ardent

Get Off of My Back!

Fighting prompt (solo)



Balian

Avalon
Undecided

Expert Fighter (170)

Expert Navigator (130)

age
11 Years
gender
Male
gems
15
size
Large species
build
Balanced
posts
84
player
Dragon Mod

Critical Attack!1KThe Ooze ParticipantThe Ooze - Variation 1Treat 2019
08-28-2019, 10:52 PM


The young stallion was tied up, as usual, and he was itching to move. He kept hearing talk of a market...and judging from the way the leader of the dogs kept looking at him and the other captives, he could only guess it wasn't something good. He was well out of earshot, so he couldn't hear what they were saying. Snorting softly, he absently pawed at the ground and sent up dust clouds around him. When he took a deep breath, he noticed a new smell...it was not one of the dog scents, but something...feline. Something he had smelled before in the past, but just slightly different. He was used to bigger cats trying to hunt him down, but he had always been able to escape. His ears flattened to his head as he glanced around, turning his head as much as the rope allowed to try and figure out where the creature was. Tied up like this, he was practically a sitting duck and despite his ancestral instinct to run, he couldn't. The ropes hardly allowed him any room, and his back legs were tied together so in the event he did somehow manage to get loose, there was no way he'd be going very far unless he wanted to hop around. He had considered it, but doing that opened him up to many dangers. And he simply was not willing to risk broken legs or being easy prey for all the damn predators running around. Honestly, he felt like these wolves were keeping him around to eat later, but seeing as how they hardly let him eat, he doubted that was their intention. A fat horse was a big meal, and he was far from that since he had been captured. He was strong, but the lack of food and proper care had reduced his bones to peek through his dirtied hide.

A rustle in the bushes alerted him to something nearby, the proud beast flicking his gaze to the side as he strained to listen. That feline scent hadn't gone away, and he wasn't completely sure where that rustling had come from. Snorting warily, his ears flicked to and fro as he tried to remain aware of his surroundings. Another rustling sounded. Louder this time, and behind him. He chanced a glance behind his back, neck straining as the rope pulled and rubbed against his now sore skin. Through the darkness, he almost saw nothing. But thanks to his species having superior night vision, he saw the faint glowing eyes of something in the underbrush. His nostrils flared as he took in the scent, and then he realized what it was. Mountain cat! His eyes grew wide, and almost as if on cue, the beast jumped forward and launched itself onto his exposed back. Balian cried out in alarm, a deep, throaty cry as he felt claws sink into his shoulders and back. Instinctively, he bucked just as those claws started to pierce his skin, somewhat dislodging the cougar and forcing its bite for the back of his neck to miss.

He had very little room to move, but he would have to try and work with what he had. He thrashed his head back while bucking his hindquarters forward until he felt the felines head collide with the back of his own. He heard a pained groan from the beast, but it still hadn't released its grip. Snorting angrily, Balian did one big leap straight up, putting as much power into his hobbled legs as he could before he landed with a heavy thud like a car hitting a really big, really deep pothole. The cougar slipped forward, claws sliding down his left shoulder as the impact of the move jarred it and caused it to lose its grip. To the mountain cats misfortune, it had fallen right in front of his forelegs and his head, and that was exactly where he wanted it to be.

The young colt smirked as he briefly stared down the mountain cat and the mountain cat stared back, its ears flattened against its head. It had been momentarily stunned after its fall from his back, and he intended on using that to his advantage. Given that he had little room to move, his forelegs were free. He thrashed them at the mountain cat, hardened hooves striking against flesh and bone as he wailed on the nasty beast. He struck for its head, its spine, its legs, its ribs, and just about every part he could. He lunged his head down, his teeth aiming to grab the mountain cat by its scruff. Despite his pounding on it, however, it lashed at his muzzle as it drew closer, and the moment he grabbed hold of it while ignoring the stinging pain of claws on his own flesh, he flung the creature over himself and sent it flying high into the air. He turned to look behind him just as the beast hit the ground with a sickening thud. It scrambled with little grace to its feet, falling over a few times as it tried to scramble away. Balian knew he had broken a few bones and that fall had probably shattered more. As the cat disappeared into the darkness, he uttered a victory cry. He might have been a captive now, but nobody would dominate him!

WC: 896

"Speech"