Posted by brz. ZAKR on August 19, 2008, 9:10 pm, in reply to "TWO [part 2]"
71.245.170.139
[Note: I hope I don’t sound rude or anything, but really you should specify such things as age and height before the battle begins, because I do take those things into account with my attacks. It’s a bit unfair to be ambiguous about it in the challenge and then take advantage of it after I’ve done my attacks. With that said I appreciate the polite way you explained it, just note that it did sort of rub me the wrong way.]
So perhaps Char wasn’t that much older than Zakr, as he had previously assumed, and perhaps his bones weren’t so brittle and his mind so weak – in either case, it does not adversely affect the outcome of Zakr’s first attack.
However, Zakr noticed that Char did back peddle with quite…amazing speed, in response to his first attack. Horses, he knows from personal experience, are not able to execute such a maneuver with any type of speed – they simply are not engineered to run backwards. It’s something about the knees, the same thing that prevents them from descending stairs. So truthfully Zakr was quite puzzled to find himself striking the back of Char’s shoulder…no matter. He was attacking with his forelegs – the only available weapon considering his hind legs were busy, you know, carrying his full body weight – and should extract damage either way. Despite his opponent’s obvious attempts to shake it off, Zakr knew that he had struck a blow – mostly from the statement “…and such an attack would result in nothing more than severe muscle bruising and pain…”
Severe muscle bruising and pain? Sounds good enough for the earth-horse.
Zakr supposed his second attack could have gone worse, considering the slower horse had somehow managed to alter his position entirely.
Now, what Char does not seem to understand in his first attack, is that with both horses moving in the battle-dance, it would be difficult to nearly impossible to hit such a small, precise, and high target. His opponent claims that he was in a “low rear”, and yet, even if Zakr stood with all four legs secured to the ground, Char would in no possible way be able to reach above his head without rearing to full height, or quite near it. Their heights are, after all, only two or so inches different. Also, Char is incorrect in assuming that his balance was in any way compromised. Char could only being to rear after Zakr accomplished his first attack and after a moment of repositioning so that the two are head-on.
Zakr had plenty of time for balance, which he showed his opponent by rearing and twisting his powerful neck to the left. He kept his rear low – he had no need for height – which meant that his center of gravity was lower and therefore he had quite enough balance to swing his head out of the way and still remain steady. Zakr rose so that even as he removed his head as a target, the damage will be lessened because Char has less room to gain momentum in his descent. The end result: Char’s hooves scraped down the right side of Zakr’s powerful, muscled neck, causing some bruising and opening shallow lacerations only by virtue of the fact that Char was a wild horse, and his hooves were jagged.
His movements would be somewhat impaired, considering that the horse’s neck was like a rudder in the way it helped to balance and steer, but his breathing was unaffected – the bruising wasn’t that severe, the placement that unfortunate.
Zakr landed and Char landed shortly after him, and he couldn’t imagine why his opponent only outlined the option of moving to the right. If the two horses are directly head-on, as Char’s post claimed, the earth-horse should be able to move whichever way he pleased. It was simply his first reflex to move to the left.
And he kept moving. Zakr knew about his oft-repeated advantage in speed, and he wanted to keep it for as long as possible. So as he landed (well before Char, mind you, considering the difference in the height of their rears), Zakr continued pivoting to his left (all the while grimacing as his neck, sore and beaten, helped him turn). By the time Char gathered himself for yet another rear (and the judges will grant Zakr the fact that this would take a significant portion of time), Zakr was farther away than expected. Far enough away so that when Char did execute the attack, the force was lessened because his opponent had to travel more ground in a single thrust than initially expected.
Zakr grunted, and allowed himself to stumble to the left, absorbing the blow more effectively than he would have by just standing there like a brick wall. The blow hit him pretty much where planned, and a bruise was swelling there already as Zakr gathered himself after the attack. He found his motions limited, especially when attempting to move the right foreleg backwards. His neck was very sore and he moved sort of like a drunken monkey with arthritis.
That was sort of what you got for being a war-horse.
earth ii
Message Thread:
« Back to thread