Hey... she knew that execrable pile of horror! She waved with a hand and grinned happily, wings flapping eagerly.

"Hiiii!!!" she said, overjoyed to see her friend (completely ignoring the fact that it had tried to eat her).

The she-dragon yanked her wings in again, knowing that they were vulnerable in case the other did try to bite her. She didn't quite trust them not to, but that was okay, she would heal.

Carja growled fiercely, like a feral kitten, before analyzing her target. Really, she didn't know where to hit. There were no joints to bash and weaken, but there were eyes and mouths that she could possibly hit, stunning the other and making them lag due to lack of sight and sand in their mouths!

She scooped up as much sand and grit as possible in her mitts and darted forward, basketball dunking it into Effluvium's face (and mouths) before scuttling off like an angry crab, sideways so she didn't take her eyes off of the other. She was also rather unsure of how it was going to attack, too, so she had to keep an eye out for anything!

"Mhm!" Carja chirped, before they truly began the fight.

Carja grinned and charged forward, her armored head better at resisting impacts than the fleshy body of Effluvium was. She sought to jar the other, meeting them halfway. They braced themselves and rammed against Effluvium, stopping them in their tracks, the two coming to a standstill.

The dragon acted first and flung their wings out, flapping to dart away backwards, landing on the ground and shaking their head before smiling at Effluvium.

"You didn't try to eat me!" she beamed, ever so proud of her friend's progress.

With a snort, she took up a defensive stance, tail lashing behind her. Wait- her tail! She could use it to stay further from the other while still being able to attack! She was so smart.

Carja inhaled and whirled around in a circle, tail swinging out to hopefully smack against Effluvium's face, smacking it hard and forcing it to veer off course. So far they had gone without having a good hit on them, and they wanted to keep it that way.

Their tail slammed into Effluvium's head area like a whip and staggered away, having just managed to escape the beast's charge, though they very nearly fell, struggling to right themselves for a moment. They whirled around, eyes wide. That was close! Another second more and she'd be flying over the other's head.

Instead of speaking, she clenched her jaw, crouching low. She couldn't be cocky, she chided herself gently. She had to win, after all! For her dad, for her grandma! She was a protector, and she would show everyone that she was no pushover.

Now all Carja had to do was grow about 15 more feet in length and she'd be good.

Carja took a moment to breathe and think while the creature rubbed at its eyes, trying and failing to purge the sand from them. Good.

She prowled around the creature before standing behind it, staying as quiet as possible as they thought of what to do. Prod at it some more? It would get angry and she didn't want to risk the other getting violent, but then again she was certain she could avoid any attacks. But as of right now... she could use its blindness to her advantage.

Carja's luck ran out as she darted forward, whirling around like she did before, only for a wing to scrape on the ground and send her sprawling instead. She scrambled to her feet, struggling to make up for the noise she'd made, springing away like a startled cat, flushed in embarrassment at her own mistake. At least the other had been busy wiping sand from its eyes, so she had the chance to recover too.

She still had time.

Carja braced themselves for a hit... but nothing came. They looked down in surprise at Effluvium and took a few steps back just in case, neck scrunched back like a turtle. This time she decided that focusing on evading would be the better option, and backed right off, staying as quiet as she could. They were nearing the end, and it would be in her best interests to not be taken down now.

Clearly the babies were getting tired (or Caja was experiencing her first growth spurt unexpectantly), because she tripped over her own feet and fell flat on her front with an 'oof!' She stood up and brushed herself off, shaking her shoulders before continuing forward, feet lagging. Maybe she should have napped in between matches instead of eagerly going for the next one...