Land of the Sand (Open)

[shadow]

"Are you sure you're not going to regret this, Greed?" Without waiting for an answer, Kludd swung a paw into the sand and flung the dust upwards, straight towards the Prince's eyes. "Lesson one: Never allow your enemy to strike first."

Greed flinched back, the grains entering his eyes and causing them to sting miserably. With his concentration broken, Kludd moved to strike again, his jaws gaping in an attempt to end his life with a swift blow to the neck. Suddenly though, Greed stepped to the side, just short of Kludd's attack. His teeth snapped loudly, ringing in the young dog's ears, but this did nothing to his confidence. He agilely leapt back, creating space between him and Kludd, landing squarely on his four in front of the dogs watching.

"Lesson two," Greed taunted. "Don't underestimate your opponent's ability to see without the use of their eyes. Hei over there isn't the only one trained to do such things. So you ugly mutt, you've done nothing to my abilities as a fighter. Perhaps you made my eyes sting, but its nothing that someone of my skill is going to linger on. I'm not a helpless pup."

Greed smirked, his teeth dripping with drool. He was longing for a fight. It was like a need he couldn't explain, just as the ocean was pulled towards the moon for reasons no canine really understood. "Well well, I suppose its... MY TURN!" On the last two words of his sentence, Greed pretty much vanished, appearing behind Kludd with his paws outstretched. With a blow that was very much like a human punch, Greed sent the masked dingo flying back into the sand. The blow was not meant to hurt much, but mostly to show off. He would make this fight last.

Kludd however, was not going to stand for Greed's "playfulness". As soon as he was knocked down, he jumped back up, launching at Greed again. This time, Greed rolled his eyes, and allowed the so called "ultimate lance" to latch onto him. For a mere dingo, Greed had to admit his jaws were powerful, but he did not flinch when small droplets of blood leaked from his neck as Kludd held tightly. "I wasn't joking when I said I was the ultimate shield. I feel hardly any pain."

[Possk]

With the sand successfully impairing Greed's vision, Kludd lunged forward, hoping to dig his fangs into the throat of his opponent. However, to his amazement, Greed easily dodged the attack, leaving Kludd to only snap at open air. '..What? How is it that he can move so quickly without being able to see?' Greed swiftly jumped out of his reach, landing in front of the oddly formed little group. 'Are he and that Hei dog somehow related to each other?' The dingo didn't have to wait long for his question to be answered.

"Lesson two. Don't underestimate your opponent's ability to see without the use of their eyes. Hei over there isn't the only one trained to do such things. So you ugly mutt, you've done nothing to my abilities as a fighter. Perhaps you made my eyes sting, but its nothing that someone of my skill is going to linger on. I'm not a helpless pup." Kludd snarled in rage. He, a mutt? Comparable to dogs? He barely even took note that now two enemies possessed an ability unknown to him; rather, anger replaced all reason. Putting him on a scale with pitifully bred dogs? Unacceptable! They were not of his species, not similar to him in the least. They were weaker, stupider, and certainly not dingoes.

"I am not a mutt," Kludd growled lowly, fur ruffing up in fury. "I am a purely bred dingo, leader of the Pure Ones. Not one of your pathetically bred species." Metal Fang bared his teeth, ready to attack again, when suddenly Greed vanished. Confused, Kludd brought his head up, only to feel a pounding blow in the back of it. Startled, he flew forwards, head embedding itself deep in the sand. For several moments, Kludd lay there, trying to make sense of things. For one, the dog was strong, stronger than most he'd encountered. The agility he used with ease did not help the situation. Worst of all however was the fact that he'd held back. Kludd was positive it hadn't been the mask protective him from the blunt of the attack. No, Greed was simply teasing him. Playing with him. An emotion stirred inside that he hadn't felt in many months, at least, not to its fullest extent. Hatred. Bubbling up inside, willing the High Tyto to tear apart the one who stood behind him.

Kludd stood again, shaking the sand from his pelt. He pivoted, facing Greed, and fixed him with an icy glare. With a swift movement--swifter than Kludd's normal movements anyways--he leaped from his place on the ground and latched onto Greed's neck. However, he was sure to slacken the bite from its usual strength; if Greed wanted to play games, then Kludd would not be the one to spoil his fun. Droplets of blood dripped onto the dingo's muzzle, and it took a great deal of concentration to not let his hatred overwhelm him, to not try to kill this foolish mutt.
"I wasn't joking when I said I was the ultimate shield," Greed said arrogantly, taking it as Kludd using his full strength. "I feel hardly any pain."

'No pain do you?" Metal Fang mused, putting together ideas in his head quickly. 'Thank you for revealing your weakness then.' If Greed felt little to no pain, then he would not be able to feel the extent of his injuries. Being numb did not make him invincible; no, it made his senses weak, unable to tell when his body would collapse from exhaustion or blood loss. 'And making wounds seem minor is my specialty.'

