"I still don't think we should go see your winged mother."
Uriel paused as he stepped onto a fallen tree, turning to give Tiddles a bit of a look. "I love both my mothers equally, and I will visit both of them at my discretion. I know perfectly well how to keep away from the mares of the Flock that would keep me there." At the unimpressed look, he continued, "That's why you'll go into the Flock's lands to get her and bring her out to see me. Then they won't get wind of me and decide I'm in need of protection or something."
Tiddles returned the look, then sighed, following the... He wasn't sure what to call Uri. Sure he had the wings of an Angeni, but he had owl-like feet and a long tail like an Ulun'suti... And a beak. He was some kind of mish-mash. The bobcat, by comparison, was fairly average. He paused and looked around, ears flicking. "You ever think the swamp is a bit... Eerie?"
"Maybe, but I don't mind." One of Uri's own ears flicked, listening to the distinct plunk of a kelpie diving into the water somewhere nearby. The swamp wasn't all water, they were near the outer edges of it after all, but there was still a fair bit of it. "If I find a good reason, I'd happily stay here."
It had been weeks, going on months now since Aoi had disappeared. When Kel had found the blood-soaked ground where the trail ended....well Fred's ears pinned back remembering Moira's screamed cries for her son. Shaking her head, she sighed softly as she continued on her way.
"Thinking about him again?" Maxie asked softly as she padded by her mistress's side.
"Of course I am. He was our wee kit and now..."
"We don't know he's dead Freddie." The unicat murmured softly her gaze understanding. They had helped deliver the three foals, watched them grow, taught them and now one was gone.
"I know, I know. Just wishin'," The witch sighed before cocking her head with a faint frown. "Maxie?"
"Hmm?"
"Do you see that?"
"See what?" The unicat scanned the murky water ahead before freezing. "Freddie..."
"Maxie, go..."
"I'll not leave you!"
"Get help. NOW!" Fred's rainbow-colored horn began to glow as she took a defensive position even as the dark shape in the water grew, a low rumbling sound like rock grinding together growing as the gator shifter eyed its prey.
Maxie knew she would be no help in a fight, just a distraction that Fred didn't need so with one last terrified look, she took off running as fast as she could in the direction of the pack praying they weren't about to lose another beloved family member.
One of Uriel's ears flicked, hearing a yell of 'NOW' somewhere nearby. He paused, one paw up as he looked around, frowning some. Beside him, Tiddles paused as well, also looking around. After a moment, the bobcat said, "That wasn't a kelpie, was it?"
"No, no it wasn't..." Tail curling to and fro, Uriel looked about, before spreading one pair of his wings. "Pick one, back or try and keep up."
"Back." Using the trees and rocks around them, Tiddles vaulted off objects until he was settled on the hybrid's back.
Once the weight of the bobcat was there, Uriel took off, using his wings to add speed as he followed the direction he'd heard the yelling from. If he was quick, he might get there in time to save somebody, and hopefully, nobody lost a limb. He'd heard from his larger mother just what it looked like when a winged Soquili lost one or more of said wings, and what it did to their minds. They were never the same, never as vibrant. Some improved and got closer to what they used to be, but many just... Didn't. And some gave in to the despair.
Dodging trees, Uriel jumped over a small body of water, wings flaring out before he took flight to follow the waterway's path. Surely it was close... Surely...
A small dark shape all but plowed into Uriel's legs, before vibrant blue eyes looked up at the stallion desperately. "Help! Please help! My lady is in danger! A shifter...please!!" True this stallion was an unknown, he was not pack, but he was here and she couldn't leave Freddie in danger any longer.
"Come! Please!!" Barely waiting to see if he would follow, the sleek unicat bolted back in the direction she had came from, her small lean body seeming to fly over the murky water and soggy ground.
He'd only just touched down to avoid crashing into trees that were getting too close to fly through when something else crashed into him. He looked down in surprise, lifting one paw, before he saw the unicat. Tiddles leaned over one of Uri's wings before nearly falling off, "Oh, what a vis-"
"Tiddles not now." While the bobcat huffed, Uri flicked his ears, then asked, "Shifter?" His head lifted as he looked in the direction the yelling had come from earlier, then back to-- Damn that was fast. He shared a look with Tiddles, before taking off after the unicat. Trees flew past, and the ground got slightly squishier in places, as they bolted through the forest and swampland. Getting this much further in, the air became even more humid, the smells distinct to the areas directly around the swamp water stronger.
As soon as he cleared the trees by the waterway, Uriel barked, "TIDDLES, JUMP OFF!" When the bobcat leapt free, the Soquili went straight for the Shifter, letting out an angry bellow, the sharp claws of a raptor aiming for the beast.
