Cerulean Cape the penalty for overeagerness is the same as the penalty for unworthiness

@Saucy <3

the radiant blue touch of water seemed almost out of place among the dismal grey of the sky and the fluttering snowflakes. if the boy were not seeing it with his own eyes, he would not have believed that it existed in their world. still, he stood on the edge of the cape with his ashen feet soaked in the aquatic azure and gazed out across the stretch of sea, humbled. the more time he spent there, the more he had started to understand why his mother was so attached to the depths.

there was a feeling of having missed out on a great deal of it. most of his childhood had not been spent beside the water, but in search of the hope that he had lost. the woods had housed him long enough that he considered them his first home, and the swell his second. even still, illidan was not confident enough in his abilities to boast any sort of strength within the lapping waves. he had power on land, and he aimed to obtain his own form of power within the sea.

<3

Today Saucy had made her way up the shore. She just wanted to do a bit of exploring, and maybe find a quiet place to practice swimming where none of the gang could see her fail. Dalia was the only one who she trusted not to laugh in her face, Velen or Rannveig would never let her live it down. She stayed close to the sea, her paws treading lightly over the snow. The day was crystalline; the water was a glittering mix of tourmaline and diamond and her leonine eyes were lost in it. She found herself heading out further towards the horizon as the land led to a peninsula.

As captivating as the sea was, her gaze was soon brought to the figure of an ashen boy. She let out a friendly bark to get his attention, her snowy fur ruffled in the wind.

the bark pulled his attention, and illidan swung his inky head around to latch his hawkish gaze on the figure of a pale woman. her coat pattern was peculiar to him, and he noted the rings around her tail with some mild interest. the wildling had never crossed paths with someone that had such distinct markings, if he didn’t count his own mother or himself. most of those who passed him by seemed to have been born of similar heritage, or at least they had adapted in their lines to appear more natural.
 
the stranger was pretty and peculiar, but her beauty wasn’t something that allowed him to drop his guard. he had been wronged one too many times by behaving foolishly toward those he did not know. instead, the boy moved in a careful prowl and approached her. when he had closed some of the distance between them, illidan drew his head up and fixed her with a somber expression. “you live out here?” the wildling asked without any buffer.

Saucy watched the boy approach her, scanning him with eyes of blue crystal. Once he neared as close as he would, he stopped and asked her a question, forgoing the usual greetings without much hesitation. Saucy didn’t mind, she thought hello was lame anyway. Her head moved slowly to the right in a half shake, Nah, I’m from that way, she said with a look behind her in the direction of the bay. Then back to him, with a laidback smile that looked to easygoing for her following words, I’m Saucy, warrior of Stormrift. Whaddup.

the girl mentioned that she was from a pack further back and swung her head around to point with her muzzle. illidan followed the gesture and narrowed his eyes on the stretch of beach that seemed to go on forever. he was certain that they weren’t the only ones to position themselves on the coast. he knew already of the cliff wolves, but from what his mother had said it was fairly easy to guess that there were many wolves who thought living close to the water was preferred.
 
the woman also mentioned that she was a warrior for her pack. illidan’s ears pricked forward and he tilted his head slightly at the comment. “i’d like to be a warrior too,” the young ghost mentioned then. “i belong back there, to the pack rusalka.” he then motioned with a swing of his skull to the direction of the sound and the looming cliffs that stood over it.

The boy was interested when Saucy mentioned being a warrior, and he replied to her by saying that he wanted to be one too. She smiled, Nice, an approval with a few nods of her head. She glanced in the direction of this Rusalka, curious about it but not enough to delve into conversation on the topic.

She would rather focus on what they had in common. You wanna spar? I mean if you’re actually a warrior in training and everything, she said in a coaxing manner, preferring action as always. Her feet may be worn if walking, but she could fight anytime.

the woman seemed to think that his aspirations were good and nodded her head with approval as he mentioned what he wanted to do with himself. it seemed as though she was pleased enough with his choice to ask if he wanted to spar with her. illidan was moderately taken aback by the direct inquiry and found himself wondering it was appropriate to test his abilities with strangers on the shore. he also thought that he might not be at his peak performance with their battle having recently happened.
 
“sure,” he agreed with a small flag of his tail. he wouldn’t get stronger until he pushed himself, and he was growing still – he wanted to prove that he could turn into the same towering giant that his father had been. he wanted to have the same capability as the old man.

The male seemed a little surprised at Saucy’s request, but she didn’t care. She wanted to spar, and she’d never been one to beat around the bush. Whether or not he was taken aback by her proposition, he agreed to indulge Saucy, and a playful smirk crossed her face when he said sure. She backed up a few paces, then dropped into a defensive position, trying a new route that she didn’t often use. Patience and a watchful eye had done wonders for others, the amazonian should learn to utilize them as well.

Her head dropped and her black lips twitched in a goading snarl. She was ready whenever he was, and she didn’t plan on making the first move.

she was pretty neat, for a stranger that he'd only just met on the coast. she hadn't really pushed him around the way that others had, and she had seemed fairly confident in her claim of being a warrior for her pack. with the way that she was built, illidan didn't find that difficult to believe. the boy had anticipated all female warriors to appear more like his mother; wiry and savage. instead, the girl was filled out impressively and held the dominance of a leonine prowler.

the young ghost had anticipated that she would have attacked him first, but it seemed that she had opted for a defensive stance. that meant that he would get a chance to test opening attacks on her, which seemed like a pretty good deal. illidan lowered his skull and slunk forward a few feet until he could see the glimmer of her blue eyes. he moved with the same precision as a gunslinger, ready for their final shootout. once he had found comfort in his own limbs, illidan dove toward her and aimed to strike her cheek.

