It's an odd thing warriors do - to revel in someone else's pain. Maybe it speaks more about Ampere's character than she's ever willing to admit. It's an ugliness she tries to hide with ideals like honor and strength, but in the end it's nothing more than brutality and self-serving triumph. After all, she would rather take an eye for an eye than let someone stand on trial and be locked up, as if imprisonment were worse than the entire world going blind. There's something senseless in the notion, that it's better to be able to run free than be able to see, but it's something Ampere is already sightless to.

At least she has a moral code she sticks to; the same can't be said for all horses.

Although Wessex was kneeling, the changed position did not deter Ampere's movements; it didn't do anything more than lift Ampere's 'brows and scrunch her lips up into smirk, because what an odd way to start a fight, with a bow. Maybe it was the mare's custom, maybe it was recognition of Ampere's rank, maybe it was submission to Ampere's prowess (for which Wessex was still willing to test herself against), but Ampere didn't want to bother with the reason when her hooves were already consuming the sand and her blood was already hot beneath her skin, screaming for that triumph that would make her feel good. Maybe that said something about her character too, that she didn't stop, that there was no hesitation to beat someone already down - or that she hadn't considered whether Wessex had a strategy for which Ampere might pay dearly. There was a certain arrogance to Ampere in that moment that wasn't something normal for her. Selfishness, misguided righteousness, stubbornness, and confidence were all common traits of Ampere, but not ego, that was new.

The victory of Ampere's hits landing on Wessex wasn't enough to slow Ampere down; the notion to gloat did not rise within her, the most likely evidence of all that she was merely a confident and experienced mare. Something else slowed her though, preceded with the small sound of a gemstone cracking.

Ampere had never had her magic turned against her, not like this, so at first she didn't understand what was happening. She couldn't fathom why as her haunches landed from her buck that they did not push her forward into her sprint, why her legs lifted like heavy stones to casually reach forth through the air that had become molasses. She couldn't reason the slow roll of her eyes to the side that Wessex quickly approached on with lowered horns and obvious intent. Ampere willed her body to move away, but it didn't respond. As Wessex's variety of thorns tore into her left hip, Ampere finally regained her impulses, and an understanding. After this, she'd agree with Wessex on how truly horrible lack of control over your own body was.

Ampere had only ever known lack of control over her emotions, after all.

A scream wrenched from Ampere's as red blossoms sprouted on flesh, carefully planted by Wessex, a master gardener. Although her hip was certainly better than more muscled areas of her body, it still affected her ability to pivot away from Wessex. The gashes were clustered together and deep enough that the wound bled freely, a jolt of agony through which Ampere had to grit her teeth as she shuddered away from Wessex and to her right, though Wessex had superior agility on top of Ampere's impairment, so she still managed to pluck some feathers from Ampere's left wing. In response Ampere's wing flapped excessively, stronger than most think wings are, hoping to clobber some part of Wessex and disturb her senses. Meanwhile Ampere was working on pulling energy from the ground around them, creating vivid, blue sparks from the dead matter and balling them up into a poorly designed hawk. She aimed the lightning beast at Wessex's face. It would shock the girl if it made contact, but mostly Ampere wanted the chance to put distance between them and hoped the bright electric light would contrast heavily with the darkness of the dusk, proving to be disorienting and distracting so Ampere could hobble to safety.

Blowing hard and wincing with every step, Ampere realized she needed to get into the air, but would she have the ability to do it now? She needed a running start, and her ruses would only last so long.
Wessex had given her a new idea though, using her magic on herself. Carefully Ampere tried it, wanting to block out the hip that hurt, but not make her leg useless. A delicate balance, but one worth trying as she continued to run, wings flapping for altitude.

---

A: 2/3
D: 0/1
W: 794/800