Haunted Wood One After Another

Santiago wants to get to know their new Warlord, so different from the last. By last he doesn’t mean Hela, he references the great evil that was the blighted Vengeance. Their current Warlord is still a pup, everyone could be considered a pup until about a year of age, at the youngest. Santi would go as far to say a year and a half, unless they have some experience. Though @Valour seems constable enough to lead, but they have yet to see.

Today though, Santi plans to spar with the kid. The few meetings he’s held, the male seemed slightly awkward, so the older is looking forward to potentially teasing the other. So, on Santi searches for this Valour, their Warlord.

About fifteen minutes pass before he’s finally able to set eyes upon him. He allows his usual smirk to overcome his muzzle with a more casual undertone as to not appear too mocking. As the older male sidles up to the Warlord he laughs a bit. “Hola, my new Warlord. How’re you doing today?” He greets casually. “You wouldn’t be interested in a spar, no?”

Until Santiago was about just behind him, Valour didn't even notice his presence. Startled by the laughter he turned his head and gave Santiago a questioning and mildly annoyed side glance as he had just been about to let himself take a breather. Shifting away just slightly while turning to properly face the man. "Santiago right?"  having seen him around the pack more than enough times he figured he hoped he had the name right "I'm doing alright thanks". As the spar was offered his expression instantly brightened, ears shooting up as his usual stoic, frowning expression was replaced with an eager grin "Yeah I think I could go for one. You go first since you were nice enough to offer" after the joking was done his eyes narrowed slightly to a sharp and focused look, preparing for the brutality of a fight like he remembered them being. He tucked his chin down to protect his throat and angled his body defensively as he began to circle slowly around Santiago. As he walked he readied his muscles, tensing and untensing them repeatedly to loosen them up as he watched Santiago closely eyes flicking to various places on the man's body watching for the signs of attack.

Roll here!: https://wolf-rpg.com/showthread.php?tid=40962
Unsuccessful! Feel free to dodge ;)

“Yes, that’s me.” He replies back. Only mildly surprised the male said it questionably. It doesn’t bother him though.  

Santi chuckles at the others enthusiastic reply to his questioning spar. The kid already seems serious enough, he needs to lighten up. Santi has never understood those that could be serious all the time, he can’t go a day without joking around. Even with his dark past he still finds humor in things.

Just as quickly as Valour’s excitement came, it was gone and he is all business again. Santi continuously holds his grin, stretching his back leg and arching his head up with his nose in the air, stretching his neck. “Now, now,” he begins, watching the other circle him, lowering his head and bringing his leg in to stretch out the other. “gotta warm up you know?” He murmurs jokingly as he stretches out his stuff limbs. Really, it’s only to distract him.

He sprints into action the next second and his chin meets the plume of his neck as he ducks his head to go in for a head but.

rolled on that thread using the same method for simplicity: https://wolf-rpg.com/showthread.php?tid=40962&pid=430781#pid430781 Rolled a success!

 How was he supposed to react to this? Sure it was a fight between pack members but it was still a serious practice wasn't it? He watched Santiago stretch just a little amused a soft huff of air leaving his nostrils as laughter before Santiago sprang forward. Sucking in a breath he stepped back quickly and as the large Male landed and thrust his head toward him he jumped to the side and sprang around to face him from behind, grabbing his tail and giving it a quick yank and releasing it again. Lifting his head he stepped back "Need a little more time?" the words were said lightly with humor and a wag of his tail, just a jest meant to fuel some friendly competitive fire though he knew in these woods it could go south just as fast.

His headbut failed miserably and for the display that he put on mere seconds before made his failure just a tad bit embarrassing. Especially when the male skillfully dodges and tugs on whatever is left of his own tail and hops behind him confidently. 

Santi cranes his neck to the side to gaze behind him, not yet turning around to face him. The smug look on Valour’s face making him bark a deep fit of laughter. “You got me there, hot stuff.” He chuckles back, languidly turning so that his chest faces the other. “I might need some time to cry real quick, si no te importa. That shit was embarrassing.” He laughs as he admits back with a winning smile, showing rows of elongated fangs. 

“No worry, amigo.” His grin is positively devilish now, ivory hues fixated on the other male. “Maybe this time then.” 

After his sentence finishes, he punctuates it by dashing to the right of his subject. Abruptly stopping when he circles around and ends up in his left. His head bows down in a more timely fashion and his hard head sweeps both of Valour’s front paws out from underneath him. All the while his hind leg kicks out one of the other males rear legs as well. Effectively making the other fall to the ground. He backs up and readies his stance, knowing that the other will be poised and ready to kill as soon as he realizes what’s happened.

The laughter caused his maw to open in a tongue lolling grin, tail swaying as Santiago joked about needing a moment to cry out his embarrassment. Snorting softly he didn't apologise but he did know what it felt like to be humiliated right off the bat in a fight "I feel that" was all he said before Santiago brushed it off and immediately rushed him maneuvering surprisingly quick for such a massive wolf. Before he knew it the world flipped upside down as he was knocked off his feet. Sucking in a breath he used his momentum to roll back over gathering his paws back underneath him and pushing up to spring after Santiago as he took a stop. He got as close as he could manage before springing up onto his hind paws and trying to use his forelegs to wrap around Santiago's neck to pull him in for an attack. 

