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 Posted: Fri Aug 31, 2012 8:58 am
 Deep within the desert a lone figure stood atop a dune looking out across the vast ocean of sand. Stretching out behind the lone Soquili was a trail of small clumps of lava which were quickly cooling. The wind would take care of her trail as the constantly shifting sands of the desert would soon hide her trail. Dark orange eyes took in the sands in front of her. Everything had changed recently. The storm that has always raged on, throwing a large cloud of continually shifting sand into the air had died out for no reason. Some panicked, some looked upon it as a blessing. Nyamuragira wasn't sure what she thought of all of this. It certainly reduced her chances to travel without being noticed, and it now took longer for her lava trails to be concealed by the sand. That could prove bothersome as others would be able to more easily find her.
With the disappearance of the sand storm came another shift. The enemy of her kind was now no longer considered an enemy. Nyamuragira had never been all that active in the struggle between the two breeds. She preferred to stick to herself, only getting involved if and when the fighting spilled into the area where she was currently staying. It didn't happen that often yet those small amounts of participation had convinced both sides at the time that she was fighting for the cause. No, she was fighting to keep others away. She just wanted to be left alone, it was as simply as that. And now there was a better chance of that. With the storm suddenly disappearing new lands were becoming available to them. Many Ulun'Suit and Hippgryphs had already traveled through the passes in the mountain to explore the new green lands that had been cut off from them for so long.
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Posted: Fri Aug 31, 2012 9:04 am
Nyramuragira did not go. She preferred the desert, the heat called to her, the shifting sands meant nothing was ever the same and so life could not become dull in such an environment. And with the more of her kind as well as the Hippogryph's leaving, why would she follow them when all she wanted was to live a life of solitude.
Yet even now there were groups looking for strays, those who may have gotten lost in the confusion after the storm had died, those who were gathering up others to either make the journey to the new land or create a new herd here in the desert to live together. Neither option was what Nyamuragira wished. So she had been constantly on the move, willing the sands to cover her tracks so that she could escape their searches. The hiss of a clump of lava hitting the now cooling sands as night began to make it's way into the desert reminded her that she needed to find a place to hide out for the night before pressing on. If she could get to the furthest part of the desert away from where most of the others lived then her chances would be better. Glancing back she saw that her lava trail had been successfully covered by the sand and so she set out, climbing down the dune at a steady pace, eyes alert for anything to eat and for others out this far.
A gust of wind threw sand in her face and Nyauragira let out a growl of displeasure, as a large lump of lava slid from her mane before splattering on the sand. She may love her desert home but there were times when it too aggravated her. She walked for some time before reaching a small clump of cactus and a few rocks poking out from the sand. Raising her temperature Nyamuragira heated the rocks using her powers before settling down upon them. She never felt the desert cold at night as some other creatures did. Even as she laid there preparing to go to sleep her eyes were scanned the horizon as the orange glow of the sun illuminated the edges of the desert alerting everything to the impending darkness of night. No figures moved in the distance which means not only was she not currently being followed but there was also no food at the moment. With a heavy sigh Nyamuragira laid her head down on the heated rock as lava pooled around her.
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Posted: Fri Sep 28, 2012 7:55 am
By the time morning had rolled around her warm lava pool bed and solidified into a cold, hard rock. It was something she had gotten used to, and honestly she didn't mind sleeping on a hard surface, better to be on that than the gritty moving sands that encompassed every inch of this desert. Her eyes slowly opened taking in the tan dunes surrounding her. Concentrating Nyamuragira began to focus on raising up her bodies temperature. It was still cold in the morning, and it was her natural abilities that kept her through the coldest nights and mornings. Ears swiveled this way and that, there wasn't much to hear this early in the morning. Most night creatures would be returning to their dens to sleep during the heat of the day and it wasn't quite warm enough for the day creatures to leave their burrows. She hoped this would hold true for those she was attempting to escape from. Their pestering ways were ruining everything.
A soft sound reached her ears, while she couldn't quite tell what it was she was certain the creature traveling across the sands was small. How long had it been since she had eaten? Some time. Unfurling her wings Nyamuragira was quick to take to the air, she needed to gorge herself if she was to make the next leg of her journey with minimal stops. A coyote was hurrying along the top of a dune not far away, looking for small creatures who were coming out in the first mornings light. Nyamuragira would deny him that morning feast as she descended silently upon the distracted beast. Her hooves snapped it's back as she crashed down on top of it. As quickly as the creature died Nyamuragira wasted not time taking huge gulps of flesh from the creature. It was the way of things out here, eat fast or lose your meal to the sands, not to mention prey was a bit hard to come by in this unforgiving landscape so when it could be found one should not dilly dally around consuming it.
