Won't you play a game with me?

Ah! A fighter! Good thing they weren't a very strong dragon, then.

Boy's spine lurched/bent forward/backwards as the spear planted itself into the ground before Arquia. No. This would not do. They needed her flesh. Bee ripped it out of the ground, jerking away just in time to hear a whoosh go past her head. A missed strike. Matthieu fell back, still as silent as ever, a hundred eyes on the nearby buffalo.

'It is weak. Agressive, but harmless. Strike it down now! Stop it from fleeing!'

Nerves. Nerves firing. The wind howling.

'The wings! The wings! Blankets, bandage, toys!'

Pure, emotionless expression.

With not a pause, Matthieu barelled forth, her mandibles snapping, aiming his spear at those gorgeous wings.

Round: 2/?
Attempt: Impale her secondary wing
Defense: None at the moment
Injuries: Stomach/back wound

@Arquia

She had missed, sure, but hopefully that would be enough to deter the weird bee. Hopefully. Arquia's eyes watched to see if they would back away now. But the next moment, they charged forwards. She looked on in surprise, and tried to beat her wings to bring her into the air, and out of range of the spear.

Her powerful wings thrust her up into the air, but not before she felt a small rip in her secondary wing. It wasn't huge, but it was enough to hurt. Arquia loosed another loud roar, circling around the bee in the air.

Round: 2/?
Attempt: Dodge spear
Defense: Hard scales?
Injuries: Deep scratch wound on her side

@Matthieu

Won't you play a game with me?

They were not going to let this perfect blanket fly away.

They stepped back as the dragon took to the air, fast-- but not fast enough to escape the barrelling spear. It made contact with the corner of her wings, and while it didn't do enough damage to incapacitate her it did rip off some gorgeous, tattered wing tissue.

But they wanted more. To leave with just an arm's length of papery leather would be an alogism.

They scrambled forth through the grass, feeling Arquia's hot breath circle above them. How unfortunate Matthieu's own wings were useless. Needed to strike fast, needed to strike before she struck herself. The tips of his fingers curled around the spear shaft, feeling the dirt and grime stick to their hand as they hefted it above their head once again.

Ready...

Aim...

'Strike it down, strip it of it's flesh and oh, oh, the extravaganza! Prayers to the arachnids, blessing me with this coat--'

Fire!

Round: 3/?
Attempt: Throw spear again-- intention is less to impale or kill, more to... uh... strike at her scales
Defense: Not really
Injuries: Intersectional wound

@Arquia

The blood from her earlier wound from the meadow deer was still coming out, leaving drops of red on the green grass. Arquia would usually have ran away by now, but she felt the need for revenge, for this bee to feel afraid of her. No, she would not leave yet. She would not leave until she felt her teeth against their flesh. But before she could strike, they came at her again with the spear.

The sharp tip drove into her chest, her hard scales unable to deflect it all completely. Arquia groaned and let out another roar. That hurt. That really hurt. Now bleeding from two spots, she worked harder to stay in the air. If this continued, she might as well fly away to recover. This bee was better than she thought.

@Matthieu

Round: 3/?
Attempt: Dodge
Defense: Hard scales?
Injuries: Deep scratch wound in side, missing small part of rear wing, wound in chest

Won't you play a game with me?

Matthieu, the bee-boy, watching the spear drive in with soundly contained glee. Oh, the blood, the blood! This was much better than the buffalos.

On the sunny side of the berry bush: the dragon was so preoccupied trying to avoid their spear that she didn't even have a chance to counterattack.

On the thorny side? Their only weapon was now embedded on a moving target far above the ground.

This was gonna be harder to deal with. But they had strong legs and semi-functioning wings. If the faerie really timed this well, they can wait until the reptilian dipped again and leap up and grab onto a limb. From there they could continue harvesting their coat by hand or force the prey into a crash landing. Either way, they get those gorgeous scales.

'I wonder how cozy it'll be against my skin.'

'Compute thoughts later. We must retrieve our tow now.'

They watched Arquia soar above, head swiveling to follow her movements, wings buzzing in anticipation until it was the perfect time to strike.

