"The only mistake I've made was not doing this sooner!" She called. Kalama was having the time of her life. The thrill of battle coursed through the gembounds blood. She was basically already an anime rival. Kalama felt...something. A slight bit of resistance that she easily broke through as she charged for Aure. It gave her pause, however. Kalama's gaze flickered up to the sky. A gembound there yelled for..her to grab them by the dick? Or for her to get grabbed by the dick? She didn't know what it was, but Kalama was sure it was a weak spot. "She would have to exploit this new knowledge." Kalama turned her attention back to the fight. She crouched, changing her tactics, preparing to spring at Aure.

She misjudged her attack. She landed by Aure, missing by a hair. Kalama ended up skidding along the dirt and bones, flapping her wings to keep from falling. She growled, turning to spout more word vomit.

"We begin using trial by combat, starting today! The Bonebound? They're on my side! " Kalama couldn't imagine them not being on her side."I'm fighting for the good of the Bonebound! The Bonebound is diseased, rotten to the core. Theres no saving it, we need to pu ll it out by the roots and start again! Wipe the slate clean, burn it down! Starting with you." She hissed. She then turned to address the rest of the spectators, spreading her wings wide. "I can take you all on, by myself! Are you afraid to fight one on one, Aure?"

think "speak"

Round: 2/?
Attempt: Pin aure
Defense: Cant get brain damage if you cant think
Injuries: n/a

Chicken fluttered by him, dangerously close for all of the bravado she was swinging around. Aure danced back a few feet, yards if he could.

Kalama kept spitting on the Bonebound, and their King was finally caught up enough to pick up what she was putting down. "What?" he called, reaching with his magic again now that his assailant was standing still, "I'm not going to fight you without having a good reason for it." His brows furrowed as he failed to find a grip again.

"What have I done or not done to you, Kalama? We can talk this out without a crowd."

Round: 2/?
Attempt: Telegrab Kalama
Defense: Literally all of the Bonebound
Injuries: n/a

@Kalama

"If you attack me, you'll have to face the rest of the Bonebound."

And then, the bird tried to attack.

Well, that seemed like an open invitation to her. Time for a display of solidarity, then-?

"The Bonebound are a family, not some war-clan you can usurp," Giggle called out, brow furrowing. But she hesitated in actually... moving in, physically. She had magic, for one thing--and for another, damn, the entire caves seemed to be here. Her nervousness acted up, flickering, sending her mind short-circuiting this way and that.

Even her magic, she couldn't be sure of. But she reached out her mind, aiming for a sharp blast of horror and fear--she couldn't control what Kalama saw or felt, but she could try to force it to be... well.

Bad.

rain stock: D Sharon Pruitt wiki commons; hyena Benjamin Hollis on flickr

Well, the Bonebound had pretty much saved his life, once.

So Kalama shouting at them was, first, not very surprising and second, kinda upsetting.

"HEY, ASSHOLE!" Imp yelled; "THE BONEBOUND ARE GOOD GUYS!? WHY YOU GOTTA BE AN EMESIS LIKE THAT? LEAVE 'EM ALONE!"

(Imp still thought 'an emesis' (and not 'a nemesis') was an actual insult.)

"They saved my life, chicken-tits! And I saved yours later! So that means you owe them--at least TWO LIVES! I ROOT FOR THE BONEBOUND! FUCK HER UP!"

Oh, the betrayal... and the questionable math.

δεξιά . κέντρο . αριστερά

Giggle gave, well.. She kind of gave the word. Aure kind of gave the word. Kerberos was getting restless, shuffling from paw to paw, and the last time he had felt the urge to stop a bird in a massive crowd, things had gotten messy.

It was really easy to just vaporize a bird, was the thing.

So Kerberos went for the, err, gentle approach. Which probably didn't seem very gentle, given the fact he lunged forward, galloping toward Aure and Kalama, before leaping into the air. He raised his paw high, and aimed to swipe Kalama out of the sky-- not to... hurt her, hopefully. He didn't want to hurt her, even if she was attacking Aure (frankly, she wasn't doing a fantastic job of doing much besides screaming, thus far) because at least she sounded like she had a reason for it, even if it was dumb to him.

But hopefully slam dunking her into the ground like a basketball star would be enough to, err, put the fight to a stop for a second. He didn't really think he could snatch her or pin her down without breaking several bones (he was just really good at killing birds), so a little bap would have to do.

"The only reason I need is to win." Kalama snapped. She didn't like Aure's implication that she needed a reason to fight. "I don't need a reason! I don't care that you're the leader of the Bonebound! I've been denied my birthright by a gembound that doesn't even want to go to war every cycle! Eythan chose wrong." She paused. Wait. "I don't have issues! You have issues!"

She said, trying and failing to deflect. "You have the role I deserve, that's all I need to win." Kalama was prepared to turn around, begin the attack anew. Her vision flickered oddly. But...when she turned around Aure wasn't there. No one was. She whirled about wildly, trying to find her target.

How was Kalama was alone--there were so many gembound around, last she saw. There was nothing around her. A strange feeling enveloped her legs, like someone was dragging their feathers over her legs. It was... slimy and uncomfortable. No that didn't make sense. She spared a glance down. Worms, thousands of them. Swarming around her legs and toes. Kalama screeched. It-it was disgusting. "Get off me! What cheats is this?" She shook her legs, trying and failing to get the worms off of her. "Where are you, Aure! Show yourself!"

