Ouroboros Spine spoiling

looking for a spar if possible, but open to anyone/anything

Massaraq lingered along the sides of the riverbank. He was not hungry nor did he wish to fish, but he walked along the water allowing its flow to determine his direction. He was not bored, and yet he felt stalled. When he had first started learning to follow the trails of game he had had grand plans of setting out by himself. And yet such an idea seemed daunting now. To linger in ap lace punctuated with the loss of another sister so soon after the absence of another and her mother felt heavy, and yet to leave even for a short whlie felt too much like running away. Breathing out he let the chill of the water seep into his paws once again, and forced himself to keep walking.

*snatches* they can totally spar!

After her visit with Ajei, Seal followed Moonglow’s river towards the borders to reconvene with her Da. However, a familiar duo-toned coat on the river's edge caught her eye.

“Massaraq!” She called to her friend as her walk shifted into a lazy canter. When she drew nearer, Seal realized just how much bigger he had grown. Had it been that long since they last met? They were a similar age and, for the longest time, they had been the same height. But now, as they entered adolescence, their paths began to diverge.

Seal wanted to chastise him for never visiting Moonspear. Yet, she knew that his sister’s, Samani’s, death had changed everything.

“Hey,” her voice softened as she tried to gauge his Massaraq’s state. He looked a bit low. “I was just visiting Ajei. My Da and I dropped off some fish,” she explained. “How have you been? I'm really sorry about your sister...” she offered.

Massaraq recongized the wolf approaching and wagged his tail, countenance brightening at the sight of a friend. Still, he was not sure what he was feeling."Okay, I feel, restless I guess." He words were unsure, as if he himself did not know - which was true in a way.

His words rambled on, he had not been quiet before and even the odd sense of loss hanging over did not fully steal his words from him though it took some of his exuberance. "I...didn't know her that well, but it just...Everyone in Moontide was sad and it's weird that she's just...gone, sort of." It was a difficult thing to articulate, to know.

His voice evened out, finding steadier ground. "How have you been? Figure out what those berries were?"

In a show of empathy, Seal mirrored Massaraq’s dour tone. Her features wilted to commiserate with her compatriot in solemn mourning. This was Seal’s first experience with death and, like Massaraq, she felt very much on the fringes of it all. It was difficult for her to watch Sialuk mourn. It was like their sister had simply gone on a journey but never returned.

“Yeah…” she agreed. She kicked a little pebble with her paw into the water. Feeling like she needed to do something, Seal reached out and touched her nose to Massaraq’s cheek.

However, a sudden and unexpected feeling made her quickly withdraw. It was like a caterpillar burst from its chrysalis and transformed into a butterfly, which now fluttered around inside of her like a wild bat trapped inside a house.

The unexplained feeling felt very out of place for the moment and Seal didn’t understand it. She smiled nervously and then kicked another pebble, happy for the topic to change.

“Oh yeah… Turns out those were strawberries,” Seal explained. “Perfectly safe, edible, and actually verrae delicious.” Seal began to laugh at herself. “Maybe next season we’ll find some more, eh?”

Then, an idea came to her. “Say, you fancy becoming a protector, right? Maybe we can play-fight… spar… an’ help take your mind offa things. My sister, Orca, and I wrestle all the time,” she suggested.

The gentle touch along his cheek startled him, he was far from reticent in playing and wrestling with his siblings and friends or even piling in a heap to nap but the light touch was strange. He blinked at her for a moment, unsure but his mind quickly turned to her suggestion. Nodding his head "mmm! I'm sure they'll come back." He noted the information away for later, since she said they were safe maybe he could find some and they could both enjoy. But it was probably too late in the season for that.

The suggestion felt right as soon as she mentioned it. There was a restless itch beneath his skin that was not settled by walking or wandering. And feeling like maybe he could not have done anything for Samani but if he ever found his other sister he could protect her from whatever it might have been that caused her to run away was comforting. Taking a few steps away he lowered his head a little bit letting out a playful growl. "Don't go easy on me, it sound like you've had lots of practice."

Seal’s tail wagged like a fan when Massaraq agreed with her idea.

“Oh, I won’t!” she assured him. After all, Orca would never let her hear the end of it if she did!

