[color=A0A0A0][h2]Fleuri Jodeau[/h2][/color]
Fleuri landed on the griffin with a thud, right onto its upper body behind the griffin's neck.  Even with the beast's feathers somewhat cushioning his fall, it was quite an impact, but he had managed to stick it.  He wasn't able to see Lucas, but he heard the younger knight successfully landing behind him.

The griffin wasn't going to have any of this, and it bucked and struggled to dislodge them.  It wasn't really surprising- even horses would refuse to be ridden if they had not been broken and trained, and griffins were notoriously proud creatures.  Fleuri held on tightly, digging his heels into the beast's neck and using his arms to hold on.  He had competed in enough jousts to know a thing or two about avoiding being unhorsed, but this was almost nothing like that.  There was no saddle or stirrups to hold him in place, but on the other hand, at least this time he could use his hands to hold on.

Even with the beast's struggles, he was able to see a rather alarming sight further ahead.  Katerina, the half-elven witch-knight, was preparing a rather powerful-looking fire spell, and was probably going to fire it right at the griffin- with Fleuri and Lucas still atop it.  On one hand, she could certainly be forgiven for assuming that she wouldn't need to worry about hitting anyone riding the beast, because by all means this was a crazy stunt that the others couldn't have anticipated.  On the other hand, if it hit, it was probably going to hurt a lot.

Suddenly, the griffin stopped and turned.  Something else must have caught its attention, and it wasn't the impending blast of fire or the archer Cecilia.  As it turned its head, Fleuri saw what the subject of its focus was- it was Lein, a Hundi knight, bow in hand.  There was little doubt in Fleuri's mind what had happened- Lein had fired an arrow at the griffin, and the pain of the shot was more noticeable than the weight of the two unwanted passengers upon its back.

The Reonite knight maintained his tight grip as the griffin bounded towards its target.  It was a relief that this distraction had spared all three of them from the fire spell, but for a moment, as it began to descend, Fleuri's grip slightly weakened and he was worried that he might be thrown off.  [color=A0A0A0][i]This was unlike any horse I've ever ridden,[/i][/color] he thought to himself as he felt the considerable impact of the landing.  From the sound of it, Lucas had dismounted the griffin, but he dared not distract himself by looking behind him to see what the other knight was doing.  Nor did he pay too much attention to what Lein was doing- assuming, as Fleuri hoped, that the Hundi knight had gotten out of the way.

This was his chance- while it was focused on another opponent and not jumping around, Fleuri took his cape and pulled it over the griffin's head, covering its eyes.  He brought the ends of the cape together under the griffin's jaw and tied them together.  If it couldn't see, it should diminish its ability to fight effectively.  Not to mention that it wouldn't be able to fly away- or in the very least, Fleuri dearly hoped that it wasn't going to try and fly while its sight was obstructed.

After his cape was wrapped, the knight would resume holding on with his left arm, and draw his sword with the right.  The griffin would likely fight and struggle with all its might upon having its sight obstructed, and Fleuri anticipated that he would have to fend off its front claws.

[@PigeonOfAstora][@Raineh Daze][@Saiyan][@Richard Horthy]