Wolf and Raven [Raven/Atrum]

The sound of rock being smashed filled the air as the giant brought his club down on a large boulder smashing it apart with relative ease. Atrum sighed as he found that he simply couldn't calm down he needed to do something more meaningful than smashing boulders but he hadn't had any leads in a while. He had hit a wall and couldn't at the moment find a way over it, With his excess energy he found himself walking around finding things to work out his frustration on, last time it was some rubble no one had cleared away after all this time, this time it was a boulder he had found and pushed around for a while before getting bored and smashing it to pieces. He was getting antsy and needed to calm himself down, he briefly thought about going and doing some gardening but felt that he couldn't devote himself properly to that task enough to honestly make the trek into the forest.

"I must do something if only so I do not lose my mind." The giant said placing his weapon back onto his back and letting his signature smile shrink a bit, something that had been happening more often lately. "I could start looking again but I have already exhausted all my leads here and my travels about the place have not been very fruitful either.... I suppose I could simply check in with the crossroads again but they appear to be losing their patience with me." He growled reaching up and bringing his hat over his eyes, as he impatiently tapped his foot trying to figure out where to go from where he had gotten stuck. This was really ticking him off he was actually having trouble keeping a smile on his face and if that left then he would only get more upset. "I suppose for now training is all I have, I Will be better able to think after I have worked up a sweat and eaten." He finally decided unable to find a better solution at present, if he was going to spin his wheels he was at least going to inch forwards a bit. He needed to get stronger anyways his target was Shadow Hearts Guildmaster anyways, at present he wasn't anywhere near strong enough to take on a guildmaster in general let alone the Shadow lord. The Giant smashed his fists together and growled, he would have the shadow lords head one way or another.

Raven had been doing rounds since his meeting with Kotone in Hosenka. He wanted to know what was going on, and who was causing trouble where. And what he’d found out had already been disturbing. With the magic council fighting itself, the guilds seemed to be holding the line against Shadow Heart. Right now everything was in a deadlock. One tiny push one way or the other could drastically change Fiore as the war had.

He would have to check on Clover town, he realized. That was the main overland route into Fiore, and Valland still controlled it.That made the situation even more tense. If they invaded now… A loud cracking sound echoed around snapping Raven from his thoughts. It was rather ironic timing in his opinions.

He moved forward to see a giant of a man putting a club back on his back. He was clearly bigger and heavier than Raven. He kind of understood how Kotone felt facing him now. Still… he seemed to be angry. Angry and randomly smashing things. That wasn’t good.

“Is this how you normally vent not finding things?” Raven called out as he approached, having heard what the larger man had said. He had on sunglasses, as auburn hair reached to just above his shoulders. His black leather jacket was present, the scale decorations glittering in the light. Under that was a white button up shirt, and he was tightening his black leather half gloves. “Mindlessly smashing things around you?”

Atrum blinked as someone accused him of mindlessly smashing things when angry, causing him to look towards the source of the insult and raise an eyebrow. While he did vent physically it wasn't a mindless action he had gone out of his to make sure the things he had taken out his anger on were either in the way of the general public or were rocks that no one had any business getting on his case for. Looks like someone still found a reason to get on his case, he looked to the smaller man and suddenly felt as if he would have a hard time dealing with him, he dressed like a lot of the punks causing trouble around fiore leather jacket though the scale pattern was new.

"I vent my frustrations in a effective manner that harms no one." Atrum said simply looking at the man as he tightened his leather gloves, was he preparing for a fight? The giant figured he must be someone trying to prove themselves a capable fighter, he would be pleased by the fact that someone wanted to fight him but usually if someone was trying to prove themselves they had little to give him in terms of a challenge. "Sir if you are looking for a fight I am not in the most humoring mood perhaps I may be able to spar with you later?" He offered hoping to avoid anything more annoying than fruitful. Still he found his situation rather annoying regardless of the young man in front of him looking like he was about to attack him. The giant would defend himself he might even enjoy it but he wasn't interested in wasting his time.

“Oh, I’m not here for a fight,” Raven shrugged nonchalantly at the bigger man. If it did come to that Raven was fairly confident that he could handle anyone after his training. He certainly felt stronger. Though, that had faltered quite a bit since his run in with Kotone. He looked around at the area and sighed.

“I heard loud crashing sounds,” Raven began to explain himself as he finished tightening his gloves. He flexed his hands a couple times to make sure they were comfortable before folding them across his chest. “And I decided to come take a look, in case the guilds were up to their usual nonsense again.”