The adolescent began to stalk towards her friend. Her pale maw muzzle wrinkled as her lips lifted to reveal the tips of her canines in a roguish grin. Her muscles tensed, and then she sprinted towards him.

Massaraq dug into the earth, settling his weight over his four paw in a crouch as Seal charged towards him Giving out a playful growl he felt his own muscles tense before he slid to the side pushing against this own movement to try to meet her at an angle paws outstretched.

Massaraq was like a rock. Seal saw the moment he hunkered down and readied himself. In many ways, she detected similarities to Orca’s physical sparring style.

Like a slippery Seal, the girl evaded Massaraq’s swipe and danced to the side as if she were performing capoeira. Then, she reared up on her hind legs and swung her forepaws to try and encircle his neck in order to grapple him to the ground.

She slipped away from him like water through jaws and leaving a smile in its wake and he was not quick enough to avoid her strike towards him, they went tumbling to the ground where he threw his weight to his dies to gain the upper hand, tail lashing out furiously half for balance but mostly out of excitement.

Tumbling! Rolling! Arooruruu, Seal cackled as she made wild sounds while they tussled. She mouthed at Massaraq’s bi-colored ruff playfully, saviouring the brief moment in a dominant position. But then, Massaraq flipped the script! He used his greater mass to pull Seal down.

“When did ya get so big?” Seal teased as she laughed with a full heart. The girl struggled beneath him and her legs pushed up against him, trying to toss him off. He wouldn’t win so easily!

Massaraq felt a breathless laugh knocked out of him as she grabbed his ruff and they tumbled about, hitting the earth. For a moment she gained the upper ground but another turn and he had pulled her down, eyes bright. "When I ate a wolf your size!" He teased back going for her scruff in a playful grab.

He kicked out with just enough force to make a bit of contact as to try and gain some leverage as they tussled.

Dried grass and clumps of pine needles became ensnared in their pelts as the pair haphazardly rolled around on the ground. Time and time again they exchanged the upper hand. For a brief moment, Seal managed to push Massaraq down but he quickly parried.

Seal laughed with him as their spar descended into play. He grabbed the skin of her neck and she writhed in his grasp, tossing her head to and fro. Yet her energy and strength, incomparable to the budding young man’s, quickly depleted.

Seal’s legs buckled beneath her and she fell to the ground out of breath.

They traded for the upperground and yet as the grass and evidence of the past summer flew around them he found himself mingling his laughter with her own until finally her legs gave out and they tumbled apart, him rolling to his paws and giving a victorious bark, tail wagging. He felt better, the air loosed in his chest from having it knocked around and his limbs looser, sure and less restless.

He sank to his own side, laying down and panting in the crisp air. "Tired already?" His voice was teasing but his tail had slowed in its movement and his sides heaved even as sparks of light returned to his eyes.

Seal lay on her side with her legs kicked out and her mouth agape in a wide, open-mouth pant as her ribs jumped up and down. Massaraq didn’t seem totally spent like she was, but they had both worn each other out.

However, her head lifted when Massaraq taunted her. Daddy didn’t raise no quitter!

“I’m - I’m,” she stuttered between breaths as she sucked air, “just getting started!”

With her last ounce of energy, Seal managed to find her paws and launched herself at Massaraq… well, it was less of a launch and more like a drunk, slow-motion belly flop.

A huff of surprised laughter as Seal rolled to her paws and leapt towards him once again. A quick intake of air and he hefted himself across his back to roll out of the way a sputtering laugh escaping him as she sluggishly landed pinning one of his legs that he had not collected beneath himself quickly enough. His tail lashed out playful once more. "Maybe we should go for a run then." His own eyes sparkled despite the way his own muscles groaned at the prospect.

Last from me!

“I got you!!” Seal wheezed. Then, she laughed with him until her sides hurt.

When Massaraq suggested a run Seal made a face that said you got to be kidding me!

“Verrae funny,” Seal shoved one of his shoulders with a paw. “C’mon, let’s go get a drink.” She stood up, shook her pelt, and invited the Moonglow boy to race to take a jaunt towards the nearest creek.

Massaraq laughed full and clear and rolled good naturedly with the shove before springing to his feet to run towards the nearest body of water. A weight lifted and he felt his head clear and his limbs move once again more smoothly and with purpose.