... the longer this whole thing went on, the more concerned she grew.

Glaive had trailed the hunt from any water source she could, crashing through tight tunnels and sucking precious gulps of air where she could (and substituting magic where she couldn't.) More than once, she'd lost sight of the hunting party; fortunately, it was hard to miss on recast of her magic.

Their path had become clear after a certain point, at least, which brought her to here: Cetus. It was surprisingly homely, despite being quite opposite to Fornax, Leo, Pegasus... any of the warmer caves suited to her sunbathing-desiring self. A primordial sense of safety thrummed through her as she slunk through the murky waters; even with the ethereal hunters stalking about and peering through the bushes and all the other Gembound here.

She was more than afraid of the largest of the bunch, and shied away as it thundered through the mire.

Otherwise, she simply floated in place and peered into the fog as best she could—with or without magic—and gradually, as mentioned before, grew more concerned about how much of a game this actually was. Not... that she thought herself capable of doing anything about it. Could she even raise her voice enough to talk everyone out of it?

... best to hope that it didn't come to that, right?

Glaive is observing!

Thought she was done yet? Foolish.

Hargrave hobbled along after the group, panting to an excess and plagued with a rapidly mounting desire to enter into combat again—it would come soon enough, she assured herself, but that dark beast in her couldn't be sated for long. There was just enough restraint in her to turn upon the Huntsmen as their Hounds shattered every eardrum in the vicinity. They found what they'd been looking for.

She knew not where the Quarry was, but she knew that nothing would live to touch it, if she could make it happen.

Fiery eyes rounded on the nearest ethereal hunter and she wrestled her magic into violent shape: direct, inescapable immolation. Mazes and physical objects could apparently be phased through, but the Gray Hare had her doubts about fire. It was incorporeal and raw, just as their essence seemed to be.

Hargrave is aiding the Quarry!

The white horse, one of the protectors, exploded in light as shadows fled from his spot -- shoving away and illuminating, for just a beat, where he'd been standing. Right at the base of a tree, with roots all tangled together. Kitty began to scramble over towards the tree, her ears pricked forward. "MIGHT BE OVER HERE!" she called, figuring that the protectors were probably near the Quarry, and hoping she hadn't ended up distracting them (though that would have been a neat trick). She bobbed a wisp into existence once she was close to the ground, and pushed it about thirty feet away from her and towards the roots of the tree, hoping to keep the light there for hunters to follow.


Kitty is aiding the hunters!

He heard his lover's friend's distress, and his eyes immediately skipped towards James. "Are you alright?" he called, ears pricking up. The squeal, and then the thrashing-- it was troublesome, and Tahi-shei drew closer but hesitated and did not help him to his feet, unwilling to interfere in the workings of the Hunt. "Are you okay? Do you need to take a break? I'm sure the Kings wouldn't be upset if you sat out for a little while," he said, looking over the mud on James's feathers. "Especially if you need to get cleaned up."


@james
Tahi-shei is still just observing, even if he kind of wants to help out James :(

There was a lot going on, and Aran was disappointed that he couldn't even see it. Either way, it didn't matter anyway since he wasn't there to take action for anything that was happening, even if the voices around him spoke of various different things. He would have to figure out what was going on after, or maybe the three kings would show up once again? Didn't they have something to do with the hunt? It was almost hard for the barasingha to remember.

Remembering or not, Aran stuck in his spot to observe what was going on.

Aran is observing

THE WILD HUNT

THE STALK

Aiding the Huntsmen and Hounds Kitty, Madhukar, Draconua
Aiding the Quarry James, Talys, Abaddon, Warrior, Khloros, Hargrave
Observing Tahi-shei, Aran, Sharp, Comet, Glaive

_____________

A single Huntsman broke, and then another, from the pack: the stone thrown by Talys seemed to be greeted without suspicion. They drove into the swamp in that direction, vanishing quickly into the mist.

To observers, it might have seemed like something unseen was attacking horses, in particular, as James and Warrior flailed. This had little visible effect on the hunt, though Kitty's call for attention rallied several Hounds and Huntsmen in the right direction.

