ORIGIN - AWAKEN STARVATION FEAST

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Tunnel K was not always quiet, but nothing had disturbed the seemingly endless slumber of what was once Bonebound's greatest guard hound. Near the entrance to Orion, slumped off to the side, lay the shell of a massive jasper stone. Then, one day it cracked, and out rolled a great white, furry boulder of a creature, the slow rumbling of breath coming in and out in a rhythm that was so steady, it was almost apart of the caves themselves. Though he had reemerged, the hell hound still slept soundly.

However, the hibernation could not last indefinitely. After many, many long cycles, eventually there was a great, gnawing hunger that took hold. At first, it entered the cerberus's dreams, causing him to twist and stir, whine and kick. Nightmares consumed the great beast who lay trapped in a deep, deep sleep.

In only a few hours, the hunger grew too much. Kerberos jolted awake in a feverous state, heads snapping into the air with a hoarse roar. His voices were raw with disuse, the sound scrapping through his throats, but the sound carried and echoed through the tunnel. Five eyes looked around wildly, the central scarred head pulling back its jowls in a vicious snarl. His long, serpentine tail twisted and slid along the floor, kicking up small rocks and debris around him, and began to lash back and forth.

He was hungry. He needed to hunt, to eat, to kill. It was the only thing that took place in his thoughts, his stomach an empty pit that demanded to be filled. His paws slammed into the earth as he rose, still slightly wobbly from his dreaming stupor, and he began to move. He would consume whatever he found, and sate his endless hunger.

The vulture hadn't spoken to anyone in quite some time, preferring instead to spend the cycles to himself doing as many dangerous things as he could in an effort to have some kind of fun. Jumping into the twister in Monoceros had been his favorite - he'd become a good enough flier to be able to last for a minute or two and come out unscathed, but he still wore the scars of his training in the winds along his body.

He'd taken to wandering between Monoceros, Orion, and Canis, merely out of boredom, looking for something to do, but now, perhaps, his search was over. A scratchy roar from one of the tunnels alerted him to the presence of some kind of beast. A monster, perhaps? Something to really get his adrenaline pumping!

Without hesitation, he spread his wings and leaped into the air, soaring towards and into the tunnel, heart thumping with glee and excitement. The mound of white fur caught his eye quickly and he veered down, landing on a rock sticking out from the wall. "Hey there," he crowed. "Face me and tell me who you are!"

@Kerberos

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The cerberus heard a curious sound. The sound of movement. The sound of food. Heavy heads twisted on long necks, a massive clawed foot sliding across the cave's floor with the sound of his stone scrapping against the rock. He turned toward the crowing bird, ears perking and jaws falling agape to reveal sharp teeth and rolling tongues.

If he understood the words that were spoken, he showed no sign. The carnivore merely saw a feathered morsel, something that would be enough to fill all three mouths at once-- at least for a few moments. It did not take anything else.

The hound of hell lunged from its spot, taking off in a wild, hasty bound that crashed through the cavern with every fall of his forepaws, his hind legs practically flying behind him. His tail thwacked against the wall as it was yanked along behind him, but he did not stop. He threw himself toward the perch, aiming to rush down the tasty looking bird and make it a quick snack.

Though perhaps the gigantic beast should have tested his legs before he threw himself headlong into a charge. In his weakened and feverish state, his heavy feet quickly tripped over one another. His momentum, however, certainly did not stop, and all three heads went smacking into the cavern wall with a dull thud.

{ FIGHT STATISTICS }
KERBEROS V. DRAKE
I of ???

{ ATTEMPT }

~ body tackle the vulture!

{ DEFENSES }

~ nah

{ INJURIES }

~ prior injuries;;

just very, very hungry

~ current injuries;;

none

@Drake

The vulture had expected some kind of talking back, maybe an answer or a rude remark or something...not a mindless, soundless dog tripping on their own feet. He fluttered back, a little surprised, but then opened his beak and led out a raucous laugh. "Dumbass!" He opened his wings and lifted from his spot, hovering over the strange canine.

It would be, well, not very smart to face it in a fight. He was, after all, a single bird. A large bird, yes, but this was a massive creature with three heads that all looked quite hungry. He could relate. Well, not on the physically hungry part but he was certainly hungry for a fight. He didn't care about the odds, nor the fact that this was a stupid, stupid idea. He just wanted to fight.

He pulled his wings in and dove, opening them a bit so he could pull up as he went by, intending on giving the dog a good slashing against his backside.

@Kerberos

Round: 1
Attempt: divebomb his backside
Defense: none
Injuries: none

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The massive, three headed hound was still disoriented from crashing into the wall when the vulture struck, sharp talons scoring shallow scratches across his back and tearing out some of his thick fur. His central head let out a yelp of pain, the right howling, and the left head twisted and tried to snap but could not even fully turn to reach his own back side.

On instinct, the cerberus reached for his magic, his right foot's claws tearing into the ground as energy surged through the stone on his paw pad. The energy surged through his body, and there was the sound of a crunching pop as all he managed to do was crack the joints through his stiff limb.

Kerberos was growing frustrated, his stomach demanding action but his tired bones, weary muscles, were slow and weak from atrophy. A series of snarls, barks, and yowls came from each head as he tried to twist around into a position he could attack the bird from.

{ FIGHT STATISTICS }
KERBEROS V. DRAKE
II of ???

