyxia had both lived lives rife with violence, that wasn't what they hoped for their children to have, and that meant that the Pine was a poor choice of residence.
Right now, the massive werewolf (nearly eight feet standing and broader perhaps than any wolf before who had stepped onto this territory) was doing his best to sit still while his little sister, Mala (also of striking stature herself, especially for a girl--standing nearly seven and a half feet tall) examined her stitch-work on his eye again. Meanwhile, the white wolf Aivyr was having a conversation with Nikolov, the coyote. The big alpha supposed the rest of their group were enjoying each others' company somewhere else in the tiny space they'd claimed as their own. Probably either ridiculing Trigger for the fiasco he'd gotten into, or praising him for his first real fight. If it weren't for the sewn-up cuts around his only good eye, and the swelling around his right side where he'd been struck repeatedly with a lead pipe in the city-fight, he'd be feeling pretty good right now. Being surrounded by family and friends always made him feel at ease.
| [/html]
[html] Ty had unwittingly left the boarders in search of a certain scent that had piqued his interest, something that had been lingering in the air for days now. It was a different smell than the other wolves who lived in the Valley, something unlike anything he had really smelled in the area at all. At first, he paid no mind to the scent, figuring someone would find it or whatever was there would move on, but it had been in the air for a while, and Ty was getting all the more curious. Now the young wolf was more than interested in finding out what that smell belonged to, and in his curiosity, did not realize he had left the comfortable boarders of Phoenix Valley for the first time since he had come back to Canada.
Not much longer did he wander than he saw movement in the area in front of him. Instinctively kneeling down low, his movement slowed to a crawl as he got ever closer to the moving shadows in front of him. It was autumn now, which meant Ty's orange fur was perfect camouflage with the ground beneath him. When he got close enough, he could recognize that this was indeed some kind of wolf pack, or rather, not even a pack, but a small group. There were only four of them though, and one of them was a coyote, which was strange in itself. Ty had been informed that coyotes and wolves weren't very fond of each other in Souls, and yet here a white wolf and a coyote were having a chat, and the young wolf could only muse how strange that was.
But that was not the only thing that caught his eye, he also noticed the size of one of the wolves. The creature was about seven feet tall, maybe more, a colossus among wolves. Ty was no small wolf, he was slightly larger than the average one due to his musclular build, but this wolf towered above all others. The sheer size of the creature caused Ty to forget everything he ever learned about stealth and utter the phrase "Holy Shit!" Before even realizing what he had done. His eyes widened in a panic as he clapped a hand over his mouth and laid back down on the ground, hoping they wouldn't notice the abnormally sized mound amongst the leaves.
[/html]
[html] http://i950.photobucket.com/albums/ad34 ... bott0m.png); background-repeat:no-repeat; padding-bottom:240px; background-position:bottom center; background-color:#252237">┤Hmm...how tall is Ty? I'm under the impression that 7'0 or so is 'average' since the 'normal' height range is 6-8 feet (six feet being short and eight being tall). Lemme know! Also, I hope Ty doesn't have a fragile ego!├
Nikolov was the first to turn his head toward the intruder. The wind hadn't been in their favor, else he might have been the first to smell him out, too. Aivyr, who'd been in conversation with him, turned to face Ty as well. Jantus's head was being held by his sister, so he couldn't turn before she decided to let go, which was only a few moments after the initial disturbance. When Jantus did, he noticed that it was a shifted wolf, though without the wind he couldn't smell which pack he was from. Given the direction of his approach, however, it seemed a fair guess to name Phoenix Valley as his point of origin. He cocked the eyebrow of his good eye and tilted his head.
"Something we can do for you, kiddo?" The new wolf was probably considered an adult by some, but being four years old Jantus assumed he could address him so. Nikolov and Aivyr, both unshifted, were regarding the stranger intently, but they did not seem wary or concerned. The lot of them had been in Phoenix Valley themselves not long ago, and they didn't expect any hazard to be posed by one from that pack coming to meet them. It was a little odd, however, that the pack should send someone other than Jefferson--their previous liaison--to speak with them.
Nikolov, who had heard the young wolf's exclamation first and most clearly, suppressed a snicker, but after a moment he broke into laughter. He looked from the orange/white back to their leader and flicked an ear, smiling toothily.
"I think you scared him, big guy," he laughed. Aivyr and Mala took a moment, before they started smiling themselves, the coyote's laugh was infectious. Jantus was tremendous in size, and it wasn't unusual for people to have comical reactions to his girth; it was something of an inside joke anymore to document how people responded to their first sight of him. Then again, many people behaved similarly toward Mala and her sister Ranya, who were as often as not the tallest females that new people had ever seen. The four of them struck a very odd sight, ranging from the size of a coyote to that of an ogre, and differing in age from three (in Mala's case) all the way up to nine (in Nikolov's). The situation had been awkward to start, but with the laughter, the ice had been broken as far as the four of them were concerned.
| [/html]
[html] ooc: wow, I didn't know the wolves were so tall, considering in real life they only range in size to about 4 feet in length, but seeing as how that is the basic height, I'm going to say Ty is roughly 7 feet, perhaps a little shorter, but that isn't to say Jantus isn't a giant among wolves, as you've stated he is rather large as a wolf.
A small bit of embarrassment flew over Ty as he was noticed, but from the way the wolves spoke about him, he was calmed slightly, though now nervous that he might get hurt, as these wolves could easily turn hostile. Trying to still be calm and diplomatic, Ty spoke as calmly as he could, though it was intimidating to be faced by four luperci he did not know. "Alright, you got me." He said as he lifted his body from the ground, quickly slipping out with his hands raised in a sort of surrender pose, although now standing as tall as he could on two legs to try and show a bold front. "But hear me out, I was only curious, so please don't...you know...tear my limbs off or anything, I didn't mean no harm to nobody." Of course Ty spoke in a casual tone and dialect, as he wasn't the most eloquent of speakers.