Yeah, since he found out about the Magic Council’s civil war Raven had been very angry at the guilds. It was their job to keep the magic council in check. Just as it was the council’s job to keep the guilds in check. Valland could come back in and destroy everything with the nation as divided as it was. Just thinking about the situation made Raven angry. But he was staying calm for the moment. After all, none of the things he was angry at was here right now.

"I see..." Atrum said simply sort of losing interest in the man actually turning away from him to go back to his own musing, the man seemed antagonistic and boring to the giant there was only one interesting thing about him the way he might fight him, but he said himself that he did not want to fight. The Giant was about to walk away when the man decided to open his mouth again, bad mouthing the guilds. It wasn't much of a bad mouth but Atrum wasn't in the mood for someone sling crap at the factions that fought and died to protect this land not too long ago and now suffered another attack from the very people they had sacrificed to protect. The Giant's eye twitched and he did a sudden about face closing the distance between him and the man instantly, his didn't punch the man as much as he extended his arm into Raven's face pushing him away from him the force of the blow was decent but nothing special.

"I must apologize then, because it appears that you have found yourself one." He said simply cracking his knuckles, he didn't think he'd have to use his magic in this fight a little stress release against a simple punk wouldn't need him to use his magic anyways, still he would be cautious if this guy turned out to be a wizard then he'd definitely kick things up a notch. "I am Atrum Furea I shall be you opponent this day, It is a tad selfish of me to ask after attacking you like that but please give me an interesting fight." He said grinning showing off his shark fangs, he was going to have fun with this then after he was done he was going to go back to looking for clues.

The large man turned to leave, and Raven let down his guard. But then he was suddenly charged. He crossed his arms in front of his face as he staggered back a couple steps. His stance had been loose since he hadn’t expected to be punched. Though it was also a surprisingly weak attack. Once he had his footing he lowered his arms slightly.

“Well, the fight certainly won’t be entertaining with a punch like that,” Raven said brushing off his jacket where he’d blocked the attack. He carried a nonchalant grin as he spoke. Dropping his arms back to his sides he took the verbal advantage. “And it seems like I touched a nerve. I think it’s safe to assume you support the guilds, if you aren’t actually part of one.”

“Which makes me wonder…” He said taking a slightly more serious tone. He was in a more ready fighting stance, though the grin was gone. His hands were at chest level, one hand closer to his chest than the other. His legs were bent, and spread to give him a good center of gravity, and his fists were in loose fists so he wasn’t tense. It was a perfect blend of an offensive and defensive stance. “Why the guilds would allow innocent people to get caught up in this mess? You certainly seem to care a lot about a group that failed in their duty.”

This guy certainly knew how to tick Atrum off but that only made Atrum more focused on his goal which right now was to beat this guy down into a pulp.  A goal that was going to be slightly more difficult than he had first imagined, he had used the first punch to see how tough the man was his reaction time and found that this guy actually knew how to fight a bit.  Which meant that he should probably actually punch him next time the giant grinned and clenched his fist, as the man continued to mouth off to him.  He seemed like the type to try and mock you while fighting, that suited the giant just fine he planned to have fun with this fight regardless, getting angry didn't removed any enjoyment from the fight.  The giant grinned as he watched the man drop into a balanced stance searching for openings there were the obvious ones but he assumed they were guarded or at the very least that his opponent was aware of them.

"How interesting you seem to think that the guilds have failed to do their duty?  I can only guess as to what you are referring to however more interesting is that you seem to think that the guild have much of a choice in this so called mess."  Atrum dropped into a boxers stance bouncing up and down and then suddenly darting forwards once again closing the distance quicker than one might expect due to the length of his stride and throwing a quick left jab almost immediately followed by a grab with his right hand disguised as a second follow up jab.  The man seemed to know what he was doing so he expected a counter attack, the giant doubted that this guy could actually hurt him but he wasn't about to underestimate an opponent this man could be capable of anything better to be safe than sorry, beside if he wanted to win he needed to fight like this man was just as strong if not stronger than he was.

Raven blinked in mild surprise as Atrum dropped into a boxer stance. That meant he intended to use his height as his speed. After all, if you were tall and took a step, it might have been like a short person running. In that way, a large person could mitigate a small person’s speed as a factory. Not negate it, but definitely reduce it’s effectiveness. And Raven already wasn’t that fast.

