Redtail Rise sweet melting chocolate

Arion had been focusing his energy on patrolling the newly established borders of Redtail Rise and filling the caches of the pack, he woke up each day before the sun rose to start on his duties and slept when he felt tired enough, which was usually way after the dark had settled in and night swept over the taiga. Usually he was one of the ones who sat down and allowed the others to do all the work while he did his own work, thinking, but for some reason, he actually felt dedicated to the Rise, something he had not felt since living in Cerberus's Pavilion. It was a miracle, really, a miracle worthy of the gods.

Today, it was rather cloudy and Arion had just finished filling the caches and having a small meal of two rabbits for himself before he set out towards the borders to patrol them and mark them once more. His chocolate coated form drifted off from the top of the Rise and he wondered why he had met nobody on his patrols just yet, did anyone work around here? The stallion shrugged away the uncomfortable thought and lifted his hind leg to spray his scent on the border, trotting along the borderline.

He would need more of the poppy extract, boredom was descending rapidly on the prince, the greek reminded himself to get some later from Reek after his patrolling.

She rested after returning from her foray, then rose with the sun. After stretching and yawning, Junior set off in search of food. She discovered a cache and was surprised to find some still-warm carcasses in it. She looked around but saw no one. Licking her lips thoughtfully, the yearling shrugged and dragged a limp rabbit from the stockpile. She ate it quickly.

Energized, she paused and pondered what to do today. She could explore the territory, or go find Saena. For reasons Junior couldn't explain, neither appealed right at the moment. She was saved from having to decide for herself when a chocolate figure moved in the distance. Junior's two-toned eyes narrowed and she began loping toward the wolf in the distance, deciding to seize the opportunity to meet another unfamiliar pack mate.

"Hey!" she called out to him. As Junior came closer, she found herself admiring the trim, athletic stranger and his honey colored eyes. "I'm Junior," she said when she reached him, her voice a little breathless. "Who might you be?"

Arion flicked his ears towards the direction of the incoming pawsteps as a single greeting rang through the air, he did not know the scent nor the voice so he assumed it was a pack member he had not met before. Pausing in his own footsteps, he turned his head towards the stranger, she had a coat of darkness and two-toned eyes. One was an indigo color while the other was a bright aquamarine. She introduced herself as Junior which made the greek tilt his head in a curious manner, "I'm Arion," he answered.

"Junior, huh? Is there a Senior?" the stallion asked, a mischievous grin sneaking up onto his maw. Actually trying to dedicate himself to the pack and contributing seemed to have removed the barrier he kept on his emotions, or at least, a tiny part of the barrier.

"Oh, man," Junior answered at the inevitable question, "I've only been here a couple of days and that shit is already getting old." Despite her words, she smirked at her new acquaintance. "No, not really. It's just Junior. Although I'll have to cook up a creative story for the next time someone asks me that," she mused.

A beat of silence passed between them and Junior said, "What're you up to, Arion? Mind if I join you? I'm trying to meet and get to know the locals."

A mischievous smirk snaked its way up to Arion's face and his honey eyes gleamed in amusement when Junior said that some other dude had already asked her a similar question. "Gotta get used to it, then," he replied. "And make it interesting for the other wolf," he nodded at the idea of making a story up the next time another wolf asked the question. The greek decided that this wolf was tolerable, at the very least.

"Sure, its boring here anyways, just patrolling the borders." Arion shrugged and began moving forward, sure that the dark furred wolf would follow. "So, why did you join the Rise anyways?"

"Oh, great," Junior quipped dryly when Arion said he was just patrolling the borders. "I'll join you, but to make it a little less boring, I say we collaborate on a story for me to tell the next guy that asks me about my name," she proposed, motioning for him to resume his patrol so that she could fall into step beside him. As they prepared to move, she couldn't help but admire the color of his coat.

When he asked what had brought her to the rise, Junior answered, "Saena's my sister. We were born here in the Teekon Wilds. I was living elsewhere, but I came back to support her." In her opinion, there were few reasons better than that one. "What about you?" she asked, bouncing the question right back at him.

"Yeah, boring isn't it?" Arion flashed a grin at her in reply to her dry comment when he told her he was doing the extremely boring activity of patrolling. At least she was joining him, it would be less boring then, Junior proposed that they could make up a story about her name the next time someone asked her about it. "Good idea," he said, "Is Junior your real name though?" the stallion questioned curiously, it seemed weird for someone to name their kid Junior.

The dark furred female said that Saena was her sister and they were born in Teekon Wilds, interesting, somehow he never thought a wolf who was born in these wilds would continue living there even after they turned off age. Guess not everybody was like himself. "I was a loner and I was bored, I met Reek in the plains nearby and he invited me to join the Rise." It was a half true story, but Arion felt they would be better off without knowing he was a drug addict.

