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belloblossom rolled 3 4-sided dice:
4, 3, 2
Total: 9 (3-12)
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 Posted: Tue Nov 10, 2020 10:14 pm
 Einarr had always thought of himself as a grand and wonderful Knight. He was the son of Maske, who was favored by the King. He was a protector of the Fallguard and the lucky mate of the most beautiful lady in the pack, his lovely Silke. Why, he'd even become a great fisherwolf and Monster Hunter! All to prove that he was among one of the best members of the pack, despite the other side of his lineage.
It wasn't until his mother was attacked and that he hadn't been able to do anything to properly wound his attacker, that he felt his world turned upside down. He should've been the one to make the final blow, not some rogue stranger! He should've had the honor of informing Aragon that he had defeated the vile beast - should've done it for the honor of his family...! But it wasn't meant to be. He'd shown up to the fight, but he did as much good as standing around as he had contributing and being batted away by the berserker like a fly. Even his precious Silke had done more than he had, and she was usually the protected.
For the days following the berserker's attack, he felt as though he couldn't look his pack mates in the face. He visited his mother and sister religiously and kept close to Silke, but turned away from anyone else. Including the mysterious stranger that had appeared, Twilie, and claimed to be his kin. He became closed off, unsure of himself. He went on ventures, trying to scale the cliff that the berserker had plunged off of. When this didn't yield any of the results he wished for, he went back to sulking.
It wasn't until one of the other ladies, Sága, had approached him, asking him to duel her that he snapped out of his daze. He hadn't spoken much to Sága, didn't know much of her beyond seeing her occasionally staring at his mother. After some reflection, he realized that he'd seen her around the King, too. After the King had announced that his mother would be the Queen, he had seen less and less of Sága. To have her approach him out of the blue like this... what could she want from this duel?
He'd asked at much and she'd responded simply. She wanted to regain honor in the pack. To do that, she would take what prestige she could. Such a sentiment struck a chord within him and he smiled broadly at her in turn. He would help in her task - and maybe in the process, he, too, would become a champion among his pack again.
They met in the sparring grounds just a day after she'd approached him. They needed no witness of their own, but any were welcome to watch them. A knight versus a peasant. One who had more practice in fighting, but one that had a fierce determination to win the match. They began.
He landed a blow on her - his teeth grabbing at the fur around her shoulder. She ripped away, fur flying. She didn't flinch as she lunged forward, ducking her head and rushing him head on. He had just enough time to whirl back, only to take the blow in his side, momentarily winding him. He just managed to stagger back as she tried to n** at him. As he caught his breath, he surged forward, teeth snapping at her, only to connect with air as she danced away. They'd both hit once, both missed once. He wondered if his next move would be the one to decide it or if the fighting would go on longer.
It seemed Sága had made up her mind who the victor would be, because she leaped for him. It was clear that while she'd hunted prey, she may not have took on prey his size alone before. He was able to dodge out of the way and when she landed, she was left unbalanced enough that he shoved her over and stood over her, a paw weighing heavily on her shoulder.
"It seems that I've won this duel." He told her with a bit of his usual smugness.(WC: 703)
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belloblossom rolled 3 4-sided dice:
2, 3, 3
Total: 8 (3-12)
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Posted: Tue Nov 10, 2020 10:16 pm
 Suffice to say, since the pack's encounter with the berserker, Sága was feeling more than uneasy lately. She didn't know how to process any of what happened - she'd always seen Maske as her rival for love, but now... Now the results of their competition were in and a winner for the King's affections had been announced. Maske was their new Queen. Sága's new Queen.
She had some very complicated feelings about it. Sometimes, she wanted to be a good friend - she never resented Maske. She often teased her about being the one who would swoop in on Aragon if Maske didn't get her act together. A playful warning here, a teasing taunt there. It had been fun, initially. She really thought she had a fighting chance - after all, Maske had run off to be with a dire wolf, but it was Sága who had stayed in the pack. A show of loyalty, she had thought at the time. Clearly it made no difference in the end.
Maybe if she'd run off with a dire wolf, she'd be more desirable. Or maybe if she'd gotten her face torn off like Maske had... but no, she wouldn't ever wish something like that on herself, no matter how pouty she was being. It was a horrible thing that had happened to Maske. Sága knew that if she ever voiced her thoughts allowed, she may as well declare herself leaving the pack entirely. Days after the announcement, she distanced herself from the newlywed royals and fumed. All her goals to become the queen were gone, but surely there had to be some way she could get herself back on track. Why, if she couldn't be Queen, surely she could become the fairest lady in the pack. But that wasn't all she wanted to be...
There weren't any Champions in the pack yet, were there? The furs that were exclusive to the rank sat made and abandoned until someone completed those duels. Before, when she was competing only for Aragon's affection, she'd left the duels to the knights, but now staring at the fur and thinking about how noble Champion Sága sounded. She made a point to seek out the first knight she recognized. How ironic that knight ended up being Einarr, Maske's son.
She didn't speak to Maske's children very often, but surely not Einarr. As such, she wasn't very surprised when he seemed shocked that she approached him and for a duel out of everything. He asked her why and she'd replied easily. To regain some level of honor and prestige in the pack. If she couldn't be Queen, then Champion sounded like a good second choice. If she were a knight or clergy, perhaps she would have tried to go for the Adventurer rank, though that didn't sound nearly as impressive.
She didn't have to spend very long convincing Einarr to duel her. Soon after she'd asked, they were facing off one another. She couldn't remember who had come to spectate, but she remembered showing off pretty smiles at any who came to observe. Had Maske or Aragon been among the crowd? She wouldn't hold out hope. She needed to win five duels, anyway, to be considered worthy of the title. She would battle knights as long as she had to, in order to become a Champion of the pack.
The fight itself went by in a blur. She'd gotten too confident in landing her frist hit. She'd never fought a pack member before - hadn't fought anyone before, beyond passive aggressive banter. The fight was over before it had really begun. She'd missed twice, but Einarr... he'd gotten in another hit on her and suddenly she found herself twisting under his paw, growling at his smugness. Did Maske feel this smug about winning Aragon's heart? Did Einarr get this attitude from his mother, or his brutish dire father, wherever he was? She pinned her ears and leaned her head forward.
"Rematch."((WC: 663))
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