*static* on my shoulder... (Cougar)

[Sombra]

Charcoal flints carved up the red sand in a flurry of white legs, tail flagging out behind the mares rear like a shimmering banner of ivory. Sombra tossed her head, ears pricked forth, nares flared and blowing hard. Her pelt glistened under the suns merciless rays, but Sombra was built for the desert. Loved it. Thrived in it.

Surging to wards a towering sand dune, she kicked out with her back legs, tossing up a shower of hot sand in her wake. Her muscles worked hard to push her figure up the smoldering hot escarpment. Her eyes glinted with delight as she neared the hills peak, tresses streaming like fine silk. Her hooves found their way through the sinking sand with explicit ease, and with a last triumphant lunge she reached it's summit. The view was, in her personal opinion, spectacular, and the air although somewhat humid, seemed fresher.

Sombra heaved a sigh, and began her careful decent down the slope, neck arched as she focused on her footing. Pausing, she felt the sun ease and directed her ocean blue eyes westward. Setting already? Sombra frowned and steered her gaze east, examining the endless red sand in a more or less disinterested manner. There was a small hidden waterhole about an hour or so north from where she was. If she hurried, she'd no doubt make it there before dark.

She was about to take another step, her eyes examining the sand for a more secure foothold, when she suddenly noticed the irregular evidence of hoof tracks just a few feet ahead. They were deep, and to her horror, recent. Then she caught his scent. There was no mistaking that both belonged to a stallion. Cursing herself, Sombra turned to look back from whence she'd come. Yes, as silly as it might seem, she was willing to extend her journey by another hour, maybe two, if it meant avoiding him. Hoping that he hadn't yet caught her own scent, Sombra made an awkward turn to head back up the sand dune.

[Administration]

Ah, but avoid him she could not. Too late for that, it was.

And why would anyone want to avoid him in first place? He had such a charming, unique, spicy personality and was almost as hyperactive as an iguana in the desert, burning its feet. Hmm, yeah, right, maybe THAT was the reason. Would Cougar ever notice, though? The reason for which other horses avoided him? Nay, he wouldn't...he would have only tossed his head and said "Hey, it's KING Cougar for you!" Because he was still with his foolish idea of leading a herd. Right now and ever his kingdom had only had one integrant; one subject and one king: he and he.

Sad his existence would've been, if he only had an ounce of maturity, but he was as childish as they came. See, he didn't even understand the thing about the alliances-- but then again, who did? The darks were darks just because, and so on. In this crazy world nobody understood anything, and sure thing he wasn't the one to change that.

Well, but enough of governmental conspiracies and political failures; the thing was the Burnt Desert was also Cougar's favorite place to be. The feeling of he soft sand under your hooves, the wind in your mane, and the searing sun over your back; he could have very well obtained that fur color because of receiving so much sunlight over the red sands. Horses, despite of their grace and the fact that none would ever admit it, were big and heavy animals and you could rather easily tell where one was. They didn't have big neon signs to signal their position, and truth was that Sombra's pale profile was pretty hard to see against the graying skies, but the cloud of dust behind her canter was giving her camouflage away.

She turned back only to find him standing pridefully atop the dune. Like the villains in cartoons, he had this habit of appearing like out of nowhere; but you could hardly call him a villain. He was only a young fool.

[Sombra]

It was of slight frustration to the mare that she had not picked up on the stallion’s presence sooner than she had. Sombra could only conclude that she had been enjoying herself too thoroughly to notice him, or anything else for that matter. Reality was, Sombra had let her guard down, and for what? A little fun in the sand? Ah well. Tough cookies.

Perhaps he hadn’t scented her after all. One could only hope. Apart from those hoof tracks, there were no other telltale signs of his existence. But as she ambled up the dune, there he stood. Proud and seemingly smug at the very climax of this escarpment. The white maiden stopped dead in her tracks.

Sombra shot him a cold look before eventually allowing her features to convert into a look of, well, resignation. Lifting her fine head, the mare’s lurid blue eyes looked him over warily. How such a being as dark as himself could stand the harsh giving’s of the desert was beyond her. Perhaps he enjoyed the torturous heat lapping at his back every hour of the day. Sombra cocked an eyebrow and smirked at this.

In all honesty, she wasn't in the mood for the guy. She'd had a long, but over all decent day. And then here comes Mr high and mighty, about to ruin it all for her. Not on my watch. She hissed through her lips. The stallion would not have heard her though of course, for she had barely heard the words herself.