When he arrived, it was to a hell of a sight. A slender mare with rainbow glowing crystals along her back, legs, and tail matching the curved horn growing from her brow, was fighting back against a much larger gator shifter. There were bloody scratches on her legs but just as many on the shifter's face and legs.
Even as Uriel watched, the mare swung her tail like a weapon, smashing the sharp crystals against the gator's hide causing it to hiss and snap at her. Still, it was clear that without help she wouldn't last much longer.
At Uriel's bellow, the shifter turned it's attention to this new, much larger threat, a deep bass rumble of rage spilling from it.
Uriel decided he could be distracted later. In the meantime, there was danger ahoof and that shifter needed to go - One way or another. He attacked it, with teeth so sharp and claws that grabbed, trying to turn it over so he could get at the less protected underside. His tail lashed, trying, too, to wrap around the thing's neck. That or hold the mouth shut as soon as it snapped again.
On the shore, Tiddles cheered them both on. "Yeah, kick its butt! Make it regret its life choices! Or these ones, at least!" He hopped back and forth, tail going seemingly a mile a minute.
With Uriel distracting the shifter, Fred had a chance to breathe before diving back into the fray. Lashing her tail, she smashed the sharp, pointed crystals into the beast's side, a few breaking as they tore into the hide making the shifter bellow in pain.
Now faced with two threats instead of an easy meal, the gator made a break for it. Time to retreat and lick it's wounds!
Breathing hard, her horn still glowing brightly, Fred watched the killer gator disappear into the swamp before swaying and sinking down with a low, pained groan.
"My lady!" Maxie appeared from the foliage rushing to Fred's side. "Oh! Oh, Freddie! Darling girl..."
"Shush now Maxie love, I'm fine." The pale mare soothed her anxious companion, gently nuzzling the unicat. "Thank you for keeping yourself safe."
As the shifter fled, Uriel flew after it, making sure it was good and gone before he returned to the cats and mare. When he landed, he folded first one pair of wings and then the other, looking her over. "Are you alright?" His gaze went from the mare to the cat, then back to the mare. Now that they weren't experiencing a life or death situation, he was able to notice things about her, like the crystals growing on her tail and back, the waves of her hair, the spotting in her coat...
Tiddles eyeballed Uriel, then shook his head, before turning to admire the unicat, Maxie. He couldn't help but letting out a pleasant sigh as he took her in.
"Aye, just a wee bit scratched up is all." Fred turned her attention from Maxine who was gently touching her horn tip to the gashes along the mare's legs to heal them. Green eyes the same color as fresh grass in the spring met his own as she gave him a warm smile. "Thanks ta you that is."
Maxie paid not a bit of attention to the bobcat, instead focusing on healing the gashes on Fred making fussy noises about it all the while.
"Good, good..." Oh, his thoughts were... What were they doing? Were they melting like snow in spring? They must have been because they felt like they were going right out his ears a bit. Kind of embarrassing, if his mothers could see this. He was glad they couldn't see this. "So... Is your herd close by? We should get you back to them before something tries to eat anybody again..."
Watching the unicat some, Tiddles tilted his head, then opted to jump back up onto Uriel's back to settle and loaf. He could watch from here, especially if they were going to start moving soon.
"Aye, our home is not far." Fred nosed Maxie back gently before getting back to her hooves. Gods but she was a tiny thing now that he was closer, the top of her head would fit under his beak (well not counting that crystal-like horn).
"May I have tha name o' me rescuer?"
Maxie grumbled a bit at being pushed back, "He's right my lady. We need to get back before the sun is down."
Fred nodded looking up at Uriel with a warm smile, "You'll be welcome to join the herd tanight. If ya wanting to go onwards come sunup, we'll take ya out the safer way. Come."
Turning towards where the herd made their primary home, Maxie paced by her side.
Wings wiggling and fluffing some, the Angeni mix said, "Uriel. And what's the name of the maiden fair?" Still, he followed, tail twitching and curling, Tiddles now loafing on his back.
"Maxie," Came the sassy reply as Fred smirked over her shoulder at the big stallion. The unicat huffed in amusement shaking her head as she padded along.
"Ignore her, she gets like that any time she narrowly escapes death." Which...apparently was enough that the cat knew the reaction?!
Fred laughed fully then, a deep hearty sound full of mirth. "Excuse me, me wee sass queen!"
Tiddles snorted in amusement, then yawned. "Well, now I know a different maiden's name. Let's find out more later, I'd like to rest."
"You didn't do s**t, Tiddles."
"I supervised!"
Uriel only shook his head, following the mare and cat back to their herd. Whelp, he'd found his reason to stay in the swamp.
[WC: Drani -1,056 || Kea - 800]
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