(( ooc -- private & mature, probably will get gory! ))

Tawny fur flashed by beneath a patch of light, one of the few that shafted down through the thick trees in this part of Eridanus. Tongue lolled, the soft sound of panting carrying only a few feet, pale paws rhythmically scratching the leaf litter as the dingo trotted down the slope.

She was on the hunt, again, hunger gnawing at her belly; her last meal had been a cave rabbit yesterday, and it had been more fur than flesh. She was after something bigger, a large cave deer perhaps--a challenge, for once. Something she could take down, and feed off of for a few days.

The dingo reached the edge of one of the small streams that curled through the jungle, lowering her head to lap at the water, her tail briefly wagging at the cool, refreshing taste. When her head came back up, she crossed over to the other bank, quieter now.

No longer did her paws make such a racket, and now she didn't pant. Ahead lay her hunting ground: a few mossy meadows, where she could prowl the surrounding shadows while eyeing out prey. And beyond that, a more open, brightly-lit little wood, with plenty of herbivore food to act as lure.

With any luck, she'd find something more suitable for a meal than a living, breathing scrap of fur.

She twined her way along through the trees, nose alternating between the ground and the air, searching for a scent.

((ooc -- @Gadanai ))

A quiet day, with no Jasmine in sight. She left her beloved treasure to spend the day wandering Eridanus by herself, reluctantly. Usually, she would stalk and spy, but today they both needed a little alone time. So the elephant wandered into a clearing where she had spent time pawing a good dust hole for her personal needs. Gadanai pawed at the middle of it for good measure, then lowered the front of her body down to her knees so she could dig her growing tusks into the dirt. Gadana Ama found herself increasingly proud of her tusks. They were growing quickly, reaching downward. in full size, they would be capable of clearing her path through the thickest brush and to hammer into her foes (or victims) with no mercy. She was also growing, herself, nearly half a ton of muscle and bone. The second cycle of her life would surely push her into a full ton, maybe more, as she grew. Eventually topping out at 3 tons and 8 feet. She couldn't wait. With a grunt, she flopped herself to her side and rolled in the dirt, trunk working of the dust and flinging it over her body as she rubbed herself into the ground. When satisfied with her left side, she got back up to her fore knees, tusked the ground again, then flopped to her right, repeating the process. When her dark grey skin was caked in dirt, she heaved herself up onto her feet and gave a deep exhale, a bit of a snort escaping her nose. A wonderful day of peace. If only I could afford to risk another merciless killing. Fucking Jasmine and her damned timing... Gadanai shook her head, then resumed fanning herself with her ears. With a steady saunter, she headed for the tree line and began to grab huge clumps of green, pushing them into her mouth. She was relaxed, tail slowly swaying, ears slowly fanning, and eyes relaxed. It seemed as though nothing could go wrong. --------- "Speech" Thoughts OOC: words @Feral

What she first took for a massive shadow, a pit in the moss, suddenly... moved.

The dingo quickly backed up, quiet, her amber eyes wide; the creature was enormous, and as it rose up and fanned itself with massive ears, she found herself simply awed.

Now here was an enemy. She remembered Delphine: the massive black horse that had damn near trampled her. But this--... Should she try it?

Should she risk it?

The dingo was hesitating, but the next thing she knew, the elephant calf was trundling right for her. It was using a long, twisty grey thing to lift clumps of green, shoving them into a mouth--and what little she could see of the teeth didn't look like fangs. It looked like tusks, though--and again she was reminded of a horribly losing battle, where she'd attacked a ferocious black boar.

But her self-control was poor, and she was hungry. What was the worse that could happen? It didn't look fast, or agile. She could try it out, and if it was too strong for her, just run away.

Right?

The dingo crept forward, waiting for the elephant to draw closer. One quiet thumping step, then another. She crept closer, herself, placing one pale paw forward, her entire reddish body crouching tense as a spring and held low to the ground. Wide eyes gazed up at her "prey," ears pricked to catch every sound.

