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I figured it was about time I got another story up... I've been meaning to write some for awhile, and while this isn't anything of major note, it was a fun little thing to do. It's basically just a few of main characters training with a 'newbie' to the whole combat thing in my universe (those who've read some of my previous stories might actually recognize him... if not, don't worry, he was kind of a side character, so it's understandable).
In any case, a bit of friendly one-on-one sparring turns into something of a friendly monster hunter battle, of sorts. It's nothing super fancy really, but if you feel like giving it a read, I hope you enjoy~
Side note, I swear, all of my stories just end with the main characters going to sleep... What is wrong with me halp
P.S. If you read below, some of the formatting won't make it through. Nothing major, it was really just some italics to emphasize words here and there, but should be easily read without.
Edit: Fixed a few typos or missed words. Can just never find all of 'em...
The ashen-furred wolfbear raised his arm to block his opponent's punch, and stepped back a few times to avoid the followup attacks, his own paws at the ready. After the coyote took one swipe that was a bit too aggressive and offset his balance, the hybrid seized the opportunity and stepped forward around him, crouching low to move one paw under the small yote's arm, and then using his own larger size to lift him, hoist him over his back, and drop him down to the ground with a rather heavy slam.
Of course, he didn't actually slam him. Once he had the coyote lifted off the ground, he brought him down about halfway, and then slowed to the point of just pretty much rolling him off his back, before rising back up to full height, towering over the yote.
“You over-extended there,” Wraith said, letting out a slight breath, looking down at his opponent. The coyote had an arm over his head to block the sunlight from above, as he looked up at the wolfbear. “Do your best to keep your balance at all times. If you go too far, and have to take a moment to stabilize yourself, that's a moment that your opponent can use to strike back.” He then leaned down, extending an arm to his fallen opponent.
Tyler accepted and the wolfbear hauled him back up to his feet. The coyote was little more than half the height of the towering hybrid, and perhaps not even half as wide, shoulder to shoulder. Where Wraith was rather heavily muscled and bulky, Tyler was quite a bit more lanky and thin. The difference between the two was rather staggering, but he nodded, letting out a bit more of a breath, the sparring taking a much heavier toll on him than the wolfbear.
“Yeah, okay,” he said, taking the moment to catch his breath. “So... again?” he asked, backing up a little bit, to get to a respectable distance.
Wraith considered a moment, before shaking his head. “No, how about we get into some weapons now?” He reached his paw out to the side, and, from the air, produced a rather heavy and ornate scythe, keeping the blade angled backwards, away from Tyler. “You already know I tend to use scythes, but of course, I won't use the blade on you. For you though, you might want to try a sword out first.” He crossed his arms. “You probably don't know how to make a weapon yourself though, huh?”
Tyler put his arms out to the side, shrugging. “Uh, no... not really,” he said, looking a bit embarrassed.
Wraith laughed. “Don't worry, I figured as much.” He held his free paw out in front of him and closed his eyes. “I'm not terribly good at doing so myself to be honest, but I should be able to manage something for you...” After a few seconds of focus, a flash of dark gray energy went through the air, and left a crystalline sword of a similar color. At least... something close to a sword. Wraith looked it over, noting that it really had no edge sharp enough to cut with, but he shrugged. “As you can see, definitely not one of my strong points. Even so, it should serve you well enough for this.” He held it out to Tyler, hilt first.
As the coyote took it, the large hellhound that was lounging nearby wagged his tail. “Ya know, Wraith, maybe you could do with some practice yourself, but not with combat. I'm actually surprised you haven't put more effort into learning magic by this point.” He smiled, to make it clear he didn't mean the comment as criticism, merely a suggestion.
Shrugging his shoulders, Wraith nodded a bit. “Yeah... I probably could. But, my natural talents in magic have served me pretty well as is. I haven't had much need to do any real training for things outside that.”
Fyre nodded, rolling onto his side to get more comfy, and laying his head on his paws. “Fair enough... still, might be something to consider. Heck, I could probably even help teach you, which is saying something...”
Wraith waved a paw at him. “You know, you're a far better mage than you give yourself credit for, I don't think you should be at all surprised that you could teach me something,” he said, looking over at the hellhound, who splayed his ears with embarrassment at the comment, but wagged his tail just a bit. “That said, we'll have to consider that another time – right now, Tyler's the one getting training.”
The yote, who had been following the conversation silently, snapped to attention and nodded, raising the sword in something of a battle stance, before looking over himself. “Uh... to be completely honest, I don't know if this is the right way to stand for this...”
Wraith chuckled. “Well, neither do I, I don't use swords.” Tyler gave him something of a disgruntled look, and the wolfbear gave him a reassuring wave. “Don't worry about it too much, just remember the general basics... keep your footing firm, maintain your balance, all that kind of stuff, the same principles apply as fistfighting. As long as you're doing your best to keep your that in mind, you'll be doing well enough. It'll take a lot of practice before you get the basics down even, so don't sweat the finer details yet.”
“Okay,” Tyler said, nodding, and then waited for Wraith to make the first move. The large hybrid began to circle him, causing the coyote to respond in kind, before Wraith feinted forward, causing Tyler to stiffen to block the incoming attack, only for Wraith to spin to the side, and sweep the back of his scythe in from that direction.
Tyler yelped in surprise, but quickly backpedaled, just narrowly out of range of the scythe as it went by. He then backstepped a few more times to get his balance back and then set his stance once more, facing Wraith again.
“Not bad, not bad...” the hybrid said, circling for a few seconds again. When next he attacked, he made it a real one, causing his scythe to smack against Tyler's sword, with a resounding clang, and making the coyote backstep a bit more after he blocked it. Wraith immediately followed up with two more slow attacks, which Tyler blocked, but as he got his sword back to a ready position, it was clear his arms were already shivering a bit from absorbing the impact of the heavy blows.
“Sh-shit...” he said, backing away a bit more, still wary of any further attacks, but flexing his grip a bit, to ease his tense arms. Wraith nodded his head and lowered his stance a bit, making it clear the coyote could talk, without fear of reprisal. Tyler gulped and took a deep breath. “Jeez, that was, um... uh, a lot more force than I expected. I am, uh... a lot weaker than I thought, I think... heh...”
Wraith laughed, shaking his head. “Really, I hate to break it to you, but we're in kinda different leagues as far as raw power goes. But don't let it get you down. Keep up with the training and you'll improve faster than you might realize. You wanna continue?”
Tyler nodded his head. “Yeah... let's go.”
The two spent about 15 minutes more at sparring, mostly with Wraith attacking, and Tyler defending and occasionally getting laid out on his back every so often. Fyre watched the two, rather contently, perking his ears up when he head footsteps behind him.
A black and white wolf padded up beside him, leaning against the hellhound, and looking over the two sparring fighters. “You guys havin' fun out here?” Dark asked.
Tyler was just getting pulled back to his feet, for well over the tenth time, and looked over. “Uh... yeah, actually,” he said, nodding. Despite being far outclassed, he was actually enjoying the training.
Wraith nodded in turn, clapping the coyote on the shoulders, which made him buckle, especially with how exhausted he was, but he did keep his footing. “Yeah. He's a smart kid. Definitely a newbie, but I think he'll end up doing really well if he wants to keep at it.” He put a paw on Tyler's head, practically covering it entirely, and gave him a friendly ruffling of his fur, before Tyler shook him off and stepped away. Though, the praise did have his tail wag just a bit.
“Sweet, glad to hear it,” Dark said, nodding to the yote. “I should mention, Wraith here isn't the best when it comes to magic, but I know a decent amount myself, if you want any training in that. Even if you do end up just naturally augmenting your own strength or defense, like Wraith mostly does aside from his warp tricks, it helps to have some knowledge of how that all works.”
Fyre piped up. “Already went over it. Well, kind of... I actually told Wraith that he could do with some magical practice, but yeah, I think the point was made that Wraith isn't the best teacher for that sort of stuff.”
Dark snickered and ruffled the hellhound's head in much the same way Wraith had just done to Tyler. “Ah, alright then. Well, simply making the offer, feel free to ask if you wanna learn about it some~”
Wraith stretched, looking over at Tyler. “They're definitely not wrong, you would do pretty well to at least know a bit of that, but again, we can probably save that for another day. For now, you ready to go another few rounds...” he trailed off, before looking over at Dark. “...unless you wanna do some sparring with him?” he asked, shrugging his shoulders.
The wolf perked his ears, seeming to think a moment, before getting a rather mischievous grin. “Actually... some sparring does sound nice, but... maybe not just with the kid.” He stretched, and took a few steps away from Fyre, before dropping to all fours, his body subtly shifting to become a bit more bestial and larger, so the four-legged walking became more natural. “Perhaps you'd both like to fight me? Give him some practice fighting in a group, rather than one on one. Fyre, if you'd wanna get in on it too... and we could even invite Orin, make this a party~”
Tyler looked a bit shocked, blinking in surprise. Wraith tilted his head, and Fyre wagged his tail, being the first to speak up. “That actually sounds like it could be kinda fun! You guys up for it? I can go grab Orin, if so.”
