She missed. Even though Volterra had praised her for evading his first attack, it meant little now that she didn’t even touch him. Before she missed, there would have been happiness and pride blossoming from her chest, reflecting in the smile that would grace her pink snipped lips at his approval. Now, as her hooves hit the ground, and she rounded back toward Volterra, a curse escaped as a hasty whisper from her lips. The Gladiator, then, began to correct her on her choices. Her eyes narrowed as she looked upon his thick ebony body, still favoring the shoulder she had punctured. She didn’t plan on their spar being so bloody and fierce, but that was the nature of the game it seemed. Aelfwine needed to get used to it, if she were to learn how to handle herself; and now that she had missed, frustration with herself began to overcome the cry of apology for hurting him that had previously flashed in her mind.

She refrained from moving her head too much as the alcohol continued to affect her. She didn’t want to move enough to feel the small bruising that was beginning to grow on her neck where Volterra had marked her for the time, nor did she want to experience the slight spin that burned the edges of her vision. Instead, she tried to focus on what he said to her. Her ears wavered forward and backward, swaying slightly while her narrowed eyes sought out any movements he might give away. ‘Of course.’ She thought to herself, replaying how she could have taken advantage of him recklessly throwing his left side at her. It didn’t last long, though, as Volterra began to charge at her. She swayed slightly in place, trying to see any sign of how he planned on attacking, but she failed as the spinning grew stronger.

As soon as Volterra began to collide with her left shoulder, she stumbled to her right so that he only clipped the left edge of her chest. The alcohol in her system caused her movements to feel slow as she spread her front and hind right legs out to try and catch her balance. Her breath left her lungs immediately with the force he had in his large frame as he collided, despite not getting the brunt of his force. He was quicker than she had expected this time, as she miscalculated how much he was getting used to fighting on his injury. Now, with the bruise growing in her shoulder, she’d have to learn how to fight back with her own injuries. Her neck wasn’t one that she paid too much attention to, not now that she had the swelling of her shoulder’s bruise radiating into her bones.

Immediately following Volterra’s attack, Aelfwine stumbled as she attempted to regain her balance. She noticed Volterra’s jaws aiming at her throat again, and snorted in frustration. “No.” She hissed, pushing her head lower to try and block the bite with her antlered head. She felt him pull a couple of hairs from her spotted neck as she pulled back from him, spinning away him as she stepped back, leaving a small amount of space between the two of them. She spun herself to the right, to where she would be perpendicular to the left side of his body immediately after he attempted to bite her neck. Aelfwine inhaled sharply through gritted teeth, as her left leg struck the ground as she moved from him, feeling the pain of the bruise begin to grow even stronger each time her leg touched the ground.

Her emerald eyes remained narrowed as she lowered her head even more, able to ignore the small amount of pain in her neck in favor for the sharper pain that bloomed from her shoulder. Then, she put all her weight on her hind legs, sinking into the slightly damp earth as she sprung out at him again. Her head remained lowered, and she aimed to strike her sharp, blood tipped antlers into the soft part of his barrel behind his injured shoulder. During her charge, she favored her left front leg through the pain. Even though she thought it might be easier for her to aim for his left shoulder, she couldn’t will herself to try and attack the same bleeding shoulder she had done previously, but she hoped this time her attack might actually hit.

"Talk."


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Attack: 3/3 – Words: 739
Damage Tracker: A small scrape from Volterra’s bite on her neck. A deep bruise on her left shoulder, causing a slight limp.
Summary: Aelfwine tries to miss his collision, but Volterra still ends up clipping her shoulder. She avoids the bite he follows up with despite losing a few hairs in the process. Then, she spins herself slightly and charges at him with her antlers, aiming to hit him in the left side of his barrel behind his front left leg.
OOC: thank you for the tips <3 it helped a lot I think! :D I did struggle a bit on placement though, specifically where Volterra ended up after he tried to bite her so I hope it makes sense D: