A Calf-Like Wonder (Ashen)

[Krivak]

Timestamp: Winter 25, 511 AV Time: Midday Location: Windward Boardwalk Who: Ashen Krivak was trudging through the snow, aimlessly, after being severely blown off by a prospective mate. He had been sniffing around the hold, his pack hanging from his neck like normal, looking for anything to forage on. He smelled some grains in the crisp, midday air and wandered toward the lovely smell. He found himself approaching some sort of wooden fence with a gate. He hated gates. Back when he was a slave, he could never figure out how to open them aside from breaking them down. And his master hated when he did that, and made sure Krivak knew it. This gate, however, did not appear as secure, as it swung inward as Krivak nudged it with his horns. He trotted in happily, having defeated the mighty gate and was about to be rewarded with food. He continued to follow his nose when he saw several other creatures that looked much like himself. Except they didn't have horns like he did, theirs were much shorter. He grunted somewhat happily. Females. He let loose a deep grunt, causing the females to raise their heads to look at him. He continued to grunt until a curious, young female wandered over. Krivak continued what he thought felt like a mating grunt. She looked at him confused, her head half cocked to the side. Krivak was wholly unaware that females were only ready to mate during the summer season. He continued to grunt, but the female turned around and began to return to her kin. Krivak, now scorned, trotted up behind her, and lifted his front haunches and pressed them down on her back. She began bellowing for help, while Krivak was more than ready to mount her. Then Krivak felt a sharp pain on his snout. He looked up and saw a dark skinned man holding a large stick. The man was yelling at him in a language he didn't know. The man then switched to the only language Krivak knew. "STOP! STOP!" The man hit him again on the snout and continued to yell at him in the two languages. Krivak slid off of the female and turned tail, letting loose a frustrated grunt. He now found himself in some wooded area within the city. He didn't know the name of it, but he knew it had plants he could eat here and not a lot of people. He found a short shrub, and began munching cheerfully munching on it's bitter leaves, the occasional leaf falling onto the pack hanging from his neck.

[Ashen]

The Windward Boardwalk was Ashen’s favorite place in Avanthal. It had a peaceful beauty to it, with it’s snow covered trees and the numerous statues and benches. She found herself walking around the park often. Goosebumps rose on her skin as the icy breeze came in contact with it. The snow crunched under her boots as she strolled around. Her cat-like eyes took in all the sights around her. They narrowed in on a sight that the kelvic had never seen before. A large animal was munching a small bush a little ways away. Ashen had never seen one that looked like that. The massive beast was covered in thick dark fur and upturned horns. She stilled, trying to find a name for it. A...cow? No, not quite. She was intrigued now. What was an animal like that doing here? Carefully, she started to approach it, making her steps quiet as not to startle the cow-like creature. Ashen stopped a few feet away, not sure if it was safe to continue. If it came down to it, her cat form was completely outmatched compared to the hunk of muscle eating in front of her. Deciding it was best to walk away, she took a step back. But her foot crushed a few brittle leaves, making a noise just loud enough to make her cringe. Surely the animal heard that. "Petch!" she half-yelled. No reason to be quiet now.

OOC...eh. Is this too hard to read? I'm on the fence. Anyway, not my best, but it gets the job done. Good enough for government work, as they say.

[Krivak]

As the leaves were crushed from brittle to paste, Krivak took some time to view the area. It was quite lovely. It was full of food, it was safe from predators, and the dreadful wind didn't appear to be quite as malevolent here. He wished grass grew here, but you can't have it all. It would be good for himself, or even a small herd, but it could never sustain massive herds. He would have to move on if he wanted to find a place for his own herd. But perhaps he could find a suitable mate here. CRUNCH! His ears perked up at the loud sound. He continued to listen for further sounds. None came and the air seemed to grow quiet. It could only mean one thing. He was being stalked by a predator. If it had been a passive animal, they would've kept about their business. But this predator had made a mistake. An instant after the crunch, there was a loud HISS! So it was a cat. He liked the small cute cats, but absolutely despised the large ones that liked to hunt his kind. He was used to having to defend against the cats, wolves, and even the occasional bear. Cats always try to get on the back and slash at the neck. He slowly turned his head so that he could peer back as nonchalantly as possible, as if he hadn't even heard the feline. He let loose a snort of relief. It wasn't a normal town cat, but it was about the same size as one. He turned around and slowly meandered over to the cat, who clearly knew it had been exposed. Krivak was oblivious to the leaves that had gotten caught in the hair on his chin, giving him a green beard. As he neared the feline, he brought his snout down close to it, and snorted out his nose at it, to see if it flinched or not.

