Who are you, and what do you want?

[Kaliska]

13th Day of Winter, 511 The man stumbled and fell, his pack falling off his back as he did, and landing next to him. The thump of a body falling was muffled by the suit of chainmail and surcoat he wore over his normal clothes. Directly behind him were a long trail of footprints, leading back towards the city in the distance. Ravok, city on the lake. With a groan, the man stirred slowly, and sat up, rubbing dirt from his face. He pulled his pack close to him, and removed his waterskin from it. He opened the skin, and took a drink, before putting the skin back and laying back, panting. He had run as soon as his master had been killed, and had stopped only to buy a pack full of supplies, hiding his right hand the whole time. As soon as he had his pack, he had left, barely making it out of the gates, and then he had run, only stopping just now, when he couldn't run anymore, without water. Still panting, but hydrated now, the man stood and cracked his back, with a groan. And then he stopped, freezing for a moment, as he heard twigs snap behind him. Turning quickly, he dropped his pack with a thump and threw himself towards the sound, drawing his dagger from his belt. He had no idea what was causing the noise, but he wasn't going back to Ravok. Unless they wanted a corpse. So he was going to fight until the death, and take as many as those slaving bastards with him as he could.

[Syranni]

The patterns in the bark were so mesmerizing.

And sadly, the mare had been reduced to such. Standing, staring, at things so insignificant as tree bark. She had lost track of the days she had been on her own, wandering this monotonous place with merely a shadow for a friend. At first it had been quite enjoyable, having her own territory, playing bully to the other woodland creatures, feeling the power of invincibility. Syranni ruled these lands with an intense ignorance to assume she was the greatest creature in all the lands. Being six foot four at the withers didn't do much to contradict that firmly set belief, either. But even in the most peaceful and secure of states, one does get lonely, and rather bored, to say the very least. The misfortune of being not only a natural herd animal but Kelvic as well, the lack of company had driven her into a terrible state of mind. She had been reduced to trying to converse with the aviary creatures of the forest, and she had quickly learned that they had no conversation to give, and thus she was staring at trees for entertainment.

Driven close to insanity, the Kelvic had gradually begun to move closer to the city. Occasionally she would catch sight of one of those other creatures, of which she no longer associated herself among, and would set on a swift journey back in to the embrace of the woods once more. It was a wonder she had not been captured yet, as she was not exactly a stealthy creature, and there would be an immense bounty on a fine Tiedan Warhorse sighted with no owner. Yet somehow her luck prevailed upon her every time.

Lost in the memorizing patterns of the tree, she vaguely heard a faint thmmph at one of her sides. Lost in deep concentration, the mare hadn't quite pinpointed the details of the sound, such as size of the creature, living or not, et cetera. However, lost in arrogance, one would not feel the need to be cautious in their own domain. After all, nothing is a threat to her.

The mare hoped it was some sweet fruit falling from the trees; how she longed to feast on their sugary goodness once more. With clumsy, heavy footsteps she plodded giddily to the noise, swinging her head in lazy anticipation, unfocused on what was ahead. All matter of flora litter was scuffled and scattered by her massive hooves, creating quite a notice that she was there, yet she remained concerned in the least.

And as sudden as a flash of lightning, a savage burst out at her, invisible to her in the daze from which she was quickly emerging. Nothing had ever come at her head on, and that abrasiveness startled her more than the weapon gleaming viciously in his hand. Instinctively she drew herself higher, dropped her weight on her hind legs, and raised her mud-caked legs into a defensive gesture, pawing the air anxiously. The wild, unkempt mass that was her mane shook like fields of grain in a storm as she flashed the whites of her eyes to the stranger. Her muscles were taunt with fear and her mind was paralyzed as the parasympathetic nervous system seized her with one thought: fight or flight?

She didn't want to fight, but she wouldn't run now.

[Kaliska]

Instead of members of The Black Sun, the man nearly ran into a massive horse. Sliding to a stop, he lifted his dagger, staring as the horse lifted itself up, pawing at the air with its hooves. Dancing backwards, the man kept his dagger in front of him, his eyes narrowed.He hadn't been expecting a horse. At least, not a wild one. Backing away, the man kept himself poised to strike if the horse made any aggresive movements. "Well....Not what I was expecting," he stated, more to himself. "Easy, girl," he stated, backing away as he lowered his weapon. He was not in the mood to deal with a fellow crazed animal. He had enough problems of his own to deal with. He didn't need to fight off a horse as well. So he backed away slowly, his dagger held at his waist, to put away as soon as he was away from the horse. "Easy girl," he said again, as he pushed his way through the tall grass, towards his pack. Once he was through the grass, he turned and lifted his pack, though he kept his head turned, to see if the horse would follow him. Having a horse follow him would be bad, as it would allow The Black Sun, and anyone they sent from Ravok, a bigger chance to follow him. And being on his own and out-running them would be hard enough. He didn't need a horse making the job easier for them. Glancing behind himself again, the Kelvic waited to see if the horse was going to follow. He then replaced his pack on his back and started on his way once more. His dagger, now in its sheath, had a hand wrapped firmly around it, just in case he ran into any...problems.

