The fire died down within Usui’s throat and he now felt pain internally, however, he had been using this spell a couple of times now and so his resistance was building up. Pale green eyes honed onto Kerberos, watching as he stumbled back into the water to hide from his own flame, then lift up his paw and manipulate the very same fire in all directions. Some would have landed among the rocks, and a streak, which made up the main blast, headed towards himself. Immediately, Usui crouched down, mimicking Kerberos’ actions, tucking in his body to avoid the fire and keeping extremely low to the ground, then he called forth his magic to draw forth the metal. If successful, a multitude of small piece of metal would zoom in onto his body and form a sort of metal armour around him, protecting his forehead, paws, limbs and back.

Post-roll edit (describing his defense):

Small pieces of metal and metal bits latched onto the cub, protecting him from the heat and fire blast that came right back at him, although the soaring fire overhead did singe the fur off his ears, causing the boy to grit his teeth. However, that was over and so, armed with his armour, the lion waited for Kerberos to drag himself out and continue the fight.

Round: 2/5

Attempt: Shield from fire, by forming armour

Defense: Crouched down,

Injuries: Temporal internal pain from using fire power, slight scorching of his ears

Don't you ever tame your demons

But always keep 'em on a leash

δεξιά . κέντρο . αριστερά
As the fire cleared, a metallic noise wriggled its way under the puppies' paws and into his ears. He lowered his claws to the ground, picking his heads up to see just what had happened-- only to find the lion had covered himself in shiny things. Just what was he trying to do? What was that? Was it dangerous?

Still, the puppy was scared of the fire breather. He wiggled his butt into the air and rattled his tail violently like a rattle snake without a rattle. His hindpaws dug into the cavern floor and he took a deep breath. "Can't get close," he woofed softly to himself. "Too dangerous," he agreed. The heads exchanged a look of worry and concern. "So what do I do?"

The memory of Baratheon, the fluffy white noodle of a dragon, building up power in his chest and letting loose a concentrated blast from his mouth came to the puppy. "Barablast," he suggested to himself, getting a confused glance from the middle head and an Aha! moment from the farther head.

"Blast, blast! One!" He howled, pressing his body down low into a mocking playbow, as if preparing to pounce.

"... Two," the middle head continued, slowly realizing what the rest of him wanted to do.

"Now!" He barked, inhaling with each head, building up the strength in his lungs. Then, his paw glowing that same deep, violet-reddish, he tried to focus the energy push in his mouth. The glow and the magic crawled up his left leg to his left throat, and pulling back his lips, the canine unleashed his energy blast.

"BLARGH!"

{ FIGHT STATISTICS }
KERBEROS v. USUI
ONE TWO THREE FOUR FIVE

{ ATTEMPT }

~ ENERGY BLAST BLARGH

{ DEFENSES }

~ pressed low to the ground, muscles tensed and ready to lunge, neck and belly protected, ears laying back

{ INJURIES }

~ prior injuries;;

• scratches under fur on his chest and left neck

~ current injuries;;

• small burns over his muzzles and ears
  
• singed fur on his scruff
  
• sores on right forepaw from putting out fire,
  ^{gem-paw is fine because gem}

Usui was enraged. Pale green eyes hinged onto the three heads as he stayed attentive to their voices. At least Kerberos didn’t seem like he wanted to eat him anymore, but it was stll intent on attacking. He snarled and gathered his muscles beneath him, getting up from his crouching position, ready to spring. As soon as the beast opened his mouth, the lion knew that he would need to dodge that line of “fire,” whatever it was. The cub had figured out this one manipulated the air, or atmosphere, or pressure and so readied himself to avoid being flung back.

A blast shot out from Kerberos’ mouth. Usui flung himself directly into Kerberos' line of fire and in the brief second before he was flung back, made the earth shudder in his path straight towards the three headed dog, intending to disorient the puppy and make him tumble over so as to redirect the blast.

Post-roll edit (describing the attack he received/injuries sustained):

The moment his magic released, the lion was flung back fiercely because he had run towards it, with more force as the first time. Having been working his magic, Usui did not have as much concentration to react and so bounced on his back and tumbled onto his side painfully before pulling himself back up again, panting from the exertion. The armour on his back had prevented injuries there, though it hurt, and he had sustained scrapes to his sides and limbs.

Round: 3/5

Attempt: Ground shake all around him including Kerberos’ vicinity to tumble him

Defense: Armour

Injuries: Slight scorching of his ear, back ache, side ache, scratches on side and limbs

Don't you ever tame your demons

But always keep 'em on a leash

δεξιά . κέντρο . αριστερά
Kerberos still didn't quite get the hang of the blasts, but it did knock the feline back. It made his other heads burp, his left throat now plagued by a terrible case of hiccups-- but there wasn't much time for the hybrid of polar bears and snakes and dobermans to care about the after effects of his "barablast" because the earth began to shutter violently.

