The barrens were hot and miserable, as they always were, and Rend cursed them as she trudged through the dust. There was a slight limp to her gait, her shoulder was still a little bruised. That big buck noulicorn had come out of nowhere and broadsided her. The crusher snarled angrily to herself at the memory.
Rend had been following a noulicorn doe she had taken prisoner at the Homewood. As badly as she wanted to eat the creature, the little meal had told her the others of her kind had been lead to some other lands. The Ruins she had called it, and to save her tasty hide she had promised to show Rend where they were. Desperate to find her kind, Rend had reluctantly agreed and planned to eat the little pet later. They had gone many days through the harsh barrens.
The bone crusher's eyes narrowed menacingly. They had arrived at a massive white tree and the doe had bolted. It was Rend's fault, she let the overwhelming tree and lovely shade distract her just momentarily but that was all it took. And then after persuing the little beast, others had appeared. Why were they all around that tree? She did not know, but a couple of bucks had fought her off before she could take down a meal. Pride wounded more than her shoulder, she had fled back into the barrens and way from their sharp horns and crashing hooves. The unicorns were not to be trusted. She wished she had been able to eat one though. She hungered deeply for a meal.
Blinking, Rend realized in her bitter ruminations of the previous events, she had not noticed the land was changing as she traveled. There were grassy tufts and some scraggly signs of life, and ahead she could see many shapes instead of just bare flat land. Some were trees, some more angular and abrupt like cliffs or ledges. Monuments? She perked her ears and increased her pace. HEr hope grew with the increasing grasses and brush she passed.
Soon her senses were reporting an overwhelming depth of information. She had been so used to bleak dust and harsh light for days it had almost blinded her, and now the scents of green things were almost too much. This place was overflowing with life, and she could sense there was water somewhere close. There had to be water sources for all this abundant life to be thriving. Before long she was surrounded by trees, shrubbery, and the ruins of great crumbling buildings, The barrens were nothing but an uneasy memory, and she did not have time for any more memories right now.
This must be the Ruins the doe had told her about. It was more dense than she was hoping; she still felt her body was made for running freely with a pack in the open grasses. But it was better than those overgrown forests she had been in before the journey, where she had been awakened in this world. The stupid unicorns were trying to fix it, or something, but the idiots were sure going about it strangely.
Rend followed her acute nose to the trickle of a muddly little stream and drank greedily for some time. She let the cool water run over her tired aching legs and hoof paws as well, sighing deeply. If only that rotten little golden doe were here as a celebratory meal. Her belly churned, the life within was crying for nourishment too. It was time to see what this place had to offer for food creatures, she thought. But then something caught her eye.
The soft earth at the edge of the stream was disturbed with prints, farther along the edge than she had even gone yet. But the prints were just like hers! Heavier maybe a little larger, a bone crusher had been here! An eager sort of excitement filled her. Not that she exactly liked companions, or was the type to want friends or anything. But she would not be alone here, she had found where at least one of her kind was roaming. This felt very important to her right now, as well as finding a safe spot to live even if temporarily.
There had to be things to eat and maybe a den or something safe nearby. She had a look around and decided the water was probably being visited fairly regularly. Rend decided she would follow the tracks and see if she could find this fellow crusher. It was time to group up, she needed the security of a pack in this uncertain place.
