This part of Cetus lay still, not even a ripple on the surface of the murky water. The chirping of insects was a constant low buzz and the occasional frog broke the still air. A fluttering in trees. A bird let out a high-pitched call.

There was a ruffling of feathers. A drip, black ink breaking the surface of the water. In another tree, a call responded, identical, but different. There was a beat of silence before the bird called again. A reply, the same. The bird was looking towards the shade of the trees, the shadows so thick in the canopy of leaves. It was hesitant to jump into the unknown. A moment of waiting, and then its choice was made.

It fluttered forward, calling again, but as it landed in the tree...silence. Another drop broke the water's surface. It called again. And then it went quiet.

A loud snap. A whining sound, like air released from a balloon. More drops of ink fell from the trees.

And then a shadow emerged from the branches, slowly dropping itself down, almost snake-like in its movements, lowering itself from its hiding place onto a sturdier, more comfortable branch. A single, gleaming red eye slide upon on the center of its oil-slicked, feather-crowned head. In its mouth it carried the bird, crushed in its toothless jaws that dripped with inky black. Once it had settled itself down, it tossed its head back, opened its maw wide, and swallowed the bird whole.

It shook itself out, feathers rustling with pleasure at the meal, scattering droplets of the black oil that seeped from its body all over the swamp floor and scattering over the water. It's stomach still felt empty. It would eat more, and soon. Already it was beginning to scan its surroundings for more prey, looking for another little lesser to deceive and devour.

There's good hunting to be found in Cetus.

The swamp-cave's thick fogs pose little problem for a creature like Stygian, who is much more a beast of sound and scent than of sight in the first place. He can feel the mist whisper gently past his fur as he tilts his head and angles downwards into the deeper leaves of the swamp, chirping in the back of his throat to hear the sounds of the branches around him. Flap-flap, he soars over one and slips past another, descending lower into the canopy, listening for the familiar sounds of shrieking, sobbing birdsong.

The sound of the callers unsettled him, once. But now he is used to it. Now, a little dark part of him that never really left him after his visit to an altar in an empty tunnel revels in it.

But familiarity breeds complacency.

Chirping in the back of his throat again to listen to the shape of the world around him, the high pitch of his echolocation running through the branches, he fails to notice the dark, dripping shape of something hanging off a tree.

He is coming closer to it.

Perhaps, too close.

@Sekith

It could feel the sound of the bat. It had felt before, bat location. This was different, only a little bit, not enough for the simple-minded beast to care about, or maybe to even notice at all. It stilled, single gleaming eye scanning in the direction of the bat until it saw them flying closer. Closer and closer...

Muscles tensed. A good meal was coming. Bats were tasty, much easier to eat then birds. Not as many feathers to digest, just a bit of fur. Hard to catch, though. They usually caught the dripping of its slime and diverted their path before Sekith could properly jump them. But...not this time. It was coming right in its direction. It waited, a few more seconds, until the time was right.

It held the edge of the branch, leaning over, until the right second, where it slid right out of the tree, opening its wings in a splatter of black ink. It aimed to fall right on top of Stygian, pin it down quickly before it devoured it, as it had with the bird. It's timing and position were a bit off, so it wasn't its whole body crashing down on the bat, but rather a single wing, but hopefully it would be enough to bring it crashing down out of the air.

ROUND 1/?

ATTEMPT: fall on Stygian
DEFENSE: N/A
INJURIES: none

@Stygian

All at once—

—a sudden crashing weight into his left wing, sending Stygian spinning as something dropped like a falling stalactite directly into him. Something very big, and very oily, and very, very intending to kill and eat him.

He assumes. He assumes, because what the hell else would go after him like that—he assumes, because even in the dark he can catch the glowing gleam of a single, slitted, bright red eye and it is looking at him with a predatory intent.

He's never been hunted before. It's almost novel.

Almost, but adrenaline is surging bright through his body and Stygian barely thinks as he's sent spiraling into the undergrowth, shrieking with surprise and just a touch of fear as liftoff becomes liftdown. His impact with the swamp mud is heralded by a wet splat.

It's hard to aim and even harder to focus on the magic when his heart is pounding, but he does it anyway—flicking a wing up and blindly calling lightning to try and fry whatever—whatever thing had successfully ambushed him. Fuck!

ROUND 1/?

ATTEMPT: Zap Sekith with lightning
DEFENSE: N/A
INJURIES: Slightly bruised

@Sekith

Sekith grabbed with its toothless mouth at the wing it had pounced on. The two of them went crashing to the ground, the predator immediately losing its grip on the prey, but not before a strong sensation slammed into their chest, sending lighting coursing through their body. Sparks jumped off the oil and every inch of them tingled and burned. It reared up and screeched its pain, sounding very much like a very alarmed bird, scattering droplets of oil as it tried to shake off the sensation.

