Duck Lake I Second That Emotion

@Praimfaya sorry coll is a sadsack rn xD

The weather is warm and the sun is guarded by clouds delivering them from the direct heat of summer. a forgiving day for a male that found himself seeking absolution from the things he was doing. plagued by his part in all of this. at one time he felt he was solely the victim. pressed into a place he never dreamed of finding again. how had he become stuck between guilt and his personal vendetta?

 He would seat himself at the edge of the pond. his ears pressed back against his head and while he appeared to be resting his mind would now allow such a thing. his mind had been waging a war within itself for some time now and it was taking quite the toll on more than just his mental state. his physical was beginning to lack. 

 A sigh flowed from betwixt his lips and his head craned down to the water. he lapped at it generously before returning to his feet. he needed to occupy himself. he needed to stop this tormenting pity party and better himself. if not for the empire then for whomever it would become important to. he knew he would always guard the impulsive empress he had once respected so wildly and he knew there were plans in motion to prevent further damage to the wolves that lived within the vale, but time was hard to wait out. days felt like eternities. 

 A scent carried on the breeze and collision wondered if it was another of his kind. he inhales sharply and then exudes a call to alert anyone else of his whereabouts. if they came with ill intention then so be it. if they came to offer conversation he would half-heartedly accept and interact. simply--he wished to distract himself. was this what he needed to do to move on? Was he even dealing with the things staring him in the face?

with wounds all but healed, praimfaya continues her exploration of territories, taking advantage of the summer months to see the territories; territories she might have otherwise passed thru without so much as a second thought or indepth look. absent shelter from the sun, praimaya does not mind this particularly as the clouds barricade it from releasing its hellish heat upon them. regardless of the fact that it was hot anyway. the lake, for whatever its faults, offers ample fresh water and food sources if one fancied their paw at duck hunting. sated from her breakfast earlier in the morn she is not hungry; instead approaches with the intent of sating a sudden feeling of being parched.

her steps slow, however, at the low call that resounds, heard keenly thru the splash of ducks in the water and their squaking calls to one another. black, leathery nostrils flare and praimfaya's course alters — though in the back of mind she still very much wishes for a drink. hei she greets back, voice lifting over the chaos of squabbling mallards. she sidesteps the avians with their shimmery green feathered heads and bows her head to drink, all the while keeping frostbound gaze upon the stranger that called out to her.

why so glum? she inquires, words meaning to be light and teasing; for she is unaware that she might've hit the nail on the head.

A silvery woman comes to the call he had issued and he admires that she resonates strength. there is muscle, there are scars, and he decides he is in the presence of warrior. she emits strength. He dares not speak on the curiosity that becomes him, only briefly, as these scars may ne of her past and they are not his to inquire of. the reasons for her ornaments are not his business. she is a stranger. 

 She finds the water and drinks. Collision offers her plenty of room to stand in her own company before she asks him a question. There was so much to say. So much he could spill. Quite honestly, he was bursting at the seems to run rampant about every single thing that made him so glum, "You haven't the time," His words withdraw and he finds himself in the midst of a conflicted chuckle. It was amusing how the mind worked in a state of turmoil. 

 "Pleasure to meet you. I'm Collision," He dips his head in regard for the other and though he owes her no such thing it was simply his nature to be most formal and inviting. Perhaps she didn't care and after quelling her thirst would dissapate once more to be nothing more than an unmentionable memory.

the stranger gives her plenty of room to drink and for this praimfaya is mutedly grateful; she, like most, does not appreciate her personal space being crowded. especially by wolves she doesn't know. his rejoinder to her teasing inquiry draws from her a low, soft snort. that bad, huh? but she cannot pretend to know what inner turmoil he's suffered; and his war was solely his own. thus, she lets it drop not interested in involving herself in any sort of way in a stranger's problems. he introduces himself as collision — a strange name she cannot help but think — and mentions that it's a pleasure to meet her. praimfaya almost quips with a 'just wait' but bites her tongue against in the last tremble of minutes ticking by.

praimfaya. she offers with the rise of her head from the waters, salmon pink tongue drawing across her jowls to collect the errant droplets of water.

she is quite the silent type. a fast observation made and with this collision is content to allow the moments to crawl by. for once his focus is on this stranger and what she might do next. was she lethal? perhaps simply guarded? and yet, perhaps a dangerous combination of the two. he refrained from judgement and idled along with their mindless prattle. a him of agreement when she questioned him and nothing more. let the problems belong to another day. he was tired of tainted interaction. 

