Duel Vulpinsula & Surroundings Insanely Rich Area Forged in Fur and Flame

[SwifttailTheFox]

Swifttail barely kept his footing when Alwyn’s blade ripped his guard high and out of position. The jolt tore through his shoulders and wrists, forcing him back two uneven steps before he managed to reset his stance. His grip slipped, tightened again. His breath came in sharp pulls through his bared teeth.

Anchor.
Dead weight.
Drowning Silvie.

The words chased him even as wood met wood in brief, testing exchanges. He parried automatically, feet adjusting, tail counterbalancing. His mind, however, lagged half a heartbeat behind the fight.

The crowd’s laughter faded to a low murmur, but the pity remained. That arguably hurt worse.

He caught it in the tilt of a head. In the sigh of some older Guardsbeast shaking his muzzle. In the way eyes softened as if watching something already lost. No anger or mockery. Simply resignation, as if he were already sunk.

Alwyn drifted lazily in front of him, blade low, posture careless.

Swifttail inhaled slowly.

He stopped trying to answer. There was no defending his pride with words. Justifying anything logically here was going nowhere. All they wanted to see was whether he could fight back, or cower and give up.

Well, he was no dead weight boat anchor!

He stepped in, blade driving forward in a tight arc that forced Alwyn to give ground. He followed through without hesitation, boots thudding against the packed earth of the ring as he pressed the attack. Strike. Reset. Strike again. He didn’t give space. Didn’t give breathing room.

The crowd reacted with a buzz, surprise threading through the sea of beasts.

Alwyn shifted, deflected, angled away, as Swifttail closed the gap again.

He drove his shoulder in behind the next blow, committing his weight to it, forcing the Lieutenant backward another step. Wood cracked sharply against wood, the impact reverberating up his arms. His lungs burned, but he ignored it. Momentum mattered more than air.

He struck again, and again, noting the adjustment in Alwyn’s footing, the slight retreat, the guard rising a fraction higher than before.

He had him.

The thought flared bright and reckless, and he surged again with one more heavy swing. His front foot planted deep, his body leaning fully into the motion, blade driving down with everything he had left, convinced for the first time that he was finally turning the tide.

“I can protect myself,” he growled through his teeth,
“an’ him too!”

 

[FinnianBrightfur]

As young todds did at times, they dumped their thoughts out loud without really thinking about how they sounded. As the others speculated about Swift's timid performance, Finn was unable to resist the urge to contribute to the discussion. "But why's Swift gotta fight Greeneye? I mean. He's strong, but he's kinda fluffy, and doesn't like fighting. But Silvie is JACKED! I saw him once, he's totally got a six pack!"

 

[Silvertongue Songfox]

Silvertongue grimaced, and he sighed, walking over to Finny. "It's not so easy, kit." He lamented. "Greeneye... he's got some good in him... somewhere. He's just a stubborn beast. Me fighting him, he wouldn't listen. Alwyn- I mean, Lieutenant Alwyn could go and beat the tar right out of him, and he wouldn't listen. The only way it's gonna get through his head and for him to accept it, is for Swifttail to beat him."

Silvertongue looked back over at the training. "So... we've not got much choice."

 

[Alwyn Ryalor]

Alwyn was indeed forced back by Swifttail’s motions, granted, he was not trying particularly hard as he was spending most of his time thinking, observing, and putting up a cocky facade rather than how he would normally fight. Still, he found himself falling back more towards the edge of the ring as he slowly, carefully laid his trap for the other todd. Then, he saw the adjustment in footing, the shift in his opponent’s body, and the painfully choreographed swing-and moved as if he were an equal, more of a reward for Swifttail slowly beginning to pick up on what he was trying to teach him, before he made it explicit. He acted as he knew Greeneye likely would, moving slowly to his outside and quickly moving to intercept the blow before it could come down on him with full power, meeting it with the forte of his cutlass and redirecting the opposing todd’s blade upwards, stepping inward as he did so so that not only his feet but his entire skeleton was supporting and pressuring the other todd, controlling the alignment of his opponent’s blade. And in that moment, their blades were locked, Alwyn’s cutlass pressing up against the bottom half and guard of Swift’s blade as he uttered his words.

