the Rift


real deal [Megaera challenge]

Pippigrin Posts: 77
Dragon's Throat Gladiator atk: 6.5 | def: 8.5 | dam: 4.5
Stallion :: Pegasus :: 10hh :: Two HP: 68 | Buff: NOVICE
Brandybuck :: Wolverine :: None Neverrmind
#1

PIPPIGRIN
FALLEN OUT OF BED FROM A LONG & WEARY DREAM

The halfling’s first attempt had not proved fruitful. His challenge ignored, his demands from his mighty country remaining unmet.
So it was as the hobbit took his flight northbound once again that the nervousness of failure sunk in once more, the possibility of actually having to go through with a challenge becoming all the more real. The first was a dress rehearsal, and this was the real deal. Would he be wrong to turn back? Seeking further council from the Sultan or Sultana couldn’t be a crime surely, and delaying his task for one more day would not effect his herd would it?
Though, the more the mulled over his options he realised that if his mother could hear his thoughts she’d kick his head into the peat. ‘You won’t do nothin’ great or fancy with that attitude Pippigrin!’ she’d grumble, and probably give a great old nip to his ear. Of course though, and as usual, mother was completely right. How could he expect to achieve what he wanted if he wanted to simply tuck his tail all the time?
He would face this head-on this time.

Yet again his target was a former member of the throat, and one who had once been in the lady Ampere’s position at one point in time apparently. Megaera the Sunspear; what a funny name the former Sultana had. Now that he was determined to actually carry this out, the hobbit once again decided on the most professional approach to the matter as possible. All heckling, name calling, and taunts would be kept to the bare minimum to ensure the integrity of the herd he represented would remain.

The hobbit’s flight path now groomed over the edge of the desert, the fiery heart coming into view upon the horizon as the sands below became desolate fields of yellow, grassy dunes. The description he had been given of the woman was awfully vague, though still, the Mrs. Megaera might be easier to pick out than he had assumed. With so many colourful creatures in this land it was becoming easier to pick out the more plain kind of ‘janes' such as himself, and as his stone-coloured eyes scanned the sea of grass and sand below, he caught sight of the woman in question.

Wings flaring against the current that held him in the sky, Pippigrin gave a soft gasp as the woman came into view. A dark bird, brown and black, with tall legs and a slender frame. Surely she would outdo him in all factions when it came to fighting, all except for strength. With legs halftone length of her own he could hardly expect to match her own speed, though he knew if he played his cards correctly he could last through the fight with similar endurance. Her defence, however, was his greatest worry. With wings bigger than his whole body, Pippigrin wondered how he’d manage to even land a hit past those great shields. Perhaps that was the plan of attack; aim for the wings?

Doubt crept in with each second he spent looking over the opponent, his eyes filling with fear and dread. It wouldn’t be too late to double back and head home now would it? Mr. Volterra would know what to do.
Again, his mothers words began to chirp within his mind. He must do this; he was a guardian now.

“Halt!” he boomed from above, chest puffing with what some might assume as pride, but really was just a chest full of hollow fear. “Mrs. Megaera Sunspear, You carry property of the mighty Dragon’s Throat!” He accused, ears now flattening against his neck and eyes narrowing upon her own. “As it’s Guardian, I challenge you for the golden key’s return!”
There, he had said it. It had begun.

Exhaling the ball of air form within his chest, the pale child of stone angled his wings downward after a number of wingbeats to aid in propulsion. The wings, Pippin, go for the wings! Someone with such mighty defences must first be stripped of them.
Using the air currents as an ally, Pip built speed as he dived down, down and down in the direction of the Sunspear. Baring his teeth, opening his jaws wide, Pippin attempted to grab a hold of those meaty pennons by aiming his jaws for the fleshy tendons trailing along her radius bone of her offside wing. Attempting with all the precision he could muster, Pippin tried to pull her by the wing as he shot past in the air with the momentum gathered from his swoop. Would all go to plan? Or would he have to tuck tail once again?


ATTACK No. 1/3
WORDS. 780
SETTING. the grassy dunes near the heart.
SUMMARY. pippin challenges @Megaera for her dragon's throat key.
DAMAGE. none yet


Megaera the Sunspear Posts: 306
Absent Abyss atk: 6.5 | def: 10.5 | dam: 4.5
Mare :: Pegasus :: 15 h :: 8 [Birdsong] HP: 70 | Buff: NOVICE
Gwaihir :: Golden Eagle :: None Laine
#2

Sunspear


Maybe she should have died when Gaucho did, maybe part of her had. What was the Sunspear now but a recluse among the sands? A watcher, a guardian, a phantom. Strong she was, and brave as ever but withdrawn as life seemed to march impassively on around her and leave her burred in the past. The Dragon's Throat had been her true home, ever would be; there was no rock or shrub of grain of sand that she did not recognize, that she did not love, but the faces that moved here now, the horses that trained and lived here were strangers to her.

She would guard them, she would serve them, but her friends had passed from the sands and she had no impulse in her to make new ones. Could she loose another Gaucho? Another Cera? Another Asavvi? The thought was daunting, unimaginable, abhorrent. She had her husband, had the children that remained to them, had Gwaihir, and where they were concerned she could not help but love. Perhaps she didn't need anything beyond that--didn't mean anything beyond that.

