Downstream - Nicci/Schindler/Magda

[ℳissParadox]

The cool springs breeze licked across the wet dams bodice. Having trekked from lands much cooler than this her winter coat had all but fallen out, leaving in its wake a sleek pitch black pelt. Bits of stubborn fluff clung insistently to her belly and shoulder, as if in part she was still convinced that this was a short stay, at any moment now she was to return. Return home to a land of shaggy coats and nights that never ended. With steady calculated strides she made her way from the watery depths across the sandy floor, a sensation she was sure she would never grow to appreciate. Her arrival was marked with that of the sun, having begun to swim as night was coming to a close, poetically chasing the moons decent across the inky sky. Rumour had it a land was to be found if she simply crossed this strange salty body of water. Not one to wait for more favourable conditions she dived in. Now that she had reached land again she almost wished she could turn tail and return back to the water depths. The scent of others hit her hard the moment she turned into the wind. Not since her departure had she experienced a herd, she knew nothing of how to blend in or even approach another being. For the first time since her youth she felt herself faltering, her sense of purpose no longer as strong of a driving force. Ignoring the winds chill that bit at her wet cold, pushing aside the exhaustion that had been threatening to break for days Nicci stood tall and alert. She knew nothing of the ways of others, her skills did not extend to aimless chit chat and kind greetings. She could tell that this land was marked, she could track that one days without stopping till she found him. But what to do then? A lack of forethought was all this was, if it came down to it she knew enough to survive alone even in a land claimed. With any luck she wouldn't have to wait long. Ducking her head down between two long forelegs she sprinted forward, at first with the pace of a young colt, unruly and impulsive. Quickly that turned into a slow steady lope along the waters edge where the sand was at its hardest. ooc; You do not want to know how long that piece of .... took to write. It goes without saying you will have way more to reply to after this xD

[Kezz]

She didn't sleep much anymore, didn't need to: fatigue seemed to wash away with the tide and in its stead grew a dark energy that festered within Magdalena's very core. From the jungle the black widow glowered out upon her ocean, sable eyes feeding on the sights and sounds of the water — frustration gnawing at her bones: where was the wind? Spring had calmed the raging storms which had consumed Jungle Rock, and Magda missed the way it had torn up the sea, the way it radicalised the great expanse of water until it was but frothing entity of indestructible power. The queen loathed the quietude, despised it with every inch of her gloriously beautiful body, and she hissed accordingly.

And then she saw her: the black figurine emerging from the water. Magdalena smiled, though such a thing did not suit her — she was a perversion of nature, and to smile was an act of happiness; when had the spider ever been truly happy? For a short time the palomino roan woman simply watched, eyeing up the plainly-dressed girl. And then she began to spin her porcelain web; Magdalena slid from the darkness, silvercream hair draping over half of her glass-hewn crown, white teeth glinting in a deplorably ravenous smile. The trespasser had moved into a lope now and the Island shark-queen swept into a pace that allowed her to fly over the sand until she was alongside the darker mare. Mere inches away Magdalena hissed almost to the wind itself: "run, run as fast as you can."

[ℳissParadox]

A voice no more than a hiss trickled into the air beside her as she ran, quicker than thought Nicc turned to the side in time to see, to feel the presence of one coloured as the terrain move in beside her. Like a ghost she had a appeared as a shadow of the morning light. It was as if she was being herded forward, hunted up. Up along an endless expanse of open water and sand. "run, run as fast as you can." Lingered if not in the air then in her mind, taunting her in a deathly familiar tone. And run she did, knowing almost without thought that the beast beside her would match her stride for stride. She had appeared without warning the terrain offering no sound, the wind turning on her in a moment of need. An inexcusable fear washed over her, crawling like ice and insects through her entire being. Scratching up her heart, bringing her to a level of fatigue before her body had even begun to tire. It was a crazed sprint, one she knew lacked any power, any strength. It was childish, primal. Desperate. Weight dropped back Nicci checked her pace, in control of her limbs once more she sat down deep on her hocks and in a flurry of sand and dust she came to a complete stop. White painted pillars flailed for purchase in the deep surface, stumbling forward she realised with a sickening dread that all attempts of a quick escape was out of the question. Not that it had been the greatest formed plan to begin with. If she had been to look back on where they had come from she would have discovered the distance she had travelled in such a short amount of time. Instead she turned her sights onto the pale beast, the fear of surprise had begun to wash out, leaving behind the effects of too much adrenaline and a bruised pride. Sweat had replaced the oceans water, adding even more salt to the mix. She could feel it setting already coating her like thick mud. It dripped in rivers down her heaving sides into a pool below her. Not one to use words, even when they came easily Niss let the silence linger stale between them, her gaze travelling over the strangers physic bringing them to rest on her face in an attempt to catch her gaze, to stare within them for a moment. To see if anything alive was there behind the dark dead pools. Then without cause or warning she let her eyelids flutter close, nostril flared in compensation for the lost sense. Stealing together her broken confidence the black vixen took a step forward, her limbs betraying her earlier fright still trembling with adrenaline. Yet the step itself was measured, calculated. It brought her within a whiskers touch of the golden figure. It was her test, the only way she knew how to recover, how to learn in this situation. Subtly, slowly she let her body relax, keeping only her hindquarters ready and waiting to spring. Opening her eyes again she knew this time there was little left in them to betray her.