ORIGIN

Reseda slunk in the darkness, her tongue flicking carefully as she followed the moose as he trecked through the bones. What a coincedence, that she should find him here, just as she was to leave to find one of his family. It wasn't the one she had thought to take, she was thinking, perhaps, the tall, silent one or the hyena. But to take the father himself...it was risky, sure, he was very important. But it would, perhaps, give her the most payback.

She sent forward a thread of magic some ways ahead of them and in the shadows elsewhere she felt it form into a copy of her. She couldn't see it so it wasn't a crystal clear, perfect copy but it would suffice in the darkness of Canis. From the eyes of her copy, she stepped forward, just out of the shadows, to stand in the moose's way.

"I never expected to see you again," the copy hissed slowly. "Especially in my home." She gave the moose a toothy, humorless grin as she took a step forward, tongue flickering with excitement. In the shadows behind him, the real Reseda watched with burning intensity, waiting for her moment to strike.

Reseda tried not to move as the moose suddenly turned around. A few more steps and he would discover her hiding spot. But it seemed that her copy had worked and he spun around the face the fake. That was good. Carefully, slowly, silently, she began to slink forward as her copy spoke in her stead.

"Me," she agreed, the same toothy grin on her face. "You made a mistake coming here. I've always wanted to get revenge on you for foiling my plans. I could have been a great mother with three powerful minions at my side. I would have been much more powerful then I am now if you hadn't interfered."

As the copy spoke, Reseda crept closer and closer and closer. Cycles of living in Canis had taught her how to move silently through the bones and she carefully stepped over everything she could, making no noise, keeping her tail high to not disturb a single speck of dust.

Finally, when she was within range, she paused. The copy smiled bigger as she bunched her muscles. "You'll die for that." At the same moment that she lunged, the copy disappeared as the magic cut away. However, having practiced magic her whole life, she wasn't very adept at physical combat so her slice was uneven. But her aim was true as she lunged towards a back leg, attempting to cut it off, or break it, at least, and cripple the moose.

Reseda felt the bone cracking beneath her jaws, but she didn't stop until she felt a hoof connect with her cheek. She grunted as her grip was loosened and she was kicked away. But, at least, she had done what she needed. Now he would find it harder to get closer to her with his leg like that. And she didn't need to get closer.

For a moment, her eyes glanced away as she searched the ground for a good piece of bone. She spied one - splintered and sharp - and willed it to rise and shoot towards the moose. But it seemed, in her excitement, she misdirected the energy and, instead, found herself rising off the ground. Before she had a chance to react, she was throwing herself at the moose, completely unprepared to even raise a claw to scratch him as she tumbled towards his face.

Reseda probably could have stopped herself, she probably could have used magic again to rectify her mistake, but in that split second, she decided that she would not. After all, if she went back to the Sinful Seven with no wounds, it wouldn't look like she had been attacked, would it?

So she fell upon the moose's antlers, the sharper pieces stabbing into her skin. She hissed with pain as the two of them toppled to the ground. The force of their roll threw her off and she managed to scrabble back to her feet, blood dripping slowly from the small wounds on her stomach. She didn't hesitate to throw her magic at the closest broken bone - not nearly as sharp as the last, but with enough force, it would cause damage. This time the magic went correctly and the bone shard was lifted from the ground and went hurtling, point forward, towards the moose.