the Rift


the beginning [gaucho]

Ranjiri the GoldenShade Posts: 372
World's Edge Mare atk: 4.5 | def: 8.5 | dam: 6
Mare :: Hybrid :: 16.0 :: 5 HP: 62 | Buff: NOVICE
Mara :: Common Rougarou :: Shadow ali
#1
Ranjiri</style>
in this world full of people there's one killing me
and if we only die once i wanna die with you
</style>


"No, Jiji. No. This isn't...this isn't done. This is only the beginning."

I hadn't realized just how right Ros had been when she told me that it was only the beginning. Or ... maybe I hadn't wanted to believe her that Hototo's death was only the beginning of all the bad stuff that was going to happen, but it was. The Falls was invaded, my dad died, and my son disappeared all within days of one another. I know it was my own personal tragedy, one that didn't affect everyone the same way the Moon Goddess' murderous rampage did, but ... I couldn't help but think that it was the beginning. The beginning of something much worse, of something that would affect everyone in my herd... in Helovia.

I needed to be stronger. I needed to be able to fight and protect everyone I cared about instead of running and hiding and hoping for everyone else to protect me. I needed to not be weak. I remembered thinking that if I got stronger Ros wouldn't have to worry about me so much... and that maybe I could find her and fight beside her and protect her.

The idea that I needed to get stronger never left my mind and I pondered for days over who I could ask to spar with me and teach me. When I finally came to the decision that it should be Gaucho I thought that I had to be losing my mind. Gaucho was a force to be reckoned with, an experienced fighter, and my Sultan. I was sure that he had more important things to do than to teach a rookie how to fight... but there was no one else that came to mind that I wanted to learn from.

So I called for him. "Gaucho!" and as I waited I looked down at my hooves and the sand. I became more and more aware of the sun, high overhead, beating down relentlessly on my back. I wondered if I had picked the right time of day and the right place and if I was truly ready to throw myself into a fight that I knew would result in me getting my butt kicked. I sighed and lifted my head and looked to see if I could find Gaucho's form approaching.

"."

ooc://
0/3
Word Count: 375
Setting: Dragon's Throat desert at Noon.
Magic and companions allowed.
This will be a teaching spar for Jiji :D
@[Gaucho]
@[Aud] tagging your admin account to make sure you see this.

Image Credits

aud pixel!
Ascended Helovian

Gaucho The Wildfire Posts: 1,004
Deceased atk: 8.5 | def: 11.5 | dam: 8
Stallion :: Pegasus :: 17.2 :: 12 HP: 85 | Buff: PINNACLE
Mara :: Black Mamba Snake :: Paralyze & Vorsa :: Plain Zephyr :: Phoenix Odd
#2
Remember rights that I did wrong, so here I go.</style>

A shadow coasted overhead, momentarily blocking out the sun as it poured down onto Ranjiri. Soon the heat of Tallsun would diminish as Frostfall took over, but for now, the temperature in the Throat suggested that this would never be the case. Such was life in the desert.

On wings of black and fire, Gaucho coasted riding the thermals with relative ease. Although it wasn't his turn to patrol, he enjoyed gliding high above his herd with an eye to the ground. The threat of Confutatis and the Invasion has passed, and so Ampere had decided to tone down the amount of guards who were on watch. Although his warriors still patrolled, their frequency and number were reduced. It made sense, and Gaucho agreed with Ampere's decision, but still he liked to watch.

Such was his job.

Gaucho

As her voice beckoned to him, Gaucho circled slightly lower. "Jiji look up." He called down to her - though he guessed it wasn't necessary as his large bulk continued to block out the sun with each rotation. He hoped that she would fly up to meet him - if only for the nostalgia of it. He had been next to her - on these very sands - when she had learned to fly. He could still remember her trepidation but also bravery, and the look of fear that had been on Midas' face as he watched his child tumble from the sky. It brought a smile to Gaucho's lips even now - but those memories occurred in a much simpler time. A time when both he and the tri-coloured mare below were unfettered by burdens that were out of their control.


WC: 275
Attack: 0.3


Image Credits
Please tag me in every post! Magic/Force is allowed on Gaucho at any time.


