Jay was coming off one win and into the ring-- though the win against the parasite-worm-thing felt.. hollow. It felt like an insult, and like the judges didn't really care about what she was capable of. So what if she was a kitten? She could fight as good as anybody!

The burly cat went into the ring trying to look as large and as intimidating as she possibly could, tail lashing back and forth behind her as she awaited her next opponent with narrow, lamp-like eyes. Jay refused to lose, and therefore that meant Jay was going to win.

Because that's exactly how life works.

@Huckleberry

These Olympics seemed to be going well thus far: there were no disastrous attempts made on another's life or intense fights to break up. Azizos smiled to himself as the last of the beginning matches came to a close, and he rose to the podium once more. Rinse and repeat, as it goes. Magic pulsed, but to no effect. Silvery eyes blinked slowly, pausing for a moment. Taking a breath, the lion-stag proceeded as usual, announcing:

"The next match in this competition places our previous victor, Jaysong," indicate, "and an awaiting challenger, Huckleberry." Should the hybrid be present, Azizos would indicate to his place. "Glory and I will be watching closely to ensure that no intentional injury is brought either competitor. No blood may be shed under any circumstances --- keep those claws and teeth away."

A beat, as the two Gembound might get into position for combat.

"Begin," he roared, a clear and strong note.

The second round of wrestling was about to begin. Vladis was as optimistic as the audience was, excited to see some real action, in his opinion. He’d seen the black and white kitten in an early match and was amused by her antics even if the match itself was dismal. He was curious to see how the fight would go.

Ratty, on the other hand, was more than a bit nervous for her. While they had never met the other competitor before, through whispers in the crowd she found out that he was bigger. What’s more than that, he was a berry! Everyone in the caves knew what that meant.

“Help me! Help me!” Ratty whispered to Vladis in a harsh low tone to grab his attention.

“Shush, Ratty,” he mumbled to her.

“But she could be hurt!”

“Only if this fight gets real interstin’,” he responded. At Ratty’s loudly squeaked protest, he mentally continued, “Dey ain’t allowed to really fight, remember? No claws, no teeth, no nothing. Kid’s fine, Ratty.”

Ratty turned away from the tanuki and back towards the kitten. She hoped that would be the case. Even so, she had learned what those particular greater gembound words meant and wouldn’t hesitate to yell it if needed.


Speech. Thought. Ratty's Out Loud Ratty's Telepathy

Tag:
Notes:

The poor hybrid was still a mess. His disastrous failure in the magicka competition had left him a bit twitchy and certainly much more subdued. He dragged along with Shiny on his back, but none of her words did anything to make him feel better. He could almost hear mama's voice in the background, yelling at him about his magic, telling him that it was worthless, that he should stick to fighting like the rest of the family.

Time to test that out, then?

He stepped into the arena and looked down at the kitten that he was facing off against. Shiny hopped off his back and backed into the ground, staying at the very edge. It's okay, Huckle-friend, you can beat her.

Huckleberry sighed and nodded. This was another chance to prove himself. But looking at his opponent, was this really fair? No, but he wasn't going to question the judges. They might hurt him.

"Hi," he called out a bit awkwardly to Jay. "You are smaller so you can attack first." He didn't think it was rude at all to call Jay small, it was simply a fact. Also he didn't want to make the first move. Mama always taught him to do that and he didn't like doing it. Unless he was using magic, which he wasn't allowed to do here.

@Jaysong

The last thing Jay wanted was to be patronized and called small-- but it wasn't like she was about to argue against going first. She wasn't deterred by the title of 'Berry'-- she didn't know what it meant, of course.

Jay knew she would win. Therefore, she wasn't going to lose.

"I'm not small," she corrected. Which-- in comparison of other kittens --she sure wasn't. In comparison to Huckleberry, however? She may well didn't stand a chance if he happened to stomp down on her.

But that'd be intentionally hurting her, right?

Didn't matter. Jay just had to wear him out, and she'd be fine. She had the advantage of being smaller, and wigglier, and things like that. She'd be fine. Really. She'd be fine.

Jay shook her fur out before she went bolting across the arena, focusing on throwing her weight against one of Huckleberry's knees to try to get him to buckle over and fall.

Round: 1/5
Attack: tackle Huckleberry's knee, head-on, trying to get him to fall
Defense: None
Injuries: None

He nodded, not really wanting to disagree with the kitten. If she thought she was big and that made her happy, Huckleberry wasn't going to argue. He didn't like arguing. Might as well just fight, like they were supposed to. As she came forward, he wasn't sure what she was going to do. Tear at his chest? Go for his throat? No, the judges said none of that. But then what was the point of fighting?

But when she dived at his leg, he realized that that was how to fight. Knock opponents over. At first, he just staggered, but the weight on his knee pulled him down and he flopped on his side. Desperately, he waved around his leg, trying to throw Jay off of him.

@Jaysong

Round: 1/5
Attack: throw her off
Defense: None
Injuries: None

Jay didn't exactly cling to Huckleberry, but she sure as hell was thrown off, landing on the cave floor with a thunk. She hissed, shaking her head out to try and right herself again.

Then, she paused-- how was she meant to fight something ten times her size? The kitten hesitated, tail lashing thoughtfully, before she turned and make a pounce for Huckleberry's flank and, this time, she held on for dear life.

Round: 2/5
Attack: leap onto Huckleberry's back and hold on (rodeo show)
Defense: None
Injuries: None

As Huckleberry started to get to his feet, he felt the same weight crash onto his back. It made it a lot more difficult to move and he didn't want her trying to push him down again. He started to shake himself, as if he were trying to dry water from his body, but it was hard with her clinging so tightly to him. He wanted to try and hit her with his wings but he doubted he had the reach for that.

Round: 2/5
Attack: shake her off
Defense: None
Injuries: None

Jay shut her eyes and gripped tightly-- or as tightly as she could without claws --onto the shaking hybrid's back, shoulders tensing under her fur. She knew she could at least try to wear him out like this-- if he kept trying to shake her off.

Her fur was bristled on end as she resisted taking a bite out of Huckleberry's flank as well, just trying to keep her grip on him for now.

Round: 3/5
Attack: stay on!!
Defense: None
Injuries: None

Huckleberry's shaking proved to not help very much as the cat only held on tighter. He was starting to grow frusterated, but he was getting really tired from trying to throw her off. His movement started to grow weak until he stopped altogether, panting from the effort.

Huckle-friend, what are you doing? You're still fighting! Shiny's voice rang in his head and it didn't make him feel any better. He was just tired.

Round: 3/5
Attack: shake her off p2
Defense: None
Injuries: None