He could feel their eyes on him, but he couldn't tell what they were thinking, and that's what made his hair stand on end. these wolves could be friendly or hostile, Ty had no idea, he only knew to let them make the first move, making an unprovoked strike or attempting to run now could get himself killed. So the best he could do was try and talk it out with them. However, so far, they seemed lighthearted, but right now, he cursed his curiosity for allowing him to get into this mess. He took a deep breath, stood tall, and awaited their response after he spoke, making eye contact with all four of them to try and get a reading on their intentions, but got nothing due to his own inexperience.
[/html]
[html] http://i950.photobucket.com/albums/ad34 ... bott0m.png); background-repeat:no-repeat; padding-bottom:240px; background-position:bottom center; background-color:#252237">┤Lol, yeah, gray wolves don't get much longer than six feet from nose to tail, and I think it's way more common for them to be around four http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gray_wolf but Souls werewolves allegedly follow a size range of about 6-8 feet tall on average (when shifted of course) and a weight range of 100-400 lbs (more or less) barring some unusual cases (as an aside, I made the weight chart on the RP Guide!)├
Aivyr and Nikolov tilted their heads at the stranger, but didn't make any motion to shift into their two-legged forms. It was, perhaps, a sign of their confidence that they didn't take on fighting shape. Jantus--banged up though he was--could more than fight off a single intruder, and Mala was no slouch herself. Nonetheless, still trying to hold back a smile, the coyote looked back up to Jantus and opened up an entirely unhelpful dialogue on the whole matter.
"I dunno, Jantus. It's been a long time since I've seen you enjoy a good limb-tearing. What do you say, for old time's sake?" The giant, keeping his responsibilities to Phoenix Valley in mind, stared down at Nikolov with a stern gaze, but he knew better than to think it would faze the male. Nik was not a member of his pack, and therefore not directly under his command, though in a pinch he'd follow orders. After a moment of trying to warn him with the look, Jantus closed his lone eye and shrugged exaggeratedly.
"Eh, I just don't feel like limb-tearing today," he said easily, as if maybe--just maybe--he were being serious. That little bit of humor seemed to be enough to appease the ornery little coyote, enough at least for him to address the actual business at hand. "S'long as you're not out here to cause any trouble, don't see why we should cause any for you. You're from Phoenix Valley, right? If you're only curious, sit down a while, I'm not doing anything now that Mala's done, and aside from causing mischief, neither's Nik or Aivyr. What possessed you to come here? What can we do for you?"
A lot could be told about them only by looking. Perhaps most notable were the marks of battle on each. Not one of them was unscarred by their ventures into combat, though it told on some of them worse than others. Mala only had the marks from some old lacerations along her back. Aivyr's bushy white fur couldn't conceal several slashes he'd received in the course of Skoll's War of Shadows. Nik had a few short thick lines on his face, indicative of fangs and therefore probably of a four-legged fight with another coyote at some point during his long life. Jantus bore the most, though no more than a dozen were easily seen through his coat. If it weren't for his missing left eye, his history with battle wouldn't stand out nearly so much as it did. The giant half car-axle hanging from his belt probably told as much as anything else...as close an approximation to a modern mace as a werewolf was likely to find.
| [/html]
[html] ooc:weird, they are like basketball player size o.o
Ty listened to the wolves talk amongst themselves, and for the most part, what they said was unnerving. They did temporarily discuss tearing Ty apart, and not knowing who they were, he couldn't tell if they were being serious. As much as ty tried to be tough and not bat an eye, his tail drooped in slight worry. However, his body relaxed when the larger wolf seemed to dismiss the idea of Ty being torn to shreds. His muscles lost tension and Ty did gain a slight relaxed smile, though not overly dropping his guard, as he still didn't know these wolves' intentions.
It was now that Ty really got a good look at the wolves around him, the small pack who had found him sneaking around. It was fairly apparent now that this was a pack of warrior wolves, each one carrying a scar of some sort with them, serving as a memory of a glorious battle before them. Ty knew this because at one point in his life, when he was younger and had just left his mother, he too had run with a pack of warrior wolves, ones who served as mercenaries. In fact, Ty himself had a few scars, a large bite mark from a puma on his right forarm, and some claw marks on his side. There were even apparently a slice or two from a sword near his abdomen and chest.
But those days were long gone, and Ty hadn't fought in months, which is why he had become more docile, more peaceful. But that awoken something else in Ty, he hadn't been feeling himself lately, could that be a reason why? when he came to Phoenix Valley, he hadn't even thought about not fighting for a while. Sure, when he first arrived he tried to keep his skills sharp, but now there really wasn't anything to really fight over the past few months, and although Ty was hesitant to admit, he missed that challenge. Could that have been something he was missing from his current life?
There wasn't time to worry about that now though, the large wolf had asked him to sit down. While Ty was hesitant, he deducted it would be rude not to accept the large wolf's hospitality. After thinking it through, he came closer to the other wolves and sat down, speaking as calmly as he could. "Well, like I said before, I was curious." He started, gesturing with a hand as he spoke. "I had caught the smell of you guys for a few days, and when your scent didn't leave, I began to get curious as to why you were still around, most smells come and go, yet you haven't moved quite as quickly, so I simply wanted to see what exactly was here...and I found you four." He chuckled, slightly nervously, but kept a steady gaze upon the large wolf. If it was anything that Ty kept from his fighter past, it was his steely, unblinking gaze. "As for what you can do for me, I'm not exactly sure..."
