The peryton spotted the hyena crashing into the pile of bones and proceed to inch around the boulder. His sharp eyes noted her defense, and she would not escape so easily. As she sneaked around so did he, making a large arc from above air as he pondered over what to do with her – end it with magic or with the shredding of his talons? Then, he inhaled her invisible spores and his vision went red.

He heard a loud screech coming from the Western wall. It was a huge rat, and it reeked of blood but the smell was the smell of the pores the hyena had cast though 10,000 times amplified over. It reeked, and the stench overwhelmed him. Screeching, he thrashed his upper body and swooped away from the hyena far towards the west wall and brought his hoof – he could see it now, sharpened, no longer the cumbersome, smooth calcium or bone of the weak herbivore – ready to stab the target to death. With a wild screech, he flew down towards the target at speeds that he never imagined and then, brought his sharpened hoof down upon the offending animal. It disappeared at the last moment though and with a shriek, his bone crashed and splintered against the ground and then he was falling through, wings uselessly flapping behind him as the wind and adrenaline gushed through his veins.

The next scene that he entered was the room itself with a pile of bones. Blood fell from the top and a large behemoth sat upon it. The red crimson liquid flowed down like a waterfall and the bloodlusting animal shrieked and shook his headful of antlers, eyes wide in fear and panic as he envisioned himself going to drown in blood. Rafael reared and kicked out with his elk limbs, then charged straight towards the behemoth, intending to spear him with his antlers.

Thud! The peryton crashed into the wall by the bone of piles, not too far from where Giggle had perched herself previously. He staggered backwards with a bellow, dazed, and swung his head around. The vision was clearing but the sensation of blood drenching him to the neck and the threat of drowning clung to him, although it was already fading away. It had been 5 minutes. The peryton was enraged, for looking around the room, this thing which was so real had not happened – hence, he had lunged into a wall instead. A migraine began in his brain. Having remembered where Giggle was, he dashed towards where she was, hidden by the boulder, and then unleashed forth his spell, dispel, a short distance away from her, hoping to fling her back with the impact. Antlers lowered and shoulders squared as he performed this.

Round: 4/5

Attempt: Dispel energy blast aimed at Giggle, intention to cause her to be flung back

Defense: Horns down, shoulders squared

Injuries: Migraine

For several long minutes there was flapping and shrieking, and Giggle leaned against her boulder, half-hidden and panting, catching her breath. Her vision slowly came back to normal, her dazed state fading, her muscles trembling from adrenaline and the powerful surge of magic.

She just needed a few more minutes, a few m--

Aww shit.

The flapping screeching thing had clattered around the corner and before she could react, was blasting its ridiculous magic right in her face again and back she flung, tumbling and grunting as she hit the side of the boulder and careened off. She shook her head as she stood, groaning softly, looking up to face the stranger. He was mad-looking, wild-eyed and fierce, and--

And he's standing in the fungus.

Not the brown hallucinogenic stuff, no, but the orange-red flesh-eating monstrosities that he'd blasted right off her boulder earlier. He wasn't standing directly on top of it, but it was close enough; they'd landed below, and they were both now below, and maybe she could... just...

She focused as best she could, inhaling deeply and pushing her mind and her little remaining magic--and this was certainly the last of it, for now--into the fungus, coaxing it not to die, but to grow, to spread and to flourish--to feed off of the very creature that had tried to kill them.

Feed...

________________

Roll the bones.

Round: 4/5
Attempt: Fungal Wake to grow the fallen flesh-eating fungus onto Rafael.
Defense: Various fungi growing in coat just in case, hiding behind boulder to protect from air attacks.
Injuries: Dazed, slightly concussed, twisted left wrist, bruised face, cuts, pretty battered up from multiple Dispels.

The hyena was flung back and she careened off the sides of the rock then regained her balance. She was quiet and so was he, conserving his energy, slender elk body shivering while feet trembled from the exertion. Meanwhile the pounding had remained in his head and refused to go away. His hallucination (to him, a vision) had now entirely cleared and he stood clear-eyed, squarely facing the hyena post-blast. Then it began – fungi crept around him, ombre red-brown in colour, latching onto his skin onto his shoulders and withers. His skin started to itch as the dead skin shed off first and Rafael stared at it in confusion then back at the hyena. Then, he looked to the floor and saw that it contained the same stuff. Was she the one who gave him that vision then? Nasty thing manipulating the spores! With a screech, he flapped his wings and violently took to the air, to hurl himself towards her with talons outstretched and body kept back, intending to rip out her eyes with his talons.

Post-roll edit:
He did not wait too long to see what had happened but attempted to disengage, very much like a hawk that had swooped in, grabbed its prey and then taken flight without any hesitation (BLANK SPACE FOR GIGGLE’S ATTACK IF NEEDED) Then the fungi made its way past the surface of his skin and the pain began. Itch turned into burning pain and as the fungi broke past the skin, sucking out the blood from within which spilled over his sides warmly. Rafael screamed and thrashed in agony, flapping his wings furiously and bringing up his talons to rend his own flesh but to no avail. The fungi chose not to pierce too deep to scar but crept along the entity of his back, eating away at his flesh. Red hot iron sparks fled through his skin and raw sinew – shoulders, neck, back and vitals. He convulsed and bellowed, legs flailing wildly, thin, fragile chest heaving in and out as sweat and blood mingled in salty mixture along his fur and dripped down onto (the pile of bones?). He screeched and the shock and sudden pain manifested as a strike to his mind, sending him into a mental state where his mind shut down from his body. He was “over the rainbow” on his own accord (OOC: Wikipedia project monarch to understand).

