AIN'T WHAT YOU COULD BE — intro/training

[fulzanin]

WE'LL MAKE A WAY WHERE YOU CAN FIND YOUR PLACE
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A little bit too late did Feza start realizing that this wasn't just an introduction session. A bit slow was the snow leopard's mind, requiring for an actual explanation before her sporadic mind was able to grasp what was being asked of her. The vibrant female's tail curled behind her while she listened, her fluffy ears raised. An explanation for retirement home had been given to her. It sounded nice, a place to care for those who couldn't care for themselves. Feza had been about to begin churning the description over in her mind, attaching a visual image to it so she could remember it better later. But there was a word that was uttered. One word that she grasped, and her demeanor fell a little. Battlefield. Oh, by the love of the cardboard boxes, this was battle training wasn't it? Nervously her paws began shuffling closer to herself. Feza absolutely was no fighter. She'd always brushed it off as Guardsman, saying that Aurum was the fighter out of the two when they had shared the rank together. Now he was captain of the guard. It suited him well, Feza thought. It did not suit her. Fighting was not her thing. Party throwing and festivities and music and decorations was all what the snow leopard excelled at. Not fighting, not raising her claws to someone else.

Any means necessary. Going all out. Words that made the snow leopard wish that she could turn invisible and slink on back to her home. Leave it to those who could actually fight to train in this intense session. Not her! Nervously the snow leopard swallowed, her fluffy wings poofing out from her sides. Claws. Teeth. When she had sparred against Aurum, her claws had been rounded by glitter glue. Harmless. She hadn't hurt him at all. The fight had been over in a few seconds, her pinned and scruff being bitten into. Feza had been harmless in that fight, and for a long time prior. Afterwards, her panic that came from being scared at the time of her fellow Guardsman had left her to remove the glue from her claws if she ever needed to perform self defense. Slowly Feza shuffled away, waiting to see where exactly her sparring partner wished to fight. She didn't like the idea of actually hurting someone. Feza despised such a thing. She wanted everyone to be happy and having a good time, not using claws and teeth and 'whatever means necessary' against each other. It went against nearly everything that she stood for. Still. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad. Maybe she'd actually learn something.

"I'm, I'm ready for whenever you, you are," Feza mumbled nervously to her opponent. She was small for a snow leopard. Her body was covered in thick fur that essentially did act as a defense against claws and teeth. Beneath her massive amounts of cold-resisting fluff was her skinny and lanky body, easily hidden by sheer amounts of vibrant, eye-bleeding fluff. Slowly Feza stretched her wings from her sides, in a stance that certainly could rival the worst battle stance that was physically possible. Her paws nervously pushed at the ground, teeth gritting together in a way that added to her unnerved demeanor.

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THE EMPTY CHAIRS WILL BE RESERVED FOR OUR PITY

[trojan g.]

[align=center][div style="bgcolor= black; width: 500px; font-family: georgia;font-size:12px;text-align:justify"]Moth knew immediately from the call to attention, she would not like whatever was going to happen here. It was an unfamiliar voice to her that had called, and at that, it had been a demanding one that requested them to partner up and fight, and when she heard the words come from Kaz's maw about being here for all of three days as she made her way over, she couldn't help but wrinkle her nose in annoyance. They were not a training camp full of soldiers meant to be bossed around and trained in harsh ways, especially so soon after the raid.

Bag filled with herbs and bandages wrapped around the medic's side, she would come to a stop beside Perseus - a face she hadn't seen in quite a while, but she was happy to see it nonetheless - listening as Kaz once again ordered others around, telling them who to fight with and how it was going to happen. 'I expect to see some claws, some teeth, a couple of bruises, because on the field you aren't going to get any pulled punches.' Ears pinned to the feline's head as she heard these words, looking over all those who were there. Some she knew would hold back, others - Snarl mainly, if she was being honest - she knew could go overboard if edged on too much, while others she didn't know anything about how their fighting went.

At that, she turned over towards Kaz, tail lashing out behind her for a second before her maw opened to speak. "If anything happens in this where someone gets too hurt because you're holding this military-style training camp for whatever reason, then I'll be sure to have your hide."

[Blazic]

[THEM]

[align=center][div style="text-align:justify;width:55%;font-family:verdana;"]Perseus is like him. He sees it in his eyes, clouded and distant but still expressive by the fine layer of disgust that toughens his features just so. They're different, maybe, in that where Kazuhira defines shapes as half-perceivable shadows against blinding light, Perseus may only see in muddled shadows, blurry colors, maybe nothing at all - but they know each other's world nonetheless, if only from different angles. Remove the glasses from the feline's face, and the playing field was leveled. The hound sitting off to the side looks to be older than the rest, or maybe just an old soul. Old enough, at least Kaz figures, to believe that he has seniority around here, and gets to claim a pass when asked to get up off his rear.

