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Vanya's heart skipped a beat as Vanwyn ran to her and she nuzzled the girl, cooing to soothe her. "We're going to be okay, I promise."

Vaniania's calling pulled her head in the opposite direction and she watched as she trudged down a stronger, harder side of the hill. They'd be able to dig their claws in and walk up like that. It was the only way, seeing as their legs weren't strong enough to jump just yet. Vanya nudged Vanwyn forward and let the girls go up before her, ready to catch them if they lost their balance.

The climb wasn't hard, but when they got to the top, Vanya was panting and ready to collapse. The fear of losing her family had drained her and she was now suddenly aware of how defenseless she was. She'd taken lessons in fighting, like all girls of the flock had, but Vanya had long since forgotten most of what she was taught, dancing taking over her mind. She'd taken the lessons for granted and may pay the ultimate price for it.

Mind clearing, she became aware of her surroundings and her eyes fell upon Galla. "I'm fine. We're fine," she breathed out, voice gravely from screaming. "It's Taarab that needs help. He's battling the walker." Her eyes fell upon him now and she spotted the blood before anything else. It was unnatural against his pale skin; it wasn't supposed to be there and she wanted to run to him, to wipe it away and tend to his wounds. But her place was not on the battlefield; now the guards were arriving she would only get in their way.

Vanya moved away from the edge and her eyes spun around for her youngest. "Vanmoriel!? She panicked and began screeching for a moment before she remembered she'd gone for help. Vanya fell to the ground and pulled her daughters to her sides, waiting for this nightmare to be over.

She just wanted it to be over.

Vanwyn whimpered, her head shaking some, mane of feathers and hair hitting her neck several times over. She wanted to go home. To escape this. To never, ever see that blasted red color come from someone she cared about again! Her heart thudded against her chest, little white body trembling against the ground. The noises and movements around her, she ignored. If anything was making noise around her, she wasn't going to have it. She wasn't even going to consider it an option to listen to. She blocked out all sights and sounds from her mind.

That was until she felt her mother nudge her. And with the force of it, Vanwyn was forced to her feet. She opened her eyes, stumbling forward from the nudges, before allowing her mother to force her around. Eventually she was climbing the hill, and her claws dug into the surface as she moved, pushing her forward and catching her whenever she slipped. She made it slowly up the hill, tail flicking, before her ears pinned. She tried to look back toward her mother, tried to keep everything straight in her mind, but the fear of that monster was going to haunt her for the rest of her life.

The filly eventually made it up. Vanwyn found straight ground, and almost collapsed again, but her mother had urged her forward more until she was for sure within the grounds. Her eyes flickering, she found her body too stiff and scared to move, and slowly laid back down in the grasses. Let the adults talk. She just wanted to lay there and pretend it was all over.

"I'll do what I can. Now stay here, I'll send your family here to get you." her heart went to the filly, though she wasn't sure she fully understood it. The mare never knew her own father growing up, though she knew who he was as most mares, if the mother knew, were taught. He was a male, and the only males that mattered to Kamunyak was her adoptive son, even though he did not come from her blood, and whatever current partner she had, though even that was rare and purely business.

Vanya and the other two children's safety was top priority, followed by the hunting of the skinwalker and casting its life blood as an offering to appease the spirits as to end its reign of terror and remove the threat it presented. The well being of a stallion, even one as valuable, loyal, and productive within the flock, was not nearly as important to her as that, though...

Running the yards to the fighting scene from the slope, she noted that Galla was with the mother and children before she took a flying leap down the ravine to the river. The Pale hunteress spotted Taarab just as he took off after the skinwalker, further from Flock territory, "Taarab, Stand down!"






The stallion stumbled in his steps, turning away from the skinwalker too quickly for the physical state he was in, and tumbled onto his side with a squawk, and remained on his side panting for a few moments as the petite warrior stood over him. He lifted his head, panting, his eyes unfocused and pink foam in his mouth, "The.. The girls... Vanya... Safe? Skinwalker -- need stop.."





