Redsand Canyon alveus

germanicus was not an individual moved toward physical affection. by now @Ruenna would have discovered this for herself. the imperator instead found himself completing small tasks near their shared space. thus far he had lined the walkway to the den-mouth with medium-sized slateblue stones and found a large hide to drape across the entrance for the duration of winter. any plants the man discovered had been lay to dry on the shelves inside for her inspection.

while he was often awake and gone into the darkness before early morning, training the soldiers, he returned to eat a mid-morning meal with his wife and to speak of mereo.

the shadow chased memories in his mind.

in the afternoon he looked for @Diesel and @Kallik, chuffing for them to join himself and @Glaukos in a wide and flat space free of snow and populated by cold red sand. a sparring ground.

Kallik quickly answered the summons, trotting into the empty space. He was intrigued. He wondered why they had been called here.

The auxillary moved forward to stand before the imperator, sparing Glaukos a brief glance of acknowledgment. He dipped his head once and then waited to see what would be expected of them today. He knew the strange creature that was Diesel had been called for, as well, and he was not looking forward to hearing her voice.

Glaukos was not far when the call came. He watched as Kallik arrived and gave the other auxiliary a pinched look as he swung his attention from the boy to the elder; clearly just awakened and ill-prepared for his rounds, the boy was less interested in being there than anyone, but remained somewhat attentive. He had a contract to fulfill after all.

Thanks to the wondrous healing salves of Lady Hen, Diesel's infection was a distant nightmare, and strength had begun to pump back into her muscles with each day spent out and away from the den.

Somehow, she had taken up to patrolling the borders, not because she consciously understood that she was doing so, but because she needed to stretch her legs and smell something other than the canyon air. This way the dog had already chased away a coyote creeping up from the north, and it felt good to run trough the snow and feel the wind whip her wrinkles as something small, pathetic and vaguely canine ran ahead with a tucked tail.

And there was also the training done with Boss-o. Not all of it was the same shit as that first exercise, but strangely enough, once she was no longer in her weakened state, it started to feel good too. Something about going to bed all sore and hurting and waking up the next day... still sore and hurting, but also knowing the pain was building up to something.

Today, she had gotten up with the Sun to go strut along the canyon's northern lip, just daring something to come and thread upon the borders she had taken to marking (and how strange her scent was, among all that he-wolf piss). It was a rumble in her stomach, not the quaking of starvation but a healthy reminder that time for feeding had come, that had her retreating into the canyon to look around for something to munch on.

It was a leg of ferret she was cracking in her jaws when the Boss called for her, and she pranced out, still crunching the bone. Present were Bad Cop and the one she had decided to christen Shitface, as he hadn't provided a name (not that it would have prevented her from coining him a new one). She nodded at the Imperator and winked at the bear boy in a most salacious manner, before following along.

Whatever it was they were doing today, it would for sure be a riot.

they arrived.

he had not called arsenio to them this time. the former guard had already proven his strength. germanicus wanted him to recover from the ordeal of court. of what they had done.

but he had said he would serve. the imperator would seek him another day.

the tension between loud diesel, surly glaukos, and grim kallik could not be understated.

germanicus gestured that they should line up before him, shoulder facing shoulder but with space between.

"today we are sparring one another. each one of you will spar the others in five minute increments. and then you will engage me." the man stared firmly at each of them, pacing in front of his axuillia.

"the conflict ends when your throat is touched. restart your sparring after that until the five minutes is completed. then you will take another partner. glaukos and diesel. you have the advantage of bulk and muscle. anyone smaller than you will be faster. remember this. kallik, you do not have this advantage but you have speed."

germanicus looked at each in turn. "diesel, you will face kallik first." this left glaukos on the sidelines to observe. 

"begin."

They would be sparring today. Kallik listened closely as the imperator explained the rules. It seemed easy enough, aside from the fact the other two had a size advantage that he didn't have, at least not compared to them. He was not a small man but the mutant, Diesel, had far more muscle. And although he was loath to admit it, so did Glaukos. But he was fit and had spent most of his life building the sleek muscle under his skin. He would make sure they did not have an easy fight.

He was to face Diesel first; his displeasure with this was carefully veiled behind the icy mask he had mastered. Instead, he turned to face the other auxiliary and the second she was ready, he lunged forward, aiming straight for her throat right out of the gate. At least he was eager to learn.

The explanation for their gathering brought more life to Glaukos than anything before it, and even then he was a grouch. He listened to the rules as they were laid out, and was irritated that he was being put on the sidelines.

Then again, he did not have to combat the walking, talking, seeping mess that was Diesel. It would be entertaining to see Kallik contend with the monstrosity; so Glaukos kept to one side of the little arena and readied himself to watch.

A big smile graced Diesel's drooping face. A fight? Just what she needed to test the extent of her newfound strength! And it would be that killjoy whose name she missed facing off against her. Whatever. Be it he or Shitface or both against her, it would all be the same to the vertically challenged female. 

