Minka (Minkastasarski)

Old pack mates, refamiliarizing themselves with each other, have a spar.


[2015/09/25 09:58] IoV Dice HUD v0.7beta: Brandt Ashland (Brandt) has selected you as their target.
[2015/09/25 09:58] Brandt rolls R5 (IoV:#6395#): 13 against (MinkaStasarski Resident) - Seeking the Minka, 1/2.
[2015/09/25 09:58] IoV Dice HUD v0.7beta: MinkaStasarski Resident! Brandt (Brandt Ashland) rolled R5 (IoV:#6395#): 13 - Seeking the Minka, 1/2. against you.
[2015/09/25 09:58] Brandt rolls R5 (IoV:#c307#): 20 against (MinkaStasarski Resident) - Seeking the Minka, 2/2.
[2015/09/25 09:58] IoV Dice HUD v0.7beta: MinkaStasarski Resident! Brandt (Brandt Ashland) rolled R5 (IoV:#c307#): 20 - Seeking the Minka, 2/2. against you.

[2015/09/25 09:58] Brandt (Brandt Ashland): It was only after a good night's rest when Brandt made his decision to go looking for Minka. The why of it was simple; while neither of them were affiliated with the tribe when they were abroad, both were still a part of it, and Minka was younger than him. If nothing else, she was like a little sister -- one that he knew had her share of problems. So he'd gone back to the cave where they'd met on the Isle and from there, he began to track her by scent, seeking her out deeper into the forest. Away from the ichor, thank the gods. While he walked, he paused from time to time, crouching, and sniffing at the bushes and branches Minka may have brushed against as she wandered by.

[2015/09/25 10:06] IoV Dice HUD v0.7beta: Your RP Name for Alias A has been set to: Minka
[2015/09/25 10:07] Minka rolls R1 (IoV:#3001#): 4 - not very tricksy in the woods ~

[2015/09/25 10:14] Minka (MinkaStasarski): /me wasn't the most savvy about not leaving a trail that could be followed within the woods -- at least not to those who had a skill for tracking. She was well enough in the matter, when dealing with others who'd no sense for the trick, and was quiet enough in her manner of walking. But Brandt would find the path he followed a very easy one, all things told. Now, keeping stealthy and hiding within the woods, or within any place really, Minka could do well. But no, not traveling about and leaving no signs or trail. What she was doing when he came upon her was sitting on the edge of a quiet pond. That was it. Just sitting. Watching the water lap the edges and play about, as if in thought.

[2015/09/25 10:21] Brandt (Brandt Ashland): Minka's had been an easy trail for him to follow, not that it'd seemed as if she'd tried to obscure it, and when he finally came upon her, sitting by the pond, he merely strode out from the copse of trees nearby and deposited himself on the ground beside her. He looked mildly at the pond, keeping his own counsel for the moment while she got used to the idea of his being there -- if she hadn't up and bolted upon his arrival.

[2015/09/25 10:28] Minka (MinkaStasarski): /me hadn't bolted. If only because it was a scent of home that spoke of his presence before she saw him seated near. And she did not bolt after, if only because Brandt kept his silence, a thing which Minka held quite dear. And in the end the she-wolf did eventually look his way, for Brandt's was a face too beautiful not to rest one's eyes upon. It was a rather direct way that Minka stared, a thing that could have easily been thought unnerving. for there was no sense of polite reservedness to her gaze. Yet she said nothing to the man, just drew in breath to scent the air, wary that another might have tarried with him through the woods. Not much of one for company was Minka.

[2015/09/25 10:48] Brandt (Brandt Ashland): There was never a sense of nervousness that came from Brandt for Minka's staring. Why would there be? They were wolves, comfortable in their own skins, more prideful of their skill at the hunt than their appearances. There was no harm in looking, either, and he'd understood Minka well enough since before they left to know that she appreciated both silence and calm -- both of which would contribute to the serenity that, unless things had changed for her, she sought dearly. Several moments might've passed before Brandt moved, shifting his hand into a small pouch at his waist. From it he drew a few strips of dried venison and berries, half of which he put in one hand and the rest of which he held out for her to take, only glancing at her to see if she would take it. Game was scarce on the isle, and even Cedar's tavern had stopped offering meals. They'd soon be eating fish, which was no problem for a wolf, but he did prefer his game.

[2015/09/25 11:01] Minka (MinkaStasarski): Truth be told, the offer of food was welcome. She had not yet eaten though the morning was growing late, and she understood the gesture for the gift it was, for the isle was in a poor state. Shifting, to bring herself nearer to Brandt and the offered meal within easier reach, Minka took the food offered once she'd settled and began to eat. It was a period of yet more silence from the girl, content to let the peacefulness of the setting seep through her with the added comfort of a stomach that held food, but eventually she looked to him once more and this time words came with her look. "Why do you stay?" she asked. "I cannot think the lack of ships could keep you from sailing off this isle. So why?" For it was a simple matter for Minka that she remained, a vendetta nearly as old as she always spurring her on. But Brandt? "I would think it sorrowful the things you can see here and am glad that I cannot."

[2015/09/25 11:14] Brandt (Brandt Ashland): If memory served right, it should've been a surprise that Minka held any kind of curiosity for someone else -- moreso that she voiced it. He thought for a bit, then slowly looked to her. If they'd been wolves, his ear might've twitched in annoyance, though not because of her question. "Yes," he replied, following it with a slow nod as he decided so for himself. Then, after another few slow moments, he looked toward the pond. "There is fighting to be done here." He shrugged a shoulder as if that should've explained all of it. While their reasons and motivations may have been different, at least their desires were similar. It was such of their tribe, but he knew that Minka had compulsions stronger than he. There was no reason to weigh the differences in their convictions, but his was not dishonorable either. Of course, he did not have to ask her the same question. "There is a pack on this Isle. They are of us and our wild cousins. They will fight, too."

[2015/09/25 11:20] Minka (MinkaStasarski): /me often held curiosity, it was just that she gave voice to so little she would not have been surprised to hear it commonly thought that she did not. Most, was never important enough for her to understand to bother with the questions. But it'd been some roundabout manner of Minka's thinking that had lead her to question Brandt as she had. She knew the ways in which her memories alone plagued her - she could not envision how would be her response if she could see the further destruction demonic entities caused. While she could of course see the way the blight razed a portion of the isle, she understood that it would have done so to the forest's spirit as well, as had been done to hers. And while what was seen was bad enough, what was not seen by her she thought to be worse. A nod was given him for the idea of fighting. And the barest form of a smile flickered across her face for the pack. "Then you will not fight alone, but in a grander scape than I." Making it clear in so little words she did not
[2015/09/25 11:20] Minka (MinkaStasarski): hold the idea as possibility of joining them.

[2015/09/25 12:12] Brandt (Brandt Ashland): Minka may have made her intentions clear, but Brandt'd somewhat else in mind. Such was the way of things, but she might have realized that gone was the beautiful boy who'd merely tell her how things would be, replaced by a beautiful man who thought deeply on matters before he spoke. In many ways, Brandt had aged gracefully, not just in the length of his body but also in the breadth of his mind. "Elvhyl," he began, recalling the old name he had once given her. "Little sister," he turned his head slowly to look at her. There was a mulling, a last minute thought, and then he changed what he meant to say to her to something different -- the hard stance he'd had in mind gone to somewhat more understanding. "You will not fight alone; if you will not come to the pack, then it is of little matter; I will come with you. You should reconsider." It may have been important, strength in numbers, the pack, defeating the blight, but none so much as family and the honors and dues that he was given to the tribe they belonged
[2015/09/25 12:12] Brandt (Brandt Ashland): to. They may not have been related by blood, but all wolves were siblings beneath heaven.

[2015/09/25 12:28] Minka (MinkaStasarski): /me 's gaze had drifted from Brandt while he let the silence dwell about them for his thoughts. Yet when he spoke the pet name he'd given her decades ago, she looked back towards him with a flutter of lash for the remembrance. It had been a different boy who'd called her such, where now there sat a man, and though she was not gifted with any particular sight, she didn't need it to realise more than the mere tenor of voice and build of physique had grown. For a moment, Minka smiled, light amusement dancing along her face. It was brief, but came with equally light hearted words, saying, "It sounds sweeter, the way you speak it now." She pressed her lips thinly together thereafter, considering what had been said, but then lifted a shoulder careless and dismissing, her voice almost dull when next she spoke. "There are few who tolerate the ways I am, outside of home. Fewer less who understand. And why should they? They were not there. They do not know." She'd finished eating by that point, for it'd
[2015/09/25 12:28] Minka (MinkaStasarski): been a simple meal and easily consumed. So she stood, rising slowly and looking Brandt over where he lounged, gaze roaming from head to foot. "You are not softened by your years sailing across the world? You found it difficult, I remember, to keep abreast of me before at times. I am far better now. I did not give up the fight." Quiet words, with a challenge in them that was singularly Minka-like of nature. Yet spoken too without menace, nor more without humor either to soften them.

[2015/09/25 12:41] Brandt (Brandt Ashland): /me offered her a look of amusement. Yes, it meant something different now, the little affection he'd given her long ago. He'd not realized it in the middle of trying to recall it, how it could be changed and different over the years. Yet she stood and spoke and he understood -- there were few who understood the ways of the wild north and fewer still who would understand her. He merely shrugged, then climbed to his feet as she stood. She spoke more, and in that he gave her what was a very wolfish snort and a fierce grin for the challenge. "A mariner's life is no easy thing, little sister--.. and neither did I." He quietly reached for his axe and shield, drawing them as his fierce grin turned ever more wolven and fiendish.

[2015/09/25 12:54] Minka (MinkaStasarski): For his grin, Minka began to smile a bit again. It was the shadow that lessened in her eyes and the quirk that held the corners of her lips and little more, but it was there. And when he pulled forth his axe and shield, Minka slid her sword from its sheath with an answering look of fiendish pleasure glimmering in her eyes. "Mmm," she grunted with a look that swept over him appreciatively for the man being a mariner had cut from the beautiful boy she'd known. An appreciative glance, and on the heels of a challenge to spar - probably the closest Minka ever came to true flirtation. Yet when her gaze moved back to his it was nothing but the readiness to fight and the shifting of her stance that Minka gave.

[2015/09/25 13:11] Brandt (Brandt Ashland): Those small miracles weren't lost on Brandt -- and small miracles they were. The look, the fading of those shadows, her smile -- even the fact that she was a woman grown into her own beauty. He realized, too, that the ring had ever been a place where the once-girl had been able to find a modicum of peace and happiness; she was a born warrior. They both were, and he'd lost track of the times that she'd bested him. To say that he'd had difficulty with her was no boast. But now? Years later? He too, had grown. Yet never one to let the initiative go, Brandt sprung forward a step, then instead of swinging his axe, he drove it toward her gut as if it'd been the thrust of a sword.

[2015/09/25 13:12] Brandt rolls R7 (IoV:#39ca#): 11 against (MinkaStasarski Resident) - Axe thrust!
[2015/09/25 13:12] IoV Dice HUD v0.7beta: MinkaStasarski Resident! Brandt (Brandt Ashland) rolled R7 (IoV:#39ca#): 11 - Axe thrust! against you.
[2015/09/25 13:12] Minka rolls R5 (IoV:#d48e#): 7 - ;o

[2015/09/25 13:18] Minka (MinkaStasarski): /me hadn't been expecting him to thrust the axe as though he wielded sword instead. She'd took note of the shift of his body's motion too late, and though she'd begun already to step back, took the blunted blow to her gut even so. Her breath left her, and her brows rose the barest inch, but she moved again, stepping forward, lunging near with a swing of her blade towards the man's side before she'd even tried to draw breath again.

[2015/09/25 13:19] IoV Dice HUD v0.7beta: You have targeted Brandt Ashland.
[2015/09/25 13:19] IoV Dice HUD v0.7beta: Your Target is using RP Name "Brandt".
[2015/09/25 13:19] Minka rolls R9 (IoV:#5bc1#): 11 against Brandt (Brandt Ashland) - F8 + 1 EotW spell: broadsiding swing!
[2015/09/25 13:21] Brandt rolls R7 (IoV:#458c#): 18 against (MinkaStasarski Resident) - REF6 +1 ST: block, block!
[2015/09/25 13:21] IoV Dice HUD v0.7beta: MinkaStasarski Resident! Brandt (Brandt Ashland) rolled R7 (IoV:#458c#): 18 - REF6 +1 ST: block, block! against you.

