Eythan would be lying if he said he hadn't ogled at the shitting goddamned pile of sentient meat shambling into the arena. It was too disgusting to look at, but too out there to just ignore. How did something that big even more around? Did it even have bones??!?!

Blink, blink. Anyways.

Either of the current combatants were there, a... prior crisis had been averted, and it was time to go for business as usual: "alright - Carja, y'know the rules already, I'm sure; but I'll repeat 'em for Effluvium, here... no drawin' blood, no breakin' bones, none of that injury stuff. Sheng'll honk to let you know when to quit at it, and you quit when he goes off."

Glare...

"Have at it!"

Now... did this seat have a bunch of pointy bits? SHIT! It did. "Ugh..."

@Vargas @Carja @Effluvium

Hey... she knew that execrable pile of horror! She waved with a hand and grinned happily, wings flapping eagerly.

"Hiiii!!!" she said, overjoyed to see her friend (completely ignoring the fact that it had tried to eat her).

The she-dragon yanked her wings in again, knowing that they were vulnerable in case the other did try to bite her. She didn't quite trust them not to, but that was okay, she would heal.

Carja growled fiercely, like a feral kitten, before analyzing her target. Really, she didn't know where to hit. There were no joints to bash and weaken, but there were eyes and mouths that she could possibly hit, stunning the other and making them lag due to lack of sight and sand in their mouths!

She scooped up as much sand and grit as possible in her mitts and darted forward, basketball dunking it into Effluvium's face (and mouths) before scuttling off like an angry crab, sideways so she didn't take her eyes off of the other. She was also rather unsure of how it was going to attack, too, so she had to keep an eye out for anything!

@Effluvium

Effluvium waddled into the arena. Its name had been called. The creature's tongue hung out in a pant. It was fight time, Effluvium knew that. And after fight time, it was eat time. Effluvium was normally not supposed to eat not-foods, but maybe this time it was different. Eythan read the rules, and Effluvium certainly was there. It wasn't clear if Effluvium either listened to or understood them. Its eyes blinked, and it glanced at Eythan. It made a brief noise, like a huff of breath. It settled there, sitting on its tail. Then Carja was there. Effluvium recognized them.


"Hiii," It mimed. It sounded strange and distorted coming from Effluvium's maw.
"You fish."Effluvium said, obvious as can be. The creature remembered Carja was good at fishing. Maybe once this was over, Carja would get them more fish. Not eat Carja.

As soon as Carja went into fight stance, Effluvium was on its arms. A low growl, jaws flapping, in response to Carja's own. But playing with sand was not fair. Carja flung grains into Effluvium's eyes before it could react. It snarled as the execrable substance got into its eyes, and mouth. It could feel it on its tongue. Reminded Effluvium of the bad fish. It pawed at its face for a second. Effluvium let out a low bellow, then charged near at the last place it had seen Carja.


"When I speak."

When I think.(Will never be used)

Round: 1/5
Attempt: charge!
Defense: N/a
Injuries: blind

@Carja

"Mhm!" Carja chirped, before they truly began the fight.

Carja grinned and charged forward, her armored head better at resisting impacts than the fleshy body of Effluvium was. She sought to jar the other, meeting them halfway. They braced themselves and rammed against Effluvium, stopping them in their tracks, the two coming to a standstill.

The dragon acted first and flung their wings out, flapping to dart away backwards, landing on the ground and shaking their head before smiling at Effluvium.

"You didn't try to eat me!" she beamed, ever so proud of her friend's progress.

With a snort, she took up a defensive stance, tail lashing behind her. Wait- her tail! She could use it to stay further from the other while still being able to attack! She was so smart.

@Effluvium

Round: 2/5
Attempt: Headbutt!
Defense: Head braced
Injuries: N/A

Effluvium's fleshy face hit keratin. It backpedaled, feeling for the spot on its head. It couldn't feel its mass lowered. The pain didn't bother it. The dizziness was developing, however. Not that it wasn't a solid hit. Effluvium just didn't react to much that didn't tear its body apart. The pain was barely there for the beast, but the bruise would begin to swell.

It sat there for a moment, before shaking its head out. Carja had noted it had done good. Effluvium felt strange. It felt as it would after eating food. Satisfied? But Effluvium had not eaten. No, an emotion like satisfied. The fleshbeast's tail gave a lazy sway.

"No food," It said. But Effluvium did not have a word for play. Instead of adding anything, it struck forward in an attack.

