[italics is a vision/hallucination disguised as a flashback]

Somewhere in Leo, admist the idyllic beach and twinkling water, and oilstone chyrisalis stirs. It looks like a dagger left in the sand. Nestled against a cliffside, the cracks twist their way through the angular shape, exposing the flaws in its structure for all to see - it is time. But as the creature within flutters to consciousness, its fragile mind is flooded with memories. Her own?

She's growing from oil, forming from nothing - her skin gleams and her eyes are open and she's ready, ready ready - Life is waiting for her just beyond the walls, as it was promised, as it was made. Maybe she's too eager, but she drums against her shell with nail and hoof. Like with an unattended door, when there is no answer she strikes harder. The darkness does not break.

Soon it thrashes with impatience, frustration, anger; Then with desperation and terror. It chokes on the oil in its lungs. It feels its skin begin to prune. She feels herself drown.

The chrysalis spills its guts suddenly, the contents sputtering as it struggles to breathe. The liquid drips as she trembles - she is a tumour on white sand, spreading as she begans to stretch to her full size. It steadies, but it does not move, not yet. It raises its head upwards to survey the area, mouth slightly ajar to soak in Leo's many scents. She gives herself a minute before shifting to her feet, still soaking. The fluid obscures most of her features safe her general shape. It begins its slow trot across the beach.

@Rena

Her stone had been discovered near this place of wavering heat, as Mother and Catalyst informed her. Death was not an end, in this world where lifeless stones could find rebirth, but it was a setback. A temporary failure, but a failure nonetheless--and where she had failed once, Rena did not wish to do so again.

She scuttled through the tunnel, carefully dodging the lava veins that pulsed sluggishly along and radiated incredible heat, until she emerged onto the beach. It would be good to scout out this cave, before the war began. To get used to the heat, and the feeling of sand beneath her feet. (It was not so different from snow, really.)

A large chrysalis, half-buried in the hills of sand and nestled against a cliffside, went unnoticed until the worm caught the sound of a crack. She froze, then scuttled toward the sound. It was familiar--perhaps a child was emerging? Children could be brought to the side of Order, and provided with shelter and care as they grew.

The creature that emerged, though, was not your typical harmless child. At first, Rena wasn't quite sure what it was. It was large, certainly, and looked much unlike the normal creatures that populated this cave. But an intimidating appearance did not necessarily mean a monstrous personality; her siblings who had been created for combat were as loyal and loving as any ordinary Gembound of these caves. Still, she slowed in her approach, squinting as she crept closer to ascertain its features.

She did not make her judgment until she could clearly see the Oil dripping from its body. Now that was a clear sign of Chaos if she ever saw one. By this point it could certainly see her, as well, so there was only really one thing to be done: attack it as soon as possible, while this creature of Chaos was newly hatched and still orienting itself to the world. Rena rushed forward without further hesitation, barreling toward Pickles at full speed. Her huge black wings, an ill-designed burden whenever she was on the ground, stayed tucked tight to her body, but she could still feel the air drag at them as she rushed, and she cursed the Chaos Doctor who had burdened her with them.

But there was nothing to be done about them now. The best she could hope for was that she would be fast enough, unexpected enough, to knock the thing off its feet. Things would be much easier from there.

Round 1
Attack: charge
Defense: wings tucked tight
Injuries: None

@Pickles and @Ananke ?

As it drew its first breathes, company had approached. It did not notice Rena at first, firmly rooted in its own leaking mind. Stolen, Taken, Ruined, chaos whispered to her from her veins, the truth rising from her skin like her own body heat - the more she circled the feeling, the more the oil leaked from the gashes in her skin. It sat, slack-jawed and dripping, before its attention twisted and its head cracked to the side. Finally it had noticed the drone, but perhaps too late.

In the brief moments before the charge, it took time to examine the other. An exoskeleton wrapped around her hide, mandibles rattling with teeth. She pondered the silvery carapace, how it glinted in orb-light - She wondered how it would look on her instead. It had yet to recognise The Order, but if it knew the drone had the benefit of a warm, omniscient voice guiding her every footstep, perhaps it would've been the first to act.

Oil splattered as it moved to counter with a charge of its own, though much shorter. Maybe it could knock the drone back instead, or trample it. It would not trouble it if it did not succeed, its brain barely comprehending the stakes of the fight. All it anticipated was collision.

@Rena

ROUND 1/?

ATTEMPT: counter charge
DEFENSE: nope
INJURIES: none

Instead of responding with fear or fleeing as any normal newborn might when confronted with a large charging worm, the Oily being responded with a fierce charge of its own, further confirming in Rena's mind that this was a dangerous warrior of Chaos. Its maneuver put her at a significant disadvantage; it was heavy and its hooves were hard, and Rena did not have the benefit of added height to help her avoid being trampled.