“Those are just words,” Alwyn growled back, green eyes flashing as if he were the rat himself “the world does not care about what you can say, only what you can do!”

Alwyn increased the pressure, this time, at the closer range at which the cutlass excelled, using it to force Swifttail’s blade over to his left side while Alwyn moved in the opposite direction, keeping the other todd’s blade as far away from him as possible. Then, he flicked both his wrists and forced Swift’s blade downward-conveniently setting up the pommel of his own blade for the brutal strike across the Fairpaws's face and snout, which sent him staggering backwards, but Alwyn wasted no time, as Greeneye wouldn’t either. He immediately followed it up with a flurry of close cuts and thrusts at which the shorter, broader blade excelled, and managed a kick to Swift’s knee which sent the other todd doubling over-at which point Alwyn backed off slightly, but only for him to rapidly half-turn and deliver a spinning back kick to directly to his face with his boot, which sent the other todd spiralling into the ground, and his blade out of his paw and to his side, while Alwyn looked down at him.

I don’t want to do this, but I have to. I am sorry, Swifttail, but this is to teach you.

“And that is why Iskayut fell and everyone you knew and loved was slaughtered. Because those were just sayings you could not back up, and no matter how many more of them you speak, it will never bring any of them back. The same thing will happen with you and Silvertongue-Greeneye will take him and you will be left all alone-again.”

@SwifttailTheFox @FinnianBrightfur @Cricket @Silvertongue Songfox

 

[SwifttailTheFox]

The pommel cracked across the left side of Swifttail’s muzzle. White burst behind his eyes. His head snapped sideways and the world lurched as he staggered back, boot skidding uselessly in the dust. Pain flared hot along the old scar carved into his fur — a tight, tearing burn that felt far too familiar.

For half a heartbeat, he wasn’t in the ring. Instead, he was back in the cramped, pitching confines of a ship, smoke choking the lower decks. Chains clattering as beasts surged forward in panic and despair.

An oar swung wild in chaos. Wood splintered across his cheekbone. Then he was falling. Darkness swallowing everything as he plummeted into the abyss.

The memory slammed into him as hard as the blow had.

He tasted iron, and he spat a bright red clot of mucus and blood onto the floor, the present snapping back just in time to hear:

“And that is why Iskatyut fell and everyone you knew and loved was slaughtered.”

The words hit deeper than the pommel ever could.

Now he stood surrounded by flames, heat blistering his lungs, the thick choking smoke clawing at his throat. Snow blackened and melting under flame. Whale oil feeding the fire. Blood soaking into cold, grey stone.

Screams — raw and desperate, cut short with a shwing of steel. The cruel, merciless laughter from the ugly twisted maws of the black-hearted barbarian pirates driving the slaugher followed the jarring silence.

“…no matter how many more of them you speak, it will never bring any of them back.”

The ring returned in fragments. Alwyn was standing over him with a cruel menace. The crowd a blur at the edges of his vision.

The noise dulled. Voices stretched thin and distant. Somewhere someone laughed — or gasped — but it felt far away as the red veil lowered.

The world narrowed. The edges of his sight darkened, and what remained at the center burned.

For a moment, everything beyond Alwyn seemed to bleed red, the dust of the ring hanging in the air like blazing embers.

His heartbeat slowed.

The amber of his eyes lost its warmth. The light in them flattened and deepened. There was no longer any brightness, nor was there fluster or fury. There was only a hard feral reflex left blazing like the ruins of his former home.

Blood slid from the corner of his muzzle and dripped to the floor.

He didn’t wipe it away.

The pain in his knee throbbed.

He did not shift his weight.

The shaking stopped.

Something inside him went very still.

“Don’t you dare speak their names.”

His words were quiet, and disconcertingly monotone.

He rose without haste and retrieved his blade, never looking away from Alwyn.

His motions were no longer reckless. He placed each paw with precision.

There was no wide swing from his blade. No roar from within. No telegraph of his next move.

