The bear refused to get close- out of caution or whether he spotted the ruse, Poppet couldn't be sure. Still, he refused to let a little hesitance get in the way of this opportunity. He gave a small, pleasant smile towards the thing, continuing to purr as he lowered himself to the ground, curling up and sitting comfortably- as comfortably, of course, as an injured Gembound in pain could.

The sharp, constant throb of pain in his cheek was a constant reminder of his true purpose. The thing had dared to exist in his line of sight, and then it had hurt him- had slammed his head into the stone. He couldn't let such a thing go unpunished.

With thoughts of venegance in mind, he looked up at the bear. He wrapped his tail around his side, preparing to strike at the Gembound should it come within range, but otherwise, his presentation towards his opponent was one of peaceful calm.

Round V of Combat
The Ruse Continues
Nothing Notable
Broken cheekbone, head still bleeding, scrapes along side

@Snowberry

The other creature still didn't reply to his inquiry. Instead, it lowered itself even further. In fact, it even looked a little more relaxed. Perhaps it really couldn't speak. Snowberry crept a little closer, letting his guard down even more.

"I'm sorry that your head is bleeding." He stepped closer, leaning forward slowly to try and sniff its wound. Snowberry was genuinely concerned about the little thing. It seemed as thought the cub had really done a number on the creature. Were he only had a cut over his brow, this little creature was scraped and bruised and Snowberry was still aware that he had felt a crunch under his paw earlier.

Round V of Combat
Nothing Notable
Nothing Notable
Cut over brow that has slowed its bleeding

@poppet

Poppet froze, confused. He almost opened his mouth to speak, but hatred kept his words from coming out. This- this thing did not deserve his words.

And yet, despite his efforts to kill it, it was still there, alive; not only that, it was walking towards him, sniffing at his wound as if it really cared.

He tensed, shifting backwards, away from the bear, preparing for something, anything. It must be a ruse- nothing so ugly and malformed would go to such lengths to be caring, right?

@Snowberry

(I'm going to stop doing battle stats since the battle's probably over- didn't expect the thread to go this way but this'll be real interesting!)