[2015/09/25 13:24] Brandt (Brandt Ashland): /me had pulled the the blow of his axe, knowing that even without armor, it would've been a heavy hit that he wasn't at all trying to hit her with. They had to be extra careful, drawing real weapons on each other -- there were only so many ways he could stop himself from hurting her with the weapon. Yet that was what made them good. He lifted his shield, almost by reflex, swatting her attack out of the way as he twisted his axe in his grip and swung the backside of it toward her thigh. Of course he'd try to pull it, but being spiked, for a garou, was far better still than being hit by the blade of his axe!

[2015/09/25 13:24] Brandt rolls R7 (IoV:#af51#): 15 against (MinkaStasarski Resident) - F7: die! I mean.. take this!
[2015/09/25 13:24] IoV Dice HUD v0.7beta: MinkaStasarski Resident! Brandt (Brandt Ashland) rolled R7 (IoV:#af51#): 15 - F7: die! I mean.. take this! against you.
[2015/09/25 13:25] Minka rolls R5 (IoV:#c5c4#): 6 against Brandt (Brandt Ashland) - spike ...

[2015/09/25 13:36] Minka (MinkaStasarski): /me didn't mind that her blade had been swatted aside with Brandt's shield. It meant he was moving faster than her with it; that he'd learned how to do so better than he'd done before. It was good, and Minka liked that it was -- more than she liked the spike tearing through skin. She hissed, scowling briefly for the blow he'd managed as she dropped her sheath and pulled the dagger from her belt. Then she moved again, with a jab of her blade towards Brandt's thigh in turn, and maybe it wasn't brought up short enough to keep from nicking the man in the end.

[2015/09/25 13:36] Minka rolls R9 (IoV:#ef0d#): 16 against Brandt (Brandt Ashland) - F8 + EotW: dat was my thigh homie. q.q

[2015/09/25 13:45] Brandt (Brandt Ashland): It was a good blow, one that would've worked had he not been prepared again with his shield. He took a step into the blow and once more, his shield (shield mastery!) turned and dipped to stop the dagger from nicking him at all. That was a mean trick, though -- one that he'd thought was new from what he'd known of her. Grunting in approval, he then swung his axe low, trying to get the back part of the hook to catch the back of her ankle to trip her!

[2015/09/25 13:45] Brandt rolls R7 (IoV:#c62b#): 19 against (MinkaStasarski Resident) - on your ass!
[2015/09/25 13:45] IoV Dice HUD v0.7beta: MinkaStasarski Resident! Brandt (Brandt Ashland) rolled R7 (IoV:#c62b#): 19 - on your ass! against you.
[2015/09/25 13:46] Minka rolls R5 (IoV:#a968#): 18 against Brandt (Brandt Ashland) - nuuu!

[2015/09/25 13:53] Minka (MinkaStasarski): If it was mean, new tricks the other had, the sudden swipe of the backside of Brandt's axe was one. She'd jumped, expecting the move to be meant to hit her only, not expecting the hooked edge of it to then get jerked back, or the unsettling of her balance as it did. There was a sound of surprise she made for the pull, somethng girlish and delighted, light and amused, as surprised in the very best of games. In fact, there was even a small bubble of laughter from Minka as she hopped with all awkwardness to keep her other foot beneath her and not fall. But then she did fall, sort of, in the way of her leaning moving forward instead, to bring herself up close to where Brandt stood with her dagger this time on the move for the coat the buffered the soft tissue beneath his ribs.

[2015/09/25 13:53] Minka rolls R9 (IoV:#ed40#): 24 against Brandt (Brandt Ashland) - F8 + EotW: tink tink?
[2015/09/25 13:54] Brandt rolls R7 (IoV:#90a3#): 10 against (MinkaStasarski Resident) - there's no way
[2015/09/25 13:54] IoV Dice HUD v0.7beta: MinkaStasarski Resident! Brandt (Brandt Ashland) rolled R7 (IoV:#90a3#): 10 - there's no way against you.

[2015/09/25 13:56] Brandt (Brandt Ashland): The way that she'd bounced was outside of his expectations -- he'd thought she'd either go down or fall away from him, rather than keep her balance somehow after he'd felt his axe connect. Surprised, he hadn't the chance to draw away from the dagger when it pierced his coat and drew blood against his skin. That'd have been a serious wound had she followed through with it, such that it made him grin ferociously and redouble his attack, chasing her as she drew the blade away. He tucked his shoulder behind his shield and stepped, then flung his arm out, trying to swat /her/ out of the way entirely.

[2015/09/25 13:56] Brandt rolls R7 (IoV:#b73b#): 10 against (MinkaStasarski Resident) - swat the minka!
[2015/09/25 13:56] IoV Dice HUD v0.7beta: MinkaStasarski Resident! Brandt (Brandt Ashland) rolled R7 (IoV:#b73b#): 10 - swat the minka! against you.
[2015/09/25 13:57] Minka rolls R5 (IoV:#f617#): 15 against Brandt (Brandt Ashland) - ]: I'm not a fly.

[2015/09/25 14:00] Minka (MinkaStasarski): /me herself was grinning now. Grinning when she so seldom truly did. For the fight she had expected to be good had been even better and the reality of it made her blood sing. Her pulse was lifted and she'd the faintest growl in her throat, her body moving easily aside from the shield turned menace. And as his arm extended, she swept in with her sword, meaning to test the quickness of his guard.

[2015/09/25 14:01] Minka rolls R9 (IoV:#6657#): 19 against Brandt (Brandt Ashland) - F8 + EotW: how fast are you, eh?
[2015/09/25 14:01] Brandt rolls R7 (IoV:#1c1d#): 18 against (MinkaStasarski Resident) - no, no, pls
[2015/09/25 14:01] IoV Dice HUD v0.7beta: MinkaStasarski Resident! Brandt (Brandt Ashland) rolled R7 (IoV:#1c1d#): 18 - no, no, pls against you.

[2015/09/25 14:03] Brandt (Brandt Ashland): /me had always enjoyed his spars with Minka; she may have been ten years his junior, but she'd had skill enough to give him 'difficulty', yes. Grinning broadly, even as her blade raked his ribs. It didn't stop him from whipping his axe up beneath it, however, and punching it at her stomach once again.

[2015/09/25 14:03] Brandt rolls R7 (IoV:#d532#): 25 against (MinkaStasarski Resident) - axepunch!
[2015/09/25 14:03] IoV Dice HUD v0.7beta: MinkaStasarski Resident! Brandt (Brandt Ashland) rolled R7 (IoV:#d532#): 25 - axepunch! against you.
[2015/09/25 14:04] Minka rolls R5 (IoV:#4c5a#): 19 against Brandt (Brandt Ashland) - oh gawd

[2015/09/25 14:09] Minka (MinkaStasarski): /me saw it coming this time, but what with her sword extended as it was, she'd little she could do to hope to stop it. Instead she turned, letting it hit more full upon her gut, opting for the moment of wan breath instead of the potential for bruised ribs. She brought her sword back towards her while she did so - and they likely looked like a couple of fools, each bleeding in different places, sparring each other with weapons drawn, and grinning in the others face. But Minka loved it, and the lightening of the shadows in her gaze grew for it, the longer they fought, the lighter it became. Her thigh burned from where it bled and her chest burned for the breath it sought after, but she continued, striking down toward his thigh with her dagger with the subtle increasing of her growl.

[2015/09/25 14:09] Minka rolls R9 (IoV:#2f3c#): 11 against Brandt (Brandt Ashland) - F8 + EotW: happy times!
[2015/09/25 14:10] Brandt rolls R7 (IoV:#54e3#): 17 against (MinkaStasarski Resident) - no happy times!
[2015/09/25 14:10] IoV Dice HUD v0.7beta: MinkaStasarski Resident! Brandt (Brandt Ashland) rolled R7 (IoV:#54e3#): 17 - no happy times! against you.

[2015/09/25 14:15] Brandt (Brandt Ashland): And so why not if there was so little danger in it -- they were both Garou and it'd take more than a few swipes from a bit of edged steel to see them downed, especially if they were being careful. They were being careful, yes? Brandt turned and spun away from the downward strike, stopped abruptly, then spun back, shouldering his shield and stepping toward her to try to tackle her with it. It'd be over when one of them gave, it seemed! Or at least put the other one in some kind of helpless state, which was why his shield tackle had been a feint. He pulled the shield back out of the way then lunged forward with a headbutt at her nose, thinking that her timing would be off if she'd been trying to avoid the feint.

[2015/09/25 14:16] Brandt rolls R7 (IoV:#4e42#): 21 against (MinkaStasarski Resident) - feint!
[2015/09/25 14:16] IoV Dice HUD v0.7beta: MinkaStasarski Resident! Brandt (Brandt Ashland) rolled R7 (IoV:#4e42#): 21 - feint! against you.
[2015/09/25 14:16] Minka rolls R5 (IoV:#478d#): 21 against Brandt (Brandt Ashland) - ouch

[2015/09/25 14:20] Minka (MinkaStasarski): /me /was/ thrown off, yes. She hadn't been expecting him to pull back from his lunging bash -- hadn't expected him to feint. It'd been a clever move, and one that gave Minka another measure of respect for the already growing pool of it she held for the man. Yet when he lunged at her with his head, even surprised and unprepared as she was, she managed to step back enough - if just barely. Her eyes had flown open for it though, showing her surprise, and she took a moment longer than she would have before she struck again. Though this time, when Minka struck, it was with the fist of her dagger wielding hand - to his gut. Let /him/ do without a bit of breath!

[2015/09/25 14:20] Minka rolls R9 (IoV:#00f0#): 24 against Brandt (Brandt Ashland) - F8 + EotW: no breathing!
[2015/09/25 14:21] Brandt rolls R7 (IoV:#f1e5#): 12 against (MinkaStasarski Resident) - omggg
[2015/09/25 14:21] IoV Dice HUD v0.7beta: MinkaStasarski Resident! Brandt (Brandt Ashland) rolled R7 (IoV:#f1e5#): 12 - omggg against you.

[2015/09/25 14:23] Brandt (Brandt Ashland): Would have to do without a bit of breath then! The gods knew there was more than just the power of a little girl behind that fist -- but an adult garou. He wheezed as the air was driven out of him, then, but every good fighter knew that when they took a hard hit, they'd never have the time to recover it unless they made the time and the space for it. Instantly, Brandt rocked back on his back leg and then punched forward with his leading foot, aiming his heel for hip to try to get her away.

[2015/09/25 14:23] Brandt rolls R7 (IoV:#d075#): 21 against (MinkaStasarski Resident) - make room!
[2015/09/25 14:23] IoV Dice HUD v0.7beta: MinkaStasarski Resident! Brandt (Brandt Ashland) rolled R7 (IoV:#d075#): 21 - make room! against you.
[2015/09/25 14:25] Minka rolls R5 (IoV:#134e#): 18 against Brandt (Brandt Ashland) - damnit!

[2015/09/25 14:31] Minka (MinkaStasarski): /me wore a darker grin, darker if only for the mischief of the thing, the mischief felt as her fist stole his breath like he'd stolen from her twice this day. But if there was anything remarkable at all, it was that the girl still grinned - that it hadn't had chance or cause yet to fade and kept the look of her as a clear-minded and happy thing. Such had been her moment of mischevious triumph that she'd let the motion of her body pause, taking a moment to dwell in the minor victory. So the foot that jutted out towards her caught her at the hip as hoped for, and sent her scrambling back a few steps. Well damnit, then - Minka took the moment to get her feet back beneath her and resituate her stance. One round of reprieve given and with it, a broadening of Minka's grin. "You done?"

[2015/09/25 14:35] Brandt (Brandt Ashland): The moment he felt her hip beneath his heel, he set the full weight of his body forward to push her away, achieving the intended effect of buying him enough time to recover. Sweating a bit, half from the exertion and half from the clothes he wore, he grinned in return and was glad to see that she was in good spirits. Of course if the fight went on, he thought his odds would get better -- she was bleeding from the hook he'd sunk into her thigh more than he was from the cuts and nicks across his torso -- though his likely hurt more. She asked a question and he answered with a forward rush and then a broadside slap of his axe, aimed for her torso again. Clearly he needed to just aim for her center of balance!

[2015/09/25 14:35] Brandt rolls R7 (IoV:#2148#): 8 against (MinkaStasarski Resident) - axeslap!
[2015/09/25 14:35] IoV Dice HUD v0.7beta: MinkaStasarski Resident! Brandt (Brandt Ashland) rolled R7 (IoV:#2148#): 8 - axeslap! against you.
[2015/09/25 14:36] Minka rolls R5 (IoV:#4120#): 17 against Brandt (Brandt Ashland) - hey now!

