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Spring was an exciting time for Hellhound. She was used to going through life relying purely on her instincts, and the coming of spring brought with it hormones that gave her urges to do other things outside of sleeping, eating, and killing. Those other things were fun sometimes, sure, but she mostly enjoyed how it made stallions of her kind take risks to get close to her without the intent to kill. At least, not immediately. It made for easier prey; the closer she let them get, the easier it was to gore their throats open with her horns, or stab their chests with her hard, spike-like tail. Of course, sometimes others that weren't of her kind would try to get close too. They were even easier prey than her fellow pelt-havers.
After the famine of winter, she was ready for the feast of spring -- and this was especially true after the harsh storm that kept her holed away in the safety of her cave, angrily clawing at the walls in fits of rage at her forced solitude with nothing to eat. It seemed, though, that her impatience was being rewarded. The passing of the storm brought with it a noticeable amount of newcomers to the land, and Hellhound was eager to hunt her fill of them.
Casimir, for his part, didn't feel much for spring. He didn't feel much for anything, really -- though there was once a time that he did. He recalled looking forward to the first bloom of flowers after the winter storms. He loved visiting the rose gardens of his homeland; he wondered, idly, if anyone was looking after them now that he was gone. He wasn't sure if his family would think of them as a waste of time, or a symbol of status. He supposed it didn't really matter; he was never going back, so he would never see the gardens again anyway. He shook his head to clear his thoughts -- he didn't want to linger too long on those memories. Not of his family, nor of his home. He was in these lands in search of a fresh start... unfortunately, the melancholy followed him here, too. He desperately wanted to find his happiness again; he knew it was still there, buried deep inside his aching heart.
He had already made a few friends, too. Kind soquili who offered him shelter and companionship. Some, even a little more -- but he wasn't ready for something permanent yet. Even so, they still held special places in his heart. He looked forward to seeing his friends again, but for now -- after the passing of the storm -- he was travelling again. Searching for... what? He wasn't sure, but he found himself unable to stay in one place for too long. He hoped when he found whatever it was he was looking for, he'd know it when he saw it.
One thing was for sure: The purewalker lurking in the bushes was, decidedly, not it.
Hellhound eagerly watched the unicorn through the thick leaves hiding her presence; he moved slowly, casually -- a prime target for a hungry stomach. She felt saliva fill her mouth, and it dripped down her chin when she licked her lips. She was so, so hungry. She was in her wolf form, crouched low; easier to conceal herself until she was ready to go on the attack. Thus far, the unicorn seemed unsuspecting. Her muscles tensed. The unicorn turned his head away, looking somewhere off in the distance. Her pupils dilated in her excitement, and she couldn't hold herself back anymore, springing from her hiding spot on strong legs and racing towards her prey, lips curled up to bare her teeth in a snarl.
Casimir's ears flicked back when he heard a twig snap, and the rustling of something moving quickly through the grass. On alert, he whirled around towards the noise, stumbling backwards on his hooves at the sight of a massive horned wolf barreling towards him. Heart racing, he did the first thing he could think of: He turned around and ran. As fast as his hooves could take him. He was simultaneously afraid to look back, and afraid not to. He knew, at the very least, the beast was still in pursuit -- he could hear the angry snarls and the thudding of its paws not far behind him. Clenching his teeth in determination, Casimir twisted around to the left to try and throw off the predator -- he heard and indignant snarl, and the scrambling of paws, and hoped that put a little more distance between them. But he didn't know where to go next. He didn't know if he had the stamina to keep running until the wolf gave up, or if he was fast enough to escape. His eyes darted around frantically in the hopes of finding someone, anyone who could help him -- but he was alone with the wolf.
A runner. Hellhound wasn't sure if she preferred the runners or the fighters. They both had their downsides, and when she was a filly she often wished they would just base their bellies to her and let her eat them. Too often, they would otherwise overpower her or outrun her. Now, though? She found both had their upsides, too. She began to enjoy the look of terror on the slower ones when they realized she was faster. She enjoyed the look of defeat on the weaker ones when they realized she was stronger. She didn't know why, but it also didn't matter. What mattered was that she was hungry and she couldn't wait to tear the unicorn open. She stumbled when he quickly turned to the left, and with an angry snarl she launched her body towards him again. Hellhound fell short, but she wasn't about to give up -- not yet. Not when she was so close. She was catching up, and she wasn't about to let that opportunity go to waste. She snapped her jaws at his heels, hot breath ghosting over the backs of his legs, until one of her fangs caught just briefly enough to send him falling to the ground.
With a started shout, Casimir fell, rolling to a stop only a few feet of the way of his pursuer. His hind leg ached where the wolf's tooth and caught, but he barely noticed. His heart was racing too fast, adrenaline rushing through his veins, spurring him into quick action. He used the momentum of his rolling fall to push himself back up onto his hooves, taking a defensive stance as he faced the wolf -- but it hadn't done him the curtesy of waiting for him to be ready to attack. He hadn't expected it to, but it meant that the beast was already leaping at him, jaws open, before he was prepared for it. Casimir lunged forward instead, crashing his chest into the wolf; its teeth slashed the surface of his skin deep enough to draw blood, but instead of being able to bite him, the wolf was knocked away to the ground instead. He reared up, ready to stomp his hooves down on the wolf's body...
