i'm so awful, it's been literally like, weeks. we're so overdue
not even in time for flat fuck friday smfh

The whelp took a trip to Pisces for a bit, stuffed her face with fish, and came back to the arena just in time for her next match - fight? She didn't like to think of them as fights. That implied that she was going in with the intentions of hurting someone and that just wasn't her style.

... certainly could be the style of her next opponent, though.

Glaive stared down her prodigious snout, baby blues widening at the approaching chicken. Sure, she was... a pretty big bird, but... the spinosaurus squatted down instinctively. "Oh, uh, hi! I've Glaive-rhymes-with-Cave!" she chirped towards Kalama. "You wanna have the first move?" Just to make it fairer, the whelp thought, but (wisely) kept to herself.

@Kalama (Tupu???) @Vargas (if he's still watching these go down?)

Vargas settled in to watch another, toxic eyes darting over the arena floor.

So... the chicken.

...The-... chicken.

And! The Spinosaurus.

Hmm, he thought to himself, because he couldn't really come up with any coherent thought to this confrontation of small angry bird and massive dinosaur.

Who had decided on this..? Either Kalama was an incredible combatant--and he didn't think so; from what he knew of her she'd barely scraped by in the Ice trials and even then, only with help--or someone had really, really messed up.

Vargas studied her, though-... because if it had been a deliberate match-up, the chicken must have some terrifying hidden depths indeed.

That's right, Kaimana was still here! Being a supportive friend!!! Glaive hadn't really... noticed her from the last round, but that was okay! Glaive was pretty busy out there, and her distraction often made it hard to detect smaller creatures who weren't in immediate danger, like Kaimana (most of the time).

She sat with her beautiful serandite still beside her, and looked around. It was interesting to watch them fight, but the fight had not yet begun. And Kaimana was feeling kind of lonely, as usual. It was strange to be lonely in so much company. So she looked around and saw that giant purple creature again. No really, that creature was HUGE. But that wasn't as interesting to Kaimana as the fact that this creature was here again, watching the contest. Did it... know one of them? Glaive? She'd seen them at Glaive's first battle. If they knew Glaive, Kaimana could only imagine how the two must've met.

The jaguar tentatively got up on her paws. She looked back to her stone, whispered about how she 'wouldn't be gone for long', and then attempted to pad up to the giant purple creature. "Um... hello?" She would try to get their attention with some chatter. Kaimana didn't want to be afraid of this creature just because of their size. Or the massive quills and armor plating their hide. Kaimana didn't really want to find other creatures intimidating just because of their appearance. She didn't know anyone who could just choose how they were to appear.

"I- ahem, I keep, um, seeing you. D-Do you know one of the contestants...?" Kaimana asked, trying to keep her voice from getting small. Darn survival instincts, trying to keep her alive! She didn't want to sound rude but she had no way of addressing this creature. None that she knew of, anyway.

@Vargas (Kaimana is trying to interact because I'm stupid)

Vargas' head swivelled, six toxic eyes narrowing at the Gembound that was simply... walking up to him. It was civil enough, and so he grunted at it, staring down as he spoke.

"I am Master Vargas. I am here to observe the fights, and to pick those who might have potential from those who do not." What he would do with them--with either group--he did not say; but he was already turning his eyes back to the combatants in the ring.

@Kaimana (for visibility; I will wait for other posts though so don't tag back just yet!!)

Kalama strutted into the arena. Same act as before, tail high, wings out, feathers fluffed, the whole spiel. Except this time, there was a giant lizard waiting for her. She didn't exactly catch nor care what Kaimana said to Vargas, but she sure did keep her ears pricked for the rumble of Vargas' words.

"Hey! HEY!" Kalama yelled up at Vargas "I have potential! I'm the best fighter the caves have ever seen! I'm a champion! Did you know I beat a dragon?" And then, upon realizing thats right, she was in a fight, she turned back to her opponent. Who had offered to let her have the first move. Which was a grave mistake.

"You think you're better than me!? You think you're stronger, just because you're bigger?" She clucked, barely holding back rage. "I don't need the first move! You're gonna need the first move. I'm going to destroy you kiddo. I don't care how big you are!"

She hopped with each word, feet leaving the ground, propelled by nearly three feet of unadulterated chicken rage. "You attack first!"She said. Her toes dug into the ground. "Finally. A worthy oppenent. I get to add beating a second giant spiky lizard to my list of accomplishments." Kalama hadn't noticed she hadn't given her name out. If she did, she would've likely not shared it as well. Out of sheer spite.

think "speak"

@Glaive ((Kalama is refusing first move!))
@Vargas ((Kalama is ALSO seeking attention from Vargas))

Glaive took keen notice of Kaimana when she scanned the crowd again, and lifted a rather stumpy arm to wave: "HEY!!!" Baby blues squinted with an eager gator-grin.

