It did not take the girl long to realise she was not alone, and instantly grew tense - she had learnt many years ago not to trust strangers, especially those mooching around a herd's borders without entering. She approached the young stallion warily, noting that he was nearing manhood and thus had likely been recently chased from his herd, as Nyx's sons had been. She felt a stab of pity for him, and wondered if he felt lonely. Perhaps he was seeking companionship here? Or perhaps Nyx was not as perceptive as she liked to believe, and he was simply a rogue colt exploring the world around him. "hello there, little one. there's a storm coming - you should seek shelter." She knew others were not as fond of storms as she was, and could grow spooked by the eerie noises and flashes; Nyx did not want her conscience tarnished by the image of the boy getting disorientated and braining himself on the glass wall. Her body language was relaxed, yet her muscles were bunched and prepared for action should this youth show hostile intentions. She had heard the tales, and knew that the unicorns of Helovia held a bad reputation.

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OOC: I apologise in advance for how sucky I'll likely be at this xP

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When the young stallion suggested a spar, Nyx felt the thrill of the fight begin to course through her body. It had been months since she last crossed swords with another, and she did have aspirations of warriorhood. What better time to practice than now, with the storm approaching like a pack of starving carnivores? "it would be my pleasure. i'm nyx, of the world's edge." She, too, began to ready herself, her frigid gaze raking across the youth's frame, devouring every inch as she hunted for size differences, weaknesses, injuries...anything that could turn the tide in her favour. Her mother had taught her - and by taught, she meant beat into her - that there was no such thing as honour in warfare. She knew to use anything to her advantage, and that meant hunting for any sign of weakness.

Her preliminary assessment complete, the iron woman took another cursory glance at the sky to ascertain how long before the storm would break above them, then returned her gaze to Tamlin. "your move," she said, offering a respecful dip of her head before she focused her mind and body, and waited.

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OOC: Same 8D

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Or perhaps that was just wishful thinking, and his delicate age belied the hardened warrior beneath.

There was no time to dwell; the storm hissed overhead, and Tamlin made his move. He came for her left side, his gluttonous teeth snapping towards her left haunch, and the mare had little time to do anything but pivot her hindquarters to the right. She was assisted by the ground, which was already growing slippy beneath the sudden downpour of rain - it likely hadn't rained in quite some time, and the parched ground was unable to absorb the torrent, creating a slick coating of mud above the hardened soil. This helped her hooves slide, but she could not avoid his attack completely. His teeth nipped hard at the flesh and muscle of her haunch, causing a bruise to blossom swiftly beneath her skin, however her movement to her right had lessened the damage and hopefully prevented a grip. It still bloody well hurt, though, and her ears pinned to her head as a yelp of disgust fled her jaws. She continued to swing her hindquarters to the right, whilst at the same time her forequarters moved to her left, hoping to bring her powerful frame in a semicircle to face Tamlin's left shoulder in a T-shape. She knew to try and prevent her foe having access to her sides, especially her flanks, where her teeth couldn't reach and her hooves couldn't easily kick - if she could keep her front half near his own kicky and bitey bits, she would be in with a chance.

The storm screamed above them, invigorating the mare as rain began to flow in rivulets off her pelt. This was marginally inconvenient, as it would mean bites would slip off slathered flesh far faster than in dry weather, but she did not let that deter her. There wasn't enough room between them for her to bring her horn down and attack with it, and so she was condemned to using her teeth, just as he had. Her skull snaked forwards and down, attempting to lay a sharp nip on the meat of his left shoulder - she knew her blunt teeth were unlikely to draw blood, but she certainly wouldn't object to a lovely big bruise, to match the one he'd given her. She was quite a vengeful girl, and didn't take kindly to being bitten on her frankly magnificent backside. Simultaneously her weight surged forwards, leading with her chest; she sought to slam it into his left shoulder or the top of his left foreleg, just below where her teeth were aiming for. Her aim was to disrupt his balance by pushing herself forwards from her powerful hindquarters, hoping to make his feet slip on the slick ground as hers were. She doubted she would be able to knock him over - she didn't have enough of a weight advantage - but hoped she may be able to make him stumble. Her blue eyes flashed with macabre delight, the lightning making her silver fur glisten; what more could she want from life than to be duelling beneath her favourite element?

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This movement proved fortunate, as the boy reared and had she been in the same position she likely would have been forced up with him - as it was, she was simply granted a haunting image of his hooves and teeth glistening against the backdrop of lightning, moments before she felt him bite sharply between her ears. Thankfully the bite was somewhat padded by her thick mane and forelock, strips of which were pulled free and again she had to bite back a pained shriek. The flesh just beneath her mane was grazed but, given the blunt nature of equine teeth, no blood was drawn. With considerable effort the iron lady dragged her weight another step backwards to try and create a small distance between their bodies, legs spread to try and balance on the objectionable surface beneath them. His right hoof - which had just managed to clip her left wither, creating another small bruise - would hopefully slip free from her rainsoaked body as she momentarily withdrew, chest heaving from the exertion and the difficulty of breathing after the sharp impact with him. Using this space, the girl would lower her head in the hope of brandishing her sword towards him - she was thankful it wasn't as long as some horns, as it meant she could use it more in tight battles like this. With all the strength she could muster, Nyx threw herself forwards, leading with her lethal length of obsidian bone.