[2015/09/25 14:43] Minka (MinkaStasarski): /me lunged aside to get away from what looked to be a wicked smack of his axe! And as she did so, she kept on moving, bringing herself around the man so he'd have to turn to keep them aface with each other. But she was glad that he did not take it as a moment to bring their spar to an end, and glad more that he was such a good one to fight. So she'd wait, for the time it took to bring him around, not expecting to have to wait long. When he had, she lifted then lowered her brows in a way almost playful, especially when set above her delighted grin. Then she swung round her sword, her body turning with it, another growl building as she aimed for his arm.

[2015/09/25 14:43] Minka rolls R9 (IoV:#e970#): 17 against Brandt (Brandt Ashland) - F8 + EotW: hiya!
[2015/09/25 14:43] Brandt rolls R7 (IoV:#20fd#): 6 against (MinkaStasarski Resident) - D:
[2015/09/25 14:43] IoV Dice HUD v0.7beta: MinkaStasarski Resident! Brandt (Brandt Ashland) rolled R7 (IoV:#20fd#): 6 - D: against you.

[2015/09/25 14:46] Brandt rolls R7 (IoV:#9e30#): 15 against (MinkaStasarski Resident) - teim to get srs
[2015/09/25 14:46] IoV Dice HUD v0.7beta: MinkaStasarski Resident! Brandt (Brandt Ashland) rolled R7 (IoV:#9e30#): 15 - teim to get srs against you.

[2015/09/25 14:47] Brandt (Brandt Ashland): It'd been a case where he'd overthought things; she came around with her sword and what he thought she'd do was not what she did. He took a cut on his forearm that'd remind him that while they were having fun and playing at fighting, it was also an opportunity to grow better. Not that he'd stopped grinning, but he began to stop thinking so much about what he was doing, and just as he pulled his arm out of the way, he looped it around back and aimed an overhand chop at her shoulder, spinning the axe so that the broad part of the middle would hit her, rather than the point or the edge.

[2015/09/25 14:47] Minka rolls R5 (IoV:#73dd#): 6 against Brandt (Brandt Ashland) - oh no!

[2015/09/25 14:53] Minka (MinkaStasarski): It'd been another moment of small elation, another way she'd broke through his guard. And though she hadn't realised it yet, the course of their fighting had turned from showing that she was the better fighter to proving that she could slip by. It had evened their prowess within her mind, made it perhaps so that he was the better suited. Not that she'd thought him a poor fight from before, but she'd expected him to have gotten worse when he had took to sailing. That he hadn't had been the best of the fun of their spar. That he might even have gotten better than she had been the shifting of the tide in how she viewed their spar within her mind. So she was far less surprised when he took what had been a blow to her win and turned it against her, the same motion he used to pull back his arm used to give momentum to the downward swing that brought his axe to her shoulder. Only because of how he'd chosen to aim did she not have another cut to bleed from. She'd bruise though, and the blow was enough to
[2015/09/25 14:53] Minka (MinkaStasarski): deaden her arm for the moment, the sword dropping from her fingers with a faint groan. So then, shaking her shoulder with a narrowed gaze, Minka held fast to the dagger she still held. But instead of stooping to retrieve her weapon she lunged for the man as she was, the set of her posture one that clearly meant to bowl him over.

[2015/09/25 14:54] Minka rolls R9 (IoV:#042d#): 19 against Brandt (Brandt Ashland) - F8 + EotW: hhuuuuung!
[2015/09/25 14:54] Brandt rolls R7 (IoV:#ae25#): 19 against (MinkaStasarski Resident) - wow hhuuuuuuunggg...est!
[2015/09/25 14:54] IoV Dice HUD v0.7beta: MinkaStasarski Resident! Brandt (Brandt Ashland) rolled R7 (IoV:#ae25#): 19 - wow hhuuuuuuunggg...est! against you.

[2015/09/25 15:00] Brandt (Brandt Ashland): Aye, he'd not gotten any worse. In fact, while their tribe had been a warlike one, seeking to end the existence of demons and other threats to the wild, they didn't fight as often as Brandt had abroad, giving him all kinds of real experience over the endless training spars they did at home. That may have been the difference. Yet once Minka abandoned her sword and lunged for him, Brandt dropped his shield and axe and braced himself to receive her, watching as she careened into his midriff. Holding his position, he swung his body down and tried to wrap his arms around her -- for if he got purchase, he'd have thrown her at the rock wall bodily and chased after her.

[2015/09/25 15:00] Brandt rolls R7 (IoV:#ad02#): 24 against (MinkaStasarski Resident) - it's wrastlin' time!
[2015/09/25 15:00] IoV Dice HUD v0.7beta: MinkaStasarski Resident! Brandt (Brandt Ashland) rolled R7 (IoV:#ad02#): 24 - it's wrastlin' time! against you.
[2015/09/25 15:01] Minka rolls R5 (IoV:#a53f#): 16 against Brandt (Brandt Ashland) - that's gonna hurt ...

[2015/09/25 15:10] Minka (MinkaStasarski): And so it was the time where Minka went sailing. Sailing through the air that is. As her lunge for him landed her as she'd wished, but she found herself against a rock wall instead. No, that was Brandt. Who then hoisted her and swung her through the air as if she were nothing more than the spit of a girl she'd been before. At which point she actually found herself against a rock wall - and this one was only sturdier of feel than Brandt by mere theory, if the way she slammed into it was any measure. When she finally hit the ground, it was with a grunt and a shake of her head to clear it before she even tried to rise again. But when she stood, though her grin had faded she wore a smile, and that was likely the far more startling and rare sight. "You ..... done ...?" she asked him, arms and legs stretching a bit as she found her ground. Then, with only the dagger left in her hold, she began to head back to where her sword lay, gaze set upon Brandt in case he thought to attack once more.

[2015/09/25 15:13] Brandt (Brandt Ashland): Maybe Brandt hadn't intended on throwing the woman at the wall so hard, but it'd been one of those spur of the moment ideas, where she'd dropped her weapon and went in to grapple, and he was more than happy to meet her. Yet he found himself smiling in return, sweating, panting, somewhat bloodied as he did. She moved toward her weapon and as she did, he stayed where his shield and axe were, stooping to pick them up. He rolled his shoulder, stretched so that his weapons were above his head, and then grinned at her. "Only if you take back what you said about me being soft, Elvhyr."

[2015/09/25 15:22] Minka (MinkaStasarski): Decidedly, Minka liked the way he smiled. Perhaps there was a bit of a girl crush in there somewhere, remembering the boy who'd been kind, but more, who understood things about her that others save the elders hadn't known. But now the boy was a man and if Minka didn't clue anyone in she'd a crush before, well she apparently had no qualms on that regard now. Not that she gave it much thought. No, she simply did, for that was Minka's way. And as he stretched his arms above his head, and spoke playful, grinning words, Minka arched a brow and let her gaze slowly skim that stretching torso with a shifting to the curve of her smile that made for it, if only for a moment, a far more predatory sight. "No," she said with a voice subdued of mirth by the appreciative edge they took. "I see no softness in your form."

[2015/09/25 15:29] Brandt (Brandt Ashland): Aye, and if Brandt hadn't been mildly sulking about Cedar still and didn't still see Minka as a cherished little sister, to flirt with and protect, he might've realized that she was more than merely fetching to him. She'd grown up into a beautiful woman, inside and out, so far as he was concerned, but maybe, just maybe, this was one of those times that he was blind to it. He exhaled and dropped his weapons back onto the hooks on his back. "Aye," he replied with a broad grin. Bleeding from the numerous little cuts he sported, he walked over to her and grabbed her up into a hug, embracing her and letting the fullness of the fact that she was here lay into him. "It is good to see you again, Elvhyr" he said, smearing her with his sweat and blood.

[2015/09/25 15:30] Brandt rolls R7 (IoV:#d597#): 6 against (MinkaStasarski Resident) - FOR HUG
[2015/09/25 15:30] IoV Dice HUD v0.7beta: MinkaStasarski Resident! Brandt (Brandt Ashland) rolled R7 (IoV:#d597#): 6 - FOR HUG against you.

[2015/09/25 15:37] Minka (MinkaStasarski): It was a moment that was likely to be fleeting and as rare as her smiles. She herself did not think anything of what she'd done or the way that she looked towards him, and flirtation wasn't her given sport. So who knew when the next time would be that she looked so his way again. As it was, however, it also proved a benefit, for there was no injury or insult that Minka felt for the fact her attention had not been returned. In fact, that Brandt walked to her at all was enough to cause the appreciation to dwindle, curiosity for why he neared her surfacing instead. Now that their spar was over it didn't occur to Minka he might touch her - so when he did, she was wooden as she was lifted and the embrace was met with bemusement instead. Slowly, though the embrace was not exactly returned, her body softened to the idea; softening little by little until she was no longer wooden beneath his hold. And for his words, she said a simple, "Yes." And of course thought nothing of the sweat or blood.

Taking her to the docks by Aberwyth, where the air blows fresh and the ocean is heard, Brandt begins a spar, unarmed. Perhaps their last had been even, but this one fell more in Brandt's favor.

[19:38] Brandt (Brandt Ashland): As a mariner, this was the closest Brandt could get to the creaking of a dock and the swell of waves beneath his feet without going into that stinking hole they called Haven. It wasn't bad, by any means, and it smelled slightly of fish and brine, but there was a peace in the rolling of the waves and so, Brandt brought Minka, believing it to be a good place for her to find her center. As he reached the end of the dock, he turned and looked to her. "Here."

[19:41] Minka (MinkaStasarski) had followed, quiet and attentive, curious as to where they were headed. And when they arrived, well, when they'd walked down the steps that lead to the dock actually, Minka had begun to smile. For her, it was a smile quiet as she had been, small and easily missed, tucked away in the corners of her lips. But it was there. And she looked out over the waters briefly before walking over to Brandt and setting a hand to his hip to smile just a bit more.

[19:48] Brandt (Brandt Ashland): This was a good place. Brandt could feel it in his bones, and he could tell by Minka's smile that she thought so too; it was too near to the blight, but the water was still fresh, the breeze still clean. Here. He'd said so much, and it was with that, that he sunk into a fighter's stance, intending that the scenery buttress their spar. He was barehanded, this time, seeing no reason to draw his axe when the last time they'd fought, they had. Perhaps it was time to test how she fared without a weapon?

[19:57] Minka (MinkaStasarski): When he took his stance her eyes narrowed, but it was a playful, almost happy kind of energy held within her gaze. And after a moment taken to simply look him over and admire his form, Minka drew away, her hand leaving his hip while the other reached down to settle her sword off to the side and out of the way. She was even mindful of the metal claws she wore always about her hands and pulled these off to settle them beside her sword. After, Minka shifted her body, turning hip and widening stance to give herself a base more secure by which to fight. And then she waited, letting the rolling sounds of the nearby waves and the crashing of them upon the rocks fill her thoughts and mind.

[20:01] Brandt (Brandt Ashland): With that, Brandt struck first, stepping quickly in and throwing a jab at her face. In their earlier days, when Brandt was filled with pride and vanity, he'd have let her make the first strike; these days, he knew that she'd already become a fierce fighter, such that the balance between their wins and losses had tipped in her favor -- thus, he'd little guilt about the sudden blow, only seeking a quick and surprising win.

[20:01] Brandt rolls R7 (IoV:#dc35#): 11 - Jab!
[20:02] Minka rolls R5 (IoV:#8e47#): 22 - no jab!

[20:07] Minka (MinkaStasarski) may have been letting the sounds of the ocean fill her mind but she was all eyes on Brandt. He threw a punch and she'd dipped to the side, dodging the blow with an agile grace. There was a moment's baring of teeth and narrowing of eye to the man for the fact he'd gone first for her face, but she stepped towards him to retaliate with a similar jab.

[20:08] Minka rolls R9 (IoV:#266c#): 9 - F8 + EotW: counter jab!
[20:08] Brandt rolls R6 (IoV:#61a5#): 10 - no jab!

[20:10] Brandt (Brandt Ashland) felt the rush of air and the graze of knuckles against his cheek as he bobbed his head out of the way, barely escaping a shiner he'd have sported for the next few hours. Growling, he stepped in closer to her again, hoping to use his overall size and reach advantage to close out her options; he then threw a left hook, ducking as he did in order to try to confuse her with the different motions and catch her with the left she wouldn't see!