Wraith growled a bit, waving one paw before things got too far out of hand. “Come on now, you know he's not anywhere near the same kind of power level we are... he could easily get hurt.”
Dark loped over, still on all fours, before rising up, actually a bit taller than the wolfbear after that shift he had done, and looked the hybrid in the eyes. “I can give him some wards and such to protect him and make him stronger for a bit. And we'll obviously take things kind of easy, since he's new to fighting.” He looked down at Tyler, while his tail wagged a bit. “So... what do ya say? Wanna give it a go?” he asked.
The coyote blinked, looking a bit intimidated by the big wolf, more so than he had been with Wraith. However, after a moment, he gulped and nodded his head. “I, uh...” he looked to Wraith, who simply tilted his head and shrugged, letting him decide. After another second, he nodded more fully. “Okay. I think that sounds like it could be pretty cool.”
“Awesome!” Dark yelled, looking back over to the hellhound. “Fyre, go grab Orin. I am 100% sure he'll wanna get in on this, so it shouldn't take any convincing.” Fyre nodded, got up on all fours, and darted off to the house, as Dark continued. “Meanwhile, kid, I'll get you warded up so you can go claw to claw with the big bad beast, and live to tell the tale~” He leaned his head down, nose to nose with the coyote, and showing off a big grin, making Tyler blink and back up a bit.
Wraith looked about to step up for the yote, but before he did, Tyler put a paw right on Dark's nose, and pushed. While there certainly wasn't a lot of strength behind it, the wolf did obligingly move his head back for him, and straightened up again, looking down at the yote. “My name isn't kid, you know, it's Tyler,” he said, giving an impressively steely gaze, even though he did feel a bit nervous with the large beast.
The wolf's grin grew all the wider at that, as he stretched languidly and chuckled. “Haha! A nice fearless attitude, I like that! Even so... come on, kid, let's get you warded up and ready to fight~” He raised one paw, glowing with some white energy, while Wraith sighed, wondering just how this was going to turn out.
Not long after, Fyre returned with a rather cheery-looking gator, while Tyler looked over the glowing white markings that covered his chest and limbs and, at Dark's suggestion, moved around a bit to get familiar with the changes in strength they granted him.
“So! I hear we're gonna be beating you up!” Orin yelled happily. Seeing as Dark was in a decently large form, the alligator didn't hesitate to grab him from behind and lay his weight over his shoulders, arms around his chest like he were trying to grapple him. The wolf snickered and crouched down, grabbing the gator's arms, and hauling him over his back, before standing up, hoisting Orin fully off the ground. After a moment, he flipped him forward, forcing the gator to twist around, in order to land on his feet, rather than being sprawled out on his back.
“Hah! You're gonna be trying to, anyway!” the wolf responded, chuckling, as Orin stepped back with a bit of a bounce, from the momentum he had been let down with. The gator clearly hung out with the wolf a bit too much, as his own reptilian tail seemed to sway a bit, like it wanted to wag. The wolf snickered, and backed away from the rest of the group, wagging his own tail and stretching.
“Alright... so, since things are a bit unbalanced here... what with there only being four of you against me, I'll give you guys a bit of an advantage~...” He grinned, looking over the group of them, before shaking himself around, bulking up rather considerably, and growing larger overall. In just a few short moments, he was up to a rather monstrous size, and sported an even more bestial body than usual, with long limbs and bulky paws. He looked quite a lot like a werewolf, and was easily the size of a building, a few stories high, even while hunched over on all fours. He let out a growling huff and chuckled. “...I'll give you a bigger target~” he said with a sly grin.
Wraith rolled his eyes, while Orin let out a groan, yelling at the wolf. “Oh, come on! You just wanna be big, that's not helping us any!” he said. Meanwhile, Fyre chuckled a bit, and Tyler just stared at the huge creature, looking a bit surprised. He was still getting used to some of the things that were considered 'normal' among these guys.
Dark snickered. “Hey, if we were all about the same size, having all four of you attack me would be pretty cluttered. I am definitely doing you guys a favor! Besides...” He padded over to Tyler, and patted the coyote on the back, with a paw about as big as he was, eliciting a slightly muffled whimper from him. “...who knows, if the kid is really serious about getting into fighting, he might need some practice against big bad beasties. Let's just say I'm getting him acquainted early~”
The werewolf grinned, leaning his head down and letting out a huff toward the group in general, before rising back up again, still on all fours. “Anyway, I'll give you guys a few moments to talk over your battle strategy if you need to. Good luck!” He chuckled and crouched down, before leaping backward and high up into the air, coming down with a rather tremendous crash a few hundred yards away or so. He then let out a theatric yawn, and flopped down, laying his head on his paws and waiting.
Wraith sighed, looking over at him, before turning to the rest of his 'party', and crossing his arms. “Alright. Well, here we are. Tyler, you sure you wanna go through with this? If you wanna back out, feel free.”
Tyler nodded in understanding, but then shook his head. “No, that's okay. I'm kinda excited to see how this goes... I just hope I don't get in your way at all...” he said, looking almost giddy with adrenaline. He had never been in a real 'high-powered' fight like this, though he did like to watch them on TV. He was rather excited to see what it was like in person.
Wraith shrugged. “Alright then, if you say so. In that case...” he looked over the three of them, and locked his eyes on the gator first. “Orin, out of the four of us, you're probably the most capable of standing up to punishment. Try to keep his attention focused on you to the best of your ability, and if you can run interference for the rest of us at any point, try to.” The wolfbear started to turn, then seemed to think of something else and refocused on Orin. “And, don't drag him underwater unless you really have to for some reason. If you do that, none of us will be able to help you out, turning our four against one, to just a one on one, with you probably getting mauled in the meantime...”
Orin snorted, crossing his arms. “Sheesh, who made you the leader? But yeah, yeah, fine, I realize that. If I need to pull him underwater for some reason, I'll do it quick, and toss him back out asap. That good enough for you, boss?” he finished, with some heavy sarcasm on the last word.
Wraith flattened his ears a bit in response, but shrugged, not taking the bait, and instead just giving his own somewhat snarky response. “Yeah, good enough for me,” he drawled. He then looked to the hellhound, who perked his ears up. “Fyre. Uh...” He paused for a moment, and then simply blinked and shrugged. “Uh, to be honest, like I said earlier, you're a good mage... just do your thing. I trust you to handle yourself well enough, so just try to cover us, or hit him as best you can. I know you're capable enough in melee too, so whatever works best for you.”
The hellhound wagged his tail a bit, looking rather pleased with the assessment, and nodded his head enthusiastically. “Yeah, sure, you got it! I'll do my best.”
Wraith nodded in return, and pointed to himself. “For my part, I'll do my best to dish out as much damage as I can,” he said, idly twirling his scythe in his paws. “I'll also see if I can't keep his attention, with Orin, off of you two somewhat, since I can dodge pretty easily if he attacks me. Now, Tyler...” He finally looked to the coyote, who looked alert and rather tense. “Remember, you're fighting way out of your league.” The coyote's ears lowered a bit, but Wraith continued on. “That said, do your best. Focus on your own defense first and foremost, don't be over-aggressive, or take risky attacks, but if you have the opportunity to do so... hit him hard,” he finished, with a smile.
The coyote's ears were back up by the end of that, and he nodded. “Yes, sir!” he said, happily.
“Alright then... break!” Wraith said, and the four spread out a bit, all turning to face the werewolf, who looked to be dozing a bit, eyes closed. “Orin, care to draw our ferocious friend's attention?”
Orin snickered, crouching down a bit and putting his hands to the ground, in a posture ready to start running. “Well, since you asked so nicely...” he said, before taking off in a sprint, his heavy footfalls leading the way toward the group's target. Wraith followed behind him, and Fyre some distance behind the two of them. Tyler ran to keep up, though they pulled ahead pretty quickly. Even with his enhanced strength and speed, he couldn't quite match them.
At about 20 yards away, Orin leaped into the air, pulling a fist back for a punch as he started coming down on the sleepy-looking wolf. Dark hardly even reacted to the incoming gator, making it look like the blow would land, but just a second before it did, the wolf vanished in a sudden flash of white light, a briefly visible trail showing his warp over to his side, as he padded around on all fours, before stretching and yawning dramatically.
“Ah, are we all ready to fight now?” he asked, with a grin, stepping back a bit, still on all fours, as Orin followed after him, throwing punches that the big wolf dodged.
