LOCKET

; there's nothing worth remembering anymore.

The sun was high, plastering the sky with joy. Birdsong had finally arrived and the earth rejoiced—birds called out wildly and other creatures frolicked in the new found warmth. Frostfall had been such a treacherous time for all of Helovia—even the Foothills, a herd land that was not used to harsh winter climates—and even the Dauntless found a great relief in the diminishing snow. Taking a deep breathe of the warm air, he pushed forward with Loretta trotting smoothly at his heels. Archibald was very pleased with his warriors that wished to spar with him. He was pleased firstly with Romani, an ambitious mare. She had much to learn, but he believed she would benefit the Foothills well. The Halflinger would do well. Archibald was also very happy when Locket, an eager pupil, was ready to learn more in the ways of battle. The stallion, speaking in such an odd way, showed interest and desire to excel and protect his herd. Something close to pride swelled in his chest when his warriors were thirsty for the knowledge that the Dauntless stored.

Walking easily towards where Locket had called him, Archibald looked down to Loretta. Their bond was silent, but still she knew his body language and cues when he did not want her to be a part of his battle. Loretta was used to not being used in battles, as Archibald does not let her fight often. Whether or not she was used to the feeling, she sometimes did feel useless, because not all of the fights Archibald had been in were for the same purpose as this. Archibald had fought against the white stallion with the tree growing out of his leg, and she had to watch and do nothing! The pain, from not being able to help her bonded, was agonizing, and she would often bark or snarl on the sidelines. This, however, she had familiarity with—she had sat out of the spar with the palamino mare, and watched as Archibald defeated her with ease, but this time she would not stand idly by. Not feeling his emotions and not hearing his thoughts during battle was too much, so she would hunt. Skillfully the red malamute trotted in the other direction, tail erect as she disappeared in the shadows of the thick trees to find a hunt. Nodding, to nothing more than himself, Archibald turned to face Locket. “Today will be a test—show me your skill and I will not hurt you, I expect you to do the same for me.” A slight smirk would have lit the handsome Chief’s face had it not been for his years of training to stay stoic. “After we have finished, I will evaluate your ability and give you feedback. Perhaps I will give you a task like I did Romani, she had to spar with others and report back to me. Be prepared for that, and willing. The Foothills does not need lazy warriors.” Archibald finished, and took another step forward.

Fluidly, his ears pinned back to his flesh and his neck arched, chin tucking slightly for protection. Without hesitation the Chief’s body surged forward in a thundering canter. As he closed the distance between himself and Locket his eyes narrowed and his head lurched straight out, jaws closing in an hoping to snap over the well-muscled shoulder of the Arabian. The muddy earth gave way under Archibald’s heavy hooves, sending chunks of grass and wet earth flying around him. Locket would have a quick reaction time—his Arabian blood aiding him in speed and agility. Archibald had raw strength on his side, but because of his battle buffs his speed was slightly heightened as well as his reaction time. He doubted, even with the experience and battle buffs, his speed was not equally matching Locket’s and never would be. His mass was far too great.


[WC: 650 | 1/2 | Archibald ran forward and attempted to bite Locket's shoulder. | Archibald will not be using magic or companion.


For a spar that is not intended to cause much harm, I always view it as the same as when my herd plays. They bite or lightly kick areas with lots of muscle(or fat xD) so that they don't cause too much harm. Most "friendly" spars are to see how a character thinks about their attack and building strategy rather than to actually attack and cause harm, and I will illustrate that in my next post.

Opening posts, for me, are often rather dry. However, that does not mean they always have to be--in the rubric there is a lot of points given out for description of the surroundings. First posts are also a time when your character would be noticing breed differences and how they would apply to the fight ahead, for their benefit or not. First posts can also establish a lot of emotion, depending on what the spar is about. You did an excellent job in establishing why Locket wanted to learn about battle and another good thing to build off of that is how he would be able to benefit the herd, going into more detail than "he can defend them" is good, and I think it helps you connect better with a war-type character. When I role played Archibald on Anarore, none of his family was present, so his only duty was to the herd, and I got to express how much defending them and battling for their favor benefited his growth as well as herd growth. They can also establish how companions(if you have them) feel about their character sparring. ]

LOCKET

; there's nothing worth remembering anymore.

Archibald moved fluently and like a tidal wave, powerful body crashing forward to swallow everything in his path. Locket moves forward like a bird, body quick and sharp, and rears to defend himself. Archibald’s blunt teeth grasp mostly air, but he feels the attack hit the smaller male’s shoulder and his head clicks with one point of success and, like the machine he is trained to be, moves on to his next plan of attack. Feathered hooves slam to the ground and his legs splay some, balance shifting while his weight shifts, and the Chief slams his body hard to the left. His intent, all focused on his greater weight and height than the Arabian Locket, is to knock the panda-marked stallion off balance. As the behemoth’ weight moves rapidly and strongly to the left, Locket’s teeth grasp onto the thickly muscles part of his rump, closer to the hip join than anything else. With pinned ears and arched neck, Archibald turns his head sharply to snap his jaws on Locket’s own rear, but misses as the chestnut slips away with rapid speed.

The fleeing action of the emerald eyed stallion gives Archibald time to turn and face his opponent, golden eyes locked onto the prancing Arabian as they both turn to face each other. Gears turn in Archibald’s head, rolling over and calculating possible moves. Behind all of his machine like actions and thoughts, Archibald is glad Locket is keeping his cool and keeping his attacks shy of bloodthirsty. None of Archibald’s past opponents had displayed the same type of foal-like love for sparring that Locket did. Each one of his brothers, all manipulated to be cold killers, were emotionless and forward in battle. And although they practiced in the same manner throughout their lives, none of the Mandrake sons could help the carnal desire (or, what they thought to be the carnal desire) of bloodshed and often left great wounds on each other if not stopped. Even Romani, a mare that shared a similar desire to Locket’s of learning and protecting, was hard to keep controlled. Locket, on the other hand, seemed to thrive off of the spar with joy and exuberance, his prancing movements painting the picture loudly.

