The rustle of hooves in the moist earth caused Gaucho's dark ears to swivel, trying to locate the sound. Mara, whose skull could twist faster than Gaucho's blocky one, rotated her neck until her beady black eyes were fixated upon the dappled mare. Gaucho's stormy gaze followed soon after, falling flatly upon the girl. Why she follow? He wondered hollowly, turning his muscled shoulders to face her. Mara, who might have been more helpful in trying to suggest an answer, was too busy focusing on where the serpent she had seen earlier was. The steel coloured snake shifted uneasily in her bonded's antlers, black eyes searching the grasses around the dappled child for the snake.
At the sound of his name, Gaucho's black ears flattened against his skull, as his wings rose high and aggressively from his dark flanks. It carried an odd intimacy, although perhaps the beast was simply imagining it. Imagine, if strangers knew your name, how it might seem and feel to have them speak it against you. To hold their knowledge of who you are over your head, while their identities remain unknown. Is there not an intimacy in that? The flames that lingered heatless on the top of his appendages cast a bloodish hue against his hide, that rippled and wavered ominously. Golden Trick-ster he named her silently, wondering what other lies she would tell. Was the dark one here too? SSSSiiilk Mara offered vaguely aware of his thoughts, though still searching for Shilva. Perhaps he was hiding in the shadows ... perhaps this was an ambush.
So, I think we need a rematch fight, because you don't remember our last one.
A dark grin parted Gaucho's lips, revealing oddly white teeth. Whatever hoax they were trying to force upon him, insisting that he had been here before - that he was a leader of a dragon's throat - was hard enough to believe. But the child had told a lie that he knew to be false: Gaucho would never forget a fight. They had gone too far in their deception. It couldn't be true. Part of him was relieved - the idea of having indeed led here, only to disappear, was a troubling one, even for Gaucho's primitive mind. And yet...yet the darkness in his gut still lingered. There was still something not right here, though the WildFire still could not place it.
"Gaucho never forget." He grunted deeply, picking up his large hooves and sweeping forward animatedly in her direction. "And Gaucho never turn down a spar."
Moving easily into a trot, and then a brisk canter, Gaucho moved swiftly towards Aurelia. The ground was not fully firm beneath his hooves due to the rain, which required more diligent footwork, but that was fine. The girl was smaller than he - he did not need speed to crush her. His bone-spiked collar moved loosely on his shoulders with each powerful stride. As he approached, Gaucho's antlered brow lowered - he aimed to simultaneously throw his bulk towards Aurelia's left shoulder with his own, and to hit her left wing (the underside if she left it raised, or the muscled portion should it be against her flank), with his antlers. His own wings were held up and slightly back. As he neared, he dropped his left shoulder to compensate for the height difference, to try and gouge the muscles of her shoulder. In his antlers, Mara hissed wildly with a chaotic glee that only Gaucho could sense. She of course remembered Aurelia, but Gaucho was right - Aurelia would have known that he would not turn down a spar. Besides...there was still the matter of Shilva...Mara's black gaze searched out for the snake that had accompanied the dappled child in the Threshold. It had appeared young, but then again Mara hadn't had time to get a good look. Did she have poison, as Mara did? The thought of Gaucho falling prey to a bite other than her own, made the mamba snake furious.
Gaucho hoped to feel Aurelia's lithe frame wilt beneath his bulk - to tear at both feathers and flesh simultaneously - and make this trickster pay for her lies. Perhaps, when red replaced the gold on her coat, she would answer him truthfully.
Gaucho veered away sharply to the right, after he gauged he had pasted her barrel, to try and mitigate whatever retaliation she might attempt. Though it was not just her she was worried about, nor was it her companion - Mara had that covered. Instead, his gaze searched through the trees, trying to find her accomplices. Would the painted one - Cheveyo - be here as well as Silk? Hiding in the trees, waiting to ambush him for phase two of whatever plot they were concocting?
@[Aurelia]
[WC: 800
Attack: 1/3
Gaucho still thinks Aurelia is lying to him, but won't turn down the opportunity to spar. He rushes towards her, trying to injure her left shoulder by knocking into it with his own/collar of spikes, while trying to hit her left wing with his antlers. He then dodges to the right to avoid retaliation, and looks into the trees for Silk/Cheveyo.
OOC Teaching Notes
Okay! Regarding your questions from your post.
1. Gaucho's Magic: A really helpful tip, is to research your opponents before a spar (or at least, once you know you'll be sparring them). For instance, I always look up my opponent's profile, as well as the magic listed on their character record page, just to make sure that I understand #1 What their magic is and #2 What its limitations are. So for Gaucho, on his profile it says that he has two upgraded magics, and one passive. They are:
:: [Magic: FirexTime (U) | Able to call upon spirits composed of fire for assistance whenever his blood is spilled.]
:: [Restrictions | Spirits can be 5 small (medium dog and lower) or 2 large spirit.]
:: [Magic: FirexWind (U) | Able to beat his wings and produce an outward blast of fire.]
:: [Restrictions | Limited to a radius of 30ft. Flames and heat begin to fade towards the circumference.]
:: [Magic: Fire (P) | Wings and hoofprints burn with heatless flames.]
So to answer your question, his passive magic is what allows his wings and hooves to burn, but those flames do not give off heat. It was his FirexWind magic that he used int he threshold thread, which creates an outward blast of fire.
Other things you might want to note about Gaucho for the purposes of this spar are: Mara has an elemental ability, and is fully grown; Gaucho has deer antlers (but no dreamcatcher anymore), and he has his bone collar of spikes. These are all things to keep in mind. :3
So for instance, I know that Aurelia's body can burn for 20 seconds, and that her companion is only 2 months old. Of course this doesn't translate into IC knowledge (although Mara might be able to sense that the snake is younger, but that certainly wouldn't give her the knowledge that 'she doesn't have an elemental ability + isn't capable of mindspeech', but 'young' is something that they can definitely use.
2. Regarding where Gaucho is positioned: In my first post I wrote, Ears against his skull, Gaucho landed just outside of the Threshold - before the trees became thick and the Deep Wood took over. Although it had been raining for most of the day, the grass was still fairly dense between his hooves as he landed. So I did write him as having landed, and hinted at the setting - a clearing before the Dark Woods, where the grass was not completely saturated with water. I also expand on the description at the end of my post, to indicate that it could rain more (leaving it open to you, if you wanted it to suddenly pour :3 ). So Aurelia's description at this point is sort of confusing, because Gaucho hasn't actually entered the Woods - the clearing is not in them, it's before them. So suggestion #2 is going to be to make sure you read your opponent's posts! If you misinterpret something that the judges thought was clearly written, you will loose marks for that, if it alters something your character does. If it's confusing, you can always get out a notepad, and write down what is happening. Just simple things like, "Goes LEFT", "Attacks RIGHT SHOULDER", so that you can quickly reference what's going on.
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[JUDGED] Lie in Our Graves | Spar: Aurelia