Wraith circled around him, darting once in a warp similar to what the wolf had done, before leaping up to attack from behind, prompting the wolf to leap over Orin, so as to avoid the both of them. Orin shouted, rather happily, as he turned and continued to follow after the wolf's movements, leaping forward to throw attacks the whole while. “We're ready at least, if you wanna stop running away!”
Dark chuckled, hopping back so he had some distance from the gator, and looked around at all four of them, with a sly grin on his face. “Alright, if you insist~...” He dodged a few more punches from Orin, before sweeping his head down low to the ground, aiming to smash it into the gator, from the side. However, Orin caught it between both of his arms, grabbing hold and digging his feet into the ground, digging a few gouges through the dirt as he was pushed back.
A moment later however, the werewolf brought his head up, and shook backwards to the other side, throwing Orin off, and sending him tumbling across the ground. At the same time however, Wraith leaped up, bringing the blunt back of his scythe down hard on the wolf's head, and landing atop it afterwards, sliding down the back of the wolf's neck, as the large beast grimaced and scowled at the hit. The wolfbear leapt forwards, some yards away, and turned to face his foe. He braced to leap once again, but before he could, Dark swung his body, and particularly his tail, back towards him. Wraith tensed up, and just before the tail hit him, he faded from sight in a cloud of mist, reappearing in the same place a moment later, after the tail passed through him harmlessly.
As Wraith made ready to attack again, Fyre was already set to make his opening strike. Bright blue flames raced over his body, and he launched himself to the wolf's chest, tackling him, and sending the wolf back a few steps, before the hellhound sprung backwards, off of him. The energy that had surrounded the hound was then launched as another attack, a large bolt of flames, but the wolf took a breath and shot a burst of white fire from his jaws back at it, causing the two to cancel each other out. He took a step toward Fyre, then tipped his ears back, as both Orin and Wraith came jumping from behind to attack him once again.
By that point, Tyler had finally caught up to the battle, and was watching, unsure exactly how to even approach the big beast. He circled around a bit, looking for an opening as Wraith had suggested, as the wolf took some hits here and there, and threw back some of his own. The coyote lightly bounced his weight a bit from one foot to the other – the wards that the wolf had put on him did have him feeling much lighter and quicker. He took a breath, and let it out, before nodding his head to himself. The wolf seemed occupied with his other opponents. It was time he joined the fray.
The coyote started to run forward from his target's side. The 'sword' that Wraith had fashioned for him, while a bit more like a club, ought to hurt if he could land it – the wolf had specifically put some spells on it as well, supposedly to make sure his hits counted, he had said. Dark was turned away somewhat, swatting at Wraith while he was in the air and looking to attack. The wolfbear vanished like smoke, reappearing on the ground, and leaped up to thrust the top of his scythe up into the wolf's underside, making the big beast growl and back off, before raising both arms to slam them down. Wraith tensed, readying to dodge again, but just at that moment, Tyler ran up behind the big beast and smashed his sword into the wolf's right hindleg.
He could feel... something... as the glyphs on the weapon flared up and what seemed like a spike of white energy burst from the weapon, making the wolf yelp and turn around toward him. Tyler was rather thrilled to have actually landed an attack, and a good one... until he saw the huge toothy grimace above, leering as Dark loomed over him. He had definitely gotten the big wolf's attention now.
The yote gripped his weapon and raised it to attack again, but a massive paw came swinging down at him, and he instead braced for impact. Right before it came however, the sound of Wraith warping nearby caught his attention, and the wolfbear took the brunt of the blow, blocking some of it with his scythe, but getting the both of them thrown back together. For Tyler, at least, the wards flared up, and despite what seemed like a heavy impact, he wasn't terribly injured, though it definitely stung a bit. Wraith, meanwhile, warped again in the air, and slid to a halt on his feet, just in front of the yote. He held a hand out, backwards, to Tyler, who accepted it and was pulled back to his feet.
Looking back at their foe, he saw Orin on top of the wolf's back, and pounding on his head. Wraith darted in again, and warped forward, and then leapt here and there, showering the beast with blows where he could. Several orbs of blue flame were streaking through the air, and exploded against Dark's side where they hit, courtesy of Fyre.
Tyler braced himself, before charging in once more. He had gotten a taste of the combat, and was finding it rather fun. He went off to the side, still following Wraith's advice to avoid getting the big wolf's attention too much on himself, but closed in for another hit, just as Orin was thrown off to the side.
The gator landed on his feet and started racing back in, just as Tyler landed another strike on the wolf's hindlegs. The burst of energy went out again, but this time, the wolf responded much more quickly, sweeping a paw at him almost instantly.
Tyler gritted his teeth, expecting to get hurled backward again, but Orin leaped in front of him, and caught the wolf's paw against his chest, holding it. He still got pushed back some distance, causing his big body to hit Tyler, making the yote fall backwards to a sitting position. He blinked and looked up, Orin giving him a nod, before the gator pushed Dark's paw aside, and leaped forward to tackle him on his underside, sending the wolf back a step, and refocusing the beast's attention on himself. Tyler got back on his feet, and rejoined the fray as well.
The four continued their assault for some time, with Wraith warping around to avoid attacks and launch his own, Fyre raining down blasts of energy, Orin covering his allies and disrupting their foe as best he could, and Tyler occasionally landing some heavy hits. Dark for his part, was frequently throwing his opponents away, slamming them against the ground, or occasionally throwing bursts of magic here and there.
Eventually though, the wolf grinned, and shook his head around. “Alright... time to finish this, I think...” His opponents were getting a bit winded, and though the wolf himself was panting somewhat, he was still mostly fresh on stamina. Clenching one paw into a fist, he stepped back as Orin attacked, before bringing it around to hit him in the side, sending the gator skidding across the ground some distance. He had suffered the brunt of most of the blows, and was showing his weariness by that point – he staggered back to his feet, but wasn't getting back into the fray very soon.
The wolf turned his attention to Wraith, who had just warped into the air behind the beast, bringing his scythe down. Dark spun around, swinging his paw backward, and Wraith warped again right before it hit, reappearing down on the ground in front of the wolf, and leaping up to attack once more. The wolf's other paw swept forward, and Wraith vanished into mist once again, reappearing above the wolf's head again, but in front this time, and swinging downward. However, this time, the big beast responded almost instantly, darting his head up with lightning speed, and snapping his jaws shut around the wolfbear, holding him inside his maw. He didn't catch him with any teeth, but the wolf's jaw did begin to glow rather brightly, a field of energy preventing Wraith from warping out.
Meanwhile, the big werewolf raised his head, chest expanding as he inhaled, and energy accumulating in his maw. It was clear he was charging a breath weapon. Wraith, for his part, tried his best to attack, but a few seconds later, the wolf threw his head forward, opening his jaws, and unleashing a scorching blast of white flame from his maw, condensed into something of a fireball, with Wraith getting blasted out with it.
The wolf had aimed it directly at Fyre, and the hellhound tensed up. He could certainly have moved out of the way, but instead, he let energy surge up around him, blue flames coming up in something of a protective shield, as he rose onto his hindlegs, and caught the blast right against his chest. He let out a heavy bark as he got slammed with it, and went hurtling back several dozen yards, but his paws had caught Wraith, holding him against the hellhound's chest as the two were launched back, and cushioning his landing. Even so, Wraith looked to be out of commission, at least for the moment, and Fyre disentangled himself from him,
Dark smirked, lowering himself to all fours, and his eyes began to glow white, just briefly, as some lines of magic traced through his fur, particularly along his back. A moment later, the white light pulled itself away, and shaped into something of a serpentine dragon, formed entirely of energy. The werewolf snarled, and the dragon launched itself toward Fyre with alarming speed.
Fyre yelped and hopped to the side, just in time to get out of the way of the dragon. It coiled through the air, and continued after him, jaws snapping, and forcing the semi-exhausted hellhound to keep retreating, surges of blue flames occasionally going out to try to either shield him from the onstruct, or disrupt it entirely. However, he didn't quite have the energy to do so yet after taking that hit with Wraith, and soon enough, the dragon caught him and coiled around tightly, constricting the dog. He struggled to escape its clutches, but his own magic was rather stifled by the energy-beast.
Orin, meanwhile, had finally gotten back to the fight, leaping to strike at the wolf... only for another blow to slam him directly down into the ground. At that point, he looked to really be out of the fight.
Finally, the wolf turned to his last opponent, the coyote who had watched the whole ordeal, struggling to find a time to strike back. Tyler gulped, tightening his grip on the weapon, and steeled himself. His paws shook a bit, but he stood his ground, as the massive wolf advanced toward him on all fours. Just as Dark brought one paw up to attack, Tyler broke into a run, going forward, and planning to hit the other. He thought he had it, at least for a moment, but just as he swung to hit, the wolf threw himself backward, up onto his hind legs, and avoided the blow. Tyler yelped, as he saw the beast towering over him, and realized he was in prime position for both of those paws to come back down.
