Blitzkrieg: In the face of nothing. [II]

The serum of a will destroyed;

Saphira enters Blitzkrieg on an overcast morning. The breeze is chilled with winters arrival, and in its suit, a storm has followed. It pelts towards the ground, melting on contact but it will begin to stick soon. A light covering has already descended upon them, and Saphira is moving. She is alert, her body coiling.

She wastes no more time with introductions, and closes the gap between herself and Alcatraz in a manner of short, collected canter strides. She does not waste time, for every second is valuable; every second the ground gets damper, and therefore more unstable as their fight progresses. And yes Alcatraz, Saphira is water, but she is lightning too. So your shock would do nothing to her.

But she is concentrating as you come barrelling towards her. Approaching on a 45 degree angle. Saphira realistically turns to face him, allowing no time for him to escape her range of vision. They are moving forwards it might seem like a head on collision. So when you rock back to your haunches, Saphira does not veer away from you. She is smarter, faster, and more powerful off her thick Spanish haunches.

Instead she does something unexpected. She does not veer, but uses the precarious position you are in to execute a Levade (Click for example) to her advantage. Instead of veering to avoid the target before her, she presses her chest outward, propels off the hard ground, and slams her chest into the brunt of Alcatraz’s chest. Keep in mind his hooves would have already risen, and began to attack when he would feel Saphira’s body collide with his. Alcatraz will likely topple over due to the full force of her 1200 pound frame slamming into him. However if he does not, the sheer force he would need to exert on his already balanced upon hocks would surely pull a muscle, or cause a nerve to pinch in his groin from the sheer force of his weight and Saphira’s. Not to mention the cool snow covered ground aiding in the loss of balance, and the height you would need to achieve, since a levade is half the horses height, with his weight balanced severely back on the hocks. (Not to mention basically impossible for a wild horse to achieve such motion in their legs since that kind of balance takes years or ‘man made’ training tools.) The feeling of their lightning connecting is unfathomable. It creates a dance of power between their flesh, sparking and igniting her will. However, Saphira does not come away unscathed from her attack. Because the brunt of Alcatraz’s attack was instead wrought upon her forearm. For when Saphira turned her neck to the side, it shifted her weight and propulsion direction. Thus Alcatraz’s hooves to grate down the right side of her left forearm. The cracked piece of his hoof sliced down the flesh, blood pouring into the wound. There would be swelling, slight soreness in the extension of her step. But it was less dramatic than if Alcatraz’s hooves had slammed into Saphira’s forearm, instead of sliding downwards off it.

Now they are facing one another, and then Alcatraz swing his hind end so that they are parallel. Such a feat is quite incredible, even if he had been on an angle. For to do such a large pivot, in such a quick amount of time, in the snow covered footing is very unwise. And to think that Saphira would not have moved in that entire time is foolish. Oh so foolish. Now you state that you cling to her like a tick, so that means you must be touching. Now I’m no physics major, but the force behind a cow-kick is not entirely that great to begin with, but too lessen the force even more is achievable with close proximity. Because it lessens the force behind the coil, and the ability to thrust downward in the extension of the leg. Not to mention, a cow-kick comes out in extension from the hip. Therefore only slightly back to get the rotation, and then straight outwards. So to kick out behind him, would be more like a single leg kick, with in truth would have even less power. Also, unless he has eyes in the back of his head, to aim at the cannon bone, which is roughly about 4 inches across is quite amazing. But none the less, Saphira again moved closer to you, pressing herself, moulding herself against you. So when your attack comes, all the force of it is lost between the close connects on their bodies, and instead your hoof grates down the side of her hind leg. To be sure it is painful, and will swell given the time. It will be painful to extend and compress, but their fight is almost finished.

Now they are side by side, and this proximity aids Saphira far more than you know. She braces on her hind legs, even though the left screams in protest. And expels her left foreleg out directly at the back of Alcatraz’s right knee. Also known as the accessory carpal joint. Now keep in mind that horses have a locking mechanism in their knees, thus enabling them to fall asleep standing up. With the sheer force and pressure behind Saphira’s attack she could easily break this mechanism, causing Alcatraz’s knee to give out on him. Much like a human knee does when walking/running and they collapse. Not to mention a horse carries about 60% of their weight on their forehand, and this would make her attack even more debilitating if that were even possible. If her attack was used to its full potential she would make his entire front leg useless, therefore causing an easy victory. However, since such a target is a very precise hit, the closeness of their bodies helps, but she could also easily aim at the back of the cannon, fetlock, and or pastern. Any of them would make a suitable debilitating target.

Now lets do a quick run through of what might happen when Alcatraz goes to defend himself. Should he move into her, he would actually only be aiding in her ability to hit her target. Should he veer away from her, she would only continue this perusal until he finally gave up, or she would strike the lower portion of his leg in retreat. Should he rear, she could easily maim the lower half of his leg without question. To balk, even better. If he attempted to bolt he would only be increasing the weight on the intended leg, and given the backward extension a lovely angle in which to strike any potion of his leg.

With that Saphira lands. Her hooves scraping off whatever portion of Alcatraz she had managed to hit. Delight coloured her sapphire eyes, even as the aftershock of pain runs up her legs from contact. The battle is over, well done my fellow Gull. Either way it is a victory for Solira.

SLV. S A P H I R A

WATER III | LIGHTNING III