[20:10] Brandt rolls R7 (IoV:#0d0f#): 7 - left hook!
[20:10] Minka rolls R5 (IoV:#30b4#): 15 - plsno

[20:13] Minka (MinkaStasarski): But she saw it. Whether it was by chance or luck, though he'd ducked and she'd only glanced a blow, she somehow realised another strike was coming. And though she wasn't entirely certain where the aim was towards, Minka stepped to the side with a huff of breath, just bringing her body out of the arc of his hook. Then she kept her momentum, kept moving, and turned into Brandt with a thrust of her arm meant to dig him with an elbow to his gut.

[20:13] Minka rolls R9 (IoV:#aae9#): 7 - F8 + EotW: elbows can hurt
[20:14] Brandt rolls R6 (IoV:#8ed2#): 13 - no elbows!

[20:15] Brandt (Brandt Ashland): Grinning, Brandt jumped back and sucked his gut in at the last possible moment, feeling another near hit only merely graze him. Growling, he rocked backward onto his back foot and kicked out with his boot, trying to make some distance after he'd decided that maybe trying to smother her wasn't the correct decision. It put her too close, and it meant that he wasn't effectively using his reach.

[20:15] Brandt rolls R7 (IoV:#7577#): 24 - Eat boot!
[20:19] Minka rolls R5 (IoV:#b6d1#): 6 - nuuuu!

[20:24] Minka (MinkaStasarski): And so Brandt got the first hit in. And though it'd taken quite a few throws back and forth, the kick hit her in the gut and knocked her back, flat on her ass. She wheezed a bit too, the force of it enough that she'd lost her breath. But she was no stranger to such moments in the heat of fighting and though she wheezed, and coughed, she quickly righted herself again. When she stood, there was a glower on Minka's face and a blush that stained her cheeks. She thought herself better than to be caught so wholly by such a move and there was a bit of the girls' pride that stung. Still, the look she held overall was one good natured towards Brandt. Clearly if there was enmity that brewed, it was Minka towards herself! She wasted little time, only that which it took for her to get herself back on her feet. And with breath still struggling and a cough arising here and there, she set herself into the proper stance.

[20:26] Brandt (Brandt Ashland): While there was little honor to be won on a true battlefield for showing mercy, Brandt allowed Minka to find her feet before he went after her again, riding on the coattail's of his advantage -- he'd hit her and he'd hit her hard, and it was just as good for him to learn how to press an advantage as it was for her to fight at a disadvantage. Such happened, and so, using his superior reach again, he threw out a long jab, stepping only half-way in as he did and grinning, teeth bared, all the while. Be a shame if his pretty face lost teeth though!

[20:26] Brandt rolls R7 (IoV:#87b6#): 16 -
[20:28] Minka rolls R5 (IoV:#402e#): 16 - dodge?

[20:30] Minka (MinkaStasarski): In truth, it sucked having to think about what was coming or use reflex and reaction when one had no breath. But she did it, drug herself through it and powered on, as she'd done time and again before. She'd been through worse things, more horrific trials, than a little lack of breath and screaming lungs. And when he lunged at Minka, she lunged back at him, his fist finding a glancing blow as she moved past it so that she might strike him with her own. It was to his ribs she aimed her blow this time and only hoped she reached him before he stepped back again.

[20:30] Minka rolls R9 (IoV:#11ed#): 17 - F8 + EotW: long reaches stink - take this!
[20:31] Brandt rolls R6 (IoV:#33ee#): 12 - do not want, return to sender pls

[20:32] Brandt (Brandt Ashland) didn't think she'd be so quick to recover, but that's what he'd get for underestimating her recovery powers again. He grunted as her strike hit home, pressing the air out of one side of his body with a meaty thunk. Snarling, he threw another left hook, this time aiming for her side, dipping low as he did to try to minimize the target of his bruised ribs and give him the torque to land a powerful hit!

[20:33] Brandt rolls R7 (IoV:#f812#): 25 - returning to sender anyway!
[20:33] Minka rolls R5 (IoV:#306a#): 16 - ho gawd!

[20:37] Minka (MinkaStasarski) had only just begun to gain her breath and she'd a moment to smile for the feel of her fist impacting with the side of his ribs. But it wouldn't last long for either when she felt his fist slam into hers as well. Another few coughs, and she skid to the side, so powerful had been his blow. But the she-wolf used the way she'd moved to what she hoped would be her advantage, and for how low he'd dipped, she twisted sharply towards him with a drop of elbow.

[20:37] Minka rolls R9 (IoV:#e013#): 10 - F8 + EotW: idek
[20:37] Brandt rolls R6 (IoV:#5a80#): 19 - stop elbows pls

[20:39] Brandt (Brandt Ashland) swayed back for the inevitable strike; Minka was a woman of many talents and many hard edges, not including her knees, elbows, fists and skull. He'd eaten all of those before, and it was only his timely dodge that he managed to keep his pretty nose intact. Sensing victory only moments away, he launched upward into the air, throwing a knee out toward her gut while his hands shot up into the air to give his flying knee more momentum!

[20:39] Brandt rolls R7 (IoV:#acf5#): 17 - CROUCHING WOLF, FLYING KNEE!
[20:39] Minka rolls R5 (IoV:#089e#): 6 - y?

[20:43] Minka (MinkaStasarski) had whiffed. Her elbow finding no purchase, and she without much breath, just kind of kept moving in the direction that she'd twisted, bringing herself to a stop a moment too late. Too late to realise Brandt was already moving, for when she looked back his way she saw at first just hands ... thrusting up into the air? And that confused her since they did not seemed aimed particularly at her. And before she could get her senses back to what the rest of him was doing, his knee caught her and she stumbled back.

Feeling agitated from the lack of fighting they've come across and the passage of a New Moon away from pack and tribe, Brandt, seeing that she seems so, starts another game of sparring with Minka, hoping to help her blow off some steam.

[08:09] Brandt (Brandt Ashland): "So what will it be today, Minka?" Brandt offered her a fierce grin. "Fists? Knives?" Gods know he'd been lucky as of late, winning almost as many as he lost and that was a marked improvement. He could afford to be a little cocky, aye? His eyes narrowed in amusement as he turned to face her, the wind picking up and sweeping the grass flat around them, drawing her hair into pretty swirl.

[08:15] Minka (MinkaStasarski) was agitated today. The New Moon had just passed and it'd been a night of meaning spent away from pack of tribe. She could return home, she knew it - but why? Why leave this isle without the grandeur of the fight it promised. Which lead to her agitation. There was promise of fight aplenty and yet they'd held no luck in stumbling across it. Perhaps she should have found that lucky, being spared from such undoubtedly hellacious battles. But she did not. So the cocky arrogance of Brandt's demeanor was met with only a grin held thin across her lips. "Knives," she answered. Knives, a thing she was fond of using yet held less practice with than her sword. And in so choosing, she pulled the one from her belt where it'd been tucked away, fitting her hand around it in a familiar and almost comforting way.

[08:18] Brandt (Brandt Ashland): Knives then. Brandt had been hoping it'd be knives; a life at sea and port had taught him the use of one, and where he'd no victories to taste between the pair of them when it came to knives, he'd some confidence now. So he drew his knife, a little curved thing without a hilt, fitting it to his hand, crouching as he did with the knife held further out from his body than he'd have held perhaps a sword or axe. His other hand was held parallel to the ground, and his grin never faded. He could tell she needed to let out a little aggression, and what way better than a bit of blood and sport? "Come," he said with a grin.

[08:27] Minka (MinkaStasarski): Knives then. Minka watched Brandt get his fit within his palm and sink down low in a stance quite artful and full of grace to watch - and for a moment, one brief and fleeting moment, Minka smiled for the sight. She could see it within his gaze, that he understood her agitation, that he saw it there, and that he was ready to help let it with another of their sparring games. Did he realise though, she wondered, that one day a spar would not be good enough to bring relief? That fleeting smile fell into a frown, and it remained as she nodded her head, that thought held foremost for her now. And then she moved towards him, her steps light and quick and filled with purpose. With an arm held braced with bracer turned to help stave his own knife from cutting through her as she approached. Her knife swung low when she came near enough to consider at all her aim, low and with and arc to bring it back towards her, a movement meant to score along the man's back and side. A vicious first blow to be honest, if she
[08:27] Minka (MinkaStasarski): succeeded in its landing as she desired. More vicious than their other spars, to be certain, such was her agitated state of mind.

[08:28] Minka rolls R9 (IoV:#f614#): 22 against Brandt (Brandt Ashland) - F8 + EotW: vicious and agitated knifing?
[08:31] Brandt rolls R6 (IoV:#49f2#): 24 - whoa gurl easy now

[08:34] Brandt (Brandt Ashland): Would it? Brandt likely knew, but for now this was better than the alternative -- wasn't it? How much could the wolf hope to ease Minka when she became this way and more? Still, it was better he than anyone else, and he'd been thinking about it when he'd barely managed to twist out of the way of Minka's vicious blow. That'd made him sweat, not only because he'd understood that she was upset, but that /that/ one would've really hurt. Aye, well, he'd offered knives. Turning a circle, he flipped his knife into a reverse grip and tried to catch her forearm with it as it came past him.

[08:34] Brandt rolls R7 (IoV:#240a#): 11 - stabby
[08:35] Minka rolls R5 (IoV:#102e#): 21 against Brandt (Brandt Ashland) - no pls

[08:45] Minka (MinkaStasarski) had missed, and while she did not wish Brandt anything ill, she hissed her breath for the missing -- she'd have been far more satisfied if her knife hit true. Did she worry? This sparring and her vicious tendency today? In truth, she doubted she could maim him in so serious a fashion that he could not recover ... it was not her intention, after all, to slay him dead. Worked up however as she was, her mind was most focused upon the fighting, and when his knife drew near her forearm, she merely turned it, letting the knife grind along her bracer and little else. This time, her knife already held close to her, Minka struck outwards, her knife snapping in an upward arc. Like an uppercut with knife instead of fist, a wicked thing that surely would sting upwards along his ribs did he not manage to turn himself away from it.

[08:45] Minka rolls R9 (IoV:#9541#): 22 against Brandt (Brandt Ashland) - F8 + EotW: uppercut knife what?
[08:52] Brandt rolls R6 (IoV:#b698#): 16 - pls no

[08:55] Brandt (Brandt Ashland): The knife opened him along the belly, not deep, but enough to sting and enough to make him feel the trickle of hot blood beneath his clothes immediately. Why did they spar with clothes on, anyway? Aye, to be proper, since the pair of them running amok through the woods naked looking for a place to fight would've certainly drawn attention -- likely the bad sort. Grunting, he redoubled his focus and jumped away from her, dropping his weight onto his back foot and kicking at her, knowing that the reach of his leg was better than her arm with the knife!

[08:55] Brandt rolls R7 (IoV:#fb97#): 9 - eat boot (again!)
[08:55] Minka rolls R5 (IoV:#6e8f#): 5 against Brandt (Brandt Ashland) - ho gawd not the boot again!

[08:58] Minka (MinkaStasarski): First blow struck, and it was hers. Something about that made her happy. Something about the scent of his blood so sudden upon the air, made her happiness soar. It'd been to her folly however. She'd had a moment of elated and aroused senses that she'd stepped towards him for - with an arm reaching out to grab him and a mind to plant a kiss hot and heavy on his lips. But no ... it was a boot to her belly she met instead and stumbled backwards some few paces with a hand lifted to her gut and a groan that almost sounded amused.

[09:02] Brandt (Brandt Ashland): One day, Brandt's secret weapon, his boot, wasn't going to connect. One day, she was going to see it coming and he'd throw his leg forward and feel nothing but air, falling forward into the ground. That day, however, was not today, and he felt her lithe form get shoved off once more. Grinning, he chased after her, knowing that while they were one for one, she'd still first blood and he'd need to use the opportunity to turn the tides before she had a chance to win. So as he bore down at her, he slashed at her arm, hoping to catch her while she tried to fend off his charge.

