THE MOON IS CRUMBLING BUT THAT'S OKAY || SPARRING PRACTICE || OPEN

[BLOODHOUND.]

In the wake of the tremors, Bloodhound found themself.... restless. Perhaps it was the lack of day-to-day fighting, the lack of an arena and the bloodsport, of dipping quietly away from fans.

So perhaps, it was only natural now, for the arctic wolf to stand at the outskirts of town, away from the hustle and bustle, and provide a means of.... stress relief. It was cool day out, and the sun was cloaked by thick clouds, as far as the eye could see. It was a perfect day for this, they felt, the wind rustling through their fur. They were glad to be away from the stifling heat. They'd removed their cowl, laying it beneath a tree nearby. They considered taking off the mask, but... they would rather keep it on, if turnout was higher than expected.

"I offer sparring practice, to those who wish to hone their skills. And a means to learn, for those who choose." They say, hopefully catching someone's attention. They would have to lay down some rules, they supposed. That would come, as others drew near.

They had not yet fought another animal in this body beyond a simple hunt, and they were aching for a good workout.

THE TRUE TEST IS BEFORE THE ALLFATHER.

[CAUSTIC.]

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DR. CAUSTIC

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The last few weeks had been awful, ti say the least. Between Octane's arrival, his lab exploding, Aurum leaving, his promotion, and existential dread, he was... not having a great time.

He wasn't too excited to be present for this, either, and he knew Octane shouldn't catch wind of this event. The daredevil was likely to... well, lose himself in the heat of combat. Caustic approached, taking a seat nearby with a small cough.
"Greetings, Bloodhound, I think I'll just watch for the moment," After all, each Legend knew how ferocious the other was.

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[VIGENERE CIPHER.]

[glow=white,1,400]EVERY FEELING IN MY BONES TELLS ME TO LASH OUT AND TELL YOU TO FUCK OFF ! — ｡+ﾟ.[/glow]

God damn, how long had it been since Vigenere last had a sparring session? The savannah couldn't help but have a small, excited smile on his maw as he heard Bloodhound's voice announcing a sparring session. "I'll participate." Vigenere declared as he came over. Besides, it would be good practice to see if he could still do shit with an injured paw.[glow=COLOR,1,400] ━ ✧*:･ﾟ[/glow]

[toboggan]

In stark contrast to Caustic's current stance, Leroy was very much in the mood for a good brawl. Many months came and went since he last lay the smack down on someone, regardless of friend or foe. The most recent incident of him bashing some good ol' fashioned brains in took place in January, during the Mask Vigil - five fucking months ago. Needless to say, the aforementioned brain-bashing skills of his were somewhat rusty. Thus, in the instance of him having to beat the shit out of someone (which just about happened when some fuckhead named Caesar made a feeble attempt to join), the likelihood of success now was much lower than it would've been half a year ago.

He trails behind Vigenere, parking himself between the savannah and Dr. Caustic. There was a rather enthusiastic movement to his tail, signifying his keenness to actually spar with someone again. "Count me in," he vocalizes, eyes flickering between those present. There was quite a size difference between the canines and the feline; hopefully, Tanglewood's resident Cipher wouldn't be battered too badly.

[Blazic]

[BLOODHOUND.]

The Doctor was the first to arrive. How curious. It was nice, to see him out and about. They had hope for a little bit, that perhaps he would want to join in. To fight as enemies again, as tracker and trapper. The idea of it thrilled them, on some level. A little slice of home, somewhere within the swamp.

Or perhaps they would have gotten carried away, taken by the siren's song of bloodsport.

Whatever the case may be, the other wolf greeted them, and said that he would sit out, for the time being. They wonder, if perhaps Octane, would like to spar sometime in the future. Perhaps the speedster would be more receptive, given the Doctor's specific sort of discomfort, involving living as a wild beast. They reply simply, bowing their head in greeting. Perhaps one could hear the smile in their voice, if they listened hard enough.

"Doctor. It is nice to see you."

Vigenere was next, approaching with a little smile, with confirmation that he would participate. Their tail wagged slightly in their excitement, already impressed with turnout so far. "Welcome! I shall explain our rules shortly."