Kamunyak couldn't help but feel a bit of respect for the stallion; Vanya, as graceful and elegant as she was, and with as much stamina as she needed to dance, was no warrior and her pretty feathers and long flowing hair would have simply dragged her down and possibly exposed her throat, especially since she knew the other mare, having grown up just a year younger than the lanky dancer. She never really took to the fighting classes with the same gusto as Kamunyak did, but not all mares were fighters, hunters, or warriors, many were gatherers or artists and only fought or hunted when in danger.

The male had recognized that Vanya and the children were more important and put his life on the line to give them a chance of survival during the attack. Sighing, Kamunyak decided to hold back on chasing the walker -- she had made a promise to a little girl to try and keep her sire alive. She looked him over, carefully opening his swollen eye with the dull round backs of her claws, placing them together and opening it gently to get a look at the two eyes. She note the difference in his dilated eyes -- the multiple hits to his head clearly gave him a concussion, and he was hanging onto conciousness. Touches and sounds alerted her to different injuries -- a cracked rib, not broken all the way through there, a torn muscle here.

She snorted, turning to the other guard, trying her best to not be impressed with how much damage he put up with, knowing how intolerant of pain most stallions were, "Galla! I want you to do a patch job on the Oracle's Pet here and get Vanya, The children, and Taarab to the closest Guard Camp -- they can call for a proper healer there, but we need to gather up the warriors for the hunt."

Turning her head, she addressed the two daughters she could see, ".... Vanwyn.. Vaniania. I'm going to need you to be strong for your mother."

She hesitated, glancing down at the stallion, biting her bottom lip, but she kept her voice soft and soothing, the older mare's maternal instinct making her heart go out to the children. "... As well as... Your 'daddy'. You keep an eye on him and make sure he does everything the healer tells him to do, okay? You were all so very brave today. It's only going to be a bit longer."

Hissing softly at the first harsh sting of things beginning to stitch closed, the cuts on his face starting to knit and regrow lost tissues, he finally relaxed as the dulling agent of the Unicorn healing magic settled in. It was weak, the mares healing more by instinct than training and being of mixed blood, but it was enough that the swelling of his face over his eye and brain, the pain in his chest and ribs lessened. However a quick overview showed he was still badly hurt, but it wasn't likely lethal, if he took it carefully.

Trying to roll over on his own, the stallion cried out a bit, his legs curling up as he flinched inwards. His sides hurt horribly and he panted in pain, having trouble working through the pain on his own, "I... I can try, but I think I'll need help."

He had never felt more vulnerable in his life before, except for the times he had sat alone, a hundred miles away from home and waiting for the Queen to return from the hunt on his way too and from the temple of the ancestral lands, or when he lost his brother to the river. And never before had he felt so much physical pain, so much fear, so much anger. Now that he knew his children were safe, he found himself trying to call upon reserves of energy he wasn't sure he had.











Kamunyak sighed softly, glancing nervously towards the forest, knowing the walker was getting further away by the second, then back at the injured stallion. She shifted, trying to help brace the much larger stallion. Her feet shifted and skid on the leaf litter, the 'arena' slick with the blood of both combatants. It was horribly difficult to get a grip on the ground, even though his bleeding had slowed almost to a stop and his body refreshed by the innate healing abilities of the dark blue mare, he was weak from the loss and the pain.

Finding a tree root, she dug in, pushing against the back of the stallion to try and roll him over, talking to distract them both "Taarab, I'm going to need a description of the skinwalker. Anything you can tell me about it would help... And I'd rather not upset the girls more by asking them. Gender, breed, color, markings... Pure or cursed?"








Struggling to get up, he whimpered softly, rolling onto his stomach to get his legs under his body, but still having issues getting up, especially with how small in comparison Kamunyak was -- a swift and deadly warrior she was, but she wasn't build for brute strength.

"Ah. Pale, I think female... Purples pinks and blues... Had leathery wings and big ears -- A batwalker? Can Skinwalkers even be bats?" He panted, still in pain and still disoriented, but good enough that if he got some leverage and had someone to lean on, he could likely get to his feet and walk, though slowly.











