Surprise surprise, your number is up.
I like to think this will be mutually beneficial. A way to keep you limber and a way for me to sharpen my skills.
However, since I'm new to this we'll keep the stakes relatively low.
If I win, you promise not to challenge any members of the Chamber for six months.
If I lose, I'll keep the same promise for the members of the Falls.
-Let's keep this no traits, I'm lacking in that department.
Astri
Abstang hybrid
4
Mare
15' HH
Mantis green with four white stockings and a white blaze
Guidelines
Two posts each
3 day's between posts (I want this to go rather quickly)
One extension per person
Two attacks per post
One full dodge allowed
You post first
-Oh, and to make this interesting, let's do a 400 word limit?
Could we make it a 500 word limit and a 1 year ban on challenges and steals from the Chamber/Falls?
T E X A S
immortal silver bay hybrid stallion
king of the falls
Texas
Quarab Hybrid
175+
16hh
Dark bay, grizzled appearance, no white markings
He remembers the green mare from the Field, and it seems that she’d taken the offer of the antisocial little Chamber recruiter rather than those given by the Falls, Desert, and Amazons. Texas has nothing against the Chamber, but he does so hate being bothered.
This fight is a bother.
They are of similar build - Texas is a few inches taller, but not enough to make an enormous difference. She’s quite easy to spot in the center of the early morning challenge grounds, even with the overcast sky limiting the light they have. There’s rain coming in the afternoon, but they’ll both be long gone by the time it falls.
He comes in slowly, one long stride at a time, walking up to Astri with a pleasant smile on his face. He is just barely to her left, a little more than six inches. When he is near enough he reaches out - so slowly - intending to brush her muzzle gently with his own. He pulls his head back, moving just as slowly and still smiling pleasantly, as though they’ve done nothing more than greet each other in the Meadow.
Then, with speed that was not at all portend by his grizzled face and the heavy silvering of his mane, he attacks.
He lunges, using his position of being just to her left to avoid colliding with her chest , though he does bring up his right knee slightly higher with the intent of ramming it into the front of her shoulder. His teeth, meanwhile, are snapping for a hold along her neck and crest. They’ll be pinches if they land, large and painful and sore. The knee to her shoulder is far less likely to break the skin but Texas knows that. He has nearly two hundred years of life experience under his belt, and has taken naps longer than the entire length of Astri’s life. He wonders if she knows this, or if she thinks him only an old man in the army of a weak kingdom. He is more prone to recklessness than the average fighter as well; far less heedful of risk than a warrior with the promise of a full and instant recovery waiting for him at home. Astri will have to suffer with her battle injuries – Texas doesn’t think of them at all.
The bay stallion wants a nice bruise, enough to make moving her left foreleg difficult, and a nice solid chunk out of the side of her neck. His initial approach was likely more than enough to put the younger mare off her guard and make landing a blow easier, but he doesn’t count on it. His lunge had carried him forward, and as soon as all hooves are on the ground again he continues with that, digging in his hind legs and pivoting with his forelegs, offering a quick buck to discourage her from following too closely before he spins around to the left to face her.
T E X A S
immortal silver bay hybrid stallion
king of the falls
Using my one extension. Sorry! Got a little slammed.
There has never been, nor will there ever be, a situation in which Astri allows another creature to so willingly invade her personal space. So, when Texas arrives with casual indifference, Astri knows better than to trust the peaceful greeting. She wonders, though, about his intentions and allows him to come close to her right side. But a snake is a snake, and Texas is certainly a viper.
The fluidity and haste of his attack isn’t wasted, and his teeth find purchase along her crest. His raised knee is meddlesome, pushing into her chest and forcing the mare to dig in with her heels to keep her footing. Luckily for her, they’ve been well-matched when it comes to build and size. Astri is taken by surprise, but she refuses to let this get the better of her so she reacts instinctively, rearing in hopes to lessen his grip. He’s heavier, so she’s forced to keep the rear low, but her head is also positioned on the left side of his neck. She gives the venerable warrior a taste of his own medicine and does her best to tear at the flesh of his neck with her incisors, and soon he’s released her to make his escape.
She lands, feeling the pressure of his absent knee, but his buck is foreseen and the hardy mare is quick to swerve to her left to avoid the blow, while allowing her stronger, left leg to hold the shift in her balance. Texas makes a full circle and faces her, and Astri knows she cannot waste time in her second attack, so she pushes herself forward and ducks her head as if to ram the bay. However, when she finds that she’s a few feet away she rears again, unencumbered by the weight of her attacker. Her rear is calculated, only about five feet high or so to match the height at his shoulder so that an attack from below would be difficult to manage.