Trying with considerate effort to maintain her composure, Sombra looked the stallion in the eyes and smiled ever so slightly. "After something?" She inquired casually, a hidden chime of irritation imbedded somewhere in her tone. Sombra was like a little ticking bomb. Say the wrong things, or rather, cut the wrong wires, and boom. Your dead. This fair maiden was very easily underestimated, or others could never quite read her correctly. This consequently, almost always gave her an advantage.

[Administration]

((Mischa, remember to keep everything todo público!))

"Yes, indeed." The stallion replied.

"They call me Cougar, King Cougar, and I am looking for recruits."

Right now he was torn between thinking the mare was either a) pleased to have company, but didn't know how to express herself or b) wanting to give him a black eye. She looked like a strange individual alright. Her character seemed unstable and she looked a little twitchy.

Puma didn't care whichever she chose, but he wouldn't be caught off-guard.

He, himself was feeling rather comfortable up in that dune and on his lips was a serene smile to go with his majestic presence. Yeah, he enjoyed that sun, too bad it was darkening now. How he could enjoy toasting his back like a burned chicken in the oven was a mystery; another thing to add to the list of things of this world that nobody understood.

[Sombra]

Ah well now it all made sense to her. So he ruled these lands did he? An unlikely king, she would have thought, but then again, royalty seemed to come in all kinds of shapes and sizes. Such an odd choice of territory as well, she came to note. Did he honestly think he could sustain a herd in this wasteland? An amusing thought, really.

“Forming an army are we?” She teased coolly. It had certainly sounded like it considering the way he had spoken. “Oh and I suppose you want me to join you?” Eyes rolling at the thought, Sombra averted her gaze down towards the sandy ground. Her legs had begun to ache slightly from the strain caused by the awkward way she was standing. Poised half way up a sandy embankment wasn’t exactly her idea of comfort, and come to think of it, wasn’t particularly sensible either.

Sombra turned and stared at him briefly. If he was referring to his herd; the answer was an absolute no. He’d have to do more than that to convince her of even considering such a thought. Sombra didn't even have the courtesy to inform him of her name. In truth, she didn't feel he deserved to know.

Carefully, she turned her body, placing her hooves cautiously into the sand, and with little effort, sprung once, twice, and landed neatly at the bottom, a spray of sand filtering into the air at her feet. The sun was slowly fading away, it's golden sphere shape almost entirely engulfed by the few sand dunes set far off in the distance. The atmosphere had already begun to cool a fraction, and it wouldn't be long until night set in. Three hours at the most, she guessed. Directing her ocean blue eyes in Cougars direction, Sombra wondered what exactly he intended on doing now.

[Administration]

So, black eye was it then? Such a pity. A few more episodes like this and it would have been enough to convince even him of that herd-leading wasn't his vocation.

In response to her un-dissimulated rudeness, he snorted and stamped one hoof into the sand like saying "you watch your tongue, missy!"

He did nothing as she got down from the dune, merely observing her with a hardened look. Then a howl could be heard in the distance; his petal-shaped ears rotated to find the direction of the sound, while his rectangular head remained immobile.

"Well, if that's the case..." He teased back at her, "Good luck with the wolves."

That said and he turned to descend the dune, scars visible even though with the last dying rays of the horizon the dark stallion was becoming harder to distinguish.

He was thick but not stupid. His herd would have been nomadic and affiliated with their own side; free from binding centuries of pride and tradition.

[Sombra]

Oh wonderful; she had thought. That precious little piece with the foot stamping and the snorting and the what have you, had been very entertaining. She'd almost laughed, had she the energy. She'd clearly insulted him, or dug near enough to it. Sombra had received some satisfaction from this. Something to brighten her spirits after the unfortunate end to a lovely afternoon.

A smirk planted firmly across her features, the Arab lifted her right leg in a gesture to leave, only to be stayed by a blood chilling howl that seemed to split the evening air, washing away every trace of humor from the maidens face. Stricken with horror, her finely sculptured head whipped around promptly and stared wide eyed in the direction the sound had emitted from.

After the stallion vanished from the dunes peak, his last parting words took a couple of moments to fully register, and when they did, Sombra felt intolerably furious. "How dare he"... She stammered, but found she was lost for words. Instead, she felt this sudden intensifying need to follow suit, and hastily. But her ego promptly buffeted these feelings away.

