The better part of valor is probably to let her go. He knew that, in a distant sort of way, untouched by the primal part of him that had awakened at the chase. It would be wiser to accept that she was a screaming gull, dragging the whole of the island's attention to herself over her dismay at the natural order of things, rather than the quiet robin he had hoped for. Even if he did manage to snake the reluctant little mare to the surf, he'd have to either earn her submission first or drag her all the way there. Neither option would be fast enough to escape Fell's wrath, if he were present.

And yet he does not shy away. He shoulders each lash of her hindlegs against his side, and then shoulder, and then chest, without letting up. If anything, her ferocity only gives rise to a wildness inside of him that has him rushing toward her again, trying to close the gap between them so that his broadening shoulder can butt up against her hip to prevent her from getting so much force behind her kicks.

Thief, she cries, and he smiles, reaching forward to snap at the ruby red of her back. Thief, thief, thief. It might as well be an endearment for all the deterrent it provided.

Raegar heard him before he saw him, although he very nearly missed it. Only the crashing of underbrush and crunching of snow foretold his arrival; the shadow didn't even put up a scream of defiance, only charged in like a battering ram to take back what Raegar's sticky fingers had gotten ahold of. The brazen young stallion barely had enough time to raise his head over his quarry's back to see the attack, and certainly did not have enough time to dodge it. A burst of speed kept him from being t-boned, but Fell's tackle still impacted his hip, sending Raegar's rear end spinning independantly of his forehand.

He spun like a top, rotating nearly 180 degrees despite his desperate scrabbling to keep his balance on the slippery ground. He would have likely gone further if it were not for the bulwark of Fell's body to stop him. Dazed, Raegar was ill-prepared for the cruel efficiency of Fell's immediate second strike, the teeth that grasped his foreleg and crunched down as if holding a stick instead of flesh and bone. The seal bay grunted in outrage, his breath not yet having returned from having it blindsided out of him, and did the only thing he could think of in the moment. Jaws agape, he went for Fell's crest, wanting to pull his head up and away from his legs or rip one of those curly ears off. Anything to prevent him from breaking the bone he had a hold of.

If that failed to loosen Fell's grip enough for Raegar to pull his leg free, he would resort to more desperate measures, dropping the knee of his opposite foreleg to reach under Fell's body, grabbing for the outside leg in the hopes of making him pull away, raking his teeth across belly, bone, flesh. Anything he could to save himself.

A smarter, wiser stallion might have tried to run, to escape what was almost certain to be a painful lesson, but Raegar was not the sort to back down from a fight. Even if his opponent was heavier, taller, stronger and more experienced, with far more to lose and a reason to hold a grudge. He would see this through until he was either no longer capable of fighting, or came out the victor.

young stallion - mutt - seal bay overo - 15.1h - rafe x velahrn