Firestone Hot Springs you’re not as brave as you were at the start

set on the 5th
@Vespera

God, this place again. He'd been here before, about a month ago. Time didn't do it any favors. It still smelled like something rotted and died. If Orochi was a scout, he would've realized he was heading towards it again and take a different route. But he wasn't, so he was stuck having to walk through again. At least it as a little warm.

The traveling woman was able to get away from the group for a bit, she needed time to think and collect her thoughts. The talk she had with Yuudai did some effect but she doubted that it would last long. Vespera needed to be away from the Kaistleoki territory for a bit for this was something usual that the girl would do if she was with a group and that was to take time to herself. The girl had never been to this area so she might as well explore her surroundings a bit more, perhaps a little bit of sightseeing could clear her mind. However, where she was heading was going to do anything but clear her mind for as soon as she got close enough to the springs, the smell aroused in her nose and her once peaceful face make her eyes suddenly bug out in disgust.

The girl scrunched her nose and forcefully exhaled through her nostrils with her ears flat, she quite honestly looked cartoony. She should have turned the other way if she didn't see that another wolf in her eyesight. Vespera wasn't one for going up to strangers and talking to them, she quite honestly found it stupid that someone would go up to her and talk to her out of nowhere. "Jesus fucking Christ..." She muttered to herself as the smell was becoming too much to bear for her so she started to deviate from the path that she was heading to not only try and avoid the springs but more importantly, avoid a possible annoyance.

Unfortunately for the stranger, he had a good line of site at this dump and this time his mind wasn't off somewhere else. When he saw a blotch of ink in his peripheral, he immediately spun around and growled.

You got a lot of nerve showing your face around here again, he called. From over here, he thought the pawn had come back for another fight. Orochi growled again and began making his way towards him. I'm gonna beat your fucking face in and your buddies won't be here to help you this time.

But as he stomped closer, he realized that it wasn't his attacker; just some random woman. What the-- what? Ugh! Who are you?

Unfortunately, that annoyance started to spit words of war at her and came stomping at her with an agitated voice and started to curse her out. Vespera didn't even look at the approaching wolf, she just flattened her ears and stared off into space with her expression full of annoyance, for fuck's sake, why does this happen to me every.single.TIME. The young girl snapped her head towards the younger wolf that looked like an agitated kitten with her face unamused, she never met him, and wouldn't waste her time with this kind of shit again. The exile could honestly ignore what he was saying to her but once he got closer, he realized his mistake and asked who she was, so she tried to cool her nerves and made her face a little calmer.

"Apparently I am someone that triggers you to the point where you want to rip my face off," she said with unamused sarcasm as she craned her head up to get a better look at him with her purple orbs. "Name's Vespera," she said before he could get snippy about her name so she tried to cool her hot-headedness and sounded more chill than usual.

THIS POST SUCKS PLZ FORGIVE ME

He rolled his eyes when she introduced herself, almost said he didn't care what her name was. But that'd be hypocritical of him, and he recognized that for once.

What are you doing here? No reason she gave would convince him she's not stupid, because who would want to walk around in a place like this?

you good my man

Just like she would have done, the boy rolled his eyes at her but she honestly didn't care. The younger male didn't bother to give out his name and she glad that he didn't for she quite frankly didn't ask for it, she only gave out her name because he asked for it. So for the entirety of the rest of there interaction until he can surprise her, she continued to give him an unamused expression, she quite honestly looked done with life. Then, the stranger asked what she was doing here, she could honestly say wandering around but this place was not a sight to behold or smell for that matter.

"Just looking for something to do I guess," she shrugged, which wasn't entirely a lie since she had a lot on her mind and she wanted something that would have distracted her from all the pain she went through.

Well the only thing he was trying to do was get the hell out of here. But now that he was confronted by a stranger he wasn't too fond of he was getting a different ideas.

Let's fight then. Classic Orochi, always wanting to sink his teeth into something. He stepped back and moved his feet closer together (just as Ying had taught him), then looked at her and grinned mischievously.

The man then stated that they should fight which made the girl rase her brow for it was like when Rosencrantz asked her to fight out her feelings a few months ago. "Sure," she shrugged casually, though, in reality, Vespera really needed to get her fighting skills back in order since she had been slacking for a few months, so much so that a mere pup like this one could probably defeat her in combat. Vespera turned her body and made some space between the two just as her opponent did, there was something about him that reminded him of her, it was like she was looking at a reflection of her past and how she was always eager to get in a brawl and how feisty she was.

Perhaps, the young wolf could give her an attitude check, or perhaps teach her something new.

