All it took was a quick glance backward for him to give an involuntary cry of "oh FUCK no!" Somehow, he failed to notice those awful things on the goose's stomach and now they were trying to wrap its way around his leg. Fuckin' nah, fam. Skidoodle, skedaddle, his leg was not going to be a noodle.

He waited until the last minute to drop out of his dive, where his talons just barely scraped the earth before flapping his wings and steadying himself. As he did so, he tried to muster up even an ounce of magicka, something to slow the awful goose down just enough. A wind, shockingly, enveloped him easily, blasting upward toward the goose. He'd sustain it for a moment, just to keep the thing at bay and from managing to get those claws around his leg and doing who-knows-what to it. Once Eythan felt he was in the clear, he suddenly cut it off, hoping the monster would smack into the ground. Light bones never served birds too well with that.

@Blackberry

The wind pushed against Blackberry again and she felt herself shudder as her groose loosened. Frusterated, she tried to keep herself dug into the hybrid's leg. She managed to hold on with her beak, but she couldn't bring her body up to latch her stomach claws around his leg.

All of this over a little gem? Of course. She didn't care about it, Huckleberry didn't care about it, but if she let anyone take anything from her home, then she might as well invite the whole cave in to pick whatever they wanted.

@Eythan

Eythan pinned his ears in frustration, realizing that the goose was still, of course, attached to his leg. Looking back for the barest of seconds, he narrowed his eyes and continued to fly forward, still exceptionally fast despite the weight supposedly dragging him down. The hybrid glanced side to side for a moment, measuring that he was most certainly more agile than the monstrous goose. The wings said it all.

Clenching his beak, he swerved abruptly toward the cave's wall, intentionally throwing himself off balance by sticking his back half forqard. His goal was to slam the goose into the rock and hopefully knock it off. As he thought before, light bones never served birds too well. But, of course, fate never served him too well either, did it? He pulled away entirely too soon from the rock wall, making it seem like a shitty flight manuever. Fuck.

@Blackberry

Blackberry saw the wall getting closer as the hybrid pulled her along. She flapped her wings erratically, trying to slow their path. She credited herself at his failure, but saw the opporunity as soon as they passed by. She managed to turn herself enough so that her back was to the wall and elevated herself so that her feet were at the same level. Just as they got close enough, she grabbed the wall and dug in her claws before pushing off with all her might. She was a lot lighter then him so maybe she could use momentum over weight. She dragged down with her beak, trying to add extra force to the pull.

@Eythan

He could feel the monstrous goose tugging him down, disturbing every bit of balance he had and digging her sharp beak deeper and deeper into his leg. Eythan quietly cursed the Collector and himself for being so goddamn stupid as to subject anyone to this. The hybrid pinned his ears back, flapping his wings aggressively to gain some semblance of height.

Then, with the tuck of his wings and the abrupt twist of his body, he spun through the air with the monstrous goose in tow and hopefully slamming into the ground. Eythan, at least, would hit the ground on his side, blow softened somewhat by his wings.

Round 1/???
Attack: Twisting and falling in hopes to slam Blackberry on the ground.
Injuries: Deep wounds on left leg above the ankle.

@Blackberry

The two of them began to lose height and Blackberry tugged harder, trying to get them to fall the way she wanted. But, as she suspected, the hybrid was strong and she suddenly found herself underneath her heavier opponent. She realized that this wouldn't be good as they got closer and she tried to let go and fly away but it was too late. They smashed into the ground and she gasped with shock as the world swam for a moment in front of her. She let go of Eythan, momentarily paralyzed.

@Eythan

As soon as he met earth and felt sweet release on his leg, Eythan was swift to recover. He twisted abruptly to his feet and flapped his wings frantically to get off and away from this damn goose. Successful without too much injury, he ascended and took off down the tunnel, focused more on speed than height.

; exit Eythan
@Blackberry

Blackberry didn't have time to react. Before she knew it, the hybrid was speeding away with the stone clutched in their claws and she could do nothing about it. She struggled to her feet, ready to give chase, but knew, as soon as she was up, that it was useless. She would never catch up.

She snarled, furious at her failure and that someone had stolen from her. But, at least, it hadn't been the precious blue gem. She whipped around and stalked through the nest to return to her spot roosting atop the chrysalis. As she stepped, she felt something brush against her foot. Looking down, she saw the tuft of hair that he had left behind.

Her face twisted and she kicked it away towards the pile of rot and bones that served as the family's garbage pile. Some idea of a joke.

*exit