Nova rolled, a luxiourious yawn pulling open her jaws and revealing twin rows of pearly pointed teeth, new and yet to be dulled by years of biting and gnawing. She had intended to sleep away the morning, however the nagging feeling that something was missing kept her from dozing off again. Her long limbs reached out before her, paws searching for the familiar warmth of her sister and finding nothing but the cool, stale den air. Nova rolled the other way, opening her eyes to see to see not only was Aponi missing, but Mercy was too. Nova shivered as she hoisted herself up on her feet. The soft sounds of sleeping adults, their bulky furred forms silhouetted against the den's entrance, told her she wasn't alone. However, she couldn't help but feel abandoned, seeing as both Mercy and Aponi had managed to leave without bothering to wake her.

Nova scrambled over the snoozing adults, somehow not waking them despite stumbling a bit. Her breath fogged as she stood just outside the den, each exhalation swirling into eddies that melded in with the rest of the morning mist. She had suspected that Mercy and Aponi had ran off together, but sticking her nose to the ground, the trails of scent told a different story. Faced with the choice of picking who she might go and find, and thinking of what sort of cruel trick Aponi would likely play on her if she even did manage to find her, it took only a moment for Nova to decide to look for Mercy instead. At least he was nice.

The fog seemed to eat up all sound, even the beats of her paws seemingly muffled. Just as she was starting to doubt she'd even find him, he seemed to appear out of nowhere. "Oh!" Nova squeaked, suddenly stopping when Mercy's grey shape seemed to materialize just a few feet before her. She hadn't expected to come across him so suddenly, yet, there he was. He seemed tense, his focused stare aimed at something that she couldn't see. She peered up ahead, yellow eyes squinted hard as if sheer effort would let her see what Mercy could. "What is it?" She asked in hushed tones. "A m-monster?" she whispered, inching closer to stand just at the boy's shoulder.

Each of her velvety black ears tucked back against her head as Mercy's voice wavered. He didn't know what it was, and she still couldn't see it for herself. If only @Mapplethorpe were there, he might have an answer for what lurked in the mist. He always seemed to have answers for everything. But Nova wouldn't call for help from Mamma and Appa like she always would, lest she give Aponi another opportunity to make fun of her. Nodding and gulping, she leaned in closer to Mercy, still keeping her yellow eyes honed in on the mist in case she might miss whatever it was.


An eddy of fog and a glint of something bright as morning dew caught Nova's eye. A gasp escaped her lips, sure it was what Mercy had spied. At first, she froze, but only for a moment as she stared at what must have been two shining eyes. Then, with a boldness that could only be expected from Naira's daughter, Nova nipped at Mercy's shoulder, tugging him forward so that they might face the ethereal beast together. The distant glint had faded, but the dark shadows swirling in the mist remained, and with a sense of urgency Nova whispered, "C'mon, 'afore it gets away!" If they could catch it, maybe then she could really show up Aponi for once.

While he had the inclination to track and hunt down nearly everything that moved, Mercy had serious doubts about going anywhere near whatever this was- at least, not until he had a better view of it and could sort out how dangerous it would be. Something amid the fog glinted, and to Mercy, it took the shape of a beady eye- glistening, clever. The darkness and fog swirled, and the glinting thing disappeared. His nose quivered as he tried to catch a whiff of its scent- surely, it had a scent, right? It had to. Every living thing had a scent- even the plants and the trees- they all had an odor. But he couldn't make anything out- not yet.

He skipped sideways, shying like a spooked horse when Nova nipped his shoulder and tugged at him, before she surged forward, full of conviction. In that moment, Mercy forgot who she was- Nova wasn't second to Aponi in boldness, then. She wasn't the little girl who'd hurt herself while jumping off a boulder. No- now, she was the queen's daughter, the one who'd bravely leapt so that she wouldn't lose a dare, one who now possessed the fearlessness to chase after something large and unknown. This was an alpha, born and bred, and Mercy followed obediently, without question. He deferred to her, now- after having been her protector a few moments ago, he became her soldier- willing to follow her into battle and lay down his life...Or, well, a few of his whiskers- to protect her.

Her boldness was contagious and Mercy felt the fear turn to aggression and confidence. He peeled back his lips and growled, a low and savage sound, which sounded surprisingly adult. Pleased with this, his conviction became stoked. Though he stayed by Nova's side and refused to move more than a bodylength from her, he upped the stakes and growled again much louder and much more fiercely. Whatever it was they were chasing, there was no way it was going to get the better of them.

Look Out!

A young pronghorn has fallen behind its herd and starved in the snow. +5 Health

Alongside his friend Mercy charged toward the shape in the mist which, with a small gust of wind, seemed to disappear for a moment or two. He lifted his head as he ran to try and get a better view of whatever it was that had been skulking about in the mist, but the thickness of the fog had clouded his vision. But it only took a small change in the wind in order to clear his vision and he saw it yet again- something grotesque and dark, and they were getting closer and closer. His eyes hadn't been tricking him before- he could clearly make out the shape of antlers, but the beast's head was not high above the ground. Instead, whatever it was they'd seen was lying quite still, and wasn't making any threatening moves or looks. The closer they came to it, the more the pair slowed down, wary of this shape with antlers which held its ground, fading in and out of the mist.

Mercy knew the scent of death; but he knew the scent of prey, and recognized what this was after a short, hair-raising moment. Whatever it was, it was dead. He crept forward, keeping one eye on Nova as they moved in slowly, closing in the final distance between themselves and the corpse, only to see that it was that of a young, starved pronghorn. He circled around it once or twice, still not convinced that that had been what he'd originally seen...Surely, it had been larger in the distance, more forboding- but this had antlers, and he was sure he'd seen antlers. So, once their nerves settled and fright turned to laughter, the two friends shared a meal in the mist before they returned to their homeland, nerves settled and hunger satisfied.