Some days, Izuku might agree that Snowbound wasn't the most prone to violence. Some days, he might think that it would have been better to push back, teach the Typhoon that they weren't to be messed with. But that? That was the more violence-prone side of him. The one that always screamed at him to fight back. If somebody wronged you, you hurt them, or else they'd hurt you. He was working on .. suppressing that bit, though. He wasn't -- there wasn't any reason to pick a fight, here. These people didn't want to hurt him, they were his clanmates. And if he got too hurt, he wouldn't be able to perform his duties as Frosthealer. Izuku .. he refused to let his clanmates get hurt because he was a dumbass and picked a fight. It'd already happened too many times for Izuku's liking.
.. This isn't really the point, though. Stryker. Izuku didn't mind the lion, really. Izuku hadn't seen him around a lot before recently, but it didn't bother him, really! What .. kind of did bother him, was Stryker's attitude. He'd met worse people, of course. Far, far worse, Stryker being among the least. He'd been there for a few things, after all. Like the herbs being set on fire, or -- other things. And he didn't ever help. He was just sort of .. there, snarking. Which was fine on a few occasions, but it looked like it'd become a habit if it wasn't confronted soon. Uh. There were, of course, downsides to this. Like -- he's not sure. Stryker seemed kind of .. aggressive? That's not the word, but for the life of him, Izuku can't think of a better describing word.
"Awfully dramatic of you to shout, considering you didn't help put out the fire," Izuku says dryly as he strides over. The dragon, only around Stryker's size as it was then, doesn't seem upset. Maybe just a little exasperated and tired, as he misinterprets the main source of Stryker's stress. In all fairness, you couldn't blame him. The lion was standing among the ashes of the burned herbs, and the unstable remains of the medical cabin. God. He really needed to set on repairing the damn place. I mean, he had his own cabin to keep his stuff, but he couldn't keep a ton of people in there, now could he? But .. why was Stryker screaming like that in the first place? Awfully attention-grabbing, wasn't it? It was the main reason he'd come over here to begin with. Hm. He's not sure .. why .. he's bothering with Stryker right now, anyways. He's too tired for this. He's too tired to deal with much of anyone, when he'd spent the last few days since gathering new supplies. He'd probably come off wrong and upset somebody, and y'know what? This is just him, acting wrong again, or at least that was how his classmates would interpret it, but Izuku .. didn't really care. He really just didn't.

Izuku, of course, doesn't mean to be cruel. He never has. It simply wasn't in Izuku's nature, see? But the effects of Izuku's words have become lost on him, these days. What was cruel, what was kind? Izuku isn't sure, these days. After so long in the wilds, they'd become intertwined, because there wasn't a difference. It made it -- slightly problematic, when he was interacting with clanmates. Like now.
Izuku's head tilts, as Stryker snaps back at him. He looks a little concerned -- he doesn't really know what 'cunt' means. He hadn't heard the word before, but it didn't take a lot to guess it was a swear. "If you did, it was the bare minimum," He offered, maybe a little thoughtlessly. He doesn't look terribly impressed. He hadn't seen Stryker kick the snow over, but he hadn't been doing anything when Izuku looked back. The Frosthealer is already closing himself off from the situation, though. Where he'd previously been more casual, his wings are now pulled tight into his sides and eyes slit. "I'm Frosthealer, and my clanmates' health is my first priority. And, if you couldn't tell, Atbash was not only still injured, but the situation was also very taxing on her mentally," After how Caesar hurt her, he couldn't blame her. But still, it was out of place of Stryker to think that Izuku wasn't doing fucking anything. Izuku isn't aware he'd even come off that way to the lion, still isn't. I mean, it's not like Izuku had any concept of how romantic couples looked. And even if he did, he didn't see Atbash that way in the least. She was just his friend, and she was an adult, unlike Izuku. In Stryker's defense, Izuku's age was hard to tell in this form. "I knew I had enough herbs to get me by, and you all seemed to have it covered. They were unlikely to be salvageable, anyways," The dragon's ears flatten, lips curling. Just like the others. Stryker was likely no better than the rest of those fuckers that he met out in the wilds. Seriously, what the hell was with those insults? All bark and no bite. Though -- Stryker may bite, Izuku isn't sure. Either way, he's not scared to push his limits. He never was. He'd lost the ability to be scared of how other people bit back, and so Izuku got himself into trouble time, and time again just because he tended to snark back and make things worse, these days. It was better than just letting things die, then.
"You could be useful. You could make a difference in this clan, if you just actually put effort into doing stuff. But, so far, you haven't," What did it matter to him? Good question. But Izuku was already here to pick a fight. If Stryker didn't attack him now, he would later, and so what did it fucking matter if Izuku said some nasty things? Izuku had learned his lesson enough times, it never made a difference. But at least if Izuku said what he wanted, he wouldn't just be weak. Wouldn't be a coward. People were less likely to see him as easy pickings if he fought back.
"I'll see what? Who's the fucking uptight one, here? You're not better than us like you seem to think you are." His heart is pounding, and Stryker is walking away but Izuku doesn't get it. He doesn't think he's better than Stryker, either. But, either way, he's still angry. He didn't mean to start a fight, of course, but that didn't mean Izuku wouldn't subconsciously self-sabotage himself because he lived for the thrill. And also thought he maybe if he fucked up enough, he'd get kicked out of the clan. Nothing more than he deserved. The dragon, with a soft growl, not meant to be threatening but more frustrated, makes after the lion for a few steps, tail still lashing. He can't believe this. He can't believe this.

