Things were coming along together nicely. His child, the future god, was growing inside of his cocoon. He would be the ruler of these caves. His blood was pure as was his soul. Liberation. he would bring liberation to all of the caves. The herbivores would love him because he would be their feared ruler and the carnivores would kill each other to the be the first to kiss his hooves. The Lord smiled as he sat before the throne, eyes glancing over its perfect surface. It had become an obsession of his to study the stone and imagine what it would be like. He mostly did it because his Goddess willed it but also because he knew the greatness that lay growing within.

Soon... He just had to have patience.

The stag laid his head beside the golden egg. Gold. Such a pure color. It was the color of royalty! He lovingly stared at it with one of his eyes. He knew that loving anything was a sin but he could not help it. He had loved Wynry, he had loved Arkrael, he had loved Clover and now he loved his son. It was a vicious cycle that brought only torment and yet he was weak in his soul. A fatal flaw that the god that was his son would not have. He and Belladona would be sure of it. He would be raised right.

Just...

Soon...

Soon... the caves would have a new era. A glorious era heralded by the Goddess of Darkness with the God of Ice at her side and Lord of Herbivores at her side.

______________________________________

"This is how I talk!"
This is how I think!

270
@Louie
---
6/10

"Booker Speech" "Louie Speech"

Most of his days were spent lingering within Monoceros. Almost a month had passed as he had watched his two boys grow exponentially. The bond between the pair made them inseparable and the father had found himself almost shunted from their little world. All gemlings were weak, but the duo appeared unconquerable in their efforts to grow and thrive. But as they grew, so too did the evil that resonated from Orion day in and day out. Whispers had spread, and he had been in and out a few times. Bearing witness to the cracks that grew and shattered the sweet innocent Clover. Though he only knew her by name and reputation, more so than interaction, she had changed significantly. Hasira had been broken and bent, his views warped by something he had thought was only innocent. Killing Wynry had been the first and last time had taken a life. There had been no time, no need, to kill others despite his want.

All this had snowballed from him, and though he had wished to create only chaos within Origin cave, this wasn't what he had been intending. Today, the fox hybrids were off entertaining themselves, leaving him in peace as he ventured through the darkened caverns. Still the broken shields and weaponry littered the tunnel and he kicked aside those that had strayed onto the well worn path. Ahead, there was an almost evil aura spewing forth. The stench of herbivore, confusion and sweat was thick. Louie wrinkled his nose as he breached into the cave once again. Height and size was both his downfall and his asset, he slipped quietly between the walkways and paths that interlaced this decrepit village. Peaking out over the tall walls was the cathedral in the centre, perhaps a town hall at pass. Within it, was the throne. Where the stag was patting himself on the back for a job well done.

Left side sticking close to the wall, so as not to let anyone catch him on his blind side, he snuck around until he was met with the sight of the broken antlered beast. Many hundreds of pounds heavier than him, his hooves tipped with an almost knife like blade, he narrowed his one good eye. If there was anyone to sit on a throne, it was him. Still, not revealing himself, he went to scrabble up the sides of the wall and get himself in a higher position...

Success, his paws pushed up higher and as he bounced from rock to broken wall to rock, he found himself out of range of Hasira's goring horns. Though they still reached to his height, they were unusable for any proper strikes. "SO. The lamb has created a lion." Spitting on the ground from where he stood on his little tower, he scoffed, "You really are a dumb herbivore."

@Hasira

It was his deep concentration, the devoutness by which he sat by his son's side that lead him to be easily snuck up on. Or so, that was what he would reason with himself when he heard the slick voice speak to him. It was a voice that only a carnivore could have. He could smell the putrid stench of decaying meat and hear those claws that were made for ripping and tearing. It was a wonder that carnivores could even speak properly with those fangs in their mouths. Disgusting, impure, a plague. They needed to be controlled.

Hasira's head lifted from the throne and his cold eyes met with those of the fox. Those words had his blood boiling angrily but he did not act upon them. No. Blind rage would get him nowhere, he had to think and he had to be better than those that were the foolish ones.

A lamb creating a lion? What sort of thing was he talking? He didn't create anything because his breed was incapable of doing so. "Even in your metaphors you are foolish, carnivore." A lamb into a lion? Pfft, that was an insulting statement. He rose to his hooves, annoyed to find that even at his full height the fox was taller than him up on his perch. That was not the proper order of things. "You are in no position to speak to me in that way, filth. Let us get something clear, this is my domain and you are trespassing. Not only that but you are a trespassing carnivore and unless you are here to announce your want to serve me we then I will be forced to put you in your proper place." His eyes narrowed. "Now, either get off of that throne... MY throne, and bow or I will force you." His voice was not threatening, it was simply cool with authority and promise. He'd dealt with many puffed up carnivores in his day and this one would be no different.

