Xervas was still bitter about the fact that he hadn't been able to kill the one rat, and it had been a cycle since. He'd killed every other one since then, but that one lost battle was weighing him down. The lammergeier couldn't let the one mistake go. But, over time, he had concluded that it was because he was young and inexperienced then-- he was better now, he had improved. He could likely take on anything thrown at him at this point.

Nevermind, of course, the fact that he couldn't fly and hadn't taken down a larger animal. But he still felt confident. Yes, he could quite easily kill a larger Lesser Gembound, but he had no reason to. Or maybe he did have a reason, even if that reason was just to prove that he could.

He was slowly walking through the muddy soil, lost in thought. The feathers around his feet seemed to be permanently stained the color of muck, but Xervas did not care. Until, that was, he tripped on a small rise; he inevitably fell into the filthy water. He quickly got up, but he did let out an indignant screech. Now the bird was entirely covered in filth, and that was a different story.


"Speech."

((Alt title: "Dumb bird trips and then screams like the child he is"))
@Talion

Dark brown eyes scrutinized the nearby trees, noting the distinct lack of bats among the branches. Talion had not been to Cetus often, but when he had he remembered the lesser Gembounds had seemed more plentiful here. The owl assumed it was the vegetation, and that, just like in Eridanus, the lesser Gembounds were drawn to it. Food, shelter, and the ever-present feeling of life seemed just as popular as the coursing magic of Polaris.

Polaris, even with all of its energy, had left a bad taste in Talion's beak. Nothing but trouble seems to happen there, the owl thought as his gaze traveled lower and lower. His view was partially obscured by the branches of the tree he sat perched upon, but he was close enough to edge of the branch to at least see some of the ground. He glanced around curiously, seeing nothing at first. Not even a single cave deer to stir the mist, he thought, recalling seeing such a thing on his previous visit.

A sudden cry ripped through the air, drawing Talion's gaze and attention. He noticed a slight shifting of the mist, and decided after another minute that that had to be where the sound had come from. His peppered wings snapped open, and, after leaning forward only slightly, the owl was airbornce.
He glided down, making a wide circle around the copse of trees he had been looking at. The closer he got to the ground, the thick the mist grew, but he kept his gaze trained on the spot of movement.

A small rise speared up through the mist, and, upon seeing it, Talion threw his wings out and gently settled on to it. He tucked his wings against his side, and then leaned over the edge, spotted a young bird.

"What are you doing?" Talion asked, a hint of indignation in his voice.

@Xervas

Xervas first heard the bird, having been lost in his own thoughts. He looked up, seeing the dark owl; dark tones, like Xervas's natural, clean feathers. The lammergeier looked him over, narrowing his eyes. Glaring up at the stranger. They could fly. How he'd give anything to be able to do such a thing. He took a disliking to him almost immediately, over something so simple, so harmless.

He fluffed himself up, trying to look a touch more intimidating, despite the fact that he was soaked, with mud in his feathers. "I was walking, clearly," He rudely responded. Nevermind the fact that he had tripped not a minute ago.

"And, what, exactly, are you doing?" he asked, tilting his head to the side. Still watching the barn owl.


"Speech."

@Talion

Talion jerked back as if the Gemling's bad-mannered reply had physically struck him. Little shit can't even answer one fucking question, the owl thought as he narrowed his eyes. Before he could reprimand the younger Gembound though, it spoke up again, and it had the gall to ask him what he was doing.

"I'm watching a child play in the mud, apparently." Talion sneered, his tone thick with contempt.

The owl twisted his head to the side, peering curiously at the bird's wings. He wasn't familiar with what species they were, but they appeared larger than he had been as a youngling. Surely they could fly, he thought, surely they didn't enjoy the filth.

Too curious, and not compassionate enough, not to ask, Talion snapped out,"What's wrong with you? Why don't you fly?"

@Xervas

If the given answer didn't make Xervas angry, the question proposed to him certainly did. Why couldn't he fly? Why couldn't he fly! That question enraged the young bird, partly because he knew that it was, in it's own way, a valid question. He was old enough to be able to do so.

Miffed, the bird tried to grab Talion and drag him down into the mud-- the key word being tried. When his first attempt failed, he knew that he was making a fool of himself. His intentions surely must have been clear; he had just tried to grab the bird.

So the best he could do was glare upwards.