Flexing his claws, Kludd stabbed them into Greed's shoulders. The battle claws, smaller yet sharper than any normal hound's fangs, buried deep into the skin. Causing pain was not his objective though. Kludd, stifling a growl at Greed's chuckle of amusement, strengthened his grip on the mutt's neck. He pulled himself upward--and thus, Greed, as well--and swung backwards. As soon as the wind changed, Kludd flung him back to the dust with a heavy thud. One of the battle claws had come lose in the process, but the dingo wasted no time worrying over it.

"Greed-dono, remind me. What was that about an ultimate shield? Aren't ultimate shields void of weak points?"

[shadow]

"Very good, very good," Greed chuckled as he looked at Kludd, from the dirt below. One of the dingo's claws was embedded in his shoulder still, but Greed was hardly phased. "And everything, even superior beings such as yourself and I, have a weak point. I see you found mine rather quickly. Well, Ultimate Lance, I found yours. You're standing over me with a claw embedded in my shoulder...." Greed smirked, and then suddenly turned his head to bite down onto Kludd's leg. Now, the claws were unable to go out of Greed's arm so long as he held his grip. His smirk grew however, as his plan was far from over. "Did you notice, Mr. Purebred genius, that I had a sword attached to my back? Well, where is it now? Oh, wait, I see it..."

Kludd's eyes widened in realization, and he looked up to see a blade twirling down towards him. He dashed to the side, but Greed was holding onto his leg tightly, causing him to trip and fall to the sand once more. Greed laughed as the sword fell down onto Kludd's back right leg, slicing a nice clean gash in it and landing to the sand with a light thud. It was while Kludd was distracted with his new wound that Greed dashed out from underneath the dingo and back to a spot where he could stand opposite him.

"A helpful tip from a mutt," Greed taunted. "Don't leave yourself open when you attack."

[Possk]

Kludd's eyes flared as his hind right leg was slashed with the sword. With his fall, it had twisted itself further, leaving the blood to flow freely from the wound. 'Tch!' His leg throbbed painfully, but he ignored it. He had felt worse; much worse than this Greed had. Kludd had not forgotten--and probably would never forget--the way his skin had been torn off in the heat of battle, nor how it had burned as Soren stabbed the fire stick under the metal mask. No, the cut he had received was merely a flesh wound. Nothing compared to his past experiences. Still, the dog slithered past him, once more facing off against him with that cocky smirk.

"A helpful tip from a mutt," Greed taunted. "Don't leave yourself open when you attack." Metal Fang grunted in reply; right now, he needed to change the order of things. Greed seemed to be able to take any attack he threw at him. Merely laughed at any he could muster. His weakness was obvious, but if he could not bring an attack to at least weaken him, it did not good to know about it. 'What can I do to turn the situation around?'

Kludd sighed. He stood up slowly, not daring to put much weight on his injured leg, and stared at Greed again. Then, his maw broke out into an uncharacteristic smirk. "Well then, I will admit it. You're much stronger than your idealistic half suggested. However, you forgot about that battle claw of mine stuck in your shoulder. Did you think I didn't have a purpose for stabbing it into you?" Greed's eyes blinked in confusion for a moment, but widened sharply as Kludd snarled, "Seemingly minor wounds are my specialty. I'd hope you're knowledgeable in antidotes; you'll have a hard time saving your life if you don't!"

Greed turned his head quickly to his shoulder, rasping his tongue over the wound to find the poisoned battle claw. With the momentary distraction, Kludd, slightly staggering, picked up the sword's handle in his jaws. Without a moment's hesitation, Kludd slammed into Greed, stabbing the sword's point into the Prince's hide.

"Pysch," Metal Fang breathed as he passed the dog's ears in the attack. "Poisoned weapons are only fit for cowards." He jumped forwards, leaving the sword to hang from Greed's flank. He landed roughly, injured leg nearly collapsing from strain, but Kludd managed to stand and return a glare to the dog. The sun burning against his back and the wind picking up again, Kludd wondered which of the two dogs' wills would break first.

[shadow]

Greed grunted. Sure, the cuts stung a bit, but they would go numb rather quickly. Still, it was annoying that his sword had been used against him. Greed really wasn't used to using such weapons. That was more up Ling's ally. Twisting his head, Greed gripped the handle of the sword and plucked it out of his flank. Blood gushed out, spilling crimson into the sand and evaporating into an awful scent as the sun heated it.

"Touchy touchy," Greed taunted. "I see that you're more serious then I thought. But what kind of fun would this be if there wasn't an extra element involved? Trickery has now come into the game, not just a battle of strengths. I'll warn you now my masked friend, I am a master of wits."