Oh he'd love this. She scowled. She could see it already. Oh Mr Cougar King, sir. Please will you protect me? I am so very sorry for my behavior earlier. Please won't you forgive me?! Gah. Sombra cringed dutifully and her face hardened. No. She wasn't ashamed to admit that risking her life sounded moderately more appealing than being ridiculed by the guy. Besides; She assured herself. What are the chances of them attacking me? I can fend for myself perfectly well. Her stark blue eyes peered out into the distance. Them being the wolves, of course.

And so without further adieu, Sombra turned tail and headed on North, cursing the stallion repetitively while she stamped childishly through the sand. "The sooner I get to that darned waterhole, the better!"

_________________________

As the sky darkened, and the moon crept gradually into place, all one could hear was the soft pelt of the mares hooves purchasing decent solidity in the sand to hold Sombra's slender figure. She'd been traveling now for an estimated twenty minutes, taking hasty and to some degree, fearful steps. She was yearning to reach her destination, and would have been running there in a rather swift manner, had she not been frightened that the wolves might somehow hear her plummeting through the deep red sand.

Arriving at a kind of intersection of sandunes, the mare came to an abrupt stop, ears pricked forth and swiveling frantically in all directions. Had she heard something? Or had it just been her own foolish imagination? "Oh grow up!" She told herself angrily. But she heard it again. Fast pattering footfalls. A grunt. More faster footfalls. Then silence. Sombra's heart kicked up full throttle and she thought it might just about leap from the confinement of her chest. Her breathing came in shallow frantic breaths now. There it was again, but coming from either side of her now, and much louder. More silence ensued. Sombra could smell them. The unmistakable stench of wolves. She was utterly terrified now. Every instinct in her body screamed at her to flee, but she could not.

A snarl erupted, chilling her to the very bone, and echoed off the sandy embankments. She could see their silhouettes, visible one moment, gone the next. They were considerably high up on the surrounding sand dunes, hiding behind scattered shards of rock. So far she'd counted three. Another snarl, more guttural this time and disturbingly closer, came in reply from the opposite direction of the prior one. "Oh no". She breathed. they were closing in.

[Administration]

Oh yes, insulted was he. Cougar had only been looking for a little attention and maybe a partner to run with, and what he'd get? A kick... in the soul. Uncalled for! Uncalled for, I say! That snappy and huffy and sassy girl, she! Not that he'd want her in his herd anyways!

Once finished the steep descent, the buck shook the sand the wind had blown into his black mane and exhaled in an exasperated manner, head turned towards the peak of the dune as if Sombra was up there mocking him. A lot better was the sweet melody of silence and solitude... that he really could not stand. I mean, some time for yourself is good for you, but if that's the only time you've got then it sure ain't. Especially when you're a social animal, and one that has been neglected for a good part of his life at that. Cougars were naturally solitary creatures, but he wasn't going to start to live by his nickname now!

Bleh. What he needed now was a nice cool drink to calm the dehydratation produced by his fondness of the sun. Still murmuring in his head, he walked around the dune and towards the waterhole that if his memory wasn't playing tricks on him, was North of the place.

"Oh no...!" He lowered his ears and raised his head, eyes closed tightly with a complaint as he noted the trail of fresh hoof-prints going towards his planned destination. But just then a great deal of howling began. One voice was the lead, and the others would respond to it. It was almost as if they were saying: "Yay, let's eat that horse over there. Ok. Ok. Let's go. I'm over here! I'm over there! Ready? Dinner's served!" A frightened neigh escaped him as one of the shadowy canines bolted very near him.

Well, well! When he told her the thing about the wolves he didn't mean it so literaly!!

He raised one foreleg in heroic pose anticipating the distressed damsel's rescue, but not first without a doubt, without a look back, without a "Why always me?" At least the prince in the story had a grateful damsel for all this rescuing thing that would thank the hero very much for his bravery and maybe give him a kiss in the cheek! King Cougar, in contrast... well, you knew Sombra!

Running like the wind, he was in the scene in no time. Up in the highest dune, his terrible silhouette against the moon, his sudden appearance, behind the ambushers, scattering wolves left and right; the other half of the circling pack didn't know what was happening. Five wolves were in total, a deadly number for a lone horse without doubt!

"Run at them, run at them! Don't let them chicken you out!" He neighed atop his lungs, hoping that, in the confusion she would be able to get away from the danger zone.

[Sombra]

At first glance, the towering black silhouette which had cast itself so suddenly before the moon in her very moment of peril had appeared to the mare as something of a terrifying sight. Lord only knew what she thought it was, but it had scared her half to death. Had she studied the form more carefully, she may have come to note that it was in fact Cougar. But On sighting him, she’d squealed loud enough to wake the dead, and in the confusion of things, had even stumbled over her own hind legs in an attempt to back away from the stallion.