And so they did, though not directly on him. Instead, they smashed the ground and a shockwave of energy rippled out, breaking the ground apart, while the sheer force of it threw Tyler back some distance, going flying through the air, and landing heavily on his back. The yote scowled, his chest stinging sharply, but those wards had still prevented any major damage. Still, it was a struggle to make his body respond. Even so, he tried to get back up, only to see the light of the sky dim, as the wolf leaped above him. Tyler gulped, seeing the huge beast come down towards him, and he just curled defensively as best he could, expecting another shockwave.
Tyler could feel the ground quake around him, as all four paws of the wolf came down with a crash around him, but nothing struck him too sharply. He opened an eye, and was met with the big lupine face effectively taking up his whole vision, tooth-filled maw curled up in something of a grin, and the large pink tongue somewhat sliding out between them.
“Now... as for you...” the big beast said, with a smug rumbling undertone. He licked his lips and leaned further forward, the hot breath washing over the coyote. “You put up a good fight. But I do believe I've won... and it's lunchtime~...” He grinned and his jaws parted, leaning forward as Tyler pushed himself back across the ground, away from the huge maw...
...and then smacked the giant werewolf on the nose, a thunderous surge of energy reverberating through the weapon and out against its target, with a sharp crack.
The werewolf yelped in surprise and leaned all the way back, getting up on his hindpaws, and taking a step away. He covered his nose with both front paws, and his tail went down. “Yowch! Erg... h-hey, that was a cheap shot!” he yelled, rubbing at the sensitive spot on the end of his muzzle, and wincing a bit, a slight whine coming from his throat.
Tyler got his feet underneath him and stood up, panting heavily, as adrenaline surged through his body. His limbs were shaking, and he felt exhausted, but he gripped his weapon with both paws. “Y-yeah? Well, try that again and I'll give you another one!” he shouted, somewhat out of breath, but trying to sound intimidating.
Dark glared at him, but his ears tilted backward as raucous laughter broke out from behind him. Orin, despite looking like he was about ready to just fall over on the ground, had gotten himself back up... only he seemed to now be struggling more with the deep laughter that he couldn't contain, as he was doubled over and clutching his stomach.
“Hah! Haha! Well now, Dark, is your snack giving you some trouble? Heh... hahahah, oh god, I can't even stop laughing, and it hurts!” He finally flopped down on the ground, trying to stifle the laughter – it really was making his gut hurt, after taking so many hits in the fight, but he actually couldn't stop himself.
The big werewolf let out a huff, some white flames blowing out the side of his jaws, as he looked back over the other three fighters. Wraith was getting back to his feet, and Fyre was still struggling with the dragon that Dark had sicced on him, but with a wave of his paw, the wolf dispelled it, and the hellhound fell to the ground, landing on his feet, and shaking himself around.
The wolfbear looked from Orin, to Dark, to Tyler, and snickered a bit himself. “I'll admit, that was actually rather funny,” he said, spinning his scythe around, and then hoisting it up, to drape it over his shoulders, as the battle seemed to be over.
Fyre padded over to the wolfbear, and sat down, letting out a yawn. “I could have continued for longer... I was just hung up struggling with the dragon you made.” Even so, he shrugged and was grinning a bit, his tail wagging as he stretched. “Though, really, nice hit, Tyler!”
Dark growled, rubbing his nose a bit more, before dropping down to all fours, and padding off to the side, so that he was less in between Tyler and the others. “Tch... glad you guys all find that so amusing...” He grumbled and flopped down into a laying position, head resting on his paws, before looking over at he coyote. “I'll admit though... good on ya. I didn't think you had any more fight left in you by that point.” He grinned, showing off the teeth that had just moments ago been curled in a far more intimidating smile... now, it was just a good-natured one – albeit still somewhat intimidating, as it was still attached to a rather enormous wolfbeast.
Tyler gulped, lowering his hold on the weapon and letting out a heavy breath as his body slowly came down from its battle-high. He simply nodded, and his tail wagged just a bit. “Well, um... thanks... heh...” he said, between breaths of air. “That was actually, uh... really fun.”
The big wolf chuckled, lowering his head down and closing his eyes. “I think with some practice, you'll make a pretty good fighter, kid... erm... Tyler~” he said, correcting himself with a bit of a snicker.
The rest of the group wandered closer, and Fyre wagged his tail. “Yeah, you were pretty great! Also, that was really fun!” he said, looking rather happy. He leaped on top of the werewolf's muzzle, making the wolf squeeze his eyes shut for a moment, and then open one with a raised eyebrow. Fyre then hopped up on top of Dark's head, and turned around, before laying down. The hellhound was generally large enough that most people could rest on top of him – with the wolf being much bigger now, he took the opportunity to reverse the situation, laying on the wolf instead. Dark simply wagged his tail and closed his eyes again.
“That was really nicely done, overall,” Wraith sighed, stepping beside Tyler and putting a paw on his shoulder. “Keep up with the practicing, and I think you'll do pretty well. And, obviously, I'm happy to continue teaching you all I can.”
Orin stretched his arms wide, grinning. “I suppose that means we'll be seeing you around more often, eh? Fine by me... Anyone who's willing to bap this guy on the nose...” he rather firmly patted the wolf's nose, making him wince as it was still a bit sore, open his eyes, and glare at the gator. “...and then threaten him with another, is okay in my book!”
Dark growled, his lip curling up a bit to show off his teeth. “Orin, you may want to take your hand back, while you still have the chance...” he said, with a low grumble.
The gator smirked at him, before shrugging and taking his hand away. “Hmm, if you insist~” he said, with a chuckle. He then jumped, and threw himself into a laying position on the wolf's muzzle, tail draped over the side, and reclining against the wolf's forehead, so Orin's head was relatively close to Fyre's. The hellhound wagged a bit, while Dark grimaced, glaring at the gator as best he could, considering he was about right between his eyes. Orin waved at Tyler. “Hey, newbie, get up here! We beat the giant wolf, now we get to lay on him!”
Dark snorted, a puff of flames escaping his nostrils, and making his head move about, though not enough to dislodge either the gator or hellhound. “Excuse me? You guys absolutely did not win that! Tyler just happened to get the last blow!” he said, with an incredulous tone of voice, and a disgruntled growl.
“Come on, up here!” the gator yelled, holding a hand out to Tyler, and completely ignoring the wolf's objections.
The coyote blinked, looking at Orin's outstretched hand, and then at the wolf. “Uh...” he started, unsure about how to even respond to the situation.
Dark's gaze turned to him, and his expression softened, a bit of a grin spreading across his face as he rolled his eyes. “Heh... yeah, yeah, don't worry about it... you're free to climb on me. I don't actually mind~” he said, with a bit of a chuckle.
Tyler nodded. “Uh, well, thank you,” he said, approaching, and taking a hold of the gator's hand, getting hoisted up on the big wolf's muzzle with him. He used his other paws to somewhat awkwardly climb up. Soon enough however, he was up, and Orin lifted him with both hands, making the yote flail a bit, as he got passed over to Fyre, who simply extended his head forward, and grabbed a mouthful of the small coyote's scruff, so that he could lift him up higher. Tyler did grab two fistfuls of fur to better distribute his weight, but was pulled up rather smoothly, his footpaws once again scrabbling for purchase. Finally, he found a reasonably comfy spot next to the hellhound, and decided to stop there, rather than continuing to climb over the wolf.
Wraith got up much easier, simply warping to Dark's back and sitting down, one paw draped around Fyre as he reclined against the hellhound too, lifting his other paw to stifle a yawn. “So, is it nap time now? I'll be honest, Dark, you did kind of beat us up quite a bit during that fight... not exactly a very fair introduction for our new friend.”
The wolf grinned, his tail wagging. “Hey, I was just giving you guys a challenge! Had to make sure our newbie got to have some fun~” he snickered. “But yeah, napping sounds good to me...” He opened his jaws wide, yawning, and shuffling the four on top of him just a bit, before he settled his head back down.
Wraith nodded. “Alright then. Tyler, any objections?”
The yote yawned, not actually having realized he was so tired, but now that the mention of a nap was brought up, his exhaustion hit him like a wave. While his involvement in that fight had been a bit less than the others, the sparring he had done earlier was catching up to him as well, and the warm afternoon sun was rather comfortable... not to mention the large fuzzy creature he was laying on was rather cozy as well. He closed his eyes, and laid his head down, feeling his exhaustion coming over him quite quickly once he did.
“No, actually... that sounds really good to me, too,” he mumbled, getting comfy. His first day of practice had gone rather well, all things considered, and his head was abuzz with all of the things that had happened. Despite being so tired, he wasn't sure he'd even be able to really sleep after all that – which made it somewhat ironic when, little more than a moment or two after closing his eyes, he was out like a light, snoozing like a pup.
