Swiftcurrent Creek one for the money

Instead of getting a mouthful of skin, she got a smack in the face by his shoulder. Having dealt with much rougher situations, she did not think anything of it. The only way to learn was to fail and fail until she succeeded, and Fox was more than willing to do that. If there was one thing that could be said of the fireball, it was that failure was something she was quite accustomed to. While she felt the harsh force of his shoulder upon her face, she managed to deflect the majority of it to her neck, something that held up well to such a defense.

The click of Njal's teeth in her ear reminded her that he was still close by, and she skittered backward to regroup. Instead of flailing at him again, she paused. “How?” she asked. Fox sought spoken advice rather than physical for this brief interlude.