Ranjiri the GoldenShade Posts: 372
World's Edge Mare atk: 4.5 | def: 8.5 | dam: 6
Mare :: Hybrid :: 16.0 :: 5 HP: 62 | Buff: NOVICE
Mara :: Common Rougarou :: Shadow ali
#3
Ranjiri</style>
in this world full of people there's one killing me
and if we only die once i wanna die with you
</style>



The longer I waited the more nervous I got and it definitely wasn't a good feeling. I didn't like feeling like my heart was pounding in my throat, and like my stomach was mimicking ocean waves. It wasn't that I was nervous solely about fighting Gaucho, it was having to ask him to spar with me and teach me. What if he said no? He had told me that I was strong, but what if he didn't think I was strong enough to fight? A shadow passed over me and I blinked, but didn't bother looking up to see what it was. I assumed that it was just one of Ampere's warriors either leaving for a patrol or returning from one.

"Jiji, look up."

My head jerked upward and I squinted against the sunlight until the shadow passed over me again and I could see Gaucho. I took a shaky breath as I watched him and I waited for him to get lower to the ground, but he never did. I figured that was his subtle way of saying that I should fly up to meet him, so I unfurled my wings. It was hard to gain momentum in loose sand (again, I wondered if I picked the right spot to spar) but I still moved as quickly as I could to a run and I jumped into the air. My wings beat against the air and carried me upward toward Gaucho. I banked until he came into view then glided toward him, thankful for the thermals that kept me from having to continuously flap my wings.

"Hey..." I called as I coasted closer. It would have been so much easier if Gaucho had landed and I'd been able to speak to him on the ground, but I had to make do with the chance I was given. "I..." I wasn't sure how to ask for a fight, so I just ended up blurting it out. "I want you to fight me." And it definitely didn't come out like I wanted it to. "Wait ... that's not what I meant!" I definitely didn't want him to think that I was challenging him. I wanted to be taught to fight, not stomped into the ground. "Teach me." I corrected myself. "I want you to teach me to fight. I want to be stronger."





"."

ooc://
0/3
Word Count: 393
Setting: Dragon's Throat desert at Noon.
Magic and companions allowed.
This will be a teaching spar for Jiji :D
@[Gaucho]

Image Credits

aud pixel!
Ascended Helovian

Gaucho The Wildfire Posts: 1,004
Deceased atk: 8.5 | def: 11.5 | dam: 8
Stallion :: Pegasus :: 17.2 :: 12 HP: 85 | Buff: PINNACLE
Mara :: Black Mamba Snake :: Paralyze & Vorsa :: Plain Zephyr :: Phoenix Odd
#4
Remember rights that I did wrong, so here I go.</style>



Gaucho watched as Ranjiri took to the skies, and again images of her flashed before his eyes. Images of her wobbling to become airborne, images of her coasting only to fall, and images of her radiant youthful smile as pride seemingly overflowed from her very core. Now that same dark face and those same red eyes appeared so much older, wiser yes, but also more sad. Ranjiri had already dealt with so much in her short life .. though none of that pain showed now. Instead, there was only a tentative bravery.

Gaucho easily coasted on the thermals, using his larger wings to maximize the warm winds that helped keep him relatively still. As she mentioned she wanted him to fight her, Gaucho puffed air out of his nostrils in amused surprise, chuckling as she quickly qualified her statement.

I want you to teach me to fight.

The Wildfire regarded her silently for a moment, as if he needed to consider her proposal. Everyone in the herd - Ranjiri especially - should know that free lessons were always willingly given out. That there was hesitation in her voice was something Gaucho would need to correct--

--but later.

Quietly Gaucho hovered, waiting to see how she would respond to his silence and his stillness. Then, after a moment, he suddenly moved in a flurry of fire and blackened feathers. Beat one: his wings, previously beating slowly and rhythmically suddenly shot forward, throwing a wall of fire. However his aim was not to hit Ranjiri with it, but to ignite and heat the air directly beneath her. It should force her body upwards slightly as her wings cupped the burst of hot air. Beat two: His wing joints rotated so that his next wing beat would propel him forwards once again, hopefully straight into Ranjiri. While he couldn't predict how she would cope with the sudden burst of air beneath her, his bulk compared to hers almost guaranteed that some part of him would strike her. Raising his forelegs as he flew forward, he meant to use them to shove her back in the air by pushing and striking out at her chest.

