Giggle dodged with a little more ease than the hybrid would have liked, a grimace forming on his face as his tail was snapped at. Somewhere along the middle, teeth snagged and drew a bit of blood. His beak click!ed softly, and rather disappointedly as he breezed past the hyena. Eythan spun in the air again, this time showing off with a little bit of aerobatics; he tilted himself upward, flapping his wings once for a burst of lift, before twisting in a perfectly executed flipping and diving motion. Not wanting to give the bonecaster something to expect, he said nothing in response, simply swooping toward the hyena.

The gryphon pushed forward, forward, forward until the last possible second. With a powerful wingbeat, he threw himself upward so that he was above the hyena. Twisting himself in the air so that his back half was further forward than his front, he endeavored to dive straight down onto Giggle, skull parallel to the spotted back. He braced himself for possible impact, eyes narrowed but not completely closed just in case.

@Giggle

Giggle let out a sharp bark of surprise as Eythan's body hurtled into her, and staggered heavily. She twisted, with a snarl, no coherent thoughts left in her mind other than the driving instinct to throw off an attacker.

There was even a brief spark of fear, there--the ever-present idea lurking that perhaps Eythan was just... biding his time before a betrayal. He killed Azazel. He killed Carni.

The hyena leapt forward, trying to just dislodge him as she regained her feet, like a bronco with a rider--loose, staggering, and snarling SHUT UP meanwhile at her own inner thoughts.

Her movements were unsteady, her footing nearly lost, and even if she managed she would likely be easy to grab back onto--but she felt herself gaining ground, and struggling to keep it.

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ROLL THE BONES

@Eythan

As soon as he made contact and heard a bark of surprise, a rather sharp pain shot through his skull. Note for the future: don't slam with his head. Well, in a no-stakes spar like this, it was fine to screw around with random strategies like that. Flapping his wings and sprawling his legs over the hyena's back to gain a grip (he didn't quite trust his talons not to accidentally lodge themselves into Giggle's flank) Eythan twisted his neck around.

Throwing his head forward a little, he tried to snip at the rounded ear closest to him without grabbing onto it particularly hard. Feeling it in the tip of his beak, he tugged softly before relinquishing his grip and allowing himself to flop onto the ground, shouting "one even!"

@Giggle

Giggle winced as she felt Eythan's body scrambling and scraping over her back, and the pinch at her ear--and when the load suddenly lightened, when the voice came close as he dropped to the ground, she turned and lunged low.

She wasn't aiming for his ear in turn--but for a forelimb, in an attempt to snag it and pull him off his feet, at her mercy. And she gave no time--the moment he was falling, she was spinning, thick fangs bared beneath wrinkled black muzzle, her paws scrabbling furiously over the ground to gain purchase, her mane an erect bristle.

She didn't plan to stick around afterward--just tug him off his feet, and hop back--hopefully not giving him a chance at her ear, but it was hard to predict in the heat of the moment.

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ROLL THE BONES

@Eythan

He barely had a chance to scramble to his feet before teeth snagged his forelimb and sent him onto three legs. Balance compromised, he flopped to his side and was pulled along slightly as Giggle shuffled backward. Eythan's right wing flared, trying to provide some semblance of equilibrium.

What should he do now? Try and scramble toward Giggle on three limbs? No, he'd be leaving himself open and probably couldn't get back on his legs again. Ears flickering back, he contemplated. Currently, the hyena could only look one way: at his foreleg and where it currently was. He wasn't heavy nor strong enough to twist and throw the hyena. Instead, he'd keep his leg right here it was. His other foreleg, albeit a little sideways, braced itself against the stone.

Eythan jutted his shoulder against the stone, yanking his leg one way (with a wince of pain from thick teeth possibly drawing blood) and kicking out with his hind legs at Giggle's ankles, hoping to knock them out from under her. Calculated blows seemed to work out the best, and two could play at the game of knocking one another off-balance.

@Giggle

Giggle leapt clear as Eythan struggled to recover his balance, and the moment his feet lashed out, she thought she saw another opening. Instinct driving her, she leapt forward, teeth clacking for his ear again, her weight throwing forward in a clumsily brutish dive as Eythan's paws struck the air where she had been moments before.

Some part of her thrilled with a savage, long-distant instinct--the ferocity of a hyena fighting a cat in forgotten savannahs. But Eythan wasn't a cat, not exactly, and as her jaws came in for the blow attempt she did not succumb to this hatred.

She didn't bother to speak, just thrusting for the attack; this would be lesson enough on its own, whether she connected or not.

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ROLL THE BONES

@Eythan

Eythan flattened his ears as he felt his paws refuse to connect with flesh, flying through only empty air. His momentary foe bowed low, diving toward him with jaws open and eager to snag his ear. He was still lying on his side and unable to scramble away in time. In a last-ditch effort, he tried his little kicking maneuver again --- still with his hind legs and with claws sheathed --- and hopefully somewhat impeding the oncoming ear tug and perhaps knocking the hyena off-kilter enough for him to scoot out of the danger zone.

@Giggle

Giggle felt the paws boot her right in the gut, jarring her forward momentum enough that her jaws clacked shut on thin air. She staggered back with a guttural growl, but then (somewhat begrudgingly, or perhaps just filled with the savagery of the fight) spoke.

"Good. Don't let the enemy close." She paced back a bit, then turned a little toward Eythan, unwilling to risk another dive while he regained his feet. She'd just have to let him up, let him come at her, and see what happened.

She could feel herself breathing a little harder, now, and added--"You're making me exert myself. Also good!"

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ROLL THE BONES

@Eythan

Finding some purchase on the hyena, he used his own momentum to push his paws under him and scuffle to his feet. Eythan then bounced away a pace or two. When he tried to speak, he noticed how short his own breaths were; from adrenaline or exertion, he didn't know. "I'm pretty fuckin' exerted, too." Then, with a playful smirk, he lowered his head and added, "I'm getting those ears, though."

He kept his distance, measuring what to do next with watchful red eyes. Then, surprisingly, the gryphon ran head-on toward Giggle. He sprang up onto his hind legs with the aid of his wings, extending out his forelegs so that he'd try to wrap them around the Giggle's shoulders and push himself up against her chest. Somewhere in between, he called, "unless you want to call it even?"

@Giggle

She was surprised when he went for her head-on, and momentarily wasn't sure what to do. He was right in her face, a second from her ear--unless she could put a stop to that, but she couldn't back up easily before he'd lunged in.

Well, they were here to learn. To teach. She decided to show what a terrible idea this was for him--to get in close with a hyena, all snapping jaws and feral fury. Forward she lunged, and upward. She braced hard against the ground with her hind legs, shoving chest-to-chest, aiming to fit her jaws around his beak in a snap and bite firmly though not aiming to crush. Her intent, instead, was to seize his mouth--so he couldn't seize her anything in turn.

Through bared teeth--slightly muffled by her own snarling grip, if she'd caught--she spoke.

"We go until exhaustion! We learn more that way--never expose yourself to someone who can do real damage to you from their strong side, even if you can harm them back! Unnecessary risk!" Granted, she was doing exactly the same--Eythan's claws could tear at her from the front--but she hoped he'd grasp that this bite could have been crushing, and that it could have been his skull, or throat.

This time, Giggle would not relinquish her hold, should she achieve it.

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ROLL THE BONES

@Eythan