The black wolf quite appreciated the quietness of the wood. Not a creature seemed to be stirring, except for an occasional night-hunting bird, diving down on unsuspecting prey that would screech, but... just for a brief moment. Still, The Devil had not made his way into his own packlands, but he cared not.

He was about to settle down for a few hours and rest his legs, when a nearby splash alerted him. His ears flicked back with interest, and he lifted his muzzle slightly into the air, but the breeze was carrying his scent, not bringing theirs. With a low growl of irritation, he slipped between the trees and approached the river bank, arriving just in time to see a white and black female emerging from the cool water.

What are you doing? He snapped, the fur along his back bristled and his tail stiff with anger.

He hated it when others faced him like she did, hated being challenged. Yes, I'm sure, The Devil retorted as he turned his face to avoid the cold spray from the female's coat. It was even more infuriating to him that after the female faced him she thought it was perfectly safe to just sidle away and free herself of water droplets. The Devil clicked his teeth and lashed his tail, before taking a savage snap at the wet female's flank.

Don't turn your back on me, he snarled, white canines visible beneath lifted lips.

He drew blood from her flank, her fur caught between the rows of his teeth. But no sooner had he done that did she swing around and her teeth find their mark on his cheek. The flesh there was soft, and easily torn on her canines. The Devil did not flinch, but his lips pulled back in a hard line and his snarl escalated, his piercing red eyes turning to lance into hers. Like a cat, he lashed his tail, and his muscled rolled as he shifted his weight from foreleg to foreleg.

I'll do whatever I want, he hissed between clenched teeth. His ears were thrust forward and he stood to his full height. Moments passed, both opponents facing each other. Without warning, The Devil lunged forward at her. Forelegs outstretched and jaws opened, aiming at her face. His intent now was to force her onto her back, into submission, it was not a killing intent or his aim would have been lowered.

She was quick on her paws, able to dodge his frontal assault and take his weight against her shoulder. It stopped his momentum, but her small mass could not push his larger mass back far enough for comfort. He felt her teeth slice through some of the soft flesh of his stomach, shallow cuts thankfully, and he jumped to the side, so that their bodies were positioned a ‘T’. He lifted his front quarters up, his weight all upon his hind legs as he boxed at her ribs, his body coming forward with the same intent he had with the other attack — get her down.

It occurred to him that she would not be an easy victory. The female was lithe, quick, and seemed to have some experience in close combat.

He had resigned to the fact that he would not be able to overpower her without weakening her first. She was more formidable and tactical than she looked, and foolishly The Devil had exposed himself to the same attack she pulled last time — this time however, her teeth sank deeper and tore longer strips into his soft underside flesh. She succeeded, as well, in the second part of her attack, her force throwing the black male off his already compromised balance, and down he fell to his side. But he was quick, determined, and hastily recollected his feet.

He wasted no time in thrusting with his hind legs towards the female's face once more, looking to ram her in the jaw or head enough to give her a few seconds daze so that he could further his attack, take advantage of her momentary weakness.

His plan worked — his attack left her momentarily weak — but she recovered just as fast as he could launch himself at her. Both of them met each other front on, her teeth slicing through flesh on his neck and shoulder on the same side she had been attack all along. He noted this now as being a cunning strategy, to cripple one's opponent on one side rather than spreading attacks, balancing them. It worked too, The Devil felt drained, it was hard for him to cope with all the damage on one side, but adrenaline kept him going.

While she chewed his neck he swung his muzzle down on hers, jaws opened and looking for a strong, fierce grab. It was getting down to the now-or-never, both opponents weakening, his strenght collapsing on his left. He wanted to wrestle her down by grabbing her muzzle, a sensitive area, and wrenching her neck around while dragging her down. He wanted to, more or less, bring her to her knees with pain.

At last, his attack had succeeded without fail, and the black wolf had the female where he wanted her, crippled beneath him. He held her there, waiting for her to pull some cunning move on him and continue the attack, but she didn't, it was as if she had submitted, just waiting to see what he would do next. But what she didn't know, was that he would do nothing next. After a few moments that insured him that the battle was won, he released her snout, and spryly sprung away, distancing himself before she could grab him.

He waited, though he wanted to leave now, to see if she was bent on continuing...

OUT OF CHARACTER

Good thread :P


IN CHARACTER

She left, as he had expected her too. She was a determined fighter however, and the black wolf knew that their conflict was not over now. It would resume at a later date when both were healed enough to go for another round. He too, left the area of battle, walking stiffly in the direction of Silver Creek, a sour taste in his mouth to fit his sour mood. He would not go directly to his packlands however, he would find somewhere to stop and rest his weariness, somewhere to cleanse his wounds and set them healing.