[09:02] Brandt rolls R7 (IoV:#5400#): 10 - slashy
[09:02] Minka rolls R5 (IoV:#e0ac#): 18 against Brandt (Brandt Ashland) - ouch ]:

[09:05] Minka (MinkaStasarski) may have had a moment lacking breath, she may have had to stumble away, but she was growing savvy to his boot kicking attacks and when he charged towards her, was ready. A step to the side in that last moment was enough to keep his knife from hitting. She kept moving with that side step however, head turning to the side and a wheezing couch escaping, body working to get itself to breath again. And when she felt a pull of air draw inwards, painful as it was in that first moment, she stepped back towards him, with her fist this time her weapon, striking towards his jaw for a blow. And oh, she'd forgotten to remove those metal claws from about her hands this time. That'd be a nasty gashing glance of fist against his skin did it make contact as she hoped.

[09:06] Minka rolls R9 (IoV:#c70f#): 10 against Brandt (Brandt Ashland) - F8 + EotW: punch!
[09:09] Brandt rolls R6 (IoV:#7cba#): 6 - doj

[09:11] Brandt (Brandt Ashland): Most women couldn't hope to even turn Brandt's cheek even if they'd thrown their entire weight behind a punch -- most women weren't Minka, however, garou and vicious. His head spun to the side and for a moment, he lost track of the ground. Stumbling to the side, he cought, spat--.. blood? And tried to get himself back into an even stance. "Good blow," he managed weakly, trying to buy time with conversation.

[09:14] Minka (MinkaStasarski) didn't give him that time however. How many times had she been kicked back away from /him/, lacking breath and disoriented, and the man chased after her then? Too many for the woman to give him a moment of ease now and though he spoke and spat blood, she followed after him as he'd stumbled and lunged out to grab the fur that lined his jacket. If she got it in her grip, she'd pull them closer together to place her knife at his breastbone with a cheeky grin. If she missed, well ... she'd just keep going at him!

[09:15] Minka rolls R9 (IoV:#6a06#): 14 against Brandt (Brandt Ashland) - F8 + EotW: hit or miss?
[09:16] Brandt rolls R6 (IoV:#392c#): 25 - pls dont stab

[09:18] Brandt (Brandt Ashland): Well, he'd deserve it, then, but it didn't hurt to try! She chased after him and he'd simply not the time to recover; a blur of Minka was what she was, and now she'd--.. oh. Well. They'd see about that! He turned to throw a punch at her, a mighty right hook, but hadn't seen that she'd not been close enough yet. Call it that dizziness, but his blow sailed by her head and while she didn't exactly get him with her knife, he took himself to the floor with a sickening lurch. Grunting, he rolled onto his back and lifted his hands in surrender. "Okay, okay," he shuddered with a laugh, still somewhat unbalanced even though he was laying down.

[09:22] Minka (MinkaStasarski) hadn't managed to get ahold of him at all as she had planned -- because though he'd spoke as if to bide time he was movement just as she was. What happened next - well, to be honest Minka wasn't quite sure what /had/ happened just then. But she felt the whiff of air move past her for a blow that never landed and then saw Brandt topple over, the sight of which caused her to laugh. A moment of too-brief, bright and light hearted laughter escaped the garou before she stooped down beside him. The laughter ended just as sudden as it'd began and she set to cleaning off her knife, a smile still hovering in the corners of her lips though. "That boot ..." was all she said, and rather wryly so at that.

[09:30] Brandt (Brandt Ashland): "You'll learn," Brandt croaked as he rolled onto his side and slowly got himself up onto his feet, grinning. She seemed much restored, did she not?

The days grow long and filled with tedium and Minka seeks to get the blood moving through her form. What better way to do so then fighting? Which, if you haven't realised already, is quite possibly Minka's favorite pastime.

[10:57] Minka (MinkaStasarski): Today, when their spar began, it was by Minka's doing. They'd been wandering the forests, scrounging up such nuts or fruits that still lingered - of which there was mostly none. Seeking out new places to fish since the fish were beginning to grow thin, too. It was tedious and boring, the same thing nearly each day, but they kept going, because they both knew that to not would mean turning their back on whatever fighting the isle promised to loose one day. They'd be settling for a light midday meal soon - she could tell by the placement of the sun in the sky overhead. But Minka felt lethargic. And she wanted to feel movement through muscle, blood, bone. So she bumped into Brandt, knocking him with her shoulder, lifted a brow and reached behind her to pull her sword from where it was held sheathed on her back.

[11:17] Brandt (Brandt Ashland): It was getting harder to find enough food; as wolves, their metabolisms were much greater than that of humankind and it'd meant that they'd needed to eat more to keep their strength up. With food dwindling the way it was, on more than one occasion Brandt'd searched beneath leaves and logs for grubs and bugs, taking what protein he could and would, mushrooms he might've found, things that people overlooked when they walked through the forest looking for food. Whether Minka joined him in eating such things was her own choice, but Brandt knew that the two greatest weapons a warrior could have was nourishment and rest. He'd been snacking on a piece of snake Minka had killed earlier when she bumped into him, eliciting from him a warning growl before he even thought it friendly or not. He looked to her, and when he saw her reaching for her sword, he struck, fast and low, a punch aimed for the breadbasket, the sort that made a person lose their hardfought lunch. Maybe Brandt wasn't so happy about eating bugs after
[11:17] Brandt (Brandt Ashland): all.

[11:18] Brandt rolls R7 (IoV:#4a8e#): 11 - puuunch!
[11:19] Minka rolls R5 (IoV:#b592#): 20 - ]:

[11:25] Minka (MinkaStasarski): Well. It seemed today was the day for Brandt to be feeling testy. Minka couldn't blame him. Grubs for nutrition was nobody's favorite ordeal. They'd been lucky that she'd got the snake as she had, that's for certain. And Minka wasn't too proud - she'd have been right there beside him when she could, or searching to scrounge up others for them as well. When she'd bumped him, and he'd growled, she realised his mood was more sour than he'd let on. And when the punch came for her, it would have only been the growl that'd given him away enough she even kept an eye for it. She jumped back, her sword swinging out as she finished pulling it from her sheathe. And then a glint of mischief appeared in Minka's gaze, brief and faint before she struck out at him with /her/ sandaled foot. It'd been a neat trick after all - was worth seeing if it'd work for her as well, right?

[11:25] Minka rolls R9 (IoV:#5920#): 23 - F8 + EotW: eat foot?
[11:25] Brandt rolls R6 (IoV:#178a#): 24 - no boot

[11:29] Brandt (Brandt Ashland) knew that it was only a matter of time before Minka tried that. He'd known it, expected it, waited for it, anticipated it and when it came, as fast as it was, he'd stepped away from it, such that her leg simply wasn't long enough to reach. No, but his was, and long enough that it was time for her, instead, to eat boot. Still, he was amused that she'd tried it, and if he'd not been so keen on watching for it so specifically, it'd have probably worked. On him and on anyone else, too. Not that she'd too much weight to her, but even still, such things could hurt worse than they might've seemed!

[11:29] Brandt rolls R7 (IoV:#fcd7#): 17 - eat boot!
[11:29] Minka rolls R5 (IoV:#a06a#): 21 - y?

[11:34] Minka (MinkaStasarski) had missed him. And well, it'd been a close thing at that! That meant one day she'd get him -- but too, it meant he'd still his mind sharp enough to keep wits about him, to have stepped away last minute like that. That he tried to do so with her after. Well, that was not so large a surprise. And /this/ time, Minka saw it coming, jumped to the side, and smiled. 'You'll learn,' he'd said, and so it seemed had. Or was starting to. She didn't try to kick him again either. At least not yet, but lunged towards him, sword in hand, bringing it down as she did.

[11:34] Minka rolls R9 (IoV:#2a3e#): 17 - F8 + EotW: get it!
[11:36] Brandt rolls R6 (IoV:#53ee#): 18 - no sword

[11:38] Brandt (Brandt Ashland): As slippery as an eel, Brandt slid around the edge of her blade, somewhat irritated that his boot hadn't landed this time. Aye, she'd learned, but he'd not hoped that she'd learn so quickly -- he was still behind her in wins, and if the tool had worked he meant to use it until he couldn't. Growling, he turned his side toward her, slipped his boot beneath his body, turned, and kicked out backward at her guts, employing an entirely different kind of kick.

[11:38] Brandt rolls R7 (IoV:#15fe#): 23 - eat boot 2.0?
[11:39] Minka rolls R5 (IoV:#6ae5#): 6 - y?? y tha boot???

[11:45] Minka (MinkaStasarski) hadn't anytime to truly consider how her swing missed, the why or what she could have done better, to analyze this moment of their fight by which to grow into a better fighter, more prepared (at least with this enemy) and better understanding of his tricks. She'd no time for any of that before his boot came crashing into her side, thrown at her in a way quite different than she'd seen him do before and thus missed for what it was in that moment she might have dodge. Minka went flying and she'd a few of her ribs bruised, she thought one might have even broke - fractured at least. She'd a bit of her breath left at least. He hadn't gotten her straight on and so it wasn't all knocked from her chest. But the pain seared white across her eyes and it gave him a moment where she could do nothing but blindly attack. Yet blindly attack she did, with a lurch in his direction and another swing of her sword.

[11:45] Minka rolls R9 (IoV:#725f#): 23 - F8 + EotW: grrrrk fuuu!
[11:46] Brandt rolls R6 (IoV:#5efe#): 16 - grrk fu? that a new martial art?

[11:53] Brandt (Brandt Ashland): If he'd his boot, Minka'd her blade; it'd felt -- and gods above did he feel it -- as if she'd always managed to open him up somehow when they had their little spars. Her blade was always scoring a hit, here, there, somewhere, bright and searing and sharp. He grunted as he turned his head away from her wild swing, only barely managing to keep it from taking off his nose. Instead, she scored a bright cut along his cheek, one that bled the moment she'd done it. Growling, he bore down onto her behind her swing, aiming a headbutt for her face, sudden and fierce for the blood she'd won from him yet again.

[11:53] Brandt rolls R7 (IoV:#1b0b#): 8 - facebash!
[11:54] Minka rolls R5 (IoV:#cc47#): 13 - pls no

[12:02] Minka (MinkaStasarski): Perhaps Brandt had got first blow but Minka had got first blood - and that always made her feel a little better. That he bore down on her straight after, while surprising, was a thing she seemed able to step away from. She stepped back as he drove forward and eyed the gash along his cheek, admired truly. Then she jabbed a fist in his direction, leaning forward and hoping his momentum towards her would help it to hit him hard and take his breath like he so often took hers.

[12:02] Minka rolls R9 (IoV:#128e#): 9 - F8 + EotW: no breathing. >:
[12:02] Brandt rolls R6 (IoV:#e5b5#): 16 - hahahahahhahaahha

[12:06] Brandt (Brandt Ashland): Not this time! Once more, Brandt moved with a quickness that was surprising for his size, slipping to the side of her punch while at the same time, bringing his arm around to try to catch her around the waist. She was garou, and strong, but so was he -- and bigger and heavier besides. It would be a good time, then, to test her she fared in a close up fight, and if she knew how to use those bony knees and elbows!

[12:06] Brandt rolls R7 (IoV:#3cc9#): 15 - grapple attempt
[12:07] Minka rolls R5 (IoV:#e003#): 17 - oo bby

[12:10] Minka (MinkaStasarski): Clearly, Minka and Brandt were getting far too used to how the other fought. Feinting, dodging, sidestepping, and predicting what was to come. They weren't landing blows upon each other with any quickness or ease anymore. But that just made their sparring better, right? It made the challenge more. She whiffed and he stepped aside, he moved to hook about her and she blocked the movement of his arm with hers, slipping away. They were too close to one another though and she knew that meant he'd likely soon try to kick out at her yet again. Her ribs still bruised and ached from weakened bone - so Minka threw her foot out to try that act on him instead.

[12:10] Minka rolls R9 (IoV:#eff9#): 13 - F8 + EotW: boot kicking time? err sandal!
[12:12] Brandt rolls R6 (IoV:#d861#): 19 - stop feeting

[12:17] Brandt (Brandt Ashland): They were, and that was both a good and bad thing; when fighting, there were good habits to form and bad, and when a warrior fought the same way too long, both good and bad habits could develop. A certain recklessness and disregard for attacks not usually experienced, but also a sharper eye. Brandt sucked in his gut and hopped backward a step, then two, just enough to avoid the length of her leg. But as it came to him, he tried to bear down on it, to wrap his arms around it and bring her to the ground.

[12:17] Brandt rolls R7 (IoV:#e87d#): 25 - grapple attempt 2
[12:18] Minka rolls R5 (IoV:#3d3d#): 17 - didn't see that one coming.

