Lemonface pushed himself up and hobbled forward, wings open as he took to hopping instead, grinning, "Aw Hell yeah!"

He turned and faced Avi, knowing that the larger had the advantage of size. But Lemon had been practicing... and his flight feathers were in. All his kicking at rocks wasn't for nothing!

"This is gonna be awe-", he suddenly looked behind Avi, pointing off into the distance, "Holy crap- what's that?!"

There was nothing, of course, but whether Avi fell for it or not, he took to the air, flapping hard to try and gain the advantage in the sky. He was a lot more agile than the other, able to twist and turn and fly for longer thanks to his broad wingspan.

So much for strength, he thought smugly.

@Avi

Round: 1/5
Attempt: Distraction!!
Defense: N/A
Injuries: N/A

Damask the nice-friend spoke, gave each of them a nod-- he was slightly puzzled by the stoic one she gave him, but moved on-- and suddenly it was time to duel! Avi hadn't exactly sparred before (if you don't consider roughhousing with Lemonface one), but he understood the concept and he understood how cool it was. Fighting! Flying! Doing funny tricks in the air! This was going to be so much fun.

With a ruffle of his feathers the hybrid turned to face Lemon. Wide-stance, chest puffed, wings slightly out, and beaming with a smile. He faced the vulture head on and-- oh? What's that? His head swiveled briefly at his word, but he caught him trying to fly away in the corner of his vision. "Hey!" Aviv squawked, flaring out four wide wings and launching after the bird. He was still feeling the rush of adrenaline from starting and didn't consider protecting any weak spots, just speeding after him with schythes outstretched.

Round: 1/5
Attempt: Tackling a lemon!
Defense: too little brain for that
Injuries: N/A

@Lemonface @Ozzie @Damask (for commentary as per instruction!)

lemme just squeeze in here ... ;] ft. soft words for @Ozzie plus WWE commentary from damask's IT department

for a second, she wasn't ... one hundred percent that her strategy was going to work. these three were decidedly not the type for a socratic seminar — needed something more hands-on — but maybe a straight-up fight was a little too abrupt? too big an ask? these kids, have they ever even thrown a punch before? you're working with a few sticky wads of putty, here. and there was that moment, artificial strength dying in her throat, leaving soft uncertainty in its wake. heh. and yet — wait. sure enough, avi and lemonface were game, squaring off in an instant, no questions asked. damask exhaled. huh! okay! guess that play paid off after all. let's just see how long that lasts.

ozzie, however ...

shit, ozzie had been on the brink of tears. nodding along, sure, and cheering on the others — but it didn't take an eye like damask's to see he was struggling. even as she'd addressed the group, his one-sided gaze had gone straight through her, wings floating slackly at his sides. he'd since refocused, and now he shuffled up to stand at her shoulder; slightly better, here, with another dutiful bob of his head: "got it!" don't you hear it, though? that hitch in his breath? got a nervous little wreck on your hands. now, where have we seen one of those before ... oh, that's right — pools, mirrors, and your own reflection in your father's gooey puppy-dog eyes.

of course you'd be soft on a kid like this, and isn't it just killing you to leave it alone?

a scanning moment of rapid calculation. pretty safe to say, at this point, that avi and lemon were operating on total tunnel vision. with a tweak of her head, the accipiter glanced over at ozzie, barely shorter beside her. her features loosened, if only a little — brows raised, lips parted, slightly softened from that ice-cool professionalism. sotto voce: "good call on that answer. the others have their own priorities, but i would've said the same thing." as if your voice isn't small enough without you making it even littler. and next to how you were sounding before? hah!, you sure he'll even recognize you? but it wasn't the condescending hush of a pat, pat parent or even a teacher — it was more ... conspiratorial, in the manner of a thick-as-thieves friend. "focus. no pressure."

damask shifted back into gear — righting her head, wiping all emotion from her face, and settling in to observe the ... whatever this is that was playing out in front of her. certainly isn't looking like much of a fight. yet. they were young, and they were just getting started. once they got their adrenaline going, their moves would follow suit. and, hey — clumsy or not, this was worth taking serious. oh, yeah? heh. okay.

