It's a Slippery Slope

Blizzards have been frequent in Boreas this season. He had never seen so much snow before outside of the North. Granted, these mountains were still part of the Northern territories, but they weren't far north. The last time he had been here, he had never been able to get beyond the cave behind the waterfall. But this time? It looked like snow had fallen and packed in enough to where he might be able to make it further. Determined to see how far he could get, the stallion started to climb the worn path, following the tracks of several animals that had already been through here. It was harder to climb with all the snow. A fresh layer of powder on top of the more slippery ice beneath. Were it not for his crystallized, cloven hooves, he might've had a much harder time than usual. With some effort and nearly an hour or so, he finally made it beyond the cave behind the waterfall, passing that point until he was reaching the top. The path twisted and turned, and he was forced onto precarious ledges as he continued on, but with his companion's keen eyes, he was able to make it further than he'd ever made it before on this mountain.

Breathing hard from the effort, he had little time to take in his victory before the sudden stench of a mountain cat reached him. Turning on his heels, he came face to face with a cougar. The big cat hissed at him, tail lashing and ears pinned as it stalked toward him. If he had to guess, the cat was hungry and hadn't seen prey up here in some time. Stomping the ground, Balian reared in an effort to intimidate the beast before it launched at him. He kicked out with his forelegs, feeling its claws cut down his chest before his hoof made contact with its chest, knocking it away from him for a brief moment. He had to be careful here. Behind him were steep trails, and in front of him, no escape that he could see. Beneath him? Slippery ice and deep snow. He feigned rushing forward as the cat threatened him, only he found it difficult to move in the deep snow. At least it looked like the cougar was having a harder time now that it didn't have any boulders or solid ground beneath it.

The cougar leaped at him again, and Balian swung his head, knocking the side of the cougar's head with his own and sending it to the ground in a daze. Without waiting for it to get up, he lunged forward, using a technique he learned from the wolves this time. His retractable fangs popped out, and he sunk his teeth into the cougar's scruff before lifting it off the ground and tossing it over his head. As he let go, the cougar's claws reached out for him, scratching either side of his neck as he let go and sent it sailing up and over him. It yowled with surprise as it flew through the air, landing with a hard thud against the cold ground somewhere out of sight. Wary and full of adrenaline, he worked to try and get himself back to solid ground. He waited a few moments, expecting the cougar to return. But his companions had checked, and it seemed it had decided the horse wasn't worth the fight.  

"Speech"