Greed snorted, a smirk resting itself over his face. He was beginning to feel lightheaded from the blood loss, even if he was feeling no real pain from it. It was a strange feeling, one that he rarely felt; it was almost as if he were high. It was exhilarating... being this close to death yet feeling so light, like he could do anything....

But even the illusion of lightheadedness can be destroyed by a sudden change. In the corner of his Mind's Eye, Greed saw Ranfan dash forward and skid to a halt in front of him, "Do not lay another paw on my Prince," she snarled at Kludd. "Because I won't play around. I'll kill you."

A warning signal went off in Greed's mind. No... no he could not let her die. He was Greed after all, and he wanted everything... including the fine specimen in front of him. Greed knew well that Ranfan would do anything for his alter ego, Ling, and so, he sharing the vessel that was Ling's body, was going to take advantage of that.

If he tries anything... anything.... I'll get serious too. Ranfan, you had better not get yourself hurt....

[Montgomery]

Mashinkage

The young Koga dog wandered through the sand piles, keeping his head down to avoid getting too much in his eyes. It had been quite some time since he left his home in search of a challenge. Why he came here, he still didn't know. He growled in frustration at the dryness of the air and lack of water. His triumphant grin never left his face as he decided to hold his head high, for he was a proud Koga dog...He could endure!

As he walked on, the sound of a fight filled his ears. This sound was like music to his fiery soul. Without hesitation he rushed off to find the source of the noise. It didn't take long for the scent of other dogs and the noise to get louder. He quickly slowed his pace to a crawl and lowered his body to the sand, trying to observe the fight from a distance. :: As long as they don't see me, I can get the advantage...if I want a piece of this action...::

He barely poked his head up to get a full view of the battling dogs. With a silent exhale of breath, he cleared his mind, trying to read the two dog's moralities and intentions with his Mind's Eye. He was going to side with the 'good guy' if he could, sometimes there are no good guys in this dark world they live in.

((Hope y'all don't mind me throwing in the new guy))

[★Ryuujin★]

Hei had long ago began to ignore the fight happening in their midst, instead, he had taken to protecting the young canine, known to him as Haz, safe from the ever rolling ball of fur. It was very uncharacteristic of him to do so, but the pup was innocent, and if he ended up getting hurt here... Hei didn't want to end up blaming himself for it. He considered Ling to be a friend now, but this greed.... he meant nothing to him, even in Ling's body. A long life of pain and sorrow had taught one to easily become detached when needed.

And now was a good time for that.

Lowering his head next to the pup, he sighed softly before his ears perked. There was something else coming, no... someone else. A deep growl escaped his throat as he shifted his paws in the sand, the fur on his back raising as the silver outline of a dog stopped in the dunes just above them. His head shot up and turned to gaze with his minds eye through the eyeless mask in the direction where the canine stood, hiding behind the sand. Or so he thought. The canine held pride and the will to fight in his aura. "Stay here, Haz."

If it was a fight he wanted, it would be a fight he got. Nothing else could go wrong today, could it now?

Shifting his paws again in the sand, Hei bolted toward the new canine, ears laying back as he moved his head to grasp one of his blades, drawing it from its sheathe with an electrical zap, blue static dancing down its blade as he charged up the dune, muscles tensing in his body as he leaped over the edge of the dune and the dog, sliding in the sand behind him to face the strange canine. Not a sound came from Hei but the sound of the static dancing around his blade, and the heartbeat of the other dog filling his mind's Eye.

[Montgomery]

"Shit...!" He hopped back from his lowered position, facing the dog with the electric blade. ::Greeeeeeaaaaat...come here to help a good guy in need...now I gotta take on this guy...Oh Well.No matter!::

He stayed focus, gazing at the assassin before him. His maw spread with a wide grin, his body trembling violently only for a split second. He had control...He may have been excited for a fight, but he could keep his composure like his elders taught him. His maw opened again as he slowly exhaled, getting in a fighting position.

"One of us probably won't walk away from this fight. So I wish to know the name of my opponent, before you fall. My name is Mashinkage, of the Koga Ninja Dog clan!" He grinned proudly and licked his skilled death fangs. He snapped his jaws several time, letting his opponent hear the power and almost steel like sound coming from his jaws.

A confident grin remained on his maw as he began to slowly circle the assassin before him. He cleared his mind, using his Mind's Eye to try and to see his opponents intentions. :: Let's see what you really want, Stranger...A fight...to protect one of the fighters...death...?::


((I think I'm right, but am I using the Mind's Eye properly?))

