CONTAINS BRUTAL GOOSE MUTILATION

NO REALLY IT'S HORRIBLE AND REALLY HARD TO READ

(also as a note everything kera did was done with permission from silverwinter beforehand)

Sprinting out of Polaris with a limping gait, Kera began to slow down as she came to tunnel N. The place held little memories for her, but important ones-- of the fight, of claiming this place for her own, and filling it with her own things.

The first things she had filled it with had been her mushrooms. At the time, they illuminated the tunnel with an eerie blue-green glow; a glow that had meant the world to Kera. Now, with the lights back on, the tunnel was bathed in yellow and reds and blues from Polaris and the orbs above.

Tail wagging, she moved along the tunnel towards a small, smooth alcove in the wall. Within it had been a sleeping place-- a place filled with mushrooms and soft, dried-out grass from Eridanus to lay on. Within her nest was a faintly-glowing rock that Alan had given to her, and now this one would have to join it.

She set the topaz down among the grass and the other rock, before hiding it. She would have to return to guard it and to ask the Black Dog what to do with it next, but first she had to see Giggle-- but before even that...

The rats and the cave deer had eaten at her mushrooms. They always did-- but she'd have to fix them, even if their light wasn't necessary anymore. Content, Kera left her alcove and moved to a cluster of half-eaten fungus, putting her nose to the ground.

It took a moment-- no doubt Polaris and the storm incident had still left her shaken and unsure, but the gradual feeling of her beloved mushrooms caressing her face calmed her down a great deal, even if she hadn't thought of this. She had, in fact, completely forgotten of the events that just transpired, and she was ready to make her way to Canis to tell Giggle everything.

@Blackberry

Blackberry didn't know what had prompted her to return to this place. Perhaps it was the lack of fights since the horrible defeat at the paws of the wolf in Canis. Her wing had fully healed now, but it felt...wrong. It was weaker and stuck out at an odd angle. At least it was still mostly functional, but she had a feeling that she would never be able to fly the length of the caves again.

She hissed lowly as she padded along the tunnel, frustrated that she had suffered so many defeats. Even to Moose had she lost! No more. She would win again!

She didn't even realize who was up ahead until she heard the soft padding of footsteps. A flash of white fur in the distance and her heart jumped. She threw herself behind a boulder, sudden terror and excitement rushing through her veins. Was it? Could it be?

She leaned over and her stomach clenched. It was. Kera. She was here.

Breathing heavy as her blood began to race, she turned to Blueberry. "Stay here and do not interrupt," she hissed. "This is my fight and my fight alone. Do not come to me until it is over."

Giving Blueberry a harsh glare, she then turned and stalked out from behind the boulder, her head held high and her bad wing stuffed tight against her side so as not to betray the weakness in the bones. She narrowed her eyes as she got closer, a jolt of anger leaping in her throat. Kera had dared to make her home in the place she had once rested in cycles ago. She would pay for that.

"I never expected to see you here," she snarled as she stepped forward. "Especially after losing to a bird half your size." It was true, now that they were both almost fully grown, Blackberry's head only reached the wolf's chin, but she held herself proud and strong nonetheless.


___________________________________________________________

Hear my honk.
Why are you listening to my thoughts? Get out of my head!

tags: @Kera
notes: here

For a moment, Kera only watched her mushrooms with lingering pride before she heard something behind her, somewhere else in the tunnel. A soft, hissing voice-- though the words themselves weren't audible.

Then, footsteps. She blinked and turned around, only to be facing the... goose.

Is that..?

It was. The beast that had given Kera a life-long distrust of birds-- alongside Aka the Thief, of course --the thing that Kera had chased from these tunnels and the thing that had, somehow, broken her leg. And the thing that witnessed her biting a rock.

That was not one of Kera's finer moments.

Often, Kera was a patient and friendly creature. She liked friends more than anyone else, but for the first time in a long time, she felt immediate rage rising in her chest. Fur bristling, her snout crinkled as she began growling. "It was you that left," she spat. "You left and this is my place. Go away."

She was not afraid. She had just turned the lights on and saved the life of a snake. The half-grown wolf paced briefly, head low and eyes sharp. She could kill this thing-- that much she knew. She also knew it would make the caves a better place.

No cave should have to house a goose, after all.

@Blackberry

Blackberry let out a loud burst of laughter. "This is not your place! This is mine.
I won it by beating your and breaking your leg! You didn't chase me off or take it back, I simply left it for you, the pathetic loser, with whatever generosity I was born with."

But then her laughter suddenly ceased and she looked at the ceiling, images passing through her brain, feelings dancing across her skin and feathers, pain and anger, blood and fear. So much of it was seeped in the paths she had taken. "But that was then."

She looked back down at Kera, a deadly calm washed over her. It seemed as if every moment, every trouble, had led her to this one confrontation. "I know better now not to walk away from a prize, even a useless one. I learned not to leave your enemies alive another day to fight. I've learned, I've trained, I've sown fear. I destroyed a cat in his own home, I wounded a cobra and took two deadly bites, I've survived the most fearsome of attacks by a monster in the room of bones. I've gained a loyal follower."

