[Chal] Burn - Firaga & Ember

[OP-Yuna]

Firaga had led a nomadic life ever since the pride of his birth fell apart. Fighting was something he'd come to live with - fighting for food, life, limb, freedom - but there care a time when one wanted something...a little easier. When one knew they couldn't go it alone anymore.

Firaga had weighed his options when it came to support systems. When it came down to it, the most comforting idea to him was to join a pride. It was then he began to ask around and assess those options. All that had lead him to here.

After Firaga's first encounter with a member of this pride - a 'challenge' that had been more of wit than of strength - he'd stuck around. Tired of traveling all over the 'world,' or at least the bit of it that he had, he had finally decided to call somewhere home, and that where just ended up being here. Why? Who knows.

But now he was ready to fight for his right to join.

The Silent Force stood and waited to see who would 'greet' him at the border.  

[Tanakako]

Ember was no longer training as a reaver, in fact she had stopped sparring with the reavers each day when she had hit adolescence and worked out what it was she wanted to do with her life, at least when it came to her position in the pride. Now she was apprenticed to a Priestess and well on the way to earning her own place among the elite band of females. But she was still her parent's daughter and despite being far more lithe and slender than many of the pride (part of her fey heritage), she had been taught by some of the best warriors the pride could boast.

So it was that the confident young female had taken to spending large amounts of her time in the forests that surrounded her pride, connecting with the spirits with the gift that her mother's bloodline had given her, and also using that time to search out the various herbs and plants needed for her apprenticeship. Equipped with more than ample skills to take care of herself and by no means shy of personality, the sleek grey-fox coloured lioness was at home in the heavily wooded landscape as she was in the pride's dens.

Pricking her ears as she padded silently through the close-growing tree trunks, she caught wind of a strange scent, one from a lion that she didn't recognize. Curious and more than a little interested, she altered her direction and headed towards the origin of the scent, arriving just a little downwind of the male and regarding him from the shadow of an ancient tree, her vibrant yellow eyes peering round the gnarled old trunk before she took a step forwards, revealing herself.  

[OP-Yuna]

Tanakako

Firaga stood there, almost as still as a statue, save for the slight flicker of his ear. Someone was there. He knew it. However he did not let his body betray his mind. Calm, confidence, whatever it was he had, he had it in bushels. And then the precence he felt revealed itself.

Another female of the pride?

It would seem so.

Did they not see fit to send a man to fight him?

Whatever. FIraga had grown tired of trying to pry information out of them. If he was to decide to make this his home, or pass on buy, it looked like hw was going to have to fight, either way. Not one for beating around the bush, Firaga got right to the point.

"I, Firaga, seek entrance into these lands. Will you do battle with me for that privilage? Do so or send another in your stead."

Though if she were truly a lioness of the Stormborn, he doubted she'd let another do her fighting for her. Some might have called his lack of small talk rude. However, he was a man of silnce, golden as fire. And he didn't mess around.  

[Tanakako]

One dark brow arched upwards as he spoke. Apparently a lion of very few words and a straight forward manner. She liked it actually.. males who dilly dallied about and couldn't make up their minds drove her crazy and this one... well, she couldn;t read his expression at all and that was rare. An amused grin curled across her muzzle as she glided forwards, paws silent despite the thick, dry leaf litter beneath her pads.

"Ahh.. I see. You come to participate in an Askorun for entry." Slinking gracefully round him in a wide circle she completed a full rotation to end up in front of him again, her golden eyes bright with interest. "I will be delighted to challenge you, stranger."

Still grinning she glided a few yards away then turned and started to circle him again, but her movements and expression had changed completely. Now she was watchful, her sleek body may be far lighter than his, but she had the lean look of a seasoned fighter regardless of her gender, and she certainly looked confident as she moved steadily around him. Suddenly, with no warning or growl or any tell what so ever, she flowed like quicksilver across the space between them and aimed slashing claws at his flank while keeping her own body out of reach, her movements fast and accurate due to her light weight, for she knew her strengths and used them to full effect.
 

[OP-Yuna]

Tanakako

Firaga showed neither nervousness nor agitation as the lioness circled him. He was confident, unimpressed, and thoroughly unmoved.

"Then let's get this underway," He rumbled.

As she attacked he leaped away from her claws, and used the tree he had leaped at as leverage to flip back and face the lioness. He didn't stay still. Swift as the river during a furious storm he advanced, powerful, and with claws out stretched, teeth bared. He lunged.  

[Tanakako]

Of course she knew better than to let him get close to her. But what she hadn't foreseen was such a large male being almost as agile as herself. Surprised but not enough to be distracted, she twisted away from his gaping maw. Her lean body coiled in on itself as she sprang back out of reach, but she felt the familiar hot river of fire burn across her hip and knew he had drawn first blood. Yet unlike most other females no cry of pain escaped her, instead a wide grin curled itself across her muzzle as she spun with impressive on the spot and lashed out with her own extended and very sharp claws, aiming to get a return hit on his as yet unmarked fur.
 

[OP-Yuna]

Tanakako

Sometimes the trick to winning, Firaga had learned, was not letting your opponent know when they had hurt you. Such control over one's own reaction was something the two much of shared, for as sure as he hit him, he also naer winced nor grimaced.

Two forces dueling mutely - but Firaga was the Silent Force. He was confident in his ability to best this female.

The back of his paw aimed for her head - a feigned attack. A distraction, as he pushed off the ground with all his power in his hind legs to then potentially deliver a mighty headbutt to his opponent.  

[Tanakako]

He was an unusual opponent, that was for sure. Silent where most males were loud, quick where most others relied on brute strength. Twisting away she slipped neatly to one side, avoiding the faked hit -what good was the back of ones paw? It was so obviously a faint she almost smiled- and instead focused on dodging the real attack, claws flashing out to rake his side as he plowed past, catching her rump and sending her scrambling for balance but certainly not thrown to the ground as he had clearly intended.

She knew he would make an excellent addition to the pride, now she only needed to bring this fight to a stop without either of them being seriously wounded.
 

[Tanakako]

The rest of the battle was short but ultimatly an exhibition in skill and prowess that left even Ember impressed. It had been a long time since she had met anyone who fought like he did and when at last she backed away, carefully keeping him to her front and under sharp eyes in case his hadn't realised the fight was over, she grinned broadly at him, pleased.

"Congratulations, you are now Stormborn." She dipped he rhead in a polite bow and chuckled. "I look forward to seeing you around the pride. With that she turned and set off back along the trail that would lead them both to the pride's heartland. He could follow or not, she wasn't about to force him. She could tell he was a male would would do his own thing regardless. Grinning she slipped into the brush.