[PRP] Sudden mist (Mina and Charlbury Chase)

[Revolutionary Roniel]

Mina shut her eyes in delight. The pheasant was rich with fat, giving the flesh a taste that was just sublime. She didn't hunt often. This was partially because she wasn't a practiced hunter. She was fast and fleet of foot, but she had little skill in chasing down animals. Also... she felt a little guilty when she did. She tried to live without killing, but at times like this, she had to admit that meat was amazing.

She hadn't planned on hunting, but the stupid bird had exploded out of hiding right beneath her hooves. She'd instinctively snapped at it, catching it in a bundle of feathers and easily cracked bones. She'd had to pluck mouthfuls of the feathers before she reached the sweet and tender meat below, but it was well worth it.

"Mmmmmm," she sighed happily. Her kalona blood sang for this sort of meal. It would be hard to go back to grazing after this.  

[Revolutionary Roniel]

Charlbury was also out hunting, but hers was a very deliberate hunt. That was her job, after all. She provided food for her sisters, and food they needed to stay strong and shiny of coat. She took great pride in her skills. Normally she came back with small animals, but sometimes she could even take down small deer herself. Birds were her favorite, but birds were harder to catch when you were as big as a horse.

Today she had several kills slung across her back already. There was a scraggly squirrel and a couple rabbits. She liked the fur of the rabbits and thought she might make a toy out of the squirrel's tail, but she hoped to find something a little meatier. Something like... what she was smelling on the light breeze.

Her mouth began to water. There was bird meat around! She wasn't against a bit of thievery and would absolutely steal from a coyote or even another cat. She hurried towards the smell, paws light and quiet on the ground. She peered around a tree to see the meat, a pheasant, being eaten by some sort of crossbreed.

"Damn," she hissed, knowing it would be harder to pry a kill from a soquili than from an animal.  

[Revolutionary Roniel]

With a start, Mina discovered she was no longer alone. A pair of luminescent green eyes were watching her, framed by an equally bright green mane. She stepped over her kill, not protective, but hiding it slightly. She felt a rush of shame at being spotted. Would the soquili judge her for not living a vegetarian lifestyle?

Noticing now that the feline mare had several animals of her own slung across her back, Mina realized that wouldn't be a problem. Still, she was wary by nature, and watched the newcomer suspiciously. "Hello," she ventured warily.  

[Revolutionary Roniel]

"Nice bird there," muttered Charl as she stepped out into the open. She licked her lips subconsciously, imagining how it would taste. Was it still warm? How delightful.

"Do you want a rabbit for your bird?" She watched hopefully. A trade would definitely be worth it in this case.  

[Revolutionary Roniel]

"Excuse me?" asked Mina, skeptical and confused. One of her eyebrows quirked upwards. she had gone from enjoying a meal to... some sort of barter situation? She glanced at the rabbit, but didn't find herself tempted. She rather liked her bird, and was content with that.

"Thank you, but I'm fine." She wanted to go back to eating but forced herself to stand vigil over her meat. "Now if you don't mind, I....." she trailed off. Something odd was happening. The world around her was growing lighter. With a start, she realized the problem was her vision. She startled and let out a surprised and alarmed whimper. "I can't see!" She still could see quite a bit at this stage, but in her fear she exaggerated. Could soquili suddenly go blind without reason?  

[Revolutionary Roniel]

Charl was disappointed, to say the least. She had really wanted that bird, and the mare didn't look willing to budge. Maybe she'd have to steal it after all. She was setting her crafty gaze upon Mina when her vision too began to blur. She blinked and also wondered if she might be about to pass out. It was only when the mare exclaimed about blindness that she realized it must be something else.

"Mist!" she said, astonished. "It's mist!" She'd never heard of mist coming so quickly, but that's clearly what it was. It was a white vapor, without scent or acrid clinging of smoke. When she inhaled, she was even more sure. It was just mist, bizarrely appearing, but not dangerous otherwise. She belatedly snerked. The other mare had gotten all spooked over just plain mist. How foolish she was!  

[Revolutionary Roniel]

All right. Mist made more sense than her suddenly going blind. Mina was grateful now that the thick mist blanket kept her embarrassment hidden. She didn't usually overreact like that, she just had a secret fear of losing her sight. It was one of the worst things she could imagine happening, and it had felt for a moment like her fears were coming true.

She blinked condensation out of her long lashes as the mist grew heavier. She could still make out the mare as a vague green shape but only barely. "Why is this happening?" she asked, still concerned. She wasn't familiar with sudden mists. Was it natural? She wondered if it was possible that an angeni might have called it down. They worked in mysterious ways sometimes.  

[Revolutionary Roniel]

"How should I know?" snapped Charlbury Chase. She found Mina's fretting foolish, but the mist was very interesting. Her feet tended to fade in and out of view already and the mist only heightened the effect. The edges of her body flickered and merged with the mist. Even the strange spiraling of her tail seemed to become more drawn out as it was enveloped. Interesting.