[/html]
[html] http://i950.photobucket.com/albums/ad34 ... bott0m.png); background-repeat:no-repeat; padding-bottom:240px; background-position:bottom center; background-color:#252237">┤Also...maybe I'm getting nitpicky at this point, but shifting isn't an instantaneous process (at least in this game...), last I checked, shifting down to four or up to two legs takes a minute or two at minimum. That said, you have a lot of posts, to the point that I wonder if you've kept up with a rules change that I've missed? (my activity has been somewhat sporadic for a while now)├
"Well," the alpha considered, evaluating their guest with a curious eye. "You look like you could use some easing up. We were gonna spar sometime today. Why don't we do it now and you join us?" Mala gave her brother a pitiful expression, but Jantus waved it away. "Look at him, he's been in scraps before! Besides, we'll do it more like a training exercise than an actual spar, so there's little chance of getting hurt." He looked over at the unshifted two who were alternately looking at Jantus and the newcomer. "Why don't you shift up, Nik?" he suggested, rising to a stand himself.
"You been in many fights, have you? We can train on four legs or two, if you want. A place like this, 'pick up' fights out of the blue are more likely, so four legs might be better. But, if you're expecting something in advance from Inferni, you'd do well to be ready for two." He shrugged. He didn't like shifting down much, himself, though he would for a training session. Alternatively, Aivyr was still in the proper shape for such training, and would be closer to this wolf's size, to start. Both he, Mala, and Aivyr were more experienced on two legs, but they all knew what they were doing in both. He supposed Mala had never had a fight in halfling form, but really that wasn't much different than standard, so he didn't worry about it too much. One way or the other, he knew he'd have no need of his weapon belt, so he unbuckled it and the half-axle fell away from his waist, thudding unceremoniously to the ground.
"Over where we live, in the Snow-capped Pine," he explained, "We're beating people away from our valley all the time. It's so bad that we need about fifty people just to hold it. We've only got about a dozen with us right now, though, so the rest are still back holding the fort." Two sets of glaring eyes got the alpha's attention, and he shrugged, laughing. "Okay, Mala and I are from the Pine. These two aren't my subordinates. Maybe they're lives are a little more private and a little less brutal."
"Hey, you try being a coyote in a wolf's world, you lummox! There's a reason Tanya and I have weapons everywhere we go." Jantus laughed heartily at the coyote's indignation as Nik finished his shift, standing at a hair below six feet tall. Pure-bred coyote blood just didn't make for large people. For his part, Aivyr frowned resentfully over at the alpha, considering whether or not he should shift himself. As the only person still on four legs, he guessed he should stay unshifted in case the newcomer wanted to train like that. Aivyr was a little more skilled than Jantus by most accounts, but there was no question who would win in a fight. He had never appreciated that, but it was just an uncomfortable fact of life, and he had learned to live with it.
| [/html]
[html] ooc: oh crap you are right! I must've missed that the first time I looked over the rules D: I'm sorry, I've done this s few times and nobody has bothered to correct me. I'm still rather new, but I'll edit the posts so I don't change on the fly. Again, I apologize.
The wolves seemed to get more and more friendly as they talked with Ty, which allowed Ty to breath a sigh of relief. Now that they were all sitting and talking, the other wolves didn't seem so bad, they reminded him of people he once knew. They all had the sort of rough and tough perspective that his last pack had, the one he ran with those four months ago before he came to Phoenix Valley, in fact, he was beginning to like these wolves.
However, Ty was a little more than apprehensive when he was asked if he wanted to spar with the other wolves again. Ty hadn't sparred, fought, or done anything of the sort in months, and sort of wussed out since then. When Ty used to fight, is was that so he would get food later, or shelter, he and his pack fought for reward, he was rusty, and he was going to be rusty. However, these were wolves who had fought all their life, for longer and possibly harder situations than he has ever been in. Nevertheless, something inside wanted himself to say yes, something deep down thought it would be a good idea.
After a small pause, Ty nodded and replied to Jantus "Well...alright, I'll join in...though I may be a little rusty, I haven't really sparred or practiced in a while." He spoke as he went back to standing on his four legs. 'We can spar however you guys normally do it, shifted or not, I'd like to get back into it, although chances are I'll get knocked down a few times before I really regain the hang of it." He said meekly. Of course Ty was speaking meekly, he had lost all confidence as a fighter since his return to the Valley, he hadn't needed the skills, so therefore they had simply receded into Ty's memories.
[/html]
[html] http://i950.photobucket.com/albums/ad34 ... bott0m.png); background-repeat:no-repeat; padding-bottom:240px; background-position:bottom center; background-color:#252237">┤=P Okay, so he's unshifted right now? I'll run with that.├
"Hmm...you're rusty, eh? Well, just for a challenge, why don't you start with our best fighter, Nik?" The alpha snickered and Mala punched him sharply on the left shoulder, clearly not with force to hurt someone so big. Stop it! she said amusedly. The coyote shot him an incredulous and then tiredly cynical look.
"Ha ha, funny, jerk. 'Let's all see the big bad wolf beat up on the widdle coyote!', clever." He walked off to the side, away from the others but abreast of Ty as if to for them to face one another with their profiles to the others. He began shaking his hands exaggeratedly, loosening up before the fight. "Speed and strength down by half, there, wolf. Not planning on getting ripped up just for practice." Seemingly, he had accepted the offer, even though it had been facetious. The idea that he could handle a wolf--even an average-sized one--was laughable. Full-blooded coyotes got killed when a wolf who wanted a fight came to pick on them. He and Tanya had scared some off in the past, but when wolves got serious, it wasn't even a fight. As a result, he didn't have the unarmed skills of the Pine wolves. His participation the war (as well as his mate's) had been defined by their use of weaponry. Of course, this fight would be less than friendly if he were permitted to bring his aluminum bat into the equation.
