ORIGIN

"Oh, that makes sense," Eythan genuinely chuckled, beak click-clack!ing as he did so. He'd file that hunting tactic for later, perhaps for when his — it felt strange to even think of it — brother came along.

He halted in his steps at Giggle's stare. Somehow managing to take it as a stay here, the griffin silently clambered up a miscellaneous rock. Eythan trusted the hyena's keen sense of smell far more than his own. Every bit of him was perched atop the rock, tail held above his own back, staying out of the eyeline of the (hopefully) coming cave rats. His wings were relaxed yet tense, ready to beat at a moment's notice and give him enough lift to deliver a quick, killing blow with. He hunched over in preparation as the snapping of teeth and cackles resounded through the cave.

But, there was nothing. Eythan nearly tumbled off of his chosen ambush spot, plodding over to the hyena and fully tempted to give her a pat on the back. Thinking better, he simply nodded. "Greedy fucks must've eaten through all of their bones and moved on. Dumb fucking bastards." His wings furled awkwardly against himself. He sniffed the air, dropping into his own sort of hunting crouch. The distinct small of rat piss and shit was most certainly strong right here. He clambered onto some other boulders, careful with every motion as he flicked his ears forth, waiting for some minute scuffling noise to set him into action.

There.

Suddenly, Eythan jabbed a clawed foot into the boulders and pulled up with all of the force in his body. With his talons came a writhing mass, nipping at his toes as it careened through the air in his grip. "Ah, fuck!" The griffin half-dropped half-threw it as hard as he could and the squealing bastard landed somewhat near Giggle.

Eythan watched as the rat sailed through the air, flailing and squeaking rather frightfully, tracing its imagined descent toward the hyena --- who was, by the way, staring directly at him. She looked lost and the griffin already began to trot her way as the rat simmered away. But with the shake of her head, she was back. He wouldn't mention it as he stole up to Giggle's side. "That's fine. I forgot rats had fuckin' teeth," he admitted with the quirk of a brow. Time to take up the title of local dumbass.

Not that of a local magic professional, though. Eythan frowned and shook his head. "What you saw in the, uh --- Core was it. A little shitty breeze and some weird magic I didn't know I had." It was an honest response. He hadn't been able to even get a sputter of it since the whole thing happened. "I'm way better with physical things. Like ---," the griffin paused, ambling toward the boulder, "what if made a really loud noise, somehow, like dropping a fuckin' ton of bones. Wouldn't that scare the shit out of them?"

"I guess." He sighed noncommittally, "I wish I could've picked up his skill with it." Eythan couldn't help but just shrug at the notion of him mastering that magic. He was a fan of the physical --- magic had a tendency to abandon you at your greatest need. But one's natural talons and teeth always remained. "Perhaps," he parroted back at the hyena, laughing softly. "Just like everything else, I'll think about it. Bones are easier."

Just as Giggle was, the griffin began to scuffle about, gathering bones in his beak and occasionally spilling them as he got greedy. As it turns out, they weren't great for properly holding the damn things, even with the teeth hidden in the back of them. If he even bit just a little too hard, they just disintegrated into a mess of splinters in his mouth. Which would promptly be sputtered out. Perhaps just like the Bonecaster was, dropping them with a cacophonous rattle. Eythan dropped his own collection, eagerly tensing himself up to catch that mangy rat.

But, nothing came.

Groaning in frustration, Eythan plopped down onto his haunches. "Fuckin' dumbass rat. This'll scare it for sure---" He drew a sturdy bone close to his chest, clutching it tightly in his claws. Rising up onto his hind legs, he absolutely whipped the bone as hard as he possibly could at the rock. It slammed rather eagerly into the rock, giving off a sickening crack as it clattered against stone. With a frantic, shrill squeak, the fat rat squished out of its hiding spot and off it ran. "Fuck yeah, thank you, bone!" Eythan crowed, already giving chase.

The rat was killed swiftly, mercilessly. Eythan looked off into the distance at the shaking motion, his own fresh wounds pulsing with phantom aches. There was a thump! and he looked down to find the rat plopped down at his feet. The hybrid shook his head, taking the rodent into his beak and trotting after Giggle. "You have it. You're the one who caught it," he offered, dropping it in front of her and turning it over with a claw, "I'll get one for myself."

The hybrid laughed a little at the mention of his plans for the future in the Core, shrugging. "I never really had a plan — other than to just hide and wait, I guess." There was no point in trying to make himself out to be this grand, conniving Gembound with a plan for everything. No, he was far from that. "I want to learn how to fight better. Every single time, I've been injured in some way—" he cut himself off, hestitating a little, "my brother and I got in a fight one time and I basically shattered my pelvis because I was too stubborn to let him go." It was one decision out of many possible ones. But that was enough for him. It was good enough.

"I can't do that if I'm going to be protecting a new King."

Eythan was satisfied when the hyena crunched through the rat, continuing to speak with a companionable air. He was all too content to just distract himself from everything --- wait. At the slip of tongue, something cold and heavy gripped him and he suddenly couldn't breathe. Ears flickering back, he jumped to his feet (when had he sat down?) and backed away. "N-no," he croaked, head dipping low as he averted his gaze. "I---" the hybrid stumbled a little with a quiet oogh! and just barely continued, "I tried to. I r-really honestly fucking tried to." His voice died, weakening in his throat. His claws clicked impossibly loud on the stone as he continued to back away, not heeding Giggle's apology.

"I-If I'd been better at fighting I wouldn't have fuckin' immediately gone for the throat like I do every single damn time." Eythan felt his wings unfurl of their own volition and he stumbled again. He couldn't trust his own limbs. "I--I need to g-go." He wasn't sure where to, but he needed to go somewhere and run and hide like the fucking coward he was. Anywhere but here. Swiftly spinning on the spot, he took a running start toward the Chambers, wings flapping eagerly to get him in the air.