[12:23] Minka (MinkaStasarski): He'd managed to spice things up alright - taking their fighting down a different path, unexpected as well. As he took a grip around her leg, bringing her down to the ground, it also reminded Minka why she'd never tried to outright kick at others before. It was a risky thing and left more of her exposed than she generally felt comfortable doing. And now here she was. Laid on her back, coughing against the force of the fall to her chest, she worked an arm beneath her, trying to bring her body to a side. She swung out with her other hand though, fingers curling so that the metal claws she wore could slash through clothing and skin and hooked a fist at his leg that was nearest to her.

[12:23] Minka rolls R9 (IoV:#91d8#): 21 - F8 + EotW: that was mean.
[12:24] Brandt rolls R6 (IoV:#d38e#): 19 - ur fayse is mean

[12:27] Brandt (Brandt Ashland): That was the thing about kicks; Brandt used high ones aimed for her waist, but the best sort were the ones that aimed for the legs, quick and vicious things that were more for making damage build than to win a fight. He felt her claws in his side, scoring him with more bright red lines, but at this range there was little damage that she could truly do. The same went for him, of course, but here he had the advantage. He clambered atop her and tried to slam his fist into her ribs, where he'd known his last kick had connected, driving it with as much vicious force as he could put behind the blow.

[12:28] Brandt rolls R7 (IoV:#132b#): 15 - aim for the weak spot!
[12:28] Minka rolls R5 (IoV:#e5c4#): 14 - oh gawd pls no

[12:30] Minka (MinkaStasarski) had got him again, and again she'd made him bleed. Her lips quirked upwards, threatening another smile, but before it could muster he lumbered over her and threw that vicious fist at her battered ribs. What came then, was a wheezing, gasping sound of pain from Minka. She curled in on herself as much she could, given the way he held above her, even rolled a little, letting go her sword to clamp a hand protectively over the offended place. And when he saw her face again, the damned girl was grinning wildly with muted and broken laughter wheezing from her, hoarse of sound. "You ... win."

[12:33] Brandt (Brandt Ashland): "Aye, that I did," Brandt replied with a fiendish grin. He bled from his face and he bled again from his torso, but it didn't stop him from setting his hands on her hips, holding her in place as he leaned down to kiss her, his mouth pursuing her own ardently. To the victor went the spoils, aye, and Brandt was certainly the victor. Minka had to be realistic about these things too. Such was the fate of the loser!

A playful spar takes place in the woods of the vale.

[12:20] Brandt (Brandt Ashland): The Isle felt much improved after the events of the previous week. The blight retreated to wherever it was that it'd come from, and the forest was clean and pure; life took time to return, but return it would -- and it was not without some bloodshed from he and Minka both, fighting in the woods to keep a few shadelings at bay while the greater fight occurred elsewhere. Now it was safe to wander and find other quiet places around the Isle, which is what they did.

[12:24] Minka (MinkaStasarski): "What do you think they were?" Minka asked him as they came near the water's edge of this particular stretch of forest. "Didn't quite seem like demons. Wraiths, you think?" She couldn't make heads or tails of the things truly, only they were unnatural and evil. Both of which were good enough reasons to see them dead, of course. But they'd been the sorts of things she could tell you didn't want to get close to in the fighting.

[12:31] Brandt (Brandt Ashland): "I say that they were demons," Brandt ventured. "Some strange kind of horror, maybe, but demons still." As they walked through the forest, he came to a stop and stretched, lifting his arms up and over his head. "They say a goddess came and made them weak enough to kill -- the druids that they came from. Can you imagine that? A god. Not far from where we stood. I hear they're to be feasting soon and I plan on being a part of it." A wolfish grin came over his lips.

[12:36] Minka (MinkaStasarski) nodded. Perhaps they were. She couldn't place them as anything else even if they didn't seem like any demon she'd encountered before. Minka certainly wouldn't claim to know the extent of what demonic creatures could do or become. Smiling a little, her gaze turned skywards as though contemplating the gods above and that one came so near. "So then we've found ourselves a land that gods choose to walk upon, Brandt. Let us only hope they walk with favor." It was a romantic notion - a great battle, great enough to catch the attention of a deity to join them, and a feast to celebrate it after. "Maybe I will join you." Maybe. Who knew where Minka's mood or mind would be when the day came. But then she grinned, brief and amused, with a gesture towards him as she said, "Don't get fat."

[12:41] Brandt (Brandt Ashland): "One god," he corrected. "Only one god walks here; the rest are barred, or so it's said. A jealous god, maybe, but you and I are no strangers to jealous gods. And aye, though you should try. Maybe give your tits some heft," Brandt grinned, and just in case he turned and pulled his shield from his back, standing there and holding it while he give it some consideration. "You should learn to use this, a shield," he said to her, careful and ready to use it in the event that she had a complaint about his jibe. "It would not be hard to find one that is not too heavy for your arm."

[12:47] Minka (MinkaStasarski) might not have said anything for the jibe about her breasts. But Brandt set his shield before him and her eyes narrowed with a subtle tilt of her head. "Why? So I can hide behind it like a coward?" she replied in a voice light and slightly poking. A hand went up to grasp her sword's hilt and she began to pull it round. "Ya have a complaint with my bosom, Brandt? How fitting you hide behind your shield now. Afraid of something, are ya?"

[12:51] Brandt (Brandt Ashland): "No, not particularly," Brandt replied, his grin widening. "I like your breasts. I like how they feel in my hand, and in my mouth," he gave her a wink as she began to draw her sword, then at the very last moment, he stepped forward and shoved it at her face with both hands, looking to smash it against her. "You're always so eager to shove them in my face, Minka!"

[12:51] Brandt rolls R7 (IoV:#c1d7#): 12 - in the fayce!
[12:52] Minka rolls R5 (IoV:#195b#): 21 - not the fayse

[12:55] Minka (MinkaStasarski) couldn't help the shadow of a smile that played about her lips, pleased and satisfied with the things he'd said. She didn't blush, but the color of her eyes grew deeper, thoughts of the very things he described heavy in her gaze. At least until he stepped toward her with the shield aimed straight for her face. She made a sound, half laughter and half irritation for what was said as he did and dodged aside, her arm bringing down her sword as she did.

[12:55] Minka rolls R9 (IoV:#2159#): 13 - F8 + EotW: smartass.
[12:56] Brandt rolls R6 (IoV:#3793#): 20 - not the sword!

[12:57] Brandt (Brandt Ashland) turned his shield and swatted her sword out of the air with it, then brought it back around to swing at her face again. Of course there was only so many times he could go for her face before it stopped being effective -- not that it was effective so far -- but the more he used it, the easier she'd find it to dodge. He only hoped that she wouldn't expect it a second time. "And your loins," he added. "You like putting that in my face too!"

[12:58] Brandt rolls R7 (IoV:#8712#): 15 - in the fayce again!
[12:58] Minka rolls R5 (IoV:#cc3e#): 11 - damnit, why?

[13:02] Minka (MinkaStasarski) thought little of how her sword was blocked. the more they fought together the more they knew what to expect and she was well aware of it. For what he said though, her eyes grew wide and the faintest pinkness tinged her face -- right before the shield came smashing into it to block the site. It wasn't like Brandt to speak of lewder topics with her and it worked, throwing her off guard. Her head spun a bit for the blow and when the shield no longer blocked her from his view she'd look to be quite seething -- both for the ploy and the blow and how effectively they'd worked. She lunged back towards him however, heated and quick with irritation rising forth. Her blade drew upwards to slash across his thigh and if looks could kill, her might have.

[13:02] Minka rolls R9 (IoV:#b161#): 16 - F8 + EotW: that was a low blow ]:
[13:03] Brandt rolls R6 (IoV:#4d77#): 18 - if it works!

[13:06] Brandt (Brandt Ashland) laughed and danced out of the way, delighting in her fury and the pinkness on her cheeks. Regardless of who won this bout, he knew that he'd not be disappointed after. Or she might spite him, who knew? "Is this not so? I would say you like my face. You shouldn't aim for it, aye?" Brandt stepped after her and shoved the shield at her chest, pushing with both hands so that it made good impact.

[13:06] Brandt rolls R7 (IoV:#3d39#): 25 - the shield is the weapon
[13:09] Minka rolls R5 (IoV:#3940#): 23 - OOF

[13:12] Minka (MinkaStasarski) had stepped back, fast even, to try to get out of the shield's way, but his reach was long and he moved with purpose and it struck her in the chest even so. She coughed a bit and shook her head, wheezing through the feel of battered ribs and lungs. "You like my breasts, aye? You shouldn't aim for them," was her retort and with it she kicked out at him with her leg. She'd get him one of these days with it, right?

[13:12] Minka rolls R9 (IoV:#451a#): 25 - F8 + EotW: eat foot and get outta my fayse!
[13:12] Brandt rolls R6 (IoV:#abc0#): 6 - no foot!

[13:14] Brandt (Brandt Ashland): "Not like they'd--.. oof!" So she did it. He'd not seen her leg coming for him from below his shield, but it knocked him clear back, putting him on his arse and blasting the air from his lungs. Unng. So much so that there wasn't much for him to do but sit there and wheeze.

[13:17] Minka (MinkaStasarski) did it! There was a moment of wild glee with a wicked smile held on her face as she watched him go stumbling back, the air knocked from his chest like he'd done to her so many times before. She'd learned not to take those moments of small victories around him though -- they always ended up with him hitting her back -- and so she lunged after him, following him down to the floor where she sat atop his chest that struggled to find breath, only hindering it further, and turned that wicked grin his way. "You'll learn."

[13:19] Brandt (Brandt Ashland): "Told--.. you.. that--.. you like to.. put it in my face.."

Passing an idle moment with an impromptu spar ... which ends rather quickly, Minka breaking Brandt's arm.

[08:12] It was difficult a difficult decision, figuring whether to leave the Isle and stay; both of them were drifters away from home and while the Isle was a place, they'd yet to make a home here. It was an interesting enough place, of course, one that he'd thought would lead to interesting things -- after all, it was a moving Isle -- but what others reasons were there for them to stay if there was no fight to be had? Brandt mused on this while they walked, thinking on himself, on Minka, on the concept of /them/. Snorting, he shook his head and shoved her away from him as they walked, as if it were his turn to take out his aggression on her.

[08:12] Brandt rolls R7 (IoV:#d686#): 22 - shove!
[08:14] Minka rolls R5 (IoV:#ff76#): 13 - hey!

[08:18] Minka (MinkaStasarski) hadn't been expecting that. Obviously, for she stumbled sideways and got tripped up in the roots of a nearby tree, arms flailing as she went down, trying to catch herself or break her fail. She'd yelped a bit in surprise - not for the shove but for the falling - and looked up to Brandt with roughed hands, a scraped knee, and an ankle twisted that didn't feel very good. Huffing out a breath through her nose, Minka gave him an accusing and mildly bemused look as she held out a hand for him to help her to her feet. Of course, when he did so, once her good foot was under her weight, she lunged towards him with a fist to his gut. Oh - she hadn't had the chance to take off her metal claws yet.

[08:18] Minka rolls R9 (IoV:#2f4a#): 13 - F8 + EotW: bitch pls
[08:19] Brandt rolls R6 (IoV:#2c96#): 15 - dont need more belly buttons

[08:21] Brandt (Brandt Ashland) merely grinned at her and reached down to help her to her feet, all the while expecting her to throw a fist at his gut. Not really, but he'd been expecting something, and so when she punched out at him, he sucked in his gut and stepped out of the way, holding onto her hand to try to swing her to the ground again. There. That was better -- no thinking, just fighting, and he could deal with the question of their residency on the Isle later. There was the pack here, still, but he couldn't decide if this was where they should set down roots for awhile. Damn, thinking again.

[08:21] Brandt rolls R7 (IoV:#b214#): 12 - swing your partner dosey do
[08:21] Minka rolls R5 (IoV:#1043#): 23 - dun wanna dance ]:

[08:25] Minka (MinkaStasarski) would have liked nothing better than to kick Brandt away when he didn't let go of her hand. But that required the use of both feet in equal measure and one was presently being favored. It would hinder her if she continued in that manner with it, but it would hinder her more if she set her weight down wrong and hurt it further. Luckily, though Brandt had kept hold of her hand, his swing to bring her back to the ground was disrupted by some agile footing to keep her body upright instead. She felt the twinges of pain in her ankle but powered through it, turning her body inward to his arm so she could bring an elbow down on the inside of it, the better to break his grip on her hand.

