He hesitated to throw his halberd away, but Enoki had a point, even if he didn't realize it: the Sentinel might lose his weapon from time to time, and it would be important to at least know how to fight, without it.

He tossed it off to one side, ignoring the soft thump it made in the moss, and trying to ignore the strangely urgent sense of loss he felt when it was gone. It was a tad distracting, but he attempted to refocus on Enoki.

It was harder to balance, he found, without it; he wasn't particularly made for either bipedal or quadrupedal movement, leaving him half-hunched with hind legs splayed, and forelimbs held out in a vague wrestling-style stance. It was clumsier than he'd been with the weapon, and far less practiced.

"They are strange eyes," he offered, as if just now remembering to respond.

A moment more, as he sized up his opponent--smaller but stockier, furred against laceration, muscled--and then he lunged. He came at Enoki with arcing sweeps of his arms, the claws long but tucked enough that he wouldn't tear if he did hit. Though clumsy they were still long, the haphazard windmilling at least having the potential to knock someone back if he hit.

Round: 1/5?
Attempt: Coming at Enoki with windmilling rapid slash-swings
Defense: --
Injuries: --

@Enoki

Enoki eyed the strange, squatting posture. Whoever had made the Sentinel hadn't thought ahead very far, they thought, or maybe had just been unlucky. In the meantime... there was a clear flaw in his strategy. He was just sort of... running at them, from like a mile off, and with clearly telegraphed strikes. It was messy, and they supposed that it could work against something bigger and slower, but Enoki was pretty small. Despite all that weight, they were also pretty fast.

They rolled neatly out of the way of Sentinel's wild, windmilling strikes in a much more practiced version of the somersault they'd done earlier, ending up perfectly in the same position they'd been before, just in a different spot. Enoki wore the same doggish smile. "Some stuff's gonna be smaller than you! That'll work fine on bigger enemies, but smaller ones, not so much."

@the sentinel

Round: 1/5?
Attempt: Dodge!
Defense: Dodging
Injuries: --

His strikes came nowhere near, and it quickly became clear that Enoki was a lot more agile than he--at least, at a distance. He wasn't familiar, at all, with combat without a halberd and he realized now he'd need to be resourceful.

With a grunt he dropped to all fours, launching himself forward at a rarely-used rush--trying to simply catch up with Enoki. If he could gain ground, at least he could launch a stronger attack once he'd managed to draw closer.

If he did, that was.

Whatever the case, he was learning--and that's what this was all about, for him.

Round: 2/5
Attempt: Close the distance between himself and Enoki
Defense: --
Injuries: --

@Enoki

The Sentinel, to his credit, caught up just as quickly as Enoki had skittered away. Now for his next lesson -- rushing an opponent could be an equally bad idea. Enoki's claws flashed out towards the thin skin stretched over his skull -- if he'd had a proper nose they would've reached for that, like a kitten attacking a big dog. As it were, he didn't, so the next best thing was just the skin of his face.

Whether Enoki managed to hit or the Sentinel decided to dodge, they'd still say, "Just rushing your opponent can give them the opportunity to attack! Don't let them know what you're thinking." It was fun to be able to be a teacher!


Round: 2/5?
Attempt: Scratch his nose!
Defense: None
Injuries: --


@the sentinel

He had very little time to react, and either way a precious lesson was instilled: when he caught up to a target, he was as vulnerable to it as it was to him. His head flinched down, and by a reflex of pure instinct and luck his hind end snapped down; he skidded with his arms snatching up for Enoki's sweeping limb and grabbed for it.

It was a grapple intended to stop the scratch, and he managed that much, at least (whether by snagging or simply deterring); but then he attempted to take it a step farther, to yank Enoki off its feet violently, to jerk it into the dust with a leap backward. It wasn't a truly damaging attack, but he was trying to gain the upper hand.

In silence, however, he noted the lesson: and it was a useful one. He would, perhaps, thank the hyena-koala-child later.

Round: 3/5
Attempt: Snag the scratching hand and yank
Defense: --
Injuries: --

@Enoki

Enoki yelped as their forelimb was grabbed before it could make contact, and they were promptly ripped off their feet and thrown to the ground. Luckily, on grass, it was a soft enough landing -- especially with all that fur. It provided an equal lesson for Enoki -- don't be an asshole. Or something. Not that they were really even listening.

They got to their feet and glanced over at the Sentinel, a doggish grin on their face. "Nice!" Even if their ribs kind of hurt, it was still cool that he'd finally managed to get them, and also avoided an attack at the same time. It was a good trick, they had to admit.

Enoki lunged at his ankles, hoping to get several small, shallow bites into his skin. Not that the claws on his feet didn't look dangerous, but that was just part of the lesson -- Enoki wanted to see if he'd think to use them.


@the sentinel
Round: 3/5?
Attempt: Bite ankles
Defense: None
Injuries: --

The overall effect was as a dog quickly moving paws back, scuffling hurriedly, from a swatting kitten: swift movements distracting him, momentarily, from any other action. It wasn't as quick as it could have been, though, and as he dropped down to all fours to scuttle back from the strikes he saw an opening to retaliate; the question was, would he manage to use it properly?

It was a punch, aimed at one of Enoki's hind legs; had he been a little older it might have even been dangerous, if it connected. But at his age it would, at best, bruise the leg for awhile, and make it sore; Enoki coming in for his ankles had given him the advantage of long-armed reach to attempt the strike.

Was this right-? He was a little uncertain, but violently sure in his movements at least; he lacked the experience to know if this was a smart move, but he didn't, at least, make the attack with half measures.

Round: 4/5
Attempt: Punch a hind leg, higher up
Defense: --
Injuries: --

@Enoki

Enoki noted that, instead of using his wicked hind claws, the Sentinel dropped onto his paws to try and lunge for them four-legged. He was faster, this time, and definitely had the advantage of those long arms -- Enoki meant to drop and roll out of the way, like they had earlier in the fight, but the Sentinel caught them swiftly and knocked them off balance. They ended up landing squarely on their face, jamming their large nose and making their eyes water. Well, hell.





Round: 4/5?
Attempt: Dodge!
Defense: Dodging
Injuries: Crippled leg & nose

@the sentinel

The Sentinel hesitated--and then scrabbled backward, hastily lifting spined forearms to cross against his chest. It was not the most graceful maneuver, but it would at least keep any last-second strikes from landing.

It looked like Enoki was hurt, and the Sentinel wasn't sure, but he felt instinctively that "fighting buddies" would not push to actually harm their sparring partner. The bruising he'd potentially inflicted might have already been too far--he was unsure.

"Is the Buddy injured?" he asked, echoing the title with utter seriousness.

Perhaps it was time to call this off?

Round: 5/5
Attempt: Back off but protected
Defense: --
Injuries: --

@Enoki

Enoki's ears were ringing, and their whole face hurt something vicious. They scrambled to try and make distance, not yet quite aware of their surroundings and still working on a bruised up leg. They stumbled and fell, hissing slightly as they sat to gingerly tend to their leg. "Yeah, I think we're done for right now," they said, sounding apologetic. "You did really good, though!"

Enoki winced. "If you did that to someone who was chasing you or darting around like I was, it'd definitely put them out of commission. I'll be okay, though. It just hurts." They touched their nose gently. "... And this does, too. Note to self -- hitting people in the nose hurts." At the very least, they could probably use that later.

"Are you feeling okay? I don't think I actually hit you the whole time, which is pretty impressive!"


Round: 5/5 (for magicka purposes lmao)
Attempt: Retreat!
Defense: Retreating
Injuries: Crippled leg & nose


@the sentinel