Blackbeak Bluff Kicking The Dirt

Arrille left the territory of Grimnismal again. This time it was more to get away from Drageda, just ot get some distance away from them. The pale boy felt the usual aggression that he held, all pent up. And he needed to just let it all out. He was desperate. And this thing around his neck, the constant irritation. It did not help with that at all. 

He kicked at the dirt, growling. Growling about Prince, about Drageda, about the damned thing around his neck. He was very much pissed.
@Sandpiper @Larus

it appeared there was more than one stormcloud coming her way today - sandpiper watched as a pale wolf streaked down the beach, incensed by something. she looked at the cheerless grey clouds and then to the wolf, deciding despite his aggravated demeanor he was at least worth approaching.

moreover, she was mostly interested in whatever he shouldered around his neck. at first she assumed it was a band of kelp or some wares from the mainland -- instead it looked rooted around him in permanence. she paused then and tested the air before hollering: "hey! what's that shit on your neck?"

Arrille heard the wolf hollering at him and glanced up so his gaze met them. And glared in their direction upon understanding what they said. "Annoying! That's what it is!" he shouted back, but made no direction change. Though he did keep his gaze on them. Just in case they continued to approach him.

with busy little strides sandpiper rounded herself upon arrille, sowing the deepest scowl possible as she circled him. whatever was around his neck was definitively foreign. with each passing second that she orbited him she found her hackles bristling; it was something unknown, and that unknown was something to be distrustful of.

she wished raptor might have been there, at least he was good for figuring out if things were edible -- maybe he would have tried his hand at helping this stranger, but sandpiper wasted no time in busying herself with riding the beach of his existence. he and his -- whatever the fuck that was -- weren't welcome here. "so what the fuck is it." she asked again thickly, lancing him with a hostile orange gaze as she waited explanation.

SHe got very close as she began circling about him, and he stopped, giving off a low growl as he liked his space. "Does it look like I know? Cause I don't..." He continued to glare her down, keeping his gaze to her. "Do you mind backing off...I like my space to not be filled by strangers" he warned, giving off another low growl. Henotied how her hackles began bristling, and already he did not like her.

sandpiper stopped in her tracks and looked him full on, a loud scoff given. he didn't know what it was? really? she gave him a disbelieving look and flipped her tail over her haunches in dismissive rejoinder. obviously he was lying to her. "so, like... you... have this thing on your neck.." she started, her voice somewhat affected by a strange sarcastic lilt -- "and somehow -- i mean, magically -- you have no idea what it is?" she slowly and deliberately started to walk again, ignoring his request for some personal space.

suddenly, she turned towards him with a swing of her haunches. her lips pulled back in a snarl. "do you think i'm stupid?" she did not appreciate him playing coy with her -- she wanted to know what the hell that thing was, and wanted to know now.

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He stared her down, then nodded. "No idea" Arrille answered back. She turned on him with a snarl, and he snarled back, his lips curling back from his teeth. "Listen, bitch, I have no idea what it is, and you are getting on my nerves." He dared a step in her direction. "Back. Off."

He was having none of it, and he was so ready to fight. She was on his nerves, he was on the edge even. His anger was boiling close to the edge. Arrille was just about ready to explode.

sandpiper had expected him to fold then, to expose his ruse and explain just what that fat thing was around his neck. instead he reciprocated her snarl with a throaty growl his own, and supplicated it with hostile words that caused her ears to flip forward in offense.

did -- did he just call her... a bitch?

with her ears still cupped forward in outrage sandpiper lowered her muzzle dangerously and pulled back her gums in a savage snarl. "listen, whelp -" nevermind they were the same age, practically - "when i ask you a question, you fucking answer it. don't be dodging your fairy fuckin' toes around it like you've never been asked that before.. since you can't even give someone the courtesy of answering a simple question, i'm going only going to ask you once to leave.

now kindly --- piss off." her tail lashed in agitation along her hind legs, and she tensed herself to strike if needed.

He snarled again, at her calling him a whelp. That didn't sound like a kind word, and made him seem young, small. Then he grinned. She wanted an answer, fine. "Fine...you are stupid" he said, answering one of her questions. Then he was told...to piss off. 

He growled, this time louder than the others time. Arrille had his legs ready to spring forward, then with a snarling bark he lunged at her, aiming to grab at anything he could.

sandpiper expected some sort of attack - she didn't expect an insult. for a moment she hung there, her jaw agape -- stupefied by the insolence of his comment. stupid? her? how DARE!

she was so taken aback she didn't have time to defend herself from his lunge; his aim was true and he grabbed her scruff with mighty impulsion, practically sweeping her off of her own feet in the most Unromantic Way ever -- she lost her balance and crashed into the sand, her legs bracing the fall. neatly she barrel-rolled, attempting to kick him in the face with a hind paw before finding her feet again.

"asshole!" she screamed, her scruff still stinging from his teeth. she was too mad to think straight, and was not the most experienced fighter -- with a snarl she pulled towards him and tried to bite him the same way he had bitten her.

