Battle School: Welcome to Hades. [II]

hearts that cry diamond tears;
spirits that walk for a thousand years;
here them calling on that darkest morning;
pulling me under, my thoughts dissapear;

Saphira eyes her student with a hard sapphire gaze. Watches his lumbering body near her, closely, so closely. She is fluid, grace, all Spanish power and agile. She waits, letting her elements run across her skin in perfect disturbed harmony. There had been times when she would have settled this quickly, and been done with it. Now she would savour the moments of flesh on flesh, the searing pain when hoof struck bone. She smiled, actually smiled as Cent same closer. Ever closer.

There is a brief moment when it would seem like Saphira was going to do nothing. Just allow Centy to do with her as he pleased. And then that last moment came, and using her Spanish ancestory to her advanatge twisted her forehand to the right. His hoof slide down the side of her exposed cannon bone. Blood instantly rushing to surface of the jagged wound. But Saphira merely smiles. The force is severely lessened by her swerve, but it had not evaded her enitrely. She can feel the tendons stiffening, and weight bearing painful. But this changes nothing Centy. Nothing indeed.

She is there when he lands, and having twisted to the right, her haunches are closer tp his ribcage. So that his forehand is behind her shoulder. Before he would even have time to move, Saphira’s hindlegs explode from beneath her. They aim to strike your Internal Abdominal Oblique, which in essence is the spot where your rip cage ends, and before your haunches begin. There are no bones to protect it, only two thin layers of muscle. Underneath these muscles are valuable nerves and organs. If Saphira’s hooves hit this spot with the full force of her frame, and about all 1200 pounds of her, it would be devastating. Not only could she knock Centy off balance, but she could cause severe internal bleeding, nerve damage, and rupture if not bruise one of his organs. His left side would be extremely painful to use, both in bending through the ribcage, and in keeping his hind end beneath him. All valuable necessities in this kind of atmosphere and in battle.

However, we of course are not going to assume that all things will go as planned, so Saphira must adjust for the different kinds of movement Centy might taken to render her blow. Should Centy put on a last minute burst of speed (and somehow get out of the trap to her shoulder), Saphira’s hooves instead would aim for his hip or stifle, both around the same height level range. An attack to his stifle or hock would be devastating, for both are needed to take weight and support from the frame when fighting. Also, it would surely put Centy off balance. Should Centy try and stop, like she had done; but of course Centy would be slower than her, for Saphira knew exactly what needed to be done. Saphira would instead likely hit the area intended perfectly, or her hooves would land on the last few ribs, which are smaller, more flexible and more vulnerable. Not only could she break one, but she could bruise the muscles that lay on top and beneath it, making any kind of movement in the ribcage painful and swollen. Should Centy rear, it would not move Saphira’s attack at all, but increase the weight supported on the area at the time, and decrease his balance when the full force of Saphira’s haunches lands upon her. Should Centy buck, again Saphira could simply rise higher to stay with him, and Centy would be off balance again, and likely topple over, where he would be at Saphira’s mercy. If Centy chose to move towards her (and thrust into her shoulder), he would increase Saphira’s chances of striking that area. Should he shift away from Saphira quickly, Saphira will let her body uncoil, following Centy’s movements away from her. If Centy was to spin away from her, Centy would only increase the weight in his legs, and Saphira would move her attack lower to Centy’s stifle, hock, cannon, or fetlock. Should Centy spin towards her, she would follow his movements, and hit the area with amazing precision.

Seems like your out of luck to me.

Allowing her hooves to scrape off whatever area of flesh, muscle, or bone she had landed upon, returned to the ground with a dull thud. Saphira does not know exactly how Centy is positioned, for we do not know what kind of defence he will take. However, be sure that Saphira has hugged close to your body, keeping herself only mere inches away from your flesh. For one simple reason only. She is not done yet.

Saphira keeps in mind that Centy is not likely to stand still. And for that reason when she landed, she had turned and kept her chest close to you. It is most likely that no matter what defense manoeuvre you used, Saphira is now slightly behind you, her chest about 20-30 inches behind your left shoulder. It is almost instantaneous from the moment she is there that her forelegs spring outwards again. (Imagine a horse that is trying to rear, how they go up, come down and quickly rise again within a split second.) She does not need to rear high, maybe 2 feet. Saphira’s hooves are aimed at the Olecranon Tuber, that joint just behind the large shoulder muscle that is needed to extend the foreleg, and to take weight from the forehand. And since a horse carries 60% of its body weight on its front end (and given he is a draft, perhaps more), this attack could be devastating should it be performed like she intended. Centy would favour his left side; it would slow down her movements and compromise his balance. Spelling certain victory for our sea creature.

Let Saphira explain what will happen should you exhaust all options to evade her. If Centy even saw the attack coming, put on a burst of speed, Saphira might still hit the Olecranon Tuber, just in time; making the attack more devastating due to extra weight, or her forelegs might find purchase on Centy’s ribcage, thickly boned but painful when bruised limiting the ability to extend and compress the body. (not to mention a double hit to the stomach area would be excruciating.) Should Centy’s bolt be faster than anticipated, Saphira’s forelegs also have every chance of hitting him in the hip or stifle joint, both necessary muscle and tendons to keep the horse balanced, and able bodied to adjust in any circumstances. Should Centy choose to rear, Saphira's long legs would still be able to make their way up his body, hitting his ribcage surely, and knocking Centy off balance. Where he would again be at Saphira’s mercy, and she would relentlessly attack Centy’s compromised frame. Should Centy move to the left towards Saphira, he would only increase Saphira’s chances of hitting their target, though the blow might be softened only ‘slightly’ Centy would allow Saphira’s malicious hooves to scrape down the joint, causing not only internal injury, but superficial as well. If Centy chose to move away from her, Saphira could easily extend the range of her front end to reach him in his retreat, or she could attack any part of Centy’s left leg; including the elbow, forearm, knee, cannon, and fetlock. Or Saphira might get lucky and hit the more tender spot where the girth of a saddle horse might lie, knocking his breath out, making him pause and give Saphira more room to attack again. Bucking would be foolish, adding weight to the limb Saphira wants. Should Centy choose to spin towards her, Saphira could alter the attack to Centy’s neck or face, causing broken bones, or severe muscle damage that would make Centy’s neck painful to move, and therefore executing many attacks impossible. For the extension of the neck is used in bucking, and the muscle capacity to hold its head up when strained would cause unnecessary pain. Spinning away would open up that shoulder very nicely, and the added weight making it ideal. I think I have stressed the options though and quite nicely I might add.

Again Saphira’s hooves scrape down whatever part of Centy’s body they had come in contact with, her weight shifting back instantly so that she is balanced once again. She was precise, calculated and unrelenting.

OOC: Now where you are Earth I all it does it give you an elemental advantage over Saphira. You have no manipulation of the element yet. Once you do your defense, I will go through and do OOC critiques of how you could have attacked differently, different wording, strategy, and then do the same for your defences. We will also touch on the elements and the weather after on an OOC basis but under character posts. And then we will go again once you feel you have improved. –luff- Unless of course you want a straight up red pen critique of your posts, in which I can do that too and email it to you.

GOLD: S A P H I R A

the siren

you can hold the darkness from you;
if the will is very strong;
but that whisper always haunts you;
cannot change the Siren's Song.