Deep beneath the trees' dappled shadows, bathed in shafts of light that filtered from beneath, a bear was fishing.

His near-black fur shone a healthy brown-gold where the daylight touched it. Beneath him, the brook babbled past, quiet white froth and glimmering ripples catching the light and reflecting it in soft cascades over his underside.

Small, dark eyes picked over the water. Thus far, Sergei had been silent--he'd come to this place, he'd found the water by scent, and now he sought his meal. Beneath the shadow of his bulk danced a few silver fish, darting in and out and feeding on the detritus at the stream's bottom. He waited, patient, wholly still. When at last one slipped close enough the bear crashed downward with massive paws and gaping jaws, trying to seize it in his teeth.

The splash was loud--certainly loud enough to be audible some distance off through the shifting ferns.

After a close moment of struggle, teeth closed around slippery skin. Quickly, he pulled back. Cold streams of water poured from his jaws and from the fur of his broad head, his chest and his forelegs.

Sergei turned, pacing up a few meters from the water, beginning to strip the fish's flesh from its bones, swallowing it in chunks.

@Eythan

Honestly, who knew why the fuck he was here. Eythan sure didn't. Flight practice, probably, judging from the way he ducked and weaved between the branches. Eridanus's canopy was a dense network of tight twists and hairpin turns --- perfect for adjusting your skills as a flier. Orion was great for soaring and the Chambers in Canis were a fairly decent place to navigate; but, neither had the close-quarters feeling of the Maw of Mosses.

Wings tucked close for the briefest of moments as the gryphon drew his limbs close. Streamlining himself into a bullet of a hybrid, he dove through a particularly narrow tangle of branches; as he went, he could barely feel his beard touch the bottom. Close, but still a success! Feathers billowed out, to slow himself and provide some life. Eythan's head tilted down, bright eyes following a lower loop in the dense flora.

Just as he began to take a nosedive through, there was a resounding crash! like something enormous had impacted water.

Curiosity getting the better of him --- and not killing the cat, it seemed --- the gryphon proceeded with his diving momentum. Slicing through the air with ease, he perfectly judged his position, adjusting with the slightest of movements. Once the tip of his tail had cleared the branches, Eythan snapped his wings out and flapped them once or twice. Slowing his descent with spread limbs and fanned tail, he looked around.

A river burbled through, slicing through the greenery. Silver fish glinted in the light, feeding and leaping from behind rocks and such in search of better... uh... pastures? Off to the side, a rather large, furry mass was making away with a catch: a fat fish worthy of a meal. Interesting.

"Oi!" Eythan chirped as he spun in lazy circles, gradually coming down from the canopy. He wasn't about to run into any giant, somehow unseen, objects and embarrass himself again. "I didn't even know Eridanus fuckin' had fish," he noted, hoping to make some decent conversation. Flight practice could wait until later. This big thing with a spiraling tattoo-gem seemed much more interesting.

@Sergei

M for language

The great bear's ears twitched at the new voice, and his head came up, jaws still chewing the fish. His dark eyes regarded Eythan almost dully--intent, but not betraying much thought or expression. He just chewed for a long moment before swallowing, licking his jaws, and speaking to the descending creature. Sergei's voice, too, was toneless, with a strange, distinct accent that rolled the r's.

"What is this word?" he asked. "'Fucking?'"

Perhaps not the best impression Eythan could have made, but Sergei didn't seem the judgemental type.

@Eythan

For a second, the gryphon was recalculating like a GPS. Maybe this was just some very large and odd-looking Lesser; apparently bears fit among the sabre-toothed deer and hallowed callers. Eythan was just being stared at with dull brown eyes, listening to the rather intimidating sound of big jaws munching on a fish. Replace that fish with his own bones, and you can see why the hybrid was a little bit uneasy.

Most of his worries melted away as the bear began to speak, though, asking the all-important question: what is Fuck? In that moment, Eythan decided he was ready to die. This was the second time he had introduced swearing to (what was probably) a child. "Oh, it's just a thing I say," he laughed, dismissing the subject entirely with a shrug of his wing.

Clicking his beak in apparently pensive thought for a second, he added, "m'name's Eythan, before you can think of any nicknames like the last Gembound I had this conversation with did."

@Sergei

The bear stripped another piece of fish up--almost the whole thing was gone, in two bites--as Eythan spoke. Then he chewed, again staring, his thousand-pound-plus-bulk mostly still as he contemplated.

