A New Face.... (Super open ^^)

[Maxodis]

Senses heightened by the wild rush of adrenaline that was coursing through his veins, all Dax perceived seemed to occur disturbingly slowly. He watched as his thrown knife pierced the bird's flesh, saw the brief spurt of blood at the contact. Crying out in surprise and pain, the falcon altered it's dive, soaring high above Dax. His momentary elation was quickly hampered by the realization that though he was still airborne, he was several feet above the ground, his forward momentum expired.

He fell ungracefully and landed unceremoniously onto his back. His breath was immediately knocked out of him, and his back arched as he writhed with pain. Several seconds and deep gouges in the ground made by agonized clawing later, He was able to force his lungs out of shock long enough to take a revitalizing breath. Finding himself prone, He propped himself up on an elbow, suppressing the need to cough.


"I think you won that one."

He tried a smile at his twin's remark, and found he was at least partially successful. They had each saved the other's life so often that expressing gratitude no longer sufficed. Still, he expected more from his brother than such a casual remark.

"I had better. You make a splendid wall, you know that?"

He coughed a bit, finding that the rest of his body was dropping out of shock, that his limbs were remembering their existence. He started to rise, finding his legs still unstable.

"Help me up, would you? Never let me do something like that again."

[Rocky]

OOC: BTW, his clothing is fur. Not just his gaunlets.

BIC:

"Ow!" Springheel's hand hurt, as his fist hit the beak. "Ouch, man. That really hurt." He shook his hand as if trying to knock the pain off of him. Then, he heard the challenge, issued by the weasel.

Springheel looked over his shoulder, his gaze distant. Did she just challenge him? As if to confirm his thoughts, Zephyr shrugged, "She challenged you, mate. You could take her." Springheel nodded, though his thoughts weren't the same as his actions. Years of fighting had taught him never to underestimate anybody. Ever. "First of all, it's Springheel Jakk. Not Springheel the fox. I don't walk around calling you, Shadowsleek the weasel. or, or, Omri the ferret... Or whatever that falcon's name is, the falcon. Please rememer that."

Behind him, Zephyr grinned, but Springheel was being completely serious.

"Nonethless," he mumbled to himself, then declared, "I accept!"

Zephyr ceased fighting, and concentrated on his friend. "Alright now. Is everyone else gonna fight around us, or what?" Springheel asked, looking around, taking in his surroundings. The falcon had two arrows and a knife in him, the crow had a bloody beak, and an arrow in him, Zephyr had a gash on his chest, and the ferret brother's seemed unscathed. "I don't think you're little group therapy session is faring so well, mate. I don't think they're fighting fit." He winked at the weasel thief, then walked closer.

"Seeing as how you called your duel out so... Formally... What are your terms? Mine are none. Fight with what you want, even involve a friend. I can take two." He chuckled lightly, then looked up, "That was a joke, by the way. But nonetheless, I have no terms, though if you win... You can have whatever you want. Also, I don't want anything from you, except maybe your weapon." He looked her straight in the eye, showing the thief that he was done.

Springheel twirled the sword, and tossed it from hand to hand, waiting for Shadowsleek's move.

Then, the silver furred fox took a formal bow, "On your move."

[Shadess]

Shadowsleek thought for a moment before saying
"if i win" she knew if was a 60 40 chance, but she has to take it "i want to leave, without your friend over there shooting at us, alright, or any of your ferret friends" the weasel glanced at both the bleeding Airswipe and Midnightmoon "and that" her mind buzzed of what Midnightmoon said before about his fur clothing... but she didn't want to seem coward "you dare not use any more sarcasm against a bird" with that, she bowed with her curved sword in front of her. Shadowsleek stood straight,
"you first" she hissed, she wasn't going to charge at him again, pointless for he could to just what he did before.

[lorki]

"A splendid wall..." he repeated, "Well you made a good attempt at flight, but work on the landing maybe." He stepped forward to his brothers side, still breathing a bit heavily he bent down and wrapped his arm around Dax's back, gripping his side firmly he helped to lift his brother off the ground and onto his feet. His surprise as his brothers sudden drastic movement was dwarfed by silent admiration for the lifesaving action. He was impressed- knowing that particular trick would never be something he himself would be able to agilely pull off... or even think of. He stood beside him still warily looking at the group that had formed around Springheel and the weasel.

"Shadowsleek..." he said, turning to exchange glances with his brother, "I wasn't aware it was a good idea, as a thief, to allow your name to be thrown around so much." he muttered, still quite ruffled by the weasel and her sudden turn from peaceful to fighter, to peaceful and now once again back to fighter.