In any case, a bit of friendly one-on-one sparring turns into something of a friendly monster hunter battle, of sorts. It's nothing super fancy really, but if you feel like giving it a read, I hope you enjoy~
Side note, I swear, all of my stories just end with the main characters going to sleep... What is wrong with me halp
P.S. If you read below, some of the formatting won't make it through. Nothing major, it was really just some italics to emphasize words here and there, but should be easily read without.
Edit: Fixed a few typos or missed words. Can just never find all of 'em...
The ashen-furred wolfbear raised his arm to block his opponent's punch, and stepped back a few times to avoid the followup attacks, his own paws at the ready. After the coyote took one swipe that was a bit too aggressive and offset his balance, the hybrid seized the opportunity and stepped forward around him, crouching low to move one paw under the small yote's arm, and then using his own larger size to lift him, hoist him over his back, and drop him down to the ground with a rather heavy slam.
Of course, he didn't actually slam him. Once he had the coyote lifted off the ground, he brought him down about halfway, and then slowed to the point of just pretty much rolling him off his back, before rising back up to full height, towering over the yote.
“You over-extended there,” Wraith said, letting out a slight breath, looking down at his opponent. The coyote had an arm over his head to block the sunlight from above, as he looked up at the wolfbear. “Do your best to keep your balance at all times. If you go too far, and have to take a moment to stabilize yourself, that's a moment that your opponent can use to strike back.” He then leaned down, extending an arm to his fallen opponent.
Tyler accepted and the wolfbear hauled him back up to his feet. The coyote was little more than half the height of the towering hybrid, and perhaps not even half as wide, shoulder to shoulder. Where Wraith was rather heavily muscled and bulky, Tyler was quite a bit more lanky and thin. The difference between the two was rather staggering, but he nodded, letting out a bit more of a breath, the sparring taking a much heavier toll on him than the wolfbear.
“Yeah, okay,” he said, taking the moment to catch his breath. “So... again?” he asked, backing up a little bit, to get to a respectable distance.
Wraith considered a moment, before shaking his head. “No, how about we get into some weapons now?” He reached his paw out to the side, and, from the air, produced a rather heavy and ornate scythe, keeping the blade angled backwards, away from Tyler. “You already know I tend to use scythes, but of course, I won't use the blade on you. For you though, you might want to try a sword out first.” He crossed his arms. “You probably don't know how to make a weapon yourself though, huh?”
Tyler put his arms out to the side, shrugging. “Uh, no... not really,” he said, looking a bit embarrassed.
Wraith laughed. “Don't worry, I figured as much.” He held his free paw out in front of him and closed his eyes. “I'm not terribly good at doing so myself to be honest, but I should be able to manage something for you...” After a few seconds of focus, a flash of dark gray energy went through the air, and left a crystalline sword of a similar color. At least... something close to a sword. Wraith looked it over, noting that it really had no edge sharp enough to cut with, but he shrugged. “As you can see, definitely not one of my strong points. Even so, it should serve you well enough for this.” He held it out to Tyler, hilt first.
As the coyote took it, the large hellhound that was lounging nearby wagged his tail. “Ya know, Wraith, maybe you could do with some practice yourself, but not with combat. I'm actually surprised you haven't put more effort into learning magic by this point.” He smiled, to make it clear he didn't mean the comment as criticism, merely a suggestion.
Shrugging his shoulders, Wraith nodded a bit. “Yeah... I probably could. But, my natural talents in magic have served me pretty well as is. I haven't had much need to do any real training for things outside that.”
Fyre nodded, rolling onto his side to get more comfy, and laying his head on his paws. “Fair enough... still, might be something to consider. Heck, I could probably even help teach you, which is saying something...”
Wraith waved a paw at him. “You know, you're a far better mage than you give yourself credit for, I don't think you should be at all surprised that you could teach me something,” he said, looking over at the hellhound, who splayed his ears with embarrassment at the comment, but wagged his tail just a bit. “That said, we'll have to consider that another time – right now, Tyler's the one getting training.”
The yote, who had been following the conversation silently, snapped to attention and nodded, raising the sword in something of a battle stance, before looking over himself. “Uh... to be completely honest, I don't know if this is the right way to stand for this...”
Wraith chuckled. “Well, neither do I, I don't use swords.” Tyler gave him something of a disgruntled look, and the wolfbear gave him a reassuring wave. “Don't worry about it too much, just remember the general basics... keep your footing firm, maintain your balance, all that kind of stuff, the same principles apply as fistfighting. As long as you're doing your best to keep your that in mind, you'll be doing well enough. It'll take a lot of practice before you get the basics down even, so don't sweat the finer details yet.”
“Okay,” Tyler said, nodding, and then waited for Wraith to make the first move. The large hybrid began to circle him, causing the coyote to respond in kind, before Wraith feinted forward, causing Tyler to stiffen to block the incoming attack, only for Wraith to spin to the side, and sweep the back of his scythe in from that direction.
Tyler yelped in surprise, but quickly backpedaled, just narrowly out of range of the scythe as it went by. He then backstepped a few more times to get his balance back and then set his stance once more, facing Wraith again.
“Not bad, not bad...” the hybrid said, circling for a few seconds again. When next he attacked, he made it a real one, causing his scythe to smack against Tyler's sword, with a resounding clang, and making the coyote backstep a bit more after he blocked it. Wraith immediately followed up with two more slow attacks, which Tyler blocked, but as he got his sword back to a ready position, it was clear his arms were already shivering a bit from absorbing the impact of the heavy blows.
“Sh-shit...” he said, backing away a bit more, still wary of any further attacks, but flexing his grip a bit, to ease his tense arms. Wraith nodded his head and lowered his stance a bit, making it clear the coyote could talk, without fear of reprisal. Tyler gulped and took a deep breath. “Jeez, that was, um... uh, a lot more force than I expected. I am, uh... a lot weaker than I thought, I think... heh...”
Wraith laughed, shaking his head. “Really, I hate to break it to you, but we're in kinda different leagues as far as raw power goes. But don't let it get you down. Keep up with the training and you'll improve faster than you might realize. You wanna continue?”
Tyler nodded his head. “Yeah... let's go.”
The two spent about 15 minutes more at sparring, mostly with Wraith attacking, and Tyler defending and occasionally getting laid out on his back every so often. Fyre watched the two, rather contently, perking his ears up when he head footsteps behind him.
A black and white wolf padded up beside him, leaning against the hellhound, and looking over the two sparring fighters. “You guys havin' fun out here?” Dark asked.
Tyler was just getting pulled back to his feet, for well over the tenth time, and looked over. “Uh... yeah, actually,” he said, nodding. Despite being far outclassed, he was actually enjoying the training.
Wraith nodded in turn, clapping the coyote on the shoulders, which made him buckle, especially with how exhausted he was, but he did keep his footing. “Yeah. He's a smart kid. Definitely a newbie, but I think he'll end up doing really well if he wants to keep at it.” He put a paw on Tyler's head, practically covering it entirely, and gave him a friendly ruffling of his fur, before Tyler shook him off and stepped away. Though, the praise did have his tail wag just a bit.
“Sweet, glad to hear it,” Dark said, nodding to the yote. “I should mention, Wraith here isn't the best when it comes to magic, but I know a decent amount myself, if you want any training in that. Even if you do end up just naturally augmenting your own strength or defense, like Wraith mostly does aside from his warp tricks, it helps to have some knowledge of how that all works.”
Fyre piped up. “Already went over it. Well, kind of... I actually told Wraith that he could do with some magical practice, but yeah, I think the point was made that Wraith isn't the best teacher for that sort of stuff.”
Dark snickered and ruffled the hellhound's head in much the same way Wraith had just done to Tyler. “Ah, alright then. Well, simply making the offer, feel free to ask if you wanna learn about it some~”
Wraith stretched, looking over at Tyler. “They're definitely not wrong, you would do pretty well to at least know a bit of that, but again, we can probably save that for another day. For now, you ready to go another few rounds...” he trailed off, before looking over at Dark. “...unless you wanna do some sparring with him?” he asked, shrugging his shoulders.
The wolf perked his ears, seeming to think a moment, before getting a rather mischievous grin. “Actually... some sparring does sound nice, but... maybe not just with the kid.” He stretched, and took a few steps away from Fyre, before dropping to all fours, his body subtly shifting to become a bit more bestial and larger, so the four-legged walking became more natural. “Perhaps you'd both like to fight me? Give him some practice fighting in a group, rather than one on one. Fyre, if you'd wanna get in on it too... and we could even invite Orin, make this a party~”
Tyler looked a bit shocked, blinking in surprise. Wraith tilted his head, and Fyre wagged his tail, being the first to speak up. “That actually sounds like it could be kinda fun! You guys up for it? I can go grab Orin, if so.”
