Ouroboros Spine Just looking for a fight

At twilight, the basin full of mud could've easily been mistaken for solid ground. The treacherous nature of the waterlogged soil wasn't clearly visible even in the brightest sunlight; under the cloak of darkness, it was nigh impossible to predict. Farstep picked his way slowly down the mountainside, his eyes bright and keen on a large lake in the distance, with no sense of caution whatsoever. He was thirsty and that sense overrode everything, even his usual instinctual awareness of his surroundings.

His first step on the mucky floor of the spine didn't give away the precarious position he was in, but his second step did. His foot hit the ground, he registered the sponginess of it, and then the floor seemed to open up and swallow his leg, right up to the shoulder. His momentum stopped so suddenly that Farstep jerked forward before smashing his muzzle into the too-wet ground as his torso descended. His hind legs remained elevated and his free forelimb scrabbled for a hold, but any amount of pressure on the ground, now a mire, caused that foot to sink as well.

He struggled for a moment, spluttering and growling and letting his heart race as panic seized him, before he managed to free his sunken limb. It took an absurd amount of effort for the male to pull himself back from the brink of what seemed a pit of quicksand (quickmud?), but eventually he did, with a fresh coating of mud from his paws to the middle of his chest to thank him for making the mistake of stumbling into the spine. He smacked his lips, eyes alighting on the glitter of water in the distance, and his tail shook pitifully between his haunches as the promise of water proved to be nothing more than a lure.

regipre had gone into herself, and timber was scarce. shardul was all but alone, as he had been, and while he welcomed such a situation, he also found it odd. the cat ranged as his species was wont to do, and for some hours he moved in silence through the shadows along the edge of his route. his artistry upon the body of the pale hollow-dweller had whetted his appetite for darker pleasures, the extraction of such agonies from the quivering flesh of a wolf until its wearer could bear no more, and collapsed into death. 

the scents of mud and of water flowered in his senses, reminding shardul that it had been several hours since his thirst had been slaked. the need grew more urgent; his body cried for the water that was surely nearby, and the cat silently scolded himself for allowing his base requirements to go so long unfulfilled.

he too was lured by the empty gift of water, but movement along the mountain-bank brought shardul to a halt. his eyes glimpsed the thin, wavering ribbon of that which he so craved, but his nostrils were filled with the scent of mud, the stink of wolf. and so he crouched in silence, attempting to carve from the shadows the as-of-yet unseen body of the nearby lupine.

The slope was as solid as the ground was going to get here, and even then his paws threatened to slide out from under him and deposit him into the quagmire once more. He scrabbled at the ground, found purchase, and then his eyes flicked up to the horizon once more, where the telltale glitter of water remained unreachable. His tongue rasped over his dry lips and he let slip a quiet whine as frustration overwhelmed him. There was the other way to the lake, the dangerous trek around the high ridges, but it would take thrice as long to get there. He'd probably have better luck elsewhere.

The tawny wolf turned away from the mire, shook his coat as best he could with it plastered to his skin under a heavy layer of mud, and began to pick his way uphill once more. The trip down had been easy, but with the weight of muck holding him down and the terrain sliding under his wet feet, it proved a hell of a lot harder for him to haul himself back the way he'd came. Add to that a cougar lurking nearby that he had yet to notice, and Farstep was in for a whole lot of trouble before he'd ever be able to slake his thirst.

the wolf had not yet noticed him; shardul remained as still as possible, his sides barely lifting with his controlled breaths. care and attention must be given his movements if he was to capture this foolish creature for his newest imaginings of bloody sadism. the wolf was frustrated, unable to reach the water; the silver cat quietly decided he himself would not attempt to possess the alluring glimmer of liquid, for it was encased in a trap.

presently, weary of being unseen, the cat deliberately shifted, a twig breaking beneath one broad forepaw, and he slowly gathered himself to his paws, like some moonlit and grotesque angel. yellow eyes leveled themselves coldly upon the wolf; shardul's teeth bared in a low hiss, one rife with warning and with intent.

The effort it took to make his legs move with a thick coating of mud seemed astronomical. The drifter was of half a mind to rest here, on the banks of a no-mans land, until it dried enough for him to be able to flake off the majority of it. His haunches scarcely touched the ground before the sound of a snapped twig made his ears prick, and as he turned his head to scan the area, he saw the glimmer of the cat's eyes.