But it seemed the universe was not up for dragon buffet at this moment. Matthieu leapt, leapt up, mandibles wide, wings battering against his form... and did not make it.

Round: 4/?
Attempt: Leap up and try to grab onto Arquia's tail/limbs
Defense: None
Injuries: Intersectional wound

@Comet

Luckily the spear sticking out of Arquia's chest held only the weight of a branch, and it helped to stop the blood flow coming from that wound too. She was starting to feel a little light headed, but she wouldn't stop until this bee was shredded. At least now that stupid animal couldn't stab her with it now. She wondered how weak its body was without a spear. Probably couldn't do much damage.

What was it doing now? It leapt up into the air, but not high enough to reach her. Hmm, at least now it was free from the ground. She dipped a bit lower at an angle to try and smack the bee from the air with her tail, and then fly back up again to regain her height.

Round: 4/?
Attempt: Smack bee away with tail
Defense: None
Injuries: Deep scratch wound in side, missing small part of rear wing, wound in chest with spear there which stems the flow a bit

@Matthieu

Won't you play a game with me?

They were not going to give up this shot.

The beast was still falling through the windy air, softened only by their lopsided wings, when the dragon turned around and lashed at them with her tail. That was not good. Decidedly not what they desired to happen. But they could still make this work. Still get that splendid skin.

The smack sent them close to the ground, and now almost touching the surface of the grass when they reached out and tried to grab onto it. Should they succeed, they'd almost feel bad for her poor tail joints-- if it weren't for the fact he was currently trying to harvest her flesh, that is.

Round: 5/?
Attempt: Grab onto the tail and yank
Defense: None
Injuries: Intersectional wound, developing bruise along the side

@Arquia

Arquia felt satisfaction as the tail connected with the bee, sending the thing close to the ground. Finally she got in a hit of her own! She saw the bee then attempt to grab onto her tail. No! She couldn't let that happen! The dragon attempted to maneuver in the air to pull her tail out of reach of the grasping hands.

Unfortunately, she didn't seem to be quick enough.

Round: 5/?
Attempt: Pull away tail
Defense: None
Injuries: Deep scratch wound in side, missing small part of rear wing, wound in chest with spear there which stems the flow a bit

@Matthieu

Won't you play a game with me?

Ascention! The dazzling lights of success spiriting through reality! Matthieu's lopsided body jerked wildly as they gained a hold on her emerald tail. Another swerve as Arquia tried to throw them off to no avail-- for the first time in the entire hunt, Matthieu began to smile. They caught the little mouse by the tail.

Unfortunately, this didn't give them a wide window to attack before they were whipped off again or the extra weight sent them both careening to the ground. They heaved their arms over and grabbed the sturdier scales of the hip, Bee's jaws latching onto the tail for extra support. The wind battered their forms. Their side ached. This was the longest they've ever been off the ground.

Still beaming like a maniac, they spiraled their body up and over until they were resting between the end of the wings and the base of the tail. The faerie better do this quickly. They didn't know how much longer they could do this balancing act. Bee's mandibles reached forward, Boy's hands in tandem, they aimed to bite that soft spot between scales and rip outward.

Round: 6/?
Attempt: Climb onto Arquia's back and rip her scales/skin off
Defense: Wrapped around her tail for stability
Injuries: Intersectional wound, bruise

@Arquia

Not only was the bee incredibly heavy, but Matthieu was hanging on in a weird place too. She was weighed down from behind, which meant she could no longer maintain stable flight. Arquia tried to continue flapping her wings, but slowly and surely, they were losing altitude as she was vertical now.

The motion of her body seemed to make it hard for the bee to bite through her scales, and she tried to use this chance to shake off the bee before she crashed to the ground. Jerking from side to side while beating her wings in erratic intervals so that she was twisting in the air and spiraling, she tried her best to fling him off.

@Matthieu

Round: 6/?
Attempt: Shake off the bee
Defense: Scales
Injuries: Deep scratch wound in side, missing small part of rear wing, wound in chest with spear there which stems the flow a bit