Wraith growled a bit, waving one paw before things got too far out of hand. “Come on now, you know he's not anywhere near the same kind of power level we are... he could easily get hurt.”
Dark loped over, still on all fours, before rising up, actually a bit taller than the wolfbear after that shift he had done, and looked the hybrid in the eyes. “I can give him some wards and such to protect him and make him stronger for a bit. And we'll obviously take things kind of easy, since he's new to fighting.” He looked down at Tyler, while his tail wagged a bit. “So... what do ya say? Wanna give it a go?” he asked.
The coyote blinked, looking a bit intimidated by the big wolf, more so than he had been with Wraith. However, after a moment, he gulped and nodded his head. “I, uh...” he looked to Wraith, who simply tilted his head and shrugged, letting him decide. After another second, he nodded more fully. “Okay. I think that sounds like it could be pretty cool.”
“Awesome!” Dark yelled, looking back over to the hellhound. “Fyre, go grab Orin. I am 100% sure he'll wanna get in on this, so it shouldn't take any convincing.” Fyre nodded, got up on all fours, and darted off to the house, as Dark continued. “Meanwhile, kid, I'll get you warded up so you can go claw to claw with the big bad beast, and live to tell the tale~” He leaned his head down, nose to nose with the coyote, and showing off a big grin, making Tyler blink and back up a bit.
Wraith looked about to step up for the yote, but before he did, Tyler put a paw right on Dark's nose, and pushed. While there certainly wasn't a lot of strength behind it, the wolf did obligingly move his head back for him, and straightened up again, looking down at the yote. “My name isn't kid, you know, it's Tyler,” he said, giving an impressively steely gaze, even though he did feel a bit nervous with the large beast.
The wolf's grin grew all the wider at that, as he stretched languidly and chuckled. “Haha! A nice fearless attitude, I like that! Even so... come on, kid, let's get you warded up and ready to fight~” He raised one paw, glowing with some white energy, while Wraith sighed, wondering just how this was going to turn out.
Not long after, Fyre returned with a rather cheery-looking gator, while Tyler looked over the glowing white markings that covered his chest and limbs and, at Dark's suggestion, moved around a bit to get familiar with the changes in strength they granted him.
“So! I hear we're gonna be beating you up!” Orin yelled happily. Seeing as Dark was in a decently large form, the alligator didn't hesitate to grab him from behind and lay his weight over his shoulders, arms around his chest like he were trying to grapple him. The wolf snickered and crouched down, grabbing the gator's arms, and hauling him over his back, before standing up, hoisting Orin fully off the ground. After a moment, he flipped him forward, forcing the gator to twist around, in order to land on his feet, rather than being sprawled out on his back.
“Hah! You're gonna be trying to, anyway!” the wolf responded, chuckling, as Orin stepped back with a bit of a bounce, from the momentum he had been let down with. The gator clearly hung out with the wolf a bit too much, as his own reptilian tail seemed to sway a bit, like it wanted to wag. The wolf snickered, and backed away from the rest of the group, wagging his own tail and stretching.
“Alright... so, since things are a bit unbalanced here... what with there only being four of you against me, I'll give you guys a bit of an advantage~...” He grinned, looking over the group of them, before shaking himself around, bulking up rather considerably, and growing larger overall. In just a few short moments, he was up to a rather monstrous size, and sported an even more bestial body than usual, with long limbs and bulky paws. He looked quite a lot like a werewolf, and was easily the size of a building, a few stories high, even while hunched over on all fours. He let out a growling huff and chuckled. “...I'll give you a bigger target~” he said with a sly grin.
Wraith rolled his eyes, while Orin let out a groan, yelling at the wolf. “Oh, come on! You just wanna be big, that's not helping us any!” he said. Meanwhile, Fyre chuckled a bit, and Tyler just stared at the huge creature, looking a bit surprised. He was still getting used to some of the things that were considered 'normal' among these guys.
Dark snickered. “Hey, if we were all about the same size, having all four of you attack me would be pretty cluttered. I am definitely doing you guys a favor! Besides...” He padded over to Tyler, and patted the coyote on the back, with a paw about as big as he was, eliciting a slightly muffled whimper from him. “...who knows, if the kid is really serious about getting into fighting, he might need some practice against big bad beasties. Let's just say I'm getting him acquainted early~”
The werewolf grinned, leaning his head down and letting out a huff toward the group in general, before rising back up again, still on all fours. “Anyway, I'll give you guys a few moments to talk over your battle strategy if you need to. Good luck!” He chuckled and crouched down, before leaping backward and high up into the air, coming down with a rather tremendous crash a few hundred yards away or so. He then let out a theatric yawn, and flopped down, laying his head on his paws and waiting.
Wraith sighed, looking over at him, before turning to the rest of his 'party', and crossing his arms. “Alright. Well, here we are. Tyler, you sure you wanna go through with this? If you wanna back out, feel free.”
Tyler nodded in understanding, but then shook his head. “No, that's okay. I'm kinda excited to see how this goes... I just hope I don't get in your way at all...” he said, looking almost giddy with adrenaline. He had never been in a real 'high-powered' fight like this, though he did like to watch them on TV. He was rather excited to see what it was like in person.
Wraith shrugged. “Alright then, if you say so. In that case...” he looked over the three of them, and locked his eyes on the gator first. “Orin, out of the four of us, you're probably the most capable of standing up to punishment. Try to keep his attention focused on you to the best of your ability, and if you can run interference for the rest of us at any point, try to.” The wolfbear started to turn, then seemed to think of something else and refocused on Orin. “And, don't drag him underwater unless you really have to for some reason. If you do that, none of us will be able to help you out, turning our four against one, to just a one on one, with you probably getting mauled in the meantime...”
Orin snorted, crossing his arms. “Sheesh, who made you the leader? But yeah, yeah, fine, I realize that. If I need to pull him underwater for some reason, I'll do it quick, and toss him back out asap. That good enough for you, boss?” he finished, with some heavy sarcasm on the last word.
Wraith flattened his ears a bit in response, but shrugged, not taking the bait, and instead just giving his own somewhat snarky response. “Yeah, good enough for me,” he drawled. He then looked to the hellhound, who perked his ears up. “Fyre. Uh...” He paused for a moment, and then simply blinked and shrugged. “Uh, to be honest, like I said earlier, you're a good mage... just do your thing. I trust you to handle yourself well enough, so just try to cover us, or hit him as best you can. I know you're capable enough in melee too, so whatever works best for you.”
The hellhound wagged his tail a bit, looking rather pleased with the assessment, and nodded his head enthusiastically. “Yeah, sure, you got it! I'll do my best.”
Wraith nodded in return, and pointed to himself. “For my part, I'll do my best to dish out as much damage as I can,” he said, idly twirling his scythe in his paws. “I'll also see if I can't keep his attention, with Orin, off of you two somewhat, since I can dodge pretty easily if he attacks me. Now, Tyler...” He finally looked to the coyote, who looked alert and rather tense. “Remember, you're fighting way out of your league.” The coyote's ears lowered a bit, but Wraith continued on. “That said, do your best. Focus on your own defense first and foremost, don't be over-aggressive, or take risky attacks, but if you have the opportunity to do so... hit him hard,” he finished, with a smile.
The coyote's ears were back up by the end of that, and he nodded. “Yes, sir!” he said, happily.
“Alright then... break!” Wraith said, and the four spread out a bit, all turning to face the werewolf, who looked to be dozing a bit, eyes closed. “Orin, care to draw our ferocious friend's attention?”
Orin snickered, crouching down a bit and putting his hands to the ground, in a posture ready to start running. “Well, since you asked so nicely...” he said, before taking off in a sprint, his heavy footfalls leading the way toward the group's target. Wraith followed behind him, and Fyre some distance behind the two of them. Tyler ran to keep up, though they pulled ahead pretty quickly. Even with his enhanced strength and speed, he couldn't quite match them.
At about 20 yards away, Orin leaped into the air, pulling a fist back for a punch as he started coming down on the sleepy-looking wolf. Dark hardly even reacted to the incoming gator, making it look like the blow would land, but just a second before it did, the wolf vanished in a sudden flash of white light, a briefly visible trail showing his warp over to his side, as he padded around on all fours, before stretching and yawning dramatically.
“Ah, are we all ready to fight now?” he asked, with a grin, stepping back a bit, still on all fours, as Orin followed after him, throwing punches that the big wolf dodged.
Wraith circled around him, darting once in a warp similar to what the wolf had done, before leaping up to attack from behind, prompting the wolf to leap over Orin, so as to avoid the both of them. Orin shouted, rather happily, as he turned and continued to follow after the wolf's movements, leaping forward to throw attacks the whole while. “We're ready at least, if you wanna stop running away!”