[08:25] Minka rolls R9 (IoV:#4880#): 26 - F8 + EotW: let go!
[08:27] Brandt rolls R6 (IoV:#9193#): 5 - uhoh

[08:54] Brandt (Brandt Ashland) grunted as she broke his arm, sending it limply to the side. He stared in surprise at the ruptured limb as it swung at an odd angle from the middle of his forearm. It wasn't as if he'd never had a broken bone before, but something about the way she'd spun her body in there and hit it with her elbow at just the right place made it snap almost cleanly in half. Grunting again, he merely looked at her and chuckled. "Think you win this one then," he offered, before they'd even got started. "Do you want to stay in this place, Valesk?"

[08:57] Minka (MinkaStasarski) hadn't meant to break his arm, only break his grip from her hand. But such was the way of sparring, sometimes you genuinely ended up hurt despite your efforts to keep that from occurring. She eyed the broken limb with a faintly surprised expression, but it was a grin she turned up to him, however brief, and a lift of her brows in celebration that she'd won this spar. "Stay?" she repeated, a frown immediately replacing the grin she'd worn. Minka looked around the forest and shrugged. "Maybe long enough to see where this island goes."

It's a fine autumn day and Minka is in a fair mood. She divests of her weapons at the edge of the woods and turns to Brandt to spar - it's been too long she's gone without one since she's had to wait for him to heal his broken arm.

[08:34] Minka (MinkaStasarski): Today was a good day, all things considered. The air was crisp and reviving, the scent of the woods thick and filled with the sweet pungency of resin, and Minka seemed in fine spirits. Why? Who could ever tell the reasons why one day should be fair for the garou when the next was hell? But today there seemed an ease to her form and a calming of the urgency to her gait and she even seemed quicker to give a smile. Yet despite all these things, when they reached a clearing of the woods not far from the waterside, Minka removed her metal claws, undoing the chains that held them about her wrists, and set her sword down to the side. Signs, of course, of her preparing to brawl for she did not ever relax without these things - always ready for some deadly surprise to strike out.

[08:44] Brandt (Brandt Ashland) eyed her warily. It wasn't that there was a chance Minka would try to catch him off guard someday, it was that it was an inevitability -- especially when he saw to it that he did the same to her from time to time. She began to divest herself of gear and so did he, his axe and shield thumping against the ground. She still had her knife, though, and he eyed that. Not that he wasn't handicapped -- his arm was still sore and healing. Aye, the bone had set, thanks to his being a wolf, but he wasn't quick to want to test it.

[08:50] Minka (MinkaStasarski) hadn't considered her knife in the divesting of things. Perhaps, despite her fair mood this day she couldn't truly relax or let down her guard. As it was though, when she turned to him and saw he'd removed his weapons and such as well, the faintest curving lifted a corner of her mouth and she walked to him. There was a questioning look that Minka gave to Brandt then, with a lofted brow and a shift of her glance to the man's arm. Was it better or well enough for them to have it out? It'd been quite a space of time that she'd waited. Yet without waiting for him to give answer, she shifted forward and hooked a fist, being thoughtful enough at least that she wasn't aiming for the weak spot where he likely still healed.

[08:50] Minka rolls R9 (IoV:#46c8#): 11 - F8 + EotW: so thoughtful, Minka is
[08:52] Brandt rolls R6 (IoV:#2b61#): 6 - so thoughtful

[08:55] Brandt (Brandt Ashland): Brandt thought his handicap fortuitous; there was valuable experience to be gained when fighting with one, particularly when the fight wasn't to the death. He would learn. He would also learn, as he raised his wounded arm to block her strike, that he needed to remember that his instincts would hurt him at times. He dropped his arm before her strike connected and was subsequently punished by a punch that snapped his head to the side. He turned toward it and threw a hook just under her own, knowing that if he took a hit, he needed to at least try to deal one in return.

[08:56] Brandt rolls R7 (IoV:#3ef9#): 7 - counter hook?
[08:56] Minka rolls R5 (IoV:#3c4f#): 15 - Should be working on reflexes, really, Minka

[09:00] Minka (MinkaStasarski) smirked a bit when she watched his injured arm lift and then jerk back down so as not to get further injured by her blow. She could have gone easier on him, but there was no reason not to push him, for practice whilst working through a fight when injured was a valuable skill, she knew. So when he hooked his fist towards her and she managed to dip herself out of the way, Minka brought herself right back in, bringing her fist up from underneath to try and take his breath from him.

[09:00] Minka rolls R9 (IoV:#86f6#): 22 - F8 + EotW: you don't need to breathe >.>
[09:01] Brandt rolls R6 (IoV:#5193#): 16 - pls to let breathe

[09:04] Brandt (Brandt Ashland): Brandt missed. How he missed when she'd been standing so close, he wasn't sure, until he realized that his punch had been slow. He'd thrown his bad arm again. Instincts, once again, throwing him off -- and he was punished for the second time by having the air blasted out of his lungs by a low punch. Gasping, he threw his body backward to try to make some distance between them, to try to regain his breath and balance.

[09:08] Minka (MinkaStasarski) wasn't having any of that. Nor, did she think, should she. A foe would not back down simply because Brandt had lost his breath, just as they wouldn't give concern to the fact that he was injured. So he threw himself backward to put distance between them and she followed, her steps more hurried to make up for the length of his stride that separated them. "No ya don't," she murmured with a hint of mischief to her voice. She leaped forward to close the distance he worked hard to create and jabbed her fist as she went.

[09:08] Minka rolls R9 (IoV:#753e#): 13 - F8 + EotW: no you dont! no backing away!
[09:13] Brandt rolls R6 (IoV:#dd36#): 10 - runnn

[09:15] Brandt (Brandt Ashland): It'd have been nice though, if she'd given him the opportunity to catch his breath and mount his own attack but she hadn't. In fact, she'd jumped forward and punched him in the face again, and this time, he knew, judging by his balance, that he'd not be able to regain it with the dizziness in his step. At this point, he'd be dead struggling about, so as he staggered back he held up a hand in surrender. "Ow."

[09:24] Minka (MinkaStasarski) was still charging forward with an arm pulling back for another blow. But she grew stiff and halted as the hand came up and cracked half a grin for his muttered word. Shaking out her arms and legs, Minka stepped away from Brandt. "I win," she said unnecessarily and with a cheeky ass smile.

A walk through the forest and Brandt strikes up conversation about their fights. Though it didn't stay talking for long.

[08:31] Brandt (Brandt Ashland): "You know, we never talk about it," Brandt intoned wryly as they walked through the forest again. He was appreciative of the crisp air and autumnal colors and for a moment, he just let his thoughts drift before he looked back to her. "Fighting. We could just talk and you could tell me of your tricks -- and I would tell you of mine." Was Brandt trying to get away from sparring? Was the swiftness of Minka's last win still fresh in his mind? His sore arm? He didn't give any indication of it as he walked along.

[08:36] Minka (MinkaStasarski): Maybe Minka hadn't been planning on sparring Brandt this morning. Maybe she was content to simply walk along with him and enjoy the forest that they moved through. After all, it wasn't like they typically sparred everyday, right? And yet when Brandt spoke she looked towards him with a look that was vaguely amused. "Our foes will not tell their secrets to us, Sjáǫnd," she answered. "We must learn them as we fight. This you know."

[08:42] Brandt (Brandt Ashland) grunted and gave her a sidelong glance. "We are not foes, Minka," he said, grinning slightly. "There should be no reason you cannot share your secrets with me. Do we not share everything between us?" He took this moment to reach over and set his hand on her butt, gripping it as she walked. "There is much between us that can't be demonstrated or used within our spars -- things that we wouldn't be able to prevent hurting each other. Have you no such tricks?"

[08:49] Minka (MinkaStasarski): The amusement worn vaguely upon her face turned to something vaguely unamused when Brandt hefted his words with a grip of her ass. It was wry, the look she gave him next, but she shrugged and said only, "No tricks. Just rage." Then she set her hand upon his arm, fingers lightly moving over where it had been broke. "Talk then, Brandt? Have you so readily given up trying to prove your fight a match to my own?" Baiting words if ever Minka tried to bait, for it'd quickly grown apparent that Brandt was in no way less a fighter than she was.

[08:51] Brandt (Brandt Ashland) scowled. "Hardly," he intoned, then with his grip on her ass, he lifted her and launched her at the tree in front of them. Considering how light she was and how big his hand was to her tight arse, it shouldn't have been a problem, if only he could get the trajectory right.

[08:52] Brandt rolls R8 (IoV:#2a03#): 10 - midget-capult.
[08:52] Minka rolls R5 (IoV:#a36a#): 6 - omg that's not fair LOL

[08:56] Minka (MinkaStasarski): And so Minka went flying. She hadn't seen /that/ one coming and there was nothing but surprise on her face as she soared backwards into the tree. At least until she /hit/ the tree. Then there was the startled pain and action, Minka swiftly getting herself to her feet as she slid down the bark. Of course, not much more came after for she teetered a bit to one side with an arm wrapped about her torso, body struggling to draw in breaths.

[08:59] Brandt (Brandt Ashland) stood, doubled over in loud, barking laughter, the sort that accompanied tears of joy and mirth. He couldn't believe that'd worked -- the way she'd flown! He knew he should've followed up, securing the win with a few well placed and smothering punches, but--.. gods! The way she'd /flown/! Wiping--.. aye, wiping tears from his eyes, he only held up a hand and looked to her, still.. cackling.

[09:01] Minka (MinkaStasarski) had forgotten just how strong Brandt truly was. They seemed so evenly paced in their fights most days that it was easy to forgot where she held agile swiftness he held brute strength. The world was settling to rights in her vision after a moment, which gave her a clear view of the mad cackling garou before her. For which Minka scowled with eyes narrowed and ran for him.

[09:02] Minka rolls R9 (IoV:#e79c#): 13 - F8 + EotW: tackling the mad cackler?
[09:02] Brandt rolls R6 (IoV:#9159#): 19 - hahahahahha

[09:04] Brandt (Brandt Ashland) spun out of the way and kicked his foot out, looking to trip her as she ran past, cackling all the while. She was so much easier to deal with when she was angry, so much more predictable and--.. gods she'd soared! If she'd had wings, she might've up and disappeared! He laughed and laughed and didn't even care if she'd tripped or not.

[09:04] Brandt rolls R8 (IoV:#bae2#): 10 - trip down leafstrewn way?
[09:05] Minka rolls R5 (IoV:#6264#): 18 - god damnit!

[09:06] Minka (MinkaStasarski) didn't get to tackle the man down like she'd desired but she managed to steer clear of that foot jutted out as she ran by. No matter, Minka stopped up short, weight shifting and body turning, with a backhand swinging out where his face should be. She'd smack the laughter right out of the man if she could. Still cackling at her, the bastard.

[09:07] Minka rolls R9 (IoV:#23bc#): 19 - F8 + EotW: this just ain't Minka's day lol mad backhand to Brandt's fayse?
[09:36] Brandt rolls R6 (IoV:#b559#): 16 - no smack

[09:38] Brandt (Brandt Ashland) continued to laugh even as he reeled from the force of her backhand. It was too good, and he didn't even care that she'd hit him. In fact, this was no spar at all, just a--.. a.. it was a good day. He was still smarting and rubbing his cheek when he beamed at her, and he figured that if she were in the mood now, he could oblige. He'd raised his fist to punch at her.. then doubled over in laughter again. Nope, no punching yet!

[09:48] Minka (MinkaStasarski): It felt good to get that backhand hit on Brandt. Even helped to cool her ire a little bit. Enough, at any rate, so that while he kept on laughing she didn't feel the need to continue bludgeoning him for it. In fact, as he raised a fist like he meant now to spar ... only to double back over in another fit of laughter, Minka huffed a few breaths and set her hands on her hips, eyeing him incredulously and with an arched brow over a /very/ faint smile.

[09:51] Brandt (Brandt Ashland): Aye, it'd not have been justice if she'd not hit him. He straightened and exhaled slowly, trying to get a hold of his laughter and his amusement before it went too far. Or was it already there? Was her faint smile a murderous one? Or one of actual amusement? It /had/ been funny though. Once more, he let out a breath and shook his head. "It's a good day."

Apparently there'd been some disgusting altercation the night prior that neither Minka nor Brandt had been able to rectify through force. So with the two garou equally frustrated with the situation and each other, they, well, they fight of course!