He stepped in tight, blade cutting in short, efficient lines — wrists, shoulder, ribs — driving Alwyn backward with controlled pressure rather than brute force. His footwork angled subtly, cutting space, closing exits. Each motion economical. Each adjustment deliberate.

There was no heat in his expression or flare of ego. Nor a desperate need to prove anything.

Just blind forward momentum.

The rhythm of the bout shifted.

Boots scraped against packed earth. Wood struck wood in sharper, faster exchanges. The laughter that had filled the ring moments ago thinned into uneasy silence. Dust stirred in low spirals around their feet as Swifttail pressed in closer.

His blade drove down with every ounce of force left in him. He committed fully to the strike, cold certainty flooding his mind that this, finally, would end it.

And he did not hesitate.

@Alwyn Ryalor

 

[FinnianBrightfur]

Finn's ears perked with some alarm at Alwyn's pressure on Swift. Finn knew of Iskatyut and Swift's past, and he knew how sacred these things were. The foxkit's blood boiled in second hand rage, and he quivered slightly beneath his towel. He knew... ...he believed that Alwyn meant the best. And even still, it was a low blow. Balling his paws into fists, Finn stood next to Silvertongue, and spontaneously burst out in a wrathful fury, "Knock 'is lights out, Swift!"

 

[Alwyn Ryalor]

Alwyn’s concentration was broken for a moment by the one beast whose opinion he deeply cared about, Finnian, call out for his defeat, but that was all that was needed for Swifttail to begin to push him back as the northern fox hardened and came at him with everything that he had learned-and without distractions or care for the outside world as he had before. Nonetheless, his body was already reacting as he moved to bring his mind back into the fight, his shift stancing from a more mocking and playful one to one far more serious. Wood cracked against wood as both foxes put their all into the fight, and a few chips even flew from their blades off and onto the floor and into the crowd with the blows. It would now be a battle of technique, endurance, and temperament, rather than a one-sided beating.

Stupid of me to let Finnian distract me while against a rookie at his most dangerous and unpredictable, Alexei would have...no more thoughts, now.

The Guard Lieutenant had now slipped fully into his true combat mindset, if only for a little while, letting his mind flow like water, acting on instinct and training, while at the same time maintaining vigilance-a hard balance to strike as Alexei had taught him all those years ago-Mushin and Zanshin, which he himself had no claim to full mastery of, being merely another student on the path-yet that would be enough to put his opponent down today. As Swifttail moved to try to make a final, decisive strike, Alwyn was still open and flexible thanks to the latter concept, allowing him to sidestep the more telegraphed move, and this time bring the full weight of the cutlass across the side of Swifttail’s head in a double handed horizontal strike which would reverberate through his skull even with the leather helmet and padding on. And, sure enough, the other fox dropped like a rock, his blade tumbling to the ground at the same time he did. The room was dead quiet, and then erupted in cheers as the crowd began to make comments.

“That’s our Lieutenant! The rookie put up a good fight there at the end, but…”

“Hand over those gilders...stupid to bet against a sure thing…”

“Fine, fine, you know I’m a beast who likes to take risks...”

Alwyn did not move, carefully eyeing Swifttail to make sure the other todd was truly down, before he raised one paw up and the crowd silenced.

“MEDIC!” He shouted, then turned back to the rest of the crowd “And the rest of you...off to your own training! That’s enough of a show for you-and I’m sure more than a few of you will end up like him today if you are too overconfident!” He barked, sending the crowd scattering to different areas of the field.

Soon enough, Theo, and another pine marten medic by the name of Roger, arrived, and Alwyn carefully put his leather sword back in his sheath.

“Go check on him, will you, then bring him back over to the stands. I do not think I killed him.” Alwyn replied flatly, if a little wryly. “And get that armor off him, for now.”

“Yes sir!”

---------------------------------------------A short while later-------------------------------------------

Alwyn had moved over to the stands with Theo and Roger, who had taken the armor off the other todd, and turned him on his side to help him breathe. After a short time carefully feeling around his head and looking into his pupils. Theo approached him, saluted, and spoke.

“He’ll be all right, armor absorbed the worst of the blow, but ‘Gates Lieutenant, he’ll be feeling that one for a while and have a bit of a bruise, maybe a bump, and be out for a little while.”

