Redhawk Caldera We'll always have Paris

Just as she was really getting into her Outrider training, her parents cautioned the members of the pack to stick close to home and outright forbade the pups from straying, especially without an escort. Wildfire found this development frustrating but, as ever, she didn't question the Alphas' commands. She decided to switch her focus back to one of her other trades in the meantime.

Today in particular, Wildfire had lots of energy and decided to sharpen her Warrior skills by sparring with someone. She invited Magpie first but the yearling said she wasn't feeling well. Then the pup turned to Dove, who said no but didn't give any particular reason. She couldn't find Peregrine or Fox; presumably, they were off patrolling. There was no sign of Raven, either, and Wildfire assumed her sister might be off gathering plants. But she thought she smelled her brother nearby and she sent a bark into the air, challenging @Nightjar to a playful duel.

When the sound of his sister's bark reached him, Nightjar teetered precariously on three legs and lost his careful hold on his bladder control. He voided what urine was left, then placed his foot down and spun around. His walk back to the nearby rendezvous site was leisurely, with tongue hanging from his lips and his ears pulled carelessly back. The sun was hot overhead and the muggy summer air made him lazy, though he'd still found the energy to mark at least five trees today.

He padded on scene sluggishly and made a beeline for Wildfire. It'd been a while since they'd last spent any quality time together—Wildfire and Raven seemed much closer than he and either of his sisters did, possibly because they were both female and had more in common than their idiot brother—but that didn't mean he approached with any less excitement. His tail was waving high and fast as he closed the distance between them and pressed his snout against her cheek. His right ear locked on her while the left dangled, deaf as ever, and he stepped back to give her some room.

"Fightin' time?" he guessed aloud.

Her brother was prompt, earning a grin from Wildfire. The juxtaposition of his friendly nudge and the question of, "Fightin' time?" made her giggle. Nonetheless, she bobbed her head. Wildfire then took a step back, looking him up and down. Goodness, he was getting huge! Perhaps it was a bad idea to pick a fight with someone who would almost definitely win due to sheer size and strength... but then she remembered that it would be fantastic practice to help her hone her speed and dodging skills. After all, most opponents would outstrip her in both height and weight, since she took after her little mother. But Fox was a fierce Warrior, so she could be one too.

"Bring it!" she eventually shouted (although her shout wasn't much louder than a regular speaking tone), bowing forward. She waved her rump and black tail in the air and thumped her paws on the ground, her yellow eyes boring into Nightjar's in challenge.

While the sun was hot and the weather made him lazy enough to spend his whole day in the proximity of the rendezvous site, Nightjar wasted no time in prepping himself for battle. He could ignore the heat, just as he was learning to ignore pain, so long as there was a fight to be had. And when his sister's eyes locked with his own, he knew there was a fight to be had, and it had just become serious.

A loud growl ripped out of his mouth as he began with a charge. He always began with a charge. He threw the whole of his weight and raw strength forward, and as he got near, he reared up and aimed to bring his torso down across Wildfire's back. If he could force her to collapse, he would win, just as Fox had beaten him with a very similar strategy, so that was what he aimed to do. Even if he couldn't force her down, if he could just sling his body over hers, he could attack almost unhindered.

His forthright charge most definitely resulted in Wildfire's collapse, although not in the way he had likely expected. Rather than waiting for her brother to mow her down like a runaway locomotive, Wildfire buckled all four legs and dropped to the ground. Simultaneously, he reared up over her and quickly came bearing down on her, his huge paws slapping against her back and flanks. Before he could stiffen his legs on either side of her, thereby trapping her, Wildfire darted forward and exited between his hind legs.

Whirling swiftly, she eyed the fuzzy pouch between her brother's legs and considered giving it a nip. Past experience had told her that testicles were quite sensitive; they were more or less a male opponent's weakness. But Wildfire didn't actively want to hurt her brother. Instead, she struck at his rump. Whether or not she connected, she began to skitter backward in anticipation of his pivot and counterattack.

