Welcome to Gaia! ::

Always when he was going hunting. The red lion sighed inwardly as he caught sight of the black, red...and yellow male waiting on the border. Well, it wasn't up to him to judge the fitness of a lion visually when they wanted to join the pride. He had to judge their skill in a duel.

And he doubted this lion, from his aggressive stance and movements, would take it kindly if the Hunter attempted to go beyond him in order to do his job.

"Greetings, stranger," Huozin offered as he came near. "If you wish to attempt to join this pride, I will be your opponent today." He had very few doubts that the other lion would take him up on the offer.

"No, not at all," the red lion replied. "Though I don't know that the view truly changes so much." He should know, since he spent most of his days crossing back and forth over the border. The Firekin bowed his white maned head slightly as he introduced himself. "I am Huozin."

With that, the lion chose to dive into the action. He ran lightly around to the other lion's side and swiped one striped flank with a pawful of claws. If the other was going to exude aggression, he figured that a swift, decisive attack would put the balance in his favor.

Whoops, perhaps he'd attacked a bit too soon. It was terribly rude to not allow his apponent to introduce himself. Ah well, he'd remedy that mistake later. For the moment, he had several small puncture wounds in one shoulder. Bleeding, but not enough to truly concern him. His estimation of the other lion rose a few notches.

However, he had read this lion as aggressive. Huozin allowed a snarl to escape his lips as he reached out for Astroph's head with one clawed paw. His claws ran through the other's red mane briefly, but failed to connect with any flesh.

That was, Huozin decided, a nasty smile. He was glad he'd chosen to feint for his previous action instead of actually attacking. But it did appear that the other lion had fallen for the trick, and believed it to be a true miss. Typical amateur. The red lion might not be a Soldier, but he did have an appreciation for using actual strategy and tactics in a duel, instead of simply relying on brute force and strength.

He barely noticed Astroph's next attempt, which perhaps whiffled his fur, no more. Still, he felt near a hundred years older than the other lion. So, Huozin reached out with one large paw and cuffed his opponent soundly on the ear.

So...far more aggressive than he needed to be, probably overconfident, and didn't have the training to know how to compensate for a sudden head blow. Huozin was, needless to say, unimpressed by his opponent thus far. Even if the other lion should manage to defeat him, he'd still have a long way to go before the pride would be proud of him.

And truth be told, there would likely be some sticklers regardless who felt he simply had too much yellow in his pelt. He'd throw huria offspring for sure. But that was for later. If Astroph was successfully in making it into the Motoujamii-Simo.

For now, that head blow meant his flank was unguarded, and the red lion inserted his claws into the same scratches he'd left before, then pulled down violently. It said something, he knew, to attack the same spot he'd hit with his first blow. It said something significantly different to use and extend the exact same wounds.

Yes, he could have predicted that reaction, quite easily. Which was why the red lion had been able to take a step to the side, so that Astroph's blow was offcenter and didn't hit right in the throat. Huozin winced as the paw connected solidly with his shoulder and into the meaty part of his chest. It hurt, though not as much as the ram he'd been expecting would have.

Clearly, there was a bit more to this lion than met the eye. Very well, he'd treat his opponent as such.

The red lion reached out again with unsheathed claws, and raked the other male along his soft underbelly, dragging his paw back up to the other's chest. If one was going to fight for the Firekin, he had to do much better about guarding his weak points.

Huozin nodded graciously at his opponent who, even now, was having trouble controlling his temper. Not at all an advantage in a duel. One needed to be able to think clearly, to analyze their opponent's strengths and weaknesses at the drop of a leaf, and to take advantage of the latter.

The red lion took the time to clean the blood off his claws in the sand.

"Another time, perhaps," he replied. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some hunting to do."

With that, he departed on his interrupted path towards providing for the pride.