Alwyn nodded, then pointed at Roger, Silvertongue, Finnian, and Madame Lorelei.

“Stay here and monitor him if you can...we will be right back.”

After a short departure, Theo and Alwyn had returned with some soft pillows, warm blankets, and cold compresses for his head. They carefully put them on the unconscious fox, while Theo left a small bottle of smelling salts on one of the benches to eventually rose him once he had rested for a bit, if he did not wake up naturally. Surprisingly, Alwyn moved to sit down next to Swifttail, and pet him gently on the head, as if he were a kit, before turning and facing the group.

“All right…ask your questions.” He stated, already aware he was going to be facing what was likely an angry Finnian-and possibly Silvertongue.

@Silvertongue Songfox @FinnianBrightfur @SwifttailTheFox

 

[Silvertongue Songfox]

"Be honest now, young blood. He's not got a snowball's chance in hell, eh?" Madame Lorelei asked, eyebrow raised.

Silvertongue glared at Madame Lorelei, but the pain in his eyes betrayed the truth. He knew that she was right, to an extent. "Sir...." He turned to Alwyn. "How much time do you think Swifttail needs?"

 

[Talinn Ryalor]

Alwyn sat calmly for some time, gloved paw running over Swifttail’s headfur and ears gently and with comfort, like he used to do with his younger brother, Finnian, and even Anastasia...before she long ago surpassed him due to her natural skill which was far higher than his own, which was not shabby but had to be honed by thousands of hours worth of experience, as he thought over both their questions. It was a surprising show of gentleness compared to what he had put Fairpaws through not that long ago. Finally, he responded to Madame Lorelei, as he had been drilled from a young age to respect his elders.

“Most esteemed Madame,” he began, inclining his head towards her respectfully, head bowed, “his skill with weapons, as far as can be said, is in bows, not blades, at least with respect to Greeneye. Were this on the battlefield, with a pure intent to finish the fight as soon as possible, even with his disabilities that rat would cut him down in one, maybe two blows if he were lucky if he closed the distance. He has been training hard since he was a little kit with his blade. Hours and hours per day, and then in combat as well. Thousands at least. Swifttail could not hope to match that in close quarters, unless the former were severely wounded, and even then…”

He shook his head, but then raised it as he looked at both of them. “But...this is not the battlefield.” He gave them a more hopeful smile. “Nor is it a duel to the death, thankfully. It is a lover’s duel to first blood. He has an incentive to try to humiliate Swifttail rather than end it as quickly as possible, to prove what he believes to be his ‘superiority’ over him. So he will likely try to draw it out as long as possible and attempt to make him look like a fool before aiming to finish him, at least initially.”

He gave Swifttail another soft pat on the head.

“I would say, if I drilled him hard for the next three days, in addition to his ship training, and what his friends have already given him, and taking the above into account, if Greeneye remains in his normal state of mind and has the intent to humiliate...he might last...five strikes. Yes, I would say about that. There is simply no way to compress the amount of training Greeneye has put in to mastering his weapon in the amount of time before the duel for any longer than that."

He let the words hang in the air, to let Finnian, Silvertongue, and Lorelei understand the gravity of the situation. That would be perhaps maybe thirty seconds or so, if Greeneye was feeling generous. He himself versus Swifttail here today had let the fights draw out a lot longer than he would normally to assess him, even with the last bout where the other todd had been pushed to the brink and given it his all.

“Yet..I see a path to victory with first blood. It will be narrow, and the price will be...high.” His eyes grew colder and more serious now as he looked up at Silvertongue. “It will require you to hurt Greeneye. Deeply, and more than you have ever done in your life. Are you prepared to do so in order for Swifttail to retain his honor?”

@FinnianBrightfur @SwifttailTheFox @Silvertongue Songfox @Darragh Harper @Kaii Nashirou

 

[Silvertongue Songfox]

"Me?" Silvertongue asked in confusion. "Sir, I don't understand- the duel is between Greeneye and Swifttail." He said, looking around with uncertainty. "Did- did I miss some part of a conversation, or plan?"

