Since regaining her strength, Kin-Kin had had one goal in mind. That goal was to prove her worth, whether that be through magic or brute force. And for that cause, the she-wolf knew the perfect Gembound. She'd smelt them hanging around Polaris; clearly, they'd been in a few scuffles here before, and since the competitions had been rife. Kin-Kin was so, so proud of the crystal blade she'd forged through magic; she felt that she'd finally found a spell that could stand up to their blazing heat.

And it wasn't something that would simply make her disappear like it had in Orion. This weapon wasn't forged out of cowardice. And so, with a spring in her step, Kin-kin wandered along, occasionally sniffing for traces of her target. Especially, she was looking for the scents of ash and blood, telltale signs that they were weakened. The sword itself rested on her foreleg- the tendrils of quartz that had wrapped themselves around her in her panic had proved their worth as a sheath for her prized weapon. So she didn't need to be constantly stopping to catch her breath or give her jaws a rest.

The only difference was, the soft clinking sound that heralded her coming; the sound of crystal clinking gently against crystal.

Kin-Kin could tell, though, that she was getting close...

"Speech looks like this."
Thoughts look like this.

tags: @Imperia
notes: here

Imperia They'll call our crimes a work of art

When Aaliyah turned about 2 cycles old, Imperia took her to Polaris. She looked around now, eyes wide to take in all of the sights. She walked with a little bounce in her step, something that annoyed Imperia, but they didn't say anything. Something about this place seemed...a little off at the moment, but they didn't know what or why. They had brought the other to this place to let them know of the places in the caves. And besides, they had grown tired of Orion, and knew Aaliyah had too. They needed a change of setting, so what better place than Polaris?

They had been around for a while when Imperia heard the faint sound of something clinking together. It was faint, but growing steadily closer. They put a paw in front of Aaliyah, effectively stopping her as they looked forward. Slowly, they began to walk closer and was soon met with the sight of a red wolf, with a long, flowing cape. Their eyes narrowed and they began to growl. Them again.

Something was different, however. They now had something new. A crystal, long and sharp, attached to their leg. Aaliyah looked as though she wasn't sure if she should be scared or excited. Imperia refrained from showing much emotion until they got closer.

"Well, well. Would ya look at who it is. I have to admit, I wasn't expecting to see you again. Looks like I've been pleasantly surprised," they chuckled, a grin on their face. "Tell me, what brings you here? I see you've got something new. Impressive. But do you know how to use it?" They began to walk a bit closer. Aaliyah stayed behind, looking back and forth between the two, deciding that she was rather scared at the moment.

"Have you been seeking me out? Are you here for a rematch, perhaps? Well. That's wonderful. I haven't been in a real battle in so long!" they glanced down at Aaliyah. "Mostly because of this little twerp." Would they win? A lot of time had passed since the two had last battled. Why, she had been their first battle! They had done 4 more battles since then. They had experience now; they knew what they were doing.

And surely so would the other.

"Listen to me."

table by lisa

@Kin-kin

Kin-Kin moved closer, paws placing elegantly, one after the other. Her body swayed with every motion, moving like a serpent preparing to strike its prey, all the grace of a falling flower petal cultivated in that well-practiced strut. Kin-Kin had found the one she was looking for without trouble, a smirk accenting her gilded face. "Hm," she chuckled, her gaze focused and fiery. "You're bigger than I remembered... Good job." Her tone was mocking, yet oddly flirtatious.

"And I see you have a little... Company. I trust you've treated them well?" Her voice dripped with sarcasm. "Poor kid. Probably doesn't know what kindness is."

Sympathy. And from the sounds of it, very real. Although it was hard to tell with Kin-Kin...

She chuckled at her opponent-to-be's words. "Know how to use it? I fear I'm the only one in the caves who knows how to use this, toots." Her lighthearted chuckle turned into a rowdy laugh. "...but, I did come here to demonstrate, after all."

She once more began to pad closer to Imperia, sniffing at her with twitching black nose. Her plumed tail waved slowly from side to side. Still, Kin-Kin had to agree. It would be nice to show off all she'd learned. Mostly the sword, though. That was the main thing.

"Hmph. So, how about we get to work, my dear?"

Kin-Kin winked at Imperia flirtatiously, flicking her tail at the caracal's face, as if she wasn't uncomfortably close already.


"Speech looks like this."
Thoughts look like this.

tags: @Imperia
notes: here

Imperia They'll call our crimes a work of art

Imperia narrowed their eyes at the oddly flirtatious tone. "As are you." When her gaze turned toward Aaliyah, they began to growl. "I've treated them just fine," they grumbled. They hadn't, of course, but they weren't going to admit that. Her scars would show that anyway.

Their tiny tail flicked as the other continued to speak. When she winked at them, their growling grew. Without turning their gaze away from Kin-kin, they said a few words to the one beside their paws. "Aaliyah. Stay back. Watch and learn, and don't interrupt." The hybrid quickly scampered a distance away and then began to watch.

Imperia continued to stare at the red wolf. He had begun to calculate what all he could do. He'd have to be a lot more careful than normal, as she had a weapon now. He just had his claws and fire. And one day, he'd have Aaliyah. But he hadn't trained her yet, so she stayed behind. She was watching. He couldn't afford to lose this battle. If she saw him lose...He may not be able to ever face her again, let alone train her!