 "what brought you to this side of the lake?" he was clueless of the pack she hailed for and its location. the vale was mostly close to them and while he wasn't particularly doing as he was told he presently remained a part of their unit. though, the question may be none of his business, "i needed distraction," she knew there was something about the boy that wasn't quite right. and maybe she could offer distraction from his chaos.

his inquiry causes praimfaya to reach into herself for a response, not really having one beyond the fact that she could be here. curiosity, i suppose. for she hasn't came all this way to study herd movements, being too far from sagtannet's claim to be worth trekking. ...because i can, if i'm being honest. a lofty shrug of her shoulders is given, following quick on the draw is a toothy grin. he offers his own explanation then without her needing to ask. he seeks distraction. quietly and for a few moments praimfaya considers this. how about a friendly spar? she inquires, thinking that she needs to keep her skills honed especially since her healing has set her back for longer than she'd have liked.

Collision had already considered the girl was likely the warrior type. There was something strong about her and she exuded confidence. She had approached him with no fear or tentative nature. Something that was unfamiliar. He was often cautious in whom he decided to approach for the simple fact he did not warrant unnecessary attention. A small chuckle fell from his mouth at her matter-of-fact description and he nodded in agreement. He supposed that was why they chose to do much of anything. 

 Her suggestion of a spar did not take long to consider and Collision turned towards her with a quick hum of agreement. He didn't want to make the first move. It was not his nature to do so. He was a guard (aspiring to be a highly skilled one) and so felt his skills were better on the [initial] defensive. "Age before beauty," He kidded about her youth, though did not honestly take her any less seriously for it. She could be a well-skilled warrior even in her youth. He had been. Of course, he was out of practice. He slid into a defensive stance and tucked his head slightly across his neck. He'd soon see her definition of friendly.

i started a roll thread for us here.

he agrees...in not so many words; and though there is a brief moment while praimfaya considers that she shouldn't be testing the boundaries of her very recently healed wounds she is quick to squash it. how would she ever learn what she was truly capable of if she didn't push herself to the very edges of her limits? age before beauty, he teases and praimfaya lets out a snort that morphs into a small bubble of laughter. sha. she agrees in a slip of trigedasleng and doesn't bother to correct herself; tone made it clear enough that she was agreeing to the terms of spar initiating.

she rolls her shoulders for a moment, frostbound gaze hard as she studies him for a moment, muscles of her shoulders tensing with the familiar tension of a spring about the snap. a grin pulls at the edges of her lips, ready to feel the familiar trill and high of a spar as she launches herself at him, eyes on his right shoulder, feigning and aiming for his left at last second.

She moved forward with boldness. She is an obviously seasoned warrior and Collison prepares himself for the coming onslaught. His back legs tighten and he grips at the earth for some added stability. His head lowers slightly to protect his neck and as she aims for his right shoulder he watches as she makes a sudden advance to his left. He attempts now to force the left shoulder at her with all the force he can muster. Hoping to inflict damage to her face; discomfort at the bare minimum. Her teeth glide around his shoulder and he feels small tears in his skin form. They are nothing of extreme severity and though he winces he continues his attempt to drive his weight into her.

his rebuttal makes contact. the contact of his shoulder against her face smarts with a dull ache and she recoils on instinct. a low growl bubbles in her throat, though not to be mistaken with aggression for praimfaya is having fun. swift and surefooted she is quick to recollect herself and with a wild laugh bursting from her lips she lunges at him again, this time hoping to knock him breathless with her shoulder to his ribcage in what has become her signature move.

His attack lands and while it obvious causes a moment of discomfort she clearly enjoys the spar. Quite honestly the male does as well. There is no thought but this presently infecting his mind. Her body surges forward again and her shoulder connects with his chest with surprising force. A breath exudes from the male and his teeth seek out her shoulder. It doesn't take long for him to realize he's missed as he feels nothing but air in the space over her shoulder. When she hit him he had overcompensated for space. A small chuckle rumb;ed through him at the realization of his mistake and he braced himself to prepare for the rest of their battle.

her shoulder-to-ribcage attack served it's purpose. his next attack, aimed at her shoulder, misses and she hears his teeth click together with force as he grasps only air. she is swift to take advantage of the situation, even as she hears him chuckle, to dive at his back leg. she grasps it in her jaws and tugs, putting her whole body in the action as if his leg were a bone she played tug-o-war with — in the hopes of knocking him off balance and bringing him down to the ground.

Sorry for the wait x.x I sort of needed an impromptu hiatus.

Collision tries to gather himself after his miss and he watches as her body surges downward and forward. He attempts to kick her in the face and away from him, however, this does nothing and gives her exactly what she reaches for. With no contact made his leg slides into her mouth almost fatefully. How serendipitous. for her. He attempts to take his leg away from her and the pulling tension (though she is not overly aggressive) brings forth the smallest wince. At this point he was basically battling himself.

no worries! you never have to apologize; RL always comes first! <3

her attack on his leg holds but to her dismay she doesn't bring him down but even as he tries to unsuccessfully tug his leg free praimfaya releases it, allowing both of them to catch their breath. she disengages and circles him. do you yield? she asks him, giving him the chance to end their spar.

if he chooses no, praimfaya will wait lunge for him again with the intent of trying to grab ahold of his scruff as if she intended to force submission.