Admirer
Holy moley, haven't uploaded HERE in quite a while. Anywho, here's an update with one of my more recent characters that is a part of a family. If you want me to update this site with the rest of the family, let me know.
Anyways, enjoy.
Mikari rode across the dangerous terrain of the mountainous regions of Faraelya, her bike well equipped to deal with the slopes and her mind well focused on the tasks at hand. She was looking for a particular Stronghold around here, a Frostclaw Stronghold to be precise. Not that any other Clan would build one here.
It was boasted by the Frostclaws that came to Polaris that this Stronghold, Hetjavirki, had some of the strongest Battlemaidens within Clan Frostclaw. What better way to test herself than against the toughest?
She rounded another corner, and wooden stake walls came into view, with a large banner that bore writing in the chilly Frostclaw blue.
Hetjavirki.
Smiling and safe in the knowledge that she found it, Mikari gunned the engine to get her out of this biting cold quicker. The gates began to open well before she got halfway to the Stronghold, allowing her a modest run to slow down on the terrain. She came to a reasonable speed just in front of the gate, so she leapt off her bike, pulled her hood up, and pushed it the rest of the way, the Frostclaw Battlemaidens closing the gates behind her, feeling one final quick gust of freezing air before nothing else.
Mikari began to push her bike into the caverns that make up the vast majority of a Frostclaw Stronghold, the bite of the cold mountain winds giving way to a hearty warmth.
Mikari noted that the small fires embedded in small gouges within the cave walls gave both warmth and enough light to see, with the Frostclaw Battlemaidens occasionally throwing a log if they walked past. Beyond some doors were crafters of bone charms, pelt clothes, some men were teaching the children behind some which looked like homes. There were some rather spacious areas that had some basic and hardy crops growing, but that held no importance to the Dawnrunner.
She had one purpose here.
"Not everyday we get a visitor to Hetjavirki, let alone a Dawnrunner."
Mikari's eyes darted to the side, where the voice came from, and one rather large Battlemaiden came into view. Among Frostclaw, she was beefy, so either a good amount of training, or might have some Ironhowl in her. A bardiche hung across her back, but she bore a large number of bone charms on a lot of cords across her pelt clothing.
"Duel." Mikari responded, not even moving a muscle.
The Frostclaw guffawed, the sound reverberating throughout the caves, "What for, little Battlemaiden? A mate, or for war?"
Mikari stomped the peg of her bike down, removed her paws from supporting the bike, turned to face the Battlemaiden head on, and placed her paws on her hips, albeit still dwarfed by the Battlemaiden in front of her by sheer muscle mass.
"Something to prove," Mikari answered, not breaking eye contact with the Frostclaw.
The Frostclaw Battlemaiden tilted her head to further down the caves, "To the Pits, then."
~ ~ ~
These elite Battlemaidens are a joke.
Over the course of the last fortnight, she's beaten them all in very reasonable times, and all of the boasters back in Polaris must've been blowing hot air. The only one that Mikari hasn't fought yet is the Forsvarer, which could be the Battlemaiden that greeted her. She was the only one that wasn't there whenever the younger Battlemaidens were sparring, but only when the most elite were in need of proving.
Mikari walked out to the Pits, katana at her side, and some of the Frostclaw Battlemaidens respectfully moved out of her way. Mikari's eyes scanned the crowds, not seeing the one that she wanted to duel now, but she did see the one that always seemed to be watching her fights. While there have been quite a number of spectators of both sexes and all persuasions, this one male was always there.
This male bore a fur colour of a red/grey colour, as muscular as Frostclaw usually are, with their rugged lives, eyes of a jade green, and blonde hair in a complicated knot. But the warpaint he bore was interesting. About every millimetre of open fur was covered in Faraelyan runes, all of the same chilly blue that denotes Frostclaw. The clothes were typical Frostclaw, of rough pelts accented by a few bone charms, but nothing more noteworthy than that.
Mikari made her way through the crowd, but one thing caught her ear yet again.
The jingling of many bone charms.
Everyone turned their attention towards where the sounds were coming from, and, sure enough, the Battlemaiden that greeted Mikari was there. Each Frostclaw Battlemaiden parted as she walked through, similar as to what happened to Mikari, until the two came as close to face to face as possible.
"You've bested my most elite, little Dawnrunner."
Mikari shrugged, "Pushovers."
That single word had a growl emit from a decent portion of those present, which stopped by the single paw raised by the larger Battlemaiden.
"Is that Bloodfang superiority speaking?" She asked, to which Mikari shrugged again in response.
"You can fight me then, little Dawnrunner. Prove your worth against a Forsvarer."
