I'm a match, she's kerosene

@Stjörnuáti, welcome to maybe 1 more toon to join to keep the thread moving~

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It had been days since she saw the demon cat. How she got away from such a creature with her skin intact was a miracle as far as she was concerned. Every now and then she would glance over her shoulders just to make sure something rustling in the trees or a large bush wasn't the stripped demon just waiting for her to let her guard down. The ice caves were not as lovely or welcoming as the snow-drifting woods of which she woke up in, and yet, she felt safer here than that terrible place where the creature may be lurking.

Even here however she could smell the scent of wolves, the scent was older in some places... but it was unmistakable. How long would she be alone here she was unsure. Wolves were a much more welcoming sight than the orange and black striped thing who tortured her as she sat in the branches of the tree. What an awful creature, she kept thinking to herself. A true demon who relished in her moment of weakness and horror.

So the smell of wolves was a welcoming one in comparison.

Coming out from the frozen caverns, the autumn coloured woman stretched out her limbs and spine in various poses while welcoming the morning sun. Feeling its warmth against her pelt once more with the satisfaction of cracking joints and vertebrae until she was absolutely limber once more. Today was a new day, a new day to check out this strange new place and its inhabitants - maybe find a pack for protection and an alpha male to - well - target for the lack of better words.

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The brothers had not ventured far from the Grotto, not yet. Whether it was because something __kept__ them here or because the two had simply not decided to move on yet was unclear, but the reason mattered not. The fact of the matter was that, for the moment, this was their territory, their spot, their swatch of land. The expansive and twisting set of ice caves was something Stjornuati found an odd sort of peace within. He had undoubtedly left its shelter to hunt and explore, but there was something here, something whispering his name, drawing him back within its caverns. This, he knew, was the hringja. 

Perhaps today, he would learn of its intentions, maroon eyes narrowing as he watched the woman exit his cave. Fur bristling and posture stiff in thinly veiled warning, Stjornuati leapt down from the cxrest of the cavern's mouth, landing just in front of her. Teeth bared, ears back against his skull, the vikingr gave her the mercy of moments to explain herself.
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The crackling in her bones felt so good, sending pleasure signals all throughout her body and even down to her toes as they wriggled in the snow. Stretching and scratching at the ground to even stretch out her phalange joints. Twisting and turning her body in strange angles to maximize the moment of lumbering up before heading out to hunt and maybe starting finding other wolves -

And yet, one just seemed to have fallen from the skies right in front of her and immediately started threatening the woman with snarls and growls. Naturally, she returned the gesture, lips pulling back in a warning that should he go through with his threat, she would not just roll over and let him walk all over her. No, she met his gaze with freezing fire and feeling completely unstoppable after all the fabulous stretching had prepared her for something like this.

“Listen here, I had one hell of a week and zero patience to deal with your tantrum right now.” His smell along with others are the stale scents she smelled around this place. Well, it didn't seem so stale now.

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Her words mattered little to him, less than her growls did. A snap of teeth came close to her face, a punctuated sound that resonated with the pair still so close to the caves. The fire-born female was trespassing on the temporary claim he and @Solpallur had made by simply using this as their home base. Still, her words, the bit of them, reminded him lightly of his sister, eyes raking over her for a moment before he took a single, purposeful step towards her.
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The scent of two wolves lightly dappling the caves did not a pack make - which meant little to Thalia who was looking for a place to not only hide from the striped creature lurking in the woods but also away from the weather into a less windy place like the caves. Their weak scent meant little to her and she would be sure to get that message across to this guy who dared swing his dick around in such a weak claim of his. His teeth snapped, making no purposeful contact and yet she silently dared him to make contact with a furious glare.

He was large, and obviously well toned. There was no way fighting him would lead to anything good, but Thalia wasn't the type to back away from some shit like this. One man, with maybe some kind of partner lurking around. She could deal with that. Maybe even bluff her way around it.

It was his step that triggered her. There was an invisible line in the snow and he had crossed it by thinking he was welcomed at all to approach for whatever reason might be poking around in his brain. A single, unwavering snap launched the autumn woman forward and back. A viper's strike to make her message clear that she was in no mood to be fucked with. With every intention to make quick contact with his skin, her lunge should he not move would result in broken skin. That would be her own warning.