Despite being well grounded, his thick paws laid out on the floor, the ground tossed and rumbled under him and his hind legs slipped and suddenly he was sprawled out on the ground and flailing around uselessly, absolutely thrown off guard by the way the earth shifted under him. He tried to find the ground, rolling to his paws, but it just shook him off them again.

He growled and whimpered, ears laying back as his tail curled tight between his legs. How... "hic.." What was this tawny lion made of? He had shook the whole cavern with his angry paws or something. He had to fight back... Somehow...

"Hic.." But since the puppy couldn't seem to get up, he did the next best thing, and that was curling up in a ball and working on his own defenses. He tried to keep his neck and belly protected with his legs, keeping his heads tucked into his huge fluffy barrel chest, and focused on his magic once more.

He didn't release his magic this time, instead, he held it.. "hic.." If anything so much as grazed him, he could transfer all the momentum of his pushing energy on to the object or perhaps lion and send it flying.

{ FIGHT STATISTICS }
KERBEROS v. USUI
ONE TWO THREE FOUR FIVE

{ ATTEMPT }

~ READYING PUSH ATTACK!

{ DEFENSES }

~ trying to curl up, tail tucked between legs, legs tucked against belly, heads curled up to protect throats.

{ INJURIES }

~ prior injuries;;

• scratches under fur on his chest and left neck

~ current injuries;;

• small burns over his muzzles and ears
  
• singed fur on his scruff
  
• sores on right forepaw from putting out fire,
  ^{gem-paw is fine because gem}
  
• bruises along sides and back from being shaken
  
• hiccups and sore throats :C
  
• disoriented from SUPER EFFECTIVE pebblequake!

The lion picked himself up slowly, wincing from the dull thuds that had battered him all over. His jaws parted as he panted, and haunches curved sharply with power as he heaved himself to his paws. It was his first fight and the beast saw red. Although no bones were broken, he felt like he had been clubbed left, right, back. His limbs had not drawn blood, but were scratched and gritty from rubbing hard onto the ground. The internal heat within him had not truly cooled down either. He stood up, keeping his throat tucked in and feet stable on the ground, then noticed that Keberos had been winded from his minor earthquake and was hiccupping in each head. And it was the hiccupping that brought Usui to his senses. The red fog cleared, and he spoke in low, severe tones, shifting from a display of brute power to more calculated moves. "I can swim. Can’t you?” he spoke matter-of-factly and then he attempted to shake the ground again, hoping to force the three headed dog into the water, so that he would have to swim and realize he could swim. That was how the lion cub had done it – fallen into the water, thinking he was drowning…but then, he did not, and if fear was stopping the three headed creature from going in, then the lion was going to force him into the water for his own good. What if the rain never ceased? Would he rather this gembound drown?

Round: 4/5

Attempt: Force Kerberos into the water to MAKE HIM SWIM

Defense: Armour , neck tucked in, footing stable

Injuries: Slight scorching of his ear, back ache, side ache, scratches on side and limbs

Don't you ever tame your demons

But always keep 'em on a leash

δεξιά . κέντρο . αριστερά

The ground continued to shake, and tiny pebbles rattled up to his side only to be deflected harmlessly away from him. Before the pup knew what was happening, the ground seemed to slip out from under him-- he had been rattled all the way over to the edge of the bank, and now he was slipping down the edge into the water bellow.

With a yowl, the hound twisted around and sank his claws into the ground, his butt sliding down towards the cold, deadly water. "Stop!" He cried. "No!" He dug his claws in deep, "I hic don't wanna!"

... But his weight pulled him down until his scaly butt touched the icy cold water and-- NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE, no part of him wanted to be in that water! His magic surged in a desperate attempt to keep him from falling into the freezing, wet depths.

;; post roll

The water didn't freeze at all. He didn't know why he thought it would, but instead, he felt dizzy and exhausted from trying to fight with only his magic. He slipped into the river and felt the tug of the current, and promptly was swept downstream, away from the lion and into his certain death.

{ FIGHT STATISTICS }
KERBEROS v. USUI
ONE TWO THREE FOUR FIVE

{ ATTEMPT }

~ FREEZE THE WATER

{ DEFENSES }

~ DEFENSES ARE GONE

{ INJURIES }

~ prior injuries;;

• scratches under fur on his chest and left neck

~ current injuries;;

• small burns over his muzzles and ears
  
• singed fur on his scruff
  
• sores on right forepaw from putting out fire,
  ^{gem-paw is fine because gem}
  
• bruises along sides and back from being shaken
  
• hiccups and sore throats :C
  
• disoriented from SUPER EFFECTIVE pebblequake!

