She locked eyes on him, and within that familiar gaze he saw the familiar fire of her rage, but unlike before he does not shrink away from it, does not accept it so blindly. For once within the last few years of his life he feels his own fire sparking in return, reigniting a passion long thought lost. She disappears yet he does not worry that she will vanish, he knows they are drawn to one another despite either of their best efforts to the contrary; this isn’t something you could run from. He hears her movements, muffled by the rock face between them, but in the blink of an eye she is before him once more, barreling toward him with a force he wouldn’t expect the mountains to allow. Still he does not move out of her way or attempt to retreat, this is the entire reason he has come here and so throws his entire being into the encounter.

Before their collision he is given a moment to appreciate her form, scarred as it may be she is perfectly shaped for her purpose as she skids to a halt before him, throwing up a muted cloud of dust around them. Despite her show and the distraction of the dirt he catches the tension of her muscles, her bulk shifting backward just before her tawny body rises into the air. She has the high ground and every advantage in the situation double by the fact that he does not want to risk either of them tumbling down the mountainside, or worse off of it. Yet he does not, cannot yield to her fully, as once more she reminds him of who he was…who he is meant to be. His family had always talked of purpose, of blood and bond and responsibility and though he had shirked it off time and time again it still lingered beneath the surface; as much a part of him as his own beating heart.

He will not suffer the brunt of her hooves again, once was enough, and so despite her high ground he rises to as well. His height makes up for most of the leverage she had before once he meets her in the air, large hooves flailing wildly and clashing with hers, the sound resonated around them like the roar of the coliseum. He didn’t aim to hurt her, simply respond blow for blow in a display that stated he wasn’t going anywhere more than words could ever convey. One of her hooves finally meet his chest more by chance than anything else, colliding with solid muscle as one of his hind legs on which he balanced his sizeable weight so precariously slid back slightly to compensate. A deep grunt rumbled in his already bruising chest, but he does not give way to her. He would hover there with her, defying gravity and their sheer sizes to bare it all with teeth and hoof.