Nephthys craves purpose now more than ever. She is utterly alone in the world now – no husband, no son, no daughter - and her parents no longer have any sway over her lifestyle. If she craves power, she needs to take it. Socializing is not her strong suit, nor is fighting if she is to be honest, but she doesn't care. She has to try if only to fail and give herself more purpose to try and try again, honing her skills each time. Eventually she will be a powerhouse and she will take and take and take until there is nothing left to be taken, and even then she will demand more.

The Tollaire is anxious, however, because what if she fails miserably? What will the pride think of her then? Fuck it. She doesn't care. She doesn't care what any of them think of her because they aren't her people, they are Alaric's. Nephthys doesn't even know who holds the rank if any, but she releases a challenge for the rank of gentry and settles in to wait.

Nephthys vs @Tiamat
FOR GENTRY

(She's gonna get her ass kicked but it's character development ok thx)

The wheaten warrior was not fully healed from her fight with Alizabeth, but she hardly cared. When the call came, she was more than willing to answer it, dragging her scarred form from her den. The wounds from her challenge stretch, but they've mostly healed over at this point, even if she is a little sore still. The new scars would be a nice addition to her collect, and it seemed that she would be adding more to them today.

She ran towards the call, wanting to use her speed and size to her advantage today. The maroon pelt of her opponent came into view and Tiamat rushed the woman's right side, attempting to fling herself at her opponent. She tried to reach her right paw around the woman's chest and hook her claws into whatever flesh she could grab, while simultaneously attempting to throw her left leg over the woman's back. She was hoping to upset her opponent's balance by slamming into her, and then grab ahold with the movement of her paws.

Tiamat vs. @Nephthys
EM Gentry
Round 1 2 3
Hits:

Rolling 6d20: 12 + 14 + 16 + 10 + 11 + 2

Dodges:

Rolling 4d20: 17 + 1 + 15 + 20

Luck:

Rolling 5d20: 5 + 15 + 16 + 7 + 17

image by rabbit, code by anyu

At least the woman is prompt. Nephthys appreciates the no-nonsense approach, but the thunderous sound of approaching footsteps allows her some time to react. With plenty of time to situate herself, she attempts to swing her haunches away from Tiamat as she approaches, attempts to meet her head-on while bracing. Naturally, she isn't able to avoid everything and grunts as the impact lands, bone on bone. She feels the bruising immediately begin to blossom across her chest and sucks in a sharp breath of pain.

As claws fall against her skin on either side of her neck lacerate the skin, Nephthys attempts to surge forward to bite at the woman's face while simultaneously swinging her left leg out to slash at her body.

Nephthys vs. @Tiamat
Gentry
Round 1 / 3
Hits:

Rolling 4d20: 3 + 20 + 15 + 14

Dodges:

Rolling 2d20: 3 + 13

Luck:

Rolling 5d20: 16 + 2 + 5 + 1 + 4

image by moogle/code by saph

The other woman turned to face her and they met head-on, their chests crashing together with a blossoming of pain where there were still-healing wounds at the base of her neck. They were in no danger of tearing open again, but they hurt, and she grunted with the impact and the pain that came with it.

Her claws managed to dig into skin on either side of the woman's neck and Tiamat flexed them immediately, trying to hook in deeper and solidify her hold on the other woman. She saw the lunge for her face at the last moment and reared her head backwards, but the woman's teeth scraped her skin, drawing shallow furrows that immediately started bleeding. Thankfully, she avoided her face actually being bitten.

She missed the paw that lashed out at her, but in the scuffle the claws only slashed at her right leg, drawing blood and opening thin wounds, but doing little other damage. With the immediate danger to her face out of the way, she snaked her own head forward, aiming to grab the woman's left ear in her teeth.

Tiamat vs. @Nepthys
EM Gentry
Round 1 2 3
Hits:

Rolling 6d20: 1 + 18 + 3 + 15 + 16 + 14

Dodges:

Rolling 4d20: 12 + 16 + 1 + 18

Luck:

Rolling 5d20: 1 + 6 + 10 + 13 + 20

image by rabbit, code by anyu

this world is dying in our arms

He is surprised that the scuffle has not drawn more attention. The Mire was quiet lately, a fact which weighed heavily on the wheat King. Prides had changed paws more times than he could count, and it seemed that all of Amaryllis was in flux. It was frustrating, leaving him little time to think clearly about his own next steps. Recruitment seemed to be of vital importance, and hopefully the ones hungry for rank would continue to prove their worth. Leaving him free to deal with the more vital politics, as begrudgingly as he may do so. He happens upon the fight as he heads towards the borders and settles down to watch, curious who would emerge the victor in the challenge. Tiamet had been his gentry for a lengthy spell and he was not entirely sure he wished to see her unseated, but he had to admire Nephthys's drive and ambition... It would seem she was living up to her promise to him..

code // art

She would be lying if she said she wasn't doing this specifically to impress her king. While Nephthys knew she would never be his queen, she knew damn well that it would make her appealing to other men that might seek to make a powerful ally. Maybe she'd take one of his siblings up on Alaric's offer, make herself an asset in a different way. She would figure it out. For now, it was only about the blood.