______________________________________

"This is how I talk!"
This is how I think!

336
@Louie
---
6/10

"Booker Speech" "Louie Speech"

It had been lost on the deer, but he couldn't expect him to really know what happened. "Nah. I rather like it up here. Keeps me out of the way of those sharp prongs of yours." Waving a paw over the edge, he kept his smirk on. Perhaps it had been his confinement to Monoceros raising children, but now he wanted to cause some hell. This whole herbivore army thing was starting to make him nervous as well, such a weak emotion. A trait that both he and Hasira shared. "We aren't so different you and I. Wanting domination and chaos within the caves of Origin. But I highly doubt your methods are as traditional as mine." Flashing his pearly whites, he snickered again, "Love is weak. But you were blinded by it with that cotton love child of yours. Wynry I think he called himself."

Louie was prodding, prodding the beast. Getting him where it hurt as he tried to recall everything that would make him sting. "A good kid. But it was too bad he happened to catch me on a bad day." Further he dug, he hadn't even gotten to the most recent hurty parts. "Poor three-headed bastard didn't stand a chance against your wrath in the aftermath. But it appears no one can. All you do is break. At least my first act was on a weakling." Slowly, his tone began to sober up as the realization he was riling up what was currently one of the most dangerous beasts in Origin cave began to sink in. News had spread of Leon and Hasira's initial rumble before he had set up camp in Orion. He waited. It was obvious this was gauging a reaction out of Hasira and he closed his one good eye. Most of that had been spoken cryptically, he wondered if he would even be able to connect the pieces after so much time had passed.

@Hasira

Of course, typical carnivore behavior to want to save their stupid skin. They would talk and talk and talk so long as they felt protected but let them speak on equal grounds and it would be an entirely different story. The stag lowered his tines and snorted, steam erupting from his nostrils into the chilly air. "Fine then... I will show you your place the hard way." However, before he could even begin to pull upon his magic the fox kept speaking. The words he spoke had the stag considering and lifting his head. How could a filthy creature like him understand the ideals of the Goddess? Then... the fox overstepped his boundaries and mentioned his brother. Wynry's beautiful name should never come from a beast as disgusting as this fox.

Hasira's stone flashed an angry red as he stomped a hoof on the ground. "YOU KEEP MY BROTHER'S NAME OUT OF YOUR MOUTH! YOU DID NOT KNOW HIM! YOU DO NOT KNOW WHAT A BEAUTIFUL AND PURE CREATURE THE CAVES LOST!" He bellowed his rage out to the fox. Forget trying to use magic to bring him down to size, he wanted to rip his tines into his filthy face and gore out that other eye! It would be proper punishment for the lies he spewed from his maw.

The stag had been bellowing angrily and lashing his antlers about in an attempt to get the fox down, all to no avail as he was losing his cool and certainly losing his head. It was when the fox went on to say that Wynry caught him on a bad day, implying that it wasn't the three-headed beast that killed him. Hasira went deathly still, eyes widening as he stared up at the fox. His gem flashed several colors now, orange then blue then red to green, all of them raged in a spectrum of colors as he tried to wrap his head around everything.

Caught him on a bad day? Now his mind was back on that fateful day when he'd found Wynry's body broken on the cave floor. He had assumed that Kerberos had killed him and Arkrael had tried to defend her brother-in-arms but now... Had she been right? Had he been too blinded by rage to believe her claim that there was foul play involved? Hasira staggered backwards as if he'd been hit in the chest with a hammer. "Wh-wh-what...?" He gasped. The insults... The insults were secondary compared to this revelation. All of his hurts, the creature he'd become now. It was all because of this creature... This creature who was right in front of him...

His stone settled on a color now. It was a deep blue as he felt the weight of sadness settle on his shoulders at everything this fox had cost him. His love, his sanity, his life... his brother... Everything he had become was because of this scarlet furred beast atop the throne. For a moment everything felt as if it were suspended, as if he were frozen in time in this moment. His eyes once cold were filled with the depths of his anguish as all the sadness he'd ever felt weighed down on him in that moment.

"You killed my brother... not the three-headed dog?"

With that question his voice was deceptively quiet... submissive, almost.

______________________________________

"This is how I talk!"
This is how I think!