Arrille made a grab against her scruff. He bit down hard, trying to puncture through the skin. He was beyond pissed now, and she had brought him far over. It made his temper worse when she made a grab and teeth clashed with his shoulder, tearing at it. He let go and roared out in pain. He tried to make a snap at her face, more to scrape to get her to let go.

while she was angry, she was also in pain -- she didn't like this -- it occurred to her she might be in over her head. he wanted to hurt her, and her scruff still throbbed with sharp pangs. is this what fighting was? she didn't like it when pain was inflicted to her -- she much preferred it the other way around.

he rounded upon her like some rough and slavering beast and even her teeth could not save her. his roar shook around her and she suddenly felt very concerned, like she had committed some massive and atrocious mistake. no sooner had the inferno of his scream stopped did his teeth come to find her, raking with fiendish frenzy across her cheeks. blood welted immediately to the surface and sandpiper tried to parry his attack by lunging at his face this time, hoping to raze his arrogant nose with very unfriendly teeth.

Arrille managed to rake against her cheek. He tasted blood. It fueled his rage, the hunger for violence he was feeling. Soon she reacted quickly, raking back with her teeth going straight across his nose. He could smell the blood, and some dripped over his mouth, onto his tongue. He tasted his own blood, it fueled his boiling rage more. 

He moved to attempt to finish this, to bowl her over into the ground. He was having enough of this and as much as he wanted to continue to fight, Arrille wanted to bring her down to the ground.

sandpiper felt desperation fuel her actions - he was meeting her sevenfold in every way - when she parried, he thrust, when she countered, he defended - they were two whirling figures clashing on the sand - red and white furies in a dervish of fur and snarls.

she was tiring and he caught her off-guard, pushing against her with enough force that sent flipping ass over tea-kettle into the ground; exhaustion snared her movements and she was left wide open as she attempted to recover from the staggering blow -- she had experienced the wind knocked out of her and the burning, sinking feeling in her gut caused her to retch bile violently into the sand.

The boy managed to succeed, knocking her down. He placed both paws against her side to pin her, and tried not to look away out of disgust as she puked up bile across the sand. He snarled, daring to get his face close to her head, his breath going against her neck. 

"You call me a whelp, an asshole, anything ever again, I swear to whatever you look up to I won't hesitate" he snarled. He snapped at the air near their neck. "I won't show you mercy next time."

Raptor was a selective scrapper — he did not look to risk his hide but would under specific circumstances or when he was in a reckless mood and throwing himself at a soot and silver shark from down the coast. In this scenario, he was spurred to snarling and slavering action as soon as his roving eyes locked to a large but young white wolf standing over Sandpiper, snapping at her neck. Raptor would defend his crew. More so, Raptor would defend a friend. He did not need to even think about it.

With spittle flying from his roaring jaws and the full extent of his long fangs bared and reaching cruelly for flesh, the bandit-faced corsair barrelled toward the interloper a leviathan unleashed. He aimed squarely for the face that threatened his companion, seeking to mercilessly rend the thin sensitive flesh there and the nose and the eyes, to drive the wolf off and away.

she was still gasping for breath as arrille pinned her into the sand ruthlessly, his full weight upon her. in her heart, sandpiper knew she had lost then. she struggled to no avail, but dared meet his eyes in bitter defiance. she did not look away, instead she held his gaze as best she could, though she felt her cheeks blubber with each passing, seizing breath. if she was going to die, she would do so looking at hm -- defying him until her last breath. "fuck you." she spat, feeling the bitter taste of bile on her tongue, and a burning sensation in her throat. her lips lifted in an insolent snarl and she tried to fight against him, but she felt pinned like some hapless fish under his clout. 

suddenly, there was a roar that rivaled arrille's and sandpiper jerked her head back, alarmed until she recognized her friend.

arrille, meet battering ram -- the moment arrille's attention was diverted she attempted to right herself up, though not before issuing some petty snaps with her teeth at his direction in the canine equivalent of a drive-by middle finger.

Arrille snarled as she met his own gaze, and felt for a moment maybe he should take it away to teach her a lesson. And he was about to choose to till someone came at him, and teeth came snapping at his face. He felt a sting across his face. Red filled his vision as he pulled back. 

He growled, but he knew he was outnumbered as he caught sight of another, a male. So with that, he ran. But he would keep his promise if he ever saw her again.

Raptor did not let up. His fangs flashed again and again, raging for blood. He needed this win and meeting no resistance from the white wolf only spurned him on. Raptor was not a killer the way some of his brethren had been but he wanted to leave a mark or claim a trophy — a flayed bit of hide would suffice. But the white wolf slipped out of his attack and spun, fleeing down the coast. Raptor chased, snapping at the wolf's tail and flank, but his fury was taken over by surging triumph and he skidded to a halt, throwing a snort at the retreating wolf's backside.

"HAW!" He bellowed in mocking down the shoreline. He stood with his head lifted and his snout tipped up so that he could stare down his nose at this whelp he had run off. His flag hoisted high above his hips. This was not a stance Raptor took hardly ever, but he stood there now in his glory and gloated and basked, swaying to the song of victory in his head. He hurled one last insult and threat over the din of the sea. "If I catches ye near 'er again I'll hang yer little weakling sack off a branch over me bed!"