She bared her sharpened beak, a crazed look appearing in her eyes as the adrenaline rushed, as she prepared for what lay ahead. "I have no room left for generosity. I'm taking this place back from you and assert this place as my great victory."

She hissed lowly and stalked forward, her wings raising just a bit as she prepared herself.


___________________________________________________________

Hear my honk.
Why are you listening to my thoughts? Get out of my head!

tags: @Kera
notes: here

There was no particular 'yes' or 'no' answer-- merely... a lot of speaking. Kera only half-listened, frowning, while the growl began to fade out from her throat. She was fairly sure that by the time the goose began cackling, that Blackberry had completely lost it.

She stopped listening completely around 'pathetic loser,' fur going flat. She straightened, staring off into the tunnel at her own dimly-glowing mushrooms for a moment, then flicked her gaze up to the lights with a distant smile. She'd done that. Her. Not with help from another dog and a snake, not at all.

She almost forgot Blackberry was even there, until she mentioned a follower. Aka? The owl? The immediate assumption-- though wrong --made perfect sense in Kera's mind. Birds were not to be trusted and both Aka and Blackberry were, in fact, birds.

She shook her fur out. Without so much as a word, the lanky half-grown wolf looked down and began to focus on calling down a blinding beam of light directly into the goose's eyes in an attempt to briefly blind or stun her-- or, at the very least, perhaps shut her up...

Round: 1
Attempt: Briefly blind Blackberry with light
Defense: none
Injuries: Mild limp in her foreleg

@Blackberry

Blackberry was preparing for an attack, maybe some claws or teeth, or even some new mushroom spell, but she wasn't prepared for the strong beam of light that poured into her eyes.

She screamed with pain and shut her eyes as they burned furiously, reeling back, but it was too late. When she squinted to try and see the wolf, she found that she couldn't. With a honk of fury, she leaped forward, her teeth flashing and wings harrowing down in a crazy frenzy.

Round: 1
Attempt: dESTROY
Defense: none
Injuries: scars, lame wing, blinded


___________________________________________________________

Hear my honk.
Why are you listening to my thoughts? Get out of my head!

tags: @Kera
notes: here

Blueberry followed, as always. He wanted so badly to help her, even though she told him not to. Berry wanted to protect her. He wanted to keep her safe. But Miss Blackberry told him otherwise, and it kind of hurt. But still, he'd listen.

"Yes, Miss Blackberry." He told her, and then sat and waited. He needed to be patient.He would help if things got bad, but he was sure that his goose companion could take to wolf. He closed his eyes at the flash of light, blinded by it. It wasn;t a very nice light. Not at all.

The moose calf continued to watch as Miss Blackberry tried to attack the wolf. "Go Miss, I believe in you!" He encouraged from afar.

@Kera @Blackberry

Kera had not been able to call upon light that strong before, but she had very little time to internally praise herself for being so damn good at light-making-- perhaps, even, the illuminated lights were helping her, somehow.

She did not know. What she did know that it was far too bright that even she had to briefly close her eyes in fear of being blinded herself-- but she heard the shriek that Blackberry let loose and opened them again, only to see a charging goose going right for her.

Trying not to get another limb broken-- and firmly ignoring the cheers from a something elsewhere --perhaps that so-called 'follower,' but it sounded nothing like Aka. It did not matter: she had a fight to win. With a sharp breath, Kera moved to slink out of the way of the incoming, blind goose.

Round: 2
Attempt: Dodge the goose-train
Defense: none
Injuries: Mild limp

Blackberry distantly heard the cried of Moose where she had left him and smiled inwardly. He was so loyal and so ignorant. She was glad that she had allowed him to follow her around.

But when she reached the space where Kera had been, she felt the air shift as she moved out of the way and she knew that the wolf had dodged her attack. Without hesitation, she planted a foot on the ground and whirled around to where she guessed Kera had moved to and attacked relentlessly again. But she seemed to misjudge the space and her attacks only fell on empty air.

Round: 2
Attempt: dESTROY P2
Defense: none
Injuries: scars, lame wing, blinded


___________________________________________________________

Hear my honk.
Why are you listening to my thoughts? Get out of my head!

tags: @Kera
notes: here

Kera's vision was clearing again as she watched Blackberry zoom past her, then turn. How badly had that light wounded her eyes, the wolf wondered briefly-- though shortly realized then and there that this was her chance to put an end to the goose.

Charging for the flailing goose, Kera gave a deep-bass growl from her throat and moved to pile straight onto Blackberry. As her lip curled upwards she moved to clamp her jaws around the bird's neck, teeth aiming to sink into feathers and flesh, though she found that her jaws snapped loudly into thin air.

Round: 3
Attempt: Bite blackberry's throat
Defense: none
Injuries: Mild limp
@Blackberry