katha88
Familiar Face
Olde Herd
Posts: 99 
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Post by katha88 on Nov 18, 2014 3:18:13 GMT -5
Vasska's speech had poured fuel into the heated hearts of his herd. They were ready to defend their beliefs, their land and to keep their families safe. Arturo would do anything in his power to keep his herd, friends and his love safe. His love... Obscura. They knew each other since they were foals and now their hearts finally found each other, since he met her again and grew to love her, he had even more to strive for in this war. The herd had moved over the ice build land bridge, through the Ailin Mountains and now they had settled at the bottom of the mountains. First to rest, but now it was time to find out who was worthy to stand in the first row and to face the intimidating brutes of the Bachelor herd. Arturo had trained well the last months and prepared since the declaration of war but he still knew that the Bachelors were hard opponents and they faced them on their territory that they knew and loved. He would try to make the best use of his ability, he had practiced many strategies with Guntram and improved his visualization a big deal. With the upcoming war, he had reached out for Bayagu and she had released his gift of flesh regeneration, his physical wounds healed now a bit faster than before.
The overcast sky was colored in bright orange and red colors, the sun beaming bright behind the mountains as he looked back to his love. In a rushed ceremony, Arturo and Obscura had vowed their love in the eyes of the unicorns and their friends, they wanted to be united before they went to war. Right after their ceremony was done and the pair was showered in flowers, they got Vasska’s call to find a sparring partner. As she was led away by Guntram, Arturo felt like she was ripped away from him when he loved her most and hoped dearly to see her again, she was still wearing her tiara and Arturo his tail cuff. Rushed and headless by the chain of events he looked around and found a broad paint Exile. He walked up to the stallion and bowed his head politely. He seemed a great partner to test his strength and to see how he had improved, the Exile was the same height and mostly the same build like him. "Excuse me, I'm Arturo. Would you like to spar with me this evening?” Arturo asked blunt but friendly. Sometimes Arturo was rather short with words, especially with strangers, he simply lacked some social intelligence and he had trouble focusing his thoughts on battling right now. He got a brief glimpse of Obscura, as she vanished between the horses, some of them already started their sparring.
//Word count: 474
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Post by duskywolffang on Nov 18, 2014 22:34:04 GMT -5
Adair couldn't help but be uneasy. Many of the Exiles had chosen to go with the Bachelors- blinded by Cain's poisonous words. He whispered promises to the Exiles, swearing that they did not have to fight one another, and that their families would be spared. He had even came to Adair, attempting to persuade the painted buckskin stallion to switch sides. Adair, stubbornly set in his ways (despite the king of Olde's insane proposition for the Exiles), refused to turn to such mare-stealing tyrants such as the Bachelors.
Some of the Exiles had followed Vaaska, but not as many as Adair had expected, to his shock. Those that had sided with the northern herd had now traveled with the Olde Herd to the southern region of the Riddle Mountains, and were required to spar with an Olde member to show they were strong enough to go into the battle that loomed ominously on the horizon. Abban, Adair's brother, had easily found a partner to fight with; but Adair, on the other hand, had much trouble finding a horse to spar against. He had one larger stallion come up to him, but Adair quickly turned him down when the Olde herd member started looking down on him in a pompous manner-- Adair was NOT going to tolerate that.
So, he wandered about, pausing to look around for any other horse that was alone. He caught sight of a buckskin stallion that was his size that was making his way towards him. Adair perked his ears towards the other horse, who seemed to have a kind face to him. He assumed that the horse didn't have a partner, and patiently waited for the stallion to reach him. Once he arrived, he dipped his head in a cordial manner.
"Excuse me, I'm Arturo. Would you like to spar with me this evening?" he asked in a nice tone, even if the question was ever so slightly blunt.
Adair dipped his head politely in return. The stallion-- Arturo, was it?-- may have been from the Olde herd, but he certainly was friendly enough to show kindness to. Adair might not have liked Vaaska and some of the other Olde members very much, but he didn't determine those certain horses' actions to make assumptions about the personalities of all of those within the herd.
"It is a pleasure to meet you, Arturo. I'm Adair." he greeted the friendly stallion with a smile. "Actually, I was looking for someone to spar with. I would gladly be your sparring parter." he said with a nod.