"Alright, kiddo. I don't want to see any blood. Check those claws and if you get close enough to bite, watch the strength. Nik'll be coming at you slow enough for you to see the shots coming and to time your own. This isn't a fight to hurt each other...if your hurt the widdle coyote, I'm gonna have to break things up." He was still talking warmly enough, but his face had taken on a different light, and he was curious to see how things would progress from here. Aivyr was technically 'better,' but since he was on four legs right now, Jantus would have to do.
The coyote didn't waste too much time. He waited until he could make eye-contact with Ty, then he darted in. As light as he was compared to the giants around him, he was very quick on his feet. Nonetheless, it wasn't a real fight (and lucky for him, he remembered the let down of getting handled in Skoll's tournament) and so he wouldn't be taking full advantage of it today. He threw an open left hand upward (rigid like a claw but with his fingers curled to the point where they wouldn't catch flesh), followed by a right fist aimed for the solar plexus. Neither had the speed (or claw) to inflict damage, it was just a demonstration. They'd see what this youth was prepared for and what he wasn't.
| [/html]
[html]
Although Ty did not doubt the coyote's skill in combat, it was rather obvious that when Jantus said 'best fighter' he didn't entirely mean it. Nevertheless, Ty's gaze switched from the large wolf to the small coyote, smiling as best as he could as to not anger the coyote, who knew how good the creature really was. Although coyotes weren't exactly the top fighters in terms of strength, but they were crafty and speedy, and have been known to outmaneuver and kill wolves, though usually numbers help as well.
However Ty's small lapse in focus was exactly when the coyote made a move, the coyote, in luperci form, made quite a swift upward palm towards Ty's chest, to which Ty only reacted instinctively to in order to dodge, he ended up stumbling backwards and nearly falling over. His dodge was sloppy, but he was still standing, nevertheless Ty wasn't really prepared for the second swing towards his solar plexus. However, again, it was simple muscle memory that reacted instead of actually thinking about what he was doing. Instead of being smart and jumping back to keep himself on his feet or blocking, he simply let his legs fall slightly limp and allowed his body to sink to the ground, allowing the second fist to swish over his head.
Ty was beginning to regain his bearings though, trying to resettle his footing and actually make a counterattack against the coyote's startling, yet slow swings. He remembered that the alpha instructed Ty to not draw blood, that this was a spar, which Ty would respect at least. Placing his feet sturdily on the ground, his body suddenly burst off the ground as well, and Ty made a rather scrappy but still slow headbutt towards the coyote's chest.
[/html]
[html] http://i950.photobucket.com/albums/ad34 ... bott0m.png); background-repeat:no-repeat; padding-bottom:240px; background-position:bottom center; background-color:#252237">┤I hope you're okay with this level of powerplay? If you private message me, I'll change it.├
The wolf came surging up toward the coyote, and not having the maneuverability at half-speed to side-step it, he simply took it on, wrapping one arm around the youth's neck and clenching it into a headlock. Nikolov let out a startled snort as he was pushed backward anyway, not really having the weight to keep the young bull from pushing through, and they both fell to the ground, the wolf on top, but with his head still locked in the coyote's grip. From here, any spar would be awkward, as the coyote had no hope of getting up, and the wolf wouldn't have much luck either with his head trapped well away from his center of balance. Jantus strode over and put a hand on the boy's back.
"Hold up. Okay, well, you've got some problems already. Nik's claws are near your neck, which is bad. Even a small coyote's got sharp claws when in-shift, sharp enough to open your throat. Even if you reach up to stop him from dragging a claw across your neck, he can tighten that hold 'till you pass out, either from cutting off the blood or, if he had you held a different way, from crushing your windpipe." As it was awkward talking to the two of them mid-hold, he motioned for Nik to let go and for both of them to stand back up.
"So, in a shifted fight, don't use your teeth or otherwise extend your neck unless you're too close for claws; fangs 'ent the nastiest weapon in these fights. Also, your dodgin' too much. I suppose if I was throwing a heavy blow at you, maybe, but someone your own size and speed starts swinging, he's gonna connect faster than you can duck down like that. Not to mention, you'll tire out. Here." Tapping the coyote's shoulder, Jantus prompted him to turn, and the two were facing one another like they themselves were about to spar. Nikolov had a perplexed look on his face.
"Now, when you're as big as me, you might not fight the same way everyone else does, but I know the basics. If Nik's gonna swing at me like he did you," he motioned, and the shorter canine obliged, throwing out a 'claw' for demonstration. Jantus immediately raised his left arm to block his chest--had he been shorter, it would probably have been his face. As it was, that stood about a foot too high for Nikolov to comfortably reach. "I'm gonna use my arm to protect myself. It 'ent efficient to move your whole body to dodge an arm, you want to go arm on arm, like this." He moved inward, pushing against the coyote's forearm with his own, deflecting the claw away from its target.
"Now, Nik's got an arm free, and so have I. He can throw a follow-up," --the coyote did so-- "But I've got another arm to do the same thing again. Point is not to let the shot hit the target. I can block as easy as he can attack. Now, what if Nik decides to start targeting my arms? Well, a fist won't hurt them much, but his claws could tear up my skin pretty bad, and if someone's doing that, reversing on em's good. Claws are a little slower on account of the dragging action, and are best coming in from the outside, which leaves an opening for counter-attack." He studied Ty's eyes, looking to make sure he was paying attention.