It wasn’t until the wolves began to scatter in the mix of things that she realised who it was. Suddenly mortified by her behaviour, she almost forgot her whole predicament entirely, being so overwhelmed with fury that she nearly wanted to give the guy a black eye. How dare he! She thought heatedly, furious that he had scared her. Not that it was his fault of course, but what did you expect from the likes of Sombra? Yes, it was awfully typical that she blame anyone other than herself for her misgivings. The ashen mare hoped with every fibre of her being that he hadn’t seen her reaction towards his unexpected entry. If he was as immature as he often proved be, she knew he’d never let her live it down.

A pair of fierce golden eyes locked with her own from out of the darkness, and a grey furred canine whom from her own brief observations appeared to be the alpha, lunged for her, bearing his savage white fangs and snarling like there was no tomorrow. Sombra squealed fearfully, her body finally shifting its gears into drive and lurched to the left at a rather awkward angle, missing the beasts murderous jaws by a mere breath. It landed loudly, its back legs losing purchase in the sand for a moment as it struggled to spin around for a second attempt.

But Sombra had no intention of allowing the wolf a second chance. Ears pinned flat against her crown, Sombra launched a kick with her left hind leg powerful enough to crush the beasts bones. Her hoof caught the animal sharp across the shoulder, causing it to yelp rambunciously as it landed snout first into the red sand, sweeping up a cloud of dust in its wake.

Without further averseness, Sombra locked eyes on the form of Cougar, and fled towards him at a smooth flying gallop, charging at the remaining wolves with near impatience. They all scattered like flies, much to the maidens pleasure. As she sprung up the sandy escarpment, her delicate ears perked forward, and her mane and tail flaring out behind her, Sombra was feeling as close to content as one could manage at a time such as this, and even managed to shoot him a brief mocking smile as she sped passed him Northward. "I really feel for any damsels in distress you ever decide to rescue." She teased, but for once, she wasn't being rude.

Slowing to a graceful canter, Sombra turned and came to an abrupt stop about thirty feet away, and stared out after him. Despite her tranquility, she was shaking slightly from adrenaline, and not the good kind. The whole situation had shook her up as one might expect, and all she really wanted now was to get away safely to that waterhole. It was still about an hour North from where they were currently situated.

Frightened that the wolves might plot to attack again soon, she shot Cougar an axious look and even nickered faintly, but she hadn't really mean't to. Her nerves were getting the better of her.

[Administration]

His attention was on the wolves between the rock shards. He couldn't get in there. That was bad and good at the same time. Good, for, feeling as they had a safe refuge, the wolves were less likely to come out; and bad, because they wouldn't be able to chase them away and were likely to regain their courage quicker. Busy with his tactical thinking he was, then suddenly --

Oh, no! They KILLED her! His almost stopped with fright a the sound of that incredible squeal. It was the squeal to silence the nosiest eagle and farm pig, so terrible it was. A white ring of fear appeared around his dark eyes and he almost lost his footing from where he was, on the summit of the big dune. Cougar tried frantically to find her, fearing the worst and wondering how could it have happened this quickly -- but thank the heavens, she was right there and quite alive by the looks of it. The terrified squeal was, comically, also terrifying for all the animals in the scene; even the wolves jumped aside, eyes widened, hair bristling, on their muzzles half a snarl and half a confused gasp.

However, one of the wolves put itself together before the others and attacked. At its rashness Cougar blinked, unbelieving. He'd never seen one this hungry; so blinded that it would lunge at a big, healthy horse even after its partners left its side and scrambled like rats.

Nonetheless, Sombra's panic managed the situation quite well, and the mare came out out of the danger zone, in one piece. Now that she was closer he made a better attempt to maintain his composure and hide any feelings of worry for her -- hey, he hadn't entirely forgotten her rudeness of earlier, you know.

He heard her speak and, by a moment, wondered how had she managed to survive all these years. There was not such thing as a desert horse who didn't know how to handle predators, at least not in his world, so he decided she mustn't have been from around these parts.

But it wasn't like Cougar to act like a grown up.

"I leave you for five minutes and this happens." He said in an interesting manner: shaking his head in a gravely but laughing.

"Well, well," Cougar said in a reassuring tone as their gazes met in that moment of intense anxiety.

"Yes, they're gonna come back. In all my life I hadn't seen wolves this hungry. This is not normal." He turned his head to watch the wolves over his shoulder with that fear you only feel when you know there's something out there to get you.

