>>Actually, he's there for several reasons, of which the fight itself is
>>probably the least significant. He's also there to provide key
>>onlookers inside and outside the story with a heretofore unseen
>>insight into the darker side of draconic culture, say a few things
>>that make it more difficult for Umi and Nall to put certain thoughts
>>back in their boxes, and reveal at least one important fact about Nall
>>to several people who did not previously know it.
>
>Hmm, fair enough. I suppose this could be on me; I'd already sort of
>internalized the idea that Nall, underneath the whole cat/cute boy
>thing, has some dark shit lurking in his cultural background. But Umi
>and Co. don't exactly have a readers-eye view, do they?

Also, this is, I feel, the first time that we've seen Nall actually worried about a fight since his investiture. I felt that, when he was talking to Umi and saying "get away while I talk" there was an implied "and when that fails and it becomes a fight stop walking away and start running, 'cause I'm not sure how this is gonna end up." I mean, we know it turns out alright in the end because of how the story is structured (and because it's EPU and the Heroes almost always win), but not knowing that? He's a guy walking into a fight that's 6:5 and pick 'em.

--
-Pasha
"Don't change the subject"
"Too slow, already did."