Her only response regarding her name was a quirked brow. Of course it was her real name. That made her think of the few times she had given a false name. She snickered inwardly at the memories. But as far as she was concerned, Junior Blacktail was her legitimate name. Arion and others could question it all they wanted.

"Ah," she answered when Arion explained that it was Reek who had brought him to Saena's doorstep. "I don't know him well yet but Reek seems like a pretty cool dude. He cheats at races, though," Junior quipped. In the next breath, she asked, "So are you a Warden? I know Saena would be pleased to know that. I'm a Warrior and Outrider myself," she shared.

It seems like Junior was indeed her real name, Arion wondered what kind of parents would give their child a name of Junior? Was she the only child? Because if a parent was crazy enough to name their kid Junior, shouldn't it make sense to name someone older than her Senior? However, the yearling claimed that no one was named Senior that she knew of, which was kind of/very weird in the chocolate greek's head but he left it be. Arion had learnt not to dwell on things like this.

A smirk touched the greek's maw when Junior said Reek seemed like a cool dude. "Yeah, he can hold his own in a verbal battle." With an afterthought, he explained what he meant. "We didn't really meet on good terms," Arion said as if that explained everything which in his head, did. "I'm a temporary warden," the stallion grinned. "I don't plan on pursuing that particular trade, but I'm patrolling now as the pack's new. I plan on going for the trades you're holding."

She did not comment on the news about the males' verbal spar, instead filing it away in the back of her mind. The pack was new but already a dynamic was building between each and every one of its members. So far, Junior had gotten along with those she had met, though as the pack aged and relationships deepened, not everyone would end up as friends.

But it seemed she an Arion had quite a lot in common, so it was highly possibly they would become close over time. "Oh, really? Let me know if I can help in any way. We could spar, for instance," she suggested, her two-toned eyes flashing and her tail giving a flick. "Right now, even." She tilted her head, her expression silently asking, Are you game?

sparring pits or paragraph spar?

He and Reek had gotten off the wrong paw but Arion believed they could grow to become friends, they had a lot in common, personality-wise. They were both rather annoying and could each hold their own in a verbal spar. They understood deals and they were both sarcastic, snarky and witty. Even though he would not admit it, the chocolate coated Greek knew he owed the ragged wolf a lot for providing him the drugs. Otherwise, he would have been kicked out of the Rise already.

When Junior offered to spar him in order to help him earn his warrior trade, Arion paused in his steps and met her two-toned eyes with his own warm honey gaze. He analysed her for a moment before slowly a crooked, mischievous smile spread over his maw. "Well, its much more interesting than border patrol," the Greek shifted his weight. "As long as you don't tell Saena if I lose."

Paragraphs, please! Although I don't mind doing a basic roll to choose a winner. I can have @Saena do it for us if you like? :)

He looked her in the eye, which Junior might have resented at another time. But that was exactly what she wanted him to do: challenge her. A playful spar would be good exercise in addition to sharpening their skills. It was a good way to pass the time here at home, now that she had traveled, slept and ate to her heart's content.

"Of course I'm going to blab to my sister about how I beat the shit out of you," Junior replied in a sardonic tone, eyes flashing playfully. "But you have some distinct advantages here, Arion. Don't undersell yourself just yet." He was larger, for starters. And though she held the title, it was possible he was experienced too. There was only one way to find out.

Most canines went through some preliminary motions prior to brawling, namely growling and posturing. Junior didn't bother. She leaped right at Arion, intending to give him a stiff-legged clout to the shoulder before snapping backward. Hopefully she would catch him by surprise and land her hit without giving him any time to react with a counterattack.

Sounds good to me :)

A year of traveling had weakened his fighting skills as well as his reflexes, but that was partly his fault as he had a knack of avoiding packlands or other wolves and predators for that matter and therefore traveled safely out of harm. Now, Arion was back in the life of rivalry, war, loyalty, and if he wished to gain the leaders's trust, have a good home like the one he had in Cerberus's Pavilion and be able to defend himself and the pack against other wolves, his fighting skills would need some serious sharpening.

A crooked smirk spread over his maw when Junior replied in a sarcastic manner, "You can try," he said playfully in response. Though his fighting skills might be a bit rusty, they hadn't been completely obliterated. "I did say if, didn't I?" Arion said with a tilt of his head but inside, he was readying himself. The Greek did not know his opponent's fighting style yet, so his senses were going overdrive.

Then she attacked, leaping right at him, Arion was surprised alright but he still managed to sidestep the blow, but barely. It still connected with his shoulder but only hurt for a second. Concentrating, the stallion charged at her immediately, hoping to bash straight into her and knock her off balance.

