Iktomi vs Toraki - forest battle

Best of 3 falls
Victory by submission or knockout

Deep within the woodlands, a girl walked through the forest. Her slender body, covered with painted markings and a loincloth, was used to moving in the woods, and she advanced quickly, but still she couldn't find what she was looking for. Brought there by a strange gate, Iktomi had come for her first fight, yet she hadn't found any sentient being yet. She went deeper and deeper into the forest, thinking that she might find her opponent there.

She finally arrived at an area with sparser vegetation, and decided to stop. She didn't want to tire herself right before the fight; plus, she had seen many unknown plants in her path, so there might be unknown beasts roaming around as well. She sat on a nearby fallen log for a quick rest. However, as she rested and the wind blew, drowsiness came, and so she fell asleep, with her side laying on the log.

It was late afternoon and Toraki had decided to get on his way back home, after a nice day of fighting workouts in the depths of the woodlands.

He suddenly noticed a girl with strange colors painted on er skin, curled and asleep into the grass. The forest was not the safest place to take a nap, especially when the sun was going down, so he decided to walk closer and crouch by the girl, poking her gently with a furry finger.

Toraki was still not fully used to the first impression his tiger-shaped looks often gave to people. "NHRRHHH... Hello there...?", he said with a soft snarl, trying to be helpful and willing to greet the awakening girl with a reassuring smile.... which would actually bare his tiger-like fangs.

Because she had just fallen asleep, Iktomiâ€s slumber was light. After some two or three pokes from Toraki, she regained her senses and slowly opened her eyes… and saw right in front of her a furry beast giving her what looked like a threatening feral grin. Her eyes widened. “AAAHH!” Out of pure reflex, she punched the boyâ€s face with surprising strength. In a normal situation, sheâ€d know better than to attack a potentially dangerous animal, but being greeted by his fangs had scared her out of her sleepiness.

Toraki was almost tossed backwards by such a hard and surprising strike. "RAWRR.... hey that was not very nice!!", He groaned, somehow keeping his balance as he rubbed his sore feline-like nose.

Still alarmed, Iktomi got to her feet quickly, and was trying to choose between fight and flight when she heard Toraki groaning. "You can speak?" She then noticed that he was standing on just two feet, just like her, and had a build similar to a human. Although she was still pumped with adreline from the fright, she tried to calm herself a bit. "Sorry! Um... it wasn't on purpose, I swear!" She kept watching him, cautiously.

"Why of course i can speak... i am not a beast, i'm a half-tiger!", he said, pointing to himself.
"My name is Toraki, and i'm a fighter. I often come here in the forest for my wrestling trainings, trying to improve my concentration to get better with..... *blushes* well... with a weak point i have, but that's not important".
As he said that, she could probably notice the funny detail that he was blushing, under his siberian tiger fur.

"Half... tiger?" Her nervousness gave way to curiousity. She had never seen a tiger before, let alone a half-tiger. As he spoke more, she calmed down; blushing like that, Toraki was far less scary. She even got to smile a bit about it, though she tried to be discreet. After all, she had already punched him, and didn't want to offend him further.

Then she realized. "Wrestling, you said?" She now stood up properly in front of him, with her hands behind her back. "My name's Iktomi, and I fight too. A gate brought me here for a battle, but I couldn't find anyone around." She stepped closer to him, looking at his furry face. "Maybe I'm meant to fight against you?"

Still rubbing his sore nose, Toraki would show some fangs as he grinned widely.
"Oh... meant to fight me huh..? And here i was thinking that this would be a boring day. Ok Iktomi, you're on. I'd say we go for a multiple falls match, best of 3 more exactely. Winner has to KO or submit their opponent to gain a point. Oh and.. according to the kind of matches in use in these lands... no holds barred: that would mean... sensuous wrestling moves allowed! Do you feel like fighting yet?", he would smirk.

Iktomi listened while Toraki explained the rules. She didn't really grasp the meaning of 'sensuous moves', but she figured that it shouldn't be a big deal if Toraki spoke about it so normally. Besides, she understood 'no holds barred' very well. "Of course I am! After all that searching around, I can't wait to start!" She said confidently. "So... can we start? If I have to knock you out twice," she said, "it would be better to get on with it before it gets too dark."

"Hehe... sure, i would not be prudent of such a cute girl to walk in the forest at late night.." .
Toraki grinned and gestured her to come in, a soft, snarling-like chuckle coming out of his throat.