[08:24] Brandt (Brandt Ashland): "You should have let me kill him," Brandt said for the fourth time that morning. The ninth since the night before, when they'd walked past an alley and a young boy had turned to face them, gasping as a stream of his semen had landed on her foot. Apparently, he'd been watching another couple, a gap-toothed whore servicing a man, while masturbating furiously. Brandt's resulting roar had scared all three away, and he'd scarcely had time to pull his axe off before all three had vanished. He'd been about to give chase, but Minka had stopped him. Brandt snorted restlessly.

[08:42] Minka (MinkaStasarski) could have done without the constant reminders of that particular moment. And so for the ninth time since the night before she rolled her eyes with a growing sense of irritation. "I'd his seed on my foot and ya thought it was for /you/ to kill him?" Came her acerbic reply. She'd stopped him alright, only so that she could go after the boy herself - but instead had got caught up in the argument that ensued with Brandt about her stopping him from loosing his wrath and everything that came after. And the boy'd time to cleanly get away.

[08:48] Brandt (Brandt Ashland) muttered something obscene under his breath. "Alright," he agreed sulkily, if only because the boy had gotten away intact. "If we find him, though," his voice trailed off and he shrugged. Breathing out again through his nose, he walked over to a tree and kicked it, showering them with falling leaves. "I want to fight. Let's fight," he said, figuring it would do them some good to spend some energy on it.

[08:51] Minka (MinkaStasarski) was just as wound up as Brandt, quite possible more so considering it'd been her foot the offense occurred on. When he turned towards the tree, she'd followed after and had already been considering slamming him into it or slapping him upside his head or any other number of ventings of her frustration. As such, as soon as he spoke of a desire to fight Minka moved to oblige, so that she'd already moved to shove him back harshly into the tree before he finished saying 'Let's fight.'.

[08:51] Minka rolls R9 (IoV:#ee43#): 22 - F8 + EotW: ok fight then
[08:53] Brandt rolls R6 (IoV:#0fde#): 25 - hey wait I wasnt ready!

[08:55] Brandt (Brandt Ashland) grunted as she pushed off of him, but he managed to maintain his footing and went no where. Aye, they'd need this after that -- what kind of stupid brat stood there jerking it while he watched someone else? If nothing else, he'd have at least liked to have cuffed the pup into next week. Snarling, he stepped forward and shoved Minka back, looking to show her exactly how it was done.

[08:55] Brandt rolls R8 (IoV:#cb82#): 17 - see how much you like it
[08:56] Minka rolls R5 (IoV:#471a#): 22 - maaaannn

[08:59] Minka (MinkaStasarski): The problem was that Minka became more of a loose cannon when she genuinely grew upset. She'd pushed him, and to no effect, which only served to irritate her further, causing her to bare her teeth and growl at him as he went to shove her in return. She turned her body aside so the shove glanced off her, stepping into him to offset what little bounceback it might have caused. Then she turned back towards him and with a lift of her knee and a grasp of her hand to his shoulder to shove him down, set about trying to knee him in the gut.

[08:59] Minka rolls R9 (IoV:#320d#): 14 - F8 + EotW: maybe Minka's pmsing too?
[09:01] Brandt rolls R6 (IoV:#9a21#): 15 - hot

[09:02] Brandt (Brandt Ashland) bared his teeth with a snarl and when she tried to knee him, he crossed his arms over his stomach and caught her knee with his forearms. Growling, he bent his head down and then pushed it forward, aiming a headbutt at her face and that pretty nose of hers. What they needed was a brawl, a nice, bloody brawl.

[09:02] Brandt rolls R8 (IoV:#58f0#): 22 - nose wont be so pretty anymore!
[09:03] Minka rolls R5 (IoV:#64aa#): 6 - damnit

[09:06] Minka (MinkaStasarski) swore as her vision went white with pain and a warmth ran down her face, telling her he'd broke her nose. She stumbled back from the force of the blow with a hand that lifted to grasp hold of his shoulder, arm, face, anything - and ending up tangled in his hair. It helped to center her, let her know roughly where he was in relation to her. And as she shook her head to try to clear it from the rebounding pain, she swung out wildly with her other hand, trying to get a shot in in return.

[09:07] Minka rolls R9 (IoV:#8709#): 21 - F8 + EotW: that hurt ]:
[09:08] Brandt rolls R6 (IoV:#2e54#): 5 - huehuehue

[09:09] Brandt (Brandt Ashland) felt cartilage crunch against his skull with some satisfaction. She'd broken his arm once, he remembered, and breaking her nose would've been a nice way to pay her back for that one! He'd little time to enjoy it, however, as she swung and clocked him on the jaw, dislocating it and spinning him mildly sideways, only held up becaus she was holding onto him. He made a soft chuffing sound, then lauched off his feet at her, trying to take her down to the ground with a tackle.

[09:10] Brandt rolls R8 (IoV:#ed19#): 10 - tackle!
[09:10] Minka rolls R5 (IoV:#93bd#): 24 - uh oh ...

[09:15] Minka (MinkaStasarski) had her vision clear up and the pain stop blinding her sense right about the time her fist made contact with his face. She narrowed her eyes and gave the faintest smile, brief and full of vindication. She was watching him now though, watching as he stumbled and disentangling her hand from his hair while he did, and when he made the sudden lunge for her she leapt nimbly aside, wiping some of the blood from her face with the back of her hand. She turned to follow his forward momentum, watching the way he'd tried to regather himself after not having her to rush into. But her pause was quickly over, her body moving to lunge directly after him - trying to tackle the man from behind as he dealt with the whiff of his own attempted tackle of her.

[09:15] Minka rolls R9 (IoV:#e85f#): 27 - F8 + EotW: is minka a back monkey now?
[09:15] Brandt rolls R6 (IoV:#8779#): 21 - straighten up and fly right

[09:17] Brandt (Brandt Ashland) went down face first into the leaves and brush as she pushed onto him from behind, elbows scraping as he scrambled. His jaw, still hanging from one side, wobbled as he threw an elbow back trying to dislodge her, or hit her in the face, or something that would make her hurt enough so that she wouldn't be able to sink her hooks into him and he'd not be able to do something about it.

[09:17] Brandt rolls R8 (IoV:#deac#): 9 - eat elbow!
[09:17] Minka rolls R5 (IoV:#ca5b#): 15 - pls no

[09:21] Minka (MinkaStasarski) closed her eyes against another reverberation of pain that shot through her brain from her nose as they made impact with the ground. It was through sheer luck his elbow missed her, for she'd tucked her head against his back a moment while she did. She gasped, then scrambled up his back, one knee settling on either side of him beneath her, then lifted her torso and made another grab for his hair, to lift his head and slam it back into the ground with.

[09:21] Minka rolls R9 (IoV:#aa92#): 23 - F8 + EotW: Minka isn't playing very nice.
[09:21] Brandt rolls R6 (IoV:#3624#): 16 - gets brained?

[09:23] Brandt (Brandt Ashland) felt her lift his head, then watched as a tree root got bigger and bigger until his head was smashed against it. His body gave a sudden jerk, then went slack as his consciousness faded. Nothing like having a little mid-morning nap, aye? Guess she wins this one.

[09:26] Minka (MinkaStasarski) definitely won this one. And as if that wasn't clear already with the way she felt Brandt go limp beneath her, the she-wolf slowly straightened herself, rising and stepping away from his body with a smugly muttered, "I win."

Today was Minka's lucky day ... perhaps? She ran across the disgusting boy from before. Which gave her a chance to show him that what he did had not at all been appreciated by her.

[10:06] SM: Where was the Vale supposed to be anyway? Coral wandered aimlessly through the woods, looking for a trail or some melodic strain of song on the air that would signify that he was close. He wanted to see elves, real elves -- but more specifically, he wanted to see an elf bitch. He'd heard that some of them were quite risque in the way that they dressed, and, aye well, he wanted to see. Just a peek at that famously silky skin, those plush lips, those willowly limbs. There was a stirring in his loins at the thought -- which is why he'd chosen to leave the path. He didn't /want/ any of the elves to know he was coming to.. watch.

[10:11] Minka (MinkaStasarski): Unfortunately for Coral, he wasn't the only one wandering this stretch of woods. Even more unfortunate, the other person who did was one who had reason to see harm done the boy and noticed his scent on the wind. There wasn't really any question as to whether Minka would track down the person to whom the scent belonged. And as she tucked herself away within the shadows of the trees and brush she was only pleased that Brandt had not been near her just then to take the moment as his own. Slowly, quietly, she moved through the forest, tracking Coral down, and when he came into view finally, she hovered a moment under cover of the ivy about a tree as she watched him, choosing her next move.

[10:14] SM: Coral stomped through the underbrush, alerting everything within a league that he was there. Of course he thought he'd just, you know, sneak up on the elves and that they wouldn't notice, but such were the dreams of the immortal youth. "Gods feck it, th' feck'm I?" he asked himself and any gods that might've been listening. That Valeska, maybe. He'd seen her statue and, well, he'd thought about her often. Ardently and often. He'd no idea that he was being stalked, however. He wore a simple green tunic with matching breeches, muddied and stained and smelling heavily like sweat and stable. Horses smelled better than he did, to be honest, so if Minka just followed the stench, it'd be easy enough.

[10:21] Minka (MinkaStasarski) did seem to have an easy time of it in tracking the boy down. And though she'd paused to watch him a moment and consider what she might do next, her moment of consideration was brief. Carefully, Minka pulled the knife from her belt and carefully, she edged her way around the tree and through the brush. She kept her body low and slunk her way towards him and when she felt she was near enough that she might strike, she moved, body lunging and arm snaking out with the dagger firmly in her grip.

[10:21] Minka rolls R5 (IoV:#8de1#): 6 - You even sneaky today Minka?
[10:25] Storymaker rolls R6 (IoV:#80c9#): 11 - coral is very good at stealth wanking

[10:30] SM: Everyone had a talent and Coral was no exception. In some twisted, reverse-voyeur way, he knew that someone had seen him and he whirled around in time to dodge out of the way of the dagger that flashed toward him. Really, he just backed up and stumbled, but he'd stumbled out of death's arcing path. He loosed a shrill scream and fumbled for the sword at his belt, drawing it as he faced the beautiful woman that assailed him. All at once, he felt himself harden, then swallowed. "Wh' th' 'ell lady?" he cried, holding the sword out in front of him. It took him a moment of looking at her when he realized he recognized her! She was the one he'd splooged on her foot! Gods, he'd imagined her foot afterward, using it to fuel his solitary escapades. Maybe if he beat her.. then.. with another shrill scream, he lunged at her, swatting at her side with his sword.

[10:31] Storymaker rolls R2 (IoV:#0a56#): 9 - coral will impress you with his skillz
[10:33] Minka rolls R5 (IoV:#6c34#): 20 - ugh why aren't you dead yet?

[10:38] Minka (MinkaStasarski) couldn't have been lucky enough to slay the bugger at the start, could she? No matter. He stumbled out the way, screamed - shrilly, at that - and then whacked at her with his sword. What was worse, she noticed the moment when awareness passed over the boy's face. When he realised he'd known her - and that meant he knew how it was she was familiar to him. Which made Minka mad. Forgetting the use of the knife -- only really worthwhile in the moment of a sneaky and underhanded attempt to end the boy's life, Minka slid it back through her belt and removed her sword instead. She said nothing to the boy however. Her expression hardened with a subtle edge of disgust to be seen within it, and she moved slowly and purposefully toward him again, this time bearing down upon him with her sword the moment she drew near.

[10:38] Minka rolls R9 (IoV:#ec69#): 26 - F8 + EotW: Minka really doesn't like you, Coral.
[10:42] Storymaker rolls R6 (IoV:#3d56#): 9 - Coral really likes you though!

[10:45] SM: Well, that was it. Minka's sword opened up his torso and a good bit besides, dropping him to his knees and then his side, gaping at the wound in his stomach. That was not how this was supposed to be! He was supposed to be a hero! She was supposed to be impress with his swordplay and fall in love with him! He gasped like a fish, hands holding his guts, eyes wide with stunned surprise. "Don't.. kill.. me.. please.." he begged, his voice like a sucking wound.

[10:48] Minka (MinkaStasarski) could have killed him. Gods knew she more than wanted to for what he'd done. But should she do so? It was a moment of great confusion, lacking any clarity within the crazed garou's mind and the more she tried to determine what was right, the more muddled it all became. And the more irate became Minka. In the end, she satisfied herself with the sight of him torn open by her sword, bleeding and begging on the ground for his life. Oh, and with a rather vicious kick of her foot along his ribs as well. After which, she said a number of unpleasant things to the boy in nordic and turned on her heel to storm away.