Ray vs. Ranber, Brains against brawn!

[fyreshadowes(A)]

Ray (one of my form users) has finally tired of his packmate, Ranber's (also one of my wolves) constant bragging and has decided to challenge him to see which of them is really the best fighter. Unknown to Ranber, Ray has a trick up his sleeve (ice) but intends not to use it unless the fight is really going badly for him.

Well, now we'll finally see who will really win. Brains or brawn?

I'm introducing a new element to the battle arena. You guys can place bets on who you think will win, and I'll add them to your user's "gambling score." At the end of the month I'll total up and see whose score is highest. I'll draw their wolf as best as I can (warning - that might take a while) and feature it in Updates with their username and post count.

I'm doing the same thing with winners of the dueling arena. I'm putting up a topic where I can say "Blah is in first place, Blah2 is in second place, etc." At the end of the month I'll do the same thing above for the first place winner.

For second place, I'll draw their wolf's head and feature it in Updates with username and post count.

For third place, I'll just feature their username and post count.

Ray is RPing from his Ray account, and Ranber is RPing from his Ranber account. Pretty simple, eh?

[Ray(SR)]

Ray stalked into the arena, shivering in anticipation. It was unusually cold this morning; his fur was fluffed up against the windchill. He would soon heat up with fighting. "I'm here," he called out across the arena. All around were seated both wolves and humans; this was one of the few events that both species could watch. Since it was a wolf fight today, the humans' memories would be wiped after the fight was over. But for now, everyone was having a good time, the two species carefully segregated on opposite sides of the arena.

He scanned the wolf side of the arena, looking for Jacqueline. Had she come to watch his big fight? He wasn't sure if he wanted her to or not. If he won, he knew she would be as happy as he was, but if he lost he didn't really know what would happen. Knowing Jacqueline, she would probably jump down into the arena and fight Ranber herself. Then Ray would automatically be disqualified.

It didn't look like she was here. He wasn't sure if he was relieved or disappointed. He saw her older brother, Howard, sitting on the humans' side. He was one of the few humans whose memory wouldn't be wiped, since he knew of the form user's and Jacqueline's leadership of them. He met Howard's eyes and nodded shakily. Howard waved back and shouted something he couldn't hear.

[Howard(H)]

OOC: I bet 100 gambling points that Ray will win.

[Ranber(SR)]

From the opposite side of the stadium, Ranber entered, his thick black pelt protecting him from the cold. That weakling Ray; he'd soon learn that his puny brains would be no use against sheer strength.

He heard Ray announce his presence, and answered with a cry of his own that echoed off the gray stones surrounding the arena. "I'm here!" Pleased that his shout was so much louder than Ray's, he stalked to a point about five paces away from the center of the arena.

[Ray(SR)]

Ray shivered in anticipation as Ranber neared the center of the arena. He stalked forward, too, matching his pace with his opponent's.

As he drew closer, he couldn't resist a little combat banter of his own. "It's okay, Ranber, don't be afraid," he hissed. "The followers will bring you back to life once it's over."

[Ranber(SR)]

"You mean they'll be bringing you back." Ranber let a low growl escape him as he locked eyes with his opponent. Every muscle in his powerful body was clamoring to tear that wimp down right now. He decided to lunge for the throat first, not bothering to think what he would do if that didn't work.

Ray started to circle, so Ranber copied him. He liked the idea that, to the wolves and humans watching, it would look so ill-matched, with the big strong wolf on one side and the little puny wolf on the other. That was cool. That was okay with him. He wanted to win.

[Ray(SR)]

The spectators grew quiet as Ray and Ranber began to circle. It would come any moment now; Ranber would lunge first, and Ray had a detailed plan ready of what to do after that. He knew that Ranber didn't think far ahead, and he would lunge for the throat first, but with teeth or claws?

[Ranber(SR)]

Ranber didn't want to wait any longer. Letting loose a thundering growl as he lunged forward with his teeth, he was pleased to see Ray flinch aside. He'd scared him! Then he felt a stinging pain on the side of his head. Ray had slashed him! The nerve...Growling, Ranber turned around and brought a huge paw down on the place he thought Ray was standing.

[Ray(SR)]

After slashing Ranber's head, Ray landed lightly behind the larger wolf. To his surprise, Ranber turned around immediately and lashed out with one of those huge, deadly paws. Alarmed, Ray leapt aside in time to avoid having his spine snapped in two, but Ranber's heavy paw came down on his tail and pinned it to the ground.

Yelping in pain, Ray struggled to escape Ranber's grip and felt the other wolf's claws raking down the length of his tail. He managed to pull away, but his tail was bleeding badly. He wasn't sure how long he would last now. Long enough to take Ranber down?

Pulling himself together, he darted a slender leg in under Ranber's stomach and managed to rake him in the gut. At least he had the advantage of being lower to the ground. Ranber would have a hard time getting down to his throat level.

[Ranber(SR)]

Ranber grinned in satisfaction as he dug his claws into Ray's tail, and his paws tingled with pleasure as he smelled Ray's blood. He didn't particularly mind when Ray got away from him. That wound was serious; Ray would have to surrender soon. Then he felt Ray's claws under him and jumped aside, but not in time to avoid getting slashed across the stomach. "You'll pay for that one," he growled, batting at Ray's head and missing. "I swear!" He lunged out with the other paw, hoping to catch Ray between the ears and knock him out.