YOU PASSED, BUT AT WHAT COST? // blooding

[ASMODEUS DI-ANGELO]

"natus vincere" ✭ asmodeus ── so bloodings were a thing, weren't they? he had heard about them from stories of his father and from others. a status like that would be nice so in the dead silence of the evening the cub slipped out of his house after having eaten his fill. a huff through his nose as he cast a glance back at the sleeping form of his father and padded out.
well, to say he was prepared would be an understatement. Who knew the desert got so cold in the evenings and so hot in during the day? he certainly didn't notice, having always had something to protect him from the elements. he shrugged, he was tough, he'd push through. narrowed optics against the sand stinging his lids, blinking and coughing as memories surfaced.
he was supposed to take something down. he had experience, training with dante had helped a bit but he wasn't so sure he was able to kill something. never done it before. "well, time to man up then, i guess." a quick bark of encouragement as he padded further into the bushes.

found some kind of bird thing, larger than him. the feathers would look nice on a cloak, the skull would be beautiful too. a small grin on his maw, he crouched down slow, careful not to move his tail should it brush against the leaves and make noise. it was a crow, intelligent in the optics as it looked right past his hiding spot. claws slid out slowly, inhale, exhale, leap. body weight was enough to pin the animal down, teeth were quick to find jugular and take its life. crimson lifeblood decorated his face and he snorted, shaking his head and taking his meal then and there.
had his fill, stripped the corpse for bones, skull and feather and began slowly making his way back, unaware of the ground  beneath him.

okay, so that was an mistake. he didn't look down to see the thorn that went clear through his foot. didn't notice it at first and kept walking but head spun and he blinked in shock, rapidly, looking down, maw open to see many thorns attached to a vine. bones clattered to the ground, eyes rolled back and the jaguar collapsed in onto himself with a groan.

"speech"