He looks to Moth - who seemed to arrive at the mere thought of needing medical attention, he appreciated her timeliness - and smiles against her disgruntled comment.

"I'd like to think they'll use this opportunity as a learning experience - not just a means to beat each other up. I've got my eye on them." Sure, somebody would get hurt. What Moth judged to be too hurt was likely to be vastly different from Kaz's perception; then again, maybe his peers in training were tougher than either of them expected. He pauses for a moment, leaning to slide his glasses down the length of his muzzle. A pair of equally clouded eyes are bitten by the sun, and he squints - a slow adjustment leaves him sweeping his gaze slowly across the groups before settling back onto Perseus. He grins, all teeth, as he peers over the top of his shades. "Sorry, pal, you can sit on your ass later! Unless you want to take me two-on-one with Spiderman over there, you're gonna want to get up before somebody tramples you. Snarl -" He shoves the glasses back up the length of his nose again as a flash of movement catches his eye, and the moment is lost. "- Keep moving! Take it easy on the bite force."

[toboggan]

Folded ears perk upwards at the call, brown luminaries darting around in hopes of spotting the shout's source. It was faint and distant, yet strong and staunch enough to garner the hound's full attention. The voice itself couldn't be linked to any known Tangler within Leroy's mind, which upped his interest in whatever was going on even further. Only snippets of the peculiar male's commands had been overheard, but from what he pieced together, an iron-fisted authoritative approach was taken in regards to giving the orders. And frankly, the general found this relatively interesting.

The mongrel arrives at the scene with a keen visage. His noggin casually nods whilst he takes in the circumstances before him. Combat. Tanglers of all species, either engaging with one another, or waiting to be paired up by an unfamiliar-looking cheetah - who appeared to be accountable for the harsh hollers of instruction.

In truth, Leroy could not for the life of him comprehend why a training session was deemed as necessary in the big cat's eyes. Anyone living in the tribe for a fair span of time understood that they just recently emerged triumphant over their longtime enemies, having beaten the Pittians into a bloody pulp. It was only logical that a period of relaxation and ease should follow such a victory. Hence, a training session in this manner legitimately made no sense. That wasn't to say that he opposed it - if anything, he was somewhat thankful for the curious stranger's notion. Indeed he raid had indeed freshly passed, but that wasn't an excuse for laziness among Tanglewood's population. That is especially with the festive season coming up, with its fatty holiday foods and unhealthy treats and whatnot - so an active get-together like this will prove to be very beneficial. After all, there was no enemy more threatening than carbs during the Christmas season.

"Looks like you've got this under control," the canine remarks while approaching the commanding figure. "As long as you refrain from workin' these good people to death, then I give ya permission to do whatever you want to 'em." He takes a hot second to scrutinize the feline's features. Hardy, albeit lithe figure. Seems experienced, though an aura of potential encircles his form. Cheetahs were fleet-footed fuckers, and incredible on the battlefield; so in regards to looking as a leader should, this guy won the genetic lottery. "My name's Leroy," he finally voices, an impressed smile aiding his words, "and I usually run things around here. But I guess you're in charge today. So just give me the say-so, and I'll do whatcha say." He scans the environment for potential sparring partners. Fighting wasn't something he'd partaken in as of late, so this would be amusing, at least.

[ABATHUR .]

Perhaps Abathur should be offended that Kaz saw fit to match him against a blind old dog.

He wasn't offended, of course - he knew better than to underestimate anyone, especially since sight wasn't that integral of a sense to dogs (compared to smell and hearing, at least). He was, however, uneasy at fighting a blind man who may not want to involve himself. The canine's flippancy on the matter suggested some willingness to fight, but he truly did not want to come off as the kind of person who relished in fighting disadvantaged opponents, even if he wasn't exactly combat savvy.

The spider grunted, seeing the old canine nod, and turned to talk to Miller about some sort of alternate spar, but was prevented from saying anything by the instructor's pitch telling the old man to get up. Well then. It seemed he was going to be sparring against Perseus after all. So be it, he mused internally, shifting his weight so that he could pull string from his abdomen using two hind legs. "Subject Perseus." He grumbled out, both to indicate that he was willing to begin the bout, and to hide the sound of the silk being pulled out. Since Perseus was blind, he would abuse that as much as possible, but he wouldn't underestimate the male's hearing - even something as silent as a thread of silk being moved may be able to be heard, and he wanted as many tactical advantages as possible.

tags - "speech"

[wormwood.]