[Maxodis]

Wincing, he regained his feet with the help of his brother. Placing a firm paw to Omri's shoulder until his head would stop spinning, He wavered a bit, still unsteady.

"No, Mother never really taught me how to land. I was hoping that falcon there would be so kind as to oblige."

He laughed softly to himself. It hurt his sore back. Deciding to focus on something else, he looked to the two combatants. Well, potential combatants. They hadn't done anything yet. Dax wondered to himself why the Weasel had chosen that peculiar fox as an opponent. It felt as if he was missing a detail, but his mind was too scattered and airy for him to seize the thought. He decided that his fall had made him slightly unhinged.

[Rocky]

"I can't say Ill never be sarcastic to another bird again, mate, but I'll agree with the other terms. You lose, I get your blade. I lose, you get what you want." He was already guessing it was a done deal, seeing as how her last words basically sealed it.

You first

"Oh. So unwise." He said with a grin on his face. "Im going to enjoy this." The fox, in one fluid motion, drew his dagger, and before his hand was fully up, he had it thrown at the weasel thief. The way it was traveling, if it hit, it would bury itself up to its pommel in the middle of her chest. Before the dagger was all the way through the air, Springheel ran at the weasel, with his sword hand hanging behind him, then as he was in front of her, he whipped th blade around with such speed and force, it would be hard to see.

"Wait... This isn't my style... Im not one for blades." The fox's next actions proved that he was, indeed, crazy, for he dropped the blade to the ground, and held up just his fists. "C'mon. Bring it."

[Shadess]

Shadowsleek narrowly jumped side ways from the dagger but it went right threw her cloak and tore a piece with it. Her eyes blazed with confusion, why on earth would you drop a sword in battle? Yet he had protection; she did not so she could not dare do the same. The weasel jumped back and started to circle with a good distance between them, looking for a weak spot or some where she could hit without fur getting in the way, but the only spot she found was his tail. She circled him to be behind him and dashed towards him, swishing downwards with her blade to cut off his silver tail.

[Rocky]

Springheel anticipated the move greatly. The minute she swung down at his tail, he spun around, and lashed out with his fist, aiming for the side of her face. He jumped back then, and waited for her move again. Let's say that this fox wasn't one for starting moves, besides... He didn't really want to fight, he'd just dodge, and block until she got weary, then he'd attack when she was vulnerable... Like she was.

"C'mon, thief. You gotta be smarter than that." He grinned. He jumped up and down from one foot to the other, "Remember. Always keep one eye on your opponent. You never know what'll happen."

[Shadess]

Shadowsleek got a bit winded as she rolled to her side and stood up again, rubbing her cheek. Baring her teeth she held ehr sword ready and walked a bit closer before giving a kick at the ground and aiming to kcik dirt in his eyes, as she did she flung on of her daggers right at his neck in an angry way, if she kept her distance, he couldn't punch her, but he could still throw things at her. She felt like this would turn more into a battle of death instead of mercy if she wasn't careful,all she had to say was that word and the battle would be over. She shivered and watched the income of her attack.

[Rocky]

Springheel gasped as dirt was thrown into his eyes. He pawed furiously at his now burning eyes, and only by pure luck, did the dagger miss him. He moved slowly to the right, and since his arms were up pawing at his eyes, the dagger hit his gauntlet, bouncing off harmlessly.

"Cheap shot!" Zephyr called from the sidelines. Springheel nodded, finally able to get the dirt out of his eyes, "Aye. Very cheap indeed. I have half a mind to run you through, but alas, that ain't my style. I dont kill for sport, though... You could be an exception." He said, grinning.

The fox cracked his neck, then stared at the weasel, hatred burning in his eyes. "You acted formal in declaring the duel. Now do something fair for once, alright? Actually fight fair." Springheel snapped, suddenly. The fox stood his ground, no less, still waiting on her move to get up close.

Nah, wait. Spring had a trick up his sleeve. He turned around sharply, and surveyed the scene. There were trees all around. Good. And Springheel was a master at acrobatics. He might be able to pull this off.

He ran the a tree close to Shadowsleek, jumped on the trunk, then bounced off, similar to what Dax did with Omri, and drew his knife in the air, then jumped at Shadow, his knife seeking any part of her body.

[Shadess]

Shadowsleek gritted her teeth, talking insults would be pointless, its not going to weaken the enemy, its not going to stop them fighting, so whats the point? The weasel bared her pointed front teeth in a small smile and prepared herself for any move he would throw at her.

Her quick reflexes made her draw another dagger with the other paw and leap to the right as he lunged at her, she gave a skillfully swing of her sword at his tail again and with the dagger she aimed to set it right into his footpaw.

Shadowsleek landed on her feet and then looked at her shoulder with a wince, the dagger had set its mark.

