Hoshor Plains gift vid första ögonkastet

It was only a feeling. A deep, primitive knowing that sent Disa north on one winter's morning and on and on until she stood in the middle of Hoshor Plains, looking around like she didn't know how the journey had happened.

There were no outward signs – not yet. Perhaps it would not come to pass at all, but it seemed very important all of a sudden to hit a potential husband over the head and drag him back to Verapaz.

Disa squinted at one of clusters of bare trees in the area. She imagined that something moved along one of the thicker branches.

6+ it's a hungry and desperate mountain lion, else it's nothing: 11

As soon as she escaped the caldera’s clutches, Towhee felt better. And because of that, guilt plagued her steps as she galloped north, straddling the invisible boundary line between regions until she veered in a slightly easterly direction. Suddenly in no hurry, she decided to take a scenic detour around the northern shore of Greatwater Lake. She crossed a few tributaries before deciding to give her leg a break.

It wasn’t bothering her much, though Towhee pondered the merits of an ice bath as she lingered on the bank. Hesitant to enter the freezing water, she did a slow 360° spin, orange eyes panning from the Sunspires, across the glittering lake, toward home. Her eyes lingered on the caldera for a moment before closing the loop, swinging over the plains due north.

They halted on a speck in the middle distance. Towhee squinted, trying to make out any details of the form she’d spotted. She only made out a drab pelt, not much else. Curious, she trotted away from the water’s edge, feet crunching in the snow as she crossed the powdered prairie.

Disa stood stock still, watching in quiet horror as the shape shifted and moved, becoming a silhouette she knew. He heart shifted gear, surging on a sudden injection of adrenaline.

It was not the done thing for a mountain lion to attack a wolf, but hunger – real hunger, the kind spelled out in the creature's raised ribs – makes a monster.

Disa was about to start backing away when she heard a crunch. The little wolf whipped her head around, spied Towhee, and began to shake her head vigorously.

Ahead, the lion dropped heavily to the ground. Fate palmed her dice.

1 - 10 it charges blindly, 11 - 20 it stalks, unsure. THE ROLL: 19

The stranger’s head whipped in her direction, her eyes so wide Towhee could tell they were gray even from a distance. Adept as she was at reading body language, the Redhawk immediately ground to a halt. Her hackles prickled, sensing something amiss only seconds before a feline shape dropped from a cluster of trees ahead and to the right.

She inhaled sharply, rocking back on her heels before springing forward and pivoting in a single movement. Towhee would’ve liked to say it was smooth, but it wasn’t. She was old, slow and stiff. One of her hind feet slipped and she almost fell onto her hip, which would’ve surely broken.

She avoided falling by digging her forepaws into the frosty loam, shooting a panicked glance over her shoulder. All she needed to do was outrun the other she-wolf and she would likely escape with her life, though Towhee’s chaotic morality decided to express itself just then.

She intended to yell some variation of “fuck” and “run,” or maybe “fucking run,” but what came out of her mouth was an emphatic, FUN!!!

The flatlands had continued to be his home despite Disa's invitation over a month earlier. He had certainly considered it, but a problem had become glaringly obvious to him; he liked Disa. She was... quirky, but entertaining for it. The fear that he might get attached was enough for him to shy away.

Despite it, he had still been excited to catch her scent on the wind. The plains had become his stomping grounds, and ego jumped to the conclusion that she was coming for a visit with her good and very handsome friend. Then he caught the scent of an old lady, and then a mountain lion. Beau did the math, and he didn't like it.

Running until he caught sight of the two wolves and the stalking creature his first instinct was to yell; Disa! Not entirely because he was stupid or trying to play the hero — actually, it was a bit of both.

The cat moved more like a snake than a creature on four legs, locked on Towhee's salvation – the closer, smaller wolf, the one who had begun to back away, ears pressed flat and teeth bared uselessly. Even after an involuntary shred, it was easily double her weight and posessed of razor blade where Disa had only blunt little nubs.

Fortunately for Disa, there was a very exciting flash of bright orange as the elder wolf pirouetted and a declare-screamed – to the surprise of all present, lion included – that she was having lots of  "FUNN!"

"Disa!" rang out in the same second.

The cat must not have been all there, because its pupils dilated into black holes at the sight of so many choices. Eeny, meeny, miny, moe, catch the wolf and

          rip its skin off and suck out its eyes.

Cat goes forrrrr.. 1 - 7 Disa, 8 - 14 Beau, 15 - 21 Towhee

ROLL: 17

The she-wolf didn’t run, choosing instead to stand her ground and stare down the prowling cat. (In her defense, instructions: unclear.) Towhee grunted her frustration, then decided she’d done all she could do and whipped her head around to face forward. Her toes dug into the icy rime as she bolted again, glimpsing a second wolf out of the corner of her eye but barely registering his presence.

She didn’t stumble this time, though that initial fall had probably painted a giant target on her back, declaring: Hey, pick me, I’m old and feeble! Towhee didn’t realize this, though, until she’d galloped a solid hundred yards and chanced a backward glance… and found the mountain lion only twenty-five yards behind.

A long, drawn out 'fuuuccckkk' ran through Beau's mind as the lion shot after the elder, and not at all in the tone he prefers his fucks.

Then, because his instincts are just as stupid as his mind, Beau ran after the mountain lion. However with it being so far ahead, it was hard for him to say if he would be able to make it before something far worse than a simple chase happened.

This old lady better have kept those legs in good shape!

Rolling a d20
1-5: He starts to catch up, 6-10: He trips: 11-20, He's still far behind
Rolled a 1

The creature rushed after Towhee – Disa would forever assume it was because she herself had looked too fierce.

Beau, acting counter to his lone wolf persona, rushed after. 

Disa contemplated simply sneaking off. She could escape with her hide intact. But Beau was her friend, and it seemed against the unwritten code to let him face a granny-munching lion alone. Towhee probably didn't deserve to be eaten, either.

She began to run.

ROLL: 11

1 - 10: Disa and Beau reach the cat and attack. 10+ they cause damage. ROLL: 3

11 - 20: It reaches Towhee and attacks, strength of attack is: 11

Oh, fuck, Towhee thought, I’m fucked.

Nevertheless, she persisted.

Fuck off! she roared over her shoulder, head whipping around to face forward as adrenaline began flooding her veins.

She didn’t stumble or slow—she sped up, if anything—but she was still an aging wolf trying to outrun a creature capable of leaping 40’ horizontally and 20’ feet vertically, regardless of their respective top speeds. It was only a question of how soon Towhee would fall into the critical danger zone.

The Redhawk’s legs protested as she pumped them, propelling herself toward the Sunspires. If she could reach their rocky terrain before the mountain lion caught up to her—or, gods forbid, pounced—then maybe Towhee could stuff herself in a cave or a hole or something.

She didn’t make it. The fur on Towhee’s spine stood on end two seconds before something soft but heavy hit her from above with breathtaking force. Her legs buckled as she crumpled beneath the cat’s full body weight, the sting of its hind claws sinking into the old scars near her hips as one of its forepaws slammed into her head, shoving it toward the dirt. The other struck at her face too, slashing the right side of it.

Her vision went briefly red, then black, as Towhee now half-blindly struggled to escape the cougar’s clutches.