So he wasn’t surprised at the speed at which Atrum came in at. He had trained his whole life for the fight. It was the one thing he was good at. He might suck at friendship, he might be terrible at conveying feelings. But in a fight he was alone anyway, and it was here he felt most at home.

Grinning widely Raven shifted his stance ever so slightly, letting him pivot just enough to avoid the first jab. When the second one came in he raised his right hand, which was the fist closer to his chest, and pushed Atrum’s wrist up. This shoved the direction of the attack up over Raven’s head. Then, maintaining his grip he pivoted again, driving his other, open hand into Atrums solar plexis. He gave a loud shout as he then proceeded to flip Atrum over onto the ground, using all of the giant’s weight and forward momentum to keep him from countering or getting away from the throw.

“It was the guild’s job to keep the Magic Council in check,” Raven glared down, his eyes glowing enough to be seen through the sunglasses he wore. He took his fighting stance again, knowing Atrum would most likely get back up. “Just as it’s the Magic Council’s job to keep the guilds in check. That balance of power was supposed to keep one or the other from getting so powerful it started oppressing the people. The guilds let the Magic Council get to the point where it split and attacked itself.”

The giant made a grunting noise as he hit the ground and suddenly felt a rush of elation as his adrenaline hit him, he wasn't expecting the rush from this fight but the way his opponent countered him lit his battle lust ablaze The man was talking still and though he had practically jump started the giants battle frenzy but the man had also ticked him off keeping him focused enough to banter back as he fought, but first he had a opponent that needed to get punched. he hadn't retreated from Atrum but had instead gotten into a fighting stance. The giant took the initiative before he could dodge twisting his body suddenly his leg coming around and sweeping Raven off his feet sending him towards the ground allowing the giant to bring the other man down to his level. He kept his momentum going spinning his body some more so he made a full rotation turning his body over as he did so, ending up on his feet. He was so glad that this was happening while he may not be too terribly agile he was certainly practiced and could perform many maneuvers, like charging into a grapple from a kneeling position after a sweep kick recovery. To be honest he didn't get to do this often, so he wasn't sure he could get the timing down to keep the man from countering but hells if he cared he charged anyways. who cares if he hit?

"I have heard similar words from rebels fighters in other lands, those who expect two organizations of great power to check each other for them should expect that one or both will fail that job. Unless the normal citizens are also involved all you get is a game of houses." He retorted obviously having fun, talking as he attacked raven in retribution. To be entirely honest he didn't really understand politics but he had heard enough from other soldiers to get the gist of how things ended up going south. To him this mans check and balance system seemed a rather naive ideal the guilds might be able to keep a check on the council but from what he saw they had no real means to do so they could only throw their weight around within the constraints of the law. "That said, it does sound like a wonderful idea if it did work. It is a shame that one side will inevitably find a way to undermine the other and ruin that balance but if you think there is a way to get the guilds to fix this then I am all ears."

Raven was caught by mild surprise and found himself on his back after Atrum’s maneuver to get up. It was certainly clever, he’d have to be more careful next time. He rolled backwards to get back on his feet. Though when he was able, he used his hands to gain a little more distance so he could get back into his stance. He had expected Atrum to get up, he had also expected something more intelligent than a full on charge. Raven supposed that’s what he got for overestimating the guilds. So he pumped his legs pushing forward too.

But once he was inside Atrum’s arms effective reach, he pivoted to the side. Then he took a shot at Atrum’s now exposed kidney. If it connected, Atrum would be getting a taste of a Dragon Slayers enhanced strength, and would definitely be feeling it for awhile.

“The guilds just sat and turned their eyes from what the Magic Council was doing,” Raven replied in an antagonistic tone. After the punch, he would have darted back a couple seconds and resumed his fighting pose. “My suggestion to make it work? Do your job! If something like the guildless hunt happens, then obviously something is wrong. Instead of asking though, the guilds just sat back and glared, doing nothing to fix the situation.”

(Just as a reminder, I'm fighting based on the images I get in my head while reading these posts. So if I'm off or missed something important, don't be afraid to let me know.)

(What a coincidence because I do the same.  If I feel like something important is missed I'll be sure to inform you before I post.  Still If I pull something you think I shouldn't be able to tell me I tend to go overboard a bit or so I am told.)