Adair looked about them, his eyes scanning the area for a more open area to spar. It took little time to find an open clearing around the outskirts of the large group of horses. He quickly looked back to Arturo, a kind look on his face as be spoke.
"There's an open spot over there," he said as he nodded to the space he had seen, "You mind sparring there?"
Word Count: 516
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katha88
Familiar Face
Olde Herd
Posts: 99
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Post by katha88 on Nov 19, 2014 3:09:59 GMT -5
As Adair introduced himself to Arturo, he nodded and hie lips formed a slight smile. As Adair was looking for a place to spar, Arturo looked through the masses of horses, catching a final glimpse on his beloved. As Adair spoke to him again, he turned his head around, ripped from his thoughts, he stared irritated at his partner and to the spot he pointed with his nose. "Oh ahm, yes, yes." Arturo nodded and headless followed the Exile. If any of his herd mates would have seen him now, they wouldn't believe it was him. He was behaving so odd, so not him. Usually he was a very focused warrior, trained since he was a foal, being a warrior was his life essence, now with the war and the marriage, all his thoughts were with Obscura. Would she made it through safely? He hoped for her to stay safe, he had a bad feeling in his gut and this feeling irritated him so much, that he barely could focus on the sparring.
He must seemed a strong but headless opponent to Adair, looking everywhere except at his opponent. He was tense, Arturo realized that he lacked a big deal of concentration and that he had to get his mind back on the sparring, otherwise he might loose - against an EXILE. That would be a shame, he could not let this happen, even through the exile might be a friendly and honest horse, brave and a good warrior. He was still an exile, nonbelievers, exile had it in their names, they where exiled for a reason. Though Arturo didn't have any opinion about them, all his thoughts were on slashing bachelors, those were their real enemies and they had something in common here, Arturo and Adair. Both of them hated Bachelors and both wanted to erase them from this land.
Suddenly Arturo's focus was back, Bachelors, they always were a good reason to prepare a fight. His muscles were ready and with some excitement he shook his head and balanced his weight on all four legs. His head lowered as he watched his opponent. "Ready?" he smirked at Adair, fighting made his blood boil, it was a thrill. He had made sure that the low standing sun would be at his back and he wouldn't be blinded for the first tackle. His long shadow was slightly shielding Adair's eyes, but then he jumped, sidewards and with a long stride he crashed with his massive shoulder into Adair's. Pushing all his strength into his partner. He wasn't intending on spilling blood or kicking wildly around or biting madly. It was a friendly sparring to see who was ready for the fight and he made sure to use attacks, that wouldn't open his partner. He playfully snapped at Adair's front leg, intending him to go on his knees. It was a little bit like the sparring games they did when they were colts.
//WC: 491
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Post by duskywolffang on Nov 20, 2014 7:37:45 GMT -5
"Oh ahm, yes, yes.". Arturo had replied quickly, as though wrenched from his own thoughts. Adair gave him a confused look for a moment, but quickly returned to his friendly, but serious manner as they both made their way to the open area.
"Ready?" Arturo asked with a smirk as they both moved to their own positions-- one facing the other. Adair nodded, his muscles tensing as he prepared for his opponent's first move. It seemed that the odds were somewhat against him in his positioning; for he was semi-blinded by the setting sun behind Arturo, even if the Olde herd member's long shadow shielded his eyes from it for the moment. The cover didn't last for very long, however, as Adair's opponent leapt sideways, swiftly darting towards the Exile scout.
He narrowly caught himself as Arturo's shoulder barreled into him, causing him to stumble sideways. He caught sight of his partner's head as he reached to playfully snap at Adair's left foreleg. He felt Arturo's teeth bump into his knee-- giving the nip enough pressure to force Adair down onto one knee.
'Here we go.' Adair thought with a grin. Even with such dire situations ahead, he couldn't help but enjoy sparring with a good opponent such as Arturo. He wasted no time to swiftly roll away from the stallion, forcing himself upright once again afterwards. He quickly charged towards Arturo, attempting to place a nip to the dappled buckskin's shoulder. He wouldn't get into the more intense sparring just yet; he was simply just getting warmed up.