Madame Lorelei took her cane and whacked Silvertongue on the head, which caused him to yelp in pain. "Are you daft, kit? Use that brain of yours! Clearly, you're going to have to speak the truth- the cold, hard truth, which one might consider emotional manipulation, in order to distract that Greeneye and give your Swifttail a fighting chance!" She turned to Alwyn and smiled. "I'm right, aren't I?"

Silvertongue winced and rubbed the back of his head. Maybe Madame Lorelei was right, but internally, he was worried Greeneye would not listen to reason, or he wouldn't even be able to be reasoned with at all. If he were, this whole duel nonsense wouldn't even be happening in the first place.

 

[SwifttailTheFox]

The blow landed like a thunderclap.

The cutlass crashed against the side of Swifttail’s helmet with a hollow, brutal crack that rattled through bone and brain alike. Light burst across his vision in a blinding white flare. For an instant the world tilted violently sideways, his paws scrambling for purchase that simply wasn’t there. The roar of the crowd vanished. There was only a dull ringing, like distant ship bells tolling through fog. His legs refused to answer him.

The ground rushed up.

Then everything went dark.

---

The forest was silent.

Cold mist drifted between tall black trunks, the branches overhead clawing at a pale sky that offered no warmth. Snow crunched faintly beneath Swifttail’s paws as he stepped into the clearing, breath fogging in short white bursts.

He was alone.

At least for a moment.

Then the trees shifted.

Greeneye stepped from the shadows. Except he wasn’t right. The rat was enormous - towering, monstrous, his shoulders swollen to impossible breadth. The blade in his paw gleamed with such savage brightness that Swifttail could barely look at it, its edge blazing like a strip of captured lightning. His eyes burned an unnatural green in the gloom, glowing like a predator’s in the night.

Greeneye said nothing. He simply advanced, unnaturally quietly.

Swifttail quickly turned and ran.

Branches tore at his sleeves as he fled between the trees, boots slipping across frozen earth. His breath came ragged, panic clawing in his chest as he pushed harder, faster, desperate to escape the looming presence behind him.

The forest opened again.

The clearing.

He spun around in horror.

Greeneye stood there already.

Closer.

Swifttail bolted the other direction.

The trees blurred past.

Snow sprayed underfoot.

The clearing.

Again.

Greeneye was waiting.

Closer still.

Swifttail’s heart hammered wildly as he tried to draw his blade, but it felt impossibly heavy in his paws, like iron sunk in mud. He barely managed to lift it before the towering rat raised his own weapon high overhead.

The blade flashed down, and white swallowed everything.

---

Warmth.

That was the first thing he felt.

Not the cold forest. Not the terror.

Warmth.

Something soft beneath his head.

Something heavy draped over him.

Blankets.

The world crept back slowly, like a tide returning after a storm. A dull ache pulsed through his skull, throbbing in time with his heartbeat, but it felt distant somehow. Muted.

Then came the touch.

A paw moved gently through his headfur.

Slow.

Steady.

Fingers brushing softly behind one ear, then the other, smoothing the fur between them in a calm, repetitive rhythm.

The motion was oddly soothing.

Somewhere deep in the fog of his mind, tension unwound that he hadn’t even realized he was holding. His breathing eased, the tightness in his chest loosening as the gentle petting continued.

He was safe.

His body seemed to recognize that much before the rest of him did.

Sound returned next.

Muted voices, blurred and indistinct, like words carried through water.

“…how much time…”

“…Greeneye…”

“…lover’s duel…”

Swifttail couldn’t move.

He wasn’t sure he could even open his eyes if he tried.

But the voices slowly sharpened, drifting through the haze.

“…five strikes.”

The words cut through the fog with cruel clarity.

Five.

His mind caught on the number even as the voices continued somewhere above him.

“…path to victory…”

“…will require you…”

“…to hurt Greeneye…”

The paw still stroked his head gently.

His ears.

The steady rhythm grounded him against the lingering echoes of the nightmare.

He tried to focus and gather himself, but his limbs remained heavy and distant, his thoughts drifting in the soft gray space between waking and sleep.