Hellhound hadn't expected the stallion to run towards her, and the strength behind her leap hadn't accounted for that -- she was knocked to the ground instead, with the faint coppery taste of blood on her tongue. When she looked up, she was met with the sight of the stallion's hooves rising above her. She scrambled out from beneath him, tail tucked between her legs in an effort to keep her large body small and avoid being crushed. When the unicorn's hooves hit the ground, Hellhound turned to him and snarled. The chasing game was over now. Her body shifted and grew, her head dipped and eyes locked on to her prey as she changed her body into her soquili shape. Her lips twisted and stretched into a smile when she saw the look of alarm on the stallion as he realized he wasn't facing off against some normal, silly wolf. She took advantage of that shock and charged towards him again.
Casimir's heart sank and his blood ran cold as he watched the wolf shift into a pelted soquili, and instantly knew what he was up against. These monsters didn't exist in his homeland, at he hadn't met one yet before, but he's been around long enough in Kawani that he knew the stories... and to stay far, far away from them, at all costs. For a brief moment, that fear paralyzed him where he stood -- and in the next he sprung into action. The mare raced towards him and he tried to swipe his horn at her, but her ridged horn impacted his jaw instead, and he stumbled away with a groan of pain, the ache of his shooting through his skull. But he didn't let himself expose his side and kept the front of his body facing her, head lowered, ready to swipe at her again with his horn. He was determined not to be too slow this time. He wasn't sure if he could afford to be.
He was never a fighter. His parents knew that, and that's why he'd been regulated to healing duty during their wars. He didn't know if he could outrun the purewalker -- but he didn't know if he could win a fight with her, either. It seemed like all he could do was either dodge or minimize the damage she was doing to him. She had teeth, and claws, and horns, and a club-like tail -- and all he had was a horn meant for healing. Not this. Casimir managed to slice her with his horn a few times, but he was being quickly worn down -- both from his injuries and from his stamina. The only hope he had left now was to get lucky. "Stop," he pleaded, unable to keep the desperation from his voice. She ignored him, and when she struck again, her claws sunk into his side and tore downwards; shallow gashes, but extremely painful nonetheless, and Casimir could barely scream, collapsing to the ground. He squeezed his eyes shut and looked away. He couldn't fight anymore.
But the next blow came with a thud, and no pain.
Ulexite had been enjoying meeting all the new soquili out and about, enjoying the fresh spring air. The hustle and bustle of new life and blossoming relationships was always an exciting time, and the warming weather was a relief after such a cold winter and terrible storm. But it was over now, and everyone had greener pastures to look forward to -- both literally and figuratively! She hoped to find a sweet love of her own some day, but she was patient. She believed love would find her when it was good and ready to. In the mean time, the friendships she's forged were more than enough to fill her heart -- and there were always new ones on the horizon. She was pulled out of her happy thoughts by the sound of a pained cry far below where she flew, and she circled around to investigate. It wasn't long before she spotted the fighting soquili -- they were hard to miss in the open fields below her, and it seemed there was no one else around to help. Ulexite folded her wings to dive down, and as she got closer, she was able to identify that the attacker was a purewalker -- and the unicorn it was trying to kill wasn't faring well. Alarmed, she was quick to jump into action; before she could even land, she focused her energy on the stallion's body to form a diamond barrier over his stomach to block the purewalker's claws from striking him again.
She landed with a thunk! beside him, heavy hooves hitting the ground. She spread her wings out wide, rearing up with a fearsome cry, and her holy light burst forth from her body in a bright, blinding flash.
Hellhound howled and scrambled backwards, shaking her head, eyes shut tight against the angeni's power. She's been so close! He had given up! She swiped her claws at the angeni, but had no real intent to fight back, only to keep her away -- Hellhound learned the hard way that she was no match for an angeni. She burned with rage, but knew that she only had a small window to make her escape. The unicorn was injured enough that it was unlikely the angeni would pursue her; not if she wanted to save him. She turned away with an angry snarl, swiftly making her retreat -- as far as she could. She'd have time to lick her wounds later -- and to hunt again.
When the bright light faded, Casimir blinked his eyes open and looked up at his savior. An angeni. Relief flooded though him at the sight, and his eyes burned with tears. The pain would catch up with him soon, but right now, all he could think about was how close he'd been to death, and how afraid he'd been. "Thank you," he gasped, but he couldn't bring himself to stand back up. He wasn't sure if he could; his whole body was trembling. "T-thank you so much." He realized, then, how much it hurt his jaw to talk.
Ulexite only watched the purewalker until she felt it was a safe enough distance away, and then turned to assess the injured stallion. He was bloody and likely bruised underneath the purple hue of his coat, and she could tell his jaw was swelling up. "Shh, none of that now," she soothed, lowering herself down beside him. She spread her wings out around him in an embrace, trying to bring him some small amount of comfort. "That monster won't dare come back, you're safe now. You'll be just fine, I'll get you all healed up," she promised. She used one of her wings to brush away the diamond that had shielded his body, exposing the wounds on his side. But before she could begin to work on healing him, he leaned into her embrace and cried. Ulexite was a little surprised, but took it in stride, squeezing her wings just a little tighter around him. Poor thing. While his injuries needed tending to, it wouldn't put him in any danger to wait just a little longer. She'd be right here to help him when he was ready.
Spring was a wonderful time of year, soquili eager to stretch their legs after a long winter. Unfortunately, it brought out the hungry predators with it.
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