Her legs strike outward, with her stronger, left one leading the attack. She hopes that her weathered hooves will find a mark somewhere against the stallions front, since they’re facing each other, but Astri cannot put all her eggs into one basket so she delivers her best attempt and lands to his right. The green mare chooses a brisk trot and heads away from her opponent, keeping him behind her.
I might be using my extension, just FYI 
Texas feels the scrape of her teeth along his neck and the hard pinch of his skin between them. The main damage is a bad bruise, blood welling up beneath his skin and dripping from a few smaller tears in his flesh. It is neither debilitating nor excessively painful, but it does cause him to keep his head turned more to the left as the battle continues, unwilling to pull the skin taut and irritate the slow-forming bruise. It’s why he circles to his left, keeping the tender injury away from Astri.
She hadn’t followed him (perhaps discouraged by his buck, or perhaps already battle-wise), which leaves Texas facing her when it is her turn to attack. Astri comes straight toward him, head lowered as if she’s going to ram him, and Texas has no intention of standing in her way. He leaps forward and just enough to the left that his right shoulder will probably brush against hers. He’s not fast enough to get away entirely - especially not from the rear that her ram had turned into. Despite her left hoof leading the attack, Texas’ change in position makes both hooves land at the same time, striking his right flank and upper thigh.
They are not minor blows my any means, but there is enough adrenaline in the stallion’s veins to soften the immediate pain, and as soon as his front hoof touch the dirt from his leap out of the way, Texas returns a strike of his own. He bucks, twisting his hind legs to the right, where Astri is probably either coming down from her rear or has only just landed. With any luck he’ll catch her on the left shoulder with both hooves, a close blow with heavy weight behind it. If she’s already trotting away the kick could land further down her body, landing along her ribcage or abdomen, and possibly even her flank if she is exceptionally quick.
Texas turns to his left to follow her as she trots away, knowing that she’ll have a good lead on him and cantering to make up for it. His pace is uneven as he favors his injured right hind end, but he is still moving quickly to catch Astri provided she has neither sped up nor turned. The bay stallion comes up on her left side because it is the same side he had attacked before, and when they are neck and neck he lifts up both forelegs rather than place them in stride and throws himself sideways into Astri. He means to knock her off balance, to shove the point of his shoulder into her side hard enough to bruise. Texas keeps his head high, not using his teeth as weapons in a third attack like he longs too. Even if his right hind leg cannot hold his weight (it will, of course, but just in case) he will only lose his balance and fall toward Astri, adding even more weight to his shove.
T E X A S
immortal silver bay hybrid stallion
king of the falls
Astri feels … invigorated. As if something new has sprung to life within her. When she senses the force of the connection from her second attack against the bay’s flank, her mind is focused on one intent purpose: combat. Of course, it comes with consequence when the stallion lashes out with his hind legs. Though she’s already mid-trot, the blow lands squarely against her shorter ribs and resonates through her body, causing the mare’s hind end to shift from the impact. With a grunt she feels the wash of pain along her left side, and her balance inhibited by the attack.
Her ears fall backwards after her escape, and she can hear the uneven three-beat gait of the stallion as he rushes to catch up to her. Her two-beat lateral trot is useless now from her injuries, so he indeed does make it to her side fairly quickly. However, the green girl has the advantage of seeing him coming up to her left, so she preps herself for the inevitable, throwing a weak, but necessary, kick from her left hind in his direction. Texas is surprisingly fast, but she’s well aware of his close-contact strategy now, so when her opponent rises on his forelegs to ram her sideways, she smiles.
Her right hind digs into the earth with her left, more inhibited, leg as a stabilizer. She lowers her rear end, braking and bracing herself for impact. Rather than try to avoid the ram, she curves her body to his, feeling the connection of his right shoulder to her left one. Her front legs loosen their hold on the earth and she slides to the right with the attack, but Texas has flung his head to sky and Astri sees her opening. With her mouth split wide she snakes forward at his exposed jugular, their almost matched height giving her an excellent shot. She doesn’t know if it’ll be enough, but she does know that this final hurrah will possibly leave the bay thinking twice about rushing the mantis-colored mare again.
Winner: Texas
Really enjoyed that both of your attacks were very realistic and seemed to have been pretty well thought out. You both took your attacks well and factored in injuries throughout your battle.
I'd like to see a little more *why* behind the attacks (What are you looking to achieve by doing an attack? What will happen in the other horse moves?, etc.) I know this is a little more difficult with the limited word count, so I really didn't deduct anything for it - but just a thought.
My big thing against Astri was that in Texas first post, he is on HER left side, therefore, his rear would've been at her left shoulder. Your following attacks has her favoring the right leg with her left leg being the stronger one.
If either of you want it, I can write up a better critique tomorrow. Just a bit busy today and have a work meeting to get ready for later tonight.
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