Silence fell across the gathering as the rest of the animals followed suit, more and more eyes turning toward him. The creatures ceased their chatter and movements until Wil found himself at the center of attention. He considered making a run for it. Now that he was out of the burrow, he wasn't backed against a wall. The jackalopes were only gathered in front of him and he could run the other way. However, he had no idea how fast these creatures were. From what he knew, some rabbits were faster than others. The larger ones tended to be on the slower side, but he knew these creatures had powerful legs.
He found himself remembering facing off against the jackalope before. He was still unable to make sense of it all, but the animal had suddenly lost hostility after their brief encounter. Hopefully he would be able to resolve this situation in a similar manner, although it was yet to be seen wether they would all approach at once. If that was to be the case, Wil was unsure of what he could do but run.
The victor of the earlier bout padded forward slowly. It seemed slightly larger than the others, but aside from that there was nothing else Wil could see that set it apart from the rest. He felt the animal's gaze crawling over him, its nostrils flaring as it sniffed the air. It seemed more curious rather than threatened, and while Wil kept himself tense and ready for action, he tried to keep himself from taking any sort of threatening motions.
The jackalope's normally floppy ears shot straight up as it suddenly began to chirp rapidly. Wil hoped that wasn't a sign of aggression. The others began to chirp as well, and the crowd bustled with energy as it fanned out on both his sides. He thought for a moment they might be simply passing by, but they eventually looped around, completely encircling him.
Wil tensed further before falling into an unarmed combat stance, eyeing the animals gathered around him as they hopped excitedly in place. He practiced regularly, but it had been quite some time since he had been in a situation as precarious as this. He steadied his breathing, slowing his rapidly beating heart as he mentally prepared himself for what was to come.
Entering a serene state of mind, he calmly analyzed the situation. Scanning the numbers of the opposing force, he concluded that while it was likely he could overcome the lot of them if he were to rely on his...unique circumstances, but seeing as he was in unknown territory and without medication or communication with the organization, doing so in such a manner would be far from ideal. Unless he was left with no other choice, that was not a risk he was willing to take.
The leader, alpha, whatever it was, hopped forward casually. It didn't appear aggressive at all. The nonchalant way in which it watched him would have brought Wil's guard down if it weren't for the clear message that the ring of onlooking creatures sent. The jackalope standing within the makeshift arena squeaked at him, standing on its hind legs.
Wil had seen this before, and prepared a counterattack before the jackalope shot toward him antlers first, like a bullet. He sidestepped the creature just barely, wincing and stepping back as he felt a sharp pain on his side. He turned to keep from showing his back to the creature as it spun in the dirt to face him again, digging its front paws into the ground to stop itself from sliding.
Although he wanted to check what was sure to be a wound, Wil kept his eyes on the foe before him as it crouched toward the ground, preparing to bound toward him once more. While keeping an eye on his opponent, he did his best to stay conscious of the movements of the surrounding multitude. While they bounced in place energetically, they didn't appear to be approaching. His attention was yanked back as the jackalope sprung towards him once more, taking several rapid, incredibly fast steps before it launched itself forward.
This time around, Wil studied the animal as it hurtled steadily in his direction. As he concentrated his focus, it was almost as if time began to slow. As fast as the animal was moving, he could see into its eyes. He didn't see any hostility or fear, and in some way, the way it looked back at him almost seemed intelligent, aware even.
Instead of repeating their last exchange, Wil decided to meet the animal head on. Instead of choosing to counter after dodging, he spun in place, building momentum then planting one foot firmly on the ground while lashing out with his other leg, timing his movements precisely as the jackalope came within range, zipping past its antlers and striking it square at the center of its forehead. His leg was strained from the force of his strike and his opponent's momentum, but as his other leg anchored him firmly to the ground, he enjoyed an advantage against the air born adversary.
With a sharp crack, the jackalope was thrown back, its body spiraling across the makeshift "arena". It barreled limply into a group of the animals, bowling into its comrades as they scattered from the site of impact.
