He wasn't back at his home right now, but rather wandering through Canis looking for that damn chicken. He remembered seeing it a while ago, straight up challenging the Bonebound's King in front of the entire Bonebound and had laughed as she was beaten. But he knew her to be a Champion as well, a title he coveted and oh so wished he could have for himself, but that was a thought for another day. Whether the Trial of Hydra was worth it to put Banshy and Forgraves through that much stress wasn't on his mind at the moment.

It had been too long since he'd had a good fight. And he knew exactly the opponent he'd wanted.

He already knew not to underestimate someone based on size or appearance - not that the chicken was exactly failing in that regard, with the monstrous mutations and the strong kick and claws to boot - and despite his desire to fight someone his own size, or even larger then him, he still had it on his mind to challenge the bird - might as well do it now.

He stopped at one point and sucked in a breath. "KALAMA," he roared, voice echoing along the walls. "I CHALLENGE YOU!!"

@Kalama

The chicken had been in the midst of choking down bits of a red mouse she'd found, when Azrael's challenge came. Her head shot up, partly confused, and wholly unprepared. But that didn't stop the sheer unbridled energy. She lived for fighting. And this was no different. She kicked the half eaten mouse away, standing to full height.

"Hah! An opponent!" She said, behind a mouthful of red mouse. She gave herself a quick preen, tucking a few stray wing feathers into place. She charged from her meal, nearly tripping over it in her rush to find the challenger. She followed the voice, until Azrael came into view.

Giant, red, four arms. Her opponent. The appearance didn't ring any bells. But neither did she blink at such an imposing figure. Question, hey, could she really fight this thing? Though a wiser creature might've. She, however, was excited. Raring to go. "You've found Kalama of Canis! I'm a champion! An unbeaten warrior!"

"Finally! A real opponent! I've been fighting cowards and children this whole time!" Her tail swayed like a cat's on the hunt. She raised her head to the sky, and let out a crow. "Let's go," she said, scraping the ground with a clawed foot. "Right now! You have the first move, challenger!"

Then, following a moment of thought, "No magic!" She said. She spat to the side. "I fought a tiny assassin using magic. Magicka is CHEATING, not real strength. Use brawn." She stamped a foot. The chicken's already gotten herself even more riled up just thinking of magicka.

@Azrael

Azrael snarled with pleasure at the sight of Kalama running into view. He was bigger then her - almost hilariously so - but he knew that her spirit burned as hot as the flames within him and she was not one to be underestimated. He rolled his shoulders back and stood taller, tensing as he readied for a fight. "GOOD. I saw you, fighting the Bone King! I am AZRAEL! I am the DARKNESS!!" He punctuated this title with a short, intimidating roar.

He prepared himself for his first move, crouching, readying himself to make everything dark when Kalama spat out that vile, disgraceful, disgusting comment and his eyes widened. He stood back up, lip curling and claws forming fists. "I would have thought you had more RESPECT as a powerful warrior. Magic is STRENGTH as much as claws! It takes SKILL and PRACTICE and it is NOT CHEATING!!" His voice had grown dangerous, a snarl deep in his chest and dancing on the edge of purely feral. Anger was rolling in his gut because how dare she accuse magic of cheating. How dare she, in turn, accuse Azrael of cheating.

He raised a claw and pointed at her. "If you think magic is CHEATING then I will fight you WITHOUT IT to prove that I could beat you ONE WAY OR ANOTHER!" He let out one final roar before launching himself forward, head down as he charged straight for his opponent.

Round: 1
Attempt: full frontal charge
Defense: big
Injuries: none

@Kalama

Kalama shook herself. Not only was her opponent ten times her size, but he'd also seen her fight! "Oh! You saw that huh, Azrael? I was pretty good!" She made a self satisfied 'chrr' noise, ego stroked. A bit of jealousy gnawed at her. His title was much cooler than hers. She wanted to be darkness. Or blood, maybe. Kalama the bloody had a ring to it. And to her suprise, Azrael went on to defend magicka. She'd trusted him! What magic user would want to fight her? That wasn't a cat assassin, at least.

Her eyes narrowed. So he was a magic user then? Her opinion of him dropped. Her talons clicked the ground, a mixture of anger and impatience. "Magic!? Strength?" She laughed, curt and incredulous. Her head tilted the tiniest bit. "You're not even using your body! How's that not cheating? Hows that strength?" She shook her head. But all that mattered to Kalama, was that in the end Azrael agreed to not use magicka. His agreement pleased her. "Ha! You may be a magic user, but at least you've got morals. Puts you above most."

And then, all eight feet of Azrael was charging. Never one for survival instincts, Kalama stayed where she was. In the midst of Azraels warpath. Her tail swung wildly. Barely concealed excitement pressing at the surface. At the last moment, the chicken leapt, aiming to batter the other's chest with wings and the topsides of talons. She wasn't trying to draw blood. Yet, at least. A thorough beating should convince Azrael muscles were stronger!

think "speak"

Round: 1/5?
Attempt: randomly attack upper chest area?
Defense: kalama has defended once in 19 cycles
Injuries: none
@Azrael

His lip curled with anger. "Your disdain for magic only shows your weakness. You are beaten by magic and instead of accepting your defeat and working to OVERCOME, you only speak of CHEATING." A despicable, disgusting attitude that sent blood boiling through Azrael's veins. If he had not already agreed not to use magic and had already cemented Kalama in his head as a worthy opponent - one to fight and not kill - he would have sent a burst of fire blazing her way already or covered the world in darkness so that she lost her eyes. But no - he charged instead.

And she met his charge with the kind of fury he expected. Wings and feet battered at his chest, sending strokes of force across his skin, but not drawing blood or causing physical damage. It would bruise, probably, but she was a chicken and he was an eight foot tall four-armed demon.

But still, her attack was more ferocious then he thought, and when he went to throw her to the ground with his momentum, he found himself falling short, stumbling instead of a firm shove and a topple to the ground. He stepped back, growling, against her rain of blows.

Round: 2
Attempt: body slam
Defense: big
Injuries: bruising on his chest
@Kalama

Kalama flapped back. Her attack thrown off by Azrael's lurch forward. Azrael's attempt...whatever it was, hadn't landed, but she still stumbled from the sheer force, nearly toppling. Azrael's words sent her into a rage. Mostly the one. 'Weakness'. He called her weak. She didn't hear much after that. Not over the sound of blood rushing in her ears. Boiling hot. She glared up at the demon with eyes blazing orange. "Weakness!?" Kalama said, her voice high pitched and full of rage. "You--you think I'm weak!? You think you know what weakness is!?"

Her claws flexed in the dirt, and she considered the positives of using them on Azrael. For one, it'd make her feel pretty good. But Azrael would start using his claws too. "I've seen more--FOUGHT more than you know! You'd ever seen! And you call me weak! Losing to magicka isn't a true loss! Theres nothing to beat! You cant fight ice or electricity!" She remembered the small cat assassin that'd tricked her. Only making herself angrier. "You'll know just how weak YOU are once I'm done with you!"With a cry of rage, Kalama charged at Azrael's legs.

think "speak"

Round: 2/5?
Attempt: Ram legs
Defense: yeah
Injuries: stood in the middle of a charging 8 ft demon

@Azrael

Azrael's eyes flashed. She was just...totally out of it. Screaming and raging over a single word he'd said, taken so wildly out of context he didn't think she'd even heard anything else. "NO!!" he roared, voice rattling the bones at their feet. "You are STRONG. But even the STRONGEST have WEAKNESSES. But I will not speak to you like some CHILD that needs a lesson. Figure it out yourself or NOT AT ALL!!" She was not one of his children - she would never be. So he wasn't going to waste his time and energy trying to make her see things his way. Especially not while they were fighting.

She was running at his legs now, strong enough that he actively stumbled back a bit, the power behind her blow enough to get him slightly off balance. But...she was still a bird. And he was still about five feet taller then her.

He tried to send a kick her way, but it was only at the last moment that he remembered that he had rather large claws on his foot and the action of curling them in so that he didn't impale the chicken was enough to put him far enough off balance to throw off his aim. The kick missed and he stumbled further back, spending too long trying to right himself.

Round: 3
Attempt: hearty kick, but like, not super strong
Defense: big
Injuries: bruising on his chest, very slightly off balance
@Kalama

Despite herself, Kalama winced at Azrael's voice. The sudden booming of his voice surprising her. She dug her talons into the ground, then began to pace. Azrael's praise had her feathers smooth for a moment, a self confident smirk on her beak. She was strong. He knew this. By strongest, he clearly meant Kalama, herself. But then Azrael was back on that weakness stuff. Azrael was a fool to think the strong had weakness. Ha! She had none! She was a jewel, the diamond standard of warriors.

Arguing again would only reinforce Azrael's words. But she considered it. Instead, she hit him with hard eyes. Azrael had hit the magic combo of words to get Kalama to shut up. She'd show him with her pure mettle. Show Azrael that she'd fear nothing! Kalama growled. Azrael stumbled, and Kalama's eyes glittered as she spotted the newfound opportunity. She crouched, before launching into another attack. Kalama took his moment of weakness to launch herself at him, battering what she could could with her wings.

think "speak"

Round: 3/5?
Attempt: Flap face? chest? general area
Defense: :)
Injuries: stood in the middle of a charging 8 ft demon

@Azrael