Grouse Thicket Queen of Diamonds

Again she had journeyed from her isle home, this time with intent and purpose. The femme itched for a fight, a spar. She had fought many battles filled with hate, desperation, and adrenaline, now she sought a partner for which to strengthen her skills. Fighting manical battles was no way to stay sharp, as one simply struck when possible, most times there was no true technique involved.

So, coming up with no better ideas, she had loped a short way from home and howled. It was a summoning, and invitation, the intent of such a meeting written clearly in the melodious notes that spewed from her muzzle. She searched for a partner with which to spar, and nothing more. She wanted to feel the same when she had sparred with the dark furred woman, a dance of dangerous proportions, but knew that such a meeting would be rare. 

She sat on her haunches, still, waiting in the clearing she had searched for, the perfect place for a spar.

As the soldier walked, he began wondering. Since he'd been away from battles and wars, he hadn't had much time to spar, or fight with anyone, which meant if it came down to it, the possibilities of his skills being rusty were very high. You might wonder, if one has been a loner for so long, surely he would've fought something, a pack wolf or a fellow loner but strangely enough, he hadn't. Sure, he'd had a few scuffles here and there, but it usually lasted no longer than fifteen seconds, with him either scaring the others off, or pinning them down, which led to scaring them off.

      Damn, he was going to be rusty indeed.

      And that was when the howl pierced the air, asking for a sparring partner. Nico paused in his steps and looked upwards, a curious look adorning his chiseled features. In his world, a spar only happened between packmates, comrades, not strangers. He fought strangers, and ended them, not play fought with them. It was a strange notion, the soldier decided almost thoughtfully. A friendly fight between two unknown people was definitely not something he would've thought of doing.

      But now that someone had, it wouldn't hurt to go. After all, Nico needed to sharpen his skills up once more. So, he located the howl and approached the clearing, staying in the shadows, staying downwind so she could not scent him, nor hear him, for he moved silently like a panther stalking his prey, thanks to military training. The soldier observed quietly, analysing his potential sparring partner with narrowed eyes before deeming it save to reveal himself.

      He stepped out into the clearing, chuffing quietly and fixed his apple green gaze on the girl, his stance one of a soldier as he waited for some sort of response.

The wraith sat motionless, even when a flash of movement in the corner of her eye warned of the possible approach of another. Moments slipped by, and finally, a wolf slipped into the clearing. Pelt the colour of stone, eyes the colour of summer leaves, he certainly was what might be referred to as handsome. He held himself in the way of a warrior, feature rugged and handsome. But the femme glanced over these features with interest, but nothing more. A wolf was more, much more, then his features. 

She rose to her paws with practised grace, slipping closer to the wolf until they were merely a few tail lengths apart. Her brilliant silver eyes looked over him briefly, noting the advantages he had and those she had. He was taller, muscular, which perhaps did not allow him the same agility and speed she possessed. It would have to be seen should that be the case, however. 

She dipped her head to him in greeting, not speaking. The purpose of this meeting had already been set, no need to reaffirm the circumstances with words. Instead, she settled into her stance, relaxed and attentive, eyes locked on him. She would wait for him to make the first move, this male, and judge him thus.

Wanna determine the outcome through dice roll? :)

      She rose gracefully and padded towards him until they were but a few feet apart. He did not back away, but stood there, tall and ready, his face expressionless, stoic and impassive and his eyes, bright but guarded, assessed her build while she assessed him, and determined that she would be quick on her feet and agile, and him, despite his faith in his speed, knew that the possibility of him being slightly slower than the female were high given the fact that he did seem more muscly than she was. That meant the soldier had to play his cards right if he wanted to win. But if he lost, it wouldn't mean much, given the fact that this was a spar rather than an actual fight, but it would be a lesson to him and would give him an incentive to push himself until he improved. To be honest, a part of him knew his skills were rather rusty, so if anything, he was counting on muscle memory and that he was still, hopefully, pretty fit.

      The wraith did not speak, but greeted him silently and settled into a stance, her eyes fixed on him. Nico relaxed into his own combative position, hammered into him by the high ranks of his former military pack. He watched her lightly, but carefully and with precision as he flattened his ashen ears against his skull and lowered his snout to protect his throat. Then, Nico began circling her, and he leapt forward, a blur of black, cream and silver. He feinted a strike for her forepaws then sought purchase on her left shoulder. It was a spar, so if he found his mark, he would hold down hard, but not hard enough to draw blood. That is, unless her idea of a spar meant that they had to get injuries.

      Either ways, Nico was game. He'd made his move, now it was time to see how she reacted to it.

He leapt; it was the fluid movement of someone trained in the art of combat. He feinted first for her paws, then for her shoulder, Aero having enough sense and perception to twist away, however, he still managed to score a weak grip on her shoulder. She tried one of her favourite move then, twisting underneath him and moving quick as a viper toward his throat, trying to score a grip on the underside of his throat, muzzle, even his chest. Should she score a hit, she would not bite down, just cling to the fur hard enough to maintain a grip.