In his antlers, Mara hissed loudly. She would not strike out at the hybrid mare who she still thought of as a foal, no matter how badly she wanted to have a real lesson. Her poison was far too strong - especially in the air - to be used unwisely. However that didn't mean she wasn't going to participate. Her hissing was loud - nearly obnoxious - as her gun-steel body slithered forward onto the top tines of Gaucho's antlers. She tried to distract the tri-coloured mare as much as she possibly could with her frightening sounds.

"Lesson one-" Gaucho grunted over Mara's wails, "-always be ready."

Adrenaline was already flooding his system, but that wasn't the only chemical which was altering his mood. He felt pride. Pride at seeing Ranjiri grow to adulthood on the bloody sands, pride that she overcome the death of both her brother and her father, and was still able to make her own way in the world. Pride that she could seek him out for training lessons to be stronger. To improve. Whether she won or lost today, she had already done everything Gaucho could have asked for her.

The rest was just riding the learning curve.


WC: 557
Attack: 1.3


Image Credits
Please tag me in every post! Magic/Force is allowed on Gaucho at any time.


Ranjiri the GoldenShade Posts: 372
World's Edge Mare atk: 4.5 | def: 8.5 | dam: 6
Mare :: Hybrid :: 16.0 :: 5 HP: 62 | Buff: NOVICE
Mara :: Common Rougarou :: Shadow ali
#5
Ranjiri</style>
in this world full of people there's one killing me
and if we only die once i wanna die with you
</style>



It was disconcerting how quiet Gaucho was after I asked him to teach me. I had actually begun to think that he was going to tell me no, that he had better things to do with his time. I, very quickly, made up my mind that I wouldn't let him tell me no. I would make him teach me so I could protect everyone that I loved. I couldn't stand by and let anyone else I cared about die. I couldn't... I just couldn't let it happen again. "Teach me." I don't know where the sternness in my voice came from, but I hoped that it would make it clear just how serious I was.

I was unprepared for Gaucho's attack. It was actually embarrassing how unprepared I was for the wall of fire that shot toward me. A panicked squeak slipped past my lips as I tried to dodge it by banking to the right, but my left wing caught the sudden rising warm air from Gaucho's fire and it threw me off balance. I thought I was going to go into some kind of ... of death spin that would end with me splattered all across the sand below. I beat my wings furiously to try and regain my balance and I had just steadied myself when Gaucho attacked again.

Once again I was unprepared.

The sight of Gaucho coming after me and Mara's hisses struck a chord of fear in my heart that had me frozen. I couldn't think, I could barely remember to keep flapping my wings, I could only watch him as he came at me and when I realized that I needed to move it was too late. I don't know if it was his knees or his hooves that struck my square in the chest, all I knew was that it hurt and that it was suddenly very hard to breathe. A split second later I realized that I was falling and I panicked again and I snapped my teeth at Gaucho's mane as if that alone would keep me from falling.

I was aware of the ground getting closer and closer but ... I don't know. I felt like I couldn't make my body do what I wanted it to do. I think it was strictly instinct coupled with dumb luck that made me suddenly extend my wings so I could glide, but I was already so close to the ground that my knees were dragged through the sand. I never imagined that sand could be rough enough to scrape away hair and flesh and leave something that looked like burns. I grunted and beat my wings against the air to gain some altitude, but I was ready for it to be over after just one attack.

I could hear Gaucho saying to always be ready and I was embarrassed once more at how apparent it was that I was unprepared. How could I ever hope to protect anyone if I couldn't even be properly prepared for a spar? I ground my teeth together as I rose higher into the air even though I would much rather my first fight be with my hooves firmly planted on the ground. I had to prove to myself and to Gaucho that I could do this. That I wasn't a waste of time or a lost cause. I tried my best to get behind Gaucho and slightly above so that when I flew at him I could try to beat my hooves against his back.



