[b][center][h3][color=orange] Lein [/color][/h3][/center][/b]
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[b][color=orange]Location:[/color][/b] Bandit Camp, Near Griffin
[b][color=orange]Interactions:[/color][/b] Griffin [@Raineh Daze]
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[color=orange]"Gotcha."[/color]

Lein had missed; but his split-second aim had been enough to still hit his quarry, snapping it out of its jagged pouncing. The slug had buried itself into the griffin's legs, instantly sending a shock of heat to the prideful beast. A volatile mixture of rage and surprise coated the griffin's piercing gaze towards him - the measly dog that had dared to punch up the food-chain. Or perhaps a cold calculation that though one arrow was not enough to cripple it, the risk of more iron burning inside of it was far too dangerous.

As the griffin turned to face the Hundi archer, invariable fear pumped through his veins, the deepest recesses of instinct wrestling for command. It was familiar, the pounding sense of fire, coiling itself around his muscles. It came with a title, the purpose that was ascribed to Lein the moment he had ever stepped unto a training field. 'Bait', for the runt of the pack who had to rely on cheap tactics to get his way. Unfortunately for Lein, he was good at dodging both wild animals and enraged opponents. Bated breaths and claws scraping the fur off his ears had become commonplace, to be expected.

Fortunately for Lein, facing down the beast barrelling towards him, he had become very good at his job indeed. The last possible moment. Don't let them look away. Make them fully commit. And then do the only thing that the bait had to do - survive. Lein shifted his heels into the ground, assuring itself of its grip on the ground. Then he stared right back into the acidic yellow eyes filled with predatory wrath, his expression inadvertently grim but steady.

[color=orange]"Here I am."[/color] Lein's breath soured as he pressed the weight against the ground, thighs as taut as bowstrings. The ash was denser closer to the ground, but Lein kept his eyes trained on the griffin's stare all the same. [color=orange]"Nothing but me."[/color]

The griffin's powerful legs lurched itself off the ground, its injury not enough to hamper its leap, surrendering attention to all else but to tear its prey apart, to satiate the pain of its wound through vengeful hunt. It flexed its wings as it soared, throwing up a sheet of smoke that cast a dark fan of shadow that almost engulfed Lein's vision in its entirety. Lein had not expected the griffin to risk the leap with Fleuri and Lucas weighing it down, but no matter -

Nerves fractionated seconds. Movement into moments. 

Just before the talons would find a fountain of warm Hundi blood, Lein twisted his weight and launched himself directly sideways, diving shoulder-first into a roll and fluidly breaking out into another leap to create as much distance as possible. All the while, Lein's fingers kept a fresh metal bolt against the bowstring, threatening the griffin with another slug should it ever tear its attention away from him. Lein just had to hope that his compatriots would do their job now - there was little chance that the bait would get out unscathed if the trap didn't spring.