"That's one of the reasons seasoned fighters use a lot of fist techniques, even though claws seem to do more damage and are more natural. Fists have some advantages over claws, but claws are great for discouraging people and in most standing fights that end--" --he thought of Skoll-- "--end with someone getting opened up in the neck. Now, why don't you go ahead and stand with Nik again and give it another go?" He stepped aside and the coyote squared up with Ty once more, waiting for Ty to get ready before he'd approach and open with a two-strike combination again.
| [/html]
[html] OOC: your powerplay is just fine, and I've edited all my posts to make sense with yours.
As Ty was placed in the headlock, he began to hear the larger wolf suddenly giving advice. Wait a minute, why was the big wolf suddenly taking him in as a student? Ty did say he was curious, but this seemed rather odd. He was expecting the pack to just shoo him off, but now they were giving him fighting advice? Ty could only think of it as strange behavior. Nevertheless, Ty wasn't exactly complaining, his time in Phoenix Valley had made him kind of soft, he needed to be toughened up again anyways, and if these wolves wanted to help, Ty had no objection to it.
Getting his head out of the hold, he watched as the large wolf showed Ty what he should of done, which he realized would have made more sense than what he did. Nevertheless, he had been fighting like he was a few inches shorter and a few pounds lighter, Ty had forgotten how much he had grown in the past few months. He looked to the coyote, now thinking over the one-two hit, and devised something new for this one, utilizing the tip that the big wolf gave him.
The difference between a fist and a claw ty had already known about, but it didn't hurt to go over that. Again, Ty was rusty, he dind't remember all the best moves or study up on weak points of a luperci, e was only going off of instinctive muscle memory. And that memory waas only leading him back to using his teeth and claws like a natural wolf. As effective as those are, being a luperci means one has a lot more variety and advantage to their attacks, which Jantus seemed to have an extensive knowledge of. He admired that in the large wolf. Only meeting him today, he already found the wolf as good of a teacher as his former teachers, and perhaps he'd learn even more from this one.
"Yes...that makes a lot more sense." Ty said finally when Jantus finished giving advice. Now circling the coyote, he began to get back into the groove he once had, tried to get back a little bit of the fighter's attitude he used to hold. He gave a small smirk and a nod the coyote, now that he was ready, he took a more ready stance and said "Alright, let's give this another shot!"
[/html]
[html] http://i950.photobucket.com/albums/ad34 ... bott0m.png); background-repeat:no-repeat; padding-bottom:240px; background-position:bottom center; background-color:#252237">┤Awesome, we're back in business! This one's short, since I want to leave it to you whether the attacks land or not. Feel free to finish this particular spar...an exchange of practice attacks and defenses would be fine, and if you want, tackling Nik to the ground (where he won't be able to do anything given his size XD) would be fine also.├
The coyote frowned slightly at the youth's smirk. He had some scarring on him, and even though his movements from before had been wrong, there hadn't been much hesitation behind them. He had some confidence, and between that and the scars it was pretty obvious that he'd done this before. Given that he also probably outweighed Nik by a hundred pounds, the coyote got the impression he was going to end up on his ass, or at least wishing he was somewhere else pretty soon. When the wolf was ready, he stepped in again, throwing a light kick which was more a feint than an actual attack. Before committing to it fully, he jumped forward with the other and threw a faux right claw followed by a left to the same target below his chest.
One of the hardest parts about fighting wolves when shifted--even though the ratio of coyote size to wolf size wasn't usually as pronounced in that form (barring Jantus of course)--was their added height. As a coyote, he rarely fought someone whose head was low enough to the ground for him to comfortably hit, and when using fit techniques, the head was supposed to be one of the prime targets. It was for this reason that coyote were often out of the loop when it came to fighting at higher skill levels: not all of it was applicable for tiny people. On four legs, sure: further south, there were more coyotes than wolves, and they got plenty of experience quarreling with one another. But up here, well...the 'disciplined fist' had an edge over the 'feral claw,' due to the purely offensive nature of claw-fighting, and the best fighters used a fine blend of the two to mix the stances assumed by fist-fighters while not wholly forsaking the tearing power of their nature-given gifts. As a coyote who never went into combat without his metal baseball bat, though, the best Nik could do was emulate what he'd seen the 'big boys' do when they got into a scrap.
If this were a real fight, the coyote would probably lose, and all of his friends right now suspected the same (though it was true that if he actually had gotten the headlock, he might have defied expectation). Nikolov would need words with Jantus after this, as he hated fighting wolves unarmed. This had the potential to be almost as bad as his foolish participation in Skoll's tournament a year and a half ago, when Mala's boyfriend had used size and strength to plow through any cleverness he tried to employ to score the victory. It wasn't exactly encouraging when your mate had to stride into the ring and push your opponent off of your huddled frame.
| [/html]
[html]
As they squared off again, Ty was more patient this time, more thoughtful about the method of attack and counterattack. Although it probably would not improve much, it might make it so he was not on the losing end this time around. this time, the coyote did seem rather intimidated by his smirk, but Ty didn't really know what the coyote was thinking, after all, Ty could see he was fighting someone who knew what he was doing, even though outmatched on terms of pure body structure, Ty could admit that this coyote had heart.
When the coyote did go for a strike, Ty moved towards him instead of away, moving into the coyote's blows. The kick came in near his chest area, to which Ty simply brought an arm up in defense, but the kick never connected, as Ty quickly figured out it was a feint attack. He could see that coyote was coming in for an actual strike now with his claw, which Ty was able to recieve by moving the coyote's right claw away with his left arm. Ty could see that the coyote wasn't exactly stopping at that one blow, so again Ty's body shifted slighty as his left arm moved again, reached out and snatched the coyote's left strike out of the air, stopping it before he got to his solar plexus.