{ ATTEMPT }

~ shove the bird into a wall with vaccuum

{ DEFENSES }

~ nah

{ INJURIES }

~ prior injuries;;

just very, very hungry

~ current injuries;;

scratches along backside

@Drake

The vulture felt satisfaction when his claws met flesh. Yes, this was good. The dog was barking and howling and as one snapped at him, he fluttered away. His heart was racing and every nerve was alight with energy. This felt good. Really good. Why hadn't he been doing this more?

He initially intended on going straight at the same place, deepening the scratches he'd made, but he didn't want to do the same thing twice. No, it wasn't as fun that way. He wanted to go at the heads, but that would spell disaster, surely. Not right away, perhaps. Test the waters further. He pinpointed a spot near the shoulders that he'd go for next. He flapped his wings to that he could get a little higher, and then he dived.

He aimed right beneath the shoulder bones, just above where he'd made his previous scratches, opening talons to give the dog another good clawing.

@Kerberos

Round: 2
Attempt: divebomb his backside, near the shoulders
Defense: none
Injuries: none

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Again the bird divebombed the cerberus. This time, the massive dog managed to twist away with only a few scratches to his shoulder, tufts of stark white fur flying from where the talons slashed at his pelt. Sinking his claws into the hard ground, the trio of heads raised to bare their fangs at the vulture.

Somewhere, some flicker of intelligence told the beast that even with his side, the bird could keep flying out of reach. It was experience that drew the reaction that came, as two right most heads snarled wordlessly and the left head parted its teeth. From deep in the canine's left throat, a hot light began to concentrate into a dense, blindingly white ball.

Normally, Kerberos would have to prepare himself to cast a spell like this. Typically, the heads counted down as he braced himself, and normally the central head was the one that fired. As a result, the lumbering, starving, delirious canine was incredibly lucky that the blast of pure radiation fired cleanly from his left most throat, the light from the immense energy blinding each of his five eyes.

{ FIGHT STATISTICS }
KERBEROS V. DRAKE
III of ???

{ ATTEMPT }

~ pulsar beam to knock the bird out of the air

{ DEFENSES }

~ nah

{ INJURIES }

~ prior injuries;;

just very, very hungry

~ current injuries;;

scratches along backside

minor scratches on shoulder blade

@Drake

His claws scratched again at the dog's back before fluttering out of reach. He huffed, a little annoying with himself. He wasn't doing any damage and he was probably only being a minor annoyance to the beast at the moment. It was time to do it, time to go straight for the face.

He banked, turning himself around, raising his head to target which of the heads he was going for. Probably the closest to him, he would try to play this one easy. With a twist and a flap of his wings, he was diving for the dog's head. Its jaws were open, but he set it off as a howl that he couldn't hear beyond the thrumming of his heart and the rushing in his veins.

But then, a blinding white let came shooting from the dog and Drake knew in an instant that he'd made a terrible mistake. He flared his wings and tried to roll out of the way, but he wasn't quick enough as the spell hit him square in the chest. He screamed as he fell from the sky and white hot pain laced through his entire body. Charred feathers scattered into the air as he dropped, slamming into the ground with a horrible snapping sound. He'd landed right on one of his wings. The vulture lay there, shocked and trying to adjust to the horrible pain.

@Kerberos

Round: 3
Attempt: dodge the laser
Defense: none
Injuries: broken wing, radiation poisoning, severely burned chest

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The beam of energy crashed through the vulture and into the ceiling, for a moment the left head staring straight ahead at the black inverse of the beam that had burned into its retinas.

The far right head, however, turned down toward where the bird had fallen, the smell of burnt feathers and blood perking its interest. The rest of the carnivore soon took notice as the right side of the beast's body surged forward, the left stumbling to join.

Kerberos was starving, and now, there was food before him. His large paws crashed to either side of the bird, and each maw descended, snapping at the bird. The center head went right for the throat, and the others did their best to tear the vulture limb from limb.

Something should have stopped him. Some rational thought, some conscious, but it was all forgotten to the hunger.

{ FIGHT STATISTICS }
KERBEROS V. DRAKE
IV of ???

{ ATTEMPT }

~ chomp down on that bird! rads are good for you, right?

{ DEFENSES }

~ nah

{ INJURIES }

~ prior injuries;;

just very, very hungry

~ current injuries;;

scratches along backside

minor scratches on shoulder blade

eye strain and some self-inflicted radiation

@Drake

M for gore and death

Drake couldn't move. He couldn't see. Perhaps he would have cursed himself for being a really big moron but all he could think about was the pain. It was all consuming, it was burning, deep into his body, and he thought that this was the worst pain imagineable. Nothing compared to this, not the time he broke his leg when the Monoceros twister threw him into a wall, not the time he wrenched his shoulder trying to stop a hundred foot dive, never before. Until, of course, the jaws descended.

At first, he tried kicking out - a last ditch attempt to save himself or get some kind of revenge for his death, maybe scratch its nose enough or even just tear the nose right off, but it was poorly timed and poorly aimed. One of the heads clamped right onto his foot and ripped it right off. He opened his beak to scream, but just then, the middle head grabbed at his throat and tore it right out. All that came out was a gurgle as his eyes widened with shock. He thrashed, trying to fight, trying to do something against the jaws that were tearing every inch of him apart, but every struggle made him weaker as blood pooled on the ground. It was only a few seconds before he went limp, his consciousness shivering, blurring, and then blinking out like a light.

*exit

@Kerberos

Round: 4
Attempt: kick him a bit
Defense: none
Injuries: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