Sora had been known as energetic back in the cave. But now, she felt drained all of the time. Or, at least, most of the time. In recent days, her energy had started to build up again -- impossible to avoid. In the past, she'd worked most of her excess energy off by playing with her siblings or, more frequently, sparring with Kini. It had been easier before Kini's horns had come in -- that was around when she started losing on the regular -- but she'd learned a lot from the fighting. About herself and about combat.

But she was getting rusty, and as her energy started to build again, Sora felt like she was going to explode. She paced in a tight circle and then walked down to a place where the bones were clear. She didn't want the Bonebound crucifying her for breaking something. "MORGAN!!" she called, wincing as the sound bounced off of every surface available and she got a very aggressively clear picture of the cave. She kept forgetting about that.

When her sibling came into view, Sora raised her glowing eye. "Hey, Morganite. Want to spar with me?" she grunted, her tone holding an edge of neediness. She needed to fight someone her own size. It wouldn't be fair to go up against Charles or Ifrit, y'know? She needed someone her own size.


@morganite

Morgan's head shot up as she heard the cry from Sora, and she staggered to her feet, bolting off towards the cry, terrified that something had happened. She skid to a stop in front of her sibling, chest heaving, before letting out a harsh sigh, both relieved that Sora was okay and a bit miffed that she'd panicked over nothing.

"... You scared me," she mumbled, before shaking her head, "... Spar. Alright. I can't promise I'll be as good as... as good as Kini, but I'll try."

She shook her long, floppy ears out and stretched, yawning widely before shaking the rest of her body out. She snorted softly and pawed at the ground, reluctant to fight at all. If only Kini was here...

"... You go first," she said, "And no dirty shots. Like going at the face. Or the crotch."

A hint of amusement flashed, but it was gone as soon as it came. She shook her head and steeled her nerves before getting into a proper stance, jaw slightly clenched.

@Sora

Sora grunted an apology when Morganite said she'd been startled. you should... have thought... of that. And yeah, the voice was actually right that time. It bothered her that the voice was right more and more often -- soon, she was sure that it'd say something awful and she'd be inclined to believe it. For now though, she had Morganite in front of her agreeing to spar. Sora shook herself out and eyed Morganite when offered the first move. Her whiskers were going to make this uncomfortable, to say the least, and she was wary of Morganite cutting themselves on the jagged edges of the newish stone on her face. Venari had done an excellent job, but crystal did not cut cleanly with such crude tools.

She took stock of her opponent. Heavy fur, the same whiskers and ears, and the same natural padding, plus antlers. Not a foe to be trifled with lightly. "You'll do fine," she finally grunted, before rushing Morganite to try and knock them over. Those legs of theirs were good for running and jumping, but nobody's legs were willing to bend the wrong way to fight against being knocked over or pinned.


@morganite


Round: 1/?
Attempt: Knock over Morganite
Defense: None
Injuries: None

Morgan nodded and exhaled, closing their eyes to relax a bit. This wasn't a fight, this was practice. Their eyes opened and they saw the other come barreling over. It seemed that watching the others spar had done some good. They caught the movement and blocked it with relative ease. They knew they wouldn't come out of this without wounds, but they were confident they'd at least get a few on the other, as well.

"Don't trip up while we've barely begun," Morgan dared to tease, a familiar, soft smile crossing her face.

It didn't last long, but it was a comfort. This wasn't serious, and no wounds would last more than it took to heal. Morgan still loved Sora, after all, and she doubted she'd be willing to actually inflict anything more than a bite or scratch on the other.

@Sora

Round: 1/?
Attempt: Block the attack.
Defense: Blocking.
Injuries: None

Sora's shoulder clipped into Morganite and she kept moving, not allowing herself to stumble and instead kicking out with her back leg to try and hit the hybrid -- hopefully in the torso, but Sora would take anywhere she could get. Instead, her leg caught air, and she cursed under her breath. "'M goin' easy on you!" the hog lied smoothly, letting the sound bounce off Morganite and not flinching this time -- it gave her a clear picture of her surroundings and who she was fighting. Not that she didn't already know.

@morganite

Round: 2/?
Attempt: Keeck
Defense: None
Injuries: None

While the kick missed her by a landslide, Morganite took the chance to go offensive, darting forward to land a blow of her own. Sticking her antlers into Sora's thigh. Unfortunately, having her head down meant she managed to headbutt right under Sora's kick, completely missing the other.

"Shit- Ah, me too!" she said, as if the two of them hadn't accidentally thrawted each other's moves.

She stumbled and struggled to regain herself, still trying to get used to her sudden ability to hear absolutely everything. Sora's heartbeat, her breath, her hooves on the ground. It was disorienting, to say the least.

@Sora

Round: 2/?
Attempt: Headbutt!
Defense: N/A
Injuries: N/A

Sora pivoted, the heat of her body seeming to radiate from her stone like a geothermal wave. She would have tried to slam Morganite with the jagged edge of her chrysalis mutation, but she was worried about taking an eye out or something. Instead, Sora tried to take advantage of Morganite's lack of balance to slam into her again. Not quite to pin, but certainly to do some damage.


@morganite

Round: 3/?
Attempt: Slam!
Defense: best defense is a good offense
Injuries: None

And yet again she was forced to defend. This time when she was slammed into, she didn't get knocked over, but she did gain herself quite a nice bruise. Her body tipped and she pushed forward, managing to keep herself upright. She braced her back legs and put her head down, teeth bared in determination.

"You're going down!" she said, laughing, egging the other on.

Encouraging, despite her words.

@Sora

Round: 3/?
Attempt: Block
Defense: Block
Injuries: Shoulder bruise.

Sora bounced back off Morganite almost comically. "Those claws of yours sure do keep you steady on your feet," she grunted, acknowledging the persistence. Sora's body wasn't all that stable by comparison. She struck out at the dirt in the worn arena and looked Morganite over -- Sora had been the only one to land a hit thus far. "Keep boasting," she goaded back. "It'll make victory that much sweeter."

The hog charged head-first this time, genuinely aiming to knock Morganite over. If she could manage this, maybe she'd be able to keep her down. Then again, the pair were pretty similar in size, and having a clawed-and-antlered creature under you wasn't the best idea... but Sora's decision was made on a hair-trigger, as usual. Not much thought ever went into them.

@morganite

Round: 4/?
Attempt: Get on the ground!
Defense: None
Injuries: None

Morgan laughed as the hog missed her yet again, and tried to ram into her side, using her antlers to flip her over and pin her down. The hybrid managed to catch Sora under the belly and flipped her like a pancake, instinct telling her to check the other over, but once she'd deemed them to be not dead, they kept on their assault.

The rules were the same as always. First to tap out lost, whether it be exhaustion, being pinned, or injury. It was a bit unfair seeing as she was larger than the other, but then again, size didn't mean skill.

Morgan knew that more than anyone, judging by how many times she'd been rammed in the rear by Kini.

@Sora

Round: 4/?
Attempt: Knock Sora over instead.
Defense: N/A
Injuries: Shoulder bruise.