Leroy and that hyena, Snarl, from the tasks Leroy had been handing out were next, the both of them quite a bit larger than Bloodhound. They greeted the both of them, but their gaze remained firmly on Snarl. If all others were okay with it... They wanted to fight her.

Bloodhound drew their gaze away from the hyena for a moment, walking towards a tree, and pushing forward little bowls with different colors of pigment on them, in view of everyone around them.

"I am not sure what your normal rules are, so I have made my own." They say, looking up at the faces that had gathered. They hoped that more would come, but this was fine, as it was. "You may be rough. You may draw bloth, if you choose. Expect it to be returned in kind, if you do."

They pause, applying a red pigment to their chin, the snout of their mask. All four of their paws. Their shoulders.

"Each of us shall choose a color. We must apply it to our faces, our paws. Anything that we use to attack." They dip their paw in a little bowl of water, smearing the rest of the pigment onto their tailfur, drying their paw. "At the end of the fight, we will see where we have hit one another. While this is fun, it is also a good exercise. We can quickly see where we need to improve our own abilities."

The arctic wolf looks at each of the faces in the crowd, in the hopes that they understand now, and ask questions if any were had, rather than during a fight.

"There will be only two to a fight. The battle ends when one of us is pinned, or there are teeth at the throat. We will begin, when everyone has chosen a partner. Any who wish to come forth and join us, are welcome to."

THE TRUE TEST IS BEFORE THE ALLFATHER.

[fulzanin]

If there was one notable trait about the bumblebee, it would have to be the lack of sharp points. A bumblebee had no stinger. It was a buzzing ball of thin fuzz and a tendency to bump into things. They were rather harmless, unable to truly cause pain to any other creature unless somehow one got lodged in the throat. Nuzapa was a bee, of a sort. A hybrid, hence the utterly massive size that she possessed. Because of that hybridization, having spikes was a possible feat. Not that they were really in any worthwhile location. The sides of her face and near her antennae as well as lining her abdomen. Really her mandibles and sharp feet were where her line of offense were, and that wasn't exactly the best means of combat. Thick fur simply meant that defensive play was more on her mind than striking others with an offense.

The bee wound up scuttling over, antennae perked in a curious manner. Sparring. Never had she heard of such a term before. It sounded odd and foreign, but it was something she was willing to learn. Black eyes swiftly glanced over the other persons present, and then the paints. 'Bloth'. Another new term, a curious buzz sounding briefly from the bee. She'd certainly have to ask what such a term meant at a later date. For now, the instruction was continuing, and any interruption would be rather rude on her part. "I'll participate," she noted once the silence briefly lingered, settling her wings against her back.

TAGS 5/1/20:

GENERAL.
✧ Nuzapa | mother smother, beeper, bee dragon
✧ physically medium, mentally medium
✧ female | she/her
✧ clan/group | rank | titles (optional)

APPEARANCE.
✧ dragon (ref.) | health: 100% | hosajisk dragon
— Nuzapa is an odd case of a dragon. Her appearance is near entirely constituted under being bee like with her yellow and black pallete.Long deep green antennae stretch from her head, allowing for easy sensing of the area around her. Behind them are two tiny grey spikes, likely to actually be horns. Six legs that end in somewhat jagged points hoist her body to a stunning near five foot height and help move her along, adorned with small hairs to collect pollen. Her body is incredibly fluffy starting from the back of her spiked head, almost looking like a mane from the front. Mandibles help her crunch down on entire flowers, and a long tongue helps her collect nectar from within. Nuzapa has black, unblinking voids for eyes that allow her to see - sadly only restrained to motion. Large wings help keep her in the air despite their lack of proportion to her body. Her abdomen is segmented with fluff and scales, showing her dragon status underneath her overall bee appearance and behavior. Spikes line each side of her abdomen, adding on to the faintest peaks of her draconic species hidden beneath buzzes and fluff.
— no accessories
— no current injuries

