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 Posted: Fri Apr 08, 2011 6:19 pm
Exhilaration churned through Samsara that evening. Today was the day. She was going to kill her first soquili.
The one she wanted to kill was her father, of course. She seethed with hatred simply at the thought of him. He would die for what he had done to her. He would die for his denials. Tonight, though... tonight would be practice. She bared her teeth a little in a preliminary snarl and shut her mouth again. This was what being a skinwalker was about. Killing others of your kind and relishing in their demise. Her entire being hungered for the moment of her first soquili kill. Tonight.
Her eyes gleamed in the fading light and she moved into the shadow of a thick stand of tall bushes. This was where she would wait. She was a panther. Panthers waited. The path in front of her was worn with the marks of many hooves. There would be some unlucky soquili walking upon it tonight and she would have her prey.
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Posted: Fri Apr 08, 2011 6:46 pm
 Saluki smiled softly to himself. He was feeling good today! He had spent the morning with his friend - who he considered more so a girlfriend now that she was bearing his children - he had gathered more firewood for his human, helped her pulled logs to make the skeleton of the teepee she was now sleeping in back in the clearing. He played with the foals and then took a bath in the nearby pond. But now... it was back to the cave to be with Alejandra. He enjoyed his time with her, especially at night. He loved watching her sleep so peacefully.
His daydreaming phased as he trotted happily down the path and soon his trotting slowed. Something wasn't right here....
He stopped on the path and looked around. Nothing looked out of the ordinary... but something had to have been making him think he was not alone. He took one more look around, not realizing that his breathing had quickened slightly.
He knew the cave wasn't too far from here... He could make it. He was a Stallion! Not a scared little foal......... but still... His ears swiveled this way and that, flicking to even the tiniest of sounds as he continued down the path. Thoughts of the imaginary - and very scary - danced through his head and he found himself thinking over and over, 'It's all in your head. It's all in your head....'
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Posted: Fri Apr 08, 2011 7:19 pm
At the sound of hoofbeats Samsara ducked lower. Her entire body was tense. She had killed enough animals to feel well versed in the act of hunting, but killing a soquili would be different. Not only would her prey be much larger, but it'd be smarter too. What sort of soquili was it?
She caught a glimpse of a white and orange figure. A unicorn! How would a unicorn taste? She had never considered this before and now it enveloped her questioning mind. It would probably taste good, she decided. Unicorns were so kind. She imagined that kinder creatures had to be some sort of delicacy.
She wanted to taste him. She wanted to know how that blood would feel running down her throat. She took one quiet step forward and then another. He was suspicious but hadn't noticed her yet! She was getting closer now...
A twig snapped beneath her hoof. She hissed in frustration at the loud sound. She was certain to be spotted now!
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Posted: Fri Apr 08, 2011 7:29 pm
It took every muscle in his entire being to not jump at the sound that seemed to echo in slow motion. The twig snapping only meant one thing. He definitely was not alone. He froze in an instant and blinked in the direction of the sound.
"Who's there?" he asked with an odd sort of tremble to his voice. He then questioned his own age. He. Was. A. Stallion! He should not be scared of anything. And up to this point, Saluki had the fortune to not be introduced to any of those cruel Soquili he had heard stories about. So him thinking that the creature that snapped a twig nearby was anything but cruel was believable.
His brow quickly furrowed as he talked himself into being brave. "Sallexis...?" he spoke sternly, even if he wasn't totally sure it was her. "This isn't funny!" He flicked his tail in his frustration. That filly - fully grown now or not - was always trying to find new ways of sneaking up on him when he least expected it. Although... doing so at night had yet to be attempted.
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Posted: Fri Apr 08, 2011 8:03 pm
A more experienced predator might have spent some time drawing out their prey. If Samsara had the patience she could have pretended to be injured, or waited in silence until the unicorn was calm again. Someday Samsara might have that sort of cunning and patience, but tonight she couldn't hold herself back. She didn't want to wait and maybe be discovered. As soon as the stallion saw her he'd run off and disappear. She had to strike fast. She had to strike now.
Without even giving herself time to think she rushed from her hiding place and made a charge toward the stallion. Her wings were tucked against her but still had an insectoid sheen in the fading light. She wanted his flesh. She wanted his blood. She gave a rattling cry and bared her fangs in preparation to bite.
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Posted: Fri Apr 08, 2011 8:24 pm
Saluki was taken by surprise... A very shocking and disturbing surprise was charging right for him... and... she didn't look happy.
He reared instantly, his front hooves kicking in her direction as he whinnied out loudly in the moment.
He didn't see her very well. Then again, he hardly had any nightvision and relied mostly on his memory and the faint moonlight to make his way around places at night. All he noticed was the blur rushing for him, the glimmer of hunger - or hate - that resembled her eyes and there was no doubt he heard the unmistakable roar of ferocity in her shout.
Saluki had the profound thought that this was not going to end well. But that didn't stop him from trying.
"What the hell?! What do you think you are doing?!" he asked in most stern of tones upon landing, making sure to stomp his hooves harshly upon the ground when doing so.
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Posted: Fri Apr 08, 2011 9:12 pm
He was fast! Samsara jerked back only just in time to avoid the strike of the falling hooves. She danced backwards and landed bristling and hissing on all four hooves again. This wasn't going to be easy, but she had expected that. Her frustration was a dancing red smear in her mind, one the color of fresh blood.
She didn't answer the stallion. Witty banter hadn't been her strong point before she was cursed and it wasn't any different now. She circled him growling, waiting for an opening to attack. She buzzed with impatience. Surprise hadn't worked. She'd already lost that advantage!
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Posted: Fri Apr 08, 2011 9:31 pm
She didn't answer. And that made him all the more nervous. He pivoted and turned, watching her closely. He now felt panic. She looked dead set on attacking him for whatever reason.
It was here that the stories about a certain breed of Soquili that would hunt and eat other Soquili wafted into his thoughts.
'Crap...' he thought to himself as the horrid sense of dread began to settle in. 'I don't wanna die!'
His thoughts went out to his loved ones. Lenmana, Sallexis and Obsidian... Alejandra....
He gasped. Alejandra! She was nearby! And this evil Soquili was juuuuust a bit too close for comfort. He immediately grew livid at that thought. No one was going to bring harm to his girl. Not so long as he lived.
He snorted and stomped his hoof once he was placed between the skinwalker and his girl's cave. If anything, he hoped to stun it into a stumble then make a motion as if to charge back.
His horn was now lowered and aimed right for Samsara as he flicked his tail in aggrivation. "I'm warning you to leave me be. I don't want to fight you!"
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Posted: Sat Apr 09, 2011 4:02 pm
"Too bad!" growled Samsara. That horn looked dangerous. She realized that maybe this wasn't the form that she should be fighting him in. Horses weren't built to fight other horses. She needed to be the predator instead.
Her pelt twisted over and consumed her into her panther form. Transforming had become ever more natural to her since being cursed and she'd practiced it often. She was now shorter than she had been but just as long and now with more weapons than just her teeth. She brandished her claws and surged forward again. Now she would be too low to be struck so easily by the challenging horn! She swiped out with her front paws and tried to rake them down the stallion's shoulders.
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Posted: Sat Apr 09, 2011 5:12 pm
'Ok... that was just too weird...' he thought to himself as he gasped a bit and stepped back as the Soquili before him shifted into something smaller, but obviously a little more deadly...
"Spirits help me...!" he half whispered, half panicked. He took another step back, but he knew he couldn't run away from this. His only option would be to turn and run, but in doing so he might put Alejandra in danger...
He swallowed hard. He would have to fight. For Alejandra and her safety. For the kids... his human. He recovered to this thought, but sadly not quick enough...
Claws raked into his shoulders and he whinnied out in pain and thrashed his head to the side in efforts to knock his jaw and muzzle against her head.
He immediately began to think of various ways to stay alive - what weapons he had that this "Soquili" didn't among other things. He had never had the experience of fighting before in his life and honestly he wished he had never had this chance to do so...
