Blacktail Deer Plateau Round 2: What are you made of?

Round Two of this thread continues here. This gives us a chance to start round two while still finishing up the thread for round 1. Tagging the spar winners @Shale @Engel @Dawn @Grayday. But feel free to have other characters spectate. Again, there is no post order, and you can (and should) post more than once, as long as you take turns with your opponent. Opponents are stated below. Spar winners are determined by roll which will take place in this tabletop thread (Rules have been slightly changed. Don't miss it). Round Two of sparring will end 1/14 or when everyone finishes. Feel free to PM me with questions :)

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Round one was now complete and the remaining five were Shale, Engel, Grayday, Dawn and herself. The outcome of some of the spars were unexpected, but everyone was evenly matched to an extent. It was time to move on to round two of these spars. "Nice job everyone, especially to our round one winner." she said with a nod to the ones remaining. "Everyone else feel free to stick around and spectate if you wish." she offered to the other particpants though some may decide to venture off while the rests of the rounds took place. 

"Ok... For the next round lets have... the two brothers face off." she said pairing Grayday and Shale together. She thought it might be entermaining to see who wolves that looked so similar fight one another. "And then... How about Engel and Dawn. I'll go against whoever loses their spar first." she wanted time to watch the two 'gray blobs' fight one another.

"We can take a few minutes to catch our breathe, but otherwise have at it." she said with a smile and walked over to the side and waited for her opponent.

She approached Engel trepidantly, eyeing Pema once. Engel certainly behaved like a young male, but he was a little on the elderly side; she would allow him to make the first move. She shot him a grin and moved to face him, tail waving at her haunches lightly as she faced him, confident and yet totally lost. Her fighting experience included the previous spar, and little else. 

Still, it couldn't be that different from putting an end to a buck or a ram - could it? Her first spar had been won by a combination of luck and odd bits of skill, additionally, she'd been fighting an amnesiac.

Engel finally got back, huffing and puffing after the fight with Adi. It wasn't just the spar that had tired him a bit. But the walk back after. Already he was getting tired. Once he got back, he smiled to the other victors. But...he did not expect round two. The way his mouth almost fell open all the way, and then he groaned rather loudly. 

He watched as Dawn approached him, and thought of how innocent she seemed upon their first meeting. "Please...go easy...I'm much too tired." He got down rather lazily into the stance for a spar after bowing his head. He didn't have time to move elsewhere.

Her brow furrowed as Engel moved up, looking as if he might collapse any moment. Her tail paused its flicking and she relaxed, glancing at him in slight concern.  "are you alright?" His movements were stiff, tired, and she abandoned her own attempt at a fighting stance to peer at him hawkishly. "maybe you should rest a moment. I don't want you fainting on me, Engel."  She said with dry humor, ears pressed forward as she watched him carefully.

He gave her a sly look at the remark. He would not be passing out, on anyone this day. "I won't be..be passing out, all right?" He shook his head, and had happy thoughts in his mind. Heartha's voice, Day's face, Murdock's....thing. That got him a little pumped up. "You ready?"

She moved then, though slow and clumsy, not entirely believing the male. She made a half-hearted lunge for his shoulder, choosing a target least likely to break the male or have him faint. She reigned in her strength considerably, not knowing just how much would harm or hurt another.

Engel kept his eyes on her rather lazily, until she made a move for his shoulder. He was tired, and wanted this done quickly, but he decided to make some effort. So while she went for his shoulder, he angled his head to grab at her scruff and attempt to pull her aside, from his shoulder.

He moved with more vigor than she had expected, grabbing her scruff and tugging her aside. Moving a little swifter, now, she swept a leg out, aiming for his own front limbs and seeking to pull them out from beneath him. Her gaze glittered, he surely did not seem as fragile as she'd thought.

Engel had managed to achieve what he aimed to do, but so did she as his front limbs fell out. He let go of her. But now he had a newfound energy, and he was feeling he may yet win. So he went down on his side, and used one of his rear legs to kick at one of her limbs, to get her off balance.

Quite suddenly he flopped onto his side, and wondering if he had truly passed out, she paused the offense and peered over at him, taking a wary step close. Faster than she'd thought possible for the tired man, he kicked out, catching her in the elbow and upper limb. Gasping at the suddenness, her forelimb crumpled and her elbow bent painfully. She fell to the ground with a soft grunt, twisting as to avoid falling awkwardly on her elbow and thus having the breath knocked out of her when she fell.