[Ashen]

The large beast paused in its chewing and perked up its ears, searching for any sign of danger. Ashen stilled her movements. If the animal didn't notice her, she could get away unscathed. But that was too much to hope for. The cow-like creature swung its enormous head around slowly and spotted her. Oh, boy. Ashen watched warily as the beast rambled over, taking its time and gathering leaves on its chin to form a leafy beard. In most other situations, she would have found that amusing. But there were more important things to worry about. Ashen tensed when the animal finally reached her, prepared to bolt. She had no idea what it was going to do, but she figured it was going to try to harm her. So she was caught off guard when it lowered itself to her level and snorted in her face. The fur along her back and tail puffed out and she let out a startled hiss as she jumped back. Ashen's nose and whiskers tingled, causing her to make the feline version of a sneeze. She blinked, looked up into the eyes of the beast, and jumped back; tail twitching. Why hadn't it attacked her yet? Granted, she knew she wasn't exactly intimidating, but still. Ashen decided to wait and see what the other animal would do before making any moves. OOCSo sorry for the long wait! Hope it works for you.

[Krivak]

Krivak was surprised at the fiery spirit of the cat. In response to his snort, it had hissed at him, but didn't run. Was it too scared to run? Or did it think that it could win a fight against him? Then the cat seemed to snort as well, as if mimicking him. Or was it a sneeze? Krivak's ego forced him to assume the cat was trying to be like him, and this made him a lot happier than he would've thought. A cat wanting to be like a yak? How strange, but then again, who wouldn't want to be like the strongest, most powerful creature on the face of Mizahar? Still beaming from the indirect praise, he continued to peer at the cat. Would the cat want to join his herd? Clearly he couldn't mate with it, but he could always protect it from dangers like a proper bull. He began to circle the feline, and began nudging at it with his snout. He wanted to see if it would fight or run, because he only respected the strong. He began nudging it harder, then finished by bellowing loudly in its face. Would it fight back?

[Ashen]

Well, crap. Was Ashen's only thought when the animal started to circle her, sizing her up. Her stomach fluttered as she tracked its movements, careful to keep it in her sight. She didn't know what it was going to do, but she wanted to be prepared. Then it poked her with its snout. Poked her! How rude. Caught off guard, Ashen let out a little squeak of surprise and jumped away. But before she could put some more distance between them, it was circling her again. She let out a hiss, trying to scare it away, but she already knew it was going to fail miserably. In response, the beast just poked her harder, nudging a good few inches to the side. Ashen lashed out and swiped at its snout with her claws, but she missed narrowly. Whoops! She took a step back, preparing to strike again, when the animal came to a halt in front of her. This caused her to pause as well. What was it going to do now? Despite her best efforts, Ashen was nowhere near prepared when all the animal did was let out a roar. And a huge roar at that. The sound was loud, extremely so, and caused her eardrums to ring almost to the point of painful. She let out a strangled yowl and twisted backwards, batting at her ear to try to stop the ringing. "Dammit, you-you cow-thing! If I go deaf, it's your fault!" she cursed, stringing some interesting swears together. But to the cow-thing, as she now officially dubbed it, it would just sound like a bunch of hissing and growls. After a few moments, she settled down and turned back to face the animal. She twitched her tail and sat down, trying her best to appear regal. Best to cling to whatever dignity she had left. She studied the animal, trying to figure out her next step. Major threat, yes. Would it harm her? Possibly. The outcome of a fight? Not good, at least for her. Flee? Her? Never. Ashen sighed inwardly. Why couldn't she have been a bear or some other large predator? At least she had a chance then. Oh, the joys of being small.

[Krivak]

Krivak was most pleased at the responses of the cat. It was a true yak at heart, fighting back, roaring back. He stared into the cat's eyes as it sat there, waiting on him. He moved in extra close, and then licked it from paw to ear with his massive tongue, a sign of approval. Krivak paid no mind to the fact that his slobber was sticky, dripping, and smelly. He continued to lick the cat all over, ignoring any and all protests. Krivak had never met a cat like this before. They were usually all trouble and fleeing. Krivak had a seemingly brilliant idea. He scooped his nose into the snow beneath the cat, pushed forward, and lifted it up. He then tossed his head back a bit. This should've gotten the cat situated on the top of his head, right between his massive, and impressive horns. He would then promptly turn and begin walking off with the cat astride him, grunting cheerfully. He needed a proper meal than the little shrubs here, and he was sure the cat was hungry too.

[Ashen]

Ashen gasped as the cow-thing's tongue completely drenched her in slobbery drool. But before she could react, it licked her again, and again. "Hey, there! Gah!" she protested, trying to get away and failing. Suddenly, the ground beneath her feet disappeared and the world around her spun around in a blur. She yowled as she was tossed in the air.Oh my gods, I'm going to die! Ashen shut her eyes and braced herself for the landing. It never came. Somehow, she found herself perched on the cow-thing's massive head; its two very pointy horns on either side of her. She was flabbergasted. How had that happened? The animal then started to prance around, making a happy noise. Well, at least it wasn't a threat anymore, was all Ashen could think, bemused. However, it was all she could do not to be thrown to the ground. This had definitely taken an interesting turn of events. OOCSorry for the delay! Writing and I are having a sort of tug-of-war right now. It's not the best, but I hope it works!