I was waiting on a roll but didn't want to delay this any longer. Wanna just say Arion wins? :)

Her opponent was quicker on his feet than she had anticipated. He jerked to the side, avoiding the brunt of impact and causing Junior to knock into him no harder than if she had accidentally bumped into him in passing. Junior knew his swift reflexes would give him enough time to attack her in turn, so she rapidly buckled her legs, dropped like a rock and rolled.

Arion had intended this result—shoving Junior to the ground—she knew. But what he hadn't anticipated was that she would not only do it for him but flip onto her back and begin kicking all four legs in a mad whirlwind, making it incredibly difficult to get close to her without taking a hard strike.

Alright :)

His attack was a success and Junior fell onto the ground, Arion was about to place his paws firmly on her shoulders to prevent her from moving when she began kicking her legs in a whirlwind, the Greek quickly analyzed the situation, knowing he would most likely get kicked again and again if he foolishly attempted to charge in and strike her.

Instead, the stallion moved backwards and silently goaded Junior to get on her paws and charge at him. Then, he would attempt to sidestep and nip at her hind leg, hoping to unbalance her. If it worked, and she fell flat on her face, he would pin her onto the ground with his paws.

Arion wisely refused to get close to her whirling legs. With no other choice, Junior quickly rolled onto her side and flicked back onto all fours. She faced her rival, who was clearly waiting for an attack of some sort. She was definitely an offensive fighter, though the last thing Junior was going to do was go for the obvious assault. But she wasn't going to stand around forever trying to decide, either, leaving her vulnerable to an attack.

Deciding to go with a feint, the black she-wolf darted toward Arion's left foreleg, then suddenly switched directions at the last second to leap at his right instead.

The stallion watched as Junior hopped back onto her paws and darted towards his left foreleg but suddenly leaped for his right instead. She caught him this time and he briefly stumbled but quickly regained his sense of balance. Retreating slightly, Arion's gaze was fixed firmly on her as he circled, his mind working to form a strategy to would surely guarantee a win for him in the end. The dark female was nimble on her paws, and a good fighter he'd grant her that, but every wolf had a weak point.

The ebony dusted warrior charged forward, this time deciding to use brute force to bring her down. He was swift on his paws which brought him quickly to her, perhaps his body weight would knock her off balance and therefore giving him a swift victory.

She clipped him with her teeth, though Arion quickly shook her off and began circling. Junior did the same, minus the circling. She crouched, sensing a quick attack coming. She wasn't wrong. Unlike her, Arion did not attempt to play games or trick her. He charged straight at her like a stampeding rhinoceros, leaving her with only two choices: defend or dodge.

He would pound her if she chose the former, so she attempted the latter. Unfortunately for her, Junior's speed just wasn't speedy enough this time around. Arion managed to bear down on her, smashing her to the earth with his weight. Before she could squirm or kick, he locked her down to the ground. Junior growled, instinctively resenting the trap, but then went limp and smiled.

"You win, dude, fair and square. You can go tell Saena right away," she joked. Then, "Can you get off me, man? You're kinda heavy." Junior grunted.

Truthfully, Arion preferred using tricks and sly techniques to finish an opponent off but he sensed that charging straight at her would be the best option right now. Although he wasn't a fan of that move, he could not deny that it was rather useful. For if Junior attempted to defend herself against him, he would plow her over and if she attempted to dodge? Well, she would have to be fast enough first.

The swarthy yearling chose the second option and attempted to dodge, but she was too slow and Arion managed to barrel into her and smash her onto the ground with his weight. Swift paws pinned her down and a tiny smile wormed its way up his face as she growled and then smiled. "That won't be necessary," Arion laughed as he straightened himself and backed away, allowing her to get off the ground.

She grunted again when Arion's weight lifted off her. With catlike speed and grace, she flipped and righted herself, then gave her black pelt a quick shake to rid it of dust. She spotted a sprig of unruly fur on one of her scarred forelegs and smoothed it into place with her tongue, then twitched her tail and looked at her opponent.

"You're going to be a great asset to this pack, Arion," Junior told him with a smile. "We should spar on the reg, keep each other in fighting shape. Sound like a plan?" she queried, giving him time to either accept or decline her offer before Junior told him, "I'm gonna go find my sister and see about hunting down some lunch. You're welcome to join us so you can brag about your victory." Whether or not Arion decided to accompany her, the black yearling swiveled and set off in search of Saena, after all.

Arion grinned and dipped his head as a reply to Junior's comment about being a great asset to Redtail Rise. "Sounds good to me," he shifted his weight and licked the ruffled fur on his chest when the swarthy female said they should spar and keep each other in fighting shape. He had gone a bit rusty on his loner travels as he mostly avoided packs and potential dangers, but with time and lots of training, he'll be as good as ever.

Arion smirked and inclined his head slightly, "I've got nothing else to do anyways," he shrugged and followed Junior. It wasn't that he had nothing to do, it was just that he had nothing remotely interesting to do.