Dark chuckled, hopping back so he had some distance from the gator, and looked around at all four of them, with a sly grin on his face. “Alright, if you insist~...” He dodged a few more punches from Orin, before sweeping his head down low to the ground, aiming to smash it into the gator, from the side. However, Orin caught it between both of his arms, grabbing hold and digging his feet into the ground, digging a few gouges through the dirt as he was pushed back.
A moment later however, the werewolf brought his head up, and shook backwards to the other side, throwing Orin off, and sending him tumbling across the ground. At the same time however, Wraith leaped up, bringing the blunt back of his scythe down hard on the wolf's head, and landing atop it afterwards, sliding down the back of the wolf's neck, as the large beast grimaced and scowled at the hit. The wolfbear leapt forwards, some yards away, and turned to face his foe. He braced to leap once again, but before he could, Dark swung his body, and particularly his tail, back towards him. Wraith tensed up, and just before the tail hit him, he faded from sight in a cloud of mist, reappearing in the same place a moment later, after the tail passed through him harmlessly.
As Wraith made ready to attack again, Fyre was already set to make his opening strike. Bright blue flames raced over his body, and he launched himself to the wolf's chest, tackling him, and sending the wolf back a few steps, before the hellhound sprung backwards, off of him. The energy that had surrounded the hound was then launched as another attack, a large bolt of flames, but the wolf took a breath and shot a burst of white fire from his jaws back at it, causing the two to cancel each other out. He took a step toward Fyre, then tipped his ears back, as both Orin and Wraith came jumping from behind to attack him once again.
By that point, Tyler had finally caught up to the battle, and was watching, unsure exactly how to even approach the big beast. He circled around a bit, looking for an opening as Wraith had suggested, as the wolf took some hits here and there, and threw back some of his own. The coyote lightly bounced his weight a bit from one foot to the other – the wards that the wolf had put on him did have him feeling much lighter and quicker. He took a breath, and let it out, before nodding his head to himself. The wolf seemed occupied with his other opponents. It was time he joined the fray.
The coyote started to run forward from his target's side. The 'sword' that Wraith had fashioned for him, while a bit more like a club, ought to hurt if he could land it – the wolf had specifically put some spells on it as well, supposedly to make sure his hits counted, he had said. Dark was turned away somewhat, swatting at Wraith while he was in the air and looking to attack. The wolfbear vanished like smoke, reappearing on the ground, and leaped up to thrust the top of his scythe up into the wolf's underside, making the big beast growl and back off, before raising both arms to slam them down. Wraith tensed, readying to dodge again, but just at that moment, Tyler ran up behind the big beast and smashed his sword into the wolf's right hindleg.
He could feel... something... as the glyphs on the weapon flared up and what seemed like a spike of white energy burst from the weapon, making the wolf yelp and turn around toward him. Tyler was rather thrilled to have actually landed an attack, and a good one... until he saw the huge toothy grimace above, leering as Dark loomed over him. He had definitely gotten the big wolf's attention now.
The yote gripped his weapon and raised it to attack again, but a massive paw came swinging down at him, and he instead braced for impact. Right before it came however, the sound of Wraith warping nearby caught his attention, and the wolfbear took the brunt of the blow, blocking some of it with his scythe, but getting the both of them thrown back together. For Tyler, at least, the wards flared up, and despite what seemed like a heavy impact, he wasn't terribly injured, though it definitely stung a bit. Wraith, meanwhile, warped again in the air, and slid to a halt on his feet, just in front of the yote. He held a hand out, backwards, to Tyler, who accepted it and was pulled back to his feet.
Looking back at their foe, he saw Orin on top of the wolf's back, and pounding on his head. Wraith darted in again, and warped forward, and then leapt here and there, showering the beast with blows where he could. Several orbs of blue flame were streaking through the air, and exploded against Dark's side where they hit, courtesy of Fyre.
Tyler braced himself, before charging in once more. He had gotten a taste of the combat, and was finding it rather fun. He went off to the side, still following Wraith's advice to avoid getting the big wolf's attention too much on himself, but closed in for another hit, just as Orin was thrown off to the side.
The gator landed on his feet and started racing back in, just as Tyler landed another strike on the wolf's hindlegs. The burst of energy went out again, but this time, the wolf responded much more quickly, sweeping a paw at him almost instantly.
Tyler gritted his teeth, expecting to get hurled backward again, but Orin leaped in front of him, and caught the wolf's paw against his chest, holding it. He still got pushed back some distance, causing his big body to hit Tyler, making the yote fall backwards to a sitting position. He blinked and looked up, Orin giving him a nod, before the gator pushed Dark's paw aside, and leaped forward to tackle him on his underside, sending the wolf back a step, and refocusing the beast's attention on himself. Tyler got back on his feet, and rejoined the fray as well.
The four continued their assault for some time, with Wraith warping around to avoid attacks and launch his own, Fyre raining down blasts of energy, Orin covering his allies and disrupting their foe as best he could, and Tyler occasionally landing some heavy hits. Dark for his part, was frequently throwing his opponents away, slamming them against the ground, or occasionally throwing bursts of magic here and there.
Eventually though, the wolf grinned, and shook his head around. “Alright... time to finish this, I think...” His opponents were getting a bit winded, and though the wolf himself was panting somewhat, he was still mostly fresh on stamina. Clenching one paw into a fist, he stepped back as Orin attacked, before bringing it around to hit him in the side, sending the gator skidding across the ground some distance. He had suffered the brunt of most of the blows, and was showing his weariness by that point – he staggered back to his feet, but wasn't getting back into the fray very soon.
The wolf turned his attention to Wraith, who had just warped into the air behind the beast, bringing his scythe down. Dark spun around, swinging his paw backward, and Wraith warped again right before it hit, reappearing down on the ground in front of the wolf, and leaping up to attack once more. The wolf's other paw swept forward, and Wraith vanished into mist once again, reappearing above the wolf's head again, but in front this time, and swinging downward. However, this time, the big beast responded almost instantly, darting his head up with lightning speed, and snapping his jaws shut around the wolfbear, holding him inside his maw. He didn't catch him with any teeth, but the wolf's jaw did begin to glow rather brightly, a field of energy preventing Wraith from warping out.
Meanwhile, the big werewolf raised his head, chest expanding as he inhaled, and energy accumulating in his maw. It was clear he was charging a breath weapon. Wraith, for his part, tried his best to attack, but a few seconds later, the wolf threw his head forward, opening his jaws, and unleashing a scorching blast of white flame from his maw, condensed into something of a fireball, with Wraith getting blasted out with it.
The wolf had aimed it directly at Fyre, and the hellhound tensed up. He could certainly have moved out of the way, but instead, he let energy surge up around him, blue flames coming up in something of a protective shield, as he rose onto his hindlegs, and caught the blast right against his chest. He let out a heavy bark as he got slammed with it, and went hurtling back several dozen yards, but his paws had caught Wraith, holding him against the hellhound's chest as the two were launched back, and cushioning his landing. Even so, Wraith looked to be out of commission, at least for the moment, and Fyre disentangled himself from him,
Dark smirked, lowering himself to all fours, and his eyes began to glow white, just briefly, as some lines of magic traced through his fur, particularly along his back. A moment later, the white light pulled itself away, and shaped into something of a serpentine dragon, formed entirely of energy. The werewolf snarled, and the dragon launched itself toward Fyre with alarming speed.
Fyre yelped and hopped to the side, just in time to get out of the way of the dragon. It coiled through the air, and continued after him, jaws snapping, and forcing the semi-exhausted hellhound to keep retreating, surges of blue flames occasionally going out to try to either shield him from the onstruct, or disrupt it entirely. However, he didn't quite have the energy to do so yet after taking that hit with Wraith, and soon enough, the dragon caught him and coiled around tightly, constricting the dog. He struggled to escape its clutches, but his own magic was rather stifled by the energy-beast.
Orin, meanwhile, had finally gotten back to the fight, leaping to strike at the wolf... only for another blow to slam him directly down into the ground. At that point, he looked to really be out of the fight.
Finally, the wolf turned to his last opponent, the coyote who had watched the whole ordeal, struggling to find a time to strike back. Tyler gulped, tightening his grip on the weapon, and steeled himself. His paws shook a bit, but he stood his ground, as the massive wolf advanced toward him on all fours. Just as Dark brought one paw up to attack, Tyler broke into a run, going forward, and planning to hit the other. He thought he had it, at least for a moment, but just as he swung to hit, the wolf threw himself backward, up onto his hind legs, and avoided the blow. Tyler yelped, as he saw the beast towering over him, and realized he was in prime position for both of those paws to come back down.