As the lightning wore away, it felt its nerves tingling with dismay. The creature was confused - what prey electrocuted its opponent? It had not known a bat to strike back with anything like that. But it was not a quitter and it felt righteously enraged at having been hurt in such a way. Single eye narrowed as it glared at the bat, lowering itself back to the ground, although there was an unconscious tremble across its body. It would make that thing pay. And this meal would be delicious.

With not another sound, it pounced forward, not very gracefully, but effectively, aiming to grab onto one of the wings in its powerful jaws. Despite the lack of teeth, its grip was like steel. Perhaps it would be able to tear a wing away, if it got a good enough grip.

ROUND 2/?

ATTEMPT: grab onto one of the wings
DEFENSE: N/A
INJURIES: electrocuted, weakened

@Stygian

Most animals run the fuck away when they hear the crashing thundercrack of his magic.

This animal does not. This—no, he can't even call it an animal. It's a monster that's leapt out of the dark at him, latching onto his wing with all its strength—at least, it was, before Stygian hit it with a bolt of concentrated lightning.

If it was anything else, that would be it. Most predators know when to give up the chase. Most predators know when the hunt is more energy than it's worth it. Most beasts should know that.

This is no common beast. It is—it is—

What the fuck are you?!

He cannot put the thing's appearance, the single slitted eye, the feathered body dripping with slick oil, to words. He has seen nothing like it in the caves.

He's not going to sit around and fucking ask. Whatever the damn thing is, it's persistent; in the split-second Stygian spends scrambling around in the muck trying to get his wings to rights, its—beak?—is already sharp at his wing again, the point of it piercing his webbing and drawing blood.

Panic pulses at his magic, draws it down to bare instinct as he flaps against it. Get the fuck off me, get the fuck off me!

ROUND 2/?

ATTEMPT: cast repelling magic
DEFENSE: AAAAAAAA
INJURIES: slightly bruised, pierced in one wing

@Sekith

It was struggling. They all struggled, but this was a thrilling hunt. No bat had ever been aided by thunder before. They usually tried to scratch and bite and smack at Sekith’s face, only to find thick sludge and feathers in their way. Only to find a persistent hunter and an unstoppable monster.

But this one fought hard, with magic. Sekith wasn’t as prepared for that. Gargling noises protested from its throat, displeased sounds as it felt a pull try to rip it away. It tried to steel its grip and hold itself on to the bat’s wing, but the already weakened state it was in didn’t allow it the grip it needed to stay on and it felt itself losing its hold.

The magic repelled it away from the bat, magnet-like in the way it felt a sudden push and then it fell into the big, smacking into the ground with a wet slopping sound. It groaned and gargled from it spot, momentarily dazed.

ROUND 3/?

ATTEMPT: hold on
DEFENSE: N/A
INJURIES: electrocuted, weakened, dazed

@Stygian

The magic buzzes around him like a second skin. The beast's claws scratch uselessly against his fur moments before the electricity takes it and flings it into the ground with a wet slap.

Stygian hisses in triumph, fur flaring. Conscious thought and strategy loses him; something dark in his chest is chanting power, power, power, old chaos-instinct rising like bile again. He doesn't think about how he has the chance to flee, now; he doesn't think about anything but the dark shape he hears gurgling in the muck, and how much he wants to kill it.

That red eye would make a pretty, pretty trophy, wouldn't it?

He stumbles to his wings, flapping thickly to gain a bit of an angle; he's little more than a few inches off the ground when he pulls for his lightning again, everything in his mind singing along with the sound of thunder that's soon to come.

ROUND 3/?

ATTEMPT: zap it while it's down
DEFENSE: n/a
INJURIES: slightly bruised, pierced in one wing

(quick OOC note: icly he's trying to kill it but oocly i'm absolutely not, feel free to have it chrysalize or make escape attempts!)
@Sekith

It was trying to scramble itself back upright so that it could return to its feet but then the magic hit it again and it felt the same unpleasant seizing in its muscles as the electricty ran through it. It gargled with its pain and frusteration that was turning this from a hunt to a proper fight, at least for this creature. Anger flared and its thought process was beginning to turn from hunt creature and eat creature to make it hurt and pay, fight it kill it rip it to pieces!

But it was weakening by the second. The spells were doing damage that it hadn't experienced before. It had had claws, of course, scratching at its hide, trying to make its way past the layer of goo, but never had it been attacked with lightning.

So when it went to breathe out its burning air, it choked, feeling a shock of static seize its muscles again and it shuddered, a small high-pitched throat sound making its way out instead.

ROUND 4/?

ATTEMPT: hothothothothot
DEFENSE: N/A
INJURIES: electrocuted, weakened, dazed

@Stygian