Hoshor Plains sandstone ii

@Fancy @Maplesmoke @Swallowtail @Mallow (@Kinya if he's still close!)

a starving cougar watched the small band of horses.

there was much to risk. but much to gain.

selenia's scream split the grey light of early morning as claws raked toward her and the stink of cat roused the bison to grunting.

he roamed around the giants milling together upon the plains. when they began to split up along one side of the herd maplesmoke stopped his grazing and looked; then there came the scream, the movement of more bodies — and he was charging to a clearer view.

selenia. a cat testing its luck.

maplesmoke's body thrown in to a canter as breaths churned from him, aiming for the creature.

With a snort, Fancy’s head lifted and her nostrils flared. The cat, wiry and wily, stalked them with desperate hunger written in its beady pupils. She sought out Selenia first, and moved to bustle them closer together, her withers quivering with energy. 

The pregnant mare was very close to giving birth- Fancy would not stand by and see her be chosen as the weakest link. 

Maplesmoke would have the most powerful kick and menacing jaws- it would be up to him, as he raced into action. Fancy kept her eye on the cat (grateful that they did not hunt in groups like wolves) and pawed the ground with a sharp hoof, tossing her head so that the cat might not mistake them for being easy prey.

fancy and maplesmoke were roused and upon the defensive.

selenia curbed her panic and pressed close to the lead mare, kicking up clods of dirt and jerking her head.

the cat was hungry, not foolish, she hoped; she leant upon that near-certainty, even as she understood that a single wound inflicted by its festered claws or teeth could kill one of them even if its first attack did not.

and it was this; the animal yowled its frustration and began to back away, snarling.