My skin is a story [o, sparring]

[Vathmos]

[align=center][div style="text-align: justify; width: 45%; font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: -1px;"]Vathmos had gotten used to her companions, more or less. She wouldn't make the stretch yet to call them her famayilyeh yet, but... she considered a few to be friends. She was growing used to the lion brothers, and the panthers- she found herself surrounded by several different big cats and creatures of all manners. Did this make her normal amoung them? She was ostracized and exiled for her own difference. That was just how t was, it secured the bloodline and the unity of the tribe, it kept everything in line. She wondered if this diversity made them stronger or weaker if this was a clan of outcasts like her, or something else. They seemed to like each other, and everyone got along. It... unnerved her, in a way. No one was fighting among each other or for scrapes, no one challenged Crow for his leadership (yet?).
She had never had a male leader before, either. Males were nearly always beneath the females in Hyena tribes, and the strongest female gained the postition through violence. So now being under one... she pulled her lip back at the thought. At least she didn't have to eat after him. That was too much of an insult to Vathmos.
The hyena raised herself up, padding out of her shady area of the camp, sniffing the area, and beginning to make a beeline towards where the prey was kept.

//please don't ask Vathmos to spar, she is to spar with wormwood

[wormwood.]

[glow=#000,1,400]BUT NOW I UNDERSTAND YOU, AND I WILL NOT BE PART OF YOUR DESIGNS — ｡+ﾟ.[/glow]

Although Wormwood was definitely one of the newer members of the group at this point, he was also beginning to get used to everything. He felt like he really had a support system here, and the beginning stages of a family that actually cared about him and could even come to love him, as opposed to his old "family" – well, besides Poetking, of course, who still seemed to care about him, surprisingly. He didn't mind the fact that things here were actually peaceful, and he didn't really mind Crow's leadership thus far. Plus, he was used to males being in charge, thanks to the way that his and Poet's pride had been run. Ever since they had been very young Cubs, they had been taught that leadership got passed down from male to male in their family, and the females were the ones that helped with hunting and raising cubs and most other things.

Still, this didn't mean that Wormwood thought that the females of Tanglewood wouldn't be worthy leaders, far from it. His thoughts on leadership had changed significantly since everything with his brother had happened, and now he thought anybody could be a leader, if they had truly earned it and showed that they had the skills for it.

One thing that Worm wasn't a huge fan of about Tanglewood was their ongoing fight with the Pitt. It wasn't that he was a huge fan of the Pitt himself, but he was a fan of Draekon, who unfortunately happened to be a member of the Pitt, at least for now. As a result of this, ever since Sam had been kidnapped, Wormwood was feeling extremely antsy and put of it, like he really needed something to do with his extra energy. So, he had gone looking for something to do. When he spotted Vathmos near the fresh kill pile, his eyes lit up with an idea. The large lion quickly moved over to where Vathmos was, flicking his tail in greeting at the hyena before rumbling softly, [glow=#793B29,1,400]"Hey, Vathmos. Are you busy right now? Cause I really think I wanna spar with somebody, and I know you're probably a good fighter."[/glow]

[Vathmos]

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VATHMOS

INFORMATION ROLEPLAYER MISC.

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Vathmos was sniffing the pile, nosing around in it. She was about to pull out a rabbit when she heard foot steps behind her. She snapped the rabbit in her jaws, then snapped around, a snarl uttering from her throat, then relaxed when she saw it was Wormwood. Her attention was too focused on the kill to decipher it was him when he walked up.

She gently dropped the rabbit back on the ground near the rest of the food. "Don't sneak up on me when I'm about to eat, Wormwood." The statement was laced with a threatening tone. She couldn't help it, she was too accustomed to starving and fighting for food to be calm around it. New friends or not, she just couldn't let herself put her guard down yet.

She listened to his question with ears perked forward. "Busy?" She looked at her food. "No longer, uh..." Vathmos weighed this fight in her head, noting Wormwood's size advantage and other weapons. Vathmos primarily attacked with her bite- she didn't have claws she could grapple onto and rip into her opponents with. She would have to use a tactic of getting in a few bites then retreating outside of his threat range. Vathmos didn't think of him as threatening, however. It was possible she could beat him. It wouldn't be that easy. He thinks I'm a good fighter?

"Sure, I guess. We could spar."

━ [b]MY SKIN IS A STORY┆LONELY. CLINGY. HATEFUL. ━

[wormwood.]

[glow=#000,1,400]BUT NOW I UNDERSTAND YOU, AND I WILL NOT BE PART OF YOUR DESIGNS — ｡+ﾟ.[/glow]

Wormwood blinked in surprise when Vathmos turned around and snapped at him, but he didn't yank himself back, or show a grand amount of concern. He didn't really think that Vathmos would hurt him, and even if she did, he didn't think it would be that hard to put some distance between them so that she realized the situation. He noticed the hyena glance down st her food for a moment, and he opened his mouth to tell her that she didn't have to spar with him if she just wanted to lay down and continue her plan to have her meal, but then she said that they could spar. A little grin spread over his muzzle at this, and he dipped his head, stepping back a few paces so that there was some space between the two of them.

Slowly rolling his shoulders and sinking his claws in and out of the ground, the lion said softly as he flicked his long and fluffy tail from side to side, [glow=#793B29,1,400]"I was hardly sneaking up on you, you know. I'm a huge lion, I don't really sneak. Sorry I interrupted you when you were gonna eat though. As an apology, I'll let you take the first shot against me."[/glow] He too knew that he had a distinct advantage over Vathmos, so he decided to give himself a bit of a handicap. He would let her use her powers, but he knew that some of the powers others had were life threatening, and he just wanted to spar, not die.

