The dark ceiling above glittered with the light of thousands of strewn quartz crystals. Boar picked her way confidently through the rubble of some ancient structures, delicate hooves clicking gently against the stones. She craned her head back sharply to study the ceiling, eyes roving over the different constellations formed there. Completely entranced, she almost didn't notice when her stomach rumbled heavily. Her lips smacked absently. Food. She hadn't eaten since... well to be fair she hadn't eaten ever. She tilted her broad head around, searching the area nearby for something that looked even remotely edible. Quickly her gaze landed upon one of the dozens of large, gleaming crystals jutting from the ground. Boar peered at it deliberately. It certainly looked tasty. With determined steps she pranced up to it, circling it like a lazy shark preparing to strike. After a moment of consideration she leaned in close and dragged her pink tongue up the length of the shiny crystal. Immediately she was proud of herself; she'd found food and all on her own! But pride quickly faded to disgust. This food was awful. Gingerly she stuck out her tongue and pressed it to the crystal again. Maybe it was an acquired taste. But no, it still tasted just as dusty and un-food-like as it had the first time. Her brows knitted sharply. Stupid not-food! She lurched back and, with surprising poise, twisted around on her forehooves and shot a vicious kick at the crystal. Her cloven hooves connected with the huge gem with a rounding crack. The force of the impact reverberated through the crystal then right back into her body. Boar violently bounced off its shiny surface, her balance completely destroyed by its impenetrable hide. She flew forward, tipping over entirely, simply a vision of flailing legs. It was her face that connected with the ground first, dull pain shooting all the way up through her neck. Unceremoniously the rest of her body followed as she rolled over and slammed heavily down onto her back. Ow.

@Kingsfoil

What did he want to do today? There was Yarrow he could go find. Nah, he didn't feel like training a blubbering baby today. He could play kick-the-carnivore with Euron.... Nah. Kicking the carnivore just wasn't the same the tenth time around. What could he do then? Even with the fluffy-butted carnivore draped across his back and his friend walking next to him he still was rather bored.

With his crown glinting in the light and his brow furrowed as he tried to think of exciting things to do. "What do you think of an adventure?" He voiced suddenly to his herbivorous companion. He didn't really go very many places and despite him feeling far more powerful in his home realm where everyone knew his name he was still a child that loved the idea of going beyond his home.

It was then that he rounded a building and saw something just ahead. He blinked his eyes and raised his tail, signalling for Euron to stop and be quiet. Silently the young prince watched the display of some young herbivore. It was trying to eat a crystal! Was it stupid or something? With amusement and barely concealed giggles Kingsfoil watched as it tried again and again to eat... Only to get angry and fail miserably at kicking the cluster.

After this failed attempt the young prince could hold it no more. He burst out into a fit of laughter. "Ah ha ha ha! What are you even doing? Why are you trying to eat a crystal? Get a load of this guy, Euron! Ah ha! I bet Kutu is smarter than her!" He guffawed rather loudly, sounding less like a dignified prince and more like a injured seal in his merriment.

@Euron @Ashtoreth
@Boar

Ashtoreth had found that King got rather bored of things fairly quickly when she kept quiet, played along, and let them kick her half to death. It meant that in the future they would kick her to near death less, and that was a good thing. She was starting to get used to riding the young buck around, even if his gait was awkward and clumsy compared to...

No, no, no, no. She didn't want to think about him now. This was fine. She was almost happy, when they went wandering around Orion, chattering to all his new friends. It wasn't fair, but at least with more friends King paid less attention to her and more attention to the other herbivores that saw her as less than dirt.

The best part was that out here, she could try and get some light from the lamps. She closed her eyes, drifting off. The red rust color of her feathers had washed away now, and aside from the dried blood on her body, her wings and mane had returned to their natural white and black, stark hues. She felt like a ghost every time she saw her own reflection-- so she stopped looking. Taking baths seemed pointless anyway, even if they allowed her them.

The carnivore looked downright sickly, anyway. Her skin had begun to take on an unnatural hue of green, her nose a dark verdant and her paws a muddy brown. Her wings had the slightest tint of green to them as her magic worked, her body flushing with the desperate attempt of mimicking plantlife. It was the only way she could survive. They didn't feed her meat, after all, and so she was left a skinny, husk of a winged mustelid. She was still alive though, and that was enough for her.