Gritting her teeth she took it out and took a deep breath as she clutched her shoulder with a dark look. More then ever did she want to tear her cloak and wrap it around her shoulder, but that would waste time and give the quick fox another chance to strike. she flicked her tail and tried hard to ignore the searing pain.

[Rocky]

Springheel flicked his tail to the right, away from the blade, but since he was concentrating on his tail, he didn't see the dagger plunge into his foot. "I really need to start wearing thicker boots." He mumbled.

The pain hurt, a lot, but his boot slowed it down a bit, but it still did its damage. Now he couldn't move as fast or agile as before. No more jumpng around and all that. "Hooray!" Springheel said, rather loudly, his voice dripping sarcasm. It was an odd choice that he chose to shout that, but Springheel really didn't care... It was in his personality to do things like that.

He gritted his teeth and stared at the thief, "You're never going to get my tail." He said quite calmly, though he was seething inwardly. He held his fists up, clenched them, then unclenched them, then re-clenched them, then he stared at the weasel, grinning a big grin, "You're move, weasel."

[Shadess]

Shadowsleek just contiued to bare her teeth in a little grin and look at him, thinking of another move, yes, now he was going to take extra care for his tail, so only if great luck swept apon her which, wouldn't be with her. She couldn't get close, and repeating a move couldn't work either.

That was when she realized she was a better defender then attacker

The weasel shrugged to herself and picked up one of her fallen daggers from before. 'THINK' was the only thing going threw her head, she needed another attack plan, and fast. The goal for her was to take as many small swipes until the enemy realized that they had taken enough damage and say mercy, but she didn't think Springheel would give up that easily.

Taking a deep breath the weasel flicked her tail again and prayed her idea would work. She walked back words until she found his sword form before, grabbing it in her bent position she threw it, aiming for his other leg.

Shadowsleek stood up quickly and prepared for any rage or counter attacks he set plan form the shot.

[Rocky]

Springheel returned the weasel's smile, with a smile of his own. He was thinking that this thief wasnt just a thief, and finally the curiosity overtook him, and he voiced his opinion, "You just a thief? Or are you a marauder?" He shrugged carelessly, and looked at his feet.

He thought he was winning, but then again, anyone in a fight thought they were winning, right? He thought of all his actions he did, and oddly, gave a bow, and just as he did it, she threw his sword at him. He looked up and over his shoulder at the blade that was oddly stuck in a tree.

"There goes a perfectly good blade." Zephyr muttered from the sidelines.

Springheel sighed deeply, "Why do you throw cheap shots?" He asked the weasel. "Right now, its really making me want to quit." He winked. He readied his fists again, then sighed and dropped them again, "Look. This is really getting boring. Want to just call it a draw before you get hurt?"

[Shadess]

Shadowsleek, now out of her cramped mind of thinking of a plan, caught the words he said of a marauder "close guess, if not, your right on the hit, marauders, thieves all the same in my eyes, just one is a better fighter"

Look. This is really getting boring. Want to just call it a draw before you get hurt?"

The weasel stuck her sword in the ground and laughed "boring, aye? not suprised a young one like yourself would say so. If i am right, Cheap shots are beauties. Im suprised they call tricks "cheap" poor spots all em cheap, there just moves you do when you have nothing to be loyal to, why play fair when you can pull a few fast ones and win? Anyways" she grabbed the dagger in her shoulder and winced as she pulled it out "im not as lookin' as bad as you, fancy feet" she tilted her head towards the dagger in his foot "Maybe i got a worse wound, but you cant be as agility like, thats the key ta dueling, take away there advantage, but if you insist" Shadowsleek sighed for once gain she had uncontrollably ranted about things "peace it is then, now im off before you throw another sarcastic remark and the whole thing fires up again, adeo, my birds"

The weasel put up her hood and tucked her tail in as her cloak covered the rest of her body, she tore a peace from the ripped bottom and tied it around her bleeding shoulder. The weasel too kone last look back before walking past the birds and into the forest.

[Rocky]

"Cheap shots are only done by cowards." Springheel said, his voice angry. "Which is exactly what you are." He spat on the ground and pulled the dagger from his boot, sighing lightly, "You're the one in worse shape, fancy feet. I just got a nick. You got a wound. See the difference?" He motioned to his boot with both hands, "The blade got stuck in my boot, therefore nicking my foot. But my blade, which Id like back, wounded you." He winked at her, and walked over and snatched his knife from her, patted her on the head, then walked away.

Springheel walked over to Omri and Dax and smirked, "Well, friends, if you dont mind me calling you that, I had fun, you?"

