Curiosity killed the Pup

Now Wulff felt himself a relatively smart being, and Wulff felt he had enough cleverness to avoid the worst of his troubles, oh yes, but walking into places he didn't know, at least this place, was the single most phenomenally stupid thing he'd done to date. He just didn't know it yet. He moved through huge building, touching structures and admiring architecture. It was pretty, in an archaic, ancient, old place, sort of way. Kind of like that... stuff, he'd studied in school, Roma nonsense. He partly wished he'd paid more attention, but then again, maybe he really didn't. Afterall, learning this way was much more fun. He ran his fingers over a column and went nosing around in the darker places that didn't seem very friendly, but it wasn't like he cared all that much. After all, if it was a dream, like he suspected, he couldn't really get hurt anyways. Could he?

I walked slowly into the Coliseum through one of the archways and looked around before my eyes fell onto the familiar figure that stood in the middle. I knew that he would not have come here unless he wanted a fight with someone and the truth of the matter was that I have been wanting to fight someone or something since I got here. My hand fell to the hilt of my sword as I moved slowly towards him. I knew that he was a friend, well as close to a friend as I let anyone be. He was here for a reason though and I was not going to stand here dressed up in my full armor for no reason.

"Are you looking for a fight Wulff because if you are then I am most happy to oblige. There is the matter of one thing though. What do you propose as a wager?"

It was quiet for the moment, the last two fighters having ended their match nearly an hour ago, but the scent of blood and sweat still lingered in the air and stained the dirt that made up the center of the pit. Tension and anticipation charged the air even though there were few present anymore. The air always was still and posessed a heaviness to it in spite of the electric energy drifting about. Like the eve of a battle or conflict which seemed to loom overhead.

GoldenDrakon in his human shape, sat in silence, letting his mind drift off into one of several different conumdrums he was trying to puzzle out. His self imposed solitude was not to his liking this day and so he had traveled here, to one of the very, very few places where he preferred to be, a place where he had earned a modicum of acceptance, even if those same people did not like him, the Coliseum. Ever since his defeat of the reigning 'Champion', Ceres, his presence was accepted, even respected. Not that anyone could have removed him in the first place.

Regardless, it was as peaceful as any place of violence could be for the moment, when stray voices drifted to his ears. GD's eyes cracked open as he listened.

Wulff turned, curious as to who as spoke to him. He blinked, surprised. It was the Ironman. "Looking for a fight? Am I?" Was that why he was here? Perhaps. He tilted his head a bit as if thinking over the possibility, "Maybe I am." He said absently, his mind wandering slightly, but did he want to fight the Ironman? The thought made him pale a bit, the most he'd ever fought was a cat fight with a bitch that called him a poser. Nothing with a sword or that required, ulp, armour. "W-Wager?" He had no money, not in this place, the best he had was a bunk with Alanna, who was kind enough to let him stay. He did some work for her about her place, but nothing for money...

"What do you propose? I have no idea what to wager." He shrugged, kind of missing the dress he'd ruined on his arrival, it gave him considerable room to move, these pants were good though. Loose enough anyways. "I could clean stuff, or polish your... um..." He looked over the other, "Armour?" He offered, scratching behind his head, twisting his feet inwards and rocking a bit.

"Looking for a fight? Am I?...Maybe I am." said the newest voice. He sounded unsure of himself, even a bit scared. That was not unusual here. Drakon found it more believable than much of the bluster he heard from new challengers. His curiosity peaked, he finally got up and went to see for himself.

"What do you propose? I have no idea what to wager." the voice said again.

"A wager," GoldenDrakon began, finally stepping into view. "can be anything that one offers and the other accepts, or there can be no wager at all. Normally it would be the challenger who makes the first wager. If it is accepted, your opponent will offer a counter and the terms of the fight may be added."
"no one is obligated to fight, but if not, then why are you here?"

I wanted to laugh at the reply that Wulff would polish my armor but realized that he was thinking of other things which wiped that thought away. I knew that I would never get used to that fact, given the upbringing that I had in my previous life. It was something that I was definitely getting used to though and accepted the fact. I slowly lifted the visor on my helm to look at him, a slight smile on my face.

The other person's voice did pique my interest though and I wanted to ask Wulff why he was here if not to fight but that voice was drowned out by my own. It was screaming at me to challenge Wulff to a fight; just to see what it would be like to fight him and to see how well I would do against him. My hand once again slid down to the hilt of my sword as I looked at him.

"I do have a wager for you. I found this dagger in the crater I left behind when I came to this place. I do not know what it does or even where it came from. If you agree to this fight and win though it is yours. Do you agree to fight me?"