The ground shaking began and Usui looked sternly at Kerberos as it slipped, slipped, and plopped into the water. "That’ll teach you from calling me food Kerberos!” he yelled at him, and then realized that…the three headed pup was fighting the water in its injured state. He raised a paw to his forehead and rubbed his temple. "Swim you idiot,” he sighed and rolled his eyes, then let go of the metal armour which clanged onto the floor, and dashed into the water after the flailing dog. The cold seeped into his fur but the feline ignored it, rather, focusing on his paddling. He swept the water easily and swam towards the thrashing Kerberos who was certain he was going somewhere (bobbing up and down) but in reality, the current wasn’t that strong if he was able to paddle and perhaps flow down to the next cave. The current tugged at him but he went with it, attempting to keep his head above the water with deliberately placed paddles and moments of just floating along. The boy spotted a rock right ahead of their path, towards their left near an arch of the cave, and attempted to force it to cleave the upper part into half so that the thrashing dog would have something to cling on to – and then, it could learn to paddle with its back legs. He himself would cling onto the other half.

Round: 5/5

Attempt: Break the upper portion of a large rock in front into half for Kerberos to cling on to so that he can get used to paddling with his back legs. He himself would cling onto the other half.

Defense: None

Injuries: Slight scorching of his ears, back ache, side ache, scratches on side and limbs

Character:Kerberos Age: +1 (1 Cycle) Magic Level: +3 (Pupil) ROUND 1 Attempt: +7 Penalties: -0 ROUND 2 Attempt: +16 Penalties: -0 ROUND 3 Attempt: +8 Penalties: -0 ROUND 4 Attempt: +7 Penalties: -0 ROUND 5 Attempt: +3 Penalties: -0 Total: 45

Character: Usui Age: +1 (1 Cycle) Magic Level: +5 (Master) ROUND 1 Attempt: +20 Penalties: -0 ROUND 2 Attempt: +15 Penalties: -0 ROUND 3 Attempt: +20 Penalties: -0 ROUND 4 Attempt: +6 Penalties: -0 ROUND 5 Attempt: +13 Penalties: -0 Total: 80

WINNER: Usui

Don't you ever tame your demons

But always keep 'em on a leash

δεξιά . κέντρο . αριστερά

Kerberos felt the ice crawl up his tail, his veins turning into a frozen hell, his limbs going numb as the shock of the cold came crawling up his bum to the rest of his body. His spine crawled, tightening, until he felt as though he could only curl up tighter and never ever be able to uncurl. Being plunged into the water made him lock up, the failure devastating. What had he been trying to do? What was the point?

A small part of him wanted to escape, and it showed in the way his paws churned at the current, his heads gasping at air whenever they could surface. A pair of ears managed to catch the boyish growl of the lion... Too close to him. In the water. Anger filled his chest-- how dare that stupid feline follow him into the depths of death? The flare of rage was enough to warm his paws, enough to thrust him up so that all three heads could see, could breathe, could reach the beautiful air above the water at once.

And they pinned on Usui as the cub severed a rock into two, somehow getting something near enough to him that with a roar, he could lunge out and grab it with his massive cream colored paws. "IDIOT!" He shouted back as his other two heads focused on scrambling up the rock, his claws sinking into the boulder, hauling his huge baby form up.

"Who do you think you are?!" He demanded, his tail lashing as he caught his breath with the two heads too tired to continue fighting where red nose, clipped ear refused to give in. "I could have DIED!" His fur, soaking, still managed to bristle with the heat of his anger. It seemed the very air churned around him, the freezing depths of the water and the heat in his chest mirrored in his surroundings.

The air around him seemed to swirl with freezing air and hot, damp breezes, his magic fueling his magic out of control-- though it was relatively harmless, the temperature fluctuated wildly around the hound of hell as all six pink, angry eyes came to rest on the lion cub. He shivered and panted, his expressions wild, his body clinging to the rock that Usui had given him.

His wrath would not end so simply.

The idiot of a puppy managed to scramble up the rock and it clung to it. Usui did likewise, paddling to the other section of the broken rock and lunged in for a grip. Slippery claws threatened to give him the slip but he managed, by sheer determination, to puncture his claws in as best as he could and it hurt so bad because – claws against rock, rock wasn’t going to yield. Once Usui had hugged the rock, his lower half was swept along with the current gently enough. It wasn’t that bad – the river wasn’t a rapid, it was rather still actually, but then the temperature began to fluctuate like to which the lion swung his head towards Kerberos and hissed. “YEAH CONTINUE TO FLUCTUATE THE TEMPERATURE AND WE DIE FOOL” Some gembounds could be really so dense that it made Usui want to donate half a brain to this puppy fur thing. He calmed himself down – they had been the source of all this commotion! The crystal river was deep but clinging onto the rock, one would have barely noticed the currents sweeping below. The surface was calm and nothing dragged along it except for hindlegs, which might be good strength training anyway. Usui now turned to Kerberos and spoke steadily. “If you listen to instructions, you won’t die. Stop using that magic. Now, stay calm, hug the rock, and slowly kick out with your hind legs, imagine that you are walking in water.” As much as he’d have enough of a large furry pile of puppy, he was trying to teach Kerberos a life skill here. Pale eyes fell upon the other, waiting to see if Kerberos