The exile swung her body to face him, but there was a sense of boredom in her eyes, though it wasn't intentional, this little sparring session could wake her up again, just like how Rosencrantz had tapped into her locked away fighting spirit. "Whenever you're ready," she tried to get her voice to sound a little more psyched up, and judging by the male's attitude, she could only guess that he has some form of training to back up his talk.

She accepted, much to his delight. As she backed away he got himself ready for the battle, shaking out his limbs, twisting his head from one side to the other.

It had only been a few days since he trained with Ying, but it felt like an eternity. Orochi was itching for a good fight. Vespera on the other hand seemed indifferent. He was clearly more enthusiastic then her, which annoyed him a bit.

Don't hold back! he growled before sprinting towards her. He opened his jaws and aimed for the side of her shoulder.

The girl wasn't as mentally checked in as she used to be, so when the young male charged, he hollered at her to not hold back. Then, with the swiftness of a cobra, the young male thrusted himself into her shoulder teeth first. Vespera had to admit she wasn't quite on top of her game, and this would perhaps cost her in the near future of this spar, but she couldn't dwell on that thought now. Instead of being surprised, Vespera held her tongue, she didn't want to seem like she was shocked that this wolf came at her with such strength, her self doubts were clouding her mind that she couldn't do it. But those words that he called out at her when he charged, mixed in with Rosencrantz's demand that she fight swirled in her mind.

What was she doing?

Why was she being so reluctant?

But she couldn't let that plague her.

So when the young boy connected to her shoulder, it did hurt, but she was not out of it yet. Instead of a face of pain, she turned to him with the rising fighting spirit that once kept her aflame. As her paws were sliding and almost lost her balance, she quickly thrusted her muzzle into his vulnerable neck and chomped down on his flesh, and with what strength she had, she ripped him off her shoulder and threw him to the side as far as she could. But his strong bite on her shoulder raked through her shoulder as she tossed him aside. Once she was able to get Orochi off of her, she used her hind legs and swung her body to face him with her tail a bit high, her eyes determined and pumped, in fact, a little smile formed on her face. 

"You got it kid!" She challenged with a smirk.

She hadn't felt like this in a while.

And she relished it.

As he runs, as he collides with her shoulder, as he sinks his teeth into it, he thinks that she wouldn't give her all into this. She had seemed disinterested in him from the very beginning. Perhaps this would be an easy win for him. But then she grabbed a hold of his neck, and although he tried to keep his grip, he was no match for this sudden surge of strength. Orochi was flung to the side. He was too shocked to keep on his toes, thus he fell in the snow. He scrambled to his paws and growled. When she spoke, his scowl turned to a determined smirk.

Now that's more like it!

He sprinted forward again, this time diving down and up under her chin, If he were lucky, he'd grab a hold of her neck.

rolled: 2
w/buff: 4
Damage roll: 4
Damage: 5
Orochi: 10/20
Vespera 3/20

All though she was starting to get more pumped up, but this wouldn't last long, for while she was hyping herself up, the exhaustion of the not only the journey to get to Kaistleoki but to travel here started to take its toll on her. She would never want to show the exhaustion she felt, but with this mixed with her lacking sleep, she was feeling her spark of adrenaline run out of her system. Before she knew it, the young male got under her chin and shoved his snout into her neck with his dagger-like fangs, and although she tried to put on a brave face and kept her eyes narrowed with determination.

She couldn't hold it forever.

She couldn't tell what happened, but the male must have hit something important, perhaps when he locked onto her neck with the strength of a bear trap she must have choked on her spit, but the next thing she knew, she was starting to have a hard time breathing. But she would never give in, never let anyone see that she was struggling, so Vespera held her breath, and with fury in her eyes, she yanked herself down which gave her a bit of whiplash due to the male's weight, which pulled both her and Orochi to the ground. Once she was flat on her back with him still griping her neck, she managed to wiggle her neck just enough so that she could use her freed muzzle to get one last grip on his neck. She clamped down on his scruff like a Venus flytrap and held onto him for a bit, she used her hind legs to get under his stomach, and once in position, she gave him a kick into the stomach and used her legs to guide his body up.

As she was lifting him with her back legs, she held on to his neck and began to pull her head back, and with a bit of strength, since she was running out of oxygen, she threw him off of her neck once more and sent him briefly soaring. But once again, he managed to drag his fangs on her neck when he disconnected from her which sent her blood spraying out. Once he was off, Vespera gasped for breath but did as silently as she could, then, she rolled onto her paws and lifted herself back onto her paws with her chest heaving, but her eyes unphased, and wanting more.

