Stavanger Bay and twisted preservatives of life

@Rosalyn

very few things were as ugly or as miserable as a snowbound beach. the snow fell in thick flurries, and the grey sea consumed each flake in ashy slurry. if there was any beauty to be had in such a desolate strand, sandpiper labored to find it. presently the cairn girl stood at the swash line, unwilling to dip a toe in the bracing water. around her, grey settled -- the landscape undefinable and indistinguishable in the storm.

It was cold, and when it was this cold, there were really only two options... hunkering down to wait it out or running to get the blood pumping.  Today was initially going to be a plan a type of day.... but before long, boredom overcame discomfort, and a run it was to be!

She was loping along the strand when she spotted Sandpiper, and at first didn't intend to slow down.  Last time they'd met, the other wolf had made it fairly clear her ire hadn't cooked quite yet, and Rosalyn was content to leave it be for now.  She wasn't near desperate enough to force a friendship, especially not with a wolf she didn't particularly enjoy in the first place.  But a particularly nasty slice of wind cut through that intention, and she slowed with a long shudder, lowering her head and closing stinging eyes against the quick blast.

a wild wild slammed her outstretched muzzle and she tucked her head from the gale, eyes settling on a form half obscured in the heavy snow. even from the distance she knew the perpetrator: rosalyn.

sandpiper had not had a magical change of heart about the newly anointed first mate, but had managed to stow enough of her bitterness away that she strode purposely towards her with her posture bereft of any antagonism. she recalled once how rosalyn had attempted to offer an olive branch in the form of critique on her sparring ability: perhaps she could put this woman's skills to good use, and sharpen her own abilities to the point where she would not lose again.

the devious machinations she devised were not apparent in her gaze as she hailed rosalyn. "hey! where are you going?"

The last thing she expected was for Sandpiper to hail her, so when she did, Rosalyn had to twist around to confirm it was in fact she who was calling and not some random seagull.

Turns out she was hailing and approaching.  Oh boy.  Despite her intentions to mend fences (mostly due to Smoke and Raptor, selfishly, and a desire to not have a packmate hate her guts who was so prevalent with them), Rosalyn inwardly tensed, a big 'what now' going off in her mind.  The question was innocuous enough but the intentions were completely unknown.

"Not sure yet," she replied, turning thankfully away from the wind with the rest of her so that she faced the other woman. "Just warming up."  She almost followed up with a question, but instead let it sit in her expression.... did piper want something or did she somehow simply want to chat?

rosalyn shielded herself from the wind and sandpiper followed suit, shoulders hunched as she braced against the cold. at least rosalyn had slowed down and accepted her approach -- she had not missed the woman's tension and for a moment, sandpiper had felt her stomach drop in both trepidation and the still-burning embers of shame.

she swallowed as rosalyn answered her question - just warming up. inwardly sandpiper felt her tongue barb: yeah, cause you're old, old crab. it did her no good to utter it and she quickly changed tactics. looking at the first mate carefully, sandpiper blurted a half-stifled "for what?"

Still no spite.  Was she finally looking to move past it?  Rosalyn herself tended to get bored fairly quickly with particular grievances; take her Smokestep conversation.  She'd held the irritation long enough to have a good self-righteous snit about it, but in the end it was more convenient to have him as a friend.  With Sandpiper, she wasn't entirely expecting friendship.  But she did hope that the other woman had enough stuff to hold her own; because she was too much fun to rankle, and the rankling she gave back wasn't entirely unenjoyable either.  They couldn't trade barbed insults if she was avoiding her, and where the fuck was the fun in that?

She wouldn't push her luck now, though, by starting in with all that right away.  "For anything."  she responded, unable to help the small smirk that seemed to naturally follow that statement.  "Never know who you'll run into out here, and unlike back south, this wind has teeth."  There at least the water served for cooling down.  When you were already cold, there wasn't much else a body could do but run to try and keep warm.  It was more conversation that perhaps she'd originally meant to give, but she still wasn't sure what Sandpiper's angle was aside from a chat.

for anything. sandpiper studied that knowing smirk, her eyes squinting. for anything like, a pack member driving their teeth deep into your back? that kind of anything? she pressed her tongue firm to the roof of her mouth, and said nothing in rejoinder to that. she thought it a subtle barb, but it was so subtle, she doubted herself shortly after.

sandpiper halted then, feeling her tail rise straight out behind her, almost parallel with her back. "fight me." she blurted, gaze hardened as she watched rosalyn for her reaction.

She didn't particularly expect small talk, but she definitely didn't expect those blatant words.  She didn't seem angry or upset, just... focused.  Good.  Rosalyn only paused a moment before responding, her tone holding no reluctance.  After all, she'd offered this.  "Ok."