Shaking his head again, Cougar started walking in an unnervingly calm manner towards the waterhole; just that, naturally, changing the route to avoid the wolves and their little sand valley of death all together. He knew how unsafe it was to wander off alone, but today he had learned enough of Sombra like to know that she would throw another fit if he told her they had to travel together if they didn't want to be a pair of horse sandwiches by dawn; and if he tried scaring her with it she wouldn't be of any help.

Better was to act cool and try ignoring her. Besides, he was still thirsty.

[Sombra]

Ha. Well, perhaps he hadn't seen her little panic attack after all. Or maybe he'd been looking but was too engrossed with the predicament to notice. To some degree, he was rather fortunate. For she had sass like you'd never believe. Just say one thing out of line, do something she didn’t like, and she'd blow up in your face. You wouldn't even have seen it coming. She was unceasingly poised to kill.

"Five minutes is a slight exaggeration." She replied wryly to his first statement. It wasn't like she went out and got attacked by wolves on a regular basis. Boy if that was the case, she'd be an expert on those ferocious creatures. She sure as heck would have approached that situation with the wolves a lot better than she had anyway. As he informed her that they were sure to recuperate and siege against them once more, Sombra felt a slight chill reverberate through her figure, and she trembled at the thought.

"Yes, well I don't intend on loitering around while they gather their wits together". Cougar began treading off at a painfully slow gait, much to Sombra’s displeasure. Growing agitated now, Sombra shot him a hard look as he trudged passed, unimpressed to say the least. “If you haven’t noticed, there’s a pack of ravenous wolves just down the hill from where we are.” If she needed to hint any further than that, then oh lord was she in trouble. The guy couldn’t appear more relaxed if he tried. It was almost definitely unsettling. Sombra’s thoughts were torn from this however, as she suddenly sensed foul play on his part.

Oh but where exactly did he think he was going? Cougar seemed to be heading northwest, and considering where they were, there was only one place he could be heading... Oh, you have gotta be kidding me. She thought venomously. Okay, yes she had to admit, she'd been glad to see him when he'd come to her rescue when all seemed well and truly doomed. Yes sir, he'd been her glimmer of hope, her light at the end of the tunnel, her knight in--- no, she wouldn’t go that far. As the wolves descended down to wards her, snarling and drooling and starving, he’d come rushing to her aid. Surely that was worth some kind of appreciation?

Unfortunately, he was out of luck. A simple Thank you was the last thing on this girls mind. Yes, although he’d saved her life, made multiple efforts to maintain some kind of relationship between them, what ever it currently was, and tolerated to some small degree, her behavior, Sombra went straight back to being, well... Sombra. Ah well, at least he’d received something other than her notorious sass for a moment, as short lived as it was.

"Whoa... hang on there twinkle feet. If you’re considering what I think you’re considering, then the answers no.” Her ocean blue eyes glinted coolly as she stood with renewed arrogance and superiority. Quite simply, she was testing him. Sombra wanted to see how far he’d go. Surely he’d give up now. He didn’t seem very enduring. Her eyes watched him in a mocking manner, daring him to push her. To cut the wrong wire. She was ticking away like the little explosive she was. The next step was brute force, and as far as she was concerned, he didn’t have it in him. Smirking, the maiden rolled her eyes. This should be interesting.

[Cougar]

So she was throwing her fit anyway, eh? Like, regardless of what he did...? Sigh. This was going to be a long night.

"What? Can't take a drink now?" Cougar talked back, spontaneously rebelling at what he interpreted as a bossy attitude. Looking over his shoulder once again, his expression wasn't one bit threatening but yes tired and somewhat cold. If you expected brute strength, this wasn't the stallion.

His plan now was "let's pretend we know a lot and see if we can get her to follow me". Because if she left, the wolves would go after one of them-- and there would be no escape for him or her.

"Take it easy gal, wolves you can't shake off just like that." Was his reply to her obvious remark. YES, he noticed. This wasn't going to be an easy escape, and the exasperating partner wasn't helping. In his whole life he had never been attacked by a pack this big; but he knew the ropes. They'd be stalking them until dawn, at best.

He was stuck with Sombra until dawn, at best.

The second thought seemed somewhat scarier than the first one, but the wolves soon regained their terrorific place when the howling resumed. Once again his ears rotated to find the source of the sound. The wolves were regrouping in the valley.