However, there is always a first time for everything... Saluki only hoped that today he would not die from this experience...
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Posted: Sun Apr 10, 2011 7:48 pm
She had him! Samsara felt the keen satisfaction of her claws digging into the shoulder of the stallion. She could smell his blood already! She snaked her head in closer to try to get a taste... and suddenly something collided with her skull.
She fell away from the stallion in a momentary daze. He had hit her head with her own and she was still feeling flashes of light from it. She was still standing but was dangerously close to that horn and his front hooves. She needed to get another hold on him and she needed to do it quickly! She needed to hold on and not let go. That was where her advantage would be.
She decided to use the tactic that had worked well against deers. The stallion's neck was relatively unprotected and she knew that if she seized hold there then the fight would be won. Muscles bunching, Samsara lunged upwards, her open jaws snapping at the stallion's throat.
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Posted: Mon Apr 11, 2011 12:29 am
Saluki began to thrash. The claws raking into his shoulders had sent fire throughout each muscle and he now bucked and reared thinking the horrific creature was still attached to him somehow. He was flailing blindly, but he was able to notice - if barely - the feline lunging for another attempt to latch on. He reared again and whinnied the loudest yet as he felt teeth gently grazing the softest part of his throat. 'That was too close...' With his front hooves kicking wildly, he hoped he'd make contact somehow. He didn't want to fight, but if forced to, he'd rather knock a creature unconscious than to kill it in self defense if at all possible.
'Alejandra...'
Her name pounded through his thoughts and brought about new vigor. He belted out a knicker and pounded his hooves to the ground again as he landed. Now making a mental note to keep his horn aimed at the feline... soquili.... whatever it was...
His shoulders burned and twitched with pain, his white and orange coat was already stained a dark red - each of his front legs now sporting blood hued stripes.
He gave a warning snort and narrowed his gaze upon the feline, as if daring it to make another move. He was livid now, and he quickly began to understand the meaning of the phrase "Seeing Red..."
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Posted: Sat Apr 16, 2011 6:03 pm
If the stallion had been a moment slower then he would be dead. Samsara felt the lightest contact with his throat before he jerked upwards out of her reach. Almost! Her teeth snapped shut on air and her momentum ran out. She began to fall back down to the ground... and then she was hit by his striking hooves.
Her breath hissed out of her in an exclamation of pain and she was flung to the ground away from the unicorn. Pain tore through her side and she briefly wondered if he had broken her ribs. A clean indrawn breath dismissed that fear, but she was still injured more than she would like.
She scrambled to her feet again quickly but was less steady on them than she had been. Had she underestimated this unicorn? She bared her teeth in anger. She could still kill him!
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Posted: Mon Apr 25, 2011 9:06 pm
He puffed up his muscles, dismissing the horrifying pain that was now radiating through his shoulders. They'd heal, but the pain he currently felt merely fueled in his rage. How dare she threaten him and those in his territory - well, he may not have claimed it as his own in the proper Soquili manner, but he considered it his.
His chest and shoulders trembled visibly as he gave another angered snort and stomped a hoof as he took a half step closer. It was a challenging move, and he knew that. He had no choice, however. He needed to drive this... thing away from those he cared about.
He pounded a second half-step forward, continuing to hold his horn down and pointed directly at the feline.
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Posted: Wed Apr 27, 2011 10:40 am
Samsara let out a blood curdling hiss and arched her back, her fur fluffing up and making her look twice as large. Her eyes were entirely focused on that horn pointed at her. Such a strange thing that a unicorn horn should be so dangerous. She had only ever seen them use their horns to heal before and now she was facing the possibility of it being used to dismember her.
She held steady as he stepped toward her and inched a step forward in response. Her eyes blazed with murderous intent and she kept on staring at him. Through her pain she could imagine it as clearly as a vision. This time she was going to surge forward, dig her claws into his flanks and her teeth into his neck. This time she was going to hold on and not let go until he was dead.
She darted several paces to the side, tensed her muscles, and pounced. She thought that she was out of the range of that deadly horn. He couldn't be fast enough to turn to hit her. Or she didn't think so, at least.
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