Word Count: 264
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katha88
Familiar Face
Olde Herd
Posts: 99
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Post by katha88 on Nov 20, 2014 11:36:01 GMT -5
Arturo tried to read his opponent's movements and body language, to determine what he might do next, but as Adair suddenly rolled away, Arturo fell on one knee himself. He hadn't seen that coming and all his weight had been on the paint's shoulders, as they suddenly vanished he had to balance it out on his knee's.
While Adair got up again, Arturo stumbled onto all fours as well, quickly he turned his head towards Adair, who was already in his reach and nipped on his shoulders. Arturo pulled away his leg to move his shoulder out of his reach and nipped towards Adair's flank, catching some of the delicate skin between his teeth. Before he went on his knee's again, he jumped up and pressed his shoulder into Adair's hip and shoved against him, to circle him around, helping with several short nips above his hock to make him move. He made sure not to run directly into the kicking direction of Adair's back hooves.
Adair was a good opponent for Arturo, he went along with the friendly sparring and wasn't showing signs of aggression, but would certainly become more and more intense and difficult, with every move they tested on their partner. He got a glimpse of one of his fellow knights, Tamera. She was - of course - fighting hard. It seemed like it was much more on stake there than just determining who was strong enough, they where actually fighting. What use did it have if both were a wrack afterwards before the real battle against the bachelors had begun?
With a quick turn on his back hooves, Arturo lunged away from Adair's reach, turning again on his front hooves, ending up facing Adair. Arturo huffed a bit, close contact was always draining, no matter how hard some could train. His fur was slowly wetting by the sweat of exertion. He watched Adair closely and waited for him, to come for him this time. Studying his movements, his body.
//WC: 331
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Post by duskywolffang on Nov 20, 2014 14:40:53 GMT -5
Arturo had quickly pulled away when Adair attempted to nip him a second time, pulling his shoulder just out of reach. As he did so, he turned around; and it didn't take long for Adair to feel a small amount of pain as his opponent nipped at the sensitive skin on his flank-- he bit hard enough to feel it, but it definitely wasn't enough to draw blood. Adair's hindquarters were abruptly shoved sideways in a circular motion as Arturo used his shoulders to push him about, biting around buckskin paint's hocks along the way. Adair would have tried to give his partner a light, unaggressive kick, but the Olde herd member was wisely making sure to stay in a position that made it impossible for Adair to kick out and hit him.
Adair attempted to place another bite to Arturo, but the stallion had quickly turned out of the way and out of Adair's reach. He turned again once he was a few long strides away from Adair, huffing slightly. Both of their coats were already damp with sweat from all the sharp, energetic movements they were making, but Adair was far from tired. Adrenaline was coursing through his veins; he was too exhilarated to stop now. The Exile stallion brought his attention to Arturo, who still stood in the same place.
'He must be waiting for me to make a move.' Adair thought. Arturo's eyes were fixed on him, waiting for his opponent's next move. Adair watched him closely in return, now slowly circling about him in an attempt to find a weakness to the other horse. He still stayed tense, just in case Arturo decided to take the next move, but he mostly focused on what he could do that would catch the stallion off-guard. He took no time for an idea to come up; even if he saw it coming, it would be a good move to make if it worked. Adair was willing to take his chances.
With his decision made up in his mind, Adair swiftly leapt at Arturo's side, placing a light bite to the side of his neck. He quickly reared up onto his hind legs and, forcing much of his weight into his forelegs, came down shoving into his opponent's side-- an attempt to knock Arturo sideways.
Word Count: 396
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katha88
Familiar Face
Olde Herd
Posts: 99
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Post by katha88 on Nov 25, 2014 4:10:27 GMT -5
OOC: sorry for the delay, I've been on a buisness trip abroad and spent the weekend in Stockholm  so I had trouble to concentrate on a proper reply  As Adair made eye contact and started to circle Arturo, he looked deep into the broad paint's eyes that glowed with anticipation, he was plotting something - of course - as they tried to figure out a weak spot on their opponent. Adair was coming from a family of horse breeds that was close to Arturo's. The agile Andalusian and strong and robust Gypsy Vanner's. Arturo on the other hand was born from a cross of Lusitano and Quarter Horse, agile and swift and strong, but not as robust. Arturo figured that he could beat Adair with swiftness and fast moves and had to try to drain him a bit of his stamina, but jumping around him like a rabbit wouldn't do any good.
