All things considered, Orion is pretty unchanged—sure, there's a lot fewer buildings to muscle between the alleys of, and the Throne is unoccupied except by miscellaneous self-proclaimed kings, but otherwise? Untouched. It was quite appreciated.

Putrescent neon eyes trailed along the grandstands, and she rolled a spined shoulder dismissively. Back in the day (at risk of sounding old, HAH!) they'd have been filled to the gills, creatures from across the cave packed into the seats like sardines to watch the grudge match of the cycle. Even if there wasn't a fight scheduled, someone was soaking the sand with their blood or shredding another's guts out—for testing purposes. Usually it was her on the giving end.

Ah, the good 'ol times.

Not to say that Vakornol was damn bored or nostalgic though. It was just written in her code to always crave a good 'ol fashioned round of fisticuffs, but she'd been spared the chaotic impulse to blindly wail on anything that moved. Makes a brawler smarter, or at least tactical enough not to tunnel vision on going for the throat or whatever body part was closest. Those were good fights to put on a show with.

The massive purple valkhound barked a short, coarse laugh, taking a few rearing swipes at the air with her claws as one punches the air. Most of them swiped through the sandy floor. Bouncing on the pads of her feet like a boxer, she danced away from the plumes of periwinkle blue. It was a smooth motion—a bit like a fancy pirouette. Quite graceful for such a big thing. She rinsed and repeated, pausing just to stretch out a leg or roll her shoulders. Pop her neck, whatever was necessary.

Damn shame there didn't seem to be too many frequenting the coliseum, eh?

open to anyone for any reason!
a spar would be choice though... gotta get them spicy rolls

Enough time had passed without sufficient chaotic devouring. Edric had been LAZY, but NO LONGER!!! Fighting was only fun when he was drunk on the Altar's magic, though. Otherwise the pain got really unpleasant--or maybe it'd be less painful if he wasn't drunk and didn't get himself surrounded with way too many opponents in the first place? Hmm.

Well, either way, Edric was practically begging for an excuse to speedrun himself into the Voices' favor through more blood sacrifice. And since nothing lived in Tunnel K, the best way to get said sacrifices was here in Orion. Edric snorted, nosing around in the old buildings for rats, bats, or rabbits. Not that he had high hopes for the latter, what with his marble leg and all. He was lowkey counting on something injured or a rat stupid enough to challenge him head-on.

A massive noise that sounded oddly like laughter and a flash of eye-searing colors from behind a wall caught Edric's eye. He rounded the corner to find a massive open space and a massive purple creature apparently talking to herself and fighting... thin air? Edric snorted. "You're purple," he observed astutely, then giggled to himself. "Also kinda stupid-looking." he muttered under his breath. Seriously, what kind of opponent was the air?

@Vakornol

Vakornol paused mid-pirouette to bark out a short laugh. "Astute observation!" Putrid green eyes cast downward—as well as the rest of her head—as if to examine her own purpleness, and she laughed again. "A hint of green in there too, hmm? Very creative." Preferred colors and shapes and all that.

Ignoring the indistinctly muttered insult, the valkhound turned her gaze back up to the boar. Big tusks, shaggy mane, generally unappealing exterior... and a vaguely Oily-looking leg to boot. She scoffed. "Which Master decided having a leg like that was a good idea?" Surely the damn thing hurt to even walk on? Plus, the pig was... rather small, most valkhounds considered. Stocky and beefy, for sure, but certainly not capable of taking on most of the things it'd have been pitted against in the arena back in the olden days.

She huffed another laugh, and bounced on her heels, swiping again at the air.

@Edric

Edric frowned down at his leg, feeling vaguely hurt. It was true; it didn't seem like a very good idea. He'd even tried begging asking the Voices to make it better, which obviously hadn't happened. But that didn't mean this purple--thing--could just say that!

"I didn't decide how my leg turned out," he grumbled. Having no idea what Master meant or why they'd have any influence over his legs, he resorted simply to asserting that it wasn't his fault. Which it wasn't. "'Sides, it's not like you can talk." And why would that be, Edric? Quick, gotta think of something before the silence drags on--

"You're-- purple!" he said again. "I bet that's--terrible for sneaking around!" Yeah, that was a good one! Let's go, Edric, you're on a roll! "And noisy! I heard you from around the corner, and I saw you immediately! Because you're purple." Let's see, what was it Vakornol had said again? "So which... Master?... thought that was a good idea, huh?"

@Vakornol

"Ohhh," she hummed unhelpfully. Not a deliberately-made Valkhound, then—or, rather, maybe just a Gembound that was looking... rather Oily. Vakornol shrugged a casual shoulder. That realization hardly colored her perception of the bristly animal, who she was quickly judging to be quite amusing to interact with.

A barked "HAH!" slipped out of her mouth. "Good thing I don't need to hide, then." The hound blinked owlishly, tacking on in an aside, "well, only to hunt, but it's good that Lessers are dumber than they look." Run in a straight line, be quick enough, and it's really no problem. Being so large, it was easy to outpace many things in this cave. Such was her design.

Oh, and speaking of. "The successor I know of is uglier than me," she grinned with her eyes, narrowing them in an upward squint. Thanks Tamulus for that. And how was the big purple bastard doing, these days? Vakornol supposed she should pay him a visit, make a house call. "I'm sure you'll know him when you see him."

The hound hopped on her heels, still having not stopped moving, and huffed after a beat. "Do any fighting in your spare time? I'm standing in plain sight looking for one, looking all aggravatingly purple, being noisy, and whatnot."

