The filly moved faster than Gaucho had anticipated, seemingly un-phased by the spirit bear which so ominously poured from his antlers. It was actually quite unnerving, to see her young lilac body move so undaunted through the vapourous bear, as if literally walking through death was something she did often. And if that was true, perhaps there was a shaman of these lands, a wise one who perhaps possessed the same magic that he did? Would he be permitted to speak with the wise-one's of other herds? ommmmnnnnnnnieee would know. Gaucho's mind was swiftly brought back to the moment as he felt his hind hooves connect on what seemed to be the filly's chest. As his hooves snap back towards his dark body, he feels a tugging on his tail, as Azucar's teeth latch onto the silky black tresses. Given that she had moved her face out of the way of his thrashing hooves, her movement had been far too slow to find purchase on his legs as they lithely retracted back under his body, yet as his luxuriously long tail fell back to his thighs, her teeth had wrapped around the thick black cords, tugging uncomfortably.

Pivoting to the right, and coming up on Azucar's right side, Gaucho lowered his bulky head to gouge her shoulder. Out of his peripheral vision, he sensed that she had reared-up. Idiot, he thought as his antlers slammed into her soft belly. Why would she take his attack to such a vital and unprotected area, rather than letting her shoulder take the brunt of his attack? As his antlers pressed into the soft flesh, he got his answer: she is trying to attack him using her front hooves. Foolish girl. Given the differences in their height, and the fact that Gaucho's antlers were turned towards her, placing his neck within her reach, but not his back, her hooves feebly scraped down the left side of his neck, causing a dull radius of pain to spiral out, but nothing significant. It was actually surprising that she had managed any attack at all, given that she had reared up to accept the full brunt of his blow to her belly - he would have thought given her youthful body vs. his full grown weight, that she would have gone flying.

Carried by his momentum, Gaucho thundered past, listening for Azucar's hooves on the slate. His left thigh was beginning to throb with a dull pulse, reacting to Sno's kick from earlier, and Azucar's bite to the same area. Training his ears back on the filly, he listened as he heard her echoes come from his right, and out of his peripheral vision, he spied her trying to catch up to him, charging up his right side. Once again, he reflected on her youthful stupidity. Was she blind? He was a fully grown, athletic creature, while she was some sort of ambiguous-mutt who was only a filly; she had no hope of catching him - but her ignorance did not stop there. Taking the hint from his sore thigh, Gaucho unfurled his massive black wings, already having enough speed to gain almost instantaneous lift. As his wings shot out, he felt her teeth snapping at his feathers, and grunted as a few remained in her mouth, as the beast lifted off from the ground. Gaining altitude, the bay drifted up and out of her reach, gliding effortlessly away from her. He watched as she continued to bite at the air, stabbing her horn at the shadows caused by the silvery moonlight that drifted down around them.

Gaucho could feel Mara's mind probing his, for Azucar stood precariously close to where she lurked under the slate. Gaucho forwarded the images of the filly flailing about below him, indicating that she was likely to be trampled given the youngsters rambunctiousness. Looking down upon Azucar, he imagined how easy it would be to descend upon her back, likely crumbling her young body under his weight. With a bite from Mara, she might never wake up, and could truly dance with the dead that she boasted of knowing...Arching gently, Gaucho landed with a hard thud, silhouetted by the moon. He snorted viciously in Azucar's direction, turning his upper lip up as he sneered at the lavender child. With lightning speed, a streak of gun-metal darted across the Basin floor. Mara wound her way up Gaucho's foreleg, slithering up his wither until finally wrapping herself around his antlers again.

Although he did not know that both Sno and Azucar were from the Basin, he did know that they seemed incredibly young, and inexperienced. If he ever saw either of them again, demanding a fight, he would break their bones for their ignorance.

Children.

[WC: 794. Closing Defence 1/1 Still using BULK and SWIFT.

Judge, please note that Gaucho was in a spar with Sno, that occurred within the 7-week un-penalized time period. The thread can be found here. Gaucho sustained the following injuries from that thread: Kick to his left thigh, and a small shallow cut on his left wing near the bottom. ]