He missed!

The male rears back and attempts to hook paws around Santi’s neck in failing attempt to bring Santi to his mouth. Able to slide himself from his grip and narrowly avoided teeth, the black and white wolf spins around with a smirk on his maw. “What’re you tryna do, amigo? Kiss me?” He jokes, sprinting up close and rearing back just like the other. “Déjame intentarlo.” He growls, smirk never leaving his face.

Driving down with his paws, he misses his mark. His goal was to knock him down and grab at his throat, yet it seems Santiago isn’t that lucky today.

What? Kissing Santiago? No way but he didn't want to ruin the impressive banter they had going, it was fun for the uptight kid. So Valour tossed a sarcastic smile his way  "Do you want on-" his words were cut off as Santiago growled something in a different language leaving him confused and distracted, vulnerable to the attack. Seeing the huge male rise above him he ducked low and slipped to the side, waiting to hear paws hit the ground. When he did he whirled around and sprang toward Santiago, head rearing back and then thrusting forward. 

There was a solid thwack as his head connected to Santiago's right between the eyes and he flinched shoving away from Santiago and resuming a defensive posture as he ignored the throbbing in his head. He wouldn't be making that mistake again unless it was necessary. This spar reminded him of the one he'd had with Vanity where she had praised him, the emotions weren't negative like they tended to be during a fight.

Missed both hits! I’m not having any kind of good luck over here with the rolls hahah. Almost every one has failed. Rip.

Santiago knows he’s going to get it when he misses his mark. It goes in slow motion for him as his paws touch the grimy forest floor. The male turns around and–boom, their heads knock together savagely. Santi squints at the pain and watches the other flinch and take up a defensive position. His thick skull lets the hit sink in easier as well as his tolerance to pain. He’s been in pain almost his whole life so the feeling is nothing new to him.

Santi immediately sets out to grab him. First trying to distract with a quick yet heavy paw to the face–which misses completely. Then a bite to the throat and he still misses. Luck doesn’t seem to be on his side today.

Falling head first into the pit had taught him to be hardy and though for a moment the impact had filled his sense he was more than able to cope when he saw Santiago wasn't fazed at all. Sucking in a quick breath he ducked low and to the left underneath Santiago's paw, leaning more toward the side as the man lunged. Feeling the large brute go past him as he missed a bite Valour kept the proximity close and hopped up, throwing one foreleg over Santiago's back and pushing himself up to grip him by the scruff and then dropping his weight down onto the large man tugging as he would to prey and using his hind legs to try and drag the man down with a determined grunt as he admittedly strained. 

omg poor Santi :'(

Santiago internally sighs at his own failures in the current spar. He must be off his game today. He’s been thinking a lot about things lately. Thinking about others; it’s distracting honestly. Though however much he wants to blame his slowness on distractions like thinking about shit, he has to admit the smaller male is indeed pretty fast. Where Santi has more strength the other has speed. No doubt Valour is strong too but the speed he holds over Santi’s head like a prize is mildly unnerving. It means Santi just has to get better–simple as that.

For the split second the black and white wolf contemplates his life he feels an arm slap itself across his back then teeth take ahold of the side of his neck. Shit. Is all that crosses his mind at that specific moment. Sure, Santiago has a good amount of fur on his neck and such but the bald scar that wraps around his neck from the past is often a problem. Fur acts as a protection for their kind, he has none there and the pinch of teeth has him gritting his maw and scrunching his face up.

Ghostly eyes snap to the others form and his brow furrow at the pain when the male starts yanking on him. Spreading out his stance one would think he is preparing to hold his ground to not be dragged, that’s not the case here. For Santiago has learned his lesson with situations like this when he participated in the ring.

He faces towards Valour as much as he’s able to and walks with the male as he pulls him. Then dust flies when Santi puts the peddle to the metal and rushes towards him. Since the other male would be walking backwards, most likely he wouldn’t be able to keep the fast pace of running. Their bodies collide and Santi continues pushing against the other finally able to break his grip on his neck. With a final shove Santi knocks the other over. Though it would just be more of a stumble for the other rather than completely falling.

His next intentions were to mount, grab, and thrash. Sadly, Santiago believes the other will be able to recover quickly, so it seems luck still isn’t on his side.