In the split seconds before they made contact, Rena hardened her heart with brutal determination, forgoing the opportunity to avoid the charge for the opportunity to attack. Chaos would rule the world if no one were brave enough to stand up to it, and as a soldier of Order, she should be the first to step forward and stand against it.

With Mother's righteous mission burning in her mind, scorching away her fear, Rena continued her forward momentum as they crashed into each other, throwing every set of knife-like pincers she could at the Valkhound's long legs. The two symmetrical ends of her body arced toward the horse-like creature's shoulders and hips even as its hooves came crashing down on her back, cracking the silvery carapace with vicious crunching sounds, while infinite-fractal legs snapped and grasped at its lower limbs. Somewhere in the struggle she had been kicked and rolled onto her back, where an unwieldy black wing had been caught beneath their combined weight, stretched in a terribly unnatural way that sent pain shooting down her muscles, and finally bent and crushed until it gave out a muffled snap. She was vaguely aware that it would not respond to her attempts to control it anymore, and that any attempts to pull it back to her side and into the proper position resulted in blinding pain, so it simply dragged along in the sand, useless and at a terribly unnerving angle.

How fragile these fleshy apparatuses were! If only she had been able to remain an armored worm, perfectly Ordered and not nearly so vulnerable to damage.

@Pickles

ROUND 2/5

ATTEMPT: list attempts
DEFENSE: being an armored worm
INJURIES: cracked exoskeleton, broken wing

Impact. The drone made no move to run, dodge or deflect (though it was sure it would've caught up with her anyways), and despite its flailing the valkhound felt it crunch underhoof. Chitin, chitin - bone! The oil within bubbled, a dozen silent voices screaming a battle cry; The beast itself felt nothing for the chorus, despite the chaos boiling its blood. She wasn't sure what she wanted yet, and it wasn't like she was given adequate time to think, but she knew she wasn't done here.

A dozen grasping limbs lashed at its hide, stinging where contact was made. Skin had been broken in a few places, mostly around their legs, but it had hardly been a fair exchange. As it freed itself of their opponent, it circled back.

Head lowering, needler-tooth jaws wide open, it charged for Rena again, aiming lower this time. It hoped to grab the bug at its middlesection, moving like a claw machine as it reached for the drone. Every muscle sung with anticipation yet again; A lovely feeling, she decided.

@Rena

ROUND 2/5

ATTEMPT: picking up Rena in its teeth
DEFENSE: nope
INJURIES: several minor cuts on its lower legs

Despite the harsh crunch of fractured carapace fragments grinding against each other, despite the horrifying maw reaching for her now, dripping Oil and Chaos, Rena felt a thrill run through her. It faded the pain to a buzz in the mind, and sharpened her vision of the horse-beast while blurring away everything else around them. This was what she had been made for. She was born to be a warrior, a fighter. She was a good soldier. She would beat back the Chaos and make Mother proud.

Now was an opportunity, not something to be afraid of. For as much as the multitudes of needle-sharp teeth were reaching for her, what part of the horse-beast was not dangerous? It traded one weapon for another, but in doing so, lowered its face and neck into striking range. No longer would Rena, deprived of the height advantage, have to limit herself to bony legs and crushing hooves. No. She reared up in one violent motion as the beast snapped for her, avoiding its teeth but seizing right for its face with her largest pincers. Her front legs, too, reached forward, the shearing blades of their pincers snapping for the flesh on its neck and throat. (Her wings were once again forgotten, useless in this context, one dragging broken in the sand and one at the entirely wrong angle with no sharp bits she could use, offering nothing but air resistance to contend with.) She aimed to cut its flesh at least, to spill its disgusting Oily blood, but if she could grab hold of it? Find a secure grasp on its flesh and pull it down, bring it to her level where she could fight it more easily?

Even better.

@Pickles sorry I missed this post! for future reference there needs to be a space after the tag for it to work!

ROUND 3/5

ATTEMPT: grab the general head/neck area with pincers
DEFENSE: none
INJURIES: cracked exoskeleton, broken wing

The collided again, though it was this time was much briefer. Its drooling mouth met nothing having aimed too high, the air danced between the two surfaces. Its jaws clacked together, away from their target, a release of the tension that had been stored in the previous charge - stray needles scattered as it did so, catching the light as they fell.

It was the worms turn to counter, and the other creature had left herself wide open in her failure. The pale body beneath surged upwards, those many scissor limbs reaching for its fragile skin yet again; It followed the movement, rearing upwards last minute. The spear-tips traced lines down her neck but broke little skin, her body too slick and her movements too quick to allow Rena a proper hold. She ran free again, though this would not be the case forever - they'd keep on circling eachother, grazing eachother's hide, until their paths became too intertwined for either to break free again, and one of them would be forced to succumb.