Her preferred fighting style was quick and clean, with moves so inventive and rarely seen that few saw them coming, but she could adapt to most situations. But by the grip he had scored in even the first round, Aeronwyn knew that this fight may take a bit more to win.

She twisted away from him, but he still managed to seek grip her shoulder between his jaws, if only briefly. The wriath twisted underneath him, attempting to grab at the underside of his throat. Nico's head had already lowered, a position he tended to keep the majority of the time he was in combat, so his neck was protected. However, she managed to hold a grip on his chest, causing him to simultaneously kick at her with his forelimbs before rearing onto his hind legs like a horse, a move he'd perfected over time. If he managed to fling her off, he would back away and circle her, waiting for an opportunity.

      Nico was no stranger to combat; his entire life revolved around wars, spars, fighting and bloodshed but he was no fool either. He knew he was not perfect, but he tried his best to perfect the art of combat. In a way, to the soldier, this spar was just as real as any fight in the field.

Forelegs pounded into her chest, knocking out her breath and causing her to release her grip on his chest. Her back legs hit the earth with a thud, tensing underneath her as she fell, and , instinctively, she tucked in her head and used the momentum generated by her fall back ward to ram her head right at him, hoping to, at these close quarters, score a hit while he was unbalanced in his hind legs. It was certainly a hell of a strategy, and later she would find herself practising her own version of this move. 

Only problem was, should she be able to rock him of balance and he fall, there was little she could do about it. The ram had been an instinctive move, born of a quick thought, and she was still trying to recover her breath. This move would leave her dizzy as she expended energy and breath without actually taking one. Still, hopefully it would give her a moment to recover quickly an resume the spar.

His paws connected firmly into her chest, knocking her backwards as well as achieving his desired goal: for her to release her grip on him. He was about to back away when she tucked her head in and rammed her head straight on his underbelly, causing him to stumble, skid backwards and fall back on all paws, panting slightly. Nico narrowed his eyes then, and without waiting to regain his breath, he charged forward, crouching low as he skidded to a near stop before her, ears flat against his skull as he lowered his head and snapped at her right forelimb, hoping to grab it and pull it out from beneath her, thus unbalancing her.

      Nico's mind was whirring now, his brain coming up with numerous attacks, defense and strategies that he could use to defeat the female, but really, right now, he was relying mostly on muscle memory and instincts. If his attack worked, he would take the opportunity to approach her from the side with running with his head lowered like a bull and ram straight into her flank, hopefully pushing her over, or at the very least, cause her to stumble.

His snap at her right foreleg was a simply attack, and though he managed a quick grip she recovered quickly and wrenched her limb away staying fairly balanced and recovering her breath quickly. He moved to her side, this was feeling more like the wordless dance of tooth and fang she had experienced before, and she was warming up to this spar quickly. Silver eyes gleaming, as he tried to headbutt her flank, she slipped forward suddenly, though his attack still caught her rump, swinging her around and causing her to stumble. 

She twisted around quickly, continuing the momentum, and rushed his side headlong. She attempted to place her left forelimb over him, making to grab his scruff with her maw at the same time.

Nico's jaws snapped around her limb, but she wrenched her paw away quickly, unfortunately for him, staying balanced. Nico kept up his attack, however, and rammed into her flank. She moved forward in the last second, but he still caught her on her backside, causing her to stumble momentarily. She was quick to recover, he'll give her that, and she rushed at him but he managed to dodge her at the last second, although she managed to snag the fur on his scruff for a brief moment. He pulled away however, then rushed forward again, his body staying low to the ground as he feinted a strike to her right foreleg, before suddenly, utilising the fact that he'd never really stopped in first place and circling to her back where he attempted to use his jaws to grab at her back leg while moving the rest of his body around.

She missed, him moving too quickly for her, and her body falling onto the ground with a thud. The sudden attack on her limbs caught her unawares, and the attack on her hind limb caught her painfully off balance. She toppled, the wraith, with a thud to the earth, wincing at the awkwardness of the fall and the resulting pain in her side. That would bruise, she decided, most definitely. She made no move to recover, knowing that if she tried to rise, in all likelihood the male would bring her back to the ground again. 

So she merely shifted and prepared to see should he try and grab her scruff or hold her down. She acknowledged her defeat, noting it with surprise and perhaps a little bit of anger. She fixed him with a gaze, finally breaking the silence. "It has been long since one has bested me, stranger. Your skill is great." she said. She would not belittle him out of anger, being herself not a sore loser of any sorts. Her interest in him was considerably peaked. "Would you oblige me with your name, perhaps?"