And so they did, though not directly on him. Instead, they smashed the ground and a shockwave of energy rippled out, breaking the ground apart, while the sheer force of it threw Tyler back some distance, going flying through the air, and landing heavily on his back. The yote scowled, his chest stinging sharply, but those wards had still prevented any major damage. Still, it was a struggle to make his body respond. Even so, he tried to get back up, only to see the light of the sky dim, as the wolf leaped above him. Tyler gulped, seeing the huge beast come down towards him, and he just curled defensively as best he could, expecting another shockwave.
Tyler could feel the ground quake around him, as all four paws of the wolf came down with a crash around him, but nothing struck him too sharply. He opened an eye, and was met with the big lupine face effectively taking up his whole vision, tooth-filled maw curled up in something of a grin, and the large pink tongue somewhat sliding out between them.
“Now... as for you...” the big beast said, with a smug rumbling undertone. He licked his lips and leaned further forward, the hot breath washing over the coyote. “You put up a good fight. But I do believe I've won... and it's lunchtime~...” He grinned and his jaws parted, leaning forward as Tyler pushed himself back across the ground, away from the huge maw...
...and then smacked the giant werewolf on the nose, a thunderous surge of energy reverberating through the weapon and out against its target, with a sharp crack.
The werewolf yelped in surprise and leaned all the way back, getting up on his hindpaws, and taking a step away. He covered his nose with both front paws, and his tail went down. “Yowch! Erg... h-hey, that was a cheap shot!” he yelled, rubbing at the sensitive spot on the end of his muzzle, and wincing a bit, a slight whine coming from his throat.
Tyler got his feet underneath him and stood up, panting heavily, as adrenaline surged through his body. His limbs were shaking, and he felt exhausted, but he gripped his weapon with both paws. “Y-yeah? Well, try that again and I'll give you another one!” he shouted, somewhat out of breath, but trying to sound intimidating.
Dark glared at him, but his ears tilted backward as raucous laughter broke out from behind him. Orin, despite looking like he was about ready to just fall over on the ground, had gotten himself back up... only he seemed to now be struggling more with the deep laughter that he couldn't contain, as he was doubled over and clutching his stomach.
“Hah! Haha! Well now, Dark, is your snack giving you some trouble? Heh... hahahah, oh god, I can't even stop laughing, and it hurts!” He finally flopped down on the ground, trying to stifle the laughter – it really was making his gut hurt, after taking so many hits in the fight, but he actually couldn't stop himself.
The big werewolf let out a huff, some white flames blowing out the side of his jaws, as he looked back over the other three fighters. Wraith was getting back to his feet, and Fyre was still struggling with the dragon that Dark had sicced on him, but with a wave of his paw, the wolf dispelled it, and the hellhound fell to the ground, landing on his feet, and shaking himself around.
The wolfbear looked from Orin, to Dark, to Tyler, and snickered a bit himself. “I'll admit, that was actually rather funny,” he said, spinning his scythe around, and then hoisting it up, to drape it over his shoulders, as the battle seemed to be over.
Fyre padded over to the wolfbear, and sat down, letting out a yawn. “I could have continued for longer... I was just hung up struggling with the dragon you made.” Even so, he shrugged and was grinning a bit, his tail wagging as he stretched. “Though, really, nice hit, Tyler!”
Dark growled, rubbing his nose a bit more, before dropping down to all fours, and padding off to the side, so that he was less in between Tyler and the others. “Tch... glad you guys all find that so amusing...” He grumbled and flopped down into a laying position, head resting on his paws, before looking over at he coyote. “I'll admit though... good on ya. I didn't think you had any more fight left in you by that point.” He grinned, showing off the teeth that had just moments ago been curled in a far more intimidating smile... now, it was just a good-natured one – albeit still somewhat intimidating, as it was still attached to a rather enormous wolfbeast.
Tyler gulped, lowering his hold on the weapon and letting out a heavy breath as his body slowly came down from its battle-high. He simply nodded, and his tail wagged just a bit. “Well, um... thanks... heh...” he said, between breaths of air. “That was actually, uh... really fun.”
The big wolf chuckled, lowering his head down and closing his eyes. “I think with some practice, you'll make a pretty good fighter, kid... erm... Tyler~” he said, correcting himself with a bit of a snicker.
The rest of the group wandered closer, and Fyre wagged his tail. “Yeah, you were pretty great! Also, that was really fun!” he said, looking rather happy. He leaped on top of the werewolf's muzzle, making the wolf squeeze his eyes shut for a moment, and then open one with a raised eyebrow. Fyre then hopped up on top of Dark's head, and turned around, before laying down. The hellhound was generally large enough that most people could rest on top of him – with the wolf being much bigger now, he took the opportunity to reverse the situation, laying on the wolf instead. Dark simply wagged his tail and closed his eyes again.
“That was really nicely done, overall,” Wraith sighed, stepping beside Tyler and putting a paw on his shoulder. “Keep up with the practicing, and I think you'll do pretty well. And, obviously, I'm happy to continue teaching you all I can.”
Orin stretched his arms wide, grinning. “I suppose that means we'll be seeing you around more often, eh? Fine by me... Anyone who's willing to bap this guy on the nose...” he rather firmly patted the wolf's nose, making him wince as it was still a bit sore, open his eyes, and glare at the gator. “...and then threaten him with another, is okay in my book!”
Dark growled, his lip curling up a bit to show off his teeth. “Orin, you may want to take your hand back, while you still have the chance...” he said, with a low grumble.
The gator smirked at him, before shrugging and taking his hand away. “Hmm, if you insist~” he said, with a chuckle. He then jumped, and threw himself into a laying position on the wolf's muzzle, tail draped over the side, and reclining against the wolf's forehead, so Orin's head was relatively close to Fyre's. The hellhound wagged a bit, while Dark grimaced, glaring at the gator as best he could, considering he was about right between his eyes. Orin waved at Tyler. “Hey, newbie, get up here! We beat the giant wolf, now we get to lay on him!”
Dark snorted, a puff of flames escaping his nostrils, and making his head move about, though not enough to dislodge either the gator or hellhound. “Excuse me? You guys absolutely did not win that! Tyler just happened to get the last blow!” he said, with an incredulous tone of voice, and a disgruntled growl.
“Come on, up here!” the gator yelled, holding a hand out to Tyler, and completely ignoring the wolf's objections.
The coyote blinked, looking at Orin's outstretched hand, and then at the wolf. “Uh...” he started, unsure about how to even respond to the situation.
Dark's gaze turned to him, and his expression softened, a bit of a grin spreading across his face as he rolled his eyes. “Heh... yeah, yeah, don't worry about it... you're free to climb on me. I don't actually mind~” he said, with a bit of a chuckle.
Tyler nodded. “Uh, well, thank you,” he said, approaching, and taking a hold of the gator's hand, getting hoisted up on the big wolf's muzzle with him. He used his other paws to somewhat awkwardly climb up. Soon enough however, he was up, and Orin lifted him with both hands, making the yote flail a bit, as he got passed over to Fyre, who simply extended his head forward, and grabbed a mouthful of the small coyote's scruff, so that he could lift him up higher. Tyler did grab two fistfuls of fur to better distribute his weight, but was pulled up rather smoothly, his footpaws once again scrabbling for purchase. Finally, he found a reasonably comfy spot next to the hellhound, and decided to stop there, rather than continuing to climb over the wolf.
Wraith got up much easier, simply warping to Dark's back and sitting down, one paw draped around Fyre as he reclined against the hellhound too, lifting his other paw to stifle a yawn. “So, is it nap time now? I'll be honest, Dark, you did kind of beat us up quite a bit during that fight... not exactly a very fair introduction for our new friend.”
The wolf grinned, his tail wagging. “Hey, I was just giving you guys a challenge! Had to make sure our newbie got to have some fun~” he snickered. “But yeah, napping sounds good to me...” He opened his jaws wide, yawning, and shuffling the four on top of him just a bit, before he settled his head back down.
Wraith nodded. “Alright then. Tyler, any objections?”
The yote yawned, not actually having realized he was so tired, but now that the mention of a nap was brought up, his exhaustion hit him like a wave. While his involvement in that fight had been a bit less than the others, the sparring he had done earlier was catching up to him as well, and the warm afternoon sun was rather comfortable... not to mention the large fuzzy creature he was laying on was rather cozy as well. He closed his eyes, and laid his head down, feeling his exhaustion coming over him quite quickly once he did.
“No, actually... that sounds really good to me, too,” he mumbled, getting comfy. His first day of practice had gone rather well, all things considered, and his head was abuzz with all of the things that had happened. Despite being so tired, he wasn't sure he'd even be able to really sleep after all that – which made it somewhat ironic when, little more than a moment or two after closing his eyes, he was out like a light, snoozing like a pup.
Category Story / Fantasy
Species Unspecified / Any
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