The wolf did not wait a second longer than it took the dog to position herself as to face her opponent. At once he lunged, and Diesel swung her head to the side then down to move her neck out his range, his intentions clearly telegraphed. Using the movement she pivoted and aimed upwards, for the thick fur of the he-wolf's neck.

went to the tabletop channel, rolled a 1d6 and got a 4. you roll and if you roll higher, you can write kallik touching diesel's throat, if you roll lower write him getting bit

rolled 2; kallik loses

He had made a mistake, one he did not yet realize. It wasn't until his attack missed and Diesel was there with her counter attack that he realized he had been too obvious. Clearly there was still a lot of progress to make. 

Now that she had the advantage, he could not push out from under her weight. He felt her teeth on his neck and paused, knowing it was over and he had lost. Frustration mixed with determination within the auxillary. He would practice as much a it took to be better.

the movements were swift. kallik moved too quickly. diesel took the upper hand.

there was time enough for the two to clash a second time.

"again," he ordered of @Diesel and @Kallik. after this, glaukos would spar the winner.

the imperator watched.

This has been sitting a while. Looks like Diesel is AFK! I dice rolled in Discord for the result of spar #2 and skipped the bulk of it.

Glaukos did not pay much attention to the two as they sparred - not the first time, certainly not the second time as Kallik's methods proved to be successful against his floppy, consistently-wet-in-places opponent.

When the calm descended after this second spar however, Glaukos began to pay attention. Diesel slunk off to the sidelines to nurse wounds of various natures and so it became Glaukos' job to confront the silver boy in the ring.

He squared off immediately, feeling confident in his abilities and his size, especially given how much work Kallik had put in to his previous win. The two auxiliary were an odd pair but evenly matched in their own way; to Glaukos, he was the one with the upper hand now, as he was coming in to the battle fresh.

With his interest fully focused upon Kallik, he began a low sidelong prowl, watchful for his opponent's first move.

His second round with the strange wolf went better; Kallik learned and adapted, so he was rewarded with a success. 

But then it was his turn to spar Glaukos. The other soldier had a similar advantage as Diesel, so even though Kallik was coming straight from another spar, he could try and apply the same tactics. He worked hard to build his stamina, so he felt as though he could do this for a while if needed. 

Glaukos started to move, and Kallik moved with him, never taking his eyes off of his opponent. The pale auxillary was fast, but he knew better than to make the first move; his fellow soldier would just become a stone wall for him to slam into. 

So they danced, Kallik waiting for Glaukos to come charging at him; he asumed Glaukos was waiting on the same.

Neither boy would strike first; they watched one-another with such focus that the onlookers fell away; Diesel recovering on the sidelines, Germanicus keeping watch as a referee or whatever it was he'd designated his role to be. Glaukos only saw Kallik - waited for him to fly free of his prowl, except that attack never came.
The silvered boy was smarter than that.
He knew to avoid Glaukos' range of motion despite it being rather short. If he came too close he'd be struck down - and hard - which left the pair stalemated until someone deigned to take a risk. Glaukos was impatient to prove himself and thrust forward with a joust of his teeth, reaching for Kallik, with the intent to grab and to throw him if possible; the move was well telegraphed and would be easily thwarted.

They circled each other, neither wanting to make the first move. Kallik thought maybe this standoff would go on forever until Glaukos finally turned and headed his way.

The other soldier came barreling towards him, his intention clear as day. Kallik waited for him to get closer and then quickly danced out of the way. He hoped his move would be a little disorienting to Glaukos, and he used those precious seconds to lunge forward into the other auxillary's hips. Kallik's goal was to knock him off balance and get him to the ground so that he could pin him and hopefully win.

Quick as it started, it was over.
Kallik was faster than Glaukos gave him credit for; he knew what to expect but was swiftly overwhelmed when the other soldier moved to counter him, and it was not only difficult to avoid a direct hit to his hip, but extremely effective. The lunge forced Glaukos to try and spin himself - to try and face Kallik head-on, which put him off-balance enough to trip him.
In the next moment Glaukos was hitting the dirt at an odd angle and he couldn't prevent it, as his size was now being used against him. He fell and Kallik was upon him with a swift, successful pin maneuver that scalded Glaukos' ego.

His move worked, and as the much larger soldier tried to turn on him, Kallik knocked him off balance and sent him to the ground. He wasted no time pinning the giant down. 

Kallik was filled with satisfaction over his victory. The auxillary had used his own strengths to his advantage, and used the other soldier's strengths against him. 

He didn't keep Glaukos pinned very long, stepping back and away to let him up. Then he looked to the imperator, awaiting his direction.

last for me!

both glaukos and kallik moved with a great deal of decisiveness.

the larger of the boys would not take the fall well.

but germanicus held pride in them both. their opponents would not have waited so long to attack, but both had appraised the other.

"good," he rumbled to them and to diesel. "that is enough for today. wash yourselves, then seek a meal and a rest."

he stood tall. "we will begin again tomorrow." they were dismissed.