Her crooked smile was wide. She wasn't afraid. She was delighted! This was strange, and strange was fun. Laughing, she jumped and pounced. It was like flying through a cloud, or so she imagined. Even sounds were muffled by the thick fog. It felt like they had entered into another world.  

[Revolutionary Roniel]

The mares weren't the only ones out in the strange fog. Hellhound was taken just as much surprise. One moment he was slinking along. The next, almost total blindness. He had eyes all over his body. Normally this gave him a stunning range of vision. Now he was just as lost as anything else.

He snorted, feeling condensation collecting on his skull. That was an annoying feeling. He kept walking onwards but was less pleased with each step. He wondered if maybe he should just find somewhere to crash until the fog lifted. He wouldn't mind a short nap. Or a long one. Or maybe a brief hibernation.

One extra annoying feature of the fog was that it dulled sound. His nose was mostly bone, so Hellhound had never been adept at smelling. Sound and vision were his main ways to examine the world, both of which were out of commission. If he had been able to hear things, maybe he would have noticed the two mares before he was practically stepping on top of them.

"Uhhhhh," he muttered, having the feeling he just stepped into trouble.  

[Revolutionary Roniel]

Mina heard the approaching stranger only a moment before she saw him. She didn't think much of another soquili in their midst at first. Would probably just be someone else confused by the weather change, right? He had some sort of red glow coming off of him. Weird. He had big bushy tails. Interesting! He had... a skull for a face.

"YEAAAAARGH!" She let out a very undignified screech and reared backwards. Her meal was forgotten on the ground, kicked away in her sudden flailing.

"Get away! Get away!" She yelled without thought, instinctive fear taking over. She'd never seen such a horrifying soquili in her life before and knew he had to be there to hurt them!  

[Revolutionary Roniel]

Every hair stood up on Charlbury's tail an back. She hissed at the intruder and stood on her toes to make herself appear even larger. For all her quibbling with Mina, now they were allies against this unexpected foe. Only unlike Mina, Charl wasn't used to backing down from things that scared her. She was a fighter through and through.

"Heeeeey. Hey!" she snapped, swiping her claws in his direction to keep him at bay. "I'll get you!" She wasn't exactly eloquent in that moment, speaking the incoherent threats that came to mind. Rather than backing away as Mina was, she jumped a step closer. She presented her side to the enemy, knowing it would make her look even bigger.  

[Revolutionary Roniel]

Hellhound was used to this sort of response. If he had an apple for every time a mare hurried her foals away from him then he'd... not know what to do with them, because he only ate meat. And didn't actually see that many mares with foals.

He wasn't really offended by the one mare's reaction, but the cat one worried him. He didn't want to get attacked. "Hey yourself!" he rasped defensively, his voice having never been one of his best qualities.  

[Revolutionary Roniel]

Mina scooted backwards in fear. She put herself behind the cat mare, happy to have someone between her and the monster. It would have been more impressive if they'd presented a unifying front against the beast... but she just couldn't find the bravery to put herself in the way of those teeth.

"It's a skinwalker!" she whimpered. That was all she could think of, a skinwalker come to gobble them both up. She'd heard all those horror stories of skinwalkers when she was a foal. She never thought she'd actually meet one. A terrified and irrational part of her wondered if she was going to die. Was it really going to end like this? Who would tell her family what had happened to her? Would anyone even know? Now she was fighting hard not to cry, utterly overwhelmed.  

[Revolutionary Roniel]

Of course, a skinwalker! Charl instantly knew that this had to be the case, despite the stallion lacking the telltale pelt of a walker. Maybe his tails were part of the pelt, Charl reasoned. She faced he foe with ferocity. She wasn't going to let herself get eaten by a skinwalker! She'd even protect the other dumb mare if she had to!

"Oooooh," she growled. "You're gonna regret it." She gave a sideways hop and swiped forward again. She still wasn't quite within reach but slowly was dancing closer. She scanned the walker for weaknesses. She didn't like those exposed teeth of his. Biting him in the neck would keep him from biting her back. That was a good idea. She would feint with her claws and then make her real strike! That was the plan, at least.  

[Revolutionary Roniel]

All right, that got on his nerves. "I'm not a skinwalker!" Hellhound snapped. He wasn't helping his case, yelling at them in his forever dry voice. He wasn't stupid. He knew that. He could let some abuses roll off his back, but not this one. He hated skinwalkers just as much as any other soquili and wasn't about to let himself get lumped in with them.

He could almost imagine why they might think he was a skinwalker. He had paws and some skinwalkers did too. He might have believed that reasoning if the cat soquili didn't have paws herself. She should have known better!

"Leave me the hell alone!" That had even less diplomacy. He wondered how deep a hole he'd let himself dig before all this was over...