He is not hesitant, he is unwilling. Hotaru eyes him coldly as they dance around each other in a tango of touch-and-go. Would you be proud of me, mother? In her mind it hisses, Phaedra’s and Raeden’s faces flashing in her mind’s eye. Her heart twinges, in remorse, in anger, in loneliness. But her anger, her righteousness, it is far too strong. It only fuels her fight, and the disappointed look in her best friend’s eyes did nothing to dissuade her. Let him misunderstand, talking could come after they were bruised and bloodied. Would you be proud of me, Rae? I will not tarnish our family name. I will not be some broodmare fluttering her eyelashes. I will fight, and I will win, or I will walk away bleeding. A fire glows inside of her breastbone, eating the timber Tingal offers to her with his pathetic, half-hearted blows. His teeth scrape her left hind hock as her hooves thud against his solid chest, not more than a scratch. Is that what he intended? To cover her in annoying little scratches and scrapes? Her teeth grit until her jaw and cranium ache in protest. Her snowy hooves touch down on moonlight sand once more with nothing but a sting to remind her of his passing.

Speaking of.

How someone of his bulk could stop so suddenly, well, she doesn’t know, but things change because of it. He spins sharply to face her, but they are too far apart and she is tall enough to not be hit by the sting of sand he intends to spray in her face. Already she is adjusting her target, horn aimed for his right shoulder. It pierces, but lightly, and she swears internally. He isn’t taking her seriously damn it!

But oh, what is this?

He is far too large to hide movement when they are so close, and sidestepping removes a lot of the force that he could have managed had they not been moving so slowly, so it barely shoves against her. Already she had seen his movement, her eyes focused on his legs after all, and shoved the point of her bony shoulder towards his left flank and belly. Taking the bite to her hindquarters that she hadn’t been able to see coming, she let out a nearly inaudible gasp and silently praised him for becoming more serious. His hoof comes up, but her head is not so far down, and in fact he is only helping her. Her teeth had been prepared when she’d first targeted his legs, and she snapped them down towards the meat of his right hind thigh, hoping the height would only help her blow land.

Her rear could hardly be considered such, as her legs aim for a low part of his leg, and so his teeth bite into her right flank and the jut of her hipbone sharply. She gasps loudly this time, a burning brand upon her body as gravity yanked her down to crash her hooves solidly where she’d hoped they’d land, his teeth ripping through her skin in a far more noticeable wound than the other childish scrapes as she jerked down and away from him. Her forehooves leave his cannon bone, and he roars in pain, which makes her flinch away to the left quickly as her ears were assaulted. She didn’t like being at a speed disadvantage, and that’s where this was heading as their momentum slowed and became a close-quarters fight. His injured leg strikes out at her, but his bellow of hurt had shifted her, and it only hit solidly against her right forearm. The muscle twinged, sure to bruise, but only a soft huff escaped her at the contact.

They spring apart, and he lunges into the water, a spray following him, but she is moving opposite of him, circling wide to her right as she used her light frame to her advantage, scrapes stinging as she cantered evenly into the ocean and they were subjected to the salt. Pivoting, never once letting herself stop, only slow, she charged Tingal head on, head high instead of lowered in attack.

Your move.


Word Count: 706
Attack: 3/4
Defense: 0/1