It was then that Raptor realized shit — Sandpiper! and whirled to hasten to her side and check her out see if she was hurt. "Piper!" He hollered, burnt umber eyes scanning her slim figure. "What the hell?"

raptor was upon her assailant like a demon, fangs flying and a murderous growl thundering from his throat. sandpiper quickly rose to her feet the second arrille's shadow left her, launching upright shakily as she quickly assessed her wounds. she was bleeding, her scruff and face were matted with thick blood, and her body was wracked by surges of adrenaline.

she rose in time to see raptor barrel down the strand victoriously -- she had just initiated the first few steps of a lope to chase after arrille when raptor swung around. instantly she fought to maintain her composure; she did not want to be weak in front anybody, especially not him. it was a struggle to conceal the pain that stung her back, but she looked at raptor carefully before her bloodied muzzle split into a wide grin (despite the fact she had almost died). "what took you so long?" 

Sandpiper was hurt. He assessed that she was hurt rather bad. Not bad enough to strip her of her humor mind you — she was a sea-wolf after all and it took more than a bloody scrap to shake most old salts off their paws. But the damage was enough that the sable corsair found himself staring dumbly at the crimson that was soaking the rich colors of her face.

"Had t'make sure ye'd get a few nasty scars first," he quipped back. But his grin was weak, formed mostly on side of his face, and it slackened back to a loose and befuddled look as quickly as it had appeared. Raptor was accustomed to seeing his crewmates hurt and jesting about how cool they were going to look with a fresh set of battle wounds (and how he envied that). He was not accustomed to caring that they were beyond being concerned for his own interests.

In short, the masked wolf had no idea what to do. "Should wash that off..." he suggested feebly, directing his snout toward the sea. Raptor knew next to nothing about healing. His personal techniques consisted of salt bath and tongue wash... and he was not suggesting that he lick all that mess off for her. (He wanted to keep his tongue for a while longer).

she was still shaken by her encounter with arrille, but she was going to be damned if she crumbled like a little girl and nursed her wounds. no, she was a sailor - salt coursed as freely in her veins as it choked the sea -- she would not let this loss blemish her reputation.

she knew raptor was worried, and as she licked her lips she tasted the iron clot of blood; it was thick on her tongue. for a moment she wanted to see her reflection and see how gruesome she looked in blood, even if most of it was her own. feigning casual indifference she rolled her shoulder at his concern and strolled toward the beach with a nonchalant tone: "yeah, you're right." 

the water was sharp and bracing as it hit her limbs, and she attempted to hide her gingerness by sucking a deep breath and diving into the ice-cold sheet of water. it stunned her more than the fight did and she rose for air gasping, her fur soggy but most of the blood gone. she repeated this bobbing process several times before she returned to the sand, shaking herself free of water with a slight grin. she would surely be sore tomorrow, but at least she had imparted some injuries in payback. "what the fuck was that guy's problem?" she attempted in a joke, hoping raptor would quickly realize she was just fine and stop looking at her so worriedly.

He followed her to the edge of the ocean and watched her dunk her head and rinse the mess off her face. She looked better when she was done. Still injured but... better. Truthfully, Raptor was just relieved to see she still had a face under the blood. Humor intact — check. Face intact — check. That was good enough for him.

Raptor grinned back at her, and then quirked a brow as she asked what the guy's problem was. He had his guesses. "Gee, I don't know," he said, "did you insult his junk? Most guy's can't take that. I can — cause you know, I am tough." There was a wicked smugness on his face. He had just run off an attacker after all and while it was no amazing feat, he was going to milk that success like it was the only cow left in the barn.

sandpiper issued a rueful smile at raptor's quip. water still trickled down her muzzle and cheek -- she shook a second time before legging up and moving smoothly down the coast. she assumed raptor would follow. his quip about being tough was met with an amused eye-roll and a wry smile - oh, he was tough alright. "tough to get rid of." she inserted with a giggle, motioning for him to come along as she made for the nearest cache.

"i didn't insult nothing," she insisted thickly, a haughty fluff of her tail given in afterthought. "i asked him what that thing was around his neck. short temper, that one." nevermind she had accused him of lying and all that -- she would leave that stuff out since it didn't fit in with her personal "sandpiper-is-innocent" narrative.

"i'm hungry though." she added, realizing now her scuffle had managed to work up an immense appetite.

"Good thing for you I am," he shot back as he followed beside her.

In all his fury, Raptor had not taken note of the collar that encircled the pale wolf's neck. He tried to recall the details of that brief encounter, but the clearest image in his head was of that wolf's ass as it fled down the beach ahead of his snapping fangs. So he let that remark go without comment, even though he was curious to know what the thing she referred to was.

"Me toooo." He drawled. Of course, Raptor was always hungry. It would be newsworthy the day he said that he wasn't or that he refused food. "I can find somethin' fresh," he suggested, aware that she was headed toward the galley to see what had been stored there. "What d'ye want?"