Then she was streaking forward, a blur of tawny fur, leaping up and twisting midair to try and latch onto that meaty grey trunk with all the power her jaws could muster--high enough, she hoped, to avoid being trampled, like the horse had done to her.

((ooc -- @Gadanai ))


Round: 1/5?
Attempt: Grab Gadanai's trunk in her teeth, pretty high up
Defense: None
Injuries: None

Peace, quiet. Lesser birds chirping distantly, singing away. She was chewing a bite, just enjoying it instead of swallowing it immediately. She began to reach for a fresh batch when something jumped from the brush and latched onto her trunk, safely planted itself high up, piercing her flesh and drawing a share of blood. Gadanai flew backwards several steps in surprise. Suddenly, rage set in, the shock of it subsiding quickly. "You bitch," she rumbled deeply. She shook her head with a roar, then charged forward, right for the brush. She planned to run through the brush and, hopefully, run into the tree head-on the process. Her long legs carried her through the brush at a decent pace for her size, eyes wide, but not observant, tunnel vision having set in. Her shoulder slammed a tree, but she failed to acknowledge it as she continued to charge along. Another roar bellowed out as she slammed into a wide tree, her tusks being just long enough to save the canine from being crushed. The ivory appendages dug into the tree as she cross her eyes a bit in effort to stare down the dingo, rumbles bellowing in her anger. Gadanai took several steps back, ears flaring out. Her trunk throbbed, blood trailing down her grey skin. It really bright out the color of her raging, red irises, firmly lined by the whites of her eyes. --------- "Speech" Thoughts OOC: ouch Round: 1/5 Attack: Physical Combat - Ram into a Tree Defense: Charge into brush Injuries: Bite wound on upper trunk @Feral

The dingo felt the world rush away as the creature she'd latched onto, instead of stumbling down and dying like prey animals were meant to do, bolted forward. The leaves and trees flew past and suddenly everything was jarred, her brain stunned momentarily.

When her mind cleared, she found her blinking amber eyes meeting a single crimson one that glared at her from far too close. Fear spiked within her--maybe she'd tackled something way, way too big.

Closely behind that came the surge of bloodlust she felt in combat--at least before she got sent tail-tucked and fleeing, in some of her less well-chosen fights. But for now, the strange prey-creature seemed rather stuck, with Feral wedged between grey flesh and a tree trunk. Should she dangle here, ripping and tearing? It didn't seem to be doing much--the creature didn't even appear to feel pain.

With an almost cheerful growl, she quickly let go, dropping down and attempting to dart between the elephant's legs, hoping to avoid being trampled long enough to get into a better position: below and to the side, where she'd get easy access at that soft, ripe underbelly.

Assuming, of course, that she wasn't too dazed to utilize her agility well enough.

((ooc -- @Gadanai - note this is just movement not an attack yet!))
Round: 2/5?
Attempt: Drop down/to the side of Gadanai
Defense: None
Injuries: Dazed

With a scowl on her face, her eyes darted around trying to locate the dingo she had just dropped. The shitty thing about these smaller animals - the bastards had speed naturally. She clumsily swung herself around, then spotted her. She was to her left, seeming poised and ready to strike again. A sadistic smirk formed on her mouth and she raised her trunk up high, trumpeting loud enough for it to echo through their area of the cave. Before her trunk even began to lower, her ruby began to go to work. It was a bonus, in it's own way, to have a well hidden gem. Nobody knew when it was coming. Especially with her favorite move - Scale. The air expanded, thinning. She felt her own air thin out a little, but she didn't care. That drive to watch another suffer was pumping in with the adrenaline. "Thanks for making my day, mutt," she sneered. If she managed to kill it, or even just seriously damage it, she would be visibly justified, now. Jasmine would surely feel sorry for her when she arrived at home with wounds. Either way, she won, but she would just love to double down, tormenting a dingo then receiving pity. --------- "Speech" Thoughts OOC: casually misspells suffocate Round: 2 of 5 Attack: Scale - thin/expand air Defense: N/A Injuries: Bite wound on upper trunk @Feral

The dingo made it away, and for an instant her sense of triumph took over. She tried to shake the dazedness from her mind, glancing over the "prey" to look for an obvious weak target.

