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No, you didn't.
You split your attention between the assailant and its victim. A flash of fear crossed the small bud's face, the bird getting closer and closer until--
<span class="mu-i">BZZT</span>
Mary charged in front of the bird, taking its beak straight into her side. You saw a flash of pain cross her face as the beak struck true, almost parting the sheep's wool in twain to draw a bit of blood in her side. Something flashed in your throat as you realized that the sprite's child would have been skewered by such a maneuver.
Without skipping a beat, the bird gathered a current of wind around its right wing and drew itself up to its full height, fanning the gust-laden wing out to a width almost Mary's entire length long, and, just as it was about to hit your friend once again--
There! There was your chance!
"Mary, <span class="mu-i">TACKLE!</span>"
Your voice cracked as the words fled your mouth. Some kind of shared catharsis struck the two of you as the bird hit the ground, Mary's bleeding side now free of its beak, the small bud still safe and in sight.
The bird got back on its feet, missiles in its sockets with intent to fire directed squarely at that tiny sprite. It wasn't Mary that it wanted, after all-- she was just a distraction. No, that bird was <span class="mu-i">intent</span> on stealing one of your brother's gifts... at any cost.
It wasn't long before it was back on its feet.
"Shock!!"
A zap stopped the bird in its tracks, the stranger actively struggling to keep going... as it lurched forward.
Mary sidestepped it easily--
"Tackle!"
--taking it to the ground, where it flapped with enough strength to throw her off--
"Up!"
Mary steadied herself, only to be hit by--
"No!"
She stumbled backwards, her cheek swollen from a full-force impact of the bird's wing, blood still dripping from her side as she faced her adversary. Mary watched as it took flight one last time, its silhouette illuminated by the growing stars above, throwing its wings back and forcing itself into the air...
...there.
<span class="mu-b">"Mary, Shock! One last time!!"</span>
And so she did.
The bird fell to the ground, defeated.
Somehow, some way, it remained alive. You saw it return to its feet... but there was no fight left in its eyes. That fierce determination from before had thoroughly left it. A glazed, exhausted look supplanted such spirit as the bird hopped away into the ever-increasing darkness.
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