Moonspear there's a freedom that everyone deserves

a new dawn; arcturus watched the bladed sun as it cut through sleepy morning clouds, beams of light punctuated by the dark shadows of the mountain. his mind was turned away from the cutting beauty, and the severity of that weakened autumnal light was lost upon him.

it was early yet, but arcturus sought @Hydra among the cold nightwashed steppes. their spar -- hopefully a tripod-spar -- was to continue.

Knowing her mate was with the children, Hydra had taken to the higher reaches of the Spear to search the terrain below from one of their better vantage points. Exerting herself this way felt good to rid herself of the tension she felt lurk from all that had transpired; she had a mind to seek out Dragomir or Isilme, and decided that she would do this later. 

She surveyed the world below, her eyes searching for any herd movement. It had not been like this, last year—so desolate. She was glad for stocking their caches earlier, but did not like to think of digging into them sooner rather than later. It had not yet come to that; luck had been on their side thus far. Perhaps there would be yet another stampede; Hydra hoped for more casualties than just one.

he made his way past stony slabs where fog hung in grey garlands. the scent of hydra grew sharp here; arcturus cast his golden gaze about the tangle of mist and stone, suspecting her lurking amongst the gneiss.

it was then he caught the sharp glint of her lapis lazuli eyes; he straightened instinctively and with one ear turned back, lifted a single limb in a silent invitation to spar.

Banshee screech! We will be employing OG die system for this un that Kuro brought back ~

 

She heard his approach, the click of blunted claw against stone telling enough. The trod of her brother was one she had come to know well, and one ear swiveled toward him as he looked to her. When no words were spoken, Hydra's head turned so as to regard him entirely. Seeing the shift in him, Hydra snorted. There was a sort of thrill to spar here, near the precipice... but it was not something she had not done before. 

He would need to learn the terror of it, in case he was brought to some situation where he was pushed to the edge. Hydra bid he put his foreleg down, as this would require all of his faculties. Have you sparred in a place such as this before? She drawled, gesturing toward the nothingness beside them. Hydra took comfort in knowing that there was a long slab of stone somewhere beneath this lip that jut outward that could catch either of them. It would be a difficult climb up, but not impossible... a true challenge to even the most skilled climber, which she herself certainly was by now. She had done it enough to know it was so, but doable at least.

arcturus felt the same thrill hydra did, to be so close to the edge -- as if in defiance of it. he dared not look over the edge. he did not know of the lip below, but he knew of the fall all too intimately.

shifting the morbid thoughts of falling (charon, and amakaze too) quickly from his mind, arcturus shook his head to the side once. "no," he replied, the paw still upraised. lowering his head, he steadied his balance out between the remaining three limbs and beckoned for his sister to come forth with a lash of his black tail.

Subconsciously, Hydra too thought of their parents. Thought of how they had met their end, teeth against teeth, one no more unyielding than the other. White and black and gray and red... flat emerald, glazed blue—the colors of their death. Since their death, Hydra navigated the upper reaches more to practice her own footwork upon them, testing her weight and her balance and beyond. She had found her answers up there to questions she had never voiced, though the taste of them were so bitter upon her tongue that she had yet to share them. 

With a lick of her chops, Hydra rumbled; she did not think it pride that kept his leg upraised despite her bidding he put it down, nor did she think it him challenging her authority. Arcturus was skilled enough that she did not feel true cause for concern, and yet as she watched him, heard him beckon, Hydra did not move; she was still, for the time, and drawled, leg down. 

He would need it; she wanted to put him to the test, and herself, too, against the feeling that welled within her. More than that, were he to fall Hydra did not want him to come to true harm in any sense of the word (not that she ever did, but with three legs here it was near impossible to avoid... and she needed him in better shape than that for the hunts to come). We will do three next time, here; you will see why I ask this of you, she promised, though for now she would not relent in this. Hydra and he both would come to appreciate it; she had practiced up here, sparred, too, with their own late parents, and he would need to understand the great difference between this sort of spar and the rest so as to become more battle-savvy.

arcturus met the unyielding command of his sister resignedly. he had derived joy from their tripod battles — yet her insistence bid him to comply immediately.

ears flat to his crown the beta looked from hydra to the slope that arched above them, his forepaw reuniting with the stone beneath him by a quiet click. she had some design planned - he was not yet privy to it; a look of confusion crossed his features as he awaited due explanation.