folks and fans, we welcome you to ring generic, here in the room of bones, as we present the main event of cycle sixty-five! (brought to you by the bonebound and coach "the kid" damask.) introducing two of the caves' most promising heavyweight up-and-comers, both undefeated with zero losses and twelve times as many wins! in the rock corner: avi vita in the fluorescent green trim, eighteen inches tall and weighing in at thirty-five pounds! aaand their opponent across the ring, fighting out of the stone corner: lemonface in the feather boa, large and in charge at three and a half pounds and sixteen inches long! here we go, round one ... !! lemon's got the first move — he's amping up from a hobble to a hop! and avi's setting up for the charge — would you get a look at that stance, so brazen, not a single defense or a hint of fear in sight! lemon shouts — lemon points, but avi doesn't fall for it! with a mighty beat of his wings, lemon takes to the air; and with another to match, avi's going after him, scythes out! it's looking like that tackle just might land, but probably not ... !

she absolutely should've been having fun. so why aren't you, damask, you absolute sad sack?

at least everybody else probably was.

Action. Thought. "Speech."

as the fight started ozzie tried to keep as close a watch he could. after reminding himself that the harder he tried to focus, the harder focusing would be, he just tried looking at the fight in as critical a mindset he could muster.

Lemon's approach was... interesting. but it didn't seem effective, by any means. avi seemed to have been caught off guard by it a tad, but quickly refocused and gave... a good attempt at a tackle. it was still a tackle but one that looked like it was distracted, so. maybe it had worked, if only just a tad. he thought on it, trying to string together some words, but finding it still hard. the distraction of the fight helped but his brain was still buffering.

his head swivelled as he saw damask's slight movement, looking at her almost with worry. did he mess up already? but the expression in her face showed no upset, so..

"good call on that answer. the others have their own priorities, but i would've said the same thing." she had said. "focus. no pressure."

he gave her a light smile, features softening a bit as he allowed to himself to take a deep breath. his answer was good, then! he puffed up his feathers as he found his lungs had finally released enough for speech.

"good call on the distraction, but uhm- t-try other methods! and avi, good tackle, try to keep your focus, put your all into it! don't let yourselves get distracted, you've got this, guys!" he chirped out in support, looking to damask, a silent "did i do good?"

@Avi @Lemon

Feathers flew as Lemon flapped like mad, only to be tackled by a flying mantis-bird-leopard. He struggled and suddenly grinned.

"HEY!", he crowed, "What do you call a bird that's afraid to fly?"

He raised his claws, ready for the push back.

"CHICKEN!", he shouted, and cast the spell, energy erupting between them, sending him flying back, spinning in the air and squawking like an idiot.

Lemon faceplanted and skid a few feet, tail feathers up to the sky before he scrambled upwards, hacking and coughing dust from his lungs. He wiped his face off and shook himself out, turning to face wherever Avi was.

"Yeah, that's right!", he said, puffing up his chest and doing the ol' one two into the air, "This bird's got some kick! How's that, huh?!"

He did a little fake out to no one, throwing his wings down like one would arms, taunting Avi, "Whatchu got, huh? Huuuuh? Ain't got nothin', that's what! Ain't got! Nothin' on me! Ain't got! Nothin' on me!"

He sounded only a bit like 'DK! Chunky's dead!' Only a bit.

@Avi

Round: 2/5
Attempt: Shoving Avi back, but physics say it would push lemon back too so
Defense: N/A
Injuries: A little dusted up from the landing.

He got him down! Avi's beak was wide with thrill as he (quite clumsily) pinned the vulture to the ground. A little dust got onto his fur and legs, but that was fine. The spar was fun! He could see Ozzie and Damask out of the corner of his neon eyes, but the majority of his focus was on Lemonface. And his... strange question?

"Wha?" His scythes loosened their grip, head cocking to the side as he looked down at the bird. A bird... afraid to fly? That sure was a confusing question. "I don't--"

And wham! An invisible blast of magicka made him a careening blur of green and brown as he was forced away. His own squawk of surprise joined Lemonface's before his dark wings shot out and slowed his tumble. Oh, it was on! ... Once he stopped being dizzy first.