Mikari's muzzle split into a smile, or more of a smirk. She's been itching for this chance for a while now.
The two Battlemaidens made their way to an open ring, where the Forsvarer unhooked her bardiche from her back whilst Mikari kept her katana in its scabbard. The Forsvarer hefted her weapon onto a shoulder, the edge glinting in the little light that was available, and Mikari fluidly unsheathed her katana and readied it into a middle guard, and the two stared the other down, with Mikari hearing the deep growl that came from the Forsvarer and responding with a eerie silence in kind.
The two charged at each other, but the Forsvarer had the first strike by swinging the bardiche sideways, with her weapon being larger than Mikari's, but the Dawnrunner still chose to capitalise on that, gracefully diving over the weapon's haft. She rolled, quickly stood up, and took a precise swing at the Forsvarer, which was deflected quite nimbly with such a weapon. The two broke off with a quick shuffle, readying their weapons to a different position, Mikari putting her katana to her right hip, showing the pommel to the Forsvarer, while the Frostclaw readied her bardiche above her head.
The two began to circle within the ring, with Mikari spotting the male at the boundary, his eyes trained on her. Mikari only allowed her attention to be diverted for that small instance, her focus going entirely back to the Forsvarer.
Mikari initiated the charge, keeping her katana back and her voice silent, while the Forsvarer roared while she charged in to meet Mikari. The Frostclaw swung downwards, where Mikari raised her katana to redirect the blow. The Dawnrunner took a page out of Mother's playbook, raising her foot upon the Forsvarer's thigh, just above the knee, and pushed downwards upon it, raising her body high enough to knee the Forsvarer in the chin. As the Forsvarer stumbled back, Mikari readied a massive downwards cut, but was stopped by the Forsvarer grabbing her by the throat and slamming her to the rocky ground. Mikari grunted from the pure impact, but rolled out of the way when the Forsvarer savagely swung the bardiche down towards her midriff.
Mikari scrambled up and immediately got shoulder tackled by the Forsvarer, but Mikari responded with an elbow between the shoulder blades, getting a satisfying grunt from the Frostclaw, before the two separated once again before immediately charging back in again. Mikari made a single thrust aimed at the stomach, stopping when she felt the resistance of the body, but she felt the bardiche blade resting against her collarbone.
The bardiche head was slowly pulled back while Mikari retracted her blade and stood to her 6'5 height, sheathing her katana while the Forsvarer slung her bardiche over her shoulder.
"You fought well, little Dawnrunner. Know you've earnt the respect of the Battlemaidens of Hetjavirki."
Mikari nodded once, a smile slowly splitting her muzzle. She turned on her feet to walk towards her bike, safe in the knowledge of her proven skills. She got most of the way there, nothing around her bike, nor the bike itself, was touched.
"Battlemaiden!" A masculine voice shouted.
Mikari quickly spun around and drew her katana slightly, seeing that it was the red-grey furred wolf from every one of her duels. She sheathed her katana again, and her eyes squinted in annoyance.
"May I have the honour of giving these to you, for your victories?" He requested, showing a long piece of cord where 5 bone charms hung, all which held the same rune.
Mikari smirked, her eyes changing from a squint to a predatory stare, "Follow first." She answered.
Earning a very confused look by the Frostclaw male, Mikari started her bike's engine, straddled it and kicked the peg up. Giving one final smirk, she shot out of the Hetjavirki caves.
~ ~ ~
It took five days to follow her scent here to this Terran city, with a very sincere apology to his fellow shamans about what he was going to do. And it was to this door that wouldn't open.
He found a separate way in through a feast hall of sorts where he smelt a hint of Dawnrunner cuisine, but he remembered what he was here for.
Many Terrans looked at him as he passed through, no doubt about all of the warpaint runes that adorned and contrasted his fur. But his nose kept following that one particular scent, to this door.
But the strong paw of a gargantuan Dawnrunner female barred his entrance, grain yellow eyes meeting a nervous jade.
"Mother," a familiar voice spoke.
Both sets of eyes went towards the voice of the Battlemaiden he was following, where she still kept her katana on her left hip. The tall Dawnrunner, easily as tall as Bloodfang females, removed her paw and walked off, taking a second to rest a paw on her daughter's shoulder before moving on.
"I followed, as you asked," he said, showing the cord of bone charms once again, each bone charm representing 10 victories each.
The Dawnrunner smiled and hummed, taking the cord of bone charms and observing the bone charms themselves.
"For the great display of prowess you've given me."
"Name?" She asked, a short brief smile gracing her muzzle before it disappeared.
"Knudrune. Yours, if I may, Battlemaiden?"
"Mikari."