The intruder squeals as Gabbar lands a bite on his neck, then reaches back and delivers a similar wound the the flesh on the front of the Arabian’s neck, just above his breast. The bay lashes out with his left forehoof but is distracted by the arrival —no, the sudden inclusion of another— and hits empty air. The other stallion is a taller buckskin and he moves quickly over the shifting dunetop, rounding his compatriot to launch a backward kick at Gabbar. He has time to twist and this is all that saves him from full impact: Kasabian’s hooves graze the end of his barrel and knock the outward jut of his hip. It’s jarring and will bruise, but Gabbar launches himself out of the middle of the two bachelors without major damage, then wheels and readies himself near Valve, who admonishes him.

He does not understand how this is his fault. His eyes shift to the buckskin, who he remembers now as some cocky bachelor from the Lagoon delivering what he had thought, at the time, were empty threats under the guise of an “alliance.” Gabbar had rebuffed him in his native tongue and that had been the end of it. He’s beginning to see that even though war is not present on these Isles, conflict most certainly is, and it’s driven by the same nonsensical reasons. He tips his ears back. "Ben hata yapmış," he admits, then jerks his nose toward the buckskin as the bachelor addresses him. "O burada önce."

A quick glance around reveals the buckskin who stood with Valve at the top of the dune is no longer present, and he rejects the idea that it was Maslakhat she stood with. Gabbar feels that Akhal-Teke would have joined the fray, either to assist himself or Valve, and does not waste time looking for the missing horse. Instead, he advances on the pair of intruders with ears laced and tail flagged. His heart is pounding but the adrenaline feels good and he welcomes the rush like an old friend. Gabbar is in his element. These two stallions are not.

His eyes focus on Kasabian, though he ensures the gold and cream stallion remains in his sight. "I see I wasn’t clear enough last time," he says, then repeats his rebuffal from their first interaction in the common tongue: "Move along." Gabbar continues to advance, and if the buckskin chooses to remain stationary (doubtful, for he’s proven he’s not completely without a mind) strikes out with his left forehoof as soon as he’s close enough to make an attack on the older bachelor’s front legs.

Gabbar was lenient last time and allowed Kasabian to leave unmolested. It will not be the case this time, and he will follow these two bachelors all the way to the shores of his home and watch until they are faded from his view before relenting. He kicks out again, aware of the location of the other bachelor and wishing he knew without doubt whether or not Valve would assist him in this.

He has erred in more way than one, he is beginning to see, when Valve returned and he distanced himself from her.