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And suddenly he was being charged. Noah yelped, backpedaled, dodged to one side without even really thinking about it, and swung the cleaver blindly towards Al.

He felt the blade thunk home, a solid vibration up into the bones of his arm, and froze as his brain registered that he had just hit another human being with a meat cleaver. "Ohmygodshitsorry," he whimpered, and yanked the weapon free, stumbling back in shock and sick, nauseated guilt.

There was no blood.

Had he missed? Surely he couldn't have missed. "Did I, did I hit you," he stammered.

I BITE, Lazarus growled, pleased.

HP: 40/40
Dmg: 4
Charge: 1/3

The staff cracked against Noah's chin, snapping his head back and sending him stumbling backwards dizzily. That had hurt, how had it not broken something, he thought he might have bitten his tongue but his jaw didn't feel broken -- he hadn't heard/felt the distinctive porcelain crunch that had accompanied the pain when his arm had gotten broken years ago. That was a sensation he had never forgotten.

He stared at Al, searching the other boy for signs of injury. Noah had hit Al, he'd felt it, Laz had felt it and felt something else and talked about biting, Al said he'd been hit, but there was no blood leaking or seeping, and the way that hit had felt, there should be blood. Even if Al was used to pain and could keep fighting with a wound in his side, it should be bleeding pretty heavily, staining his shirt at least.

"You're not, you're not bleeding," he blurted, bewildered and more than a little freaked out.

HP: 35/40
Dmg: nope
Charge: 1/3

Noah oofed and swung Lazarus at Al again, watching this time as the blade clipped Al's arm, just a little, but that definitely had hit him, had sliced in, should have broken the skin even if it was just a scratch, and there was still no blood. "How's that even possible?" he squeaked, eyes very wide.

DOG, Lazarus put in. BAD DOG. Noah could feel him straining, pulling heavily against Noah's mind, wanting to bite again. The weapon was hungry, and Noah's mouth has begun to water. He wasn't sure if it was a response to that transferred sense of hunger or if it was from nausea, the way your mouth started producing saliva when you were about to throw up, because he felt a little sick from tension and panic and the realization that not only was he capable of hitting another person with a cleaver, but it had felt. Well. Kind of good.

HP: 34/40
Dmg: 1
Charge: 2/3

Noah narrowed his eyes at Al as he rocked back on his heels, away from the swing. He was beginning to suspect that Al knew perfectly well what he was asking and was just trying to wind him up.

He lunged in and brought Lazarus down in a sweeping arc, lodging the cleaver solidly into Al's shoulder and leaving him there for a moment before yanking him back out and backing off. No blood. No injury. "That," he said, exasperated.

Lazarus began to bark again, a deep, sticky, insistent sound, and the sensation of pulling redoubled. BITE. BITE! the weapon demanded between barks.

HP: 34/40
Dmg: 8
Charge: 3/3

"That's what I mean." Noah scowled at Al. "You're trolling me, aren't you." He swung Lazarus again, more confidently; somehow, he wasn't actually injuring Al, even though Laz's blade was sharp and he was hitting pretty hard. At least, it felt like it. "How come this isn't hurting you?"

HP: 33/40
Dmg: 6
Charge: 3/3

Noah blinked wide-eyed at Al. "It - it is? But it's not even - " His confusion and surprise distracted him, and the billow of flame that wrapped around him made him yelp loudly, dropping to the ground in a reflexive escape reaction. s**t, that did hurt, and it hurt a lot, but as the smoke and flames faded and he rolled away and scrambled back to his feet, he realized he was neither on fire nor even burned, even though the heat had been agonizing.

He backed up, stiff with shock and finding that he ached, and that he felt a distinct and brittle sense that he was going to get hurt if this went on much longer or that happened again.

YOU HURT, NOAH. Lazarus snarled. THEY HURT YOU. THEY HURT US. I'LL MAKE IT BETTER. AND WE CAN BITE THEM.

Noah looked down at Lazarus in time to see the tongue flop out of the weapon's hilt and coil itself around his wrist again, glistening grossly. His face froze into a grimace of disgust, but quickly thawed into startled incomprehension as a wave of cool numbness flowed up his arm and over his body, soothing away the prickly sensation of almost-burn and most of the aches and sore spots. He felt better.

Lazarus's tongue recoiled into his handle, and Noah forgot for a moment that he didn't have to speak out loud. "What did you do, Laz?"

I MADE IT BETTER, the zombie dog said. NOW WE CAN BITE AND BITE AGAIN.

HP: 35/40
Dmg Healed for: 16
Charge: 3/3

"Much more okay now!" Noah couldn't duck the impact of Al's staff, but he was learning quickly. He wasn't going to break anything, he might get some bruises, but there wouldn't be any wounds or blood. It must be magic. The knowledge made him more confident about swinging Lazarus, and he sank the blade into Al's side again. His grin had a nervous, manic edge.

BITE, BITE, I AM BITING THE OTHER DOG, BITE, Laz chanted. The ferocity of his hunger sank right down into Noah's bones.

HP: 31/40
Dmg: 7
Charge: used