PERSONALITY.
✧ friendly, caring, easy going, motherly
✧ obsessive, easily worried, harsh
— While most would love to adore piles of hoarded treasure, Nuazapa finds her joys with surrounding herself with youths. Nuzapa has a hefty case of empty nester syndrome due to her own hatchlings passing early in her life as well as her original mate. Anyone smaller than her can normally find themselves being treated like a child in her presence, doted on by a mother that would go to any lengths for her children. Nuzapa is incredibly caring and considerate, doing her best to protect those in her presence. This bee looking dragon is quite clumsy due to only being able to see things that move. Nuzapa brings with her the notion of demanding respect for those in her care (willingly or not) and will grow incredibly hostile at any harm or demeaning being brought to her attention. Nuzapa is a furiously protective caretaker. Outside of these intense motherly instincts, Nuzapa is quite chatty and happily buzzes in song for those she's close to.

RELATIONSHIPS.
✧ nuzikik x bumble | dragon x dragon, npc x npc
✧ no family name
✧ biromantic demisexual | single/not looking

INTERACTIONS.
✧ physically medium | mentally medium | no powers | no weapons
✧ will start/end fights, easy provoke | will kill
✧ allowed to powerplay peaceful actions | attack in bolded #b8ba20 | mention [member=13964].-NUZAPA-.[/member] when attacking

MISC.
✧ voice claim

[Ivan]

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IVAN
slav. "god is gracious"
---
a son
a brother

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ALYOSHA, MY DEAR, MY ONLY SON, I'M AFRAID OF IVAN —

There were two things holding Ivan back; his species and his age. He recognized the limits of his physical capabilities quite well and although he was still upset at his poor lot in life, he'd try to make the most of it. Being born in a time of peace had also softened his soul, and it was probably why he was constantly searching for some way to torment himself.

If he couldn't do it now, at least he could watch and learn. That was his thought process behind the whole thing, so as he approached, he hoped that he wouldn't be thrown out. For this reason, he walked over confidently and listened carefully, looking over each of the ones who had thrown their hat into the ring.

The oriental Maine coon settled himself very close to Caustic, relaxing into a laying position and tucking his paws neatly under his dark fur. He figured sitting next to the wolf who had said he would sit out for the time being would communicate to Bloodhound that he wasn't going to participate.

Eyes half lidded, he murmured thoughtfully to Caustic, though loud enough for anyone else to hear. "I'm betting Vigenere will get his ass handed to him. Snarl'll probably win against everyone."

— I'M MORE AFRAID OF IVAN THAN THE OTHER ONE.

[CAUSTIC.]

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DR. CAUSTIC

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Caustic watches Bloodhound with deadly interest- he knows the kind of threat the hunter is. Bloodhound has killed him in equal times Caustic has done the same. Bloodhound is an honorable fighter- he can think of the times the hunter has stabbed into his stomach, put his spitfire over his chest and left him there. His paw touches the area at the thought- all for camera, all for show.

Caustic finds his tail hitting the ground when he sees Nuzapa- he stares at her with bloomed pupils and a tilted head. It would be a lie to say he wasn't fascinated- bugs died in the most dramatic of ways. He leans towards Ivan when the boy approaches, giving a halfhearted bark that's meant to be a chuckle, "Bloodhound is an Apex Predator- we shall see."

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[toboggan]

The canine finds himself nodding whilst the Apex Predator (as Dr. Caustic described Bloodhound) delved into the rules of combat. Their regulations were a tad more complex than the usual pin and win shit, but it was easy to follow nonetheless. He felt somewhat iffy in regards to the introduction of the pigments; Leroy didn't consider himself a medical professional by any regard, but in the case of the paint making its way into an open wound, there could be dire consequences - and he did NOT want to catch cancer again.

After Bloth Hoondr finishes with their directions, the general cautiously makes his way towards a pigment bowl and stares into its abyss. Unfortunately for those present, Leroy was colourblind by some degree. What the masked wolf designated as red, the male couldn't discern it from the other colours present. Squinting helped a little bit, though. With great hesitance, he dips his appropriate appendages into what he thought was purple (it wasn't purple), shuddering at the discomfort that soon followed. The way it stuck to his fur... it didn't feel right.

"If anyone needs me to go easy on 'em," he remarks, tone ripe with confidence, "jus' tell me - I know Kung Fu, and I don't wanna hurt no one that bad."

Obviously, he did not know Kung Fu.