pirateangelbaby | [IC, open to all] Thor Fight Club

It's a beautiful spring day in the Nexus, rolling green hills boasting bright splashes of color where flowers have blossomed in all their glory, birds singing in trees sheltered with new green growth, and the sun is shining merrily through puffy white clouds, the breeze only a little on the cool side.

In one of the flatter fields out towards the Wilds, however, things are not quite so peaceful at the moment.

There's an enormous rough ring marked out with scorch marks in the grass, large enough to rival the gladiator arena on Sakaar, and on the edge of the ring there's a cloth laid out with a small variety of weapons that look... well, very second-hand, to put it mildly. But enough to give a good selection of swords or axes or hammers, with a shield or two for protective options.

Thor stands to one side, checking his armor to make sure it's securely fitted before battle, training session or not, and can't quite chase away the grin on his face in favor of a more serious, kingly expression that he probably should be wearing. Learning to compensate for his missing eye is a matter of life and death, probably, whether his or someone else's, but he can't help but feel excited to face something other than a half-assed training dummy shoved into the corner of the cargo hold.

Right, then, who's up for a little sparring with the god of thunder?

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Aslan rolls to the side, as Thor attempts to force his head down. So Thor's knee scraps against his jawline. The mighty Lion rolls, and uses his powerful legs to throw the man off him before he is caught in another hold.

When both are freed of each other, Aslan springs to the other side of the ring, and starts circling Thor again.

Thor goes tumbling much as he'd done to Aslan, though he lacks the catlike grace to land on his feet. Instead he leans into the fall, tucking into a roll that pops him back up on his feet and ready to fight, fists raised defensively in case the Lion is pressing his advantage.

He's not, but Thor keeps his hands up anyway as he watches Aslan ponder his next move, doing much the same himself.

The ideal thing would be to knock him off his feet somehow, but it's much harder when your foe walks on four instead of two, and now Thor's had a taste of just how strong those powerful forelimbs are. Perhaps a strike to the hips or side, higher up, although that would require outmaneuvering his more agile opponent.

"You're not tiring yet, are you?" he calls, a friendly taunt across the field, much as he's often traded with Captain America.

"I am not that Old yet." Aslan chuckles. He sprints forward, faking an attack at Thor's left side, and then dodging quickly to the right side to aim a furry cuff of his paw to the other man's jawline.

Thor's watching for signs of a feint, the obvious weakness of his blind side too strong for a determined foe to ignore - it's something he would take advantage of, were he in the Lion's shoes. Er, so to speak.

So when Aslan's trajectory suddenly changes, Thor sidesteps, just enough that the giant paw catches him on the shoulder instead, shoving him further into a half-turn. As he does, Thor clenches a fist and whips it sideways at where he last remembers seeing the Lion's nose, now fully out of his field of view.

Aslan takes advantage of the fist passing over his nose, and lifts up to his hind legs and tackles Thor from right under his raised arm. Yes, this Lion does know how to stand on Two Feet. When necessary.

It's a cheap, dirty trick, but then there are no rules in real combat and Thor would be hobbling himself if he trained otherwise. He goes down hard, unable to repeat the same trick to flip Aslan as he did at the first of the fight, ending up tackled onto his side and pinned down by several hundred pounds of divine Lion.

Thor manages to get an arm up to guard his throat, and throws a pointed strike at the soft spot of Aslan's chin, unprotected by his mane. If he's going to be up close and personal, that just means the Lion's vital spots are in better reach, or so he hopes.

The strike hits the mark, and Aslan shakes his head, struggling to catch his breath for a moment. He moves back, giving Thor space to get up.

Getting up is not in Thor's plan. At least, not in the way Aslan likely expects. He rolls swiftly to the side, enough to get his hands and legs under him before he lunges at the Lion's shoulder, aiming high enough to hopefully use Aslan's center of gravity against him and tackle him to the ground. If it works, it'll put him in prime position to be clawed at with all four paws, unless he can wrangle the Lion's legs into a secure hold before he can recover.

Lion stays on his hide feet -- standing. So his center of gravity is now closer to his waistline, like most humans. He wraps his mighty paws around Thor, when the other man lunges at him -- and attempts his own flip of the other man.

Thor threw his full weight into the strike, so when Aslan resists and pushes back, it's not quite enough to bowl him over. He plants his feet firmly against the ground, sinking his grasp deep into the Lion's mane as they grapple with each other, almost like the gods' equivalent to arm wrestling.

He bares his own teeth in a strained grin, pitting his strength directly against Aslan's. "Not getting tired yet, are you?"

"No. I do not tire easily. This has been quite an even match, my friend." Aslan grins, with big fangs.

Thor chuckles, smiling back just as broadly, a friendly snarl of his own. "Good thing we're only sparring." There's no telling how rowdy this fight would get if they weren't both holding back.

Face to face, strength against strength, whoever relents first is going to lose ground. But something has to give, and Thor is a risk-taker. While Aslan is hopefully distracted by the trash-talk, Thor abruptly pivots to the side in an attempt to wrench the Lion around, off-balance, and legsweep a hind leg out from under him.

"Indeed." Aslan wonders how this battle would be different if they were allowed their powers. It would be a lot more spectacular.

Aslan is not willing to relent first right now. He is taken by surprise by the pivot to the side, and down he goes. But luckily a cat always lands on his feet... and he is still a Mighty Cat. And down to all fours he goes. He headbutts Thor in the place where the Sun Doesn't Shine. The place that most human males are most sensitive.

Of all the things Thor was expecting to happen in this fight, that was not even on his list.

His armor is well-designed, and takes the brunt of the impact, but Aslan is a big cat and he strikes hard enough that Thor definitely feels it far more than he wants to, and he stumbles back and drops to his knees. "Cheap shot!" he groans.

"I don't know about your enemies..." He takes the opportunity to tackle Thor down to the ground. "But many of mine do not hesitate to take cheap shots."

Even after he's slammed onto his back, those massive paws pinning him down in the grass, Thor manages a laugh. "Some of my allies do the same."

They could probably wrestle like this all day, equally matched, and never have one of them come out on top. But Aslan has fought well, and there's no dishonor in conceding the fight in his favor. "I yield, my friend," he says, patting one of those big paws fondly.

Aslan moves off Thor when he yields. It was a good battle. And he learned a lot.

"I hope that helped you in your quest to train."

Thor gets to his feet and dusts himself off, running a hand through his hair to get it back in some semblance of order, before offering a slight bow to his opponent. "Oh, absolutely. The exercise alone was worth it."

"Perhaps sometime when we have less bystanders, we should have a rematch at our full strengths."

"Yes. I would be willing for such a rematch." Aslan too wishes to ensure he is battle ready. Never know what the future will bring.

"And please... if any of your people wish to test their strength, let them know I welcome them."

[IC, open to all] Thor Fight Club

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