[Syranni]

He was... he was... backing away? Yes. He was backing away. Clearly, he was extremely intimidated.

Her ears pricked forward with curious amusement as the small human backed away. For some reason inconcievable to her, he still had that awkward rock clutched firmly in his thin-fingered grip. A soft nicker escaped on her breath as he backed away, leaving her frustrated by this odd turn of events. She couldn't quite pin why she couldn't just back away. Perhaps it was her stubborn refusal to let things go. Maybe the lonliness that had been consuming her had ebbed into this feral creature, lingering on any sort of interaction. Still, something wasn't quite right about this male. There was something.. feral with the way this male smelt, making her nostrils burn with his sharp scent. She couldn't quite place it, but at the very least it was intimidating and unnerving. It made her eyes to widen in anticipation as her blood boiled with unease.

But suddenly, she knew. He smelt of predator. And he was backing away. Clearly this was a threat she was meant to exterminate. The adrenaline poisoning her blood only asserted these notions within her mind. With a shrill neigh that inflated her chest to maximum width, she strutted forward to the male, her ears pinned back and her head jutted proudly in the air. She bared her teeth and advanced with purposefully heavy footsteps, huffing loudly with each step.

As she got closer to the male she picked up the pace, faux charging him. Her head was raised, the whites of her eyes flashing maliciously, ears pinned, parallel to her skull. A piercing shrill warned him off as she began to pick up her feet and paw them at him, creating a choppy gait.

Her teeth snapped towards his face and her lungs were in a constant assault of wild screams at the targeted predator.

She'd show him who was boss.

((Feel free to cut one of her legs))

[Kaliska]

The sound of her following him made him stop and turn to face her. Which was when he noticed that she was advancing to attack. His dagger slid from its sheathe and he backed away, the weapon held infront of him for defense. He dropped his pack as her ears went back and she bared her teeth. When her legs came up, the man growled and snapped his teeth, bringing his dagger up, the hilt butting at one of the legs. Dancing backwards, the man growled again, as his free hand move to remove his belt and coat. He kicked out of his boots as he backed away, kicking them both at the horse as he did. He kept retreating the whole time, growling and swiping the dagger infront of him, though never cutting the horse. "Easy girl," he stated, trying to calm this animal, who seemed to think him a threat. Backing up wasn't easy, when dealing with an angry horse and trying to remove articles of clothing. As such, the Kelvic tripped over a rock and tumbled, his dagger flying from his hand. When he rolled to his feet, he came up swinging, to disade the horse from coming near, his blows aimed at the animals head and face. Even as he threw punches at the animal, he continued to shed clothing, dropping his chainmail shirt, and then his shirt. Once his pants were his last article of clothing, he dropped into a crouch and jumped to the side, before vanishing in a bright flash of light, and reappearing as a coyote, which leapt at the horse, snarling. The pants, now empty, fell to the ground in a pile. Now revealed as a Kelvic, the animal snapped at the horse and growled, dropping into a low crouch, still backing away from the horse.

[Apola]

..

[Syranni]

Wood connecting with bone. Pain. She let out a shriek as the blunt force slammed into her knee cap, sparking a flame in her nerves, bringing about a sensation she had never experienced. A horses' legs were so sensitive that the slightest of blows could turn it into an explosion of excruciating pain, as hundreds of pounds of weight intensified the injury. Sure, slight scratches and blows had graced her extremities, but never with such direct force as this human could deal. Suddenly she realized that she may not be the most deadly contender around.

She dropped from her rearing stance, her massive hooves striking the earth with an echoing whooomph. The one leg had barely graced the ground before it was back up in the air, suspended, a firm refusal to touch the earth apparent in the rigid set of the muscles. She was now handicapped, left unbalanced on three limbs, dangerously teetering on the packed dirt. She could feel her leg begin to tighten and shake, supporting weigh it was by far unaccustomed to.

As her focus began to clear, her tenacity once again seemed to beat down her panic. A boot, then another, shot towards her, kicking up loose debris in the process, stinging her eyes. This seemed to stir her more than anything, thinking that this was a weak attack of the predator. She hobbled forward, taking great measure to appear steadfast and imposing, though her gait was unsure and weak.

Suddenly her weight lurched forward, rolling onto itself, creating a massive motion with no hope of stopping. Her teeth, dull and herbivoric, were aiming for his face. Its said a horse can take the skin of a man's face right off, and one of her size could definately do some damage.

Slam.

She squealed in surprise.

Bang.

