Redsand Canyon rostrum

he brought @Makono back to the sparring arena, with a note for @Tierra to join them this time if she was available.

"rounds," he told them both. he watched the crown prince. "you spar until you cannot. ask for mercy when you have no more strength."

let me know how you'd like to decide winner! :D

she recognize this face too.

once a princess, once somebody she had felt pangs of jealousy of.

none of that existed today. she readied herself with her stance, prepared to take the first blow.

im fine with whatever! I'll usually do single roll for winner, then kind of roll myself on the side to see how individual rounds go. But I am good with any system

She was totally going to own this one!. Tierra didn't hide her confident anticipation at all, and it practically radiated off of her as she waited for the match to start with a grin. This princess totally wouldn't know what hit her.

She wouldn't mess her up too bad, obviously. Makono wasn't the worst to hang out with and Tierra wasn't keen on making her too mad. But she was absolutely going to show off in front of Germanicus and let everyone here know how cool she'd become when it came to sparring.

Likely she'd find out, in a few short moments, how easy or hard this would actually be.

last for germ till the end! when u have decided ur char is 'down for the count,' tag me back in <3

makono arrived and then tierra.

he inclined his head to them both and then retired to the arena's wall for observation.

Plopping Khaba in here for guardian/chaperone purposes. Will be cameo unless addressed!

When the imperator summoned Makono, the mazoi was promptly at her heel, following closely all the way to the sparring arena. 
Germanicus gave his instruction, short and simple, and then retreated to the wall. Khaba would leave the two to their spar, as to not be in the way; but before doing so, he passed a brief, sharp warning glance to the amiirad's partner. Just as he had warned Makono before, he would only allow so much harm done to her before he would step in.
He didn't linger long. When sure the soldier understood, Khaba moved to join the man at the wall and observed.

according to this tierra will come out the ultimate victor! :D
also i try to keep my fight posts short for the utmost clarity but if something doesnt ever make sense pls dont hesitate to tap me <3

every first move before she had made with teeth.

against bigger men, stronger men, wiser men. but tierra felt something closer to her own. even if she might be wiser in some ways.

she charged with a shoulder, head low. unaware if she would actually hit or not.

Tierra, too, wasn't used to fighting wolves her own size. Normally she had to work to avoid them but Makono was something different. They could fight on equal footing!

She was eager to have the chance to show off what she'd learned. Instead of moving to avoid the girl's charge, Tierra took the drive into her shoulder with a braced stance and used the opportunity as a chance to grab at the other girl's scruff to pull. If she caught it she'd try and shove her over, though if she was ready that wouldn't be quite as easy as she hoped.

a familiar burn by now at her scruff.

she had learned to aim low when others attempted to blow her over. so she did just that.

blonde jaws opened so that she may snap at the limbs of tierra, with the hopes of grazing the thin skin on them.

When teeth grazed her ankle Tierra sprang back, releasing her hold. Okay so, like, she wasn't about to let herself get hamstring in a fight. Ouch! She knew by now that treating every attack like it would end in the worst possible outcome was totally the way to go in spars. Besides, for all she knew, this girl was crazy enough to actually do it. Right!?

New plan! She went for the fake out. Cept instead of coming in once, she was gonna do it twice. Totally genius, yeah? Her third time darting in close, she'd push forward instead of pulling back and shove with all her weight behind it.

did a little time skip to be closer to the end of 'rounds', if that isn't ok i can edit <3

once.

twice.

thud, a cracking of bodies against one another. down she went.

—

a trend that continued. tierra wore the mark of a warrior more than makono did. it showed in the way makono sagged, heaved. tired. exhausted.

she should ask for mercy, but it was such an ugly thought to say it out loud.

OhmygaWd just stay downnnn.

Tierra was getting tired too, and while she had shown a bit of an upper hand with the constant practice she'd had, Makono did not give up. Tierra would admire it if she wasn't so frustrated by her inability to get the final pin on her. She thought this fight would be easy!! What kind of a princess didnt, like, give up as soon as she hit the dirt and snagged a claw. Why'd she have to be kinda cool? She was making Tierra look... not bad, but not great either.

It was pretty cool to fight someone who could kinda match her though. Cooler than fighting Reyson or Glaukos.

She needed an opening. Tierra tried to catch her breath for a second, then ducked sideways to avoid a snap. Okay, yeah, she was gonna go for it. With a lunge she reached for a hind leg, hoping to tug her sideways and knock her flat on her side in the dirt. C'mon.

perfect to me! <3

the hind leg blew out behind her with tierra. a stretched muscle at most, but compounded with everything else it felt like a death sentence.

the once golden girl was now red with canyon sand.

cease... she mumbled wearily upon the earth @Germanicus claimed.

the imperator did not order tierra back. he knew she would concede.

he only stepped forward. "well done, the both of you. you both showed great stamina and a willingness to improvise."

he would allow makono to rise when she was ready.

Oh thank god.

Tierra backed off immediately to let the other girl up, breathing harder than she wanted to be and hating it. Omg, she probably sounded like an asthmatic goose. Total opposite of cute. At least no one was really here to see it aside from grandpa Germ and this girl (who sounded pretty much the same).

She won!! Barely, but Tierra didn't dwell on dumb details like that. She grinned, then glanced over at Mokono. Sweet! Are we, like, done for today? I could drink a river right now.

last from me (unless addressed) :D

exhausted.

she found it in her to rise again. gaze meeting @Khaba briefly.

tierra spoke of being done and makono could see no way in how they wouldn't be done. still she lingered. tired, hunched and heaving.

waiting until fully dismissed so that she may go throw herself into the oasis.

last for me!

"go. we will begin again tomorrow."

he saw them off with a glance and satisfaction in his heart for their fighting qualities.

Tierra grinned, despite her exhaustion, when Germanicus said they were done. Ohemgee, okay. You're, like, way more fun to spar with than Reyson! I didn't know they taught princesses stuff like that!

Tierra fell in step alongside Makono, clearly intending to hang out as long as she wasn't ditched. A drink (and a swim) would be amazing right now, but on the way, she had no problem chatting up a new friend. Shoving each other's faces into the ground had to come with some benefits, right?!

last for me too! Feel free to fade or just archive unless you want to continue <3