Tonight felt safe, even, or at least comparatively safer than it'd been; the snow on the ground was freshly fallen, not yet melted into dirty slush or hard-frozen into slippery ice, and so it seemed like a perfectly normal option (of all the options there were) to stray towards the park and try and spy on a little supernatural business. People were always fighting in the park, blades and glitter-glow magic and raised voices; thankfully it covered enough acreage that just being in the tree range wouldn't be a death wish, but there was plenty of interesting gossip and knowledge to be obtained by sneaking around and overhearing. None of these people ever kept their voices down; they were always yelling, crying, full volume and range on display, no idea or care about anyone who might overhear or who might see. Trapped in their own little worlds. It was a little sad, maybe, but it had always made for good night theater as long as he was careful enough about it.
There was something eerie about the treeline tonight. Something that didn't feel quite human, something that had the hair on the back of Ashton's neck standing straight up, something a lot more subtle than the people who played out their war here normally tried for or achieved; she turned his head, subtly, aiming to not draw any attention or indicate that she was aware, and even then spotted milky eyes glaring from around six feet up. Some kind of creature? The way the eyes reflected light was inhuman and inhumane in the most literal sense, and he found himself taking a step back, boots crunching loudly on dead leaves that hadn't yet been swept away or rotted or hidden under the snow.
The eyes angled to look at her, and she practically felt the weight of that gaze. There was that horrible panicked moment of hindbrain, that pure animal fear, standing frozen in place and alone in the park, where terrible things happened to people all the time -
There came a horrid screeching noise, and a massive white owl came sweeping out of the darkness, wingbeats forcing wind onto Ashton's face. She leaned back, back to a tree, and thought - careful. Careful. No need to have a stupid little death they can't attribute to any cause in the obituary. And thinking it worked, or at least the owl wasn't aggressive; in only a few moments it took off into the dark and the cold up into the sky, hidden by view by all the trees.
That'd been a hell of a way for the season to see itself out. Not that he intended to die, and not that he intended to learn anything from this.
Prompt 4 (Fear and Feathers): The moon is bright tonight and reflects off of the snowy ground, illuminating everything with an ethereal glow. Destiny City feels almost safe, even at night. The fresh fallen snow seems undisturbed and brings a sense of peace. Only, nothing is ever as good as it seems, and there’s something eerie about it. After a while, it feels like someone--or something--is watching you. In the shadows of the trees, a set of milky eyes watches. Whatever it is, it’s tall and bulky. If you walk quickly, you feel it follow you but once you leave the line of trees, it disappears. If you try to approach it, a great beast will screech at you: a six foot tall snowy white owl takes flight. It may tackle or claw at you, depending on how you approach it, but it will always take flight and disappear in the night. If you choose to attack it, for the next few nights any time you look out your window you will see glowing eyes in the distance--or worse, hear it scratching to get in. Eventually, the temperature rises and the visits stop. For now.
