When all of the shouting continued, Virgil started hauling ass and swinging her great head back to low at the rest of the group, "get by me if you can't fight it! Come on, let's get to shelter!"

There wasn't much else to consider, since the bison was just doing the exact same thing as before - mostly out of concern for the two (last she counted) things plonked on her back and elevated to the skies.

The poor lad continued to bound ahead after the horse - right until an Eyehook swooped down from the skies and it all went to pot. Vinea's satellite dish ears flickered in the direction of the stallion, feelers wiggling before he simply resolved to just hunker down in the snow and make himself as invisible as possible.

May as well not be seen until the whole group was moving forwards, right?

Hargrave smiled down at the fox, a rare display of emotion followed quickly by a worried push of the brow. What little light was there was swallowed by a flurry of wings, and the dog quickly dropped her head. Without any asking of permission, she nudged Null lightly, shoving her in the direction of the larger, more woolly creatures and dropping lower.

A predator of such size would go for the tallest thing, right? Best to make their silhouette smaller.

“

SEE ME BARE MY TEETH FOR YOU

···

Null's head whipped up when the shadow was cast over them. Was it not the flying beings-? Golden eyes took in the sight above, watching as- one of the challengers?- came for another.

And then she was being moved closer to the woolly creature. She didn't complain to the touch, only turning to look back down at Hargrave and losing her playfulness in her step. There's danger here, and she trotted to keep up- running when the other being did, too.

She was little, and it wasn't easy to keep up, but she would try.

Shida trotted after Ivory, glancing back at the loud chicken that was speaking. "Hey, hey! Nice to meet ya, Kalama!" She didn't pay it much mind for now, nor did she offer for her to join their little duo - Shida didn't really care enough. All that was important was sticking with Ivory.

She kept pace with her sister for now, occasionally glancing around at the ground, and at the ground behind them. They didn't want to get caught up in...whatever was waiting for them. But a screech distracted her. She looked up right as Ivory burst forward to attack the vulture that was swooping down, letting out a cry as her sister left her side. "CAREFUL," she screeched, jumping after Ivory. She reared up next to her sister, ready to defend if the vulture tried to come after her.

The screech had Lyra's head snapping up towards the sky, eyes wide with fear. There was a vulture, diving down, but, to her relief, it wasn't coming towards her. It was a sickening feeling, though, to think that she was relieved someone else was getting hurt instead.

She watched other gembounds jump into defend the dragon-thing, though, and she breathed out, forcing the weight off her chest. It wasn't like she could do much could, after all. She wasn't a fighter. Still, though, there was something funny about it, as she watched it dive. It jerked in the air, looking almost like..."Is it frozen? Look...it's got ice on its wings. Why is it attacking?"

Palefur trotted next to the bison, still watching carefully, and also keeping an eye on the vulture swooping down to attack Desert Rose. She didn't leap in to defend - there were others, after all, that were closer and stronger that were lending their claws. Besides, it wasn't logical to put herself at risk. Better let them compete over self-sacrificial behaviors while she plodded on, protected by their stupidity.

She simply kept pace with Virgil, casting out her senses to see if any other vultures were trying to come at them - or any other dangers, really. There was no reason not to help out, though, as long as it didn't put her at risk - friendlier allies were more useful.

Oleander

Melt all your art and drink the paint

The screech above them sent a streak of terror through Oleander's bones. She shrieked and backed away, watching the vulture dive for the dragon. A lot of others lashed out to try and protect the guy and she was too shell-shocked to get any closer.

But...Warrior was right. Looking at the bird, the way it was diving was way different then the vultures she'd encountered before. "W-what's wrong with it? There's no way that's normal."

Kalama was on edge from Fisher's words, half trotting and half running. So what came next didn't need to work hard to startle her. She squawked from her place trotting next to the buffalo. There was a screech from ahead, loud enough to pierce through the winds. It took her a few moments to see through the snowstorm, but she recognized the shapes as a vulture harassing the dragon of the group. While normally Kalama would be happy to have a leg up in a competition, the dragon hadn't even been aware of the vulture while in flight. It hadn't even been paying attention! That was low, even for a lesser.

"Cowar-!" She began as a shout and ended as a hacking cough. She'd been doing a lot of yelling recently. Kalama shook her ruff. She sprinted forward, ahead of her group. Weaving past the crowd of gembound. She would harass the vulture in turn. "Coward bird! Come fight me!"

It dove low enough for her to hit. She kicked off the ground in a leap, attempting to give the vulture one good strike with her talons. She flailed her legs, and although she much more cold air than hide, her talons struck flesh somewhere in her leap. She could feel the warmth of it in her claws.


think "speak"

Gatto caught sight of blurred movement in the blizzard, in fact, one of the nasty buzzards. With a hiss through their mandibles, they swerved by, glancing back with some muted concern for their fellow champion. However, the thick white flurries kept them from keeping an eye on just about anything.

The yelp didn't seem like a good sign. "Hey!! Desert! You alright back there?!" They yelled, considering turning back to help... But only considering. The longer any of them were out here in the cold, the more dangerous it would be.

... It would be a much safer bet to keep moving, and trust that Desert Rose could handle himself. He had every time before, after all.