Two Hounds circled back, ghostly, wispy, snapping mist-trailing jaws at Abaddon--but they did no damage, bar a feeling of aching cold as they approached and as they 'struck.' Close by, two more Huntsmen turned, briefly distracted by Khloros, before rushing in Kitty's direction, to her call.

The Quarry has won this round, by a hair. (A hare?) The Wild Hunt will finish in a finale in Orion.

Those ghastly horses--skeletal, thin--leaping log and landing, without a ripple, in the swamp found themselves confronted by blasts of sudden flame. Two reared, twisting back in the bright light; one leapt into it--and vanished, before reforming on the other side. Its body was briefly wispy, more thinly ethereal, as it turned--as its Rider regarded Hargrave with empty phantasm's eyes.

It was just--barely--all enough of a distraction for the Quarry to break free, one last time: a great gray hare, all tendrils of fog and wisp-light eyes, swept past and over them in three vast leaps. It tore formless through the trees, passing through them and back from Cetus, the Hunt wheeling once more to give baying, thundrous chase.

_____________

The Quarry has won this round, by a hair. (A hare?) The Wild Hunt will finish in a finale in Orion.

While The Chase ended with a tie between Observers and the Huntsmen, this Stalk has ended in favor of the Quarry. The final thread will be the tiebreaker to determine the outcome.

Characters may now exit this thread, in order to join the finale in Orion.

@Kitty (Talys, Tahi-shei) @James @Warrior (Khloros, Abaddon), @Aran @Sharp @Madhukar @Draconua (for visibility as much as anything!) @Comet

He stumbled back upright, confused.

He couldn't tell what had happened--there was movement everywhere, magic and shouting, fog and darkness. It was chaos.

When the Hunt sped on, he had to struggle to keep up--and he briefly envied the other horse, the one with wings. Surely it would make keeping up an easier task-! Warrior pushed effort into his muscles, a grimace on his face. Were he not of desert stock--of run-for-hours body--he would have given up then and there but he was invested, now. He wanted to see this through. His legs pumped against the sloshing mud, struggling to keep upright and to keep up.

And so when the Huntsmen vanished in a whorl of fog, Warrior was close on their trail, sweat gleaming in the chill of Cetus and wisp-eyes trailing light behind him.

exit Warrior

Khloros had to turn just as abruptly to keep up--they'd run one way, and then the prey had darted by in the other. Lanky body was not built for swamp, but at least he was familiar with the place, and he didn't rush as Warrior did. That was a sure recipe for a leg snapped on underwater, hidden hooks of roots and fallen branches. He picked his way at a delicate trot, pausing to peer at James.

"Are you all right-?" he asked, and paused to wait for a response. Don't I know him-?

When the hunt left, so did he--breaking into a gallop upon reaching open ground, ears flat back and tail streaming out behind him.

It was a day for hunts and horses, it seemed.

horse stock by venomxbaby on deviantart

exit Khloros

The young bull tossed his horns violently at the ghostly dogs. He had no way of knowing that they wouldn't really harm; even their presence was cold, their snapping advance giving him pause.

He hesitated, drawing back--and then, with a bawl of renewed fury, charged forward with a driving set of nub-horns and a shoved-down head.

"BLEEEEH!" he bawled, a wordless war-cry; and then the calf gave chase, clumsily stumbling and staggering after the Hunt.

And then back again, the other way, as they chased the fleeing Quarry for the exit.

exit Abaddon

How embarrassing, he winced, slowly getting his legs under himself, brain just a little bit fried.

He looked up at Tahi, blinking stupidly, and finally shook his head, pushing himself to his feet. He shook as much mud as he dared off of himself before offering Tahi a gentle nuzzle, blinking a few pained tears from his eyes.

"Spell backfired," he explained, "... I feel like my brain's about to run out my ears."

That definitely wasn't good, but he also wasn't about to let the Quarry get away now. If his brain actually started leaking through his ears, then he'd worry, but it hadn't happened yet, so he was optimistic.

"I'll see you in Orion," he said, shaking his head out and trudging off through the muck, wings held high as he headed towards home.

@Tahi-shei
Exit James to Orion.