"I'll tell you after I skin her myself as a trophy." Kamunyak joked, leaving Galla to the grunt work of helping the stallion upright, knowing she would likely strain a muscle or get him part of the way up then find herself trapped under him, "You did good today.. You know... For a stallion. Just leave this to the experts."

She pointed a claw at him, giving a stern look, sounding for all the world serious, "And don't tell anyone I said that; The other hunter's may think I'm going soft."


The two shared a soft laugh, the mare feeling rather awkward about the whole situation, unsure of what to think. She then shook her head, "I trust you have this under control, Galla.. And if you don't, assistance is on the way. May the Great Mother watch over you... Wish me luck on the hunt."

Moving to the actual scene of the fight, the hunter observed the markings, judging how the scuffle went before sniffing at the splashes of blood, at times nibbling at it. She licked her lips, eyes tightening slightly. She followed the path of the fight before taking after the trail of the predator, watching for signs, watching as the hoofprints shrunk down, shifting shape, then the temporary moment where only the back claws touched and the front wings tapped the ground before she took to the air, instead leaving a trail of blood.

Smiling slightly, Kamunyak's crest slicked back, her brilliant eyes piercing through the ivory facemask she wore to protect her face during attacks, Let the hunt begin.

Vanmoriel shivered a little; not from cold, but from fear and loneliness. Her ears twitched and she noticed that for the first time she couldn't hear anything and that scared her more than the sounds of her sisters' cries and her father's grunts as he fought the beast. Was it over or had they lost? She decided she didn't want to wait to find out. Picking herself up from the ground, she quickly moved back to where it all happened.

Her eyes scanned, looking for the walker relieved to find she was no where to be seen. She spotted her mother laying on the ground and ran to her, nuzzling her and chirping. "Mama.. It's okay now. The monster's gone." She nipped at her a little before running over to her sisters and doing the same. She sniffed the air a little and her father's familiar scent began moving towards her. She ran to the edge of the hill and peered down at him. "Papa!" Her heart threatened to jump out of her throat; he was so beaten, so hurt.. She turned around.. Where was Kamunyak? Was she going after the monster? Vanmoriel bit her lip, worrying about the older mare and praying to the Great Mother to keep her safe; to keep everyone safe and make her Papa better.

Trotting around in place, she went back to her mother's side and waited for orders from Galla.

It took a little while for Taarab to get up the hill, but he was smiling at Vanya as she scolded him, one ear stitching itself closed as she watched, though it was clear the residual magic of Galla's was already wearing off, his eyes holding pain as he moved and he accepted the extra support with a sigh of relief, limping slightly and trying to breath slowly. It hurt to take deep breaths, but he knew if he was going to get to the guardcamp, he was going to need to avoid hyperventilating.

"It's simply an honor to be able to protect you, the children, and the flock." Taarab laughed once before wincing with a hiss, before biting his lip, not wanting to frighten the children worse.

Galla could feel the thin sheen of sweat erupting over her skin as she helped Taraab up. She was not tall or solidly muscled thanks to her families more dainty heritage. She was not what one would expect of a guard--but she was powerful enough to make a difference and she could fly and hide well. Her wings were a great asset to the flock, or could be under different circumstances.

She was smaller than Taraab, but it made it easier for her to support him with her shoulder muscles. It took some time, but they made it to the top. He seemed to be okay, his face possibly even brightening rather than draining at his family's appearance at the top of the hill. Her healing magic wasn't strong, and the wounds that had carefully knit together would begin to break back open with the effort he was exerting.

Her voice was calm and measured, "We can't stop. We're safe. Kamunyak will take care of the threat until others can join her, but we have to keep going--try to meet those coming to find us." She felt the acid in her stomach start a little, this was something she felt helpless with. Fighting she had an edge, but not now in healing and helping injured--she felt nearly helpless. "Let's keep going Vanya," she tried to see the other mare on the other side of Taraab. "Let's get to safety and healers."