click click boom

Chaos' eyes searched the darkness automatically, though he knew it was a useless gesture when he couldn't even see his nose in front of his face. That cat sounded angry, though. Territorial maybe? What the hell kind of big cat claimed a mine as territory? But maybe it had just come in out of the sleet like he had, but gotten lost. Who knew how long it had been in here. It was probably hungry, and it was definitely pissed off. Killing him would satisfy both those problems as far as the critter was concerned.

Chaos, on the other hand, wasn't quite that keen to be killed or eaten, in any order. His lips peeled back from his fangs and he sent a rasping snarl back at the cat.

Faintly, behind him, he could hear Valdis' voice speaking to his owls, their faint hooting echoing towards him as well. Oh good. Backup.

He nearly jumped out of his skin, though, when a much closer, much louder, vaguely familiar voice spoke up practically in his face. He kept himself from yelping and falling back on his ass - barely - but didn't stop the sarcasm from flowing. "Oh yeah, y'think? Shit, I'd never have guessed that."

Scent and voice finally clicked, and Chaos growled out a laugh, still expecting claws in his face at any moment. "Ashmedai, you ugly lump of bear shit, is that you?"

A strange, rank scent hit him then. Not Ash's scent, but the scent of a sick, unwashed feline, and this time Chaos did yelp when a snarling cannonball hit him in the chest. The cat couldn't see him any more than he could see it, so it had underestimated where he was because of the way his voice bounced off the mine walls. That was probably what had saved him, because the cat's surprised confusion gave Chaos an instant to leap back out of reach of those deadly claws before the cat could stick any of them into him.

Judging by the size, shape, and general cussedness... "Cougar," he spat for Valdis and Ash's benefit, then scrambled back another couple steps before the cougar could pounce on his voice again.