Blacktail Deer Plateau This little piggy got none

specifically for @Dauntless as a thread to help him with mercenary! I'll also throw a dice roll up. Dauntless can make the first move to start the fight.

Nikan hadn't had much else in the ways of luck in tracking down winni. He had kind of given up for now in the hopes of just focusing on surviving the winter. He had finally reached the moutains and made his way through them, finding a packs borders along the way. He sniffed at them before catching the faint whiff of killed prey on the breeze and without a second thought he ran over the borders, toward that scent that promised food.

He found it quickly and looked into the cache he stood over. It was wrong in every way, crossing into taken territory and then proceeding to rob the pack of their hard earned food. God forbid there was children there. But then he reminded himself with a smirk that packs always had more food then loners and that he wasn't as morally guided as his unofficially betrothed MIA friend was and he snatched a whole rabbit.With the kill in his jaws he turned right around and bolted for the borders in the hopes of making it away unscathed.

the scent of loner within their borders heading directly for a food cache was strong and offensive to the chocolate garbed sentry as he apprehended and adjusted his course to meet the audacious male in an interception. dauntless's hackles bristle and a low growl rumbles in his throat as the earthen agouti man appears through the trees, big as you please, with a stolen hare's stiff corpse hanging limp betwixt his jaws. dauntless's lips curl back from his teeth as his muscles pull taunt, tail raised high over his back. a snarl wrenches from betwixt his jaws before he runs, all out, towards the trespasser dauntless's aim to slam his body against the trespasser's own in an attempt to get him down. it's at the forefront of his mind that his ultimate goal is to get him into submissive surrender and dauntless is not afraid ( ahah, i enjoy the puns i get to use with his name ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) ) to assert his dominance, especially on his own turf to a man who — as far as dauntless cares to see — can't respect the borders that are there to warn him away.

Nikan had totally expected to be able to make it off territory before being found, but all of a sudden there was a smaller but still substantial form slamming into him. The air left his lungs and the rabbit flew away a few feet as he immediately slammed to the ground a grunt of surprise and pain leaving his maw. Immediately he went into fight mode and he used the momentum to continue to roll until he was on his belly. There he pushed himself up and sprung at Dauntless in one fluid movement, jaws parted in an attempt to seek out the flesh around his face. He had no idea that dauntless was just a kid so he really should try to avoid damaging him as much as possible, his brain was simply screaming that this was an enemy who had to be fought off.

psst, on our dice roll i rolled a 3 so nikan only has 1 hit taken instead of 2. ^-^

the impact of their bodies as they collide is hard and dauntless' shoulder takes most of the resounding brunt and pain of it. it smarts but a secondary rush of adrenaline fills him and numbs it, allows him to focus on what's presently the most important thing: the fight. this isn't a friendly, competitive spar between brothers. this was the real deal and in that small and brief moment of consideration it terrified him just as much as it excited him. there was no such thing as a harmless trespass and theft of valuable food resources. that hare could have been a meal for arushi or ishara. or for catori who he assumed would soon grow round with his baby siblings.

the trespasser rose and leapt at him, parted jaws aiming for his face. dauntless feigns left quickly and the male's attack misses him. as the male's neck comes into his range dauntless aims to grab the male's front leg.

As he lunged the boy dodges to the left and he misses much to his dismay. It wasn't like he thought he hadn't done anything wrong and didn't deserve this fight, it was more that he had planned on getting away quickly. Now that that plan was ruined he was pissed and needed to get to that rabbit, he'd be damned if he lost the food too.  

As the kid went for his leg he growled and jumped away, spinning so that his head was positioned by Dauntless's right shoulder. At the chance he lunged again, attempting to grab the boy by the scruff where he'd push him down to the ground as best he could.

dauntless' attack misses the trespasser's leg. the boy's teeth clash together jarringly, having anticipated wrapping around flesh and bone of the criminal. dauntless gives his head a slight shake and sobers up quickly, letting out a low snort. dauntless dodges the gnash of the trespasser's teeth aimed for his scruff with a snap of his teeth in response. like hell ...he thinks with a surge of defiance. this was his turf and losing to this man would be nothing but an utter embarrassment. if he allows the man to grab him by the scruff then it'll be hard to regain his ground. the trespasser's teeth miss dauntless with his dodge and dauntless moves in quick aiming for a hind leg this time, teeth intending to splice flesh as dauntless attempts to once more throw him off balance and get him down to the ground.