Now that Ty actually had a grip on the coyote, he couldn't bounce around Ty, which gave Ty's size and strength a huge advantage. Capitalizing on this, Ty twisted his body into a pull, which would force the coyote forward, then shifting his weight into a shoulder to the coyote's chest. For added leverage, Ty had remembered one bit of training he once had that he could use to his advantage in this situation, in which he actually hooked his left foot around the coyote's right foot. With the combined shoulder to the chest along with the hook of the leg, that coyote didn't have anywhere to really go but down.
Although the coyote was very much out of his weight class, Ty still didn't feel like he should be pushing his weight around like this. Sure, it was advantageous in the fight, but now he just felt like he was picking on someone smaller than him. However, the coyote had agreed to the spar, and Ty had used half strength and speed as he was instructed by the large wolf, but that didn't really make him feel much better about bowling over a small coyote.
[/html]
[html] http://i950.photobucket.com/albums/ad34 ... bott0m.png); background-repeat:no-repeat; padding-bottom:240px; background-position:bottom center; background-color:#252237">┤I went ahead and sort of glazed over an exchange where Jantus asks whether or not Ty knows everything that a fighter typically does from his dominant position, and we can assume that if there's anything I listed that Ty's never seen before Jantus can explain it?├
The match didn't go well for the coyote, as all of them had expected. There just wasn't a way for someone of his size to compete with a wolf who had some idea of what they were doing. It was true that occasionally a coyote would kill a wolf by virtue of his or her claws and finding access to the neck, but it wasn't frequent, and if that wolf knew to beware of claws on two legs the same way they were wary of fangs on four, it was almost impossible. Nikolov knew that there were things one could do from the bottom; he knew that he'd seen Skoll demonstrate a few things, but he couldn't summon them out of memory right then, and so he landed on his back with a wolf on top of him and his left hand grabbed and controlled by the more powerful right of his adversary. Having an enemy in a headlock before going down was a good start, he knew, but again, he only had one arm, and that wasn't enough for someone of his strength to get Ty's head in any meaningful hold.
With the wolf on top of him, he struggled to his his legs over the hips of his enemy...he remembered enough to know that when it got this close, position was everything. Nonetheless, he didn't remember the twisting and turning that gaining position entailed...it wasn't as easy to pick up by observation as basic striking was. His ears fell in frustration as he realized that just by virtue of height, he'd fallen with his hips below Ty's, which meant he was at a disadvantage already.
"You needed to think of that when you fell, Nik," Mala intoned as the coyote looked from side to side and squirmed beneath the shifting weight of his opponent. "He's too strong for you to do anything about it now: your only hope for position was the transition." This might have been nonsensical to the idle viewer, but all of them here had some background in fighting, enough to translate the message: when wrestling for position, a lot was decided during the fall. If Nik had thrown his free leg (the one that hadn't been hooked) over Ty's hip as soon as he knew he was going to fall, he could have fallen into 'guard' position, which--while still disadvantageous--was the best hope a fighter had at the bottom, where the hips and legs were above those of the enemy, locking their position and preventing them from moving up on you. Provided you could defend your gonads (this being done primarily by occupying the enemy's hands) this was the best 'position' to have from the bottom. Alternatively, 'half-guard' also prevented the opponent from having free reign over your defenseless form by locking around one of their legs and preventing them from achieving 'full-mount' in which their legs were above yours and they had a completely superior position to their already grounded enemy. Fighting with fangs changed this dynamic slightly in that the 'disadvantaged' party, who was lower down in relative position, might--on a good day--manage to take the throat with their fangs if the dominant canine got too close. One way or the other, though, Nik had not managed either position he might otherwise have taken, nor any of the best positions he'd seen Skoll do, and was currently in a completely vulnerable position to an adversary who was already naturally stronger and heavier than him.
From here, in a real fight, Ty would have a range of options. The first and most obvious was clawing. Gravity plus strength and an opponent with no ability to maneuver meant anyone in Nik's position would become a veritable scratching post. Raining down blows was another option, or a blend of both. A punch became much more devastating when the victim's head was either propped against or held down to the ground, as the earth created a backstop magnifying the impact of each strike. Further real-world options would include choking (in which gravity and pressing of the upper body would assist in crushing the larynx) and throat or artery-opening by deliberate use of claws. And that was just basics. Given that the spar was clearly over, Jantus asked for a simple demonstration as to whether or not Ty knew what he could do from this position before moving on.
*****
"Alright," Jantus said, looking around their small group. "Now that we've seen that you can handle yourself against a much smaller opponent, I'd suggest you go up against either me or Mala." He looked at his sister and scratched his chin. "I guess we're both bigger than you, though if you find someone as big as me I suggest you run, rather than train to take 'em on." He shrugged. He wanted to find Ty a better sparring partner for a while on two legs before he offered a match with Aivyr on four. Still, he did intend on drilling the kid on four legs, so long as he had interest to continue.
| [/html]
[html] ooc:yes, that makes sense, Ty's had some experience, but he is still young and sloppy, he probably doesn't know or won't remember everything he's taught, so yes, Jantus will probably need to explain some grappling techniques to Ty. Sorry about this being late though, I've been sick for a while.
After they had fallen to the ground, it was obvious that Ty had been the victor this time instead of the coyote, who had made an impressive move last time. Qnd when Jantus had asked, he demonstrated only what he could remember, which wasn't as much as he had hoped. However, this was not to say what he remember didn't work, he showed some efficient ways to use his claws as to deal damage to the throat, or his elbow in crushing the windpipe. Nothing flashy or really effective, just stuff that got him from point A to point B, in which B is a defeated opponent. Now getting back to his feet, Ty dusted himself off as he got to his feet, but not before noticing the look on the coyote's face about losing. It was Ty's nature to be like this, but he took sympathy on the coyote, the guy fought a good fight, and it wasn't like it was evenly matched to begin with, so the best thing he could really do was be sportsmanlike about the spar. Giving the coyote a small friendly smirk, he reached down and offered the coyote a hand up as well. He didn't want to seem like a cocky child, he knew he only won because of his size advantage, and if the coyote had a few more pounds on him, the spar may have gone another way.