@Edric

Edric frowned. He'd always found prey frustratingly flighty when he was trying to hunt, so it was a bit... ego-deflating to hear that PurpleBeast over here didn't have any trouble. Many rats were bold enough, at least, but something as big as this had to hunt deer, right? He'd wanted to maul one to bring back to the Hole once or twice, but they'd always seen him coming, and they'd always outrun him.

Not that he was admitting anything, of course. "HAH!" he crowed with false confidence. "Some of 'em are so stupid they practically yeet themselves into my mouth! My leg doesn't stop me from killing as many as I want!"

Edric grinned, revealing a maw full of crooked, Oil-stained teeth. "Uglier than YOU?! I'll have to see it to believe it!" Her offer to fight had him a bit more hesitant. Well, those were a lot of sharp things to get hurt on... but he was itching for one so badly. Edric wavered for a moment, practically bouncing on his hooves with nervous energy.

But being a boar with very little impulse control, he soon gave in to temptation. "NO DEATH!" was all he roared, before throwing himself forward without further thought. Maybe he'd manage to gore Vakornol somehow. Maybe he'd just slam himself into her side. Maybe charging someone built for speed when you had a marble leg wasn't the best strategy, but 'strategy' was not a word in Edric's dictionary.

@Vakornol
Round 1/5?
Attempt: just body slam Vakornol. no plans no foresight only violence.
Defense: ha
Injuries: none

Context clues were ever-present, but... "Yeet?" Vakornol asked, genuinely dumbfounded only in voice, given her face couldn't do much to convey such an emotion.

But, of course, she picked up on two things—one of which was true: a.) this was a cold-blooded killing machine in some fantastical way, perhaps a penetrating tongue or splitting jaw; or, b.) this was an egocentric moron. In the valkhound's experience, the former was surprisingly more common. Overly Chaotic monsters didn't have too much room in their skulls to be the latter. So, she gauged Edric a bit more carefully, and did not take those blunt, Oily teeth for granted.

At least he had the heart to consider what he was getting into before sending off his battle cry: "NO DEATH!" Fine by her!

Vakornol laughed as the beast charged straight forward, more out of off-guard surprise than anything. She bounced on her forelegs, and started to move forward all on her own; at a much more relaxed pace, of course. Chartreuse eyes fixed on Edric's approaching form, gauging the rapidly-closing distance.

Once she swore she could feel the bristle of hairs on her hide, the hound launched herself sidelong—and practically over him. His thick skull bumped against one of her hind legs, but she quickly tucked it out of the way. A grin spread across her rigid maw as she landed and pivoted on the spot. "I don't think I'll have to worry about dying!" Sure, there was a bruise likely to form on that leg, but... she definitely wouldn't die.

To add less insult to injury, though: "fighting to kill isn't my thing, anyways. This can be just a nice, friendly match between valkhound and..." Vakornol grasped for a word. "Beast?" Oh, wait— "What do they call you? Name-wise."

ROUND 1/5

100%

ATTEMPT: Sidestep the brute force attack
DEFENSE: Distance, jumping out of the way
INJURIES: Somewhat bruised hind leg

@Edric

Somehow, Vakornol's dodge didn't bruise his pride nearly so much as others did. Maybe it was because of her cheery demeanor. It was just hard to get mad at someone like her. Edric turned and lurched into motion again, barely flicking his tail at Vakornol's joke. "Edric!" he bellowed as he pitched forward into a second charge.

This time, he went for one of her hind legs. Farther away from the teeth, but with equal potential to trip her up if he managed to knock into it hard enough. Once he'd barreled close enough, Edric would leave the ground in a leap befitting his wild boar genome, pointing head and hooves at the limb.

"HOOOOOOUUUUUUUAAAAARRRRRRRGGHHHHHH!!!" And, of course, bellow wordless nonsense as he sailed through the air. For dramatic effect, y'know.

@Vakornol sorry for the wait!

ROUND 2/?

100%

ATTEMPT: trip Vakornol
DEFENSE: head lowered, pointy bits forward
INJURIES: none

Edric? Somehow fitting for such a shaggy thing, mundane as it also sounded—not enough Vs to be standard, but... ah, well.

"Vakornol, at your service!" she barked as the boar pivoted to make his next attack, "the Forsaken Revenant, if you want to get official." Titles didn't matter so much in the heat of battle, but Vakornol always erred toward the side of being memorable. Unpredictable, too.

Unlike Sir Charges-a-lot over there.

The Valkhound dropped lower to the ground, bracing with claws spread into the sand. She braced to spring away, but—ah, the boar would either skid past or make impact, and surely swing around to make an identical attack once again. Vakornol could dance circles around such a combatant all day, but she was not one for a boring, samey fight.

So, she took the hit, moving with it to lessen the damage done by those goring tusks like a boxer rolls with a punch. It sent her stumbling a good foot or so backward, and she half-jumped over Edric in the process before crashing to the ground with a grunt. Vakornol snapped her head around to briefly gauge the boar's position before rearing that same leg—hit twice now and bruising green—back to kick at his torso. With any luck, it'd disrupt his landing. With any misfortune, it'd just be a glancing blow.

A word of advice, as she made to kick Edric: "You're gonna bite your tongue off yelling like that!" You could hear the excited smile in her voice.

ROUND 2/5

85%

ATTEMPT: Kicking Edric to make sure he doesn't land nicely
DEFENSE: Stanced
INJURIES: Puncture wounds on hind leg and bruising+ on hind leg, tripped

@Edric