His feet struck the empty air. It was not what Finnian had hoped for, nor what he had expected, but there was no time to dwell on the matter. Not every strike would land where it was intended, it was just how things went, and now he would have to move forward and do the best he could of the situation.
"Too bad!" he laughed, sounding only slightly winded from the effort exerted, "I thought ye might enjoy it..."
Wary of the sturdy tusks jutting from the mouth of his opponent, Finnian made sure to keep his feet well clear of them as gravity pulled him back down to the ground. Abandoning his original intent of putting more space between himself and Arion, the buckskin opted instead for a different approach.
As soon as he had his rear legs under him again, he continued to pivot, swinging the front of his body to the left until he had completed a half counter clockwise pirouette around his hind-legs. Tucking the chin against his chest much like Arion had, Finnian let go of the dagger's hilt and used his horns instead, thrusting the long black spear into a sweeping thrust that aimed to draw a line all along his partner's right side, from shoulder to hip, from right to left. At the same time, even as the sharp tip of the horn cut through the air, he dug the rear hooves into the ground and heaved himself forward, so that both momentum and weight was placed into the motion. The distance between them should be great enough that only the very tip of the prongs would reach the blacksmith, so Finnian was confident that he would not do serious harm to the man, should his ploy succeed.
"How 'bout some horn instead then, hey?"
Keeping up the cheerful banter made it easier to forget about his smarting muscles. In a quick thought that flashed through his consciousness for a mere fraction of a second, he wondered how far Arion was planning to take this spar; would the older man be satisfied with merely exchanging a few blows and then call it a day, or was the big stallion out to prove something? If that was the case then Finnian would have to be careful; all the agility in the world would not help him if he exhausted himself by dancing in circles around the heavier unicorn. Sooner or later a hit would land, and then he would truly find out how much of his father's lessons he had forgotten.
Better end this before it came to that. Finnian had gotten quite enough of bed-rest for the summer, thank you very much.
Summary:
Finnian avoids getting tangled in Arion's tusks and turns back around, PIVOTING counter clockwise around his rear end until he faces Arion head on again. Tucking his head to the chest, Finnian SLASHES with his HORN from RIGHT to LEFT, heaving his body forward as he does so, intending to slash Arion along the right side of the body. The forward motion is meant to enable him to reach along Arion's whole body, as he was turned slightly away from Finnian at the start of this post. When Finnian lands, he should be roughly neck-to-neck with Arion.
Attack Used: 1
Attack(s) Left: 0
Block Used: 1
Block(s) Left: 0
Item(s) Used: None
Response Deadline: September 7th
Tags: @Arion @