Turning to the large wolf, he smiled slightly knowing he had at least shown he could defend himself. While Jantus may not have given him huge praise, he acknowledged he at least had the ability to defeat a coyote. He now had to look at his two options for his next sparring match. This confused Ty even more, not only was the wolf teaching Ty how to fight without ever even asking his name, he was going to let Ty spar another member of his pack. Ty could only wonder if the large wolf just didn't care or had seen something in Ty that nobody else had. He was then given his options: spar either the large wolf himself, a female wolf named Mala, or neither. Ty noticed that both wolves were bigger than him, though Mala was more his size. He heard the large wolf muse that he thought about teaching Ty not to fight either of them, but he didn't really have a choice.
Ty could only look at his options, analyzing which one would make more sense. Looking to the large wolf, Ty spoke up I think I'll go up against Mala." He said to Jantus. "she is more my size than you are I can see, I think I'll have a better shot trying to match up to her than you." He then looked to the female, not really knowing how good she was at this, or what she thought of him. He could only suspect that because she was of this pack, she was a good fighter, and because she was a female, buther opinion on him was a mystery. Would she take it easy on him? Or simply bowl him over without a second thought. Ty waited in a bit of anticipation, he could feel his breath quicken with anticipation, and a smirk to cross his face. He had not felt this feeling of anticipation, of challenge, in months.
[/html]
[html] http://i950.photobucket.com/albums/ad34 ... bott0m.png); background-repeat:no-repeat; padding-bottom:240px; background-position:bottom center; background-color:#252237">┤Not to worry, I won't be active again until after my exams on Tuesday. Only typing now because I'm not awake enough to keep writing the essay for my final. Also, I apologize if my last post was overly technical. I've been studying fighting (albeit vicariously and through watching matches and documentaries) for four years or so and sometimes I am shameless in the opportunities I take to regurgitate information XD Okay, as for this one, I'm gonna say much more even, if it's alright: Mala has taken fighting much more seriously than Nikolov since she's big enough to use it against most opponents. However, I mention that she uses claws in 'real fights' so a draw works for me. Maybe she holds the advantage in striking and Ty can take her to the ground? If you'd like to keep it standing, I'm alright with that too.├
Nik took the hand offered to him to get up, and then proceeded to dust off his backside where he'd landed in the rough. He didn't like fighting wolves. Ever, really. Even during the war (which everyone had agreed needed to be fought), he'd had to be extremely careful and avoided one on one combat when he could. His bat could incapacitate a wolf if he hit it in the head, and could kill one of if he hit them a few more times, but it hadn't turned out to be as effective as his mate, Tanya's weapon. He gave Jantus a wry look before stepping away from the 'fighting ring,' which only consisted of an unmarked area around Ty.
It had turned out to be a strange situation, with the fighters of the group taking an interest in just how much Ty knew. After all, what they'd heard of this place seemed to suggest that real fighters were rare in Souls. There were a few, but mostly they gravitated toward Inferni, and they weren't of the sort that protected people in need, but the type that bullied their neighbors and were prone to wanton slaughter. If they found an aspiring young wolf, it was only natural to see what he could do and develop his talent a bit, or if they found someone who really knew a lot, it seemed likely that they'd want to investigate and discover how he'd come to be in this place which Skoll had noted as generally tame in terms of actual pack conflict (this underlined by the fact that no one had effectively or consistently stood up to Inferni as he'd known it years before).
"Alright then, feel free to go at it. Same rules as before." Mala, who had been somewhat amused by the whole turn of events, and interested in finding how much this youth actually knew, changed her demeanor quickly after her brother offered her as an opponent. She knew better than to think someone (especially someone who liked the idea of winning, which young wolves were often partial to) would spar with her brother if they had any other choices available, and thus she knew before he said it that Ty would select her as his opponent. She, like her sister, had been defeated in the first round of Skoll's tournament. Mala had the singular experience of being picked apart by a martial expert. Her opponent, Twilight, had gone on to win the tournament, much to the surprise of most, though seeing as her most devastating weapon--her kicks--were not against the rules, whereas a good deal of Skoll's arsenal had been, Mala didn't hold it against the older male for losing. Still, she had not been idle since that loss. She had never learned how to do the motions that had defeated her, one of the benefits of Twilight's style was that it was very hard (and dangerous) to emulate, meaning that the expert had very little to fear from being 'copied.' One way or the other, she had stepped up her training after that, and though she knew she wasn't at that level yet, she was still adamant that one day she would be as good as the woman who'd defeated her. She took a fighting stance across from the male, her eyes burning.
"Half-speed? I'll be going faster than that. You'd better keep up!" She stepped in and made a short jab, not full-power, but her speed was still impressive. As a female, her upper body wasn't powerful for her size, which in a real fight would be compensated for by a preference for claws over fists, but that hadn't stopped her from learning to punch and employ a 'fist style' effectively. She was strong for a girl, maybe as strong as Ty (though that might not remain true by the time he turned two years old), and her reach was better due to her height. She utilized low kicking (at the ankle and knee) to draw attention and wobble her opponents. Given that this was practice, she couldn't do anything more than provide token kicks and token punches which would sting without doing real damage. Nevertheless, she'd stepped up the game, and now Ty would need to speed up his reaction time. She was a much more technically proficient striker than Nik had been.
