ORIGIN

The wrestling contest had already taught Sergei a couple of things about fighting and tactics in combat. He now learned a new lesson: when bear-hugging, keep them low enough that when they thrash about maniacally, their skull does not come crashing into your nose.

Kera's head hit his snout dead-on and he gave a sharp, moaning huff of pain, dropping her at once. He dropped back to all fours, shaking his head once, as if to clear it--that had hurt--and then fixed his small, dark eyes on the wolf. He immediately leapt for her again, this time trying to pin her beneath his weight--hopefully before she'd had time to find her own feet, or leap away.

Kera had only just about managed to push herself back to her paws, but she didn't have time to even realise what Sergei was doing until he came crashing down on top of her.

The air was knocked right out of her lungs as she came down onto the cave floor, wide-eyed. This seemed worse than when he was just grabbing her-- this time he was on top of her.

Once more, Kera couldn't do much more than try to wriggle back out from under him.

This time, he kept his head clear. He could feel the wolf struggling beneath him, and though he was careful not to outright crush her (remembering Mongo's pain), he still did his utmost to ensure that she could not escape his grasp.

With a grunt he scrambled over her more closely, trying to ensure that his forelimbs would keep the wolf from scrabbling her way out from underneath his bulk. Each of her flailing twists he tried to counter with quick readjustments of his own weight, his small eyes wide and his furred ears pinned back. She was very agile, very hard to keep down, but he hoped that his larger size would give him the edge that he needed.

Almost weasel-like, Kera went bolting out from under Sergei as he failed to keep her down against the ground. Brief relief washed over her at the brief realisation she wouldn't die trapped under a bear.

She turned half-abruptly and slammed herself bodily into Sergei's side-- likely too small, even for Kera to knock down, but at least to briefly daze him.

Character: Sergei Age: +7 (7th Cycle) Magic Level: +3 (Brawler) ROUND 1 Attempt: +14 Penalties: - ROUND 2 Attempt: +4 Penalties: - ROUND 3 Attempt: +19 Penalties: - ROUND 4 Attempt: +20 Penalties: - ROUND 5 Attempt: +3 Penalties: - Total: 70

Character: Kera Age: +16 (16th Cycle) Magic Level: +5 (Master) ROUND 1 Attempt: +18 Penalties: - ROUND 2 Attempt: +3 Penalties: - ROUND 3 Attempt: +20 Penalties: - ROUND 4 Attempt: +6 Penalties: - ROUND 5 Attempt: +6 Penalties: - Total: 74

WINNER: Kera

Sergei side-stepped the charge, having learned a thing or two now about dodging (from Kera, ironically) but paused when Azizos called out. He grumbled unhappily--but it wasn't because he lost. He didn't mind losing, exactly--but he was disappointed that he could not continue in the fights. He enjoyed them.

He turned to Kera, bobbing his head up and down in what might have been a nod.

"You fight well," he rumbled. "I will watch your battles." This--apparently a token of respect--was followed by the hefty bear turning and shuffling out.

Kera came to a skidding halt, turning and preparing another attack-- or a dodge --though she stopped at Azizos' call to halt. She paused, shook herself out, and straightened up.

She nodded back to Sergei, tail loosely wagging. "Thank you,"" she said. "You too. I'll cheer for you in your next fight."

Cheerfully, Kera pushed her way back out of the arena to go back to napping on the cave floor.