557
@Louie
---
6/10

"Booker Speech" "Louie Speech"

Oh boy deer man was starting to get mad. Lips pursed, he watched him out of one good eye and clicked his tongue. Rampaging about what a pure and innocent cloud he had been. Realization began to dawn on Hasira, trapped in his reverie, Louie took the opportunity to move around to try and get to the back of Hasira. Now on the edge of the ledge, he jumped to try and get to the other side, one of equal height.

Muscles bunched, as he sprang forwards he mi stepped and found himself instead only managing to cling to a ledge further down. Well within range of the horns to scoop him up and fling him off. Groggily, he stood up, the dust clinging to his fur as he shook himself. That hadn't worked, and he found himself almost at eye level with the creature. All the fur along his back was standing to attention as his pelt bristled. 'Fuck, fuck, FUCK,' wide eyed, he stared at the frozen stag as he whispered. Confidence shaken, the vulpine no longer felt cocky and arrogant. Instead, he at the mercy of the antlers of the deer. "So what if I did! If I hadn't you never would have built such a perfect army." It was a masked attempt at trying to weasel his way out of this. Still he was proud of his kill, but boasting about it no longer carried such a thrill.

Edging to the back of the ledge to try and put as much distance between them as possible, he felt his body begin to stiffen up. Panic was threatening to claw its way up his throat, but also incredible arousal at the possibility of being able to bring down the king of the caves. To be the victor. Biding his time, he would weaken his enemy with what he did best, and then he would kill him with whatever he could. God he was so screwed, but his body was trying to differentiate between movements of flight or fight. Every delay would cost him time. Time would cost him his life.

@Hasira

The stag stood, transfixed by memories as they flooded over his entire being, drowning him. For a while his stone remained blue with his sadness. He couldn't believe that his entire person had been created by a mere fox. Not even a hellhound or that demon wolf he had foolishly loved... but a fox. It was comical, almost. Perhaps if he wasn't so far gone he could try to repent and try to make amends to the wolf who had been correct in her suspicions. Those days were gone though. He'd come too far, created too much. He had a perfect child on the way and even though Arkrael hadn't aided in the hellhound's plan... she was still filthy and carnivores still inherently hurt others. His Goddess was right in her tearing down of him. She had created a new and great being. While he would never be perfect like her, he could try.

He would start with cleansing the caves of this fox and get revenge for the first pure creature he had ever known.

For a moment he said nothing but with his gem turning from blue to red with the righteous rage he now felt, he didn't need to say a single thing. The words washed over his ears while his eyes remained ahead, not tracking the creature as it moved. Right now he felt nigh invincible. It was almost like Wynry's spirit was filling him and fueling him to go forth and fight the evil.

After the fox's words washed over his ears he said nothing... He only stared straight ahead, letting more and more anger fill his heart. Louie might notice a chill in the air, a chill that grew steadily worse by the second. It wasn't just a chill that went into your fur but it would settle into bones as well...

It was like death. Foreboding. Something that would set coldness into one's heart.

Finally, the stag spoke... Eyes closing as his voice echoed around Orion. "You know, Fox, for many cycles I have wanted to destroy the one who essentially destroyed me. For so long I thought it was that hellhound, thought it was he who ruined me. I lost my girlfriend, the love of my life, because I could not get past the fact that she would not let me kill the hound. Now I see she was right in doing so... The hellhound was not the demon who destroyed me... It was you." His eyes opened as he stared off into space. "It is funny. A tiny thing like you... You were able to set off a chain of events in my life. You destroyed me yes, but you helped me too." A smile formed on his lips as he turned his gaze to the fox... It wrinkled his burned flesh in an ugly manner and looked more like a grimace with his halfway charred off lip. "Without you I would never have found my Goddess, would never have been able to birth the new God." He tilted his antlers back to indicate the golden shard with the core of darkness. "Would never have learned the true meaning of power. True... You killed my brother and ruined my relationship but... Those gembounds, I loved them. But now I know that love is nothing but weakness so perhaps you liberated me by helping make those sacrifices." Now the smile slid from his face and his eyes were like chips of ice that perfectly mirrored the temperature in the room. One could see the breath fogging from his mouth as he spoke in the now chilling air of Orion. "But... Blood must still be paid in blood." With that the air around Louie would feel constricting as the cold temperature and water formed together to make an ice collar and an ice chain that lead back to Hasira. The end of the chain hovered in the air for a moment until the stag grabbed it and yanked it, forcefully pulling the fox to the ground.

Blood would be paid with blood. Despite the sacrifice he'd made to the Goddess of Darkness, he would be destroyed for killing his brother. It was only fair, no?