Only one small change betrayed the slow return of life.

His breathing deepened, becoming longer and steadier.

The faint rise and fall of his chest beneath the blankets marking the quiet beginning of his return to the world.

@Alwyn Ryalor @FinnianBrightfur @Silvertongue Songfox @Madame Lorelei

 

[Alwyn Ryalor]

“The esteemed Matron is correct,” Alwyn asserted, nodding at Madame Lorelei and laying it on a little more since he was quick to pick up on power dynamics and she seemed able to get Silvertongue to go along with things, “given the circumstances, rules, and conditions surrounding the duel, it cannot be helped. We must break his Mushin and Zanshin, that will be the key. I doubt Greeneye knows those concepts directly, but he will have learned them nonetheless by force of habit, much more than Swifttail here.” Alwyn shook his head at Silvertongue as he ruffled Swifttail’s ears. They were surprisingly soft, warm, and extra furry-was this a consequence of him being from the Northlands?

He then turned and look directly at Silvertongue.

“You will have to think of things that strike Greeneye at his very core, and then escalate them slowly to throw them off balance. You will have to start small, and stoke it as if it were a fire, while Swifttail practices a few other things I will teach him, as his strike limit nears. And by the end, it must be a bonfire that will burn his soul and shatter both states of his, and in that moment…”

He took his right paw away from Swifttail, and then jabbed it forth as if he were striking with a sword.

“...Swifftail must strike without hesitation, without mercy, without feeling any sort of guilt or conflict within himself over protecting you or being with you. In order to do so, He must know you chose him, unquestioningly.”

He paused, then shook his head.

“But this fire I describe...it will burn the bridge between you and Greeneye badly...if you ever wish to set things right with him in the future...it will be...difficult.”

He glanced up at him, as he pet Swifttail on the head once more.

“Are you prepared to do so, for him?”

@FinnianBrightfur @Silvertongue Songfox @SwifttailTheFox @Darragh Harper @Kaii Nashirou

 

[FinnianBrightfur]

Finn observed quietly, and leaned backwards on Silvertongue affectionately as he pondered all these things. While he had tried to throw Swift off balance with his remark about the Great Slap of Urk, there were some things that seemed... wrong to say, even in dire circumstances? Finn's fur was still ruffled by Alwyn's jab at Iskatyut. Did it have to be so vicious?

Tipping his head back, Finn looked upwards at Silvie. "Y'could just tell 'im he's got a weird nekkid tail and gross rat toes..." he offered helpfully.

 

[Silvertongue Songfox]

Madame Lorelei nodded solemnly. "The Lieutenant is right, Songfox. You'd be wise to listen to him." She smiled at Alwyn, batting her eyelashes at him. "Not to mention, he's handsome, to boot."

Silvertongue nearly retched. "I'm afraid he's too far out of your league, Madame Lorelei."

That comment was met with another whack from the elderly vixen's cane. Silvertongue grimaced, idly ruffling Finny's headfur. "Lieutenant... you're asking me to throw away all the morals I've known and held onto.... I... I-" He sighed in frustration. "I'm going to try and talk to him, okay? Give him one last chance to call off this whole ridiculous ordeal before it even starts. If that doesn't work, then... then I'll go with your idea."

Silvertongue's heart ached just thinking about it. To spit venom so callously at Greeneye, who, despite everything, was still his friend, was still the beast that saved his life. He wasn't sure if he could bring himself to do it, and it was evident in the uncertainty on his face. It seemed Silvertongue would need training of a different variety: mental fortitude.

 

[Talinn Ryalor]

Alwyn nodded at Silvertongue, although, internally he doubted that he would be successful. When it came to matters of love beasts were...irrational. He glanced over, for a moment, at Finnian, and smiled softly at his joke. Were the duel about potentially losing him, he would never call it off, even if it meant his certain death. Greeneye’s “love” towards Silvertongue was far, far different, of the romantic and not the familial he felt towards his son, but it, too would be likely just as strong.

“That would be the best course of action,” Alwyn replied carefully. "if you can pull it off. But, that may be harder than you might think. Both of these beasts care deeply for you at the moment, and it is...difficult...to find a balance without conflict. But I have heard you have a certain way with words, so if anybeast can do it, it would be you.”