Wildfire was learning. Maybe because someone had shown her or maybe because Nightjar was completely predictable, she fell to the ground and slid right under him before he had an opportunity to do anything with his brief advantage. Within a split second of her escape, Nightjar felt her teeth on his rump and he growled and whirled around, doing exactly as she thought he would. He snapped at the air between them, hoping to grab her muzzle, but his wily sister had already widened the gap.

Nightjar wasted no time in closing it again. He rushed her again, but this time he held his head lower in an attempt to thwart her previous strategy of slipping beneath him. It was advantageous enough, anyway; there was nothing vital about the top of his head or the back of his neck, so if she didn't try her previous trick, then Nightjar would just aim for her chest.

Because she was small, she was swift, yet Wildfire was nothing if not a klutz. Even as she scrambled backward, she lost her balance. She was therefore the perfect target when Nightjar rushed in like a bull, head lowered to ram into her. Having stumbled to her left, the top of his head connected with the right side of her chest, near her shoulder, and immediately knocked the wind out of her. She made a strange noise (it might have been a scream, except she couldn't scream), then flopped over like a dead fish.

She just lay there for a moment, winded and even a little dazed, trying to overcome the sensation of having her lungs collapsed. As soon was she was able, she darted back to her feet, though Wildfire knew that Nightjar was more than likely seconds away from pummeling her again.

Nightjar's reckless rush wasn't all for nothing, for Wildfire lost her footing and failed to recover before he smashed right into her. Unsurprisingly, the smaller wolf went down with a soft but serious sound, prompting her sibling to stop his assault. As beastly as Nightjar may have been, he wasn't a monster that enjoyed hurting his sisters. Quite the opposite; he believed it was his duty in life to protect them, no matter how infrequently they spent time together.

Eventually Wildfire did recover, and managed to spring back to her feet. Taking that to mean she wasn't hurt, Nightjar resumed his attack, coming in for a third attempt at pummeling her down. But, rather than using brute force, the male opened his jaws wide and made to slam them into her shoulder. His bite would be inhibited, the pain no more than superficial scraping, but in order to truly excel at this, he couldn't always be making blunt body hits. He had to employ his most deadly weapons in a real fight, and Nightjar would not be unprepared for that day to come.

Indeed, he came bearing down before she could drawn in another breath, his teeth digging into her shoulder. She yipped, as it was the same shoulder he had just rammed and the fangs poking into her already tender flesh smarted badly. Wildfire pressed her lips together against crying out again, then snapped her jaws at the side of his face. Like her brother, she did not seek to draw blood, though the pain in her shoulder caused her to lunge a bit more forcefully than she might have otherwise.

He hit his mark again. Pride surged through his chest. Every day made Nightjar stronger, not just because he was training but because he was growing as well. If not for the fact that Wildfire had just struck the side of his face with needle-sharp teeth, he might've marveled at how much larger he was than her already, and how weird it was to actually notice that.

But, alas, there were needle-sharp teeth jabbing at his cheek. Nightjar winced, forced the pain to the back of his mind, and unlatched his jaws from her shoulder. He swung his muzzle like a bludgeon then with jaws parted slightly in hopes of catching her off guard with a jaw spar. All the while, he nudged his feet backward slowly, readying himself for an unexpected shove that would (he hoped) overbalance his sister and send her to the ground. That was all he had to do to win, and that was all he wanted to do to her anyway. Hurting Wildfire was unintentional and definitely not his goal.

She felt the tips of her fang graze his face, a little harder than intended. Before Wildfire could worry about whether she had drawn blood, Nightjar whipped his muzzle toward hers. Their teeth came together with a loud clatter and she felt one of his teeth stab her in the lip, another in the gum. They were painful little jabs, which made her growl. Her tongue curled and flicked as her lips wrinkled backward. She looked rather savage in that moment, though it was more about intimidation (and pulling her lips out of the danger zone) than actual ferocity.