Instead of waiting to circle back, it would try to make do with its current position. Before it moved to create space between them, the closest limbs would lash outward in a fierce kick, hoping to throw the worm backward. Its hooves had not failed her yet, not like her teeth had.

@Rena

ROUND 3/5

ATTEMPT: back kick, send her flying
DEFENSE: nope
INJURIES: several minor cuts on its lower legs

This was not going well. Rena's pincers ground with frustration as she failed to get a good hit in once more, making a screeching, nails-on-a-blackboard sound. Was she so weak that she could not even take care of a newly-hatched Valkhound, despite having been alive for cycles longer?

That could not be. She was the child of a noble fallen soldier, and Mother's beloved daughter Catalyst. Rena was a GOOD soldier. She HAD to be. She would not, could not, back down from this challenge. Even as the Valkhorse turned and swung its hooves at her, Rena would not back down. She would once again lunge forward, pincers grasping, trying to grab hold of a leg and bite bite bite everywhere she could with her myriad cutting blades.

It did not matter that massive hooves smashed into her midsection, sending a web of pale spiderwebbing cracks along her exoskeleton. It did not matter that glassy shards fell to the sand below, leaving the soft, grubby flesh underneath exposed and bleeding. The agony shooting through her did not matter.

What mattered was the Fight against Chaos. What mattered was that she was a Good Soldier. What mattered was Mother's fierce love that would envelop her with its warmth and wash away all pain and suffering when she won.

When.

When.

@Pickles

ROUND 4/5

#%

ATTEMPT: grab a hind leg and maul it
DEFENSE: none
INJURIES: her exoskeleton's turning into an eggshell mosaic-looking thing, broken wing

The dance continued, its hooves hitting true. Rena's hide did not cave or bruise or tear like her's did; It splintered and shattered and crunched. Strong, but without the flexibility of soft tissue - it swore to nobody that if its skeleton was on the outside, it would take much better care of it, better than this grub did. Polish it till it shined, sparkled under orb-light, so that the strongest jaws would glance off without making a dent and she'd be the perfect design. The caves wouldn't need anything else.

One would think that the sensation of hundreds of scissor teeth closing in on a crucial limb would ripsall thoughts from the oil-horse's skull, but these were lamentations stirred by the awful sensation. Thoughts came away like eddies as the worm shredded the flesh - its body was falling to entropy, Rena's entropy.

But entropy is like, what chaos is about, y'know. Weird.

Her own shriek tore from her throat, an equally retched response to the drone's; Not of any discernable emotion, it wasn't entirely capable of that yet. It was instinct, a warning call, a herald - this must end. This will end. And maybe it could end with the worm buried beneath sand and the valkhounds teeth splintering into its own set of nightmarish snowflakes, and her own set of pale armour stretching down her spine.

As tissue was cut, diced and minced in various horrific ways, it twisted in a frantic way, jaws open, oil sent everywhere just with the momentum. It sought Rena's broken hide, to shred it with cactus-needle teeth. An exchange - my butt for yours.

@Rena

ROUND 4/5

ATTEMPT: Bite Rena's back end
DEFENSE: nope
INJURIES: several minor cuts on its lower legs, shredded back leg

Despite her many horrific sets of shearing mandibles, Rena’s jaw strength was not in fact high enough to keep holding on to Pickles’s leg as the Valkhorse moved. She mauled, for a brief moment, and then was forced to let go and drop to the ground lest she fall off and be trampled under its hooves.

As she landed, scrabbling for balance in the Oil-slicked sand, the haphazard motions sending violent twinges of pain up her broken wing, the Valkhorse lunged for her other end. Instinct drove her to flinch away, what with the myriad needle-sharp teeth coming for a region containing her vulnerable, unarmored eyes. The closest black wing, thankfully unbroken, jerked away from it. Dripping-Oil jaws closed around one end of the armored worm, the immense pressure crushing countless pinholes into her exoskeleton and allowing stinging teeth to sink into her flesh. Death by a thousand polluted needle-stabs.

Rena hissed and snapped, thrashing in the Valkhorse’s jaws, trying to break free and get those pincers cutting at its conveniently-nearby face. But it had her bitten too close to her mouth. Like a snake caught behind the head, she simply couldn’t quite reach.

She certainly tried, though, struggling with vicious disregard for the teeth ripping into her with every movement.

@Pickles
Round 5:
Attempt: bite Pickles’s face
Defense: none
Injuries: broken wing, cracked exoskeleton in various places, bitten