Nephthys snarled as Tiamat dug her claws in, leaving rivers of blood down the side of her maroon body. The lioness slammed her paw back to the ground as she missed her full mark, but the scratches would have to do. She barely even managed to nip at her cheek, which was infuriating. Nephthys braced herself with all fours on the ground and attempted to surge upwards, rearing beneath the weight of her for while attempting to bash her head against the woman's jaw. She felt teeth graze against her ear and tear the skin, but her movements reduced the damage taken and avoided a direct hit.

Nephthys vs. @Tiamat
Gentry
Round 2 / 3
Hits:

Rolling 4d20: 8 + 19 + 5 + 2

Dodges:

Rolling 2d20: 3 + 1

Luck:

Rolling 5d20: 6 + 1 + 7 + 11 + 14

He teeth only snagged the ear of her opponent briefly, not finding a stronger hold, and tore only a small shred of skin. It was unfortunate that she could not gain that leverage over the woman, but it was as it would be. Her attention hyper-focused on the woman, watching for any sign of the next attack, and it was not long before it came.

The maroon lioness reared upwards, and Tiamat with her claws dug into the woman's flesh was drawn upwards as well. In an attempt to cause pain and off-set her opponent's balance, she bore her weight down on her front legs, which were attached to Nephthys with the claws that had dug in on either side of her neck. She hoped to keep the woman from rearing up too far, but also to cause pain.

Unfortunately, this put Tiamat in the way for the woman's other attack. The lioness' head slammed into Tiamat's chin, making her a little dazed. She gave her head a shake, trying to clear the sensation and the ache that spread through her jaws from the blow. With a frustrated growl she lunged forward again, this time aiming for the woman's face, trying to get a bite in there as she recovered from her own attack - surely her head had to hurt after smacking it against the solid bone of Tiamat's jaws?

Tiamat vs. @Nephthys
EM Gentry
Round 1 2 3
Hits:

Rolling 6d20: 8 + 9 + 10 + 6 + 1 + 13

Dodges:

Rolling 4d20: 13 + 16 + 14 + 15

Luck:

Rolling 5d20: 8 + 20 + 14 + 13 + 19

image by rabbit, code by anyu

There were worse fates to be had than bleeding out from her neck, she guessed. Personally she saw her opponent as a bit too vicious to merely be defending a rank (at the end of the day, Nephthys was a pride member as well and just as valuable to the mire king), but it was what is was. She would keep it in mind for when she came for the rank again -- and make no mistake, she would come for the rank until she had finally won. Nephthys knew well enough that she had lost the current battle, but that didn't mean she was going to simply roll over and accept defeat without a shred of dignity.

Blood pouring from her neck and her head now throbbing from the impact it had made with Tiamat's jaw, there wasn't much leeway for her to do anything until her paws returned to the ground. The movement gave Tiamat ample time to grab hold of her face, much to Nephthys' annoyance. She hissed and made one last ditch effort, attempting to surge forward and barrel into the woman in an attempt to send her flying into her back. She knew Tiamat having two legs off the ground would make it easier, too, especially if all of the woman's weight was down on her front half.

Nephthys vs. @Tiamat
Gentry
Round 3 / 3
Hits:

Rolling 4d20: 5 + 13 + 14 + 6

Dodges:

Rolling 2d20: 5 + 11

Luck:

Rolling 5d20: 16 + 15 + 17 + 9 + 4

@Tiamat vs. @Nephthys FOR Gentry
— RESULTS —

Tiamat Hits: 4+4+1+6 luck = 15
Tiamat Dodges: 3+3+4 = 10

Nephthys Hits: 3+1+2+ 4 luck = 10
Nephthys Dodges: 1+0+1= 2

Tiamat Successful Hits: 13
Nephthys Successful Hits: 0

Tiamat HAS WON THE CHALLENGE FOR Gentry!

Please allow the challengers to respond to the fight results first. As per the site rules, if 3 days go by without a post from the challenger(s), they can be skipped. Whichever comes first! Any posts made before this will be removed, unless you are posting to another fight.

The fight was over, and Tiamat already knew she was the victor. Her claws scored wounds along the woman's neck and her teeth snagged skin on her face. Victory sang in her veins and she was quick to release the bite, not trying to do any permanent damage for a simple rank challenge. Had this been Alizabeth she might have insisted on leaving something more damaging, but her hatred was not reserved for this woman on this day.

The red woman's final attack was too little too late. Tiamat had not yet released the grip of her claws, leaving little room for the woman to make a truly powerful surging attack with her weight. They slammed together and Tia knew there would be bruising later where their bodies connected, but she remained on her feet. Finally, deciding that she was well and truly done with this, she shoved away, releasing the woman fully and falling back to her four paws, backing away from the disturbed ground.

The woman received nothing more than a mild glare before Tiamat turned on her heel and caught the sight of Alaric watching. With a smirk, she dipped her head to him. "Hope you enjoyed the show," she offered the king before stalking off deeper into the Mire to nurse her wounds, both new and old.

Exit Tiamat

image by rabbit, code by anyu