[Vathmos]

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VATHMOS

INFORMATION ROLEPLAYER MISC.

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Pft. Not her fault she was distracted by the thought of food. She tried to remember if she had ever had lion before, eyes glazed over in thought as she gestured towards an open area of the camp. "Let's go over there," she said, padding a few yards away and waiting for Wormwood to join her.

When Wormwood would get into position, Vathmos would begin to circle him, whooping and laughter coming from her throat. She used to do this in numbers, but she had to do this alone now. She didn't expect to win this fight, but she could either outlast him or annoy him.

Vathmos continued laughing as she circled, sometimes taking a step forward or back, sometimes lunging forward then jumping back. She was feigning attacks, maybe just to mess with him, or something more. When she was behind him, Vathmos finally leapt forward, finally aiming to bite his back, and pull at his skin then would take a few steps back to get out of his threat range.

━ [b]MY SKIN IS A STORY┆LONELY. CLINGY. HATEFUL. ━

[wormwood.]

[glow=#000,1,400]BUT NOW I UNDERSTAND YOU, AND I WILL NOT BE PART OF YOUR DESIGNS — ｡+ﾟ.[/glow]

Wormwood's eyes narrowed slightly as Vathmos began to circle, and he flattened his ears a bit at the loud laughing and whooping. He hadn't really fought any of the hyenas from back in the time of the tribe, so he wasn't aware of the tactics they employed, but he definitely knew how annoying they could be when they really wanted to be. He never really considered Vathmos's laughing on it's own that annoying – maybe a bit out of place at times – but in this context, it was definitely disorienting. His muscles were tensed each time the smaller hyena dashed forward and back, her fakeouts already starting to get under his skin. Just as he was getting ready to make the first move for her, she charged forward, and he felt teeth scraping against the skin of his back.

Letting out a grumbling sound close to a roar but softer, the lion let Vathmos dig in, but then moved to swing most of his weight so that he could roll onto his back, slamming Vathmos into the ground to knock the breath out of her. He didn't want to start out with anything too vicious, since he didn't actually want to hurt Vathmos. After all, he knew very well that a large male – almost adult – lion could very much mess up a hyena of her stature badly, if not kill them.

[Vathmos]

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VATHMOS

INFORMATION ROLEPLAYER MISC.

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Vathmos had stepped away from her previous attack, and took another step away as Wormwood rolled onto his back. Steujpaida liohn Wormwood was prone, on the ground and at a disadvantage to her. She leapt back in, aiming to snap on the tendon where his hip and left hind leg met.

━ [b]MY SKIN IS A STORY┆LONELY. CLINGY. HATEFUL. ━

[wormwood.]

[glow=#000,1,400]BUT NOW I UNDERSTAND YOU, AND I WILL NOT BE PART OF YOUR DESIGNS — ｡+ﾟ.[/glow]

Wormwood had realized what the hell he had done as soon as he was on his back, but after a moment, a grin spread over the lion's muzzle. He let out a soft yowl as his tendon was snapped onto, but he then reached down to dig his claws into Vathmos' shoulders and heaved her up over his shoulder to slam her into the ground. If he succeeded, he would leap up to pin Vathmos down with huge paws on her chest. If he succeeded in this, he would grin down at Vathmos and growl playfully, [glow=#793B29,1,400]"Ready to give up already?"[/glow]

[Vathmos]

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VATHMOS

INFORMATION ROLEPLAYER MISC.

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Vathmos yelped as Worm's claws sunk into her shoulders, feeling herself being slung and Wormwood pinning her down. The hyena started to flail wildly, only stopping briefly to look at Wormwood.

Her eyes started to glow, and electricity started to arc off of her teeth as she snarled, laughing and letting out hideous cries. Vathmos' pupil disappeared, her eyes glowing and sparking with electricity, "AGHHHH!" she screamed, flailing and [color=#793B29]snapping at Wormwood's face, electrified teeth arcing and sparking."DEITET! DEITIT! DEITIT!" She kicked wildly, trying to get Wormwood off of her and get free. She wouldn't lose to him! Her mind raced, imagining Wormwood chomping down on her head and ending her right here.

━ [b]MY SKIN IS A STORY┆LONELY. CLINGY. HATEFUL. ━

[wormwood.]

[glow=#000,1,400]BUT NOW I UNDERSTAND YOU, AND I WILL NOT BE PART OF YOUR DESIGNS — ｡+ﾟ.[/glow]

Wormwood had only meant for the two of them to have a nice and fair fight that had just been for fun, and for practice. He hadn't meant for this to happen. The lion's eyes widened in surprise and fear as Vathmos's eyes lit up, and he quickly yanked his face away as the hyena began to snap at his face, the electricity making his heart speed up to the point where he felt like he was gonna die, [glow=#793B29,1,400]"Vathmos, what the hell! Stop, stop!"[/glow] He put a paw on Vathmos's face, shoving her jaws away before jumping away and off of her. He watched her cautiously after stepping back, his claws still out and his muscles still tensed in case she continued her rampage, [glow=#793B29,1,400]"Are... are you alright? Do I need to get someone?"[/glow] Honestly, he just wanted someone around to make sure she didn't kill him.