She had no wish to actually maim or kill the boy - she had pierced hearts before, and the pain of taking a life was one she would never forget. True warriors like her parents could slaughter hundreds without batting an eye, but Nyx wasn't made of such stern stuff. She had a sense of empathy, something she'd struggled with for a lot of her life, especially when her mother had spent so long trying to beat it out of her. She had a conscience, and perhaps that was a weakness, but she would not irreversibly damage Tamlin on purpose. Therefore, she angled her skull slightly to her left and aimed for the right side of his chest, well away from his heart and vital organs. She assumed he would have returned to all fours by now - her movement backwards and lunge forwards had not been instantaneous and thus he would have had time to lower from his rear if he chose - and so her head was held quite low. She sought to sink the lethal tip of her horn into the right side of his chest, hoping to gouge muscle and cause considerable pain. Not fatal pain, of course, but hopefully enough to give the silver woman the victory.

Simultaneously her right foreleg lifted, flicked forwards and stomped sharply down. She hoped to rasp her hoof down his left foreleg from knee to fetlock in the hope of damaging the skin and perhaps even trapping his own hoof beneath her own. She hoped he would be distracted by her horn assault and would thus miss what her leg was doing - she had found from past experience that a bombardment of attacks could work out very well, as it forced an opponent to multitask and that was difficult in such heated situations. Her heart pounded and tail lashed behind her, mane slicked to her neck with the force of the storm above. It was a beautiful sight, two unicorns locked in combat with nature exploding above them; they moved like ballet dancers, but were as dangerous as circling sharks.

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Her horn gored into him, but she was swift to flex her neck and withdraw, not wanting to cause more harm than necessary. She knew the honed tip of her obsidian spear could cause severe injury and she still had no desire to see him fall with her blade embedded in his arteries. He seemed angry, likely shocked by the brutality of her last attack - Nyx herself was almost ashamed for attempting something that could have caused terrible pain, but she had been raised to never pull her punches. Be it a spar or a fight to the death, she tried to go about it the same way, but her innate softness ensured she would never go so far as to try and kill Tamlin. Her hoof also found its target but the silver woman quickly removed it, feeling unsteady with his hoof trapped beneath her own - she needed to keep as many feet on the ground as possible to avoid tumbling should he try to ram her. She dragged herself a step backwards just as he lunged forwards to bite her, causing his teeth to hit the top of her right foreleg rather than the ribcage nearby. It was painful, and the mare winced as another bruise appeared - fortunately the flesh there was muscled and tight, and thus his teeth didn't do as much damage as they would have if they had struck where he intended.

She was so focused on her pain that she didn't see his right foreleg lift, knocking into the top of her left - it didn't particularly hurt, but it took her by surprise. As she hesitated, his left foreleg circled, hooking behind her right limb and yoinking it upwards. With an almost doglike yelp, the steel soldier stumbled, hooves skidding as she fought to keep herself balanced. Ooh, sneaky, she thought with a sardonic smirk. Nyx sidestepped to her left and shot forwards, seeking to end up parallel to Tamlin facing in opposide directions, right side to right side. With his delightfully tempting rump now in her eyeline, Nyx snaked her jaws to the right in an attempt to sharply nip him on his right flank, in the same place as he had bitten her earlier. Call it revenge or petty-minded vengeance, but the silver woman rather liked the symmetry of them both having matching wounds. Simultaneous to her bite attack, she threw her weight to her forequarters and swung her hindquarters to the right, hoping to crash her right flank into his right shoulder. Like most horses, she possessed a particularly round and muscular back half, and hoped that an impact of her rump against his shoulder would unbalance him. She also hoped that she would be able to push his front half away from her rear to prevent him being able to use his teeth on her butt again, because damn, that stung. There wasn't enough space between them for her to use her hooves, nor did she trust herself to remain balanced if she lifted one or more to kick with; she'd have to settle for quite literally trying to ass him over.

Her rain-soaked pelt shone in the lightning, rivulets of moisture pouring down her body and accentuating every contour. Her chest heaved, throbbing from its earlier impact with Tamlin and causing her breath to come in heavy gasps - it would be a while before her bruised muscles unclenched and allowed her to stop feeling winded. But despite the pain she felt more alive than she had felt in weeks, months - there was something about the thrill of battle that set the grey dove's blood afire. The storm crashing above them only fuelled her desire to lock horns and hooves with the foe beside her, and she had to remind herself that there was nothing at stake - it was but a spar, and if she lost then it would be only her pride that hurt. As fun as this was, it did not quench her thirst for a battle with meaning; it solidified her desire to become a soldier for the Edge, and defend them with everything she had.

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OOC: haha yeah I wasn't sure if he attacked her first in a parallel way or in a t-shape but I went with t-shape. Either way, good fight :D

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