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+--- Thread: Bramblepoint one in the chamber (/showthread.php?tid=49175)
one in the chamber - Ephraim - December 01, 2021
If any RHC peeps are still in the area, otherwise it's AW!
It still smelled of wolves here.
Ephraim skirted the fading borders for several paces and compulsively licked his lips. It still smelled of wolves, so it was a definite former claim, but not so strong. Former, but maybe they had already left it. That was fortunate for the little Eyjolfur. This would be a cakewalk.
Several hours later, he departed the abandoned Caldera with the remains of a rabbit clutched in his jaws, stolen from an equally abandoned cache. He loped down into Bramblepoint, holding it aloft and sniggering to himself.
RE: one in the chamber - Sphyra - December 02, 2021
Sphyra'd left the Caldera and wasn't really sure where to go now. She'd gone to the Frosthawks, but she had felt restless there and hadn't stayed for very long. Upon her return at the Caldera the pack had been empty, even though she could still smell the scent of her family on the borders. It was eerie to be at the Caldera, so she didn't stay for very long.
It was a coincidence that young Sphyra happened upon Bramblepoint. She smelled a wolf there, but she also smelled familiar scents, and it was those that lured her to him.
Ears perked forward when she caught the small coywolf with food. She immediately realised why the smells were familiar: that was hers! She hadn't thought of bringing it, but seeing someone else with it enraged Sphyrapicus suddenly. Just because the pack borders were fading didn't mean that others could plunder her things!
Hey, that's mine!she roared at him. Even though she was much younger, she was bigger already at eight months of age. Sphyra bared her teeth as she headed towards him.
RE: one in the chamber - Ephraim - December 02, 2021
He barely had time to hunker down in the trees and start gnawing on a leg when a larger wolf barrelled out of the them, shouting at him with her teeth bared. He was reminded at once of Rosalyn and of Thuringwethil, both wolves blurring together into the charred crimson mass that was Sphyrapicus. Sometimes those old nightmares still came, years later.
His first instinct was to drop the rabbit and retreat. Ephraim had done a lot of work on himself to be able to curb his immediate impulses, however, and held his restrain long enough to realize that despite the size, this wolf was too gangling to be a real adult. This was just a kid. She was probably about the age he had been when Drageda turned on him. Old enough to be a threat, but young enough to not have a huge advantage over him.
Ephraim lurched to his feet and stood over the rabbit, hackles raised and lips bared in a snarl. He lashed his dark tail twice and wordlessly met Sphyrapicus' challenge. The rabbit likely wasn't worth losing a chunk of his hide over, but he thought his odds against a kid were good enough that he could take a chance. He had been like her once. Full of bravado and self-importance. Then a real battle came to him and he learned not to overestimate his capabilities.
Perhaps Sphyra would do the same here.
RE: one in the chamber - Sphyra - December 10, 2021
His aggression brought Sphyra to a slow as she approached, though her posture remained threatening. Honestly, Sphyra expected that he would just back off. She knew that he was guilty, after all. The only times Sphyra'd been in similar situations had been at Redhawk Caldera's borders, and she had always felt bolstered (and the enemy intimidated) knowing that the Caldera had numbers. Knowing someone would show up if all went to hell.
It surprised her that this guy, the brazen thief!, would simply stand there over his loot and threaten her. Sphyra was taken aback, but she also knew that it would be hard for him to fight her and protect his food. He had an extra factor to take into account. Sphyra tried to do a quick risk analysis; she didn't know exactly how bad and risky winter was, since she had not witnessed any before, so she didn't know how much this food was worth. With her current status — not very hungry, as she'd eaten something from the caches not long ago herself — it seemed that it might not be worth it getting into a fight with this guy.
On the other hand, she knew she had trained for this. From a young age she bested her siblings, and she honed her muscles every day. And would a scavenger like him really make the risk assessment that it was truly worth a fight, too?
Sphyra stopped a few meters short of him and her food, and she stared him in the eye with her teeth still bared and her body puffed up to try and look less lanky. Sphyra knew her age was a disadvantage, but then again, Fennec was small and blind to boot, and she was still a badass fighter.
You stole that from Redhawk Caldera,Sphyra said in a low, threatening voice. Her heart hammered in her throat by now; Sphyra might have practised a lot, but she'd never been in a real fight situation.
You know you're a thief. Why risk getting seriously hurt over it?Hopefully that would make him think.
RE: one in the chamber - Ephraim - December 13, 2021
The kid was bold. Perhaps she had been trained to fight by her pack, but judging by the look of her and her following question, Sphyra hadn't known a hard day in her life. Being alone and forced to fight to survive changed a wolf. Ephraim thought he was strong and capable when he ran with Drageda, but all he was then was pampered. They were a hard lot, and yet, he had not gone hungry or had to fight for scraps back then.
As if in answer to her question, Ephraim's stomach rumbled. He bared his teeth and flashed his tongue across his incisors.
Food's food, kid,he said, lowering himself further over the rabbit until the fur of his belly mingled with the cold fur of its side.
Don't matter where it came from.
Was she unaware that there was no longer a pack at the Caldera? It would surely suck to come home and find your family gone, but they must not care much about her to leave her behind. In a few weeks, maybe it would be her stealing from abandoned caches and defending a measly rabbit from some other holier-than-thou pack wolf. Ephraim sneered. She could fight him for it if she wanted, and he was prepared for her to charge him now, or she could leave it be and stay hale and healthy another day before the bitter cold came.