Round: 1
Attempt: Drag him into the muck
Defense: None
Injuries: None (takes place before fight with Huckleberry)


"Speech."

@Talion

Talion tensed whenever the younger Gembound surged forward, running up the rise straight toward him. Apparently, he'd hit a nerve with his question! The owl let out a hoot of laughter whenever the other bird reached him, and assumably tried to grab him. He could only assume since the stranger utterly failed by batting at him with mud-crusted talons.

"That all you got, boy?" Talion sneered as he snapped his wings open.

With a powerful thrust, the barn owl rose into the air just over above the other Gembound. A slight tilt of his peppered wings, and Talion was aiming to soar straight at the stranger. A moment before impact, he angled his wings up ever so slightly, simultaneously kicking out with his feet. The little one had started this, and he would end it.
Talion would not be bested by a impudent child.

@Xervas

Round: 1
Attempt: Kick him into the mud!
Defense: None
Injuries: None

He was sent right back into the filth that he had just gotten up from. Knocked back in from the powerful, well-placed shove. He concluded that magic was a good thing to use, especially if the stranger used his flying abilities to his advantage. Not having the ability to fly himself, Xervas reached for his magic. Teach the older one a lesson.

He reached for his magic, but it slithered out of reach. And he tried again, but that just caused it to move further away, like the world's most skittish creature. His rage was making it hard to focus on his task; it was working against him, not with him.

Round: 2
Attempt: Dispel
Defense: None
Injuries: Very minor bruising


"Speech."

@Talion

Even the thick, rolling mist couldn’t swallow up the satisfying splat his opponent made when hitting the mud. Triumph soared through Talion, lifting his confidence like a warm updraft.
He’d teach this Gemling a thing or two about respect, and then he’d figure out where all the lesser Gembounds were. Even now, as he made a wide loop around the other bird, skimming just over the mist, he caught no other sign of movement.

The cloud of mist beneath his wings struck a memory, and then an idea, in Talion. He glanced at his target to confirm his position, and then dipped down to land on a small patch of moss. Although it was damp, it wasn’t the muck and mire the other bird had chosen to wallow it.

Talion concentrated on his feathers, willing them to lighten so that he could blend in with the mist around him. Almost instantly, he felt a surge of energy course under his skin, his magicka, and then he noticed his charcoal colored feathers dulling to a pale, smoky grey.

Once he thought he was hidden, Talion let out a triumphant hoot. ”Do you hunt as well as you fly?” He sneered, goading the younger Gembound now.

@Xervas

Round: 2
Attempt: Lighten feathers to take cover in the mist
Defense: Hidden in the mist
Injuries: None

The owl seemed to just... disappear. One moment, he was there in the mist, just the faintest outline. Xervas had looked away for one instant to get up on his feet, and then he was just gone. He had actually thought, for several moments, that the other Gembound had left.

That was, until he spoke.

The lammergeier whirled, facing the general direction of the voice. Squinting, he tried to find the bird... but he wasn't seeing anything. How was something there... then not there? Then again, Cetus did have a fair amount of fog. That was likely it.

Rather than investigate, Xervas reached yet again to grab onto his uncooperative magic. Just barely, he found it; the magic felt like it was fighting. But he had it. So he flung it out, in the form of a weak shockwave, directed in the vague direction of the voice. He couldn't easily hunt what he couldn't see, after all.

Round: 3
Attempt: Dispel
Defense: None
Wounds: Very minor bruising
"Speech."

@Talion

The barn owl caught sight of the fog billowing toward him in thick, rolling clouds just before the shockwave hit. It felt akin to a gust, nothing more than a slight push that barely even ruffled his feathers. However, the movement had disturbed his cover, and broken his concentration.

Talion's peppered wings snapped open once more, thrusting downward to propel him back into the air. He hovered for a second, mind reeling, before he finally decided to try and end this. Though he was quick to anger, and to react these days, the owl really wasn't a fighter. If this bout turned into anything more than him teaching the little squirt a lesson, he'd be out faster than you could say his name. Better to end it now, while he was ahead, than let fate turn against him.

With his dark orbs focused on the younger Gembound, Talion tilted down toward him and made it seem as if he were going to divebomb them. At the last possible second though, he pulled up and flared his wings out to catch himself. His talons stretched out, ready to push and pin the smaller bird into the mud.

@Xervas

Round: 3
Attempt: Pin him!
Defense: None
Injuries: None