[Kyouran]

((OOC: OK, I know I haven't posted in ages in here, and sorry about that Dx I just had no Haz muse at all. Now, I hope I'm not correcting that at a wrong moment... Anyway, this is clearly a sucky post, and for that I apologize, but it was the best I could manage after failing to reply for so long. I hope I haven't missed anything vital here.))

What in the world? The pup was completely and utterly lost with everything that was going on. Spinning out of control. He stood in his place, almost frozen, watching the two fighters charge and slash at each other, again and again. Why? Haz felt he should move, out of their way, or he might as well get caught in the middle of their battle. But he was too concentrated on the thought of how wrong things were becoming, for God’s sake, they were in a freaking desert, they definitely didn’t need any more problems on their hands. If they got themselves hurt, which, by the way, they already had done, it would just be harder to get out of this place alive. Would it even be possible? Oh, well, no point in dwelling on such thought now, he realized finally, as Hei instructed him to stay in his place, and suddenly ran off.

Blinking the sand out of his eyes, and somewhat in surprise, Inuhazure just stared after him, the one who seemed to be protecting him so far for some reason. Maybe this masked fighter, unlike Kludd, didn’t have the problem with him being so weak and of mixed blood. It brought him a sense of comfort, but no for long as Hei’s presence disappeared somewhere, and the youngster found himself moving in that direction, unintentionally. His body moved on its own, ignoring the still burning sensation in his lungs and the grains of sand that were too damn stubborn to stop getting into his throat every time he took a breath. His strength wasn’t back fully, but he found it easier to walk without falling over or gasping for breath. He guessed that the seriousness of the situation brought out the stronger side of him that unfortunately, wasn’t much stronger. But, it was enough for him to get close enough to the place Hei had run to that he could see him, and another dog who seemed just as ready to fight as any other who he met today.

Clumsy as he was, and paying absolutely no attention to where he was putting his paws, he felt the sand beneath him shift, and the next second the mutt found himself sliding across the ground, with his mouth full of sand and dirt. Oh what now? He was confused, no idea of how he had gotten himself in a position like this. Never did he think he could make himself more embarrassed… Or more uncomfortable for that matter, for he had started coughing again, this time feeling clearly the blood that filled his throat. Great. Just great. If it wasn’t bad enough he had completely proved himself as a weakling and stupid pup in front of Kludd, he was doing it again, just when a fight was about to start. And, with this, he was out right disobeying Hei’s order to stay where he was.

No, this… wasn’t his day…

[Possk]

Kludd groaned as pressure was once again put on his injured leg; it trembled and sank deep into the sand, further unbalancing him. He had to catch himself and press his weight onto his other limbs just to keep himself up straight. It didn't seem as if Greed was fairing much better, either. While he did not wince in pain, he seemed rather dizzy, as if he couldn't make sense of his surroundings. However, the vacant expression was quickly replaced with cold determination when his companion skidded to a halt in front of him.

"Do not lay another paw on my Prince. Because I won't play around. I'll kill you." She bared her fangs, snarling. Metal Fang twitched his burned ears; in all honesty, during the midst of the fight, he'd quite forgotten about the young female. And in all honesty, he wasn't sure if he could fight both of them in his already weakened condition. Greed, while badly bleeding, seemed to have rekindled his will to fight. Ranfan was still fresh, albeit perhaps tired from the long walk through the desert like the rest of them. There was also Hei to worry about, though he looked preoccupied by a newly arrived figure. While Metal Fang did not turn his head to identify the creature, it was apparent that he did not have to; the dog screamed the words for them. 'A Koga Ninja dog, eh? What is a 'ninja'?' He snorted, but made no movement towards the dog. He had other business to attend to, and he was quite sure his opponents would not give him the luxury of taking even a small break from the fight. Besides, White Mask-sama seemed to be able to handle himself. Perhaps his cocky personality was more than just bravado.

"Yes, yes, please waste as much breath as you want," Kludd said dryly, not acknowledging the death threat she so clearly implied. "If you want to attack me, then do it already. Your Prince was the one so eager to fight, though he seems to be a tad absent from the scene. The sinner Greed has replaced our young idealistic hero as it would be. So really, are you fighting for your Prince or for Greed?" He broke off; his leg was trembling worse than ever as the blood continued to flow from his leg. 'Really..not one of my better ideas. Falling on a blade.'

Metal Fang turned slightly to stare beyond Rafan, and instead at Greed. "Greed, if you would be so kind, shouldn't you be telling your mate to stand aside? I thought this was a fight between you and me, no one else involved. Though I suppose you being greedy and all, you must have everything your way." He sighed, shaking his head. "Even if they are--" Kludd never managed to finish that sentence. Just as the words were out of his mouth, a huge blast of sand buffeted the oddly arranged company; the wind picked up, sending the sand flying. 'Ugh! Not again!'

(ugh, horrible rushed post)