[mock] Kagerus

[Rome]

@[Kagerus], how about that friendly challenge now? I need some practice after all.

Here are the rules:

• Two posts each with one attack
  
• No complete blocks
  
• Traits are allowed - How else am I going to learn if it's a boring fight?
  
• One week between posts
  
• Extensions are allowed
  

Rome
Stallion
Gold champagne with heavy pangare and spots
15hh small, light muscular build
Equus Pardalis

• The melding of horse and ocelot. Small in stature (less than 15hh), tail, spots, enhanced agility, and paws instead of feet.
  
• Chosen abilities: Enhanced senses, environmental adaptation, night vision
  

I'll go first as soon as you accept and post your stats.

[Kagerus]

Hi I accept! You’ll probably win cause college starts in *checks watch* four days. Oh wait but I’m a horse. Neigh!

Kagerus
Mare
Bay overo
15.2hh
Arabian-built hybrid, so taller and slightly less refined but essentially that.
Dream manipulation, antlers, animal companion (leopard)
*my two dreamt up traits will be bone-armor and fangs. These will last for the extent of my first post, chronologically (they may still appear in your second post if you’re taking damage).

May the least busy win! <3

[Rome]

The barren earth stretches out before him, covered in a blanket of soft fresh snow. Beneath the barren lies a mix of dried earth and bloodshed. It is a crispy morning, an early sign of a cold winter approaching. A thick morning fog concealed most of the battleground as it stretched out before him. There are moments where the fog shifts and turned. Rome hoped that the fog would be to his advantage today. Today was not an ordinary day for the ocelot stallion though.

Rome has only recently known the strategies and tactics of battle. He has also dedicated his time to becoming part of the ranks of Nerine. It was for his commitment and pledge of loyalty to the kingdom and his family that he wished to protect why he was here. He was not here for the fame and glory it brought, but to simply show he was dedicated to his duties as a solider of Nerine now.

While living his entire life as simple nomad may seem like he has not acquired the experience of battle would only be assuming the wrong idea. Rome may be small in stature but he has developed a light muscular build that allows him to move swiftly and with ease. Being a half-horse and half-ocelot has allowed him perhaps more abilities that some would say is cheating. Rome is agile more than the average horse, he adapts easily to the environment around him, and his enhance senses give him a bit of the upper hand. Overall, his abilities would surely be an advantage for him in the long run.

It isn’t until the fog shifts that he catches sight of the bay overo mare. The ocelot stallion studies the Arabian-hybrid carefully. He noticed the way she was built a little taller than him (15.2 hh), but they were considerably equals. Next, the ocelot stallion notices the obvious additions to her: bone-armor, antlers, and the leopard companion. He isn’t sure if there are other traits, but the Beqanna had a funny way of creating them.

Without further ado, he makes the first move.

Rome lunges forward onto his paws, quickly moving at an agile pace as he disappears into the fog. He uses the environment around him, using his environmental adaptation ability. The fog would be his weapon as well. He knows Kagerus is unlikely to remain still, so he allows himself to keep his distance until the moment is right. If Kagerus is to move, Rome waits to make the attack at the right time. Rome would circle around the mare, keeping himself towards the back of her like a predator. He moves softly across the barren as he can, shifting through the fog. When the moment presents itself right, Rome then moves towards the right front of the mare at a quick pace.

He hopes to meet the mare with a surprise as the thick fog shifts and turns. The shifting of the fog makes it hard to see, but he has allowed his enhanced senses to get a better grip on the situation, hoping his senses will not fail him during the battle. Quickly he pivots himself, rearing up half way in front of her at a forty-five-degree angle. His paws dig into the fresh covered snow, planting himself firmly in his position. Rome strikes out with his sharp front paws, claws swapping to aim at the mare’s scapula (shoulder) and the bones armor and muscles beneath.