It might have hurt the fox to have such a tight collar around his neck but compared to what was coming next... That pain was nothing.


Hasira vs Louie
I of V

Attacks: Yank Louie off of the ledge with the ice chain.
Defenses: None
Injuries: None

______________________________________

"This is how I talk!"
This is how I think!

728
@Louie
---
10/10

"Booker Speech" "Louie Speech"

Before there was any indication of magic usage, the air began to grow cold. Almost solidify as his throat constricted painfully. It was worse than in Monoceros, yet there appeared to be no cause for it. Still the panic was being forced down. Ultimately, his instinct had chosen to run but the pleasure of even having a choice had gone and now, his mind wasn't even in the right place for this. At least being called Fox wasn't as bad as half-face. Unable to really help himself, he hissed and wheezed out his deflated lungs, "My size didn't stop me from murdering your buddy." But his appreciation for what had happened disturbed him more than anything, mention of the Goddess made his ears prick and he hissed again, "What? That fawn you fucking poisoned with your evil?" Now they had a child?

This wasn't good, he could see the situation slipping out of his grasp, he tried to reach out and cling for a thread but was unable to find a hold as he watched Hasira gain the upper-hand in this conversation. Looking past him to the gold chrysalis, he shivered not from cold as he began to try and find a way out of this. "At least we can both agree love is absolutely meaningless." But that last joke was lost as he felt the ice collar bind around his neck as he was pulled off his feet and yanked towards the earth. A horrified shriek escaped his lungs as he landed with a thud on the ground, the cold burning holes into his flesh. Gasping for air, as his body was already depriving him of it, he looked out as he couldn't look up and was only met with the tall spindly legs of the deer man.

Helpless, he tried his best to pull whatever grit, sand and glass out of the ground to try and fling at Hasira's face, blinding him so he could make a run for it... But even though it was successful, he was unable to regain his footing as he struggled under the weight of his breathlessness and the collar that bound him.

ROUND 1/5
Attack: Throw glass and dirt at Hasira's face
Defense: None, he's utterly helpless on the ground
Injuries: Missing one eye and he's winded from being thrown to the ground/tight ice collar

@Hasira

The fox was grabbed and throw to the ground with a pathetic shriek. The stag lowered his antlers, prepared to gore the filthy creature. However he ended up with a faceful of glass and dirt. Roaring in anger the deer was forced to back off and regroup. Bits of glass had cut his face viciously and it was a miracle that his eyes were left in tact.

He shook his head, scattering droplets of blood from a multitude of scratches. Finally, he was able to open his eyes and transfix his maddened stare on the scarlet menace. "My Goddess is no fawn and by being with me she was able to realize her true identity. As was I." Speaking lies about his Lady and speaking filth about his brother. This one needed to be put down but not yet. He would suffer first and see the true power of the herbivores before this was all over.

The stag stared down at the fox before he strode purposefully over to the creature. "Look at you. Pitiful. Just like all carnivores. You try to talk a big game but really you are all nothing on the inside." He reared back on his hind legs and then slammed down in an attempt to shatter something of the fox's. Anything, it didn't matter what so long as he heard him scream.


Hasira vs Louie
II of V

Attacks: Stomp!
Defenses: None
Injuries: Cuts and scratches on face.

______________________________________

"This is how I talk!"
This is how I think!

227
@Louie
---
6/10

"Booker Speech" "Louie Speech"

Badness. Much badness. Blinding him had done nothing but serve to anger him further. It had stopped him for mere moments and in that time, he had managed to actually get back on his feet. Still, the weight of the collar kept him sluggish, and he wasn't able to merely bolt and make a quick getaway. This thing would have to come off him first, but he had no means of getting it off without wasting precious moments.

Time was up, and the stag was rearing to strike him down and in a last ditch effort, he lunged to the side to avoid the hooves carving open most of his skin... But it didn't work, he was pulled back down to the ground from the ice around his neck and he felt sharp hooves dig into his tail, severing it and crushing bone. The other hoof, narrowly missed his neck as it dug into the ice collar that Hasira himself had created, breaking off a large chunk and weakening the integrity of it.

Louie howled and screamed in pain as he could feel the thick warm blood begin to soak his fur as his tail became limp. A numbness began to travel up from his back paws as his body reacted and went into shock at the sensation of having nerves severed. In agony, he tried to twist to cover his belly, pinned by the dark hooves of the deer.

ROUND 2/5
Attack: n/a
Defense: now on his belly to cover his fleshy organs
Injuries: missing one eye and he's winded from being thrown to the ground/tight ice collar

@Hasira