All the while her attention was alert, she couldn't waste too much time today, there was a place of solitude to be found and if she was to make it there without followers she had to move soon. She needed time to allow the sands to cover her lava trail so those who wished to find her would not have a clear indication of where she was going. Taking the last mouthful of coyote Nyamuragira swallowed it down. It wasn't a bit meal but would keep her going for a while. If necessary she would resort to eating the smaller creatures, like scorpions and lizards to maintain her energy until something more suitable came to be. With the sun only barely peeking over the horizon she decided to spend the morning flying, it would allow her to travel further in less time and could give her a better vantage point to spot any pursuers. Taking to the air Nyamuragira, glanced once behind her before setting off in search of her place.
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Posted: Fri Sep 28, 2012 7:57 am
It was a few hours later that Nyamuragira set down on another random sand dune. Though she had lived her entire life here and didn't want that to ever change the one thing she had never really liked was the monotony of the desert. Everywhere you looked it was just sand and more sand strewn about in random dunes. And while those dunes did constantly shift and move making the landscape different each day, the fact of the matter was that with so little else out here it was easy to completely miss those changes.
The winds had stopped now, so no matter how she traveled, by air or by land, her trail of lava would stand out to all those who might stumble upon it, whether they were searching for her or not. What she needed was a plan. No more would she wander aimlessly around the desert in hopes of keeping on step ahead of the others. No longer would she not think about where she was going before heading there. Bringing her hooves to a stop Nyamuragira snorted, her lava hair churning with heat as she became more determined than ever. Her greatest flaw these last few days had been to simply keep one step ahead. No more of that. She would set a plan in motion that would have her so far ahead of the others they would never ever find her. As the ideas began to spin in her mind Nyamuragira took a quick survey of where she was and what, if anything, was around her.
Her eyes narrowed as a plan began to form quickly. It would take a bit of work, but she was not one to shy from such things. The corners of her elongated mouth pulled up into an awkward smile. Yes, this would work nicely.
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Posted: Thu Dec 13, 2012 9:34 am
Hours of flying, but it was worth it to drop a fake trail for those idiots to follow. And they would, she was confident in that. They were far too stubborn to give up until they finally had her join their cause, or she killed them, whichever came first. She had been sure to fly close to the ground, this would make the trail of lava easy to spot and follow. She laid a few extra trails that would send them wandering off this way only to find that she had looped back to the start. That should keep them busy for long enough that by the time they found the true trail she would be long gone. And now Nyamurgira had reached the part in her plan that she hated the most. Standing at the edge of an oasis the lava mare looked angrily down at the water. It was her bane in life. She hated water but desperate times called for desperate measures. With a deep breath to steal her nerves Nyamuragira quickly stepped into the water.
Sizzling filled the air as the water and her lava fought until the water won and cooled her off enough that it stopped flowing. It wouldn't last long, she knew that so she had to get moving quickly. As the steam continued to rise from her body she flapped her wings taking off from the water and flew hard and fast. It would only be a short time before her hair began to drip again leaving another tell tale sign of her movements. But this break in her trail should be enough to leave her pursuers searching for quite some time and by then the sand might work in her favor to cover up her lava once more. Then perhaps they would finally give up and leave her be. South, that was direction she flew, south to the mountain that created a barrier between the desert and the new lands. It would be the last place they would look for her and that's what she was counting on.
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Posted: Thu Dec 13, 2012 9:36 am
It took two days to fly to her destination. Soaring above the mountain Nyamuragira looked to both sides of it. On one was the golden red sand she had known all her life, the familiarity and annoyance of it made her feel almost calm and happy. On the other was green grass, forests, lakes and everything else that was foreign to her. She had little reason to go to the latter side of the mountain, but for now this could prove to be a good hiding place until those fools stopped trying to bring her to the cause. She would remain on the north side of the mountain for now, as that was the closest to the familiar, it would also prove to be a good place to spot any movement within the desert so she knew whether to move on again.
The mountain itself looked appealing enough. It was lacking in greenery much like the desert did. And only a quick glance around told her there wasn't many if any Soquili living in the mountain, though knowing her luck there would be. Ah well at least this was only temporary and soon she could return back to her life in the desert. Setting down on a cliff that she had spotted from the air Nyamuragira got her first up close look at the mountain. The hard rocks beneath her hooves would take some getting used to after a lifetime of living on sand but she was certainly used to a lack of vegetation and creatures so overall it would suit her. Walking towards a small cave the Ulun'suti mare stuck her head inside to have a quick look. It wasn't overly large but she didn't need much space, just a place to go should it rain. Yes, this place would do for the time being. Settling down onto the floor of the cave the mare rested her head on the hard rock floor in need of rest after so much travel.
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