Euron was only days old, but he was learning, and what he was learning was an interesting lesson in power. Kingsfoil was a prince, and as such people treated him with a kind of automatic respect; from birth, it seemed, he naturally commanded the kind of power that came from lineage, which was something Euron lacked and whose absence he felt keenly in Kingsfoil's presence. He'd also learned that, by being Kingsfoil's steadfast companion, some of that respect carried onto him. He had been lucky, though he wasn't entirely cognizant of that, to be picked up by Kingsfoil so immediately after his own hatching; he had realized the power of a potential alliance very quickly, though, and had resolved to maintain it. He liked the respect he got, deflected as it was from Kingsfoil's pearly fur. And Kingsfoil... well, he had a certain way of acting, and Euron was learning that way, was learning to predict it. He might eventually learn to manipulate it, if he were clever enough-- but for now, basking in reflective glory was enough for him. It was good to be a prince's second, thusfar at least. And Adventures did legitimately sound like great fun. Bullying Ashtoreth had grown old, eventually, and he'd never been quiite as into it as Kingsfoil was-- he played at it, of course, because one did what the young prince wanted, but it didn't seem like there was much fun in it. An adventure, though, sounded like glory and the stuff of legends and stories and power, and Euron was for absolutely all of those things. "Yes, my lord. That sounds like an excellent idea." he answered immediately, "We could explore the t--" But whatever he'd been about to say was struck dumb from his mouth, because Kingsfoil had gestured for him to be silent and, ever obedient [to those who were worthy], Euron fell silent. He watched, as Kingsfoil watched, the child bouncing around, attempting first to eat the crystal and then to beat it to submission. At Kingsfoil's words (at his invitation), Euron joined Kingsfoil in laughing, an eyebrow raised at the young wildebeest. "Did you think it was food?" Euron asked, through his own giggles. "I don't even think a carnivore would be so stupid as to try to eat a /crystal/." At the mention of Ashtoreth's name, Euron cast the smallest of concerned glances to her direction-- she was oddly silent, riding up there, and he sometimes wondered if she was dead-- but then he remembered that he ought not to care about her in any way, regardless, and looked back to Boar again, firmly focusing on being amused at the wildebeest's antics. @kingsfoil @Ashtoreth @Boar Euron

Truly Boar would have been content to lay there, prone on her back, at least until the aching in her face subsided. The sound of laughter was all the signal she needed that her graceful display had garnered an audience. She'd been content in her loss to the clearly-superior crystal, but suddenly defeat melded into embarrassment and Boar felt her face flush hot. She scrambled to her feet, face twisted up in the rage that was boiling in her chest. Instantly her pink gaze narrowed in on Kingsfoil and Euron and she marched heavily up to them, shoulders jutting forward and flat teeth bared in a grimace. She closed the distance between them, shoving her face to within inches of the white fawn's. "Ya take that tha fuck back, ya little prick," she'd seemingly been born with a full vocabulary of curse words, though fuck was quickly becoming her most favorite. "Or I'll smash yer faces in." Here she shifted her gaze sharply to Euron, indicating that she was most definitely prepared to include him in the ass-kicking. But it seemed as though Boar's anger caught the better of her, for she didn't wait to give the snide little prince the chance to swallow his words. Setting her stance, she cocked back her head and drove forward with the intent to bash her forehead into the bridge of his nose. Round: one of five Attempt: headbutt Kingsfoil in the face Defense: defenses are for wimps! Injuries: bruised pride

@Kingsfoil @Ashtoreth @Euron

The words of his friend only goaded him on more as he continued to laugh... until the beast got right in his face. She dared? The prince's laughter immediately cut off as she shoved her ugly mug right in front of him. What was she anyway? Some sort of ugly deer wannabe? He didn't appreciate her tone, her language, or the fact that she was speaking to him so roughly with her disgusting breath. "Make me, carrion-eater!" And that was exactly what she did. She jabbed her head forward, catching him right in the nose.

With a cry of pain and alarm he fell right onto his back with an "oof". He didn't know if Kutu fell off his back or was still there but in any case he'd fallen. The crown fell from his head, rolling in the dirt before coming to a stop a few feet away. "Owwwww!" He complained loudly with tears springing into his eyes from the sharp pain. His nose was rapidly becoming swollen and discolored from the blow. For a moment he just lay there, cradling his face with his knees. No one had ever hit him like that before. It hurt... It made him want to run and cry to the Lord.

Perhaps this was what Yarrowfeld felt like.

But he didn't want to be weak like Yarrow.

With a sniffle as he tried to make his eyes to stop watering he rose to his hooves and set his jaw in a stubborn line. He would be damned before he just rolled over and let the stupid beast have her way! "Attack!" He screamed angrily --and with a humorously nasal voice from his swollen nose-- to his companion if he wasn't already in the fray. Kingsfoil reared onto his hind legs and boxed the air before charging at the girl. He had no antlers yet but the gem in his skull reinforced his blows very well.