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She was quick to move, an ember that abruptly combusted into something larger, something that burned wickedly as she surged forward to score her teeth across the hard and taut muscle of his shoulder. Surprise flickered through him, the reminder of @Valmúa stronger than ever, especially as he moved to retaliate. No wolf, woman or not, would strike him unanswered. Twisting, the male used his height to his advantage, grabbing her scruff with his teeth to shove her to the ground and pin her there, the low rumble of his growl still his only communication.
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There was a brief feeling of pride that swelled in her chest as her teeth made contact, believing that alone would prove to this guy that she was not to be fucked with so lightly by just some guy with a temper. It was quickly squashed as her growls were silenced for a moment as her face found the ground. It only lasted for a moment before anger surged through her, staring up at him with a large angered eye and a flash of furious teeth just waiting for the right angle to be given.

Pushing with her back legs and pulling with her front, there was no way she would make this easy for him to hold onto. “Better hope your grip is good and stamina is better than mine.” The threat ooze in a hiss. Still, she pushed and pulled with the proper limbs, teeth poised and ready to snap at any ankle or wrist if given enough wiggle room to slither forward and grab hold of her aim.

Down but not out, Thalia was fierce in her own way and this jackass would learn sooner or later just how vindictive she could be. Even with her face down in the snow, it didn't slow her down any more than it fuelled her fury. First the tiger and now this.

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The ember-furred woman was no simple flame, he found; she was a blaze, an inferno that sought to consume him for his transgressions. Her struggles went mostly ignored, releasing her scruff only to replace the hold of his teeth with the weight of his body, making sure to pull his face away from the slice of her teeth. And still, she did not relent, drawing a new rumble from the golden crested male, though it was no growl and instead a low, amused laugh. 

Quickly, he released her and put space between them, snarl giving way to a smirk as Stjornuati lowered his head to protect his throat. “Komdu, litli eldspýtan. — Come, little spitfire.” Stjornuati did not care that she would not understand him, simply looking to entice her rage further. “Leyfðu okkur að sjá hvað þú getur gert. — Let us see what you can do.”
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He laughed as he sat atop of her, it only fed her desires to stomp him into the ground with every ounce of force she could muster - even if it meant breaking her own paws she wanted to just flatten him along the ground no matter the cost. At this angle, she could not reach any part of him. Knowing this, she bided her time. Instead of wasting energy on futile attempts to dissect his ankles, she was a spring ready to be launched into space.

As soon as the pressure was off her back, she snapped again. Neck craning and teeth-gnashing hoping to land their mark but were left as empty as ever as he was already standing just out of her reach. He spoke a language unknown to her. He didn't say a single thing that she understood since the moment he lept out at her. It would be a waste of her precious breath to try now.

It was that smirk, teasing, daring her to come at him again. And who was she to deny this man what he desires? Without a second thought and fueled by the need to come out on top after all this, she lunged and rolled her head into her chest at the last moment, hoping to give him a running headbutt right to his forehead using the thickest part of her own skull to ease her own injuries coming from the double-edged attack.

Here she didn't wait to see if he'd be dazed, wasting no time she uncoiled from her headbutting protective stance and aimed to grab hold of his own scruff and see if she could tug him off his feet.

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The crash of their skulls together did indeed leave him dazed, just enough that she was allowed time to grab at his neck with her teeth, the pain of a puncture or two making him hiss his displeasure. He had asked for it, of course, asked for her rage, her teeth, her anger. It was a release he hadn't known he'd been seeking, picking a fight with the little spitfire in a way he would not have picked with Solpallur. Now that he was engaged in it, however, Stjornuati found the situation amusing. Enjoyable, even. 

Her tugs did little to displace them. Rather, they normally would not have, but the raven-friend found himself indulging the woman, letting her grapple him to the ground and putting up little fight as she did... whatever she wanted to do. That smirk never left his face, either.
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There was a moment of victory as the pain in her own head was gifted with being able to grab his scruff. There was no tenderness in her actions as she cared little to puncture skin, even she grinned at his verbal displeasure. She dug her paws in, claws sinking in desperate to keep herself grounded with as much leverage that she could muster with their - well, differences.