Cougars were nothing for two or more wolves, but solo, they were a problem. The lone wolf was keenly aware of all the dangers of the world and when he should and shouldn't hold his ground. Often holding one's ground against a bear was productive, but cougars were far quicker to attack than were bears, and he knew holding his ground now would be foolish.

So he began to sidestep, dragging the added weight of the mud and finding it easier now that there was a legitimate reason to get going, away from the cat. He couldn't turn his back on it so close without inviting attack, the creatures were wily and played dirty that way, but he could potentially put a good amount of distance between it and him before he turned and attempted to flee.

the wolf began to pull aside from him, yet his progress was slow, as the mud dragged upon his legs, his body. shardul gave a low laugh, beginning to wend his slow way along the edge of the odd bank toward the encumbered creature. "little fool." his claws ached to rend the stupid one's flesh, but shardul did not wish to become ensnared by the mire, and so he merely balanced along the edge of the mucky pool. eyes flashed in the gloom; he gave a low laugh, reaching out a paw with extended claws into the air, to mock the struggling wolf.

The creature hissed something, but of course, Farstep couldn't understand it. Without being able to understand the words of his fellow wolves, how could he comprehend the words of another species? No matter. What he heard was a guttural sound as the cougar gained ground and stretched out a paw. Perhaps it hadn't meant to hit, for it missed, but that just spurred Farstep to move faster.

His attempted run was probably comical, but for him it wasn't funny. It was his life on the line, and if he couldn't force his legs to move through the muck coating them, then he would forfeit it. He couldn't afford that, and so he wrenched his limbs, aching at the sockets, and began to gain a little speed.

he was amused by the wolf's movements, but less at the comicality of the churning legs. the creature could not escape; he was mired almost fast by the thick mud (in his mind), and so shardul crept closer. this time his paw flashed out with the intent to catch whatever flesh he might, the other set of toes clutching tightly the bank. the water choked with loam; he intended for it to run red with blood when he had finished, and snarled loudly. 

the water must be entered, and the mad cat did so without a second thought, slipping up to his shoulders into the dense muck in enraged pursuit of the hapless wolf. "thou shalt be mine," shardul growled, square muzzle arranging itself into the macabre caricature of a grin.

Shardul's second reach met with success and Farstep made a strangled sound of pain as claws raked his hide. Blood welled in the wounds, but they were shallow enough that although they stung, they didn't significantly hinder him. Panic flooded his system and without much thought he began to lurch across the muddy bank, surprising even himself with the amount of ground he managed to cover in doing so.

It would exhaust him, and he would need more time than usual to rest if he made it out of this ordeal, but it was what Farstep had to do. The cougar was proving itself to be a rather mad creature, for ordinary cougars were not this persistent with threats that were leaving in his experience, but perhaps it could yet be outrun or outdistances.

he connected with a pleased purr; the sensation of his claws ripping across wolven flesh brought great and heady pride to the cat. even the small sound of pain given by the wolf whetted his appetite, but all at once the wolf gave a great set of strides and hauled itself onto the bank. shardul shrieked with rage at the evasion and struck out for a pursuit, but the mud dragged at his shoulders, his hips, mooring the cat as the wolf had been before. the goatish fear-scent of the wolf was thick in his nostrils -- it brought him forth, approaching the bank slowly with savage strokes of his broad paws.

The cat plowed through the mud in his wake. Farstep's feet scrabbled at the solid bank beneath them and eventually he managed to gain some ground; he moved with frantic and choppy bounds, still weighed by the layer of sludge clinging to his limbs, but freed of the mire. The entire edge of the spine was slick with remaining moisture, but Farstep stumbled up the slope all the same, panting heavily and not daring to look behind him to see if the cougar was coming after him.

fade here! <3 ty

presently, sharduk found himself with no quarry and filthy with mud, his muscles trembling in protest as he gathered himself onto the firmer soil and sat for a moment, shoulders hunched against the cold air and the fire of failure flickering in his gut. as of late, he had missed several of his strikes; it was enough to dampen his faith in his abilities. slowly, shardul turned for home, giving a wide berth to the pool of mud.