[SRP DUEL] It all comes tumbling down... (Dreki & Hjalmar)

[MangoMeow]

Looking back in it, she really should have seen the signs of their... whatever-it-was fizzling out, but she had gotten caught up in the high of fighting, of that closeness with someone who saw her as just as capable of a fighter as any other Reaver, and maybe, just maybe, a little part of her had hoped that this was something that they could bond on and grow closer through. It was the closest she had ever had to, well... a relationship.

But then, maybe it ran in her family to not get very attached to her conquests. After all, her father was well known for spreading his genes everywhere, and as far as she knew, he had gone and disappeared off to who knows where. (If only she knew that he had found someone to become mates with. She would have fallen over in shock)

Today though... today would be the day she learned not to get attached.

As said, the signs had been there, from the way their play fighting had gained an edge to it that had left deep gashes and wounds and bruised prides, to the biting words and narrowed eyes when they were increasingly displeased with each other. Dreki was annoyed at Hjalmar’s sudden disinterest in meeting as much as they had been, at his growing dismissive nature towards her, and she had recently discovered that he was spending more time around his Thralls. Not that the pride cared if he did or didn’t, and really, she shouldn’t either, but.... he had a more interested eye on the two harlots than he had ever shown towards her. It left a bitter taste on her tongue and made her stomach burn with something she had never felt before.

Jealousy.

Not that she would ever admit to it. What did she have to be jealous about?! Not of a couple of Thralls, that was for sure! That didn’t stop her teeth from baring every time she spotted him near one of them by his den.

Why was she walking by his den anyway?

... Shut up, she could go wherever she wanted!

Spitting in aggravation, Dreki’dido stalked towards their meeting spot. Huffing, the lioness sat down in her usual spot and settled in to wait, trying to convince herself that if he didn’t show up again, it was fine. What did she care? It just meant she could find something else to do with her day. Yes, it might even be a better use of her evening! (She ignored the little squeeze in her chest at the thought that he wouldn’t show up.)

Speaking of evening, time ticked by and it was starting to get late, and as the stars began to show in the sky and the air become chilled by night, her already sour mood started to deteriorate even more. He couldn’t even be bothered to show up, huh? She was considering storming into his den and forcing him to explain himself when lo and behold, a familiar gray and blue form appeared through the bushes, a bored look on his face. It was probably that look more than anything that set her off.

With a snarl, Dreki whipped around to face him, “About time! What were you doing, grooming yourself?”  

[MangoMeow]

Hjalmar frowned at the hostility that met him as he walked to their dueling spot, good eye snapping to the green form in front of him before his lip pulled back in a growl, “What does it matter to you? You should be happy I even came.”

He had lost interest in this game he’d started with Dreki. She’d been a good crutch to hold while he was getting his bearings, and now he felt ready to continue Reaving, confident that he could hold his own in a raid without buckling down from his handicap. He wouldn’t lie and say that he was grateful for the help, and their... “adventures” had been fun, that was for sure, but the lioness had grown stale for him. She was predictable, and not as pretty as his Thralls, and generally had a sour personality that was difficult to take to. You could argue that Desdemona was the same, but at least he could control that. In fact, that sounded like a much more interesting way to spend his evening, than bickering with a jilted female like Dreki.

Shaking his head with a snort, Hjalmar narrowed his gaze and grumbled, “Maybe I should just leave. I’ve no interest in playing around in the dirt with a cub.”  

[MangoMeow]

”Excuse me?!” She was practically hissing now, rage coursing through her veins as she leapt to her feet and stalked right up to his face. “I am no cub.”

He let out a snort, a sneer clear on his face, “Oh, my apologies, a c**t, then.” The lion tsked, “And a boring one, at that.”

Dreki eyes widened at his words, shock making her fur stand on end, before her gaze darkened as he started to turn to leave. How dare he? Her response was spat out before he could make it more than two pawsteps away, “Well at least I’m not a flower-blooded, one-eyed joke of a boy.”

That got him to freeze in place, and she raised her head challengingly as he turned angrily towards her, “You would be nothing without me. Nothing but a sad, pathetic little child, mewling about your injury and mooching around like the slug you ar-“

Her sentence got cut off at that point as Hjalmar bellowed out a roar and charged at her, but, purposefully picking a fight as she was, she was ready to meet him head on. The felines clashed in a flurry of unsheathed claws and snarling fangs, a blur of green and blue... and very slowly, the build up of red blood across the ground. This had been a fight a long time coming between them.

Hjalmar spat out a bit of fur and blood from his mouth, a chunk of her bloodied tail tuft fluttering to the ground, and then lunged forward to grab ahold of the side of her neck. A shame she’d left it open, though perhaps he could thank his many practice duels with her for knowing about it. He had never bothered to tell her of that weak spot, had never seen a reason to....

And now he fully intended to exploit it.

Dreki let out a howl as teeth sunk into her neck before she was shoved harshly to the ground and claws began scrapping her chest. She supposed that she was lucky to have been covering her stomach at the time of the assault, as the damage there would have been fatal with how hard he was clawing at her, but at the moment, all she knew was that it hurt, hurt, HURT, and she could feel his teeth digging further and further into her skin....

She had to get away.

She had to get away.

Maybe it was her scream, or maybe he had enough of a conscious to know that he’d gone too far, but whatever it was that made him loosen his grip, she didn’t care to figure out. All she knew was that it was enough for her to kick out her back foot right up into his jaw and force him to let go. Scrambling away with gasps of air, Dreki shot him one last look filled with all the rage and betrayal that she was feeling, before turning tail and running.

Pride and jealousy weren’t worth this.

He had never seen Dreki flee like that before, and for a brief moment, the look in her face made him feel as if he’d been dunked into a pool of ice. The moment passed however, and Hjalmar grimaced at his fresh wounds. At least nothing had been grievously torn apart. She could be vicious when she wanted to be.

He wondered for a moment if he should feel guilty over what happened; they’d had a good thing going for a while there, but these things were fleeting and life was cruel. Maybe now she’d stop hounding his footsteps.

With a huff and a sneer, he turned and began making his way back home. Good riddance.