"."

ooc://
1/3
Word Count: 588
@[Gaucho]

Image Credits

aud pixel!
Ascended Helovian

Gaucho The Wildfire Posts: 1,004
Deceased atk: 8.5 | def: 11.5 | dam: 8
Stallion :: Pegasus :: 17.2 :: 12 HP: 85 | Buff: PINNACLE
Mara :: Black Mamba Snake :: Paralyze & Vorsa :: Plain Zephyr :: Phoenix Odd
#6
Remember rights that I did wrong, so here I go.</style>



As Ranjiri's body broke apart from his with nothing more than the snap of her teeth and a tug at his mane, Gaucho began to wonder if he had somehow wounded her more than he had intended. Her black and gold body spiraled away from him, descending in a flurry of feathers towards the ground. For a moment Gaucho hedged, silently flying in place while trying to decide what to do. On the one hand, if Ranjiri really was hurt - if he had somehow mistakenly found her Achilles heel - then should she crash into the ground she would require his immediate help. However if this was some trick ... a feint to make him believe she was wounded so that he would let his guard down to help her, then he would be a fool to follow.

So what should he do? Follow his paternal instincts? Or his warrior-sense?

Gaucho decided that, regardless of what she was up to, dropping down a few feet couldn't hurt. His blackened wings ceased their beating for a moment as his massive bulk tilted forward allowing him to spiral with considerably more grace, after her. As Ranjiri continued to plummet, Gaucho became more and more sure she was about to crash - she was clearly falling rather than diving, and was nearing the ground going far too fast. He possessed no magic that could help to soften her impact, and in his antlers Mara was already poised to try and paralyze the young warrior so that her body wouldn't have to feel itself continue to break while Gaucho sought out a healer. But at the very last possible second, Ranjiri's wings jutted from her flanks saving her life at the cost of skinned knees. Gaucho exhaled a sigh of audible relief as his ever-burning wings beat forcefully once again to slow his descent and circle around.

"This not tag!" He called teasingly after her, though the relief in his voice was obvious.

Gaucho's stormy gaze rotated with the movements of his blocky skull as he followed the black and gold mare. She rose up higher than him, and Gaucho assumed she meant to drop down on top of him. However he had other plans...

His shoulders rotated easily as his hips swung in a semi-circle so that he was facing her as she began to drop. Her attack would have been a good one had he stayed put, but no real enemy would allow such an easily avoidable tactic to be used, so neither would Gaucho. Her body was smaller and lighter than his - which meant she was more agile in the air. But agility had little to do with your inertia and impact-velocity. Although Ranjiri might be able to dodge him, what she couldn't do was fall any faster. Although her wings would push her forward, in the air, Gaucho's impressive bulk still gave him the advantage.

Shooting an arc of fire downwards to instantly increase his lift, Gaucho soared directly up into Ranjiri's downwards attack. Although Ranjiri was tall, she did not possessive the bulky muscle that Gaucho did - or that her enemies would. She needed to learn that a crafty enough enemy could turn her attacks around on her. Although this tactic would result in bruising on Gaucho's chest and possibly his neck, he was prepared to bite through the pain in order to teach his young ward this invaluable lesson.

Ranjiri's hooves struck his chest solidly as his upward flight collided directly into her. Although his muscles screamed at the blunt-trauma her hooves provided, he continued to beat his wings and force himself higher. He wanted her knees to buckle and to be forced to contract back into her body - against her chest which had already been battered once. He wanted her neck and back to be forced backwards, possibly jarring her muscles and cramping or pulling them. His forelegs flailed upwards - ready to tangle themselves in her forelegs or to strike at her belly, based on how she chose to react to him. In order to protect his face from her hooves, Mara slithered forward and continued hissing as she had been before. Although the serpent knew that Ranjiri wanted to learn how to fight, she sincerely doubted that that the mare would risk blinding her Sultan and killing his companion.

Gaucho laughed and snapped his ivory-white teeth at Ranjiri's neck in between the warm cadence of his amusement.


WC: 738
Attack: 2.3


Image Credits
Please tag me in every post! Magic/Force is allowed on Gaucho at any time.


Blu the Bootyful Posts: 443
Administrator atk: 99 | def: 99 | dam: 99
Mare :: Other :: 5'7" :: 25 HP: 99999 | Buff: TWERK
Blu
#7
Ranjiri defaults to Gaucho. Gaucho earns 0.5 VP.
 HP: 1100

Helovia Hard Mode


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