"Did you ever learn much self-defense?" Heat Glow asked her nephew. "There isn't, I suppose, a worse time to start than now. Show me what you already know." Heat Glow didn't enjoy fights, but she'd lived long enough to survive a few.

She pulled back onto her hind legs, lashing out with the sharp edge of a hoof. It wouldn't be hard to deflect.

[Miss.]

Failing to connect, Heat Glow dropped to fours and kicked out in a more conventional strike. "So this Tribe of Helpers--do you think we can trust them?"

She was forced to admit - the younger Acha was no slouch. That was the second strike he'd evaded. She'd have to judge the distance more carefully in the firelight. Or take more chances.

"We only have their word to go on, is all. And the broken-horned buck..." She needed to stop woolgathering during this sparring match! Heat dropped her head to charge in and headbutt her nephew. In a real fight, she'd have dropped it even lower to threaten a gore on the horn-tip, but she didn't want to hurt him, just show that she was ready to take this seriously. She gambled this would knock him off his feet.

(Keeping 1, 6, 6, opting not to re-roll further. Final score: 18.)

"I don't think we should underestimate him, is all."

Heat-Glow's nephew snorted at his aunt's question. "I might not be built for it, not the same way as my siblings, but I was head-butted out of my egg by Fracture, auntie." It was a story they'd been told time and time again-- sometimes the family wondered if that trauma had somehow woken him before he'd been ready to hatch on his own, and if that had been why he'd never had a naming dream. At least, not one that he'd ever remember.

But he couldn't blame his brother. He couldn't blame his mother, either, for choosing a Totoma as a mate, because it was a point of pride for him that, as far as he'd known, he was the first of his kind to be graced with the ability to choose and make a name for himself. It was a duty he'd take seriously, that was for certain.

[whups, misread]

[also misread]

(Final score: She scores 15 vs 18. Heat Glow wins!)

The buck laughed gently as he dodged the first timid attack from his auntie. "You're going to have to do better than that to distract me," he goaded her, lightly dodging her second movement, perhaps a little surprised to see that it wasn't a feint.

"Besides, should we really be gossiping about their motives while we're here to help?" The acha reared back, striking out again at his aunt, only to realize she was moving to do so at the same time as he was. If the trajectory he'd picked was wrong, she'd come out on top.

"Besides, should we really be gossiping about their motives while we're here to help?" The acha reared back, striking out again at his aunt, only to realize she was moving to do so at the same time as he was. If the trajectory he'd picked was wrong, she'd come out on top.

Instead, he received a solid hit from her-- one that forced one of his shards further into his skin-- a more painful blow than he'd ever admit. After a moment to gasp, the buck spoke up. "You got blood," he informed her curtly, before stepping back to bow.

"I think that's good enough for now," he said, loudly, before trotting away from all the shapes around that vaguely resembled kin, before more quietly, gently, speaking up in barely more than a hum.

"Besides. Do you... really want to be doing this? I don't feel great about this either, but what other choice do we have?"