Atrum felt the blow coming rather than seeing it, as soon as it touched down he acted counter attacking before Raven could finish his attack cutting off an escape route.  The giant's reaction was instant and brutal spinning on his heel and jamming his elbow into the base of Raven's throat grabbing hold of the fist that slammed into his kidney pulling on it he was too slow to keep the blow from impacting but he sure as hells was going to punish Raven for not dodging in time.  He would admit that blow hurt like hells, however he could ignore pain and it helped that he endured far worse, he could fight through this as well.  It appeared that Raven took advantage of opens then retreated to spot another opening in his opponents defense, the problem this style made is that Atrum refused to allow his targets to retreat since he was already slow enough if he got them in close range he planned to keep them there as long as possible.

He grinned as he lifted Raven's fist over his shoulder and pulled throwing his foot back into raven's stomach lifting him up and throwing raven over his shoulder keeping his grip on him so the toss turned into more of a toss rather than a simple throwing move.  He didn't plan on letting go of Raven for a while.

"The guild's main concern was with keeping innocents out of jail maybe that concern was misplaced and they did not handle the situation perfectly but they did not sit idly by and do nothing as you claim."  The Giant said grinning through a pained expression, he was so tired of hearing this guy talk it sounded like whining to him uninformed whining at that.  The guilds even offered sanctuary to guildless wizards he even broke a young one out of prison they did not do nothing.  "So how about you tell me what is really bothering you?  It can not be that the guilds failed to keep the peace.  Your argument would be more than a simple shouting for the guilds to work harder if that was the case."  He panted out damn this guy's punch hurt, about as much as Kotone's it wouldn't have bothered him as much if it wasn't a weak spot that he had targeted.  Hells that hurt.

Raven’s eyes widened slightly as the man seemed to channel the energy of his punch into a counter attack. The upside was that his mixed style allowed him to block the elbow. It would certainly have crushed his windpipe if he hadn’t. However, with his arm grabbed, and his other blocking an attack he had no way to counter. He also knew he was open, and had planted his weight, hoping to force Atrum to use more strength to move him.

That backfired as Atrum used his leg to help left Raven off the ground. Thanks to trying to plant his weight, his stomach muscles had been tight, preventing the blow from winding Raven. It was still enough to lift him off the ground, and seeing how he wasn’t small and light… there was still a lot of force to contend with. He was definitely going to be sporting a bruise there later.

When he was tossed, he managed to twist and use Atrum’s grip to his advantage. He landed using his legs as a brace. Since Atrum was holding him, he didn’t have to worry about balance. It would be right around then that Atrum would be most likely to notice that Raven was rather warm to the touch, almost outright hot.

“Keeping the guildless out of prison was only a bandage for a much deeper problem!” Raven snapped as he drove his free fist up towards Atrum’s elbow. He wasn’t against permanently disabling someone for life in a fight. And this punch would do serious damage to Atrum’s elbow. “It’s akin to treating a runny nose and not doing anything for the cold causing it!”

"Runny noses happen all the time regardless of whether or not one has a cold, that does not mean you are wrong after all you are correct the guilds in generally see the rebellion coming but I do not believe that you did either. The guilds are a collective of people with their own faults, they are not infallible, if you noticed a problem that they have failed to is it not in your best interest to get them in gear?" Atrum said jerking on Raven's arm while he tried to punch his elbow throwing the fist off course so instead it passed harmlessly past it's intended target.

The Giant grinned as he realized that Raven had basically intended to permanently damage him for life with that blow, what kind of person would he be if he didn't respond in kind to his challenge? The Giant raised his knee towards Ravens head intending to rattle his brain about in his skull the blow while not powerful didn't need to be the brain was a weak spot in the body one could shake about in the skull with a small bounce it didn't even need to cause damage to render one unable to move properly. Hells even if Raven dodged it at least gave him worse footing for Atrum to continue to exploit.

"More personally, if you really want to kick this up a notch, then I am more than happy to oblige you my friend." He said as flames flickered to life on his free hand the sound of crackling, humming, and static giving the impression that he was using a lighting spell rather than a fire spell. The giant was more than willing to sling spells if this man wanted to go at it for real. He could feel the heat coming from his opponent and made a logical jump to him being a wizard, if he was right a fire mage of some kind.

"That little outburst of yours actually put me in a good mood, you happen to be pretty strong at the very least I can have an interesting fight and today might not be wasted." He said twisted his nexck eliciting a loud pop from it as he did so, this was going to be fun, he was going to take this man for a ride. He tighten his grip on him and chuckled. "So how about it? Political views aside, why do we not enjoy ourselves friend?"