[lorki]

Omri's arms crossed over his chest, he had come to lean against a near by tree, chiseling mindlessly away at the bark with one of his kukri's. His attention was on the duel... if one could call it that. He knew that had he been the fox and that thief had dared throw dirt of all things in his face it would have turned into quite the bloody fist fight. Omri, while skilled with his weapons, almost always resorted to quite primal vicious fighting when too enraged. He knew that he was lucky for his brother in such situations, considering the calmer influence often kept his temper down.

Agitated that his day had turned so sour, and quite intent on returning to brighter outlook and more relaxing state. He smiled smugly as Springheel spoke, "Perhaps fun... I wont say it wasn't... obnoxious though." One of his ears twitched to the side, perhaps the day would turn around, his dark eyes wandered questioningly to Dax, curious about his brothers condition... and the condition of the bag with their small bit of food.

[Maxodis]

Left to his own devices, Dax used the intervening time to appraise the costs of the day's exertions. He had recovered more fully propped up against a tree nearby that of his brother. Having regained full use of his mind, and able to fully feel pain with the dissolution of adrenaline, Dax inspected himself for any serious injuries. He found several spots that would surely bruise later, but no breaks.

His inspection went onto his equipment that he belatedly realized was still on him during his maneuver. Silently berating himself, he inspected his harp with a worried touch, and only found relief in the confirmation that it was undamaged, if not knocked out of tune. It's case now sported a new indentation in it's worn side, not to mention a few deep scratches. Those, however, were insignificant in light of the cargo which they served to protect.

He had then sifted through the contents of his satchel. The books were relatively unaffected by the impact, though all of their rations were damaged to a certain extent. The hard biscuits were partially broken and would have spread crumbs everywhere, had Dax not been wise enough to wrap them in dock leaves. The various edible roots had all been broken and seeped what little sap they had retained. All-in-all, though, nothing was rendered inedible.

Having satisfied himself with the appraisal, Dax had stood and dusted off his clothes, readjusting the various braces of knives, fretting for a short time over the loss of one of his better throwing knives. Midway through this, he realized that the combatants were still fighting, if one could call it that. Feeling slightly embarrassed at his behavior, he quickly settled down to watch the 'duel' intently.

He found he was soon bored. This duel was no epic clash of matched forces, abiding by unspoken rules of combat forged on respect. His attention drifted as his disappointment in the duel mounted. He had been hoping the experience was something he could put to song. Ah well, not everything in life was poetic.

This thought brought his distracted thinking back to his untuned harp, and he withdrew it once more from it's case. Seeing the others occupied in the conflict, he quietly turned his mind to making the minute adjustments to the instrument that would bring it to the perfect pitch. He lost track of time as his mind was caught up appraising the smallest changes in tone that emanated from the harp.

"Well, friends, if you dont mind me calling you that, I had fun, you?"

The question brought Dax's head up from his work. He blinked, realizing that the fight had come to a conclusion, but was slightly confused at the relatively unharmed state of both competitors. The thought was only momentary though, as he heard his brother remark "Perhaps fun... I wont say it wasn't... obnoxious though.".

Dax smiled warmly at the fox as he closed the harp within it's case with a sharp snap. He then rose to his feet, hefting the large belt over his head as he settled it back to it's usual position across his chest. "It was certainly interesting, though I wouldn't go so far as to call falling on my back 'fun'.".

With a discreet sideways glance to his twin, Dax could not miss Omri's eyes as they shifted to his own briefly before meandering to his satchel. Dax suppressed a laugh; leave it to his brother to think of food at a time like this. Dax cleared his throat loudly to catch his brother's attention, as well as let him know that Dax had not failed to interpret his twin's thoughts.

"I, for one, would like to finally be away from here, before it gets dark."

He turned to leave, but hesitated for a moment. After a moment's contemplation, ignoring the fact that he had forgotten his manners, Dax glanced back to Springheel and his companion.

"You're free to come with us, if you so choose."

Without waiting for a response, Dax cast a meaningful look towards his brother and exited the clearing.

(( Since there isn't really much else to do, you can close this one up, Rocky.))

[Shadess]

Shadowsleek regretted not slashing off the foxes arm when he dared pat her on the head, but some how she held her sword.

Thats when she realized his boot still had her dagger, she sighed but kept walking, always half-brained wasn't she?

The balck weasel shrugged off the thought and soon decided she really needed a partner in travels if she where to ever want to survive, yet that was hard for her at the moment, all she needed to do was throw off these thoughts.

In mind she made a silent oath, she even said it quietly aloud
"Springheel, i swear one day i will be your slayer! cheap shot or not!"
feeling a but dumb, she sat down and played around with her dagger, doing little tricks with it.

[Rocky]

OOC: Ill post later-ish