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Wil was immediately on guard from an attack from the creature's enraged friends, but to his surprise they largely remained in place, squeaking fervently among themselves as those impacted from the attack picked themselves up off the ground, moving away from their grounded brother. He didn't want to make assumptions about an animal he knew nothing about, but it almost seemed as if this was kind of duel or display of dominance.
While keeping wary of the surrounding spectators, he focused on the upturned jackalope before him. Unmoving, it lay on its back. Wil couldn't see its eyes as its head was thrown back. He couldn't tell whether it was breathing or not, and was unsure if he should confirm its demise. The others might rush to its defense if it appeared to be in danger, and while he still wanted to separate from the animals, he had the feeling that making an attempt to cross over the ring of bodies around him would be met with force. For the time being, the onlookers appeared to be happy to just stand around and watch.
Taking the opportunity from the inaction of his opponent, he glanced down at his side. Three symmetrical cuts had been cleanly sliced into his blazer. Without moving his clothes aside, he assumed he had only been lightly scratched, judging from the light itching sensation coming from his waist. He didn't feel blood flowing from the wound and deemed it non-threatening. However, the fact that the resistant materials had been cleanly cut was cause for concern, not to mention he was unaware what had caused the damage as he was sure he had avoided that specific attack.
His gaze jerked back as a flicker of movement caught his attention. The jackalope twitched several times before picking itself up off the ground, shaking the dust off before its eyes found him again. It cocked its head slightly, giving it a somewhat puzzled expression before it hopped steadily toward him once again.
Dropping into a stance once again, Wil readied himself to receive more of the animals attacks as the squeals of the onlookers suddenly increased in volume. He remained wary of them but they all kept their places, albeit bouncing noisily.
The animal suddenly darted forward at a speed much greater than it had shown previously, barely giving Wil any time to react. He stepped back quickly, unable to read its body movements to figure out what type of attacks it would make. Humans telegraphed their actions much more openly than animals, making it difficult for him to react and plan his moves. The ways their lengthy arms and legs moved made it largely simple to predict their actions and they ways in which they would attack. Moving as quickly as it did with such a compact body, he couldn't predict what it would do especially as he was unfamiliar with this type of animal.
The moment it came within reach, it sprung up and twisted its body in the air, whipping its leg at him in a spinning motion as it hurtled towards Wil's legs. Unprepared for the switch from attacking with its antlers to its limbs, he didn't have time to deflect with a kick of his own, and reaching an enemy so close to the ground proved an awkward task. However, there was a distinct advantage that Wil had over a low attack from a vertically-challenged adversary. Hopping up over the barreling bunny, he stamped his foot down on the incoming animal as it zipped by underneath, the animal plummeted into the dirt with a squeak. Wil spun to keep his face toward his opponent only to be met with a pair of small red eyes.
Wil covered his face with his arms as he jumped back, but was knocked back with tremendous force before he could return to the ground. Thrown back from the impact, he bent his body forward and braced his legs to regain his balance, preventing the blow from sending him sprawling onto the ground. He didn't know how many of those blows his arms could take. The creature's leg strength was exemplary despite its size. The jackalope struck out again and again in rapid procession. Wil continued to block its strikes, making an attempt at pushing its attacks to the side. He had to be careful making an attack.
Fighting with an animal was much different than with another man. Claws and teeth waited on the other end and it would be easy to get hurt while landing an attack. He had been trained to defend himself against dogs, but the jackalope's short, stout body required differing methods. For example, the height difference was one of the most troublesome factors of the situation. Being so near to the ground made it it very awkward to strike it with either his hands or feet, unless it targeted his middle-to-upper body. The overwhelming majority of his combat techniques and experiences were centered around combating human opponents. The ways in which the animal attacked him left him at a loss as to how to deal with it.
If only he had some kind of weapon. Even something like a branch would've been fine, so long as he could put something between himself and his agressor.
Unarmed Combat Tree opened.