The God of Negligence was flying through the air with his usual lack of grace. He bobbed and weaved, dropping out of the air sometimes, when his wings did not catch the air correctly due to all the holes in his feathers. He was missing quite a few large feathers, and those gaps in his wings made catching the wind currents correctly almost impossible. But it was his favorite way to fly, and he had gotten used to the way he half glided and lived in constant peril of falling out of the sky completely. It kept him a little more aware of his surroundings, which was very important for a lion God of his domain.
He had a bad habit of not paying attention to important things. Being forced to focus was the best thing for him.
Ulfric, however, did not suffer from that problem. He was paying attention to more things than one lion really needed to, at all times. He could not afford to let his attention falter, because he did not want to miss something that could change his life. Like the God circling above him. He saw the shadow first, noting how large it was, and looked up to the sky to see the odd source. It was not a bird, but a lion, flying through the air on massive wings. Ulfric had not encountered a God before, and was stunned to see it for a moment. That quickly passed, though, as the weight of the opportunity at hand settled in his mind. If he could bring back a piece of this God, his tail or a part of his wing, he imagined his might would not be questioned.
The trick was to catch it, and win over it. How strong were Gods, anyway? This one did not look too intimidating, as it circled above and lowered itself closer and closer to the ground in uncertain wobbles. Once Uzembe was a few feet over the ground, he tried to land, but he fell like a stone instead and hit the ground heavily. Ulfric had no trouble keeping up with him, and was standing nearby when the God landed. He wasted no time, seeing his opportunity and seizing it without fear or hesitation. He leaped into the dust the fallen God kicked up and used surprise and brute strength to his advantage. Before Uzembe even knew what was happening, he had claws digging into his back and the weight of a massive lion suddenly on top of him.
“What the…?!”
Uzembe immediately reacted like a bucking bronco, kicking his feet out and bucking his head forward, trying to throw the intruder over his head. Ulfric dug his claws in, though, and was not so easily removed, holding on for far more than the necessary eight seconds. He tore his claws down Uzembe’s back, taking clumps of flesh and fur with him as he did. He leaped away from Uzembe only to turn around and growl, catching his footing and readying for another attack, not wanting to give the God too much time to recover himself.
Uzembe was shocked. He had never been attacked before: he was not sure he had ever even bled before. Sure, he fell down a lot before, but never bad enough to really hurt himself. This was a whole new level of pain and surprise for him, and he was hardly sure what to do with himself. He shook his head and felt pain arching down his body, along his spine where the claws had gotten him. He turned, his wings spreading out defensively, an effort to bolster himself up a bit.
“Who are you?! Why are you attacking me?! You’re just a mortal!”
He was shocked to see the lion, thinking maybe another God had dropped on him while he was distracted by his bad landing. But this was no God: just a mortal lion with a lot of gumption. This was a big lion, sure, but since when did mortals attack Gods?! Uzembe was vulnerable in his lack of experience, and his inability to pay attention to anything. He was such an oblivious guy, it was really catching up to him. He had no real idea how the world worked, and did not spend enough time among different kinds of mortals to understand just how different they could be. How dangerous.
“My name is Ulfric of the Stormborn. You will remember that name.”
“You think so? My life is a hell of a lot longer than yours: you’re not going to be anything to anyone in a couple of seconds.”
Uzembe was not sure he could follow through on that kind of a threat, but it certainly sounded cool. He spread his wings and growled as ferociously as he could. The other lion growled in turn, roaring in response. His voice boomed, almost shaking the leaves off the trees nearby. Uzembe held his ground, digging his claws into the earth before leaping at Ulfric. It was a mistake. The lion seemed to be reading him, and was expecting that movement. Ulfric ran low, fast, cutting down under the God as Uzembe reared back to take a swing at him.
Ulfric leaped forward and sank his teeth into Uzembe’s wing, taking firm hold and pulling him down toward the ground. The pain was terrible and sudden, and Uzembe instinctively pulled himself sideways and back in an effort to escape. Ulfric dug in to the ground and pulled free a large feather from the Gods’ wing. Uzembe snarled and slashed at him, but mostly missed because he was already taking to the air to flee. He used his magic to help him fly, though his wing and back were aching him badly.
Ulfric watched the God as he pulled away, grinning with bloody teeth. He had the large, faintly rainbow colored feather in his mouth. Proof of his fight, and he was more than happy with that. He felt he had done a perfect job of his assault, getting just what he wanted.
This was enough to bring back to his pride for now. He had a successful run out here in the rogue lands so far, and did not want to risk losing his prize.
Word Count: 1,044 in Word
