As short lived as they were, those two fleeting moments of victory were more than enough to keep him going. The first had been the feeling of the tibia beneath his teeth and the second had been the feeling of his teeth shredding into the pliable flesh over the larger male's face. Though the wound over his shoulder seared with pain in objection to such fast movements, the fire within him was fueled by adrenaline and excitement. As the battle waged on, he could feel his ribs ache with the arrival of bruising, an uncomfortable feeling that made itself aware with each breath. Hell, he could have sworn he'd felt the nip over his elbow and the punctures over his scruff tear just that little bit more as he'd thrown himself at Alcide. It didn't matter, though, all it meant was that with any luck, the fight would be over sooner than anticipated.

As he'd dove forward, he'd felt the sudden collision of the male's chest and shoulder against his own. The impact had not been enough to deter him entirely but it had forced his breath out prematurely, a weak snarl finding its way through clenched teeth. Using Alcide's own momentum, he had attempted to throw himself backwards but being unable to catch his breath, and the initial impact having thrown his footwork off, he could not avoid the inevitable. Within but a few seconds of his victory, he felt a new white hot pain tearing through him - Alcide's teeth had firmly planted themselves in the pliable flesh where the chest met the neck. Though resilient as such an area was, the pain surged through him relentlessly, blood beginning to flow freely from the area as Alcide withdrew. If he'd ever felt hopeless, then this was the time - his footwork had not yet recovered and his lungs protested in their attempts to regain the lost breath. With Alcide's weight pressing down, he released one final snarl of protest before lowering his anterior closer to the ground.

In a blind rage, he dove his muzzle forward once more, snapping his jaws widely towards the male's chest in a desperate attempt to shake the male off. It worked for the most part, or so he thought, as he felt the male's grip loosen - perhaps he had pulled himself free, or perhaps Alcide had given up. He didn't know, all he knew is that he had hopefully torn, pinched and maimed the other male's chest as he had done to Tesseract. All the same, he had begun to shuffle back albeit awkwardly - he rose his anterior once more, finding his paws much more ready this time. Finally, too, he had captured his breath and though blood continued to drip down his chest, he was ready once more to end the fight he had started.

Within a second or two of him having gained his footing, he shoved his weight backwards despite the protest of his trio of wounds. As he did so, he had but a split second to see Alcide's own form coming down on him - he would not allow himself to be grabbed once more, particularly not with his chest and neck burning with pain and the already present wound over his scruff. It was too simply too much of a risk. He threw himself back once more, snarling in response to the sharp pain that again ran through him - but with that, he felt the blunt claws of Alcide drag down his muzzle. Landing, he leaned off his right leg in an effort to subdue the burning that radiated from that side of his chest - his lungs once more ached, his breathing ragged as he attempted to compose himself. The pain, he figured, had been worth it for rather than finding himself beneath the weight and teeth of Alcide, he merely found himself with superficial scratched over his muzzle. It had been a sacrifice, a risk, but it had paid off.

He was not finished yet, though, not quite. He wanted it to end but not without a last goodbye kiss. With the last bit of adrenaline that flooded through him, he attempted to dive forward once more - it was, and he knew it, a halfhearted attempt but an attempt nonetheless. As evenly matched for size as they were, he hoped to rear up on his back legs and throw himself forward, his jaws aimed once more for Alcide's face (only this time, his ears.) With any luck, the male would have lowered his head down to defend himself, thus handing the flimsy piece of flesh over willingly - if Tesseract was going to go down, he was at least going to make sure Alcide remembered him. With that, he would snap down on the flesh and pull away the moment his paws felt the earth once more. Another explosion of pain, this time seemingly from his entire body, raged through him as he skidded and shuffled back and away, jaws snapping in hopes of deterring the male from following. He just wanted... space.

If he could get that space between him, he would finally come to a complete stop - head lowered, his muzzle splattered with Alcide's blood and his chest red with his own. Over his scruff, the blood had begun to clot, stiffening the wound and creating a discomfort each time he shifted his neck's height. Still, he had his limbs for the most part - his elbow stung, though dull - but his ribs ached and longed for rest. He didn't know how much longer he could fight for but he'd be damned if he gave up because of some bruising and a torn apart chest. He'd come with a purpose and he'd leave with it fulfilled - to give Caligula, his soul, a place to call home. To give his children, his family - Celesdue, too - a place to finally be safe within.

He'd prove them all wrong - even himself!

And so he stood, bleeding and burning with both desire and a white-hot pain, his tail arched up as if he were already King. He would fight until he could no longer if he had to, just as he'd always been told to do. His chest rumbled with a growl, his stained lips curling up over his teeth as he locked gazes with the older man, beckoning him forward. He was young, he was inexperienced but all of that simply meant he was too stupid to give up, even if he hated to admit it.

Full Hit: 1/1
Half Dodge: 2/2
Full Dodge: 1/1

My tongue
will taste of gin and malicious intent