For lack of a better word, Eythan made a sound similar to a hroagh! as one wolf paw slammed square into his gut. The shock of the motion and sheer unpreparedness he faced (despite that being a tactic of his own) made the gryphon stumbled back and off of Kera a bit. His ears pinned back, beak grinding with the effort to bite back the pain.

It wasn't harmful, no, but man it kind of sucked. Good thing he didn't have any lunch in him.

Not wanting to risk another stomach-kick, the hybrid lurched forwards and aimed a right-armed swat at the side of Kera's neck. Whether or not it was before she got up, he had no clue.

ROUND 4/5
Attempt: Swat at the side of Kera's neck.
Defenses: Ears back.
Injuries: Sore stomach.

@Kera

Kera did manage to get herself up, but she was immediately greeted with a swat against her neck. She yelped again, surprised, and jerked to one side.

The wolf shook herself out a bit before she went lunging in for Eythan's side, barrelling her entire weight into the hybrid to try to make him fall over.

ROUND 4/5
Attempt: Tackle
Defenses: None
Injuries: Bruised

No sooner than he had swatted at the canine did she come rocketing into his side. Eythan gave a shrill chirp of surprise as he was sent rolling onto his side, then back. There was no doubt that Kera would be on him in seconds, so he had mere milliseconds to think and act through.

No clawing, no biting. Kicking was clearly on the table. He drew his limbs close to himself for a second, writhing slightly on the floor (much to his own discomfort as his wings scraped across stone.) Once he felt like he was in Prime Position, Eythan launched off his hind legs, spreading them slightly and hoping at least one hit their mark: any of his opponent's legs.

ROUND 5/5
Attempt: Kicking at Kera's legs.
Defenses: Ears back.
Injuries: Sore stomach.

Kera was fairly sure that Eythan was about to pull the same move that she just did-- and she was right. She saw his legs moving and shifted to lunge off to one side, allowing him to get up if he wanted to, but trying to spare her legs the pain of getting hit.

ROUND 5/5
Attempt: Dodge
Defenses: None
Injuries: Bruised

Character: character name Age: +37 (37 Cycles) Magic Level: +3 (Brawler) ROUND 1 Attempt: +19 Penalties: - ROUND 2 Attempt: +15 Penalties: - ROUND 3 Attempt: +19 Penalties: - ROUND 4 Attempt: +8 Penalties: - ROUND 5 Attempt: +11 Penalties: - Total: 112

Character: Kera Age: +16 (16th Cycle) Magic Level: +5 (Master) ROUND 1 Attempt: +3 Penalties: - ROUND 2 Attempt: +6 Penalties: - ROUND 3 Attempt: +10 Penalties: - ROUND 4 Attempt: +18 Penalties: - ROUND 5 Attempt: +8 Penalties: - Total: 66

WINNER: Eythan

@Kera @Eythan

The bear had watched the fight quietly from the sidelines, as promised. He'd been following Kera's progress with stoic silence, bar brief encouragement, and now she was fighting the other agile one.

He was unsurprised to find that Eythan, with his wings, was more agile than Kera--but he'd thought for sure that the heavy-set wolf would win, since she was both heftier and still quite quick. But though he was disappointed, he was glad to see a good, fair fight, and not displeased that another he knew had been the victor. If it had been, for example, the fuzzy "dragon," he'd have been quite annoyed. As the fight reached its peak he called out only once.

"Both honorable; very good," though whether this was encouragement or simply approval wasn't quite clear.

At the judge's command, Kera rolled away from Eythan, breathing heavily. She quickly dipped her head, shaking herself out. "Good fight," she said without air in her lungs, before glancing over to Sergei and nodding her greetings towards him.

The wrestling had been fun, at least-- for the most part. Kera stretched herself out for a very long moment before nudging Eythan half-playfully. "I'll see you in the rematch for next time, huh?"

Twelve cycles would be enough to practice, at least, wrestling for fun and not in the case of life and death. Kera licked her jowls before leaving the wrestling ring and searching Polaris to finish her well-deserved nap.

exit kera

As the fight raged, Glory watched carefully. Thankfully, there was no foul play, nothing that he could call out and criticize. He let out a sigh of relief as, finally, the wrestling competition came to an end. He turned and exchanged a few words with Azizos before hopping forwawrd.

As the two combatants separated, he opened his wings. "That's enough! I think we have a winner here!" He looked between the two and puffed out his feathers proudly. "Eythan is the winner of this match and also the victor of the wrestling competition! In second place is the wolf Kera and in third the dragon Asimona! Thank you, everyone, for coming!"

He gave a small bow and stepped down, roosting contently as he watched the crowd break up.

*exit
@Elyon

Eythan relinquished his hold on Kera as soon as the match was called, chest swelling with big, deep breaths. Sure, he hadn't struggled as hard as his opponent, but it was still pretty rough trying to pin down a butch lesbian about your size and twice as heavy. Small, rounded ears drifted toward the sound of Glory's voice, then his gaze. Was that really it? Weren't there a kphjillion more Gembound in this?

He was, of course, well aware of this being the finals. Still, it had felt so short.

Maybe it was just the fight.

The gryphon spent so long gawking that he had immediately been knocked over with Kera nudged him. Now on his side and scrambling to his feet, Eythan squawked, "y-yeah and you better beat me up!" Jarring up to his feet, he smoothed down his feathers and unfurled his wings. "Thanks, Sergei, Mister Judge," he chirped, acknowledging either, and then promptly taking off out of pure embarrassment.

;exit Eythan