I knew as I stood there looking at Wulff that he was scared. It was the last thing that he expected when he came to this place, to be challenged to a duel and I did not want to scare him off.

"The only other thing I can offer is that this will not be a fight to the death; if that is what you wish."

Wulff turned at the second new comer, feeling very small all of sudden (though the fact that he was very small in comparison to these brutish men was besides the point) and he backed up the barest of bits. Ironman in his armor and a much, much scarier version of Pete's dragon did nothing for his confidence. He toyed with the fringe of his pants, "In truth, I was here to examine the architecture, my history class talks... talked?" He searched his mind for the right word, "Spoke," He nodded, "about places like this, Roman Collesium and all that, so I was curious." He explained, proud that his voice didn't crack in the face of two very capable and scary men, even if Ironman was smiling (sort of) at him (why was he smiling? Was he making fun of him?).

He stood up straighter at the mention of a dagger, he liked knives, he was pretty handy with one when push came to shove (though brandishing one in a semi-threatening way did not constitute as handy, really, but he could pretend). He swayed slightly, "I have some pieces of rainbow obsidian in the rough that I found in my explorations." (At least he thought it was, he'd gotten an A in his geology course) He had, in his penchant for wandering he'd found a cave with all sorts of rough gems. "They're fairly large and would need to be refined... but I know where they come from." What was he saying? He was going against the Ironman, with Pete's Dragon as a spectator. He was going to make an idiot of himself, oh well, at least he wouldn't be a dead idiot. Small favours, right? Then again, maybe it wasn't so much a favour.

I looked at Wulff with a slight smile and nod. The thought of him showing me a place where I could find something new in this place intrigued me. At worse I could use the stones to barter with and at best it could be made into some sort of weapon. I could tell by the look on his face that he liked the idea of getting the dagger that I had found. I walked slowly forward and reached out my hand, hoping that he would take it and shake it.

"Then I hope the wagers have been set. Would you like to start this fight now?"

Wulff hesitantly moved forward and took Ironman's hand, his nose flaring and taking in the scent of metal and a cool body, yes he was definitely male. He nodded, "Done." His hand was cool, odd, even through the armor, he must be a vampire as well, like Wraith and Alanna. He backed into the main ring, one eye on the Ironman and the other looking around the arena to take stock of his surroundings.

He made a nervous movement as he watched Ironman follow him, his skin prickling with anticipation and trepidation (or that could have been some other shifter thing) as he picked out the weak points in the armor, remembering from history, the armpits, all the joints, the only real issue was that he was going to have to take this close-combat, unless he used his whip, but he wasn't at all confident in his skills with that thing. Maybe this hadn't been such a good idea... but he wanted that knife, and even if he lost, it would be fun to go through the cavern with someone other than himself (if the defeat wasn't too embarrasssing anyways).

I smiled beneath the visor of my helm before I followed Wulff towards the main ring. As I did I watched him and picked all the spots that would weaken him enough for him not to strike with any effect. Wulff moved slowly and I could tell just by the way he was moving that he was nervous and unsure whether he would win or not. That made me want to smile again but I knew that I had to be serious. Even if this fight wasn't to the death there was no way that I wasn't going to win it.

I moved slowly closer to Wulff and hoped that he wouldn't noticed any of my movements but I didn't think it would be hard not to, given the armor I was wearing. I looked at Wulff with narrowed eyes and before he had a chance to know what was going on swung my fist at the side of his head, hoping that it would connect.

Wulff backed up as the other approached him, his nose flaring his eyes darting around, looking for a place to maybe climb onto, but there was nothing, only a bare field and a grandstanders seating. He shifted his weight, his nose flaring and when the other moved, he didn't see it, but he felt it, a shift in the air, nearly imperceptible to the average being, he tasted it, the other's approach and he moved, too late, to jump out of the way.

The punch clipped his chin and the bright, metallic smell of his blood rushed into his nose as his head twisted with the force. He stumbled and landed on his rump, rolling quickly to his feet and looking up through his hair. He licked the edge of his teeth, there was no way the Ironman was going to win with just one hit. His teeth were bared and he growled quietly, he (supposedly) was a bit more nimble without armor, but the blows were difficult to inflict with his armor on, he might have to either peel it away or aim for the soft spots. He circled the other, closer and closer, skirting back if the other tried to close the distance, until he whirled and leapt on the other, trying to land on his back and push off his helmet if he did.

I tried to move out of the way of Wulff as he jumped through the air but found that I wasn't quick enough. He slammed into the front of me with enough force to knock me back a step or two. The force of the blow surprised me a little but it was then that I felt him try to pull my helmet off, wrenching my neck back as he did. I knew that I could not let him do that because if he did then he would have a clean shot at my head and given the quickness he was showing would surely knock me out with a good blow.