The advantage of hitting the scapula and the associated muscles of the shoulder beneath the bone armor would have a great effect on the movement of the horse. The trapezius (allows the shoulder to raise, and permits the shoulder to draw upward, forward, and backwards) muscle would certainly be a likely hit, since it covers the top of the shoulder blade. However, there was a chance that the brachiocephalicus (which permits the neck to bend and move the shoulder forward) or deltoideus (permits the shoulder joint to extend) could be hit as well. One of these would be an ideal hit because it would limit the movement of Kagerus. However, he is not quite sure how much damage he will do. It was more of a test to see just how thick the bone armor was since this is the first time Rome has ever seen this type of armor. Overall, his aim was to slow Kagerus down, but he isn’t sure how the queen will defend herself with those antlers on her head or the leopard companion.

@[Kagerus] Oh boy, I am so rusty lol. I know you are in school, so take your time with these posts

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Word Count: 757 (minus the ooc message)

[Kagerus]

Indeed, I am not here for fame and glory, either; but something about the dawn of a battle speaks to the thrill seeker in me, satisfying needs I never realize I have until a day like this. Not that the day itself is particularly kind, given that winter has finally secured its grasp on the place. But the snow that covers the battleground is audibly crisp and only ankle-deep, so I shan’t complain much of it. Of the fog, however, I complain: thick and shifting, as if with a mind of its own.

Decked out as I am with traits, I have none which will help me see through the haze.

We approach each other by scent alone for some time. Panthera stalks at my right side, seven hands tall and lithely muscled as I am; her tail flicks impatiently, this being her first trial by battle since having been materialized as a prize from the alliance. It is a chirr from her which indicates our close proximity, her eyes being keener than mine; and indeed in but a moment, the stallion materializes in the fog.

I take him in for a moment, eyes examining his slightly smaller build and the tail and paws which attaches themselves to it. Aside from these features, not much is overtly shown by the ocelot stallion, but I prepare myself for the possibility of further unseen magicks. I have no psychic abilities that apply to the battlefield myself, but that’s not to say that my opponent won’t, either.

I am moving at a trot when Rome makes his move. I envy the upper hand he has on traction in this snowy environment, but do not let it distract me from tracking his cat-like movement with my eyes. He circles behind me to my left, and Panthera falls somewhat behind me such that she might defend from either side. Rome continues his circle however, briefly falling in my blindspot and then reappearing with a lag on my right due to the fog. My ears strain to catch the fall of his paws, but they are almost noiseless due to his agility and hybridity.

As such, I am taken by surprise when the stallion bursts through the fog, to my right and just ahead of me. As his legs come together in preparation to rear, I throw my own weight backward and to the left, the collected gait of my trot allowing for the spook-like movement away from his oncoming attack.

Simultaneously, Panthera gathers her own weight and pounces, claws outstretched in an attempt to attach herself to Rome’s shoulders and haunches. The damage of four paws to the muscles of his back would be superficial but undeniably painful and distracting, with potential for tearing and excessive bleeding depending on how long she manages to stay on him, if at all. The longer and more fully she can sink her claws into her skin, the more detrimental the damage; for the stallion hasn’t armor like me, but then again, he is far more agile and likely to dodge her attack.

Due to his heightened agility and the way he can use the environment to his advantage, Rome manages to land a hit with each of his paws to my shoulder despite my spooking away. Many of his claws slip through the bone armor decorating my coat, tearing the skin and first layer of muscle there; I snort and snarl at the pain of it, but am in the end grateful that the armor stops his claws from fully sinking into what exposed flesh there is. The wounds will not impede my performance in this battle significantly, but the distraction of them may give Rome even more of an upper hand considering his advantage with the hazy setting.

Unaware of whether Panthera’s attack is successful or otherwise, I continue on my leftward trajectory for three strides of a canter before pivoting and facing where Rome had stood during the time of his attack. My hope is to keep him in front of me, and close; as my fangs and armor begin to fade, I lower my head and present my antlers, walking sideways in a semi-circle around where I understand Rome to be. With each step, the skin that he has damaged tears further and sends blood gruesomely down my side. Ultimately however, I have faced far worse damage in battle, and am able to ignore what pain the wounds present.


ooc - HAHA so uh two months later is still good right <3
Word count: 744, excluding ooc note
@[Rome]