Fire built inside them, counterpoint. They raged at one another like typhoons, like clashing rams, until their teeth rattled and their heads ached. For so long Resplendence had always folded, crumpled, beneath the weight of those pushing against her. It was exhilarating for her coals to come alight, lashing back. Maybe she could defend herself, should the time ever come where it was necessary. Maybe he could stop worrying so much about her. She was finally growing strong, and it was invigorating for the beast that opposed her. Renewed, he charged for her once more.

Like a carousel off her axis she careened away from him with the force of his blow. She seemed so lost, too small with her tied up hair. For a moment he hesitated, fear thick in his gut. Had he hurt her? Oh gods, had she popped a knee joint, or worse? Kaj’s world dimmed into a tiny speck of anxiety, only for it to snap apart with relief as her agile limbs tore into the sand to face him properly. His relief couldn’t halt his planned attacks; if he stopped then, the spar wouldn’t continue. So he lunged for her, feeling as if he was watching her shrink beneath the growing shadow his massive body cast upon her, the rising sun at his back. Hair whipped and stung at his eyes until they watered, but Kaj dare not look away. He couldn’t afford to have his hit land where he hadn’t intended, to hurt her beyond the realm of a spar. She rocked backward, too slow even for her faster frame. He felt fear shoot through him, wanted to stop time and scream at her. Don’t rise up against me! I’m too big, you have no momentum, I’ll bowl you over! Never put yourself in a position to fall! But he, too, cannot stop the process he’d started.

Massive hooves crashed down upon her leg. A familiar sting and jolt reverberated through his forelegs, but overshadowing all of it is her sudden scream. It shattered in his ears like precious china, and his head jerked awkwardly away even as his body fell forward and down towards her. Ever closer to the scream that seemed to rake through his mind; it seemed to reverberate in his head, forcing down every barrier he’d erected to keep from going too easy on her. It invaded him like a horn to the side, piercing and burning until his head felt full and hot. Kaj’s emotions were too tangled to discern in that long, suspended moment. Shame, despair, worry. His hooves touched down on earth once more, steadfastly ignoring the dull soreness of a hit, the lingering ache of his breast and left shoulder. Kaj relied on his weight and mass to shred his momentum, anything to get away from that awful sound, the guilt that hounded him from within its resonance. Lurching away from her, he scrambled in the thick sand, wings flared for balance. Even through the sting of his forelock on his eyes, he couldn’t help but stare wide-eyed at Resplendence. Unprofessional, surely, but Kaj loved Resplendence. His reactions were indisputably justified.

A dark form swept over him, and instinct kicked in before he could figure out just how badly Resplendence was hurt. Kaj lunged to the left, lofty wings snapping down to protect them. Sand was sprayed up in a maelstrom as massive legs kicked to get him farther from the threat, stinging his belly. Fire coursed towards his face, but the buffeting from his wings slowed it enough for Kaj’s desperate side-lunge to get him mostly out of the way. Eyes clenching shut to protect him from potentially being blinded, Kaj fell with the momentum. His hindquarters were already ducked low from throwing himself to the side, and he landed deep, head bowed and neck stretching towards the earth and away from the flames. A deep ache resonated through the left side of his breast from Resplendence’s prior attack, but he grit his teeth against the pain, hoping his leg would hold out on him. Kaj would rather have the seizing muscles than a face full of fire. Hoping to defend himself, electricity surged to his skin, sky rumbling and bolts jumping wildly in the turbulent air. Hopefully it would deter Valiance from attempting a physical attack, though the bolts were wild. A cinder caught on the fringe of his mane, searing it like dry paper up towards the crest of his neck. Panicking, Kaj lifted the carpometacarpus of his wing to try and scrub it out. Tiny cinders peppered hot and painful along the arch of his muscled crest, and by the time he’d put out the not-fire that burned away at his mane, he was left with a rather thick mohawk. Shit.