Ru takes in the wetness of the sand as she trots. The way it clumps and absorbs the energy from each step. How cumbersome it was compared to the careless throws of the sky – an element of ultimate abandon. Unbound, unhinged – reckless and unforgiving. It had taken her mother, she muses, omitting the tether from her heart.

Ru inhales steadily through her flared nostrils.

Shuddering under the icy breath of the ocean, she spots the unicorn with a trumpeting cry. It rings, pitches and tears into the space between them.

Am I ready?

A moment of doubt injects, just as the salt begins to sting her eyes. The girl positions herself head first, however, stopping to face the challenger - still with settled limbs as they close the distance. The folding waves behind her are only five meters away – why should she meet him there, in the dry and light sand? With a heavy grunt she shoulders the thought with an apathetic bandage.

Ru notes the sharp, obsidian crown that gleams pointedly gold in the gray scenery. The shadow that has embarked from the covers of the forest, is but a false illusion that is filled in by chocolate highlights, and even brighter, golden markings. A creature, much like a deer, follows its master’s lead with a religious, airy cadence. Its hide marked haphazardly by sharp lightening strikes – the girl wonders if its clue, a sign of hidden magic entrapped between the pair. Her brows furrow, forming sharp lines that hold her eyes with a beaming radiance.

Furthermore are the subtle outlines of the stallion’s muscles that move like a well-oiled machine. It’s sublime, despite the odds of his strength and agility that stack against her. Scars mar the stallion’s canvass, let’s the girl know she’s potentially struck luck with an experienced warrior. That it’s not going to be entirely fun, however, the desire to learn potentiates her eager spirit. If she could endure Volterra, surely, one as bodied and rounded shouldn’t prove to be much more feral than he.

At this point the girl is uncertain if she can endure him, for how long, depending on what transpires. He has less bulk than the black and white Indomitable titan. Not to mention the dull, bronzed shoulder guards that are strapped secured against his hide. How strange to see such a thing, clung to the sides of an equid?

Upon his approach the mare digs into the sands and sprints forwards to finally meet him. Catching the subtle movements of the creature that darts to the right. But her focus is upon the unicorn; and she takes it he will want to use the thorn upon his head. It flashes dangerously as they meet. Chasing after his movement, she begins to turn to her right in an attempt to face him.

However, Ru’s wings snapped out and up vertically when the horn darted towards her right shoulder. Alarm raged her senses, as its barbed end punctured past her soft and fuzzy coat. And into the superficial muscle tissue of her mid shoulder. The youth’s voice cried out, she could hardly contain it between her teeth. The pain was so fresh, so easily forgotten while the horn dragged downwards and became shallower as she gasped for air. Freeing itself with the stallion’s momentum just above her elbow.

And yet it reminded the girl how alive she truly was. How the storm that had ripped and tore her life apart inevitably shaped her distant, craving soul. And here she was, alive and bleeding. Eyes widen when the figure of the dark stallion shimmers into nothingness, only the ocean that rages behind them. Ru pursues her initial momentum nonetheless, moving right in a circle. Eyes searching for a sign – footsteps, that dig into the broken earth. She can feel his teeth grazing the top of her rump, as she pulls her legs along to follow her intended direction.

Where is he?!

She imagines where his body might be, darting her eyes to the floor. Marking the sand with a form that appears to be coming her way yet again. As soon as he materializes, shimmering into existence, the location of his barbed horn is lost for a moment - she lunges towards his front, hissing as the pain struck that shoulder. Taking another step she jumps up with her forelegs tucked in, a battering ram seeking purchase for his neck and chest. Wings a-flare. Teeth darting out, snapping at his left cheek.

The girl had hoped the water was to his back. That inevitably, she would force him closer to its relentless waters. Waves, hungry, and unsatisfied with the bland presence of sand. Perhaps they might appreciate the concentrated iron in their blood, or the torrent of two souls shuffling along their shore.

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