the sentinels reared silent and foreboding behind velen as he returned to the bay. the darkness of night had fallen across stormrift now; for a long moment, he did not enter the borders, but stood looking at the domain he and his brothers commanded now, gaze traveling with a quiet affection across the ridges and forested land he had come to know intimately.
the flowered thinness of dalia's scent floated to him now, and velen followed it back into their encampment. she had stayed within their borders, but he knew saucy's arrival might somehow buoy her, and for that he was grateful. intending to visit her briefly before removing himself to his den for slumber, the boy picked his way carefully across the terrain in search of
@Dalia.
darkness spread across the bay as dalia walked home. quite like her pale pelt, contrasting against the night sky, her disheveled appearance was quite the stark difference from the bright expression that was pulled across her features. her fur stuck up on every end, though some of it was pressed down to her. sand coated her, quite literally. and, in fact, it actually looked like she'd been rolling in it. quite a bit. but... why?
but among the floral that was dalia's scent, was the scent of blood, and upon further inspection it could be spotted smeared across her cheek and chest. and though it seemed like her wits were about her, she did look a little crazy. quite uncharacteristic of delicate little dalia.
she spotted velen just as she arrived at the clearing before her den, her eyes lighting up. his scent was nearby, so when she caught sight of his russet tones she wasn't nearly as startled as she might've been weeks before. "velen!" she exclaimed in a bright yip, her tail wagging and sending little sand particles scattering in the snow at her feet. "you won't believe, what i just did!"
though, anyone with a nose probably could've guessed she'd just fought at fox at their borders.
dalia caught sight of him before he had drawn too near; he watched fondly as she approached with a frisking gait, stepping back to avoid the small sandstorm she cast his way. bright-eyed, unkempt, and flecked with blood, the girl called first his name and then her own exclamation.
while velen had already caught the oily vulpine musk that clung to her, he decided immediately to humour dalia, and leant forward to sniff exaggeratedly at her cheek. "were you fighting a shark again? dalia!" the tall boy chided in a facsimile of chastisement, "what have i told you about that?"
to his quip, dalia nipped playfully at his muzzle-- not at all intending to make contact.
"that you are too wimp to do it!" she tried, but it felt sort of mean and she immediately felt bad about saying it. well, velen seemed to handle everything in stride so... she stuck to her retort, but still felt guilty about it.
"i took down a fox," she clarified, as if he truly didn't know,
"all by myself." it was hardly a feat, but dalia felt pretty accomplished! she hadn't done anything like that before, but the little side lessons that
@Saucy had been giving her had proven to be helpful. she was still dreading (and really excited for!!) ford's lesson-- that would be the real difference maker, she knew.
"not as cool as a shark," she added with a wry smile, her ears flicking down-- though her tail still wiggled at her hocks.
"so!?" velen shot back in faux defensiveness. her teeth clipped his muzzle playfully; he darted forward to catch her eartip harmlessly between his own jaws for a moment, before cupping his ears forward with a genuine expression of pride flitting across his handsome face. "yeah? well good fuckin' job, man!"
"shark smark. plus they don't pose a threat to our caches the way that a fox does." velen's eyes glimmered with interest. "i sorta wanna see, if you don't mind showing me." dalia was becoming a fighter, and he felt some of his normal worry for her ebb away; a few more experiences with such, and she would be as formidable as any of them.
her already good mood skyrocketed as velen returned all of her playful jabs and gave her praise she so desperately wanted. she was so proud of herself, dammit! and it only made her feel better that velen was proud too. even though lately she tended to be rather... well, spastic(all things given, it was certainly justified) she felt a little more comfortable with velen. less jumpy. she didn't mind his touch as much as she might've another mans. she didn't know why.