Engel waited for a moment, then popped his head up to see that Dawn was in fact down. He didn't notice her pained elbow, and pinned her with a single, tired paw. "I...I won...." he said, in somewhat disbelief. He glanced over at Pema, shaking his head slowly. "Pl...Please...tell me there is...no more rounds."

As soon as she'd caught her breath, she hissed through her teeth at the dull ache in her elbow. Twisting back to see Engel tiredly pin her, she managed a wry grin, muttering only, "stealthy, Engel." When he released her, she rose to her paws with a stiff shake of her pelt, glancing at him with mirth dancing lightly in her eyes. He certainly didn't look to be far from collapse this time, and she stretched out her limb with gritted teeth as she watched Shale and her father.

Engel really looked out of it from the beginning of his and Dawn's spar, but in the end he actually won. It wasn't as though she thought he couldn't do it, it's just that he looked like he was about to peel over in the beginning and even know wanted things to be over. "We keep going till there is just one let. Hang in there." she said jokingly.

While she watched their fight she saw that @Dawn had experienced alittle bit of pain in her elbow. Seeing as how Pema would fight her next she wanted to make sure she was still feeling up to spar. "Looks like it's me verses you now. Is your elbow alright? You feeling up for another one?" 

small cameo, only post

he had watched dawn slide through the first round against raid, cheering her on silently yet not holding back from giving the brown-pelted healer a compliment as well. going toe to toe with morningside's warrior princess was no small feat.

now, no more than an hour later, he sat here slack-jawed as he watched engel kick his girlfriend's ass. not, mind you, a drubbing by any means. . .but a victory was a victory, and engel staggered away undefeated in the sparring tournament.

"he's, just. . .my god, engel," aditya laughed incredulously, watching the obviously winded older man stagger away. he touched the tip of his tail to dawn's shoulder in consolation. "he woke up with superpowers, i think," he told her, smiling. "good luck against pema."

as he walked away to sit down again, he remembered his words to engel--to avoid any spars with grayday in the near future to get back in the alpha's good graces--and burst out into unhinged laughter, looking at the brothers preparing to spar. if shale lost this one. . .

 
Aditya echoed her thoughts precisely, and she snorted as he touched his tail-tip to her shoulder, grinning good-naturedly as she watched the man stagger away. As her mate returned to his seat, she twisted to meet Pema, wondering just how much fighting experience the woman had. "I'm fine. You ready?" Giving her elbow a final stretch, she moved into a fighter's stance, remembering not to underestimate her opponent again. Providing that Pema was, in fact, ready, she'd make the first move with a grin and a sleek dart towards the woman, making as if to grab her shoulder, but instead sweeping her paw out in an attempt to trip the woman up.

Pema nodded to her opponent and put herself into a defensive stance. Unlike Kieran, Dawn didn't hesitate to make the first move, heading towards Pema's shoulder, like Pema had done to Kieran in the beginning. Expecting a similar attack Pema fell for the fake and he front legs were tripped. She decided to go with it, fall to the ground rather then try to keep her balance and expose herself even more. But when she fell she fell hard and the wind was pushed out of her. But right after Dawn went to trip her Pema snapped quickly at her semi injured elbow.

 
A flicker of anger accompanied pain as Pema went for her elbow, her fangs catching a weak hold before she wrenched the limb back, sending soreness flooding through it. She did not pause as she had in the previous fight, her own fangs grabbing for the woman's scruff, presented to her as Pema made a grab for her leg. Should her lunge land, she'd push the woman down and attempt to pin her quickly.

Pema could tell that even though her nit at Dawn's elbow was quick it had caused her some added pain from earlier. It was the weak point she was waiting for, but she hoped she didn't cause too much damage. But with the pain from the bite came ferver and ambition to suceed from Dawn's part. Even though the bite had hurt it hadn't thrown Dawn off balance. Pema tried again nipping again at one of her ankles. She tried to pull back afterwards, but Dawn was too quick and she grabbed onto Pema's scruff holding her down in a pin. 

