strong language

Lemon screeched as the other whacked him with his horns, sending him flying and crashing into the dirt. He lay there in a heap, stunned more than he was hurt. But Avi didn't know that.

"FUCK! I think it's broken!", he yelled, dragging his wing behind him as he stood, "How am I to win now? Oh woe is me, for I am so grievously wounded! Watch as I perish, in pain and agony! BETRAYED by my bestest buddy!!"

He limped closer, moaning and whining, making a huge stink, before throwing his wing up and flinging sand at the other to blind and distract.

"Pocket sand!", he shouted, "Woe is you now!!"

Aaaand he missed.

"Fuck," he said intelligently.

@Avi

Round: 5/5
Attempt: Pocket sand!
Defense: N/A
Injuries: A little dusted up from the landings, dizzy as Hell

Final round!

Avi hovered in the air for a few moments, watching the screeching vulture spiral down below. He pumped a scythe into the air. "Yeah!" And immediately took it back the moment Lemon started shouting.

Oh god. Did he break something? That's not proper sparring etiquette, is it? What if Lemonface hates him now? What if Lemonface dies? Completely abandoning the match for a moment, the gryphon sailed down, squawking "Oh caves, I am so sorry, are you--"

And lunged back as a poorly-aimed shower of sand tickled his nose.

A moment passed as he tried to process the bluff. "Hey, wait a minute--!"

Fully back into the spirit again and with a devilish grin on his face, he zoomed downwards, wings pinned, and ready to pummel Lemonface into the ground. "Fuck yes!"

Aww, would you look at that! Avi's first swear!

Round: 5/5
Attempt: boxer slam
Defense: None
Injuries: Dizzy, sore

@Lemonface

Character: Lemonface Age: +6 (6 Cycles) Magic Level: +1 (Fledgling) ROUND 1 Attempt: +6 Penalties: - ROUND 2 Attempt: +16 Penalties: - ROUND 3 Attempt: +20 Penalties: - ROUND 4 Attempt: +3 Penalties: - ROUND 5 Attempt: +3 Penalties: - Total: 55

Character: Avi Age: +6 (6 Cycles) Magic Level: +1 (Fledgling) ROUND 1 Attempt: +13 Penalties: - ROUND 2 Attempt: +9 Penalties: - ROUND 3 Attempt: +6 Penalties: - ROUND 4 Attempt: +16 Penalties: - ROUND 5 Attempt: +3 Penalties: - Total: 54

WINNER: Lemonface

@Lemonface @Avi

Lemon looked up and squawked, throwing himself to the side as Avi barreled towards him, flopping onto his front with his wings spread, panting. He raised a wing and punched it into the air, gasping for breath.

"Yeah!! Woo!! I... hoo... win!", his wing flopped down and he rolled onto his back, feet up in the air, "Take that... you... stinky... jerk!"

He slowly sat up, definitely bruised from repeatedly yeeting himself through the air due to Newton's third law. Lemon managed to get to his feet and staggered forward, making his way over to Damask and lazily saluting, a dopey grin on his face.

"I know what you're gonna say," he said, and brushed himself off, "'Oh Lemon that was so great you win by a mile, here's this amazing prize and a hug!'"

He grinned at Damask hopefully, wiggling his brows.

@Damask @Avi @Ozzie

Avi tumbled to the ground, wings flaring, spots flashing, a little cloud of dust rising around him. Man, he was pooped. It took the gryphon a few moments of heavy panting and trying to find his footing before he turned back to Lemonface... only to see the vulture had already crowned himself winner.

"What?!" he squawked, only semi-serious and grinning like an idiot. "How? I totally won that. The alien scurried over to Damask, wobbling slightly from the spar, and looked at his tutor incredulously. "Dammy, which one of us won? It's me, right?"

Slipping in one more post lol

@Ozzie ! choose wisely ...
little baby bit of informed powerplay here — said information was egregiously false. i've edited in accordance with the truth. ):

ozzie's smile was a soft flicker of motion in her periphery. he puffed out his feathers, took a deep breath, and ... did his job, like a pro. oh. tufted ears swiveled sharply in his direction, hinting at a touch of surprise. that's pretty damn good, actually. diversify, focus, don't get distracted: all suggestions she would've made herself, and ozzie's delivery was halting, but encouraging. he looked to her for approval as he finished, and she found a smile for him (with effort) — slight, thin, but a smile all the same, delivered with a small nod. "nailed it," she told him, very quietly. exhale, and damask settled in for the show, wrapping her tail over her toes.

what followed was ... nope. sorry. definitely not what anyone would call a fight. sure is something, though. wings beat, feathers flew, and talons scuffed against the stone. the accipiter's eyes tracked every maneuver, catching on details — mostly mistakes. in no time at all, a distinct pattern emerged, and it went like this: lemonface would pull a ridiculous stunt, generally involving either the same silly spell or an obvious trick; avi would retaliate with some sort of tackle; neither move would do much of anything; and raucous banter would leap back and forth, flung from their mouths like little toy darts.

