[WRESTLING] Xireidi vs. Aries - Printable Version

Xireidi's entrance was much more subdued; a leisurely pace, a relaxed stance, and only the slightest hint of a grin on is face. He had heard of this competition, the one that had given Kin-Kin their title. While magic had returned to him he never had mastered it enough to even consider entering that section of the contest. Wrestling though- wrestling required only mastery of the physical form. While he might not have been one to seek out fights he certainly had spent his fair share of hours in training stamina and strength.

"Hello, Areis." he replied with a friendly nod, maneuvering into a starting position, "Good luck to you too, I hope you've been practicing."

In all honesty the actual contest itself didn't hold a huge amount of meaning to him. Sure it would be nice to have a title as well, but that would have no actual effect on his physical aptitude. A test, that's all that was. Just like sparing with Amras only this time instead of having to contend with bizarre usages of magic he had to face an opponent twice his mass.

The wolf lowered his stance as the match was about to begin, nervousness and interest surging in equal parts through his core.

"The words I speak"
The thoughts I hold
And the self I keep hidden away
tags: @Aries
notes: None

As expected Aries came at him with a straightforward rush. It was a strange feeling- in all of his skirmishes to this point he'd had the weight advantage and his opponent had been keeping him at a distance. Here the roles were switched- and even if the ram was a lot smaller than the gryphon was it almost certainly at least twice as heavy as him.

Xireidi had planned for this though. First step was to try to maneuver them into a favorable position. It was a risky strategy as the tables could easily be turned on him but without an equivalent sparring partner to test other options with it was the best he could do.

The wolf held a firm stance low to the ground as long as possible before placing all his strength into his right limbs and dodging hard to the left. A minor jolt of pain coursed through his hip as a glancing blow added spin to his dodge but his was overall unharmed.

"The words I speak"
The thoughts I hold
And the self I keep hidden away
tags: @Aries
notes: None

The ram hoped his head butt would have pushed him down so he could pin him, unfortunately , Xireidi dodged most of the brunt and was now off to his left. He needed a new plan. Aries snorted and spun around to face the red wolf agin, his head lowered. He was using his thick skull as a shield, incase Xireidi went for his neck.

Aries snaked towards him, brandishing his large horns. As he approached him, the ram reared, walking forward on his hind legs as if to head butt him again. The ram pawed at the air with his fore hooves then slammed them down before repeating the process. He watch Xireidi carefully, should the wolf maneuver in a certain way, he would spring forward.

"speak!"

Xireidi held his ground with caution as his opponent switched up tactics. Unlike an overzealous cave deer Aries was smart enough not to keep charging blindly and had taken an approach almost custom tailored for his original defense. By giving up full use of his front legs the ram increased his possible area of attack from a long and narrow corridor to a wide cone in front of him. Were this just a defensive game with no bounds Xireidi might have been able to keep retreating backwards while looking for openings, but in the current situation that wouldn't work quite so well.

One major tradeoff to the ram's increased attack radius was its balance. If Xireidi could get in close enough and quick enough he might have a chance of knocking them over backwards. He'd probably take a hoof shot in the process with the wild flailing but the alternative was to dash away at an angle and try to force them to switch back to their charging tactic.

With legs strong from endless cycles of training the wolf jumped forward at the height of Areis's rearing motion. As predicted the flailing of the ram's hooves caught him on the shoulder, but it looked like his body weight was on track to connect.

"The words I speak"
The thoughts I hold
And the self I keep hidden away
tags: @Aries
notes: None

Before Aries could maneuver for a tackle, Xireidi switched up the game and tackled. him instead He should have saw that coming. He felt his hoof strike the wolf's shoulder, but it did little to stop him. Xireidi's weight threw him off balance and before he knew it, Aries had hit the ground. Instinctively, the ram rolled to his knees with the sudden urge to protect his belly, but Xireidi was still on his back.

He tried to clamber to his feet, kicking his back hooves in the air in an attempt to fling Xireidi off.

"speak!"

Xireidi tumbled forward with the ram, shoulder sore but now in an extremely advantageous position. His opponents defenses had temporarily failed them. Its attempts to buck him off were fruitless. Its neck was as vulnerable as ever in this match. All it would take would be one swift strike and he could end it all for the hooved prey. Xireidi's yellow eye had a crazed look in it as adrenaline rushed through him and with a growl he bared his teeth and struck downwards.

The wolf caught himself just in the nick of time and redirected his bite to try to grasp onto one of the ram's horns. What had he been thinking?! This was an ally, not a cave deer to be hunted! Hopefully Aries hadn't caught him losing track of his thoughts for a moment. It was a strategic maneuver after all- with a weight disadvantage he could level the playing field by capturing the ram's center of signt and movement. As long as Xireidi managed to hold on and stay to the side they wouldn't be able to use nearly as much force to counterattack and he might possibly be able to pin them to the ground by the head.

"The words I speak"
The thoughts I hold
And the self I keep hidden away
tags: @Aries
notes: None

The ram's bucking was futile, Xireidi clung on like tree sap. Aries snorted in frustration. He wasn't in a good position, and having a predator on his back sent a chill down is spine. It was just Xireidi, he told himself, a friendly Gembound. Then, why was he so irked?

The red wolf grabbed a hold of his horn, perhaps he was hoping to tip him off balance. The pull tilted his head to the side, but the ram's legs did not give way. Aries grinned, his eyes sparkled with amusement. Ha, ha! Nice move, Xireidi, you got me! He chortled. "Too bad I'm not a cave deer!"

Aries was surprisingly strong for a creature of his size, and he knew it. He intended to use this to his advantage. The ram's mighty muscles rippled under his fur as he suddenly jumped and threw himself towards Xireidi in a body slam that would hopefully knock the wolf off his paws, and perhaps the impact would free his horn too.

"speak!"

The wolf coughed and sputtered as all of a sudden his opponent shifted their body weight to slam into him. His grip on the horn loosened ever so slightly but luckily he was able to hang on.

There was no witty comeback, there couldn't be with Xireidi's current hold. Though the wind had gotten knocked out of him he wasn't about to let this momentum go to waste. Muscles tensed to their limit as Xireidi momentarily bore the full weight of the flying ram. He was used to endurance training and jumping long distances; moving heavy objects around had never actually been a major component of how he used his time before.

Even so the wolf somehow managed to redirect the energy, flipping Aries over once again to pin their horns down onto the ground, even if it would likely only be for a moment.

"The words I speak"
The thoughts I hold
And the self I keep hidden away
tags: @Aries
notes: None