Kingsfoil & Euron vs Boar
I of V

Attacks: Chaaarrrggeee!
Defense: None
Injuries: Comically swollen nose.

@Ashtoreth @Boar @Euron

This little Wildebeest clearly did not know her place in the world. Euron stiffened as she approached, uncertain if this was going to be his first fight but feeling the beat in his breast that indicated a rise in adrenaline-- if it was going to be his first fight, he was going to be ready! "/You/ are talking to a Prince!" he said sharply; perhaps it was just ignorance causing her to be so dull-- certainly she was ignorant, and likely low-class, the way she garbled her words like there was dirt in her mouth. He was about to comment on her pronunciation-- going the way of cheap pedantic shots in that way elitist cowards had-- but he didn't manage, because she'd just smashed her face into his prince's nose, injuring it. Euron's ears went back. He didn't need Kingsfoil to command twice-- when Kingsfoil charged, Euron joined him, coming at boar from the other side. She already sounded like she was eating her words anyway; this would just be another dimension of that. Attack: Joining Kingsfoil's charge, coming at her from the other direction. Defense: -- Round: 1 Injuries: None @kingsfoil @Boar Euron

Ashtoreth was jolted awake by the babies yelling and shouting and something bumped into the prince. The tiny noodle was entirely too tired and had no energy to help in the fight, even if she had the will to. Which, frankly, she didn't. Disoriented, she spread her wings and stumbled off of the princely Kings, flapping her injured wings and trying to summon her magic.

The noodle fell a bit harder than she would have liked, tumbling in the wind more like a leaf then a gembound. She made a rasping squeak as she hit the ground, but her sharp eyes saw dozens of hooves around her and frantically she scampered out of the way, over to the crystals that Boar had tried to eat. She wanted to hide there, out of the way, until the battle was over.

Kings could kick her all he liked. She wasn't going to get crushed in between hooves because he had picked a fight with the wrong beast.

She had offered up her challenge to Euron as well, though admittedly she'd forgotten him as soon as her head connected with Kingsfoil's nose. Pride flushed through her immediately as the young fawn tumbled backwards. It was her first taste of power and where a more experienced creature might press the attack, she could do little more than stand arrogantly, lips pulled back in a wicked grin. He was back on his feet far faster than her ego was prepared for, however, and she flinched at his battle cry. But the flinch wasn't enough to remove her from the line of fire. She'd stumbled into her first fight and found herself seriously out-manned. But Boar, even in her youth (perhaps moreso in her youth) was nothing if not stupidly confident. Even with time to settle her thundering heart she wouldn't have backed down from this fight. Kingsfoil leaped at her from one side and his crony from the other. The young white stag smashed into her right shoulder, and the foal her left, pinning her form between them. She felt pain immediately radiate in lightning strikes through her shoulders and across her chest, causing her to bleat in pain. Had she the option, she would have beaten them both at once, but as it stood she was forced to focus on one or the other. Her pain and frustration narrowed into a pinpoint: Kingsfoil. Craning her head sharply, she opened her mouth wide to expose broad flat teeth and lunged for his left ear. Her dental makeup was not for ripping or tearing, but crushing could be plenty painful, she figured. Round: two of five Attempt: chomp down on Kingsfoil's ear Defense: at least there are only two of them? Injuries: bruised pride; bruised shoulders

@Kingsfoil @Ashtoreth @Euron

He and his companion managed to pin the beast in between them. Their bodies pushing into her. Kingsfoil grit his teeth as he tried to butt and twist his head to cause her maximum pain. Perhaps she would quit and admit defeat, then he would... Well, he didn't know he'd do next. She seemed like an idiot and he didn't know if he wanted idiots in his kingdom. "Keep it up, Euron! We've got her now!" The cocky prince gloated as he heard her bleating in pain. He felt like they would win for sure! Until he felt a horrible pain in his left ear.

The young fawn squealed as the crushing pain brought more tears to his eyes. "MYEARMYEARMYEAR!" He screeched. Twisting and turning only brought him more pain so he was forced to try other means to escape. "GETHEROFF! GETHEROFF!" He kicked out with his sharp hooves at her legs, trying to make her buckle and fall. Maybe then she would be forced to let go.

Kingsfoil & Euron vs Boar
II of V

Attacks: Kick at Boar's legs! Escape escape!
Defense: None
Injuries: Comically swollen nose. Left ear chewed up, bleeding a little.

@Ashtoreth @Boar @Euron