"When I speak."

When I think.(Will never be used)

Round: 2/5
Attempt: slappy
Defense: none
Injuries: sandy eyes, bruisy head, and dizzy
@Carja

Carja inhaled and whirled around in a circle, tail swinging out to hopefully smack against Effluvium's face, smacking it hard and forcing it to veer off course. So far they had gone without having a good hit on them, and they wanted to keep it that way.

Their tail slammed into Effluvium's head area like a whip and staggered away, having just managed to escape the beast's charge, though they very nearly fell, struggling to right themselves for a moment. They whirled around, eyes wide. That was close! Another second more and she'd be flying over the other's head.

Instead of speaking, she clenched her jaw, crouching low. She couldn't be cocky, she chided herself gently. She had to win, after all! For her dad, for her grandma! She was a protector, and she would show everyone that she was no pushover.

Now all Carja had to do was grow about 15 more feet in length and she'd be good.

@Effluvium

Round: 3/5
Attempt: Tail slap!
Defense: N/A
Injuries: N/A

As Effluvium's paw went for the dragon, Carja's tail hit Effluvium's head. The tail, whiplike and spot on in its precision, hit the middle of its head. Its' teeth clicked. An annoyed snarl ripped from the creature's throat. It wanted to bat at Carja once more. But Effluvium couldn't see Carja. Without Carja speaking to it, it had quite a bit of a time figuring out where they were. Effluvium snorted, shaking its head, and began to paw at its face, rather than fight.

The sand was deep in there, and Effluvium's hands were large, meaty, not made for precision. It grumbled. It wasn't making any progress on its face. It felt like it was pushing the sand in further, rather than out. The grumble turned into a growl. In a last ditch attempt, it started rubbing its face on the ground beneath, the play-fight less important than the sand in its eyes.


"When I speak."

When I think.(Will never be used)

Round: 3/5
Attempt: Clearing eyes
Defense: protectin eyes?
Injuries: sandy eyes, DOUBLE bruisy head, and dizzy

@Carja

Carja took a moment to breathe and think while the creature rubbed at its eyes, trying and failing to purge the sand from them. Good.

She prowled around the creature before standing behind it, staying as quiet as possible as they thought of what to do. Prod at it some more? It would get angry and she didn't want to risk the other getting violent, but then again she was certain she could avoid any attacks. But as of right now... she could use its blindness to her advantage.

Carja's luck ran out as she darted forward, whirling around like she did before, only for a wing to scrape on the ground and send her sprawling instead. She scrambled to her feet, struggling to make up for the noise she'd made, springing away like a startled cat, flushed in embarrassment at her own mistake. At least the other had been busy wiping sand from its eyes, so she had the chance to recover too.

She still had time.

@Effluvium

Round: 4/5
Attempt: Backstab (but it's a tail smack instead).
Defense: N/A
Injuries: N/A

Effluvium had continued rubbing its face on the ground. Clearing its eyes of sand still at the forefront of its mind. It hadn't noticed Carja moving around it. That is, until it heard her behind it. Its head whipped back. It still couldn't see, which made pinning the source of the noise difficult. But it concluded it was probably Carja. Arms were off its face and on the ground. Head lifted, Effluvium turned. Not missing a beat, it charged once again, aiming to tackle Carja.

And stumbled. Effluvium's arms got caught on something. Whether that was the floor, or its own heavy body, Effluvium fell to the arena floor with a thump. The creature grumbled once again. It shook its head, and began to stand.

"When I speak."

When I think.(Will never be used)

Round: 4/5
Attempt: Pin!
Defense: n/a
Injuries: sandy eyes, DOUBLE bruisy head, and dizzy

@Carja

Carja braced themselves for a hit... but nothing came. They looked down in surprise at Effluvium and took a few steps back just in case, neck scrunched back like a turtle. This time she decided that focusing on evading would be the better option, and backed right off, staying as quiet as she could. They were nearing the end, and it would be in her best interests to not be taken down now.

Clearly the babies were getting tired (or Caja was experiencing her first growth spurt unexpectantly), because she tripped over her own feet and fell flat on her front with an 'oof!' She stood up and brushed herself off, shaking her shoulders before continuing forward, feet lagging. Maybe she should have napped in between matches instead of eagerly going for the next one...

@Effluvium

Round: 5/5
Attempt: Evade.
Defense: Evading.
Injuries: N/A