All the worries, insecurities and trembling knees were left behind as soon as hooves began to churn into the lush ground of the oasis. What remained was the thundering force of desire and undying loyalty tinged with a hint of happiness. For there was no better place for a warrior then in the heat of battle, it was where his heart belonged and his passion raged. The erratic, metaphoric sound of a fast ticking mind as cards were played and two beasts of the Dragon's Throat went man to man for the first time. For a split second eyes widened in surprise when Gaucho made no attempt to dodge and instead turned himself to seemingly bear the brunt of his charging attacks. This move was new to him and in Hector's eyes, almost completely insane. Realistically speaking, the orange stallion's experience of battle was limited to basic spars as a colt and his one, high tempo spar with Kri. As impact was imminent, hooves tore into the earth as ginger ears peeled back, there was nowhere else to go except for straight into Gaucho.

His adversary leaped from the ground and in only a few seconds did there bodies touch, pain filling the senses of Hector. It was the first time he'd seen such a necklace up close as it ripped across his left shoulder with him raising brown feathered wings just in time to keep them from damage as well as using them to balance. His teeth had better luck as he briefly grabbed hold of Gaucho's wither, but the idea of grabbing hold of him to overpower the antlered stud before him was completely out of the window now as he already began to retreat backwards. A feeling of alarm filled Hector's senses as Veci became wildly fearful of the lunging snake that shot towards his bonded. It was warning enough for the startled hybrid to flick his leonine tail and shy quickly to the right, losing grip and any advantage he had over Gaucho in the processes as his body twitched and the whites of suddenly fearful eyes could be seen. In the heat of the first charge Hector had completely forgotten about the snake that tended to be woven around the antlers of his opponent. Maybe if he didn't have a bonded connection with his invisible friend then the fight would have been over there and then.

The one two combo of attacks that Gaucho and Mara produced was very effective in catching Hector off guard who continued sashaying to the right, grunting when Gaucho's hoof connected with his left thigh causing orange eyes to wince in pain. Unfurled wings, lifted high as not to receive any damage, began to flap downwards when Hector finally found proper purchase on the ground. Lifting his orange body off the dusty floor that was littered with small drips of his blood from Gaucho's necklace. Once he was little more than hovering the stallion advanced once more on his adversary, orange eyes narrowed as his mind tried to grasp all the intricacies of what seemed like a pretty simple savage. Careful now to watch out for the spikes and the snake, the injuries he had taken would not be in vain as he powered forwards on large swoops of his wings to advance on where he hoped Gaucho would still be. Lashing out back hooves in attempt to land a blow on the top of Gaucho's rump before angling his body upwards and away from his opponent briefly. Turning in on his left when he'd thought he'd gained enough height to swoop down once again, trying to appear on Gaucho's right side this time, aiming another kick for the hip area.

He moved in a way of horse who carried a new wariness, with the harsh necklace, snapping reptile and not to mention those antlers, simply going near the front of Gaucho was like a death trap. The air almost seemed like the most safest place to be and the strategically better one. Though only time would tell if his opponent was as proficient in the air as he was on the ground. He didn't seem as gritty and tank like as Kri did in battle, but he was built finely with a body that surely could reach some high-speed.

The setting sun waited for no one and already Hector began to squint his eyes and curse as he strained his vision to keep tabs on Gaucho and his white assassin with his only comfort being the closeness of Veci as hooves stretched to try to meet their target.

[WC: 769 | 2/4 Attack Posts | Companion Use 1/2
Descrip.: Hector suffers damage from Gaucho's necklace and shying to the right when Veci's overwhelming emotion alerts him to Mara with Gaucho's kick finding some purchase on his left thigh. Hector then becomes airborne, hovering over to where he thinks Gaucho is and aims a kick for the top of his rump. Before flying upwards and turning back in attempt to be on Gaucho's right side, aiming another kick for his right hip area.]