As Santiago gives him a glare he knew he had found a sensitive spot and found himself filled with pride despite knowing his fangs were digging into the flesh of a packmate. The pride was short lived as he felt the shift in stance and realized that he wouldn't be able to pull such a large wolf off his feet yet no matter how hard he tried. Not without accidentally tearing the flesh right off from the force being used which was something he was adamantly against doing to a packmate unless they made it necessary. 
Before he could decide what to do, Santiago took him by surprise, walking toward him as he tried to pull and throwing him off balance. His eyes went wide for a moment as he considered trying to let go and taking a defensive position legs moving awkwardly to keep up with the backwards pace. Stumbling a little he dug his teeth in harder for better grip before the black and white male barrelled toward him. With no time to react he went down on his side with a hard thud and looking up to see Santiago coming toward him. Growling he flipped back over to his stomach and sprang up again, lunging and beginning to mercilessly snap at Santiago's face close enough for him to feel the bursts of breath against his cheeks. Moving forward he sank his fangs into a few spots along the man's nose and cheeks, small stinging bites that drove the man backward in defense as he pressed onward his eyes narrowed and fierce with determination. He was beginning to feel the start of his muscles complaining but ignored it for the time being calculating quickly his best shot at maintaining the upper hand. Where Santiago was a man to rival the size of Vengeance himself, Valour still had the lean and wirey muscled body of a developing youth which made them very poorly matched in strength. He had speed. He could dart in and out quicker than the man could potentially grab him. Time was running out to plan a good way to rush the man,his frenzied bites wouldn't keep Santiago on the defense for much longer.  As Santiago took a step back Valour swung his head to the side and aiming as well as he could slammed the solid part of his skull into the wolf's windpipe hoping to knock the breath out of him.

Santi backs up at the white teeth flickering in his face as the other snap at him. The action forces him back but finally Santiago decides  that he’s willing to take the pain to get one small win. He rushes towards the other, rip cage heaving with labored breaths, and muscles flexing as he comes towards the other. He knocks his head against his shoulder right after he rears up and brings his paws down onto the male with the force of his body weight behind it. The move knocks the other down and the monochromatic wolf is quick to get on top and cage him in with strong arms. 

When he’s there he doesn’t move to wrap fangs around the others throat, he merely looms on top of him.
He pants and his tongue flicks out to lick over his whiskers and the shallow, hardly there, nicks on his face. 

“I think it’s safe to say you won that one, kid.” He rumbles down to him and moves to step off and look back at him with his usual, albeit tired, smile. “Buen trabajo.” He says with a curt nod.

Once again Santiago surprises him by embracing the pain and rushing him through it. Failing to be quick enough a second time he was knocked back by the large man's shoulder stumbling and trying to duck to the side only ending up aiding in Santiago's weight forcing him to the ground with a solid thud. Already out of breath from the quick fire attack from moments ago he lay winded as Santiago climbed on top of him and placed his head to the ground eyes flinching shut as he waited for the painful tightening of teeth around his throat. Anyone else would have done it, in fact if it had been anyone else he'd probably have gotten a few good wounds in return. Ears flattened back he lay there tense for a few moments before opening one eye to see Santiago licking at the teeny little marks he had made during his attack and opened the other eye to stare at Santiago with confusion before he was announced the winner and given some sort of praise (he assumed) in a language he didn't know. It sounded vaguely familiar, he was certain he'd heard it around the woods somewhere before but he didn't know who.

Still not used to positive compliments and praise he dropped his gaze awkwardly and shrugged"Thanks. You're good though...really good. Could you teach me sometime maybe?" he asked as the male got up and rolled to his paws, shaking out his fur eyes bright with pride from the succesful fight as he gave Santiago a wary look, not sure if asking for tutelage would be seen as weakness and lack of skill. If Vengeance had been here the man would have scoffed at him and probably made a comment about something he'd done wrong in the fight. Trying to ignore the constant nasty voice that Vengeance had left inside his head he waited on the man's answer, hoping to go tell Memory how good he had done facing off in this fight.

Santiago can see when the boy freezes and shrinks beneath him that he’s still just that–a boy. He’s young still and Santiago and the rest of the pack forget that sometimes. Even as their Warlord, he’s still undeniably inexperienced and fresh to the world they live in. Albeit, more skillful than most his age, he still lacks age and experience.

Valour seems relieved and mostly confused when he doesn’t go in for the bite. Santi can see that his expectations don’t meet. 

The black and white wolf smiles when the male doesn’t meet his eyes when he offers the compliment. “Of course, amigo. We can train some more together sometime.” He rolls out smoothly. Then Santi chuckles back to him. “You’re doing well as Warlord too. I had doubts because of your age, but you’re not bad. You need to work on your confidence, but that’s easy. I can help with that.” Santi only admits all this to the boy with the intention of helping him. He believes the male could be a great leader after all, but maybe Santi is just getting soft, who knows.

Confidence. Valour held back a laugh, realising that since returning to the woods he had been acting differently. Less.....vicious. More calculated. Too soft. Santiago was right, he lacked the real backbone that a Warlord needed. "I used to be too confident" he mused remembering the failure of a hunt that had given him bad rep amongst the Nightwalkers, something he'd worked his ass off to redeem. "I'll take you up on that" he flashed the man a smile giving him a playful once over. Santiago oozed confidence, he figured the man could probably give him some useful tips for coming across more confident. Hela hadn't needed it with her lethal mannerisms, she could take someone down in a heartbeat regardless of whether or not she was taken seriously. "See you around then" he said wagging his tail as he turned and began to head off, his walk more lively than it had been in days.

“Did you now?” He chuckles back, impressed by the other male. Then as the male shows white teeth in a smile, Santi matches it with one of his own. “I’ll be looking forward to it, amigo.” He hums back teasingly.


As the other turns his back on Santi, he watches the agouti pelt shrink as he walks further away. “Adios, Warlord.”