The alien stayed half-sitting, half-lying on the ground for a few seconds, trying to catch his breath while the chick gloated. Still, past the sores and billowing dust, there was a smile on his face. And the moment he was done he forced himself onto his talons again.

"I do got something on you! And it's... it's... uh..."

Okay, scratch that. Let's just barrel forward.

He sprinted forward, eyes squinted and ears back-- he was a little more cautious this time. Hopefully he could get him into a pin for real this time.

Round: 2/5
Attempt: Bodyslam... two!
Defense: Eyes squinting, ears back
Injuries: A little sore

@Lemonface

Lemon squawked, flapping his wings as he tried to get away, sooty black feathers going everywhere. He breathed in and tried to cast his spell again, clenching his eyes shut and hoping.

The spell uh... worked! Though perhaps a bit too well.

Lemon went flying, the sheer force of the spell sending him flailing through the air like a frisbee with feathers, spinning fast enough that he was a blur. He landed on the ground in a pile of feathers and a strained 'oof!', his pride more wounded than he was, thankfully.

His head popped out of the pile of down and limbs, head tilting to one side, the world still spinning.

"... I think I just saw Astraea," he wheezed, pushing himself up, wobbling and falling over, as disoriented as a newborn foal, but with less of the cuteness.

"Take that!", he squawked, flinging his arms to either side, only to lose his balance and run forward, wings flailing in an attempt to catch himself before he promptly face-planted.

@Avi

Round: 3/5
Attempt: Shoving Avi back again!
Defense: N/A
Injuries: A little dusted up from the landing, dizzy as Hell

Avi reeled back as he landed, spitting out a sooty feather or two that got stuck in his beak. Caves, was he molting?! Where did all these feathers come from? He barely had a moment to react before a massive burst of magic sent him tumbling back. Being heavier, it didn't affect the griffin as much (poor Lemon was spiraling away) but still left his legs kicking in the air like a turtle.

Woah! That was powerful! No time to awe, though, he had a spar to win.

Aviv rolled over with a flip of his wings, a shake of his beak and an energetic call: "Is that the only move you got?" And with little warning the bone duke moved to pin the downed vulture.

Or... not. Despite Lemonface being squarely on the ground, Avi managed to overshoot, leaping over him and landing down on nothing but rock. Whoops. Despite the little goof he swerved around towards him once more, holding his head away and fanning his wings out to prevent any damage to his gorgeous face.

Round: 3/5
Attempt: Pin Lemon down
Defense: Ears back, holding his head away from Lemon's claws
Injuries: Dizzy baby, a little sore

@Lemonface

Lemon shook himself out and ducked his head as the other flew over him, whirling around to face Avi again, "Yeah! It is! You got a problem with that?"

He flared his wings and screeched, taking to the air and flaring his claws out, aiming to dispel the everloving shit out of Avi.

"You sound like you do! You upset that the same thing keeps workin'?", he mocked, "Don' worry 'bout it, brawn over brains, right?"

Ooohhhh burrrrrn!!

His dizziness didn't seem to want to leave just yet, so he was flying a bit to the left. He squawked as he spiraled past Avi, flapping his wings wildly just to stay airborne. He landed and stumbled, but turned around and flared his wings again, hopping from foot to foot to try and intimidate.

@Avi

Round: 4/5
Attempt: Shoving Avi back again 2: electric boogaloo
Defense: N/A
Injuries: A little dusted up from the landing, dizzy as Hell

Avi eyed Lemonface suspiciously, waiting to see what his next move would be. The vulture just screeched a lot, and swayed in the air (he himself was still a bit dizzy), and--- ooooooohhh. A devilish smirk spread across her features. He knew exactly what his next move will be.

"Brains, huh? Well, try and brain your way out of THIS!" And the gryphon leaped forward, wings flapping and spots flashing. He flew up to where the pale vulture was with the sole intention of headbutting him, his oilstone horns functioning like an improvised tennis racket. Hopefully that'd send him flying.

Round: 4/5
Attempt: Volleyball Lemon
Defense: None
Injuries: Dizzy, sore

@Lemonface I'm so sorry my writing muse died halfway through