Fool.

He does not move, his large frame towering above her even as she lunges for him, horn wicked and more than willing to pierce his skin and thickly furred hide. He does not take her seriously, surprise and unwillingness more than blatantly apparent in his mottled orbs. It does little to stop the smaller fae as she charges along the slowing particles beneath her snowy hooves. Something quiet falls from his lips, mumbled and too soft to catch as she races towards him. Tingal stood frozen for many long moments, only moving at the last moment to save his own hide- quite literally. Hotaru felt dead, uncaring as her horn snagged upon his ginger fur, and she feels a ghost of a breath over her right flank. She knows what is going to happen. Unable to manage a full strength buck with how she was running, she crow hopped and lashed her hindquarters out towards Tingal’s right elbow and shoulder, teeth scraping across the top of her hindquarters towards her left croup, nothing more than a deep scratch. Even so it stung in the way an annoying, miniscule bite of a fly may be, but stretched out across her skin like ribbons.

Her attack does not do more than falter her step only a bit, and she continues her lunge across the sand, knowing she had speed and agility on her side in comparison to the bulk and brute strength of her friend and opponent. She could not stop, not when he had no momentum and she did, for he could turn and attack her just as easily as she attempted to stop. It would be better to circle back around, put distance between them with her speed. It helped her, for he raced up next to her, teeth snapping warningly across her hide. Hotaru’s dual eyes narrowed in a fierce glare at the weak attack, stopping abruptly. The sudden movement would hopefully put Tingal a few strides ahead of her, the sand helping her in her halt. With this done, she lunged forward once more, regaining her gait.

With a quick dart to the left, she aimed her horn for his right thigh, teeth bare and ready to sink into his fur and skin if her horn would jab upwards through his skin instead of horizontally. Simultaneously her forehooves reared up, seeking revenge against him when he had done nothing wrong, wanting only to gain vengeance against a foe she could not face just yet. Someday, she swore. Someday, she would return and rip the Queen of betrayal into shreds. Her sharp little hooves aimed for Tingal’s right hind cannon bone, a sequence of three attacks prepared while her mind roiled.

She missed Raeden. She missed Stella and Phaedra, Mesec and Apollo, and Irrydae. Yet she was still enraged at her family, and she would show them that she was strong. Worth something. And she would start by defeating the hybrid stallion who towered over her, a gentle giant. Cinderella was tired of the whip against her back, and it was time she used that persistence for something else.


Word Count: 524
Attack: 2/4
Defense: 0/1