ORIGIN

Azrael had been stalking the beast since he'd spotted him walk into Pegasus. He'd intended on minding his own business for the day, gorging on his hunts and resting on the cliffs, but as soon as he'd seen that coat of purple fur and the flash of acidic green, the hunt had begun. It had been a long time since they'd met, since it had bested him in a contest of hunting, but Azrael never forgot. And he was going to win this time.

He slowly made his way down the walls and crouched low to the ground, almost crawling across the meadow on his lower set of arms, using the shadows of the ferns and grasses to wreath him in darkness. If Beta looked back, all it would see was a shadowy patch in the grass. He followed it carefully, making as little noise as possible and watched as it worked at the riverside.

Azrael almost laughed at what he saw. This hunter, who had best him - him! Azrael! - had taken to mixing sand and dirt and grass at the edge of a river. For what purpose, he had no idea, but so intent on its work and mixing random things together, it didn't see him crouching not far away in the shade of the long grass. Perhaps it had never been as important as Azrael thought. He'd seen others of its kind around the caves, with the strange triangular face and similar purple or green colors. A whole family of them, perhaps. All fearsome hunters, maybe? Perhaps some warriors and spellcaster as well. But this one...it seemed like it was only a grunt doing hard labor instead of the important work Azrael had imagined it would be doing.

He watched for a while, smirking to himself. This would be fun.

Azrael froze when Beta began looking around. He hadn't bothered to put reflection on his fur, so if it looked too hard, it would find him and the hunt would be up. But then it started whipping around, as if it were trying to catch a fly and he watched with amusement and confusion as it went on for a few moments before it stopped. He had no idea what had just happened, but all that mattered is it had gone back to work, back to Azrael.

Perfect. He carefully stalked closer until he was a proper distance away and then dug his hind legs into the soft earth, lunging out of the shadows with a roar, reaching with his top arms to grab the creature and hold it down. The push off was slippery, however, as he didn't realize how wet and muddy the ground was around this area and he scrabble to grab a hold of the purple fur before it slipped away.

For a moment he thought he had it, claws digging into fur and skin, and he gave a triumphant growl, but then the slippery little shit wiggled out of his grip and went stumbling forward through the thick mud and sand it had been working on before he'd grabbed it. He lunged after it, trying to get a grip on it again, but he slipped and went falling as well into the mud, the thick mixture splashing across his front. He snarled as the unpleasant, chilling sensation of the mud plastered to his short fur. He climbed back to his feet, swiping off big globs of mud, sand, and grass from his body. What the hell was this stuff even for?

He glared at the creature, standing up taller and opening his wings a bit to look more intimidating. "You as are slippery as last we met, beast." The question had him smirking again, letting out a single gruff huff of laughter. The hunt had...well, it hadn't been a success, but neither a failure either. But there were other ways to prove his strength to himself and to this creature. Last time it had made its own rules, but this time they would play by his. "You bested me last time, but I will beat you now. I am STRONG. Get ready, beast, we are going to FIGHT." He felt his blood growing hot at the potential for a good fight with a worthy opponent. Yes, this is what he had been craving for cycles. This is what he needed. He didn't care if it wanted to fight or not - he would have this battle. He gave it a moment to prepare - common courtesy and all of that, he had no intention of making this an unfair fight - before he lunged forward, immediately falling flat into the mud as it grabbed at his legs.

Shame pounded at his head and embarrassment only fueled the flame in his veins. He looked up, pulling himself to his feet, growling louder then before at his wounded pride. "We are fighting OUT of this accursed mud."

Azrael frowned at the beast's complaining, a threatening growl slipping past his lips. It better not try to run - he intended on fighting this battle one way or another and if Beta ran, Azrael would follow and beat it into the ground. He followed it out of the mud pit, glad to have solid ground beneath his feet, and turning to face it once they reached the spot where it intended to fight. It flexed its claws, giving it the first shot, as he had failed his first before. Despite all of Azrael's shortcomings, he had a sense of pride and honor.

But Beta then proved to him that it, in contrast, had none. A cheap trick, an attempt to subvert the rules of fair fight. He saw it coming and ducked, letting the dirt fly over his head before embers leaped to his eyes, the glow in his chest intensifying as anger coursed through his veins. "A TRICK. A CHEAP, COWARDLY TRICK!" He threw himself forward then, smoke rising from the hand he threw forward, making to grab Ruby-Beta by the throat with a hand smoking hot and burning. Any chains he was intending to put on this fight were broken now - he gave in to the beast begging to escape and let out a roar as he let go to brutal anger.

Beta's weak scrabbling had Azrael pausing for a second - not out of any compassion or guilt at hurting it, but out of disappointment. It had always thought of this creature as strong and a good hunter, having managed to best him before, but now it was crying for mercy, trying to call off the fight. NO! He had gone far too long without a good fight! But this...this was PATHETIC.

The anger in him had his magic coursing too hot, to fast, and it ended up singing his hand as well as Beta's neck. With a grunt of pain, he released the beast, pulling his arm back with a low snarl. He stepped back, spirits and beastly anger dampened by Beta's cowardice, but anger still boiling over. "This is STUPID. You are WEAK and COWARDLY. If you do not want to FIGHT then you CONCEDE TO ME." He crouched down, moving his face so that he stared directly into the many eyes of his adversary. "TELL ME. Before, you were training. WHY? There are others like you. WHO ARE YOU? WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE? If you will not fight me, then take me to someone who WILL."