The bear stared down dully. The wriggly thing was on its back, now, pinned but the wrong-way-up. He couldn't get to Eythan's ear very easily--well, not really at all. He could, he supposed, pin him until he gave up. Or he could knock him out, and then bite his ear once (it didn't occur to Sergei that knocking Eythan out would end the spar, or that he could probably bite it more than once, or just tell Eythan tha the had).

He could get at the ear, actually, in a more... roundabout fashion.

The bear opened his jaws wide, plunging his head down in an attempt to gather Eythan's entire skull within it. It was a big mouth, with lots of teeth, but he was careful; the aim was to get his front canines over Eythan's ears and push down a little. A tag, you know.

...Did it count? Sergei assumed it would. If he managed, that was.

Round: 5/?
Attempt: Just put that whole head all up in his mouth
Defense: Eythan pinned
Injuries: None

@Eythan

There was an audible squelch! as Eythan maneuvered to his back, air getting forced under him and popping. Damn, he had mud in his eyes. It didn't take the ability to see to know that death was looming in the form of big, giant bear jaws preparing to literally go around his entire face.

Completely on impulse, the gryphon balled up his talons and drew them close to his chest. Pulling his head to the side, trying to get more distance from the jaws of death and panic, Eythan quite literally threw a punch at Sergei's gullet. The punch was nowhere close to perfect form, but it would hopefully work.

ROUND 6/?

GRAB LOG
EYTHAN (XXO)
SERGEI (XOO)

@Sergei

Sergei stared down in frustration. Eythan was lobbing swings at him, but he'd twisted his head aside in time to avoid the strike. He let out a few loud huffs as he considered what to do.

He decided, in the end, that it'd be best to just keep the hybrid pinned. He had the weight advantage, and Eythan could exhaust himself trying to escape his grip--and he didn't think this out a whole lot, really. It was more like: I am very heavy. I will stand here, and he will grow tired.

So Sergei adjusted his weight, pressing down a little harder so that the hybrid would be hard-pressed (ha) to wriggle away off into the mud.

"Give up, little Eythan," Sergei rumbled deeply. And then, as if in afterthought, he added--"Give me ear for one bite."

Round: 6/?
Attempt: Keep Eythan Pinned
Defense: Eythan pinned (as of rolling)
Injuries: None

@Eythan

Punches seemed to do him well in dissuading big bear jaws, and Eythan began to squirm about again. He used every inch of wiggle room he was able to get, pushing on Sergei's stomach with his hind paws and trying to work his lower half out from underneath. The gryphon clicked his beak, ears back as the bear even suggested giving up, "I will not!" Like a defiant child, he pouted and continued to wiggle around.

A little more weight was added every moment, it seemed, and he sighed in defeat. "Okay, fine." They could reset anyways, and then Eythan would get revenge for this shit. He twisted his neck, craning it so that his left ear was perfectly visible and ripe for the nipping.

ROUND 7/? (no attempt)

GRAB LOG
EYTHAN (XXO)
SERGEI (XOO)

@Sergei

Sergei grunted. He reached his jaws down to nip Eythan's ear, then stepped aside, shaking his coat a little. He had a little mud on him, though not nearly as much as the hybrid was smeared in. The bear wondered, for a moment, if mud was difficult to clean from feathers--not that it mattered, much.

"You need bath," he observed matter-of-factly.

Sergei backed a few lumbering paces away to give them both some room. Then he took up his stance again, ready to battle further.

Round: 7/?
Attempt: No roll
Defense: Eythan pinned (as of rolling)
Injuries: None

@Eythan

Eythan peered at Sergei, narrowed eyes nearly caked in mud. He blinked a few times, then very pointedly stared down at himself. "I really do," the gryphon chirped in confirmation, before shaking out most of his flank. Globs of mud flew off, but the majority of it just stubbornly clung to his fur. Ugh, he'd have to preen for ages to get all of this shit off, wouldn't he?

"We're two for two right now, though. One more ear-grab and it's all over, bucko," he cackled as he lowered his head, ears pinning back against slick fur. It was all stringy and stained at this point, similarly to Sergei's own. Eythan's tail flicked, feathers fanning out and back together as he spread his muddy wings. For lack of better things to do, the gryphon rushed forward and rose up onto his hind legs in order to... beat at Sergei's face with his primaries.

The ultimate offensive.

ROUND 8/?

GRAB LOG
EYTHAN (XXO)
SERGEI (XXO)

@Sergei

Sergei winced back as wings buffeted his face.

Then--rather deafeningly--he sneezed.

He immediately decided that he did not like this, not ONE bit, and snatched out with a quick movement--trying to seize Eythan's left wing's front edge in his teeth and yank down. He was careful not to hang on, or move slowly--he didn't want the hybrid to grab his ear if he stayed close too long (really, it was probably a terrible learning experience for the bear to learn to protect his ears rather than, say, his eyes or his gemstone).

...Still, he was learning, and that was something, at least.

So down he yanked, trying to snag Eythan's wing and make him fall down. Or, at least, stop this infernal face-buffeting that the slappy, deafening wings were performing. He didn't follow up on it--he just wanted the flapping out of his face.

Round: 8/?
Attempt: Pull Eythan down
Defense: Just bein' real quick-like
Injuries: None

@Eythan

Oh, hell fucking yes, Sergei was allergic to feathe--- "oh shit!" A wing was caught in big bear teeth, and Eythan stopped flapping about at once. Moving would be a pretty bad idea given the possibility of breaking or ruining his wing. He had just come out of a chrysalis, and wasn't about to go into another one over a broken wing.

That was traumatic enough.

So, immediately, he went limp and allowed himself to get slammed to the ground. Momentarily winded, Eythan's bright eyes glanced about. Naturally, he had rolled slightly to his back, left wing outstretched. Here goes nothing, he supposed. His lower half writhed, a little closer to the bear's own left side. Then, off went a (hopefully) controlled kick (with his hind legs, of course) to the throat --- with just enough force to maybe disturb Sergei and get enough time to actually get to his feet.

ROUND 9/?

GRAB LOG
EYTHAN (XXO)
SERGEI (XXO)

@Sergei

Sergei had, as previously mentioned, not held on after the quick nip-and-tug. He was already pulling back when Eythan's legs lashed out, and he let out a surprised snort (or perhaps it was another sneeze).

He didn't know how to handle this! He couldn't get to the wriggling, muddy hybrid's head, and he was small, and he wasfast, and Sergei kept his head well back--furry ears pinned--like a cat staring down an enemy.

After a brief pause he just lifted one paw and brought it crashing down, an instinctive attack aiming to stun Eythan for a moment. It was a great big brown bear thwap.

Round: 9/?
Attempt: Smack Eythan
Defense: None
Injuries: None

@Eythan

The hybrid's legs had completely missed Sergei, entirely, but seemed to derive some stunned reaction that was read as an opening. Eythan twisted, much like a slinky, onto his stomach and pushed up. The big bear stared down at him, paw raised for a quick sack. Oh, heck, no.

However muddy his wings were, they could provide some semblance of lift. Eythan hunkered down low, bowing and wiggling his rear. Feeling the paw whiz over his shoulders, the hybrid lurched up and forward again, beak open to get that very last ear-tug from atop Sergei's raised head.

His lungs were quite literally burning from his constant writhing and wiggling, and it took everything in his power not to just sit down and wheeze-pant.

ROUND 10/?

GRAB LOG
EYTHAN (XXO)
SERGEI (XXO)

@Sergei