All at once, things got worse--a lot worse. The elephant was doing--... Something, she wasn't sure what, the trunk moving, a deafening trumpeting noise sending her skittering back for a moment, ears flattened.

Then, all at once--as she darted back in to bite--her air was gone.

Her air was gone.

She was choking, she couldn't breathe; her first instinct was to tear into the elephant, as she was about to do already. Surely this had to be from that horrible sound it had made? Maybe if she ripped into it, broke its concentration, she'd break its magic? Otherwise, she would have to flee. There was very little chance she could continue to fight without oxygen to fuel her.

With a frustrated, yelping snarl, half-choked and gasping, the dingo bolted in and aimed her snapping jaws at the elephant's belly. She wasn't trying to dig in and disembowel her--that would involve getting way too close to those stomping legs. But maybe she could make her bleed. Weaken her.

Rip her up, back away, and wait for her to bleed to death.

The instinct to fight and kill battled the rising panic of her suffocation as she dedicated herself to the attack, gasping.

((ooc -- @Gadanai ))

Round: 3/5?
Attempt: Tear into the underbelly
Defense: None
Injuries: Dazed, choking

Gadanai wasn't able to move quick enough. She got one step in before the predatory beast sank it's teeth into her for a second time. She roared, pain shooting into a sensitive place. She reared up, slamming her front feet back down and didn't stop there. She tucked her legs under her with a flowing momentum, throwing herself onto her side - the side Feral bit - with the full aim to crush her. She felt something, but wasn't going to take the time to see the results until she was back on her feet. With a heavy groan, she stood again, backing up swiftly so she could try to lock her eyes back onto the foe. Yes, yes, yes! This is fun! More, bitch, more. Let me crush you! "Let me bathe in your blood, you filth!" --------- "Speech" Thoughts OOC: words Round: 3 of 5 Attack: Roll onto Feral Defense: Attempt to dodge underbelly bite Injuried: Bite wounds on upper drunk and belly @Feral

Things went rather dark as the massive shape above her began to sink toward her.

Past the triumphant taste of blood in her jaws and the suffocation, she suddenly realized that the elephant was falling.

ONTO HER.

This, she had not planned.

With a startled, strangled gasp she scrambled back, trying to release her hold and dodge back out of the way before the elephant flat-out rolled onto her. Flat being the operative word. She would have yelped, but the air hadn't yet returned to her lungs.

She tried to scramble out of the way, feeling the massive bulk of the "prey" creature slam down along her side. She was slammed back, thrown to the side, where she landed with a pained growl, shaking her head to try and clear it. A raking pain seared along her ribs as she barely missed being crushed.

Maybe this thing is a little bit too big.

The thought was late, but better late than never, right...? Still, the elephant was already up, and the dingo only now scrambling to stand. Chances were, she had now lost the offensive advantage.

Amber eyes shifted blearily up to meet Gadenai's. Her words didn't even register; the dingo was virtually non-verbal anyway, but the tone did. She seemed to be enjoying this almost as much as Feral should have been.

She grinned, briefly, tongue lolling, and tensed herself for whatever the elephant was about to do.

((ooc -- @Gadanai ))

Round: 4 of 5?
Attack: Dodge?
Defense: None
Injuried: A bit dazed/a lot out of breath

Satisfaction was very clear on her face. She dropped to her knees and dug her tusks into the ground, then jumped back to her feet, flinging the ground she dug into up into the air. She pawed the ground, then lunged forward, charging the dingo. Her front feet were picked up a little higher, flinging out a little farther forward. She wanted to stop the dog - if she failed, hopefully she could at least chase it off and gain a fancy reputation. --------- "Speech" Thoughts OOC: words Round: 4 of 5 Attack: Stomp and strike Injuries: Bite wounds on upper trunk and belly @Feral