Hard Headed
#8 of Writing Prompt
Another of my writing group's weekly prompts. This week's prompt was was "Write a detailed action scene with at least two characters, starting the action near the beginning, and finishing towards the end." I bitched about this one constantly as I wrote. It's not something I'm good at, and I definitely need practice with something like this.
If you're interested to join our Writing Group, join us at: https://t.me/joinchat/CPoeZhclggenrOEh0yYwvg Come by to brainstorm ideas, ask for tips on writing or critique, or just hang out and talk!
We try to do weekly prompts as well, just to keep ourselves writing, and stay sharp.
As always, please tell me what you think below! It makes my day to hear from any of you.
And if you love my work a lot, feel free to buy me a snack! https://ko-fi.com/tayubw
Please go check out my gallery for full-length stories! I am certain you can find something to enjoy.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kessan spun his wooden practice staff around in hands, eying the fox across from him. "Hope you've gotten better, because I remember whooping you every time we sparred," the caribou said, grinning in good natured fun.
Louvel, the white fox, stood with a relaxed stance and a wooden practice sword in each hand. He spun each in turn and lifted his chin haughtily. "Oh, don't you worry about me. Just no cheating."
The shirtless caribou laughed, holding a hand to his chest in faked indignance. "Who, me? I would never," he said, and as he spoke the surface of his hand and arm shifted from the soft, chestnut brown to a scintillating, white diamond material.
The fox rolled his eyes and smirked. "Show off. Come on, fight me already."
Kessan's skin reverted to flesh and he winked at his old partner. "You asked for it."
The large caribou had several inches on the fox even before his antlers, and a hundred extra pounds of mostly muscle. He was quick, though, and darted forward with his staff held straight out behind him.
Louvel relaxed his grip on the wooden scimitars, muscles releasing their tension as the younger, but larger male charged forward. It had been years since they last sparred, but the fox remembered this opening tactic and was ready.
Kessan swung his staff around with lightning speed, turning his body on one foot to swing his other leg down low, aiming for Louvel's knees. Distract with one move, and strike with the other.
The fox brought one scimitar up in a parry against the staff, the second swinging down towards Kessan's swinging leg. The first blow was deflected relatively easy, but the caribou's roundhouse kick turned into a feint that pulled his leg in close as he pirouetted in place.
Louvel's gasped as his left sword hit air, and didn't have time to dodge as Kessan completed his spin and brought the staff full-circle once more to connect with his legs. The fox grunted as his legs were swept out from under him and he landed on his back and had just enough time to roll to one side as the caribou's heavy pole hit right where his head would have been.
Kessan jabbed the end of the staff into the dirt as Louvel rolled away once more, then aimed a kick at the fox's side, hoping to keep him on the ground. The fox dropped his swords and grabbed the caribou's foot, twisting hard with a pull. Kessan gasped and had to roll his body to avoid twisting his ankle, and fell to the ground to roll a few feet away. Given a moment to recover, Louvel grabbed both scimitars and rolled backwards, away from the caribou as he, too, got back up.
Louvel took the offensive now, rotating his body with both wooden blades coming overhead towards the caribou's head. Kessan blocked the first with his staff held horizontally above his head in both paws, but the second right after made a loud cracking noise where it hit.
Kessan staggered backwards, nostrils flaring from the heat of battle. He dodged a couple quick slashes, then used his staff to block another hard swing. He caught it on the weakened section of wood and the staff broke in his hands. The caribou had anticipated this, and stepped into the attack, using both ends of the staff like wooden batons.
Slash. Parry. Thrust. Parry. Counter.
The fox and reindeer had done this dance several times before, thought he fox had gotten much better since last time. Kessan still had him in strength and expertise, and it was only his speed that kept him in the fight. Something trickled down into his left eye and he wiped it away, seeing blood on his fingers. One of those blows had glanced off his temple and he hadn't realized it broke the skin.
A grin spread over the caribou's face and he took a couple steps to one side before charging in again, baton's striking out in quick succession. He rotated to the fox's left, eyes taking in the blood on the fox's forehead as much as his paws.
Louvel was breathing hard, fighting a losing battle against a stronger opponent. He'd only gotten a couple hits in against the younger cervine and they'd been fairly inconsequential. He knew what the caribou was waiting for, too. He could feel the blood trickling down towards his eye, and any second he'd have to blink it away, closing his eyes and giving Kessan a moment to strike towards his blind side. That would have to be his chance as well.
The blood ran down into Louvel's eye and he squeezed that one shut, blocking part of his on Kessan's right side. His mind weighed the options of where the reindeer would attack and in a split second he guessed correctly. Louvel turned to his blind side, narrowly missing the upward swing of Kessan's left baton. He steeled resolve and shoved his head forward, stepping into the caribou's space and connecting his forehead on the end of Kessan's snout.
Kessan's head reeled back from the impact, vision going black for a moment. His left baton came up to block one of the fox's swings, but the hit to his muzzle left him too disoriented as the second heavy, wooden blade came down across the top of his head, between both ears.
There was a loud crack of impact and a fissure ran through the width of the blade, bone fracturing beneath. Kessan weakly thrust one of the baton's at Louvel's torso, but Kessan stepped to the side and kicked him hard in the stomach, sending him sprawling on the ground.
"I give!" he called out hoarsely, bringing a hand up to his head and feeling the blood welling up beneath his short crop of hair.
It took Louvel a moment to realize he'd just won and he blinked a few times, wiping blood on the back of his arm once more. "Oh. Oh! Shit, I'm so sorry." The fox dropped the practice weapons and ran forward, straddling the caribou's chest and pulling his head up with one paw.
Kessan laughed quietly, peering up at him through one eye, the other wet with blood. "Well, damn... I thought I had you."'
Energy drained from the fox as he pressed one paw to the nasty wound on Kessan's head. "Me too. I got lucky with that hit." He knitted the bone back together, then the flesh, and then took care of any damage beneath his paw before pulling away.
"Better lucky than good," Kessan said, sitting up and forcing Louvel to scoot back off his body. "Forgot how nice it was to have a healer around."
"I try to forget how many times I had to take care of one of your injuries," the fox said, chuckling as he mended the wound on his own forehead and a fractured rib, he didn't know he acquired. "Now, I'm tired and sweaty and hungry. Take me somewhere for food."