Orochi was not aware of how, well, life threatening his move had been. Everytime he had let go of Ying's neck she was just fine, so he thought nothing of it. Vespera didn't show any signs of surrender, so he wouldn't let go until she did. It was only a matter of time. He certainly wasn't expecting what had happened next.

She did not kneel, she yanked back. As she fell, she bought Orochi down with her. But it was fine, because now he was was in a better position then before. If he wanted to let go, he would've called her stupid. 

Vespera wasn't as dumb as she made herself look. She managed to get a hold of his neck, and he felt a sudden blow from underneath. One minute he was planted on the ground, the next he was in the air. He landed on the ground with a mighty thud.

Again, he gets up and runs towards her. Rather than grabbing onto her again, he wanted to topple her. She couldn't keep herself together forever.

The girl overestimated what she could do, but her willingness to put forth her best soothed her in a way, but it was starting to get quite obvious that she wasn't prepared for this fight. She would never admit that the man would best her in a battle, she had too much dignity, even though she didn't care at this point. But Vespera kept a steady gaze on him, a firm glance that told him that she won't back down, she would never back down, no matter how bruised she would become. However, the man charged again, and once he sprinted at her will the full intent of locking onto her again, her world became a blur, and she didn't know why. Once the exile was back into reality, she was met with an unfortunate grasp on her neck again and was brought to the ground once more as she fell backwards and skidded on her back.

This move created dust as she crashed, and once the dust settled, she found it hard to move, and she could feel the hot breath of the male puffing on her scruff. She wanted to throw him off again, but her soreness flooded through her legs and body like her body was holding her back. And yet, she wouldn't let him get to her, she wouldn't let anyone get to her again, this brawl along with Rosencrantz's spar has demonstrated that Vespera still had it in her. No matter what, she couldn't let herself be broken, she wouldn't let herself drown in the cancerous thoughts that caused her to gain the scar.

Not even Greyback would haunt her anymore, the words of Reiko stuck in her mind, she wanted a fresh start, she wanted to get stronger.

Today would be a wake-up call for that, and she was too stubborn to admit that she had lost.

The dark woman stared intensely at Orochi, her violet eyes full of immense willpower as she lay there and took the attack, even though the pup had won, in her heart, she wouldn't bow to him.

As soon as he had held her beneath him, he knew who won this battle. Vespera stared up at him with an intense glint in her eye, a face that showed no surrender. But her body language says it all; she was not fighting back, thus he was victorious.

Orochi laughed between heavy breaths. He lifted his chin and puffed out his chest. You fight well. There was no denying that. Those throws had knocked the wind right out of him.  But I fight better.

She felt the laughs between his breaths but she did not stir, she wouldn't let him step all over her, even though he was literally on top of her. The child let go of her throat and lifted his chin and puffed out his chest in arrogant victory, he did compliment her that she did fight well, but he gloated that he fought better. The exile's intense eyes faded back to an unimpressed expression, in the end, he was a hot-headed kid, and her unstable mindset and exhaustion is what ultimately led to her fall. The girl rolled out from under him and onto her pads, she straightened her body and forced her limbs not to shake in the slightest as she stood her full height. The female shook her fur with her blood spraying but she didn't care, once her pelt settled, she stared at him with a relaxed glance, but there was a hint of fire in her iris. She could easily snap back at him with more intense snark to his arrogant comment, but she didn't she thought it would be funny to act like it was nothing and try to piss him off that way.

"Well that was a nice warm-up," she said while stretching her back legs by kicking them out and pushing them away from her body, she didn't want to give him what he wanted by being a sore loser, even though she so badly wanted to ram his head into the nearest boulder for she was feeling quite salty. "If I ever need to stretch my legs again and get the adrenaline flowing through my weakened body, I will come and find you," she gave him a sincere smile, even though she didn't feel that way. But the pup did show that he shouldn't be underestimated and she had to give him that, but she didn't want to admit that she was rusty. "But seriously I wouldn't mind sparring with you again," she said a little more quickly and her face casual since she was being more blunt with him.

Warm-up?! Orochi snorted. That seemed like much more than a warm up for him. Was she just holding back this whole time? If that were the case, he'd have to beat her up again. This was supposed to be a serious fight, not some game.

Yeah, well, you can find me by the beach or whatever. He couldn't say he'd be thrilled to see her again, but he was always ready for another fight, so he'd grant her the knowledge of his whereabouts. She could wait for him anywhere along the coast, even at his sea lion beach. Well, under one condition of course. If you find any dead animals there don't eat them. They're mine. And with that, he turned and went on his way.