While Arturo was trying to figure out a tactic, Adair had already come up with the next move and jumped forward, biting on Arturo's neck, which made him to jump away a bit, as he suddenly saw two hooves in front of his face. Arturo turned away his head from Adair and as he came down on him, trying to knock him sideways, Arturo wrestled into the blow, digging his hooves into the dirt. He stumbled and struggled, but he at least stood on his four legs. Rolling on the ground was something Arturo tried to avoid the most, he knew that if he would allow an opponent to throw him down on the ground, it would be his last breath. His legs trembled as he pushed against Adair's weight, forcing himself to stay and push against his partner, seemed to become just as bad as falling to the ground. Now he put all his force against Adair and he was stuck and couldn't move and slowly his legs gave away under him. He suddenly pulled up his neck, trying to knock against Adair, he wanted to get him off, but the Exile still tried to wrestle him down.
He needed to get free, if he couldn't get out of his partners grip, he would be doomed, this shouldn't have happened to him and he knew it. "Crap!!" Arturo grunted, releasing his desperation in words. He forced all his power into his legs for a final time, moving his hind legs under his belly and pushing forwards with all he had, struggling away from Adair's grip, with a buck and a jump he freed himself of his partners grip. Panting he turned and faced him again, this had drained a lot of energy from him and it had been a lesson to him. "Good move Exile. You almost had me there, in real battle it might have been my last move." Arturo said seriously, out of breath. His legs still trembled and he couldn't believe how quickly he had come into this threatening situation, sometimes he still did it, over estimating himself and under estimating his opponents. If they made the right move, even an untrained horse could hit the right blow.
WC: 532
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Post by duskywolffang on Nov 26, 2014 1:35:10 GMT -5
OOC: No worries; I totally understand! ^.^
Adair felt Arturo tense up underneath his weight as he struggled to stay upright. He was stumbling with his hooves as he desperately tried to brace himself from Adair's weight, but he was still staying upright, nonetheless. Adair honestly had hoped to drive his opponent to the ground so he would win the match right then and there, but it seemed like he wasn't to win that way just yet. But still, there was still some chance of the Olde member to topple sideways from the force that Adair was exerting on his side-- he was going to have to give out some time if he didn't get away.
"Crap!" He heard Arturo snap in frustration as he found himself locked into a complicated position. He desperately tried throwing his head back in attempt to throw Adair off, but the Exile scout refused to budge, trying to thrust even more weight upon the Olde member's shoulder.
'Maybe this will work better than I had planned...' Adair thought hopefully. Maybe he had an easier chance of winning the sparring match than he had originally thought!
His hope was cut off shortly afterwards as Arturo made a swift move, freeing himself from Adair's grip and leaping away from the Exile with a buck. Adair widened his eyes slightly, clearly impressed with his opponent's ability to get away from him.
"Good move Exile. You almost had me there, in real battle it might have been my last move." The the dappled buckskin said as he turned about towards Adair, his sides heaving from the struggle that he had just gone through. Adair nodded as a way to silently say "thanks", keeping his distance from his partner-- just in case the horse tried to make a move to catch him unexpectedly; if he was to be the victor of the spar, he would have to keep his attention on Arturo at all times.
"The same for you, Olde," Adair said in return as he regained his breath, "I was sure that you would collapse, but you certainly proved me wrong." The painted buckskin dun lowered his head in respect, still maintaining eye contact with the other stallion all the while.
It took time for the two of them to recuperate their strength to carry on. Adair had used much of his energy when he tried to force his opponent down, and once Arturo had escaped his grasp, the stallion had to stop for a moment as well. His legs trembled oh so slightly, though it was impossible to tell with the thick feathers that coated them.
It wasn't long after the two stallions had regained a bit of their strength before they were ready to size each other up again. Adair backed up a few feet, keeping his eyes on his opponent. He was going to let the stallion take the next move, now that they regained a small amount of energy. Adair was tense, his muscles bunched up as he prepared to make a defensive move for when the Olde stallion decided to come at him.
'Let us hope that the victor of this match is decided soon.' Adair thought. The sun had long ago faded from the sky, and stars littered the atmosphere above them. He was more than ready to finish their mock battle, though he was determined to come out as the winner of the spar. It seemed that only time would tell the outcome of the match between the two partners.
WC: 593
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so I had trouble to concentrate on a proper reply 