Teeth sink into flesh, fur thick and drying on her tongue, an uncomfortable sensation that makes her throat convulse in displeasure. Her jaw aches from having to clench through the thick hair, from the impact of her herbivore teeth clenching tight against the muscle of his leg. In retaliation Tingal's teeth, the lower set, snag her right croup, and she hisses and drops the hold she has on him. They are a flurry of movement, and the wince that shudders his large frame as she cries out hurts her, but the blood oozing from the burning wound on her flank is far more physically painful. His whimpering could not be heard over the soft panting of her own breath, the slow drip of her life substance hot against her skin as he landed one more minor blow on her. At least she had scraped him rather unattractively, and quite possibly rather painfully, down his cannon.

They separate almost violently, she pleased with his dedication blooming in the fight, and he whining like a kicked pup. Running for the waves, she scowls angrily, and hopes his leg is burning because she seriously doesn't want to play these games. It is so dark, but she can see from the glimmer of the moon off the water, though it makes her vision swim uncomfortably as she charges towards Tingal, her own legs stinging from the small scrapes as the salty water pierced them angrily. It isn't hard to shove through it if she lunged through it more than ran, and the large stallion charged her similarly. Instead of feeling fear, intimidation, regret...everything is just quiet. The thundering of their hooves through the water, the laboring breaths that escape the both of them...finally, she is at peace. Everything is so much easier to think about now, and when he comes close she plays a little game of chicken, keeping her posture until the very last moment when he craned his head towards the left side where her neck arched, teeth flashing pale in the quicksilver lighting. Hotaru grit her teeth, ready to take the pain so that she could do what she wished.

Pain struck her like lightning across the top arch of her neck, where her mane sprouted from her skin. Her step faltered, eyes bleary from the force of the blow, but she couldn't give up now. Once more she lowered her tiara, the tip aiming for Tingal's left thigh, the spray of the water disturbing her view and making it harder to see. She hoped it would pierce him, as he was unable to see she was aiming for him with his face in her neck, and hoped even further that his guilt over hurting her would further distract him. Was it a cruel move? Perhaps, but she would do anything to get the upper hand, even if it meant playing on her opponent's emotions and morals.

The salt of the water that sprayed up around them as they battled stung her eyes so fiercely that she had to clench them shut for a moment, faltering. He sidesteps as she swings her head away, ending her attack whether it landed or not. Damn it, this is why she didn't want to fight in the water! Stupid tall opponents. Didn't they understand the pains of being short? But Hotaru does not feel comfortable with her spine bare to him, for she knows it's one of the most vital parts of her body, and he is so much larger than her...

It's ridiculous to think he'd ever take advantage of her weakest point like that, but instinct demands she get away when he is so much larger, that she not give him the opportunity to plunge his hooves against her spine or neck. So she lunges forward as quickly as possible, more willing to sacrifice her haunches than her spine, and narrowly escapes his bite as it passes over the lowest sway of her back. Okay maybe being short wasn't such a bad thing? At least it had gotten her out of that one. Blinking her irritated eyes quickly against the salty spray, she only saw the movement of his hind hooves, but because she'd lunged forward out of fearful instinct she was struck in the back of her left forearm, making her legs wobble and to strike out to her right towards shallower waters as her eyes objected and her leg throbbed. Right leg taking the weight off her aching, newly-wounded one, she pettily snorted inwardly as she objected angrily to having been forced into this kind of environment. She was tiring in the water, the liquid slowing her movements drastically and forcing her already tired muscles to work even harder. So she ran towards the shore once again, tiring.


Word Count: 800
Attack: 4/4
Defense: 0/1