Pema snatched at one of her ankles, and her pin became messier than she'd hoped, losing her balance in the midst of trying to execute it neatly and half falling onto the healer with an oof. Pulling herself up, and pining the woman a moment with panting breath, she stepped away to grin at Pema, anger already forgotten. Giving her pelt a quick shake, she dipped her head, slipping out between heavy breaths, "good fight." This was rather fun actually; she ought to spar the healer more often. 

Her focus moved next to her father and Shale, rather interested to see who would win, rooting quietly for her father. They were similar, save her father's missing eye, and she hoped the half-blindness wouldn't give Shale much of a lead on him.

He chuckled as he sauntered up to Grayday, a glint in his eye. They hadn't sparred since they were boys, up by the river back home. Shale had been meeker, then; it had been easier to push him around. Not so much, now.

Shale did take into account his brother's missing eye, though, and vowed not to fight dirty. Dirty tactics he'd only employ against an enemy; Day was not only a friend, but family. He gave a nod to his littermate, face growing serious. "Let's do this," he said hoarsely, the fur on his nape bristling in anticipation.

With thundering paws, he surged toward Day, his lithe body twisting at the last second so that he could sink his jaws into Day's shoulder: a bite not hard enough to break the skin, but hopefully enough to surprise his brother into being bowled over. Shale rammed his chest into Grayday's side in tandem with the bite, hoping to have him on his back soon enough.

The thud of paws alerted Grayday to the beginning of his next match. He was still a bit winded from his spar with Sunny, but not so much that he thought it might affect his chances. He was more worried about lack of sight. And, as he'd feared, he was not able to anticipate Shale's attack. He knew when they were about to meet, but not where, and the other male got a grip of Day's shoulder before he could be fended off.

With a startled snarl, Grayday snapped at the first piece of flesh he could find - the side of Shale's neck, as it turned out. Day grabbed onto his scruff and twisted it as painfully as he could without causing damage, hoping it would get his brother to release him.

His attack did throw Day off, but not enough to send him tumbling to the ground. Instead, he felt his brother's teeth grasp his scruff, twisting the fur and skin painfully. Grunting with effort, he thrashed his head about, trying to loose Day from his neck.

Finally, he succeeded, freeing himself and hopping nimbly back, teeth bared. He was well in the fight now, and wouldn't lose this one, not by a long shot. Shale crept for a moment, just a few paces away from Day, before launching himself forward again, barrelling into his brother and wrapping one foreleg round his back.

This move wouldn't have worked on Sunny, who had some size to him, but it might work on Grayday, who had a similar build to Shale's. He pressed his weight down, hoping to drive his brother gently but firmly into the ground.

Grayday's head swung blindly from side-to-side, trying to capture the now-invisible Shale. His steps had gone silent, and although his scent professed him to be near, Grayday had no way of tell how near or in which direction.

A savage, angry snarl escaped him as he was tackled from the side, the surprise causing him to lose his footing and succumb to Shale's attack. Instict tried to take over, but Grayday's jaws never moved past painful and onto harmful as they clamped once more onto Shale's leg. Once more, he twisted, hoping to put the other male into a position too painful to keep up with. His angle was not as great this time, however, and the male had a feeling he'd already lost the spar.

Day was not going down without a fight. That was good. He had no doubts about it, but it was encouraging to see the alpha still had all the fighting spirit Shale had known him to possess when they were young. He winced as jaws clamped down on his leg, trying to twist him into an awkward position.

But the attack also left Day teetering awkwardly, off-balance, and Shale used the opportunity to twist gracefully away, then slam his weight into his brother's side once more. He tumbled down, and Shale pursued, placing one paw on his shoulder, the other, ever so gently, against his throat. He could feel the pulse hammering there, against his pad.

He only held the pose for a second before stepping away, a smile returning to his face once more as he waited for Grayday to rise to his feet. "Well fought," he said warmly. "Thought you might have had me, for a moment there."

Grayday went down with a startled Oof! - only to start laughing a moment later. Whatever Shale said, Grayday knew that his brother had gotten him good. While it smarted to know that there was someone obviously stronger and more skilled than him in the pack, he was heartened to know that Shale would help keep their family safe.

"I need to sit down," he grumbled good-naturedly, moving to sit on the sidelines between his packmates.

Short posts to get caught up!