Nikan clamped down on empty air instead of grabbing the boy's scruff and he winced visibly. This wasn't going well at all, his thoughts began to go from fighting to being able to run off and make it away alive. As he thought about escape the piercing pain of his opponent biting his leg made him snarl before he hit the ground and rolled onto his back. Forepaws came up to shield his neck but he began to kick with his hind paws much like a cat, attempting to batter the boy's muzzle to get him to let go.

dauntless's second attempt to grab the male's leg was successful: his teeth sink into the thin and soft flesh of his leg, tugging him to the forest floor. he's down and dauntless draws in a breath as he releases the trespasser's leg before the other male can manage to bat at him. dauntless aims for his belly then, seeking to splice him open like he would a deer's belly. this wasn't a game, after all. dauntless was fighting to protect his dad's claim, fighting to protect his sisters and everything that he held dear; and he's realized abruptly that there was no line he wouldn't cross to ensure their safety. he would corrupt himself with becoming death, if that was what it took. yet, with the trespasser still wriggling and kicking it would make his mark hard to reach. still, dauntless attempted it, nevertheless.

fuck...fuck...fuck! his thoughts were a mixture of anger and pain as the boy opens a wound on his hind limb. As he was on his back, limbs still kicking he saw the boy lunge in for his stomach and reared up, forelimbs aiming to wrap around his neck and hind limbs seeking hold of the sensitive area of his groin. If it succeeded he would twist with his upper weight and push with his hind legs to throw the boy over onto the ground beside him and regain his footing to make a break for the rabbit.

dauntless lets out a low snarl, snapping his teeth as the trespasser's legs wrap around his neck and throws him to the ground. dauntless's landing is not elegant — his body collides with the earth hard and painfully but adrenaline rushes in to whisk away the pain so he can continue with the fight. he scrambles to his paws as quick as he can and launches after the man as he makes a break for his kill. dauntless draws in close and aims for the man's scruff to force him back to the ground and into a submissive yeild.

Much quicker than he had expected, the boy had gotten up and attacked him from the back. The sudden pull back on his scruff jerked him and he fell to the ground hard. He winced, flanks heaving and rolled onto his back to stare up at the boy with hatred. That's when he realized that this was legitimately a kid. He was fighting a young boy, probably not even a full year old yet. The thought brought everything to a halt and he pinned his ears back, tucking his tail and submitting. Even a monster such as himself had morals and killing a child was something he would never do. "Take the prey back, I don't want it anyway. Scar me if you must but either way I won't be coming back" he muttered and found himself unable to look into his opponent's eyes.

dauntless scruffs the man and jerks him to the ground hard, asserting his dominance over the trespasser. this victory feels measurably different than his victory over his friendly spar with sunny. the trespasser rolls over and stares at dauntless with hatred in his eyes and dauntless' lips curl silently as his hackles bristle and tail rises over his back. it only bothered daunt because this was his turf and if anyone had any right to feel hatred it was dauntless himself. "the next time i see you anywhere near my borders whether you're inside them or there's ten feet between them and your body —" dauntless swipes his salmon pink tongue across his jowls, pearly white teeth gleaming as if to reinforce his next words. "— i'm going to kill you." not a threat, not a warning. a promise. in the wake of that heavy promise dauntless does not mar his flesh, to show that he can be merciful but that it would be the only time, as he snaps his teeth at the man to encourage him to his paws and prepares to chase him out of morningside's territory.

The boy's words came across as arrogance in Nikan's twisted mind and he had to check himself to keep a snort held back. Forcing his voice to remain steady he simply nodded "Understood" was all he muttered before the boy snapped his jaws. Instantly he was up on his paws and racing toward the borders not giving the boy a single second glance even if he were to feel teeth nipping at his paws. Inside his mind were the stirrings of thoughts that twisted his morals, if he were ever to spot the boy again when he was no longer a bit but a man he'd surely fight him again, but without so readily submitting.