He waited… and waited.. and waited. Ears flicked forwards, sideways, backwards— surely the fair, icy Queen had not grown deaf in the short time since he had seen her? The tartness of his thoughts ebbed as a smidgen of concern niggled in his barrel, the memory of Elsa’s pointed stare at the rocks beneath the cliffs echoing though his great skull.

But he need not have worried, for her sassy words squashed such dark thoughts as she lazily meandered into the clearing he had chosen. Cream, black-rimmed ears perked towards her and Edgar while dark blue eyes crinkled in an answering smile to her smirk. A low chuckle hummed in his thick throat as the Zephyr cheekily bopped the the wintry woman’s head before retiring to the sidelines to watch the ex-general and ex-soldier spar.

“How benevolent of you, my fair Queen,” his amusement spilled into the rumble of his voice. He mimicked her small bow, his own much deeper with a dip of his vast head and a bend of his thick knee. But then her eyes, which had been filled with the bravado of her words, turned wary as she sized him up. There was much sizing to be done, for certain, given his great size and mass. Though the pegasus was not diminutive by any stretch of the imagination. She was graced with a height taller than expected for a winged equine, and with impressive blue-tinted wings to match.

He regained her eyes- one blue, one milky- from Edgar, and found that most of her unease had melted from her face. As a small cringe crossed her features, he began to wonder just what was mulling behind that gaze. What ghosts was she fighting alongside the Elephant? But he was not allowed much time for these thoughts because the Icebound became a blur of words, ice, and snow.

Caught unprepared at such a swift attack in the midst of his pondering, her well-aimed teeth found the sensitive flesh at the back of gaskin. He felt the rip of the thinner skin and flesh there, a warm burst of wetness betraying the partial tearing of muscles caught in her gnashing teeth. His right hind leg jerked forward in response, just as his right knee buckled with her kick solidly connecting with it. He felt the bruise spread around his lower check ligament— surely the cream hide there would be brightly colored by tomorrow.

A low grunt escaped him as his great weight fell towards the pegasus at his side. He his right foreleg forward, ignoring the smarting pain that accompanied his regain of balance. Wanting to kick out her own forelimbs, yet limited by the wound dripping on his hind right, his massive teeth unleashed to aim a punishing bite on her right wing joint. Clipping this soldier’s wings would even the playing field— especially given the now-limited kicking power of his hind right leg. As his neck curved to the right, his heavy hind end awkwardly hopped away from her mouth in a forehand quarter pivot.

Briefly, relief flashed through him that Edgar was sidelined, and that there was no magic in this fight. He had thought himself better prepared, after sparring with Mauja and defeating Nyx (that memory was too distracting so he hurriedly cast it aside). But, if the beginning of this fight was any indication, he was wrong.

Again, the unease and surprising dislike of fighting resurfaced in him, as it had in his spar with the old, spotted king. He had always gone to fighting as a way to clear his mind— was that no longer the case for him? Well, surely it would become the case if he kept allowing his mind to wander instead of focusing on his opponent. Distracted soldiers were dead soldiers. How often had he drilled that into recruits? Now look at him, fighting like a wet colt against a Queen. Where was the Elephant?

A: 1/3
D: 0/1
WC: 663
Damage Tracker: Bruised back of right knee; Partially torn muscles back of right stifle;
Summary: Elsa's attacks hit, bruising knee and rippling muscles behind stifle. He away from her on forehand and aims bite at her right wing joint.
@Elsa

He paid for his sins. He was saved.

But some sins haunt us no matter how much we pay.