He inclined his head towards him.

“At any rate, I will continue training Swifttail in the event that Greeneye does not back down, so that he may have a fair chance.”

Finally, he turned to Madame Lorelei, and smiled gracefully.

“I am flattered, Madame, and for what it is worth, I, too, still think you have it.”

Alwyn, of course, did not go for vixens even older than his mother, but the flattery was important to beasts like her, especially since although he had expressed confidence in Silvertongue, her being something of a motherly figure to both of them stood by far the best chance of avoiding the duel all together...even if that meant beating Greeneye to the ground with her cane.

@Darragh Harper @Nicolas of Iron Pit @FinnianBrightfur @SwifttailTheFox @Silvertongue Songfox

 

[SwifttailTheFox]

The world came back not in pieces, but in warmth and feeling.

It was a slow, sinking sort of awareness, like drifting just beneath the surface of calm waters, where everything was heavy and quiet and good. Swifttail lay there in that space, limbs slack, thoughts distant, the steady rhythm of a paw brushing through his headfur anchoring him in a place he had no desire to leave. There was no fight here. No pressure. No expectation.

Just warmth. Just quiet.

He could have stayed there forever...

“Y'could just tell 'im he's got a weird nekkid tail and gross rat toes...”

The words tore through that softness like a snapped wire.

Swifttail jolted upright with a sharp inhale, the motion sudden and ungraceful as his body rejoined him all at once. The world rushed back in a blur of color and sound, his balance wavering for half a heartbeat as something deep and unseen rang through him, not pain so much as a lingering reverberation that seemed to hum in his very bones.

His gaze snapped to Finnian as if trying to place the source of whatever had just dragged him back from wherever he’d been.

Then it shifted to Silvertongue.

The tension in his posture eased, just a fraction, something instinctive and grounding settling into place the moment he found him.

Madame Lorelei.

Yup... Still here... Still her...

And then, finally—

Alwyn.

The memory landed all at once.

The strike. The weight of it. The way it had cut everything out from under him like the world had simply decided he was done for the day.

Swifttail stared up at him for a beat, ears dipping ever so slightly as the realization settled in, quiet and complete.

“...Aww, Gates…” he murmured, voice soft and a touch rough around the edges. “I’m finished…”

The words seemed to take what little strength he’d reclaimed with them.

And just like that, the tension left him. His head tipped forward again, settling back into Alwyn’s paw as if it had never left. A small breath slipped from him with a sigh, his eyes half-lidding as that warmth crept back in around the edges.

“...don’t stop…”

 

[Alwyn Ryalor]

As Silvertongue and Lorelei moved to attempt to convince Greeneye to call off the whole affair, Alwyn continued to look down and comfort Swifttail, who whimpered a little about about how he was finished. He wanted to sigh. The other todd was not a bad combatant, and he already had many of the of the qualities of a true Fyadoran warrior that has granduncle had taught him, and that he himself was still struggling to uphold. Swifttail had a sense of justice, had proven his courage, was compassionate, polite, honest, loyal, and valued honor. He only lacked self-control when provoked, and just the sheer amount of hours necessary to become a competent swordsman-not everybeast was a freak of nature like Anastasia who could pick up things so quickly. Part of his mind, again, slipped more into what his parents or perhaps Aunt Tanya might do in this situation. Greeneye could very easily be made to simply...disappear. Beasts disappeared in the Harbor all the time, and no one would miss another searat.

"...don't stop..."

Complying for now, he ruffled Swifttail’s ears once more, shaking his head. No, Swifttail valued honor, and this was his chance to gain some beyond a shadow of a doubt from both his partner and everyone watching the duel. Taking that from him would, in many ways, wound him far more than anything he had done to him today. Alwyn let him rest for a little bit more, continuing to massage his head, neck, and ears to assist with his recovery, before he spoke gently.

“Mr. Fairpaws, are you back with us? It is time to give you your evaluation, and teach you some concepts. Do not worry, it will be intellectual at first-no more hard hits to the head."