Then, she had to wish she had big, fuzzy ears like her cat-friend; so she could flatten them and make this chicken's voice a little quieter on her ears. The whelp was too polite to actually say anything about it, but all of that anger was... pretty unwarranted. Glaive didn't mean anything mean by it, but the raptor did a perfect job of getting her guilt centers going: "wha - no, no, I didn't mean it like that! I just thought it was polite -" but Kalama was being... more polite... ? By offering for her to go first?

Um... okay.

The spinosaur moved slowly and hesitantly at first, before diving down to just... try and scoop Kalama up with her snout and gently throw her away. No teeth or claws! Just... a toss. Away. Perfect offense.

Round: 1/5
Attempt: just... throw kalama a bit -
Defense: being baby
Injuries: her heart :(

@Kalama @Kaimana (so you can post for vargas-)

Kalama snorted. "I don't care what you meant! I'm just here to beat some people up!" It wasn't a noble goal, but Kalama wasn't exactly noble. Glaive approached. Kalama scratched the ground with a talon, practically vibrating with excitement. Yes! She got to go second, and show everyone how cool she was. Especially Vargas. Breaking a toe on her own chrysalis was a big moment of embarrassment. This'd show Vargas how amazing she really was! Glaive shot for Kalama, muzzle down. And it didn't catch her. Perhaphs Glaive's attempt was too slow, or Kalama's reaction time too fast, but the spinosaurus didn't manage to catch her. Kalama squawked, flapping out of reach with a flap of wings.

"Ha! Is that all you've got, kiddo!? Lemme show you how a real champion fights!"How a real champion fought, apparently, was by charging headfirst into a creature three times larger.


think "speak"

Round: 1/5
Attempt: charge!
Defense: na
Injuries: none

@Glaive ((kalama calm the fuck down))

Glaive balked, "that's not very nice of you!" Baby blues blinked sadly, "it's just to be fun - I'm trying to be friendly..." It was clearly lost on this one, but the whelp couldn't help but feel bad about it. Was she doing something wrong? Was she supposed to be being mean to the people she was wrestling with? She didn't feel like she had the heart to do it. Anyone would say there wasn't a single mean bone in her body.

"Is that all you've got, kiddo!?" "I don't wanna hurt you!" she shot back, plaintive and childish. Kalama was quickly teaching Glaive, though, that she didn't care about that - just as much as she didn't care about any non-ill meaning behind words. She was just here to fight and be completely antagonistic. Glaive wasn't about it.

The chicken barreled into one of her legs and, yes, it was like being bodied in the knee by a sack of bricks. Glaive yelped involuntarily and brought her knee up in retaliation. It wasn't anything she actually meant to do, judging by her clumsy stumbling back and falling onto her knuckles - but... y'know... it was still being kneed by a dinosaur.

Round: 2/5
Attempt: Knee Kalama in the beak!
Defense: Fat fuck friday
Injuries: Slight bruise on her leg from Massive Chicken Impact

@Kalama

It appeared as though her questions had attracted some attention. Well, more like 'Master Vargas' 's answers! The jaguar responded to Glaive's (long overdue) greeting to her with a "HI GLAIVE! I'M ROOTING FOR YOU!!" and a bright smile back.

So Master Vargas was here to spectate and judge... potential? "Potential for what?" Kaimana asked, trying to sound polite. She didn't want to make Master Vargas feel bombarded by questions! She just couldn't guess what kind of 'potential' being a good fighter could be used for. Did Master Vargas need fighters? Why? Master Vargas was gargantuan and spiky all over, what could they possibly want other fighters for? It just seemed like a curious quest altogether.

Apparently the chicken, Kalama, didn't care what the potential was for, just that it was known that they had plenty of it. Kalama did not seem very kind -- they yelled at Glaive!! After giving enough time for Vargas to be able to properly respond to her second question, Kaimana's attention would quickly become transfixed on the battle. She silently hoped Glaive would win; that chicken was far too rude to be the victor! It would probably only inflate their ego if they won and Kaimana didn't want Glaive to suffer because of that! Also, Glaive deserved a win after having her feelings hurt!

Well, in the end there was nothing Kaimana could do about but sit and be entertained.

@Vargas (sorry for the tag)

Kalama's impact had her head ringing. She stumbled backwards, out of the way of Glaive's knee by pure chance. Her head hurt, but Kalama resisted the impulse to rub at it. She scoffed. Nice? Nice!? This giant lizard was soft. "Your enemy ain't supposed to be nice! This? Im not playing for fun, kid. This is to win! You're supposed to get mad! Hate your opponent! Get angry!" Kalama said, stomping a foot.

"I don't wanna fight a wimp! Why aren't you fighting harder!? You haven't landed a blow on me yet!" Kalama was screaming(louder) at this point, clearly working herself up."Be better! I don't care how how strong you are, hurt me! I wanna get hit! Right now, I dare you! Hit me as hard as you can!"

The chicken took a few steps back. She dug her feet into the ground, the grip imperfect but there. She glared at Glaive from her spot, waiting for the dinosaur's move.
think "speak"

Round: 2/5
Attempt: Brace for impact!
Defense: Bracing!
Injuries: Throbbing head from recoil :(

@Glaive