Izuku sure did love to run his mouth, sometimes. He hadn't learned his lesson about that, it would seem. Like .. no matter how many times it got him in trouble, he just wouldn't stop. Probably because there was literally no difference at all.
.. Izuku. Well, Izuku may bluff and say that he's expecting an attack, but really? He wasn't. He wasn't expecting a clanmate to turn on him no matter how badly they treated each other. So -- maybe that's why, when Stryker launches, Izuku isn't ready. He could dodge. He could duck out of the way, meet Stryker's attack with one of his own, but he can't. The dragon's ears twitch and his eyes go wide and his talons only manage a meagre spark or two before he's on the ground and shit he didn't think this through.
Claws scrabble over his scales, but they dont give, luckily. They do, however, give under Stryker's teeth. Izuku's scales weren't the strongest things in the world, and even Stryker's vite manages to crunch through. Shit. Shit. Realization comes, and Izuku scrabbles to push his talons into Stryker's pelt, but he's too late. That was -- suspicious. That wasn't a fight. That was one bite. And his head already feels weird by the time Izuku is on his feet, tail aggressively sweeping. Despite it having been injected straight into his neck, it'll take a minute for it affect. He was big enough, now, that it'd take a minute to fully take him down. He just .. hm. His head is woozy. .. Poison? Izuku didn't have time to fetch an antidote. He needed to .. make a big scene, didn't he? Was it even poison? Or he was bleeding out, but Izuku wasn't bleeding terribly heavy, though it was kind of nasty. It wouldn't affect him this quickly, anyways. Izuku knew how his blood worked, after all the times he'd gotten injured, y'know?
"What did you do," He growls, maybe a little hysterically. His head is spinning, but it's only subtle, and he needs to act fast. A big scene, right? Not a screaming fest. Too obvious. Just enough to bring somebody over, right? Uh. Though they might. Get hurt .. too? Hmm. A few minutes .. max? Assuming it was poison. It was probably poison. He'd deal with a venom victim, once, that was pretty bad. Izuku -- takes a deep breath. He's a little too unsteady to rush Stryker, isn't he? "Poison? Or .. venom? Something else entirely?" People liked to monologue when he pushed them, and Izuku manages to raise his voice just enough to be heard. Not that it'd be hard. I mean, Stryker was right there. He hadn't left. He was going to trick them, right? Hm .. if Izuku did pass out in a minute, what would be obvious? .. Electricity was his signature. He could manage that. His legs are trembling and what the fuck is with his head and vision. Not good. Not good. The crackling of electricity takes a few moments to ramp up but then he'd be too obvious and he wants to vomit, but he needs --.
As fast as he can manage, immediately after his claws begin to spark, Izuku clumsily rears up to slam an electrified paw over -- well, whatever he could reach, on Stryker's form. If he fails, he'll just try again. It wasn't meant to be anything big. Did he have the strength for that? Questionable. His intent was really just to do whatever obvious damage he could, just in case he passed out before he could say anything. And, y'know, he probably would. He just had .. what, a minute? Breathing was weird. Hard. But he'd just have to make an obvious enough burn, that was all. He'd gotten into enough fights people could recognize what electric burns looked like? He just needed a second. Just one. Except his movements .. were kind of shaky. Uncoordinated. Honestly, his only saving grace here would be that Stryker probably wasn't expecting him to attack, when he was clearly feeling all kinds of bad and shaky right there. Like a single push would send him to the ground. Or himself. He could probably send himself to the ground pretty fast.
//im kind of an emotional mess rn so sorry this sucks ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

ATBASH CIPHER

i should've said what i hear
i should have let myself fear

bio | female | hailcaller [leader] of snowbound