Nico's jaws wrapped firmly around her back leg and perhaps, not so gently, pulled it out from beneath her, causing her to fall onto the ground, the grace she held previously gone. She toppled like dominos, and the moment she fell onto the ground, he stood above her, over her, tall, intimidating and stoic, not a trace of smugness or arrogance available on his harsh, chiseled features. The deWinter did not speak, but observed her on the ground with cool, unfathomable, apple green eyes before stepping away quietly when she seemed to acknowledge defeat, making sure she knew that as long as she did not attempt to fight dirty now that they both knew who won, he would not bother her with condescending words, but would leave her alone. He dipped his head politely, respectfully acknowledging her as a worthy opponent and was about to turn to go.

The wraith spoke then, saying that it had been a long time since one had bested her and praised him for his skill, before asking for his name. He stared at her for a moment, his expression betraying nothing before bowing slightly, "I suppose I should be honoured," he said with a shadow of a smile before shaking his head. "But I'm nothing extraordinary. This is all practice, with good wolves teaching me; anyone can achieve this if they set their mind to it." He shrugged, smiling humbly. "Besides, you're skill is great too. You could've bested me," Nico said honestly. He was by no means an arrogant fool, he'd learnt in his soldering days that if you practiced enough, you could achieve pretty much anything...reasonable, and everything he'd achieved so far, he'd done so thanks to his superiors and fellow soldiers. He felt that really, everything he had he owed to his dead friends and former trainers.

"Nicolas is the name," Nico said, before cocking his head, "what about you?"

His words were spoken true, perhaps she would do well to attempt to better her skill. She thought of Shink then, and wondered if perhaps, when she had taught him what she knew, perhaps they could practise together and she may better herself. It was certainly an opportunity to consider, she realized, and as the male finished speaking, she rose, stance relaxed. By not attacking her outright or forcing her to submit, he had proven himself honourable, and he spoke with good intention. 

He gave his name then, asking for hers. For a moment, Aeronwyn hesitated. Few knew of her name, she seldom gave it out. But this male, she felt that he would do no harm knowing it, and he had certainly proved himself to be a number of things, honourable and a worthy opponent at the top of that list. 

"You may call me Aeronwyn"

It was her true name, she, unlike her Lord and Lady, did not offer a fake one to others since she had never given it out in the first place. She wanted to speak with this man longer, for he had truly interested the wraith, but she ought to return to her home by now. Before she did though, she offered a few more thoughtful words. "May we meet again, Nicolas, for you seen a man of honourable intentions." after a brief pause, she added "There is an Isle, west of here. Search you ever for a home, or perhaps only a spar, call before the river. But tell other nought of this, for it is a secretive place. "

With that, a flick of her tail, she dipped her head to the male and spun on her heel, vanishing back into the trees and headed westward, toward her home. She had given him information she seldom offered, perhaps seeing something in his character. She knew nought that his allegiances would lie to the Glade, of which she had made an enemy of the Queen and King. But these thoughts were not on her mind as she made her way home, their claim settling stronger each day.

Thank you for the thread! Feel free to post again or archive, up to you :D

thank you :)

He watched her as she rose from the ground, her stance somewhat relaxed and he thought back to what his superiors had taught him back at Winterhail. Never to let one's guard down; always be alert. It had been hammered into him so often that he no longer knew anything else, so he was, perhaps, a bit surprised, when he saw how she was standing but then remembered that just because someone's stance was relaxed, it didn't mean they were. Anyways, it didn't matter. The spar was over. Perhaps they would meet again, but he did not wish to have any personal connection to her, for she was still a stranger and if it came to a time when he had to kill her, it would be easier if he didn't now her at all.

It didn't hurt to know her name though, so Nico nodded, repeating the name inside his head to test the feeling out. It was a strange name, nothing he'd heard of before, but as a naturally curious creature, he wondered, almost immediately, where this girl was from. He asked no questions, however, knowing that it would probably do more harm than good. Aeronwyn had other ideas, the words that flowed from her maw spoke of wishing to meet again, saying that he was a man of honourable intentions (which he disagreed on, somewhat, given his rather bloodthirsty career) but was honoured nonetheless.

Surprisingly, she also gave him a place, which was, if he deduced correctly, where she was currently living. He thought of her as a secretive person, much like himself, but apparently he'd given a strong enough impression to this girl for her to divulge some secrets. A part of him was, once again, honoured, but the other part was almost amused. If he ended up in an enemy pack, god knows what he would do with this information. But for now, Nico accepted the fact that she trusted him, and promised to himself not to say anything about it unless it really came down to it - unless the situation was extreme.

Aeronwyn turned away, dipping her head respectfully before going westwards. Nicolas stood there for a moment, watching her form fade away before sighing to himself, allowing the smallest of smiles to spread across his face as he silently celebrated his victory, a sign, that perhaps, he wasn't as rusty as he thought and began making his way back where he came from, ready to travel once more.