"thank you," she beamed, nose dipping a bit sheepishly, her tail still waving excitedly. and then, when he said he wanted to see, a few nerves bubbled up in her chest. "see what?" she asked, head tilting to one side, "the fox or..." or me doin' stuff i'm not good at. cause dalia was not a skilled mercenary, not by any account. she was just trying.
she gave him a shy smile, ears cupping forwards. "are you asking me to spar?"
he had meant the fox, but seeing how dalia's eyes lit up at the prospect of sparring, velen found that literally ceased to matter. "show me what ya got, toots," the boy drawled, backing away some to allow her space for preparation. "i'm sure it goes without saying, but you don't need to hold back."
velen was here to be bludgeoned, shredded, anything in the service of dalia learning the best ways to spar. regarding her with a smirk of readiness, the stormrift creature steeled himself for the collision of her body. he had no idea why anticipation was welling within him like a serpent, but decided it was best not to question such things, and roll with them instead.
so he hadn't meant the fox! at least, from dalia's perspective. she might've preferred the fox, seeing as that she might embarrass herself in a spar against velen... but she had been practicing, and she did take down a fox today! ah. okay! maybe she could do okay at this today! boy, she sure hoped she did okay.
"i'm not very good," she reminded him once, just so he didn't get his hopes too high up. regardless of all the technique she learned, she was still quite petite at the end of the day. she lacked all of the muscle that velen had, if he had half the knowledge she did he would easily overpower her. and she knew this. she also privately wondered if she'd have the same freeze-over she had when ford first attacked her -- velen was different than ford, but a man all the same. she added for good measure, "you better not go easy on me."
he appeared to brace himself, and so dalia, who was standing just opposite of him -- still pretty ruffled up from her earlier tussle -- flexed her own muscles (or what she had of em) and launched forwards, aiming to get a good snap at his right shoulder.
but he was totally gonna go easy on her.
okay — medium.
dalia rushed him in a blur of quick pale fire; her teeth snipped into his shoulder, and he grunted. however, she had asked for it, and so the mayfair-cairn lunged forward with a speed that belied his build, grazing the side of her throat with his own teeth in a warning before she removed herself out of striking distance.
his turn now; velen's powerful hindlegs bunched beneath him and he leapt, swinging his muzzle downward to snap for her fore-ankles.
as quick as dalia may have been, in that her actions were rapid fire as a result of quick thinking, dalia herself was not fast. so as velen grazed the side of her throat, a feeling that made her whole being shiver, dalia scrambled away from him now, only to turn and face him as he came back head on.
oh no -- oh no -- oh no -- oh no.
she danced back from him, with terrible technique and without really thinking, it was just instinct to scramble away. it was her first thought, so she acted, but there were better moves to be made, especially since everyone knows the most effective form of escape is not backpedalling. his muzzle swung downwards to snap at her forelegs. still dancing to avoid his teeth, dalia's own head moved to match his actions, teeth snapping around his muzzle -- but not too close! she was afraid, bless her heart, that she might accidentally hurt him.
as if.
he swept down, and she toward his ears, which he instinctively flattened against his skull to keep from her nipping fangs. had he been truly attacking, the danger of a cracked forelimb might have been far greater, but thus far dalia's reliance on the truths of evasion had been her saving grace.
he retreated with a low chuckle, swinging in a semi-circle that invited another of her attacks. tucking chin to chest, he widened his stance and clicked his teeth upon the air with faux threat. let her come again; he would not go as easy this time.
unharmed (naturally) velen swung away from her. dalia, unsurprised that he had invaded her light nipping -- but surprised that he had not just rushed to bowl her over -- stood opposite of him. she straightened out her own posture, which was previously loose and a little erratic. as he braced for her attack, light clicking challenging her again, dalia tried once more to make a good move. a smart move.
this time she too went for his forelegs, lunging but ducking lower to bite at the boney limbs.
dalia swept her teeth down, shocking velen with a true clip. now it was his turn to arch away from her, rising up on his hindlegs to surround her slim shoulders. for the purpose of their sparring, however, he did not place his weight upon dalia, instead balancing carefully so she would only have to figure out how to avoid the downward snap of his teeth.