She took a step back and shifted her stance slightly sideways, readying.  But she waited... allowing Sandpiper to make the first move, should she wish.  Her intention would be to dodge, and she watched carefully, taking any hint she could find of her opponent's aims.  She wouldn't go easy, not if this was to be practice.

rosalyn acquiesced. good. sandpiper expected nothing less. "no dirty tricks." she said coldly, squinting at her adversary. "and no blood." these were the rules she would follow -- and unless rosalyn broke this code of sportsmanship, she imagined the tousle would be just that -- a tousle.

her opponent had already adjusted her stance, and sandpiper watched it hungrily, studying the cant of rosalyn's body away from her. for a moment sandpiper mirrored the change herself, but realized if she just stood defensively, a spar would never happen. 

so, with a feint to the right she started her charge towards rosalyn, executing a lightfooted maneuver to the left at the last minute. her muzzle dropped and she lunged for rosalyn's front leg in the hopes to snare it and pull it forward to make rosalyn lose balance.

No dirty tricks... who'd Sandpiper think she was?  Course not, not with crew, and not in a spar.  Unless dirty tricks were used on her, of course.  She nodded, not feeling the need to audible confirm, and readied.

When the attack came, it was quick and calculated, a far cry from her mad rush on the beach.  Hell, if she could keep her head and do this when it counted, she might have had a chance back then.  Instead she'd let herself lose it.  Rosalyn barely kept her footing as Sandpiper did manage to hook her paw, not quite stepping back quickly enough.  She lifted the leg and, instead of backing away, leaned in.  With no fear of true injury, she could take a wrestling approach, and she tried to lever her frame beneath Sandpiper's to push her aside and off kilter in return.

sandpiper was enormously pleased to see her feint take her adversary by surprise, but she had no time to gloat. this scuffle was quick and fleet - any amount of time wasted resting on ones' laurels would be costly and foolishly egregious.

she had not expected rosalyn to push into her in her next attack; she hadn't prepared for that, and was knocked cleanly aside and was forced to relinquish her grip on the woman's limb. she took a few steps back into the sand, her feet splayed as she caught her balance -- and this time, she lunged for rosalyn's shoulder in an attempt to return the off-balance favor.

Sandpiper was pushed off but caught herself, recovering well.  As they fought, Rosalyn took note of her stances, her moves, everything.  She wasn't sure if the other woman would want comments after, but if so, she'd provide them.

This next lunge Rosalyn was prepared for, so when it came, she feinted sideways. Fortunately it meant that the tag missed, but unfortunately it meant in a friendly spar there was little she could do.

Calculating swiftly, she stood and attempted to place both front paws on Sandpiper's flank.  Perhaps she could leverage and bowl her over with a good push.

the two wolves blurred in a tango of bright russet and shady umber -- sand flew from beneath their bent hocks, and they contorted and dived with eyes only for each other. in that present moment, sandpiper's world was consumed by rosalyn - she tried to study every move, to predict her opponent's next gesture -- but the attempts to be foreseeing only caused her concentration to wane and distractedly, she sailed right past rosalyn's easy feint.

she whirled around angrily, just in time to have two limbs thrusted towards her. instinctively she ducked her head and drove her shoulder low into the blow, finding herself suddenly underneath rosalyn. with wild bucks she attempted to unsettle the female's balance -- once she was free she would turn round and stand still, her tail held neutrally as if to signify the spar was over.

Her paws didn't connect - instead they sailed over, and Sandpiper ended up beneath, able to shift and unsettle her there.  Rosalyn reared back and slid sideways, attempting to get alongside instead of over, but having her belly and throat so exposed to Sandpiper for that moment would have been unfortunate in a true fight.  She let her stance fall neutral as well, and took a few steps around to stand somewhat in front.  

There was more respect now; obviously when she thought about her moves, rather than rushing blindly in, she had some tricks to show.  They'd been pretty damn well matched.

sandpiper was not mature enough to offer any sort of gratitude to rosalyn. this had been a test, a measure of sandpiper's improvement - if any such improvement existed -- and rosalyn was a tool in which to measure it. as the first mate pulled off, disentangled herself and then faced sandpiper, sandpiper looked stonily past her.

and then, without so much as a well-deserved thank you, uttered a loud "hmmph," and trotted off.

Rosalyn let Sandpiper mark the end, and when she did, only watched her when she left with a hmmph.  A large part of her wished to call out a vexing "your welcome" after, but she held her tongue, instead washing somewhat impassively.

Truthfully, she was a bit exasperated that the other woman hadn't gotten over the situation yet.  But, as it was.... she was young.  Fine then.  With a small sigh and a shake, she set off in the other direction, idly off to find a bite to eat.  She would do what her rank deigned necessary, but not much more... it would be on Sandpiper to mend this, as she felt she'd done about as much as she needed.  Short of handing the role back, there wasn't much else anyway.