This fight there is the risk of falling down, Hydra drawled, explaining to him. I have practiced here with mother and with father in my youth. To start with, you will want to be able to use all of your legs to better understand the difference of this precarious terrain, and how to utilize it, she explained. Hydra knew how to navigate this; if Arcturus was ever in such a position, she wanted him to be able to know how to as well. First with four, then with three. Their three-legged spars were motivating to her, too. 

The adrenaline offered during this sort of spar added a different element. Here there are ledges that will catch you so you do not fall to your death. But I remember my first fall, she drawled, and it is easy to forget there is a ledge there to catch you while you do fall, if it happens, Hydra explained with a lash of her tail. Are you up for it? She inquired finally, watching his features for any sign that he did not.

arcturus peered at the ledges for some time, measuring the slickness of their slope.

it was dangerous, but the stakes high.. and that was how he learned best.

he turned to his sister with a silent nod and sprung, lean and pantherlike, to the next rung of stone.

from here he watched: it was natural to want the higher ground. no doubt, hydra would do the same.

he waited, and then lunged towards her like oil-smoke, teeth bared for a low limb.

Hydra watched, but did not move as he rose to a higher vantage point. Typically she might, but here? She knew the risk. Hydra would have him learn that the advantages he thought he could rely on were not even to be counted on, not from where they fought now. As he lunged for her, she had enough time to move out of the way; his fangs might nick something upon her as she went, but ultimately he would need to catch himself in time to not have forced himself over the ledge she forewarned him of. 

He had done most of the work for her with his own forward momentum as Hydra turned to herd him that way with snapping teeth. He had not thought ahead; he had rushed, and it would cost him dearly. It was a good thing he had the use of all four limbs; he would thank her for that, at least.

his lunge was clean, but the slope moreso -- he found too late the reason hydra had not sought vantage above. his paw, once weight bearing, went SLIP!!

and his momentum down --

his teeth clasp naught but fur, clicking shut -- as hydra, looming shadow, turned upon him.

her teeth drove for his pelt and met his hide with a sharpness. driven into the snow by his own drive, arcturus attempted to push back and found the ledge unforgiving; with only his front legs on secure ground, he slipped as he turned around to face his tormentor.

his recovery was slow, no doubt giving hydra ample time to assemble a second assault -- with a grunt arcturus tried to jawspar, but it was likely seconds too late.

Indeed, it was; Hydra was ceaseless. As he sought to jaw spar she met him, but with her own forward momentum to shove him a little more backward, nearer to the ledge she knew was there and the lip beneath that would catch him. This fight she would make quick work of, though it was largely thanks to him. In knowing he would not be hurt should he fall, there was no hesitation behind her swift and relentless maneuvering. Words could only teach him so much; she knew once he experienced the feeling of the fall, he would take much more care in his future battles—one that someday might have a higher stake than this, if ever someone wanted him dead. He would know what not to do, and surely learn from her too to never give any ounce of ground to regain in these moments—not even for a second.

arcturus' teeth briefly clashed with hydra's own, but their battle was not to be. she pushed against him, a hearty shove -- and arcturus' eyes widened as he felt his grip beneath him fade --

his eyes widened as he recognized too late what would transpire next: both gravity and hydra worked against him, and in a second he was pulled from his ledge, and mufasa'd plumb off of the cliff they sparred against.

he landed with a heavy thud, on all fours, squinting into the daylight above where hydra no doubt would peek any moment.

In a flash, he was gone; her teeth were sheathed and her ears pricked as she heard the sound of him against the earth. She darted forward and cheekily observed him from where she stood. He was standing at least; she had outright fallen when against her parents. Then again, she had been much younger than him—and against two. Think like a mountain goat, she teased coolly, tail waving as she stared at him from above. He suffered no hurts from their spar, and so she knew only his pride would need to recover if she had wounded that. There was a clear gleam of fondness in her blue eyes that observed him. 

It might take him some time to find his way up, but he would surely find the same gaps and fissures she did to find a foothold on. Time she did not have to waste watching. With a low chuff, Hydra turned on her heel to leave him be—though her ears backturned in case he called for her to wait. For him, she would—although their parents had not. They had snickered as they went to embark on whatever it was they intended to do next.

hydra's thin muzzle peered over the rim. arcturus stared back, tail wagging playfully. her quip egged him on, and he pronked jokingly to the next stone, taking several minutes to get back on hydra's level.

brushing against her fondly the mountaineer continued his upward ascent. they would train uphill now, as they often did together -- two shadows melding as one, becoming stronger as they coursed up and down the mountain. it would be dusk before they quit their conditioning, but their energies would be spent and moods lifted.