She threw her head back in shock, a barrage of blows slamming into her cheeks, temples, nose--she couldn't even keep track. Blackness replaced her vision. Her head was swirling. Think. Think. Think. Mind. Fuzzy. Focus. Charge forward. Trip. Stumble. Scream. Pain. Falling.

Flash.

Her pupils swelled in exhilaration, accepting a sight so foreign, yet so familiar. Her hairs began to erect, her ears swiveling, confused as to which emotion to mirror. Her skin twitched as if a thousand ants were consuming her alive. She was hunched forward, on her knees, her hind legs quivering as if seizing, trying to pull her back up. They, too, buckled, with a defeated thuummpph, a mushroom cloud of dust announcing her surrender.

Her eyelids closed, trapped in the memory of white light. Her ears caught sounds of danger, the feral gurgling of canine vocals. Like a vortex of waves, that light consumed her, brought up feelings and reactions that she had long forgotten.

Her figure, wrapped up in a confusion so thick she felt it must be distorting the sight of her, disappeared in a flash of light.

And in the memoric silhouette of her imposing equine form appeared a young woman, her figure haunched and quivering.

[Kaliska]

The shriek was painful to his ears, but he ignored it, dancing back as she stumbled towards him, one hoof narrowly missing him. When the horse lurched towards him, he danced back even further, his eyes focused on the horse. When her teeth tried to bite at him, he squealed in surprise. He'd never seen a horse try to bite someone, but he knew that it was a self-defense action he himself would have tried, if pushed. The flash of light took him by surprise, and he leapt backwards, kneeling and staring at the woman who now knelt naked infront of him. Staring at her, the coyote backed away slowly, before dissappearing in his own flash of light, and re-appearing as the human, once more. "Never expected another Kelvic to be my first meeting out of Ravok," he stated, staring at the woman. "It would appear we got off to a bad start," he continued, as he lowered himself to the ground, to sit. "Now, why, exactly, did you attack me?" he asked, staring at her. As he did, he reached out to wrap his hand around the hilt of his dagger, which had mandaged to sink itself into the ground when it flew from his hand. When he did, he picked up an apple that had fallen to the ground as well, and offered it to her. "Hungry?" he asked, as he stood and moved off, to collect his clothes and backpack. When he had the items, he returned, laying his clothes and armour in a pile next to his pack, while he took the waterskin off the pack to get a drink.

[Syranni]

Trying to push the world away, the Kelvic tightly shut her eyes againist the brightness outside. Like a night full of exploding stars, she was trapped in an abyss of eruptions and chaos. The memory of the flashes left pulsing prismatic spots, fluctuating bursts making sight so painful and unbearable. It made thought impossible and action inprobable, as she could not compose a steady thought to save herself.

She wondered how she could have ever forgotten that intense burning sight, the sensation of her entire body unraveling itself to become an entirely new creature. As her mind slowly cleared, she felt tingling in places she was unfamiliar with, and loss of sensation where things that should be there weren't. Her body quivered, the muscles flexing and rolling, twitching and spasming, getting a grip on this dual dimension of hers.

Slowly she began to work her fingers in small, clearly uncomfortable motions, slight gasps escaping her maw with each motion. Clearly living life as a horse had made her extremely unknown to the concept of one finger, let alone five all moving independently. The movements were jerky and awkward, motions that were unnatural and painful in appearance. A strangled wail lept from her throat as she than began carressing her chest, apparently in exasperation, clearly confused at the strange deposits of fat that were dangling on her chest.

"Now, why, exactly, did you attack me?" She faintly heard whispers creeping into her self-conscious. This was the first strand of words she actually comprehended, as she was finally gaining enough clarity to hear again. The words caught her off guard, as if she had completely forgotten that she was in company.

Her face began taking on grotesque expressions, twisting and stretching across her visage, pulling towards her ears. It appeared she was trying to pin her ears, but all it was accomplishing was making her look very strained.

She began trying to scoot backwards, but obviously she had not quite figured out how to string together movements in a motion cohesive enough to achieve any real distance.

"Hungry?" With the continuance of words she let out a strangled whinny-like sound, though from her human voals it sounded choppy and dry, like the death woes of a thirst-maddened slave.

[Kaliska]

Watching the other Kelvic panic, the coyote lowered himself to the ground and waited, knowing that it wouldn't last long. He remembered his first time shifting. It had scared him more than anything in his life. Leaning forward, the man held the apple out to her. "Eat," he stated, holding the apple up to eye-level. He lowered the apple to the ground, right infront of her, and turned to his gear. He pulled it close to him, and lifted up his water skin, which he placed next to the apple. Then, seeing her face, he reached up and snapped his fingers infront of her face, to get her attenion. His other hand dropped down to grab her ankle, to keep her from falling over or hurting herself. "You're going to hurt yourself," he growled, his eyes narrowing slightly. He blinked, and tilted his head, staring at her. "Focus, horse!" he stated, snapping his jaws.