Hunter's eyes followed his movements, as the ghost of a boy lowered his skull and neared her. Her lips curled back as he did so, her breaths coming quicker already with the anticipation of is attack. She could see his eyes clearly now, they were the eyes of a marksman, sizing her up to take aim. He struck quickly, aiming for her cheek. She lunged when he did, to meet him halfway. Her bared teeth clashed against his as she tried to deflect him, they were met and matched.

she was quicker than he had expected she would be. the woman moved with a purpose and drew her fangs to meet his own. they clashed, and he felt the weight of his body strike her own with some surprise there. it wasn't what he had expected, but he knew that he had to work to overcome the things that he did not anticipate. so, illidan snapped his teeth quickly. when he could not find purchase in her flesh, he threw his head away from her and jumped to put some space between them again.

the wounds from the war were causing his body to ache, but he forced himself to put them aside and to focus on the spar at hand. he lowered his skull to protect his neck from any move that she might make, and his hawkish gaze searched her body for a point that he felt he could attack without being met with the prick of her fangs.

The clash was broken when the boy backed away, Saucy chose retreat as well. His tooth had nicked at her lip, the familiar sting of a cut fresh at the skin. Her pink tongue flashed over it, finding the nick and tasting her own metallic blood. The boy was an adequate fighter thus far, and this would prove to be much more fun than she’d first expected. A fiery glow burned in her icy eyes when she looked at him, they followed his as he sized her up. She figured he would eventually find a chink in her armor somewhere, but she planned to not give him time to act upon it.

She charged him now, forever a brute, aiming for his legs. Even if she couldn’t grab one and bring him to heel, she would likely provide a jarring impact.

he was too worn to really be much of a threat. his youthful figure was littered in lacerations and wounds that needed rest and healing instead of the pressure he had applied to them. still, the bullheadedness of the young ghost was enough to drive him forward – he wanted to get better so that he would not fall by the hand of another cur. he longed to feel the same confidence that had kept his father alive for as long as the old man had made it. where kierkegaard had been far too dauntless with his capabilities, illidan was not fearful to learn from those who had garnered more skill in their time on earth.

when saucy raced forward, his eyes narrowed in surprise and an attempt to figure out what it was she was planning on doing. the move had been an intelligent one; his limbs were his weakest point after having endured the war. so, she met her mark with a surprising result. just as she struck against his legs, illidan felt the strength in them give way. he toppled forward and over her with a winded, “oof,” as his limbs no longer supported him.

Saucy’s attack hit its mark perfectly, he toppled over her with an exasperated oof. Saucy started to move towards him, to pin him, but paused. She didn’t really want the fight to end just like that, though she could also tell he was tired. She could smell now better than before the faint scent of scab, healing wounds that weren’t being aided by this spar, no matter how good spirited it was. So she would leave it up to him whether or not they moved on with this, her eyes glued to his weary frame. You good? she asked, more as a pleasantry than an actual interest.

the young ghost had not expected to find his mouth filled with sand when they had started their brawl. he found that it had filled his nose and he lifted his head up to snort it out as much as he could. his tongue seemed to draw across his lips several times as he spit sand back at the earth with a disgusted expression on his face. now, it wasn’t a typical pastime for him to fill his face with dirt. he imagined that just about anything would have tasted better than the briny sand of the beach.
 
the pale girl asked if he was alright. the young ghost turned his attention toward her with heaving lungs. he had torn open the gash in his shoulder and it was bleeding down the length of his limb. he knew that it was better if he just stopped; he needed to let himself heal better before he was testing his mettle against strangers. “hard to fight when you’re already littered in cuts,” he returned in a gravely voice.

sorry this took a while <3

A tangy smell wafted to her nostrils, her ears swiveled and flattened for a moment as she realized he was bleeding. Fuck, she hadn’t meant to hurt the guy, especially since he looked about a yearling himself. His reply to her question somehow made her feel a little better; she wasn’t the cause per say, however she hadn’t helped any. But how could she have resisted a spar, when her partner said that he was a warrior too? 

Her lips quirked to the side in a half frown, Sorry dude, she said, then added, you were pretty good though, you’ll be a sick warrior one day. In truth, Saucy had fully planned on whooping his ass, but she had enough sense not to say that.

god, it sure did sting, but he felt as though he had done well in making progress on his journey. he was motivated by the need to better his abilities, and even though he had fought when his body was suffering from the war... well, he felt as though it had been more than worth it. aside from that, the woman did not appear as though she was going to tear him down for needing to stop. she looked at him with an apologetic expression, and then offered words of encouragement.

“maybe... when i've healed, we can try again?” he asked her in short breaths. it would have been nice for him to take what he'd learned and return with an even stronger figure and a more capable mindset. that was, if the woman wanted to allow such things to happen again. illidan imagined she'd be alright with it; she'd been eager to spar the first time. 

so, they planned on that and the two wolves set out on their different ways. the boy was eager to return, and to show her how much he had grown in that time.