My eyes widened as I felt his hand underneath the rim of my helmet then looked at him as he started to scramble up over my shoulder to my back.

"Oh no you are not!" I shouted as I landed a quick punch into his abdomen. I hoped that the blow was just enough to wind him enough to grab him and throw him off me. I then rasied my fist to strike him in the side, hoping that I could strike him before he saw it coming.

He landed on the front of the other's armor with somewhat of a shock, he hadn't expected to actually land! Quickly, he scrabbled for the helmet, hooking his fingers beneath it and tried to scramble away from the other's hands, he was too vulnerable clinging to the front! His claws, he thought, for sure, would leave scratches on his armor, at least a few, and he, somehow, managed to climb around, for a moment, until he felt a blow to his gut and he was sent spinning away and tumbling over the ground, hopefully having managed to yank off the helmet in the process, if not he'd have to try a new tactic.

His abdomen hurt, the other had quite the fist and he shuddered, wanting to stop to cradle his belly, but the other was coming at him again and he leapt back, his speed working to his advantage, as he backed up, panting softly, there was going to be a bruise when this was over, he knew it. He licked his teeth, his eyes widening that preternatural glow as the light reflected off his eyes. His head tipped, watching the other, moving around, he'd have to find a way to get the armor off, maybe if he dented it so it dug in? He needed the strength to do that, he could at least build some energy to start to cause damage. He backed up, what did he have that would work? He shivered, his energy wasn't lagging, but he still couldn't hold a shape for very long, he just needed to get big enough that he could build enough energy to slam into the other hard enough to dent the armor and force him to take it off.

He backed up a bit further, not letting the other get too close and narrowed his eyes, his feet hit the ground and he barrelled towards the other, if the other moved, he shifted to correct and when he was within a few feet he shifted into his wolf form, the big wolf, leaping at him with powerful rear legs and aiming to take out his chest plate and dent it inwards.

I moved towards Wulff, knowing that he was hurt. I could tell by the way he was favouring one side that I had hit him with a good punch. I knew though that I could not be too quick to rush in. I knew that if I did so I would be fighting him on his level; he would come up with something I did not see coming and the next thing I knew I would be on the ground, begging for mercy. That was something I had never done in my life and it was something I would never do in this fight. I dropped my hand down to my sword with that thought but moved it away quickly. I wanted to see how long this fight could last before I resorted to the use of weapons.

I watched him as he moved away quickly, trying to create as much distance between us as he could. I watched him as he started to move around, trying to get as much pace as he could. I wondered what he was trying to do as I could track his movements easily. I could see the glowing come from his eyes and knew that he was becoming serious in this fight; that he wanted to win it. I knew that I wanted to win it as much as he did and there was no way I was going to quit.

He then back up a bit further and once again I asked myself what he was doing but it was then that I saw him start to shift and let out a silent curse. I wondered how I could be this stupid. It was then that I saw the large wolf flying towards me and knew that there was no time to answer that question.

I watched as he flew towards me and knew that he was aiming for my chest plate. I knew that there was no way I was going to avoid the blow either and moved slightly to one way so that the impact wouldn't be too bad. As he hit I was knocked back a few steps and felt the side of my chest plate buckle. I looked at him through wide eyes and knew that this fight was definitely getting serious. With that I grabbed him around the throat, hoping at least to stop him for a bit so that I could think of something else to do, if not I could at least cut off his air and knock him unconscious.

He collided with the other, feeling the buckle beneath his paws, and the other fall back a few steps, until he felt the hand at his neck and he gulped. He'd gotten close enough that the other could grab him. He choked, the hand tight on his windpipe (it was a wonder that Ironman could find it beneath his fur) and he did his best to breathe around it, before he went still, hoping to fool the other so that his grip would loosen, or he got a little closer.

If the other pulled him closer, he would kick up his back legs, aiming for the dent in the armor, already weakened and try and crush it in further, aiding him to kick away from the Ironman and land back on his feet again. He snarled, baring long teeth his ears pricked forward, now he had an advantage: teeth.

I watched as Wulff bared his teeth at me and smile; if only I could do the same. I had promised though that if I was ever to come here that I would never use them, no matter how much I wanted to. I did let a growl escape from my lips however as Wulff's back legs crashed into my breast plate, pushing it in. I let out a curse as I tried to breath then looked at Wulff and thought enough is enough.

With as much force as I could I threw him away from me, watching as he went crashing to the ground a fair distance from me. As soon as he landed I ripped the breast plate off, throwing it to the ground and pulling at my sword.
"I have been taking it easy with you Wulff because you are my friend but not anymore. Come and get me!"