Aure didn't appear. But Kalama could hear Imp. She felt a surge of anger at his betrayl. Was this his doing? "What the ass, Imp! I'll come for you, too once I'm done here!"

Aure still didn't show up. But what did appear was a mound of shifting earth, rumbling as it grew closer and closer. It broke the surface, a massive pure white worm. Not as large as the one in the trials. Still killable. But why here? Why now? Had it escaped from Hydra? It smelled strongly of...dog? For some reason. But she wouldn't let this scare her. Wouldn't let it stop her from defeating Aure. Whenever she found him. "Back for round two, worm? I'll destroy you!"

The smelly worm tackled her, slamming her into the ground. She wheezed for breath. But it wasn't as bad as the first time. She wasn't stuck. Her legs weren't broken yet. The fear that she might die here. She would take the ice worm down with her in any case. Kalama, unable to move, really did the only thing she could think of. Her body began to prickle with pain as she burned her feathers. Smoke billowed around her, and hopefully into the worms face. The gnashing teeth inches from her filled Kalama with fear. "You're going down with me, ice worm!"

think "speak"

Round: 3/??
Attempt: Choke w smoke
Defense: Make smokey
Injuries: Pinned by lorge dog and bruised

Eythan shied away from the scene at his mentioning, blending further into the crowd to avoid any proper confrontation right this second.

—
"... doesn't even want to go to war every cycle!" What?!

Aure took the moment of distraction in... some part of Kalama's head and her subsequent doggy pinning to gather his thoughts, a rhetorical masterpiece to drill into the chicken's feelings. Smoke started to fill the air in the raptor's panic, and he visibly puffed up with a swell of magicka. Taking to the air, he barked a shrill "HUSH!" Enhanced by the sheer force of wind and compression, the sound traveled out in a veritable shock wave surrounding him, dispelling the smoke and ruffling some fur, feathers - knocking smaller Gembound unsteady. It wasn't meant to be an assault, but more of a call to attention.

... perhaps a display of power was all the chicken would listen to - but he still refused to meet her violence with his own.

He settled on the ground, and plodded forwards, speaking as he went, "I've seen one war in my lifetime, and that's enough to last me an eternity. It was fast, brutal, and awful. The Bonebound aren't -" (taking words from Giggle) "just a war band! No one here could've given you that impression. Nothing's been kept from you except for... well, violence. If you're worried about our ability to defend ourselves, let's talk it out. Otherwise, you might want to make your way out of our home."

How's that for kingly speeches?

@Kalama

"Must we really waste our time on this..?" Rezik tossed his head disdainfully.

To his side, the black-robed figure was settling in on a dry rock ledge. Black-clawed hands slipped into his robe, and out came a large container--made of thin wood, painted in dull red stripes long-faded by age. It smelled... hot, and buttery, and the Collector pulled out a handful of what looked like small, puffy white seeds or grains, and popped them into his hood.

Sounds of chewing ensued.

He turned the container toward Rezik, who snorted and looked away, and then--with a grin beneath the hood, and a shrug--toward Vakornol. Violet muzzle dipped down as delicately as was possible, and then there was the sound of eating, and then of protest from the Collector: "Not all of it! Must I form a contract for this-"

A snort, then, as the muscles bunched and violet hide pulled back away. Toxic tongue lashed butter and salt from greasy jaws. "You couldn't afford my price."

The Collector snorted, and took another handful for himself, turning his pinprick red eyes back to what could only charitably be called a 'fight.'

"Who is that feathered fiend, in any case?" Rezik asked, at last. "Oh, I don't know... but I don't think she's winning."

She was, in one moment, a worried mother, hesitant as to how--or even whether--to step in.

The next moment her fur was blasted flat by Aure's magic, her eyes squinted against the boom, her round ears flattening briefly. And she listened; and everything changed.

In that moment, in between Aure's swelling chest and confident speech, Giggle realized that her son had grown up. And not only grown up, but grown up well. He was not only an adult but he handled it perfectly. A display of power, and yet wise, calming words to go along with them.

He's a king, she realized, and a strange smile crossed the hyena's face.

She rocked back on her haunches, nervousness even at the crowd lost in favor of confident admiration.

Aure could handle himself.

And in turn, the Bonebound was in good hands.

Pride and love swelled in her, and she looked around to everyone else as if to ensure they saw what she saw. That's our king, she thought; that's my son.

How much he'd grown--how far he'd come!

Aza'zel would be proud of him.

rain stock: D Sharon Pruitt wiki commons; hyena Benjamin Hollis on flickr

for Imp

Imp thought of a dozen retorts, but none of them were any good. The sonic boom fucking deafened him, though, anyway, leaving his bat-ears painfully ringing. It took a moment of profuse, animated swearing for his hearing to come back, and then he shook himself and finally settled on a response.

"You're gonna come for me!? You wouldn't even have gotten outta Hydra if I hadn't carried your ass!" he brayed. And then, for good measure, and because he hadn't heard this phrase and didn't want anyone to know, "What the ass at YOU!"