Fiore stifled a sigh of relief when the grullo turned. At least his request hadn't fallen on deaf ears. He waited impatiently, his body twitching and his feet shuffled, the urge to practise his skills had been hot in his blood since the tournament. The stallion had always thought himself a capable fighter. This land, however, had taught him that if anything he was a poor fighter when it came to extremes. He had everything except the experience of fighting magic and creatures, be them wild or straight out of a fairytale. Bright eyes glanced at the dragon nervously. If the stranger accepted his offer then this would be his first time facing a dragon. Didn't legends say they breathe fire? With sharp teeth and claws? The little white reptile wasn't quite as big as Fiore imagined they would be from those stories, yet everything else could very well be true. To rise into the large shoes of Sergeant and survive in this volatile terrain, Fiore believed he had to be able to fight under these kinds of odds. Even if all he had were his bare hooves and a sturdy heart.

The elder male offers their names; Lace and Fajira. The soldier nodded, repeating them a few times as not to forget later on in the future. His gaze flickered to the blur of white in the sky and Fiore watched in awe as Fajira screeched her bubbly like excitement to which the coloured boy laughs timidly, beginning to question whether this was all in all a good idea. Yet, at the mention of his own name Fiore raised his own sky blue eyes to that of Lace's, plucking up the courage to remain and fight instead of giving to the sudden urge to runway. The warrior blinked in surprise when the grullo mentioned being not of the Edge. He didn't look all that lost after all? He was a fair way in too. Fiore frowned at this before a coy smile played around his lips. “You don't look particularly lost or up to no good. Though I suppose if you really were an intruder then my challenge still stands” Lace indeed didn't appear to be up to mischief the way Fiore saw it and if he was, wasn't that even more reason to test their skills in a fight?

“I would not want to disappoint your friends enthusiasm!” He nodded in respect to Fajira. In all honesty he was rather worried about fighting a dragon, but using the same steely nerves as he did in the tournament, Fiore prepared himself for battle. After all, it couldn't be worse than fight three opponents all with bonded companions and magic to call upon. His match up here was a little closer to equal and perhaps the closest to equal Fiore may ever get. So bravely he called upon his concentration and quickly threw together a vague plan for his opening attack. It was time to earn his title.

The Sergeant mirrored the old mans moves, warming his own muscles whilst smiling broadly when the glint entered the other males eyes. Blood began to pump faster and Fiore lifted his body lightly into a bouncy canter, doing his best to try to keep tabs on both Lace and his snowy reptile. For a moment, his blue gaze was locked onto the grullo's, waiting to see if he was going to leap for an attack first. Seconds passed before finally the painted soldier decided to bite the bullet and begin proceedings. It had happened the same way the last time he had fought, though Fiore hoped for a better outcome than falling over his own feet and scraping his nose along the floor. An injury that was still visible now on his velvet nostrils. Don't trip yourself up this time, idiot the stallion silently scolded himself before he carefully began to canter inwards and hopefully closer to where Lace was. Hind legs powered off the ground and quickly the mustang jumped into action, bringing his gait into a fast gallop. He favoured onto his right before aiming to elbow his shoulder into Lace's own left shoulder. Teeth bared and attempted to bite around the hip area, all in one move.

Their odd and quite easy conversation had been joyful, part of Fiore wanted to know more about Lace and Fajira, at least to find one (or two) soul to call friend. In the end, he would have to discover through exchanging blows.

[750words & 1/3]