"how's that, huh?! ... what'chu got, huh? ... ain't got nothin', that's what!" damask's gaze slid towards ozzie. oh, cut it out — he's fiiine, kid's got it covered. hey! there he is again, direly in need of validation! quick, smile. okay. yes. good. repeat that as necessary. gee, he really does need it, doesn't he? keep an eye on that. now, back to the ... what're we calling it, a spar? very generous, but all right. so, you've gotta watch, and you've gotta remember. easy. this requires fully one third of your attention. what're you gonna do with the rest of it? think about your sad, sad childhood? yeah? "... take that!... " must be nice, huh? having friends. having fun. "... yeah! it is! ..." it's not even like it wasn't your fault. you could've gone out and socialized — you know, like a normal kid — but ohh, no, you had to put it off, had to decide you were good and ready first. what? just look at these two! you think they would've cared if you had a passing grade in social skills or not? say, what if you'd had times like these, a chance to let loose and act your own age? would you have turned out any better? "... i think it's broken! ..." nah, damask, you wouldn't've. broken is how you were from the start.

and ... we're done! boy, that was fast! turns out, time flies when you're feeling terrible, too!

her claws gave a few restless taps beneath the frond of her tailtip. both contenders lay panting on the ground, covered in dust. a mottled wing rose into the air, followed by a rolling pair of feet as lemonface found just enough air to gloat. he wobbled his way upright, then approached her, all wiggly brows and sloppy, dopey grins. damask held her ground, despite the urge to step away. a ... a hug? does he really expect — ... man, these kids really don't know you at all, do they? she jerked her muzzle a couple inches to the left, one eye narrowed in reproach: not on your life, but hey, keep dreaming. her breath came out in a soft huff. she opened her mouth to respond —

"what?! how? i totally won that." and there was avi. little harder not to budge, this time. "dammy?" ooh. that stung, didn't it. another jerk of her muzzle, mirrored to the right. it came off as half a warning, half a rebuke, just like the first — and that was how she meant it, but ... somehow, it felt a little more like a flinch. "which one of us won? it's me, right?"

she glanced sidelong at ozzie. ooh. shit. frustration sparked hotly in her chest, burning off a matchstick of flaring concern. all right. stay cool, stick to the plan, fussing isn't gonna make it better. she didn't linger long. returning at once to the others, the accipiter parted her wings for order in the court. "easy, easy." a moment to ensure she had their attention — no crosstalk, no arguing — and her sails shuffled back into place. "hey, why are you looking at me? what did i say?" here, an emphatic tip of her head towards ozzie. "ask him. he looks like he knows what he's talking about. me, i'm not even here." damask sidestepped, leaving center stage to ozzie alone. the less she had to do with this, the better. she could've come to his rescue in earnest, but — he's not your pet, kid, and coaxing him along was only bound to humiliate him further when, well ... when his friends didn't hear a word of his advice? when they just asked the teacher to pick a winner, despite said teacher having very explicitly told them not to? when they haven't even looked at him? oh, you'd be a total wreck, too. even just the secondhand embarrassment is making you queasy. wow.

and it wasn't an easy position she'd put him in. a blink of her eyes was all it took to play back the action. just for a second, put all your biases somewhere else, and with a little mental math, she had her own analysis ready to go: here were each of the kids' strengths, their weaknesses, where to improve; and, yes, here was the one she would've picked for the win. that last part was naturally very subjective, and maybe ozzie would go the other way, but as for the rest, she couldn't see his commentary being all that different from hers — he had a good eye for this, if the notes he'd already given were any indication. it was more the task of actually giving them the verdict that might be ... problematic, for him. certainly would be for you. all of a sudden, this little strategy of yours is looking awfully convenient.

she looked to ozzie one last time, chin low, brows lifted. you're up, she mouthed at him, and: it's all good.

Ozzie was there physically, and he could argue he was also there mentally, but mostly he was off somewhere else, mostly panicking in his spot.

he had no idea what on earth his siblings were doing.
lemon was doing tricks, Avi was... doing her thing? and neither of them seemed to hear Ozzie at all. so, for the majority of it, he just. let them do their thing. he'd do his job, but the advice he'd give was left on deaf ears as the scuffle continued. he looked more and more dejected as it went on, and he was close to just not talking altogether, the feeling of building his confidence back up, with dam's occasional smile and tiny praise, and then devolving back into sad, quiet mumbles as his confidence deflated again. nobody was listening to him, and it didn't seem to make a difference whether or not he was talking at all. a small part of him is thankful. it would've hurt more to see them stop when he was quiet, as if he was just background noise to keep the atmosphere.