@FinnianBrightfur @Darragh Harper @Silvertongue Songfox @SwifttailTheFox @Nicolas of Iron Pit

 

[SwifttailTheFox]

The warmth lingered.

It did not vanish all at once this time, nor was it so easily torn away. Swifttail remained where he was for a moment longer, half-lidded and quiet, the slow rhythm of Alwyn’s paw still working through his headfur and ears, keeping the world from quite spinning off its axis.

Alwyn’s voice reached him, eventually. Arriving, piece by piece, like something carried in on a distant tide.

Evaluation.
Concepts.
No more hard hits.

That last part, at least, made it through.

Swifttail blinked unevenly.

“...mmh.”

It was less a sound of understanding and more an acknowledgment that he had, in fact, heard something.

Gathering himself, he shifted, paws pressing lightly against the ground as he tried to sit up proper, to meet the moment as he ought to with his ears lifting, and back straightening...

...and the world tilted.

Not violently, nor enough to send him back down outright. Enough that he paused there halfway, the motion stalling as a faint, distant sort of everything rolled through him again, like the echo of a bell struck far too hard.

“...I’m tryin’ t’be present, sir…” he managed after a beat, voice soft and a touch uneven, though there was a hint of sheepish determination tucked into it all the same.

Another pause.

A slow breath.

“...but I think you knocked me clean out o’ me own head…”

His ears dipped just slightly, more in acceptance than complaint, and after a moment’s consideration, he let himself ease back just a fraction rather than force the rest of the motion.

“...might need a moment…” he admitted, the words coming easier now, honest and unguarded. “...or five…”

His gaze lifted again, settling on Alwyn.

“...That was quite the wallop…”

A breath passed, quiet and steady, before his attention drifted off to the side toward Finny.

“...what were you sayin’ about tails…?” he murmured, as though the question had been waiting patiently for its turn this whole while.

Then, he tilted back again to Alwyn.

“...I’ll learn it,” he said, softer now, but no less certain for it. “...I will ...just… maybe not while the world’s still spinnin’…”

@Alwyn Ryalor @FinnianBrightfur

 

[Silvertongue Songfox]

"Lieutenant, I think you might have hit him a bit too hard," Silvertongue said worriedly. "How is he going to learn anything if you beat the living blazes out of him every time?"

"Are you deaf??" Madame Lorelei tilted her head. "He said, 'No more hard hits!'! Besides, the only way for a beast to learn how not to be hit is for said beast to be hit a dozen times!" She raised her cane and swiped at Silvertongue, who ducked out of the way. "See, like that!"

Silvertongue sighed and shook his head, looking towards Swifttail with concern. "Just... try and relax a bit, Swift. That was a nasty hit you took."

 

[Talinn Ryalor]

“There, there…” Alwyn replied, glad that there did not seem to be any permanent damage, much like Theo had been able to analyze, and that he was recovering better than expected, more than a lot of recruits who this happened to fairly regularly. He continued his gentle, soft massage around Swifttail’s head and ears. “...do not worry too much. You can close your eyes, as I said to Silvertongue, the rest of today will be mostly theory, and if you can stand on your paws, practice, but I do not expect much of you.”

He glanced up at Silvertongue, as if the emphasize the latter point. “Do not worry, Mr. Songfox, he will be fine. Theo is one of the best medics that we have and he assured us so. He is already doing better than most recruits, this happens all the time. It is the price to pay to learn.” He gave him a reassuring smile before continuing. “ ‘Gates knows, I’ve been on the receiving end of more than a few of these blows. The training at Amarone and elsewhere was...rough.”

Even now, half a decade later, the process of graduating from a recruit to full Guardsbeast, called the ‘Gates trials, still almost caused him to shudder. They had not taken it easy on him because of who his family was, that was for sure.

He smiled at Madame Lorelei. “There is some truth to what the esteemed Madame said, Mr. Songfox, it is fine for you to depart and try to call this affair off. Trust me, I will return him to you in one piece and one mind.”

@SwifttailTheFox @Kaii Nashirou @Darragh Harper @Silvertongue Songfox @FinnianBrightfur