Locket advances towards Archibald once more, his prancing trot high and fluid, and the Dauntless rolls back his weight to center on his back end. Locket, though in a fluid trot, meets Archibald’s front in perfect time and sends dainty hooves poking for the right side of the Dauntless. With his weight focused backwards, his pillar like hinds bend underneath him and his front hooves leave the security of the muddy earth. His rear is low and balanced, muscles tight to keep him aloft. Dirty, feather covered hooves strike out towards Locket’s right humerus.



[WC: 465 | 2/2 | Archibald goes into a low rear and strikes out to hit the front part of Locket’s shoulder, i.e the humerus.]


**Edited to add OOC commentary**

Firstly, my favorite thing you did, was clearly display Locket’s inexperience in sparring; not exactly in his skills, but his actual lack of spars. It probably won’t get you points on the rubric, because I believe that is for only mentioning previous spars, but if it was my decision I’d give you a point. I like it for that fact, mostly, it gives Locket /reason/ to spar with Archibald, aside from him being the military leader of the herd, so that Locket can get used to fighting huge breeds that definitely outweigh him in mass and strength.

Locket’s range of emotion in this post alone is beautiful. His emotions are real and logical, and still well-written. His mix of excitement and nervousness to begin as well as his relief when Loretta leaves is brilliant. I feel that I, personally, would feel similar when faced with something brand new and (frankly) quite dangerous, and that helps me connect to Locket on a deeper level which is what roleplaying and writing is all about. I also felt Locket’s excitement grow as he attacked and pranced—not only did that reflect his emotions but his hotblooded lineage. I like the concoction. You also did well at including breed differences.
One thing that shines bright is your knowledge of the battle rubric itself. Reading your posts, you outlined in your writing points that you would get on the rubric, and that is excellent.

On to the other side of my comments: Locket is faster, and by him running away you used that greatly to your advantage to give him time to turn, and I was able to also use it to my advantage for Archibald to turn. However, having Locket come back in at a trot was not the gate I would have chosen. The slower speed of his trotting gait gave Archibald a lot of time to calculate his next move and couple it with Locket’s approach. Locket wants to show his skills as a warrior, and if he had come back in blazing-hot and possibly giving Archibald less time to think, I feel that Locket would have gained an upper hand.

LOCKET

; there's nothing worth remembering anymore.

Wilder had a habit of doing that—coming in, striking, darting away. For Archibald, who was such an up close and personal fighter, it was quite agitating. The massive stallion did not move as quickly and could not run in and run out, for he would tire too quickly. For The Dauntless the battle was all about strength and tactic. He knew that if this was a real battle and he had been able to keep Locket close he could have easily flattened him, leave him bloody and bruised on the ground begging for mercy. But, alas, Locket was his herd mate and pupil, he would not think of leaving him bloody on the ground, for Locket was expected to stand next to him on the battle field when it was called. In a quick and odd moment, Archibald decided that he would be proud of Locket charging into battle next to him.

Archibald’s tight muscles in his hind legs loosened as his front hooves scraped over Locket’s body, and the Chief let his body fall back to the ground. The earth gave way some under his hooves, making his balance shaky at first before he turned his hips towards Locket’s right shoulder, just as the male dances away. Snorting, Archibald tucked his heat into his chest and threw his weight forward, lifting his rear end to meet Locket as he came back for another attack. Marred white feathers flicked mud towards the oddly marked stallion as his left hind hoof barreled to defend himself from Locket’s incoming teeth. However, the quickness of Locket’s attack was not anything to be dismissed or easily shaken, and the Dauntless felt a sting as flat teeth closed over the taught skin that covered the semitendinous muscle of his left leg. This is the second bite that has landed on Archibald’s rear left side, and he is satisfied from it, in a way that matches the emotion of a karate teacher when their student successfully breaks boards. Locket knows this spar is not meant for harm, merely for learning, unlike the mare Romani that Archibald had to, literally, knock on her ass to remind her of the spar’s purpose.

Archibald tucks and turns his hips away from Locket then, lifting his giant head to meet Locket’s gaze with cool golden eyes. The Dauntless takes a step back, surveying the Foothills warrior with an unreadable gaze, taking in the minimal damage that he had taken. Satisfied, Archibald nodded to his herd mate. “You did well to keep yourself under control, Locket. But, I must warn you—had this been a real battle and we were out for blood, you would have been moving too slow, especially for a horse of your lineage. Take your ancestral advantage and move.” The Dauntless spoke coolly, tilting his left hind hoof up to relax that side of him, where Locket’s attacks had been centered. “I will not give you a task like I did the halflinger, because you have proven enough to me, warrior. Go now and practice, and be ready for battle can call on us at any minute—this world is unpredictable.”

With that, the Dauntless nods simply once more and turns back towards the heart of the Foothills, Loretta crashing through the far off trees to meet her silent bonded’s side.

[WC: 555 | Closing Defense | Archibald lowers his body from his rear and turns his hips towards Locket, taking the bite while bucking and striking out defensively with his left hind hoof.

**Edited to add OOC:

I really do not have much to say in the end of this spar. It seems that you are really skilled in getting into your character's head, and I enjoyed reading that a lot.

I will say, however, that make sure you add the setting/surroundings into your post and. Sometimes this is the hardest part for me to do, so I understand that it may not be on the forefront of your mind. But, it will get you points on the rubric. If you have specific questions you can PM/skype me and I will be willing to answer. Thank you so much for this spar, Imi, I really enjoyed writing with you.]