"they listened to me before, didn't they...?" he tried to tell himself. surely they didn't mean to ignore him, they were just excited.

but anyone looking could see the blatant heartbreak as instead of going to him, they went to dammy for the results. they really didn't hear a thing he was saying, did they? "or what she said, apparently..." he thought, brushing it away, he didn't wanna be mad.

he looked up as dammy redirected their attention to him. he looked up to her, slightly panicked, and then back to them. "u-uhm..!" he stammered. well, if they didn't hear him, might as well just repeat it now they were paying attention, right?

"w-well, for starters, your techniques were, uhm.. a little off..?" he offered. "i-it was good, but your uhm.. Lemon! your distractions were k-kinda.. obvious? and if you want them to be effective, you need to be creative! you don't want to be, uh.. predictable? and Avi! your technique was okay too but uh... also kinda predictable, and alot of it was just reaction and tackling... and getting unfocused can lead to you losing if.. not careful? oh jeez-" he warbled anxiously, tapping his talons again the ground. he took a moment, seemingly to repeat what he said to himself, almost as if to reassure that he even said them, but in little cut up pieces. he wasn't looking at any of them anymore, glancing at the floor as he repeated his advice, in different tones and inflections. he looked up after a few seconds, trying to shake off the anxiety and disguise it with a proud smile, though shaky and lopsided. 'g-good work, overall, i think! just, uh- needs some perfection"

when he stopped talking he pawed at his face for a moment with his wings, as if trying to rub off the bad feelings like a bad face mask, before looking back up to dammy himself, and then back to the others. was that okay? was he wrong? was he too blunt, or mean? he swayed in place a little, trying not to lose his balance as he just seemed to. freeze. waiting

@Avi @Lemonface

Lemon deflated like a balloon when Damask turned down his hug, beak snapping shut with a loud clack. He was easily distracted as Avi walked up and squawked in denial, flapping his wings like an angry chicken.

"Did not! I was way more flashy!", he protested, and had the decency to look sheepish as Damask directed them to Ozzie.

He dragged himself over to his psuedo-brother and caught that look, the heartbreak, and his feathers slimmed right down to his body. He looked a lot smaller all of a sudden, and it was very apparent that he was the smallest of the group, the illusion of size having only held up due to his fluffed up feathers. No wonder he'd been trying to keep Avi far away, he was less than half their size and one of their clumsy attacks easily could have broken something. It was really a matter of if such tactics had been intentional.

"... Sorry Ozzie," he offered, more of a mumble than his usual tone, his wings dragging on the ground, being too heavy to hold up after such a tiring encounter, "I'll uh... I'll make sure to practice, m'kay? And maybe you can give me more advice on how to improve? I'd really appreciate it."

Suddenly Lemon felt really small, and he didn't like it all that much. He was big and boisterous! He was the life of the party and he hated that everyone was so down and even worse was that it was mostly his fault!

"So uh... I ain't going next, not with my muscles aching like this," he said, trying to joke, to lighten the mood, "Hey Ozzie, why don't you take the knucklehead here and show 'em how its done? I'm sure you'll kick their feathered butt!"

@Avi

Avi did not notice Damask's cautious flinch, too caught up in the leftover adrenaline of the match. His secondary eyes wheeled between Lemonface and their coach. When Damask spoke, she buzzed, "Oh! Right!" and hopped over to Ozzie, his cheerful grin faltering when he saw the anxiety on the vulture's face.

"Sorry," he mumbled when he was done, echoing Lemon's sentiment. "I didn't mean to miss you. I'll be more unpredictable next time! Like, so unpredictable you wouldn't even predict I'm being unpredictable!" he offered jokingly, lifting a scythe up in jest.

At the white vulture's suggestion Aviv dramatically raised it to his head with a sigh. "Oh man, there's no way I'd beat Ozzie! I'd be poop! We can if ya want, but we already know who's won." He laughed, trying to lighten the athmosphere.

@Ozzie @Damask @Lemonface I'm so sorry this is a million years late

his chest lightened as they both apologized, taking his advice to heart, and boy did his heart swell when lemon actually asked for MORE advice later!! this was great!!

he wiped away some tears that accidentally spilled over, as embarrassing as that was, and flapped his wings as he began talking again.

"y-yeah!! as i said, you guys didn't do badly, but i'd be happy to keep helping!!" he chirped happily.

he smiled, he highly doubted he'd be able to actually kick any of their butts, but he wouldn't want to, he'd feel too bad. "i dont think i'd be very good at fighting, heh!" he chirped, before pasuing and looking at damask "but- if damask says its my turn?" he asked, only a little nervous.

@Damask