In the distance, there's a figure. The stone mare's muscles begin to vibrate with excitement, her cold gaze narrowing through the night towards her possible opponent. Ker gives a little gargle of happiness and bounces up and down upon her bonded's back, unable to contain her excitement. Play nice, Oizys warns. This is friendly, remember. Ker deflates, bombarding the soldier's mind with pictures of her plunging her beak into the eyeballs of their mystery foe. No, comes Oizys' firm response. Like a sulky teenager Ker huffs and turns away, filling her bonded's mind with ">:[" faces.

Trying not to be distracted by Ker's antics, Oizys channels her focus onto her approaching opponent. She sees wings, and her heart begins to hammer relentlessly as she contemplates fighting her first battle against somebody who can soar through the air and kick her in the head at any given moment. Those wings are definitely going to be an inconvenience, although the mare attached to them is almost two hands smaller than the grey gargoyle. She's no expert, but judging by the tobiano's build, it's likely that their speed and agility are close enough to not be a factor. That sturdy build reeks of endurance, something Oizys isn't overly blessed in - not just because of her breed, but because she spent most of her childhood afraid to exercise too much for fear The Thing would rear its ugly head and send her into paroxysms of pain. There's a good chance Oizys will tire before this mare does, but the gargoyle does have one thing on her side; her raw, brute strength. It will be in her best interests to try and end this battle quickly, as the longer it drags on, the more chance that she begins to make mistakes borne of exhaustion.

The final thing she notices about her opponent is that the tobiano has an ungodly amount of horns. Oizys has always felt quite blessed in the horn department with the three savage spires that sit atop her head, but this mare has weaponry to spare. She finds herself oggling the impressive arsenal, wondering if this is what stallions feel like when they catch sight of each other's junk. Is she suffering from the female equivalent of dick envy?

Weaver, comes the introduction. Oizys recognises her as another of the Basin's soldiers, and it sends another spasm of anxiety into her gut at the realisation that she's fighting somebody who probably knows her way around the battlefield far more than Oizys does. She's a spar virgin, and this horn-endowed woman looks like she could be a spar slut. "Oizys," she replies, trying to infuse her voice with confidence. She's proud that she manages to keep the waver out of it, giving her a renewed sense of vigour as she prepares herself.

Without warning, Weaver charges. Oizys silently berates herself for not realising that in real battles, people attack without warning. She slides her gaze down to the light snow, disguising the black ice that lurks underneath like a shark in the water, ready to devour the errantly-placed limbs of careless warriors. It shows no signs of tripping Weaver, though, and the mare is forced to react as that shit-tonne of horns come for her right side. Driven by instinct, the massive soldier flings her hindquarters to the left, feeling them skid terrifyingly on the ice. She pivots, sliding like a prize-winning ice dancer, causing the horns to graze across her flesh rather than sinking directly into it. Well, graze is too light a term - at least three of the horns sink into her skin, ripping a set of medium-depth lacerations that immediately begin to throb painfully. Blood dribbles down onto the snow beneath, and the mare realises with a thrill of satisfaction that she's just earned her first battle-scars.

Now, she needs to give some.

Using the momentum of her turn, Oizys seeks to pivot further until she's facing the tobiano's right shoulder. Her own horns joust forwards like a javelin, attempting to sink them into the muscle at the top of Weaver's right foreleg - a good hit to that area might disable the limb. This may be a friendly spar, but Oizys is keen to start as she means to continue in her fighting life - hit hard, and do whatever it takes to earn victory. She thinks of Erebos, sure that he would prefer his soldiers to give it everything they've got, as how else will they learn?

Outraged at the blow to her bonded, Ker barrels towards Weaver with rage glowing in every sinew of her body, although at Oizys' bidding she stays away from the eyes. She seeks instead to sink her talons and beak into Weaver's hindquarters, trying to tear bloody lacerations into the skin and muscle there.

________________

Teaching spar for @Weaver !

1/3 - 799 words