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Feirce roars filled the air as cougars gathered in the fading light. It was nearing dusk, the time when the sky turned red as blood, the time of the warrioress. The cougars who congregated here, were not just any. They were harsh, proud, mountain cougars; they were Quicktalons, here to celebrate their strength and ruggedness.

Among them was a grey-blue teen, with eyes the flashed gold in the firelight and steely silver hair that shone like a fine blade. Her body was covered in newly healed wounds and long jagged scars. Though with time, her fur would grow over and cover the scars, the pelt and bone remenants of an enormous bear that she carried upon returning from her recent excursion into the mountains more than proved her battleworthy.

Tavi, a dark striped huntress, eyed her daughter approvingly. For herself, she had a wolf's pelt draped over her shoulders, the fangs dangling from a strip of rawhide tied around her tail. She had participated in many Warfare Festivals, but it was to be Lyka's first. One of her final duties as a mother would be to guide her through this Festival.

In response, the Quicktalons roared again in unison, many of them shedding their decrative furs, which would hinder them in such a task.The huntress shot her daughter a meaningful glare, and started off without waiting for a go-signal. Acomplish the task as soon as it is given. That was the way in warfare, that was the way of Quicktalon. Ahead of her, a fight had already broken out. That was another thing that Lyka would not be expecting

((I'm going to have Lyka fight some random NOC's, if that's okke.))

Lyka caught her mother's eye and nodded. She turned to face the cliffs, their imposing faces more familiar to her than ever. The mountain lands of Quicktalon were her totem, her guiding spirit, there was no way she could lose this challenge. Breifly, she thought of Blue Moon, to her, the highest and most challenging pinnacle of all, but no. Blue Moon was her personal war. The ring would not be hidden there. She ran west, in the same direction as the center of the mountain range, where the highest mountains would be.

Not bothering to check if the huntress had fallen, Lyka hurled her body forwards and kept running. She was almost to the start of the nearly vertical climb. Strange, it seemed that there were very few cougars around her, and most of them were panicky teens such as herself, searching for a route upwards. To her right, she could hear a chorus of grunts and snarls, the sound of fighting Quicktalons. Every once and a while, there was a short cry and a loud thud, the sound of falling. Quicktalons screams were for intimidation only.

For Lyka, it was not difficult to find holds in the climbing surface, as she darted about, it seemed as if she were alone on the mountain, if it weren't for the roars and growls of cougars she could not see. Why were they still fighting? Why were they all jammed into one route? The mountain couldn't possibly be that difficult of a climb! Or could it be that she was so much better than them that they could not see the route that she took? Lyka grinned to herself. Yes, that had to be it. They were all gathered around the easiest route up, while she climbed above them all. She would be the first to reach the top of the mountain and bring back the ring. After all, she was a daughter of the cliffs. She was not limited to their carved holds.

As Lyka reached the overhang, her confidence waned and the fighting to her right grew even louder. There was no way she could pass the barrier! She would have to climb upside down! No cougar could do that! She peeked around a boulder and she could see that the cougars were gathered to fight over the small opening that would allow them through the overhang. Now she understood, but how could she get through? The other cougars were all older and stronger than she, there was no way she could fight them off. She spidered away and began to search at the base of the overhang, but at every opening she found, there were already cougars gathered and fighting.

Lyka snarled in frustration and thrust her fist against the rock angrily, shaking loose a small stone from somewhere, which hit her tail and caused her to become even more wrathful. But wait, from the place the stone had fallen from, there was a root protruding down out of the overhang, and from there she could see a shaft of light. There was a way up! It was several feet out from the surface she was on, and a fall from this height meant serious injury, death if she fell on the wrong thing, but the root formed a loop and it looked strong enough to hold her, and the opening was large enough to fit her body, if not much larger. She knew it was risky, but she had to try.

Bodly, she pushed herself away from the mountainside, just barely managing to grasp the root with a claw. She could feel it loosening, but she kept her hold and swiftly swung her body upwards. Like an acrobat, she held on to the root with her arms, while digging into the opening with the claws on her feet, slowly climbing her way up backwards. She was straining her abdominal muscles to force herself into such a position, but it was worth it when she managed to get enough of her body through to twist around and brace herself with her knees.

"Well well, first one back with the ring. You all fought well but each of you could have gotten the favor if you had worked together. If we fight seperately we will LOSE seperately. We must stand together as a tribe!! Remember that! Now those of you who are injured come to me, the rest of you get ready. The battle portion of the contest will begin shortl."

With that the healer went about her work.

The rusty warrioress spied the totem on Lyka's armband and smirked arrogantly. The teen was stretching on top of a large rock and flexing her jointed shoulder, making sure she hadn't injured anything in the climb. It irked her thouroughly that although she had won she hadn't won, and she glared right back, showing her teeth in annoyance. In response, the older cougar snarled at her, and several other adults fixed her with harsh rebuking stares.

Normally, Lyka would have wilted and gone back to whatever she was doing. Older Quicktalons were not above delivering a hard cuff to unruly youngsters, no matter whose or how old they really were. But Lyka felt that this time her anger was justified. As a daughter of the cliffs, she had won, and she needn't be scorned to walk among them.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the grey cougar that had taken the ring from her shaking her head, but Lyka put the thought aside. She kept her gaze firm into the eyes of the rusty warrioress, slowly, lifted her hand into the air, and slammed it down onto the rock she was sitting on with as much force as she could muster, startling everyone with a loud snap as the rock cracked under her talons.

Lyka quickly covered her teeth, and she kept her ears laid flat against her skull, thouroughly humiliated. She slunk down from her place on top of the rock, to sit beside it, attempting to make herself less conspicious.

The adults lined up in pairs, each cougaress bristling and (some literally) armed to the teeth. Quicktalons had an amazing range of armor and weapons, most of them custom made to fit the fighting style of the specific warrioress who wore them. Unlike Dewclaw weapons, which had to be learned and mastered, Quicktalon weaponry was incorporated into the cougar's natural body movements. For example, a huntress that favored a hook kick had sharp spikes attached to her heels, and a cougar that favored the shoulder strike would have a padded metal plate covering half her back and possibly part of her chest and arm.

The advantages to this were that no special training was required and it left the weilders free to use all their limbs for movement the same way they normally would, in case they were needed for scouting or something else.

Of course, there were the exceptions, like the burly grey huntress with a heavy blade slung over her shoulder, and the black and white cougar with a curved staff. (She was probably an archer, and also used the bow for close range combat.) Most, however, resemboled the stocky fawn huntress. She had steel plates over her shins and forarms, spiked bands on her hands and feet, spiked shoulder-guards, and a metal piece that covered her forehead and the sides of her jaws, ending in blades that both protected her neck and could be used for stabbing, if she struck with her head.

Entering the ring, Theta, the leader of Quicktalon and their most fierce warrior, slammed her staff down into ground. It sounded like a clap of thunder directly over head. She glared around at all the ready fighters, sizing them up in her own eyes.

"We here, we that fight, we that survive, are the ones that will take back what is rightfully ours. We will force all others to acknowledge our might and power. But before we can take our glorious place, we must be prepared in all ways. This fesitval, shows our best warriors, weeds out the week among us, and gives the winners the pride they will need rule over the others. We begin with the adults. Teens and kittens, watch these skilled warriors carefully. One day you will need to be as strong and wilfull as they are."

She went up to sit in a large natual stone throne, decorated with skins, claws, and teeth of those that had fallen to her might.

"Let the first fighters enter the ring."