| [/html]
[html] ooc: I actually just though she was going to kick my ass, but if you want them so fight to a draw I'm game."Well, alright, I'll try to kee-WAH!" Ty said as he was interrupted by the punch. It was obvious that this fight was going to be much tougher than the last. Although he was able to bring his arm up to defend himself, he didn't bring it up nearly fast enough, as he was not readily adjusted to the change of pace. While he was able to push her jab away from his center, he was not quick enough to change it's trajectory enough to stop it from hitting him. The punch made a solid connection with his shoulder, forcing him back in a slight stumble when it impacted. While it was not full-power, it still stung quite a bit, he could feel that the punch certainly was going to leave a bruise, which he vocally admitted "Damn, that will leave a mark...:
Ty could see the look in her eyes, she was intending to push him. Even though she said she wasn't going at half-speed, Ty didn't expect her to be going this fast. Now that he got some knowledge of how fast she was actually going to go, he had to be prepared for her next moves. But he didn't quiet know how well she did defensively either, perhaps her defense wasn't as good as her offense. Of course, Ty was cautious about that idea, as he had no clue what he was up against.
Nevertheless,he had to make some kind of move, or she would make one, and that would be bad for Ty, as many of the counters he once knew had slipped from his mind. Pulling back his arm, he pushed forward with his feet in order to make a punch movement towards her. He twisted his body to put more impact on the punch, aiming straight for in between the eyes. Sure, he had pulled his punch, but he simply had attempted to make the punch look imitating. What he was really going for was a knee to the gut, but as long as she had focused on the false punch, he would be able to make contact with the knee. At the very last possible second, he stopped the punch and brought his back foot forward, rising it as a knee to her stomach.
[/html]
[html] http://i950.photobucket.com/albums/ad34 ... bott0m.png); background-repeat:no-repeat; padding-bottom:240px; background-position:bottom center; background-color:#252237">┤I'm cool with that too, Mala (though I admit she's only a minor character in the ever-growing roster of NPC's I've created) is characterized primarily as being avid for improving herself and being generally on a warpath when it comes to competition. I could see her beating a rusty yearling like Ty; she's bigger than him, so these things might be a good counter weight to the fact that she's a girl. Maybe after this it calms down a bit and the thread winds down, or do you want to continue fighting after this thing with Mala?├
Mala had not been in so many fights as her brother. She had been too young to assist in the conflict which had killed her parents...her brother had killed a wolf in that conflict, his first, and if the world had been kind his last. Nonetheless, he had strength, and she thought it right that he used it to make his corner of the world a better place. Now that she was older, she knew that she would never grow up to be as big or as strong as he was. Nevertheless, that knowledge somehow only spurred her on harder, as if the logic of her mind had no way access to the fire of her heart. What should have given her fatalism regarding the limitations of her abilities, of her body, only triggered an even more fervent backlash against what she had faced. Her loss against Twilight had made her regret more than ever that she had been left behind on Skoll's iconic war...only two of their members had returned from that conflict, but it had made the two who came back.
She raised her arm to block his blow, but her eyes never left the center of his body, and she saw the knee coming from a mile away. She answered his instep with a stop-thrust punch to the jaw, her extended arm preventing his advance and keeping him too far to use his knee. This attack was jarring, even in practice. She capitalized on the situation, following with her right fist then her left and right again. She punctuated her onslaught with a push-kick to his abdomen creating distance between them again where he would need to pass through her range again before he could bring power in with his shorter arms.
"Geez, Mala," Jantus said, holding his stitched up head with his hand, contemplating the situation. "If I were you, kid, I'd close up that guard...if you don't make sure your form is good, she'll take advantage of it. Not sure there's any quick way to best Mala, but make sure not to let her keep you at that distance. You'll need to close." Even as he said this, she threw a low kick into the side of his knee. They didn't mean much now, but in true combat it was clear that these attacks would either damage his joints, leg muscles, or lacerate his skin with her hindclaws. It was good that this was training.
| [/html]
[html] ooc:Hmmm....I dunno, I kind of like this thread, perhaps Mala will have the upper hand for most of the match until Ty does something unexpected of yearling. then yeah, the thread could wind down from there, but I think that Ty could use a few more of these training sessions as well.
The short jab Ty should of seen coming, but being so out of touch with fighting, he did not. Once it crashed into his face, he immediately curled into a boxing guard as the blows came in, hitting his arms and sides, places that wouldn't hurt too much. He was able to jump back and avoid the push kick though, which allowed them to gains distance between one another. The whole onslaught was rather jarring, and she was much more aggressive than he had expected her to be. However, that didn't mean he was out, that simply meant he was seeing more of her intentions for this. Now that he got a reading, as rusty as he was, he may stand a chance if he can throw her off guard, but doing that would require some effort on his part, as she was now focused on him, and would read him if he went in for a strike, he had to think of a way to get in without her countering.
Of course, he could also hear what Jantus had to say, which Ty nodded to. It made his job harder as well, Ty had to close up his guard for her offense, but he had to move in for his own offense and around her defense. It seemed more and more as he talked that she was the better fighter, the only way he was going to win was fighting smart. He had to do something in some form, some motion, that would allow him to capitalize on the situation, he was changing his tactics from fighter of someone smaller to someone of rather equal size.
Before he could really think something up,she threw another low kick at him, aiming for the side of his knee. In response, he pulled his leg up and curled it, allowing the leg to pass by his knee, avoiding the hit. Now with this small retreat, he switched the momentum into a low step forward with the brought up leg as he ducked down, and stepped onto the outside of her now kicking leg, facing her right side. Hoping this move caught her off guard, he made a left hook toward her side, following that up with a right uppercut towards her kidneys. He could only hope that would force her to slump over so he could finish this offensive with a final knee into the side of her head. Now that he was on an offensive run, he wanted to keep it that way. Giving her back the offensive would be bad, unless he would be able to guard the move or catch her off balance.
[/html]
|