He began to think about how to start the battle. He could go with a spell. Perhaps heatwave. That was a nice way to start. So he began to take a deep breath, building up the fire that would hopefully appear before releasing it out in a long breath, directed right towards the wolf. He didn't know if fire would affect the crystal, but there was only one way to find out.

Round: 1/10(?)
Attack: breathe fire!
Defenses: none
Injuries: burnt paws, some scars

"Listen to me."

table by lisa

@Kin-kin u can change the number of rounds if you want to-

Kin-Kin, being as uncomfortably close to the caracal as she had been, felt the heat falling on her fur and jerked back. This was it; without a second thought, Kin-Kin placed her paw out ahead of her, pushing her head into the crystal muzzle and grabbing the grip she'd forged for herself inside. She pulled her head back, sliding the blade out of its crystalline prison and into the light. This is it. Let's start slow. If they wanna wear themselves out in the meantime, they can.

She'd drawn away from the thick of their flame breath, but by god could she feel it now. If she wanted to get in close, she'd have to put a stop to that. Alright, change of plan. Shouldn't be too hard.

Instead, the wolf simply jumped at them, careening forward like a knight on horseback aiming a lance. If Imperia had any sense, they'd move. But then again, if Kin-Kin had any sense, she wouldn't be doing this in the first place. She couldn't speak whilst holding her sword, so in the place of her usual jovial mocking, laughing and jeering, there was only the sound of her breaths clouding the crystal muzzle.

However, it seemed taht in all her eagerness and pride, Kin-Kin had misjudged just how heavy and awkward the object would be in the beginning, and it scraped against the ground as she galloped forward, causing her to trip and skid to a halt not far away from her ever-heating opponent, causing their flames to set fire to the end of her cape. Yowch!

It was a good thing her mouth was covered, or she'd probably swear quite profusely, and work on crushing Imperia's self-esteem.

Round: 1/10
Attack: chaaaaarge!
Defenses: crystal jawguard protecting face and muzzle
Injuries: small scars, wounded pride.

"Speech looks like this."

Thoughts look like this.

tags:
notes: here

Imperia They'll call our crimes a work of art

Imperia smirked when he felt the flames go toward the wolf, even when they jerked back. But as she picked up the crystal and charged, he braced himself. But it seemed as though that was unnecessary. When she fell, he snorted. His flames stopped not long after, but they had set fire to her cape. That would definitely leave a mark.

"Are you sure you know what you're doing?" he chuckled. Now that she was close to him, he'd be able to easily swipe at her. Or so he hoped. He lifted his paw, claws out.

Round: 2/10
Attack: swipe at her!
Defense: none
Injuries: burns and scars from old battles

"Listen to me."

table by lisa

@Kin-kin

The hot feeling in Kin-Kin's muzzled face grew, but as annoyed as she was at this terrible start, the wolf knew that she could make up for this... Embarrassing display later on. For now, Kin-Kin tried to stomp the fire out of her cape, at least until she felt their claws raking into her shoulder, shallow, but still aggravating.

Kin-Kin's gaze snapped up towards Imperia, closely followed by her sword as she swung her head dramatically towards them. At the same time, she jerked backwards, ripping their claws out of her shoulder. That'd probably smart later... Launching herself forward, Kin-Kin this time tried to go for the chest, which Kin-Kin assumed would still be exposed from their earlier strike.

If she got in a good move, then that'd definitely make up for her tripping before...

Round: 2/10
Attack: aim for their chest
Defenses: crystal jawguard protecting face and muzzle
Injuries: small scars, wounded pride.

"Speech looks like this."

Thoughts look like this.

tags: @Imperia
notes: here

Imperia They'll call our crimes a work of art

Imperia felt his claws strike against her shoulder. It was shallow, but it was something. As the wolf jerked her head up and then moved backwards, he tensed. This didn't look good. If that crystal made its mark...That definitely didn't seem like a good thing. He had to get out of the way, and fast. He tried to quickly move, but his paws ending up slipping in hish rush and he didn't get very far. Great. This might not end too well.

Round: 3/10
Attack: none
Defense: dodge!
Injuries: burns and scars

"Listen to me."

table by lisa

@Kin-kin

Kin-Kin felt her sword collide, and satisfaction swelled in her chest. With a growl rising in her throat and echoing throughout the crystal muzzle that shrouded her at the base of the sword. The wolf tried to hold them in place, pushing her sword against them in an effort to hold them exactly where they were.

Her deep purple eyes blazed with anger and determination; they said things that, at the moment, her voice could not. In fact, it might have been rather frightening to the weak of heart.

Pride.

Joy.

Anger.

All was there, lurking within her fiery gaze.


Round: 3/10
Attack: Keep pushing!
Defenses: crystal jawguard protecting face and muzzle
Injuries: small scars, wounded pride.

"Speech looks like this."

Thoughts look like this.

tags:
notes: here

Imperia They'll call our crimes a work of art

Imperia cringed as he felt the sword press against him. He would most likely get a scar from that, but for now he ignored it and glared up at the wolf, only to see that she was staring at him with the same intensity. The sight sent a chill down his spine, but he ignored it and continued to glare, a growl rising up. He had to stop this somehow. Perhaps with a spell? It was better than nothing. He took a deep breath and focused, hoping it would work.


Round: 4/10
Attack: Spit fire at her!
Defense: none
Injuries: burns and scars, including a fresh scratch on chest

"Listen to me."

table by lisa

@Kin-kin