They brandished their snouts like swords for a moment or two before Wildfire snapped her teeth beside Nightjar's cheek and suddenly backpedaled. She sensed it was only a matter of time before he employed his brute strength and weight advantage again, so the littler Warrior-in-training tried to prepare herself for the eventual assault by putting some distance between them.

Their jaw spar ended as quickly as it began with Wildfire widening the distance between them. Nightjar wouldn't let her, though. He kept the gap as minimal as possible by dogging her backward steps, and turned that momentum into another lunge. He exposed a shoulder this time, awkwardly aiming to ram into her. Again Nightjar intended to shove Wildfire off balance and press her to the ground. Only then would there be a victor, as with all fights between wolves. Even friendly fights had a loser. Nightjar didn't intend to be it.

Supposing he managed to knock her off balance at all, Nightjar would rear up and seek to press his broad paws against her shoulders in hopes of knocking her down for good.

But her older brother wouldn't allow it. For every step she took backward, he closed in two more steps until he was on top of her. Wildfire knew in that moment that she was defeated. She didn't give up easily, though. As Nightjar forced her to the ground, she wriggled and flailed. Only when he more or less locked her in position beneath him did she finally grow still.

She rolled partially onto her side beneath him, her black tail thumping the ground to silently acknowledge, Okay, you win! Wildfire nipped playfully at Nightjar's chin, then waited patiently for him to get off her.

The two pups tumbled to the ground. Nightjar was quick to rearrange himself to attempt to pin Wildfire just as Fox had once pinned him, though his sister certainly made it difficult by flailing underneath him. It was exactly what he'd done, too. A natural response. He almost smiled to know he wasn't the only one who fought until the bitter end, and he was proud of Wildfire for struggling against him even now.

Eventually, though, she gave in, and Nightjar stepped back immediately. His tail waved high over his back and his eyes shone. As she found her feet, he wasted no time stepping forward and lapping at the shoulder he'd both rammed and bitten with a soft whine that said, I'm sorry.

Her brother didn't gloat about his victory. He sidestepped away from her, then nuzzled her sore shoulder apologetically, prompting Wildfire to shoot him a quick smile. "Don't be sorry. I started it. And I needed the practice... so that I can kick your butt next time." She bent forward to nibble affectionately at Nightjar's nose, then climbed slowly to her feet, rolling her shoulders and otherwise stretching her muscles to make sure everything still worked.

"Wanna grab something to eat?" she invited in the next breath. Her black tail lifted into the air, waving companionably, as she motioned in the direction of food. It didn't take much for the growing pup to work up an appetite, and after such a physical activity, she was famished!

Wildfire's reassurance didn't go far with Nightjar, if only because he was sorry to have hit so hard whether she wanted him to be or not. Besides, he wasn't so into the vocal thing lately. He preferred body language. Where words sometimes made him feel stupid, reading body language made Nightjar feel incredibly smart and capable. It was no wonder he preferred being physical rather than any sort of thinking or feeling.

With a smile, the burly Redhawk leaned forward and answered, "you can't." He didn't believe Wildfire would ever be able to best him in a fight. She had her strengths and he had his, so while she could sidestep him all day, it was Nightjar's (perhaps naive) belief that raw power trumped speed, and he had an awful lot of that. Still, it was good for Wildfire to think she could, just as it was good for Nightjar to think she couldn't. Wolves had siblings and comrades to test themselves and better themselves, or so he thought.

The mention of food set his salivary glands on fire and soon he was practically drooling. He trotted in the direction Wildfire indicated, falling in behind her because, while Nightjar believed he could best Wildfire in a fight any day of the week, he knew he wasn't her better. She took that position and he was happy to give it to her, being something of a follower himself, so he fell in line a couple paces back and even let her feed first when they finally found something to chow down on.