i was born, on the highway, in a train wreck

with a heart, that was beating, out of my chest

Aurum didn't even have time to think before Snarl was upon him, and teeth were being sunk into his belly. He gave a grunt of pain at this, grateful for the fact that he had thick fur and muscle to make it so that the bite wasn't too devastating, but it was definitely a sign that Snarl was right about their speed difference. Aurum was muscular, massive, and powerful, but he wasn't speedy. However, he had his own means of dealing with the differences between the two of them. He watched as she backed up a few paces, only this time he was ready. As she charged at him, the lion yanked his back half out of the way, hoping that her lunge missing would throw her off balance. He then launched himself forward, attempting to catch her off balance and slam her down onto her side, his sharp teeth aiming for her side to sink into. Being Captian of the Guard, Aurum prided himself on his fighting abilities, and despite Snarl's beginning efforts to make sure that neither of them could think, his mind was already frantically coming up with strategies to deal with her. She was fast, and evidently she wanted to be on him at every moment, but she also seemed to know that their different in firepower was considerable. If she wanted to win a war of time and pain, then she couldn't afford to be up close and personal with him for long, which was a fact that he could take to his advantage.

Whether or not his prior attack had succeeded, Aurum would move back a bit to slam his paw against the ground nearby, calling forth his flame elementals. He had been exhausted after the last time he had used them in battle, but that had been several days ago, not to mention the fact that he didn't need to use much powerful for this. He aimed to form a ring of fire around them, not too big, but big and intimidating enough to show that it would hurt like hell if one went into it. It was wrapped around the two of them just tightly enough that Snarl would have very little room to move or maneuver  whatsoever. She'd be forced to deal with him, whether he was stronger or not. Once he was sure he had gotten her attention, he took a deep breath before rushing forward, making it seem as though he was going to lunge for her throat before he teleported behind her, aiming to land upon her back and dig his claws in. It was a nasty fake out, and he was definitely using powers to his advantage, but... well, Kaz had said to use everything at their disposal, and Aurum's "magic" was certainly something at his disposal, along with his strength and strategy. Hopefully if he was able to knock her over and pin her, he could use his powerful jaws and razor sharp claws to convince her to forfeit. He knew it wasn't just a pinning match, but if he could exhaust her... well, hopefully fangs on neck, ready to dig in and kill, would be enough to convince Miller that they had fought to the fullest. Still, he was getting ahead of himself. He couldn't get overconfident, especially considering she had caught him off guard at first. He was recovering quickly, but he had to keep on top if he was going to keep up with his opponent, especially considering her speed, even if he had essentially boxed them in with flames.

( powers: 70% )

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[Blazic]

[wormwood.]

i was born, on the highway, in a train wreck

with a heart, that was beating, out of my chest

Snarl's kick narrowly avoided colliding with his face, mainly due to the fact that he yanked his head back just in time, watching her carefully as she rolled to her feet, along with her quick reaction to the flames bursting up around her. Aurum felt energy gathering around him as he rushed forward, and he grinned when his teleportation tactic was successful, his body crushing down on the hyena's. His claws found purchase in her thick fur, dragging down her sides as she flung herself wildly from side to side, eventually managing to scramble out from underneath him. A few flaps of his large wings enabled him to keep from crashing into the ground, landing on his paws again after a moment. His one eye remained intensely focused on Snarl as he watched her race around the flames, evidently looking for a chance to break into defenses. He watched as she rushed at his side, a low snarl leaving him as she bit down. Her bite was successful, but before she could attempt to tear, Aurum aimed to bring one powerful wing down between her and his body, trying to slam it into her and get her away from him, towards the flames surrounding them. It would hurt a bit, allowing her to tear just the slightest bit as he knocked her away if he was successful, but it wouldn't be as bad as if he let her go through with the full extent of her attack.

If he was successful, he would then turn towards her, rushing forward towards her while she was dazed, and aimed to pin her down with his two powerful paws and dig his teeth into her side, trying to inflict as much pain and as little damage as possible in order to wear her down. If he wasn't successful in flicking her away with his wing, he would swing his head in her direction, lunging down to aim to grab her by the back of the scruff and fling her towards the fire, hoping she would land either very close to it or very near to it so he could rush in. Either way, the lion knew well that he would have to rush in and get a grip on Snarl's neck, knowing that if he was able to get his powerful jaws around her thick neck, it would be game over, and the fight would be ruled in his favor. Even through thick pelt and skin, Aurum knew well how the powerful muscles in his jaws could snap through muscle and bone like it was nothing, and if it were a real fight, that would be the end of Snarl's life. After all, that had been how he had killed Kydobi, crunching down on the important muscles and bones within the jaguar's neck and tearing through until the life left the male's eyes.

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