Her vigil today was kept not within the borders of her long-home but at the gate, above the grassy expanse near the Heart of Helovia. She soared low over the dunes, eyes sharp for anything amiss, anything that aimed itself with ill intent towards the Throat. She did not expect to meet opposition from behind; as far as Megaera was concerned she was a daughter of the Dragon's Throat now and forever. Gwaihir had taken it upon himself to seek out the roaming Castor today and so Meg had no second pair of eyes watching her back as she might normally have done.

The shout came as a surprise, as did the sudden jerk on her outstretched wing and a set of tiny teeth found their mark. The unexpected forward jerk sent the mare into an aerial tumble, loosing altitude even as she attempted to wrench herself free. She hadn't been flying at any great height and so the ground for the space of that moment seemed a greater concern than the little grey blur that had thrown her keeling off course. She let herself drop (less gracefully than she was used to) to the grassy lands of the Heart before searching with narrowed eyes for her attacker.

Meg's first thought was of a child, the grey stallion was surely small enough to be one, but he lacked the tell-tale fuzz of a colt from what meg could see. A Guardian of the "mighty Dragon's Throat" he'd said, and so Meg couldn't think why the young upstart had though it necessary to attack her. 

"Peace, Guardian!" her shout was admonishing and as severe as her expression-both rather akin to the manner she adopted when reprimanding her rambunctious son for his bad behavior. The grass beneath her hooves rustled as she moved, trying to aim herself to face the little stallion.  At her side the injured wing gave an painfully angry twitch. Several disrupted feathers were sticking out at and the joint was hot with the strain of the halfling's yank. "You attack without cause! If my key is needed I shall give it but perhaps you might have asked before trying to pull off my wing!"

---

Megaera concedes - will surrender her DT key.
WC: 547
@Pippigrin

coding by tamme :: art by blu

FAC FORTIA ET PATERE
be brave and endure
:: permission given for use of magic and force :: please tag Megaera in all posts ::

Pippigrin Posts: 77
Dragon's Throat Gladiator atk: 6.5 | def: 8.5 | dam: 4.5
Stallion :: Pegasus :: 10hh :: Two HP: 68 | Buff: NOVICE
Brandybuck :: Wolverine :: None Neverrmind
#3

PIPPIGRIN
FALLEN OUT OF BED FROM A LONG & WEARY DREAM

Incisors meeting with a meaty tendril of feathers, prickled skin, muscle and bone, Pippigrin's eyes clenched shut against the wind, the impact, the clash of blood and bone. As frightening as it was for the halfling, it was also a great thrill to discover that his attack had come to fruition, his jaws looping around the bones of the woman with a precision he did not know he could ever find. Tail licking the wind like a great banner, one that was caked in the red sands of his new-found home and the kind he flew with the greatest pride, Pippigrin eventually allowed his jaws to slide down the long, black primary feathers adorning his oponent's own wings as he felw up and out of the assault.

Should he glance back? Was it wise to check on the true success of his attack from afar? As the hobbit glided further upward into the sky, Pippigrin felt a strange kind of isolation. He wasn't being followed, not in the air at least, so it would not delay any kind of escape should he cast his gaze downwards towards his rival.
The woman was descending, lacking a great amount of fluidity and grace he had observed previously. A sinking feeling struck him; had he really hurt her? Yet she didn't attack in return. Oh Pippin.

Casting his gaze towards the throat, once again he wished to flee, wished to tuck his knees and angle his wings southbound.
But no; he had come this far.
'Peace, Guardian!'
The Sunspear's words cooed from below, causing Pippin to crane his head shyly down from his mediocre hiding place in the sky. Truthfully, Pippin was just frightened of being in trouble. He had attacked a woman and quite obviously caused her injury... when he could have just asked for the key first!

A grunt of fear escaping his maw, less about physical scolding and more for the ear-chopping kind, Pippin tilted his wings downwards and allowed his body to descend to the grasses below. Landing with an unsteady thud (he was still learning to land), Pippin looked sheepishly to the woman he had trespassed. Quite convinced he should allow her to keep her key for this wrongdoing, the guardian slowly approached, tail tucked and ears hanging.
"Sorry" He blubbed, eyes slowly making their away up to the shining key she possessed. He needed it... so badly. If Mr. Volterra and Mrs. Ampere were to truly believe in him, he needed that key.

"I didnt mean to..." The hobbit trailed off, silver eyes looking to the bird's own of onyx and ebony. Slowly creeping forward, the halfling reached up with his nipping teeth once more and plucked the key from the surrendering rival, though wished terribly that there was an alternative.

"I am sorry" He apologised once again, silver sights trailing over the wound he'd left her. "Does it hurt terribly? You can come with me and the sun physician's will fix you" he murmured, his lower lip wobbling ever-so-slightly.


ATTACK No.
WORDS. 503
SETTING. the grassy dunes near the heart.
SUMMARY. pip takes the key.
thank you for surrendering the key !!  also let me know if yo uwant to continue this thread in the heart/off the battleground!! ☀︎ @Megaera
DAMAGE. none taken.


Blu the Bootyful Posts: 443
Administrator atk: 99 | def: 99 | dam: 99
Mare :: Other :: 5'7" :: 25 HP: 99999 | Buff: TWERK
Blu
#4
Megaera defaults to Pippigrin. Pippigrin earns 0.5 VP and the DT key.
 HP: 1100

Helovia Hard Mode


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