And it felt good.

He shivered and started to laugh – a youthful peal of tinkling bells like a fawn that continuously accelerated, a maniac tone striking higher and higher notes as the pain got more and more pleasurable. He felt immense gratification strike his heart, blood and energy rushing to his core in a weird mechanic of self-preservation. The peryton swooped thrashed out his legs and twisted his neck, shivering and convulsing in sadistic delight. The pain…it was good. Tongue lolling out from his tongue, the peryton cast a feral grey eye upon the hyena and continued laughing as his body wretchedly twisted in the air, feet thrashing about.

Note: at any time, any segment of this may be disrupted by giggle’s next roll if she wills an attack in between the sequence.

Round: 5/5

Attempt: Rip out Giggle’s eyes (disclaimer: just his intention)

Defense: Body curved back

Injuries: Migraine, flesh being eaten along shoulders and back

Giggle let out a pained, furious scream of rage and pain as the thing launched toward her, her weariness causing her to be far too slow to fully avoid the attack in any way. Talons lanced over her face, gripping, pulling, her skull was squeezed and she could feel her flesh ripping away and the taste of blood pouring down into the corners of her jaws.

Reflexively and in an utter fury--a desperate fury--she lashed out with her jaws, in an attempt to bite some part--any part--of the monster before her and cause as much damage as she could before finally falling back and away, too wounded and--at least temporarily--too blinded by her wounds to continue.

But her jaws snapped shut on nothing and she staggered forward, balance lost, her blood splattering down over the rock and dirt. She snarled another challenge but the thing was flying back and away, and that was good, because she didn't have the strength to continue it. Not now.

Well, that and she couldn't see. Fear lanced through her along with the pain; were her eyes ruined? But as soon as she could hear that the creature was squawking and flapping somewhere nearby, she turned and blindly ran back into the ferns, off toward where she hoped the other Bonebound might be.

________________

Roll the bones.

Round: 5/5
Attempt: Bite Rafael (up to Quix where/how it hits!)
Defense: Various fungi growing in coat just in case.
Injuries: Dazed, slightly concussed, twisted left wrist, bruised face, cuts, pretty battered up from multiple Dispels. (after his attack, also badly lacerated over the face!)

Character: Rafael Age: +1 (1 Cycle) Magic Level: +1 (Fledgling) ROUND 1 Attempt: +7 Penalties: -0 ROUND 2 Attempt: +4 Penalties: -0 ROUND 3 Attempt: +8 Penalties: -0 ROUND 4 Attempt: +8 Penalties: -0 ROUND 5 Attempt: +20 Penalties: -1* Total: 48

Character: Giggle Age: +2 (2 Cycles) Magic Level: +3 (Pupil) ROUND 1 Attempt: +1 Penalties: -0 ROUND 2 Attempt: +8 Penalties: -0 ROUND 3 Attempt: +15 Penalties: -0 ROUND 4 Attempt: +14 Penalties: -0 ROUND 5 Attempt: +2 Penalties: -0 Total: 45

WINNER: Rafael

* The eaten flesh on his back/shoulders may cause pain or difficulty flying when he comes out of his crazed state.

The hyena knew when she was beat, and above all else she preferred not to die. Blinded by the new and agonizing wounds gashed over her face, blinking away the blood that washed into her eyes, she shoved her way at a full gallop through the ferns and rocks, sometimes tumbling down the slopes. But she knew where she was going, at least; she knew Canis too well to get lost even unseeing.

She found that she could see through the fungus, as she ran. The colors were strange, the sensations disorienting, but it was leading her to safety, away from the rampaging sado-masochist she'd left behind.

She would run to Aza'zel, and the others, like a cub running to its den. She would leave the thing to do whatever it would to her bones, and then she would return, and fix it, and she would bring others, too--just in case.

________________

Roll the bones.

((exit the Giggs))

She ran away. Head lowered, blood oozing from the lacerations upon her face. He screeched loudly, flapping his wings towards her in gusts of wind that followed the direction of the fleeing hyena but which would never reach her. Slowly, the fungi disappeared along with her exit but raw wounds coated his shoulders and back. Flying hurt, and his back naturally hurt. The adrenaline which fuelled him during the battle had worn out. Slowly, Rafael diminished the intensity of his flaps and landed, moving vertically downwards with left limb lifted to his chest while his right limb hung down to touch the earth like a graceful angel. Once on the ground, he shook his head and snorted, then shook his entire pelt. Hawk wings automatically pressed against his sides, protecting his flesh and keeping his slender body protected. Blood oozed down his sides as well but he didn’t mind. Rafael was going to enjoy the victor’s spoils for a while.

He moved towards the already messy pile of bones and decided to toss a couple around with his hooves. A dull clatter could be heard in the tunnel as he kicked the bones about with his hooves. Rafael then moved in to investigate the dropped fungi from a safe distance, a sneer caressing his features. "Think she’s smart aye settin traps. But not us, Rafael, we won’t get caught.” Utterly bored and triumphant with his victory, the peryton sorted, pawed the ground and walked away from the entire scene, leaving scattered, destroyed fungi and scattered bones behind.

-Exit Rafael-