RE: one in the chamber - Sphyra - December 14, 2021
The rumble of the man's stomach didn't go unnoticed to Sphyrapicus, but it only served to fuel her self-confidence rather than her empathy. If he was hungry, then he might not put up as much of a fight as a well-fed wolf would. It wasn't a huge surprise, though; he was a thief, after all, and to steal from claimed lands, even if they were previously claimed, that must mean desperation.
Sphyra scoffed at his words. He continued to loom over the rabbit. It wasn't worth it, really — like she'd said moments before, herself — but Sphyra could feel her more principle side take over. Was she really going to let this ratty guy thieve away her things? If he'd asked nicely, then maybe Sphyra would've been in a mood to share, but now she just wanted to have what was hers; even if she had willingly abandoned it before, when she went to visit the Frosthawks after the pack disbanded. Didn't mean he could just go up and steal it.
Final chance,Sphyra said and she looked at him confidently, her eyes searching his. She bared her teeth while the hair in her neck stood up aggressively, leaving a little ridge across her back that ended at her arched tail. Then she stepped forward, ready to fight for a prize she didn't deem worth it, all for the sake of pride & principle.
RE: one in the chamber - Ephraim - December 15, 2021
So, she wanted to fight for it.
Ephraim curled back his lips and snarled. It was just like a haughty pack wolf to behave in such a conceited fashion. From Ephraim's estimation, she could well go a few days without food and hardly notice, while for him it could spell another day or two of having the strength to stand. Yet was it not the way of the haves to forever snatch every tiny morsel from the mouths of the have nots to feed their greed? That was what he had learned in all his time as a vagabond. The pack may be gone but the snotty elite remained.
His guard hairs lifted into a sharp triangle at the back of his neck. He hunched slightly when Sphyra advanced, counted a beat, then sprang forward to feign several warning snaps at her nose, employing psychological warfare at first in hopes that fear of a real attack would be enough to cow her. As quick as he came, Ephraim coiled back over top of the rabbit and growled low in his throat, spare muscles shifting with anticipation under his dull coat.
RE: one in the chamber - Sphyra - December 29, 2021
While it wasn't the first time that Sphyra was in a serious for-real fight, it was the first time that it was with a wolf. She'd helped fight off several creatures from the pack's borders, and of course she had fought many times with her siblings, with Towhee, with Fennec — especially the latter had taught her much about real fights. She was merciless and the punishment of losing was usually a heavy dose of humbling embarrassment, so Sphyra always tried her very best.
It was all different now. He snapped forward but did not hit her, seeming to try and warn her away. Sphyra, however, was confident about her abilities into the arrogant, so it didn't stave her determination. A growl bubbled in her throat as she tried going around him to attack him from the back. If he'd turn towards her when she circled around, she would try to double back in a feint move to try and grab one of his front paws, to try and get his weight out from underneath him. If she managed to get to his back she would instead try to collapse on top of his back side to get him off balance that way.
RE: one in the chamber - Ephraim - January 13, 2022
I wanted to play this out a bit more but a) Eph's a total coward and b) I'm finding myself overwhelmed and undecided on whether to shelf Ephraim or not, so I think he'd throw the fight and run off. Sphyra is welcome to chase and get a few good nips in!
Ephraim knew what it was to be a kid strung up on their own arrogance. He had made an ass of himself more than once as a result of it. He expected Sphyra to falter when he feigned a snap; most arrogant shits didn't have the bite to back up their bark and thought twice the second a threat was issued.
Not this kid. She didn't even flinch, but began to circle instead. Ephraim coiled back, watching, turning with her, until the moment she lunged for his paw. If he was thinking right, he may have been fast enough to snatch it back, but he was too worried she would grab the rabbit and take off then. Her teeth found their mark and Ephraim's resolve crumpled.
He could do without one rabbit. He could not do with a seriously injured paw in winter. He struck out for her muzzle so that he could wrench his foot back, then immediately turned tail and fled, leaving a trail of red droplets from where her teeth had cut his flesh.
RE: one in the chamber - Sphyra - January 25, 2022
no prob! thanks for the interesting thread! :D
Perhaps if it had come to a full-on fight, Sphyra would've been in a pinch of trouble. She was trusting too much on the training she had received, which was what made her confident. She'd trained to make herself strong every day of her life. It was what she was made for, and she knew it. The fact that she would not be able to tap out and congratulate her opponent on a successful victory didn't even occur to her in the moment.
Like Sphyra expected, the rabbit was a distraction to him rather than a boon, because he needed to keep himself and his prize safe at the same time. Sphyra, on the other hand, wasn't even hungry so she could easily focus on the fight rather than the prize (until, of course, she'd see a spot to take it). She didn't need this food, after all. It was just hers, and that's why she wanted it back. And perhaps part of her wanted to test her mettle in a real fight, too.
She found purchase in his leg and felt a rush of adrenaline surge through her body. Ha! Sphyra held on, though she didn't bite to maim. She just wanted him to back off and give her her food back, after all. When he struck for her muzzle she quickly let go, and immediately teeth snapped back up to defend herself or try to grab hold of his face.
Her teeth hit nothing but air, though, and as she looked at him he ran off. Sphyra quickly looked down to see the prize still lying there, and she smiled to herself with satisfaction. Sphyra did not chase, instead content to have won the altercation and to have won her first real fight out in the wild. With pride in her posture, she lay down and started eating the rabbit, a content smile on her face.