Slowly, his mind worked over the implications of "just a thing I say," and of the other Gembound's name. Sergei wasn't particularly social, but nor was he anti-social; he was just... distant. After a moment he shook himself, and turned, ambling the few yards back down toward the water. But as he did so, at least, he spoke.

"Sergei," he rumbled, that thick accent still rolling his r's. "My name is Sergei." He didn't quite grasp what the other Gembound was saying about nicknames--and, being... well, not all that bright, the bear wasn't really curious. Instead, he spoke further. "I am fishing." It wasn't entirely clear if that was an explanation, or an invitation to join him, though as he reached the river once more, he peered back with those dull dark eyes at Eythan.

@Eythan

Wow, that fish was gone fast. Eythan swallowed quietly, looking away from the bear as he finished snarfing it down. Better not end up at the wrong end of this lad. The pointy, big-jawed end, I mean. Shush. The shaggy beast lumbered back toward the river, already settling down to catch another meal. Fishing, as it was colloquially called.

The gryphon never really was a fisherman.

Regardless, he followed after Sergei, ears pricked forth in curiosity. Bright eyes stared into the water, catching the motions of fins and shiny scales. Eythan shrugged, wondering if it was any different from hunting cave rats; it was just a different kind of sea, water instead of bone. "I've never really tried fishin'. Canis isn't very uh... fish-filled, y'know?" He plonked down onto his haunches, not bothering to wind up his tail. "I'm more of a hunter and a fighter, I guess. More into sparring though than actual battle, though --- all of that For Honor shit isn't my jam."

@Sergei

The bear was--as was quickly proving to be his habit--silent for a long moment after Eythan spoke. He seemed quite focused on his task, neither bothered nor pleased with the presence of the hybrid. His words, at least, were amiable enough (if somewhat lacking in enthusiasm).

"I know very little of honor," Sergei told Eythan in his blunt way, and with his thick accent. Broad head turned slowly to and fro as he studied the glittering surface of the water. Light shone off it, dancing over his wet fur, illuminating the droplets with blinding golden glints. Even the bear's pitch dark eyes seemed to glow with light.

"And what is this--'sparring,' you mention?" His massive bulk shifted ever-so-slightly so that he could peer at Eythan sidelong, curious at last--in his own dull way.

@Eythan

Well, maybe this bear wasn't a child, but not very old, either. That, or Sergei just hadn't gotten out very much. Eythan clicked his beak in thought, settling on the latter. To be fair, though, Giggle was pretty blunt, too. The gryphon furrowed his brow; she just seemed to be particularly blunt and to the point with him. Fair, considering the, ahem, history between them. "Some folks preach that shit," he chirped dismissively, cat-instinct driving his gaze towards the glinting of scales in the light. His talons twitched along with his tail.

Caves, he wanted to pounce.

For the sake of keeping this conversation up and not getting himself sopping wet, he restrained himself. "Sparring, really?" Eythan quirked a brow with genuine confusion, getting to his paws. This bear hadn't sparred, before? "It's basically just practice-fighting. You don't try to kill each other but just try to get better at defending or attacking or whatever you need to do. I do it a lot."

@Sergei

Sergei listened, massive head still peering toward Eythan, dark dull eyes fixed on him intently. He licked his jaws, in an absent fashion, clearing off some of the water and the fish scales--but the hybrid's words were interesting.

Though Eythan hadn't said much of this "honor," he'd explained "sparring," and Sergei liked the idea.

"I wish to spar," he decided, his speech stilted and stiff--not in an eloquent way, but as if that were the only way he could think of to phrase it.

The brown bear pushed back from the water and turned, shoving up abruptly onto his hind legs, his nearly ten foot tall form stretching as he rotated his neck to and fro. There were a couple of cracks and then he lurched back down, his bulk slamming into earth and sending up a small spray of mud.

He then looked to Eythan, expectantly.

"Now we will spar," he said.

@Eythan

Oh, this big lug was gonna spar with him? Eythan stared for a moment, not really processing. Sergei stood, drowning out the orb-light with his enormous bulk and shaking his head, and the gryphon made the equivalent of a :/ face. Well, this would be a fun experience in not getting pinned down. If he thought Giggle had been trouble to get out from under, who fucking knew what it'd be like to escape from this fucking ball of pure muscle and terror.

Absently shaking off some mud from his claws (a futile effort, given what was just about to happen) the gryphon clicked his beak. "Alright then, homes. We could do what I do with a friend of mine and just wrestle. First one to grab the other's ear three times wins. If you grab the ear, you gotta let go and we'll start back at square one. Same for me."

Eythan bounded off a few paces, then squared off. "Sound good?"

@Sergei