Finally, he gave way, giving her a false sense of victory as she immediately took the opportunity to pin him by placing her paws on his neck, and a back paw right in the sweet spot in the folds of the man's flank (well, its what she wanted, feel free to add or take away from this pin attempt) while the other planted itself firmly on the ground.

Victory didn't last very long. Sadly for her, the guy's smirk was enough to tell her he was amused by all this, that maybe he thought he was letting her win after coaxing her ire out. How dare he find this amusing in any way! She thought, wondering how amusing he might find it if she literally ripped that smile off his face and reached out to grab hold of his lip and tug in a threat to tear off that lip flap of his.

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Her anger was both fascinating and terrible, her flame bright and intense without fizzling under the weight of his antagonizing antics. It was when he was below her, pressed into the cold ground with paws that were far too dainty to keep him there, that something low in his gut twisted and churned. The feeling was not foreign to the man, nor did it surprise him, what with her dull claws pressing into his throat and flank, the promise of violence so fresh and blatant in the air. He played along, too, until he felt the shift in her weight, her back paw digging in as she reached.

There.

In the blink of an eye, the gilded male rolled them, reaching up to grab her by the throat and pull her off her feet. In the same movement, Stjornuati rolled to his own, teeth pressing just so into the hollow where her jaw and neck met while he stood over her, paws braced on either side of the little spitfire. Here, he had her at a disadvantage, and while he was enjoying their scuffle, there was no longer a wish to harm her. Not right now, anyway.
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If there was one thing Thalia hated most above all else, was to be played with. Toyed with by someone who she didn't think was worth the fun and games. A yelp caught her off guard from her own throat, he was fast and suddenly the feet she felt so sure of against the ground and against him were flailing just as she tried to reach for that lip — cut off instantly by the feeling of teeth around her own throat.

Shock.

A shiver ran down her spine, almost believing this was the end here and now. All he had to do was squeeze and everything would be over in a blink of an eye. For a moment she was limp, accepting her fate and wishing for it to all be done and over with soon - at least she would have gone down with a fight. Not one of her best, but Thalia worked with what she had.

Then she thawed, the rigidity that came with the anticipation of the end faded and this is where the gears clicked in that he was just toying with her. With her just under him, between him... she'd do whatever was necessary, if he wasn't gonna bite down then she wasn't done yet. Shooting out, hind feet sprung up quickly to try and jab him in the gut, and if that didn't instantly make him move and regret all of this - she'd just keep kicking. Digging her claws in if she had to.

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There was a moment, still and quiet, where he thought she might succumb, might bend to his dominance; he was surprised to find himself disappointed. Was her fire so easily extinguished?

No.

@Valmúa would like her, he knew as soon as she kicked out, aiming for his groin in the same way his sister had once. His reaction was swift, releasing her throat and moving off of her in a quick and easy movement, his feral, toothy grin betraying his thoughts. Yes, he quite liked her, and her hellacious attitude. 

A low, rumbling laugh left him as he sat back on his haunches, mirth glittering in that dark gaze as he watched her. What now, little spitfire?
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Not many men would risk a good kick between the legs and so Thalia was certain to have her freedom back soon. Much like a cat bunny kicking on its back it was only about time before he hopped off to protect the family jewels and let her quickly find her feet again. Unlike this guy, she wasn't very amused by any of it. The woman tossed him a nasty glare, a sneer, and feeling victorious finally, decided that this would be the perfect time to walk off with her head held high.

Tossing her head back and purposely walking by close enough to him so she could bump shoulders with him - maybe even whip him with her tail as she passed. Thalia was not the type to lose or win with much grace. Unless stopped somehow, she would simply saunter off and find somewhere else that didn't have jackasses lurking around, or giant demon cats.

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His laugh deepened at her touch, aiming a nip both corrective and suggestive to her haunch. The spitfire slid free, for now. There was no doubt that Stjornuati wanted to see her again, though he would not pursue her now. Not this time. 

For now, the male resorted to licking his wounds as best he could, pleased with himself.
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