"C'mon, follow me! Don't run! Pretend not to be scared, you're attracting them." He said in a hushed voice, and his pace hastened. Yeah, yeah, he knew about the "pretend not to be scared" part-- but the small oasis was just in sight now.

[Sombra]

Sombra snorted distastefully at his first remark, but another blood chilling howl broke out into the evening air, putting the ashen maiden in her place. Sombra glanced at Cougar anxiously. To be brutally honest, she had no intention of being wolf chow, so surely she could endure the guy just until dawn?

Staring passed him, she realized their little oasis was just up ahead. Thank goodness. Expelling a sigh of resignation and following suit, Sombra decided she could cope with him just fine. What choice did she have anyhow?

Her finely sculptured head wore a facade of contentment, but as the first signs of wolves became visually evident, her mask was quickly exposed. Squealing childishly, Sombra sprung into a frantic yet smooth gallop and overtook Cougar, shooting him a hard look as she passed him. "Pretend not to be scared?" She drawled at him. What kind of suggestion was that anyway? "Are you kidding me?" She exclaimed, raising an eyebrow in an amused manner as she fled towards the Waterhole.

[Cougar]

No... what...! What does she think she's doing!? Sombra must have gone mad! The worst she could have done, she did. No, wait, she could have done worse, -if she really tried,- but this was pretty bad. You see, when you're a tasty horse pursued by a pack of starved wolves, you don't run. No. You take a deep breath, group with some healthy-looking friends, and calmly walk away while looking at them by the corner of your eye with an air of "Ha! Can't touch me!"; for wolves can smell your fear.

Cougar neighed with anger, alerting Sombra of the wolf pack which charged the moment she ran. You're going to get us both killed!

There was a great deal of growling and barking and the wolves snapped at their heels. One stayed back, one went after Cougar and the remaining trio for Sombra who ran first.

"This ain't no game!" He threw a kick, which the wolf dodged nimbly, but was left behind. That dealt with and he sped up, hoping that his presence would disperse the wolves and give the mare chance to do something. In her position, Cougar would've jumped in that water, for it appeared just deep enough, and the wolves would not follow.

[Sombra]

Yes, on her part, running had been such an unwise decision. She had no doubt put both their lives in great jeopardy. Was she scared? Yes. And she wanted out of the situation now. Yes sir, this gal had had her fill of fun for one day. Could they spare a small break at least? Unfortunately, that was out of the question. This was presumably her doing now, and Sombra was at a loss as to how exactly she could put an end to it. The atmosphere was quite cool now and the only source of light being the moon and an array of billions of stars. If she'd had the time to stop and breathe a moment, she might have come to note how beautiful the night sky was. Time was not on their side however.

His furious outcry had surprised her, and she had realized then that the wolves were gaining on them at a speed terrifying enough to scare the living daylights out of her. Sombra's heart gave a frightened little leap as it kicked into first gear and had her pick up speed a great deal. She heard Cougars efforts to kick one of the pursuing wolves as his voice chimed in with a seriousness she was unfamiliar with. A game? Oh so it looked like she was enjoying this did it? Ha. Men. "You have no idea, do you!" She retorted in that very feminine yet demanding voice of hers. Quite frankly she was furious that he would even think such a thought. Who does he think he is?! She wasn't enjoying herself at all. How could he even suggest such a thing? "Games, are supposed to be fun!"She scolded him breathlessly.

Suddenly she realized too late that she was heading straight for, well, nothing. Had she been paying attention, she might have noticed sooner that, to reach the waterhole, you had to go around, down, and then through a dense mass of trees and bushes. Though of course, if one wished they could take the short cut. Unfortunately, this happened to be a small cliff, which Sombra promptly went over.

It was quite a drop before she met the water, and when she did, her body collided with the cool surface in an explosion of water, the cold liquid bursting up wards and showering out wards in her wake. Sombra became quickly submerged, and for a moment she was so lost by the cold and seemingly endless depth of water that she made no attempted effort to surface, unconsciously allowing her body to sink slowly into the darkness. But her brain finally unseized itself and her nimble legs started kicking furiously.

She was desperate for air by then, and when her head broke the surface, she gasped in the sweet oxygen frantically, as her eyes glanced about trying to decipher where exactly she was. Sombra had landed quite a distance away from the ledge she had jumped from, as the maiden came to note. She relaxed a fraction, finding a steady rhythm with her feet to keep herself adrift. Despite everything else, Sombra was in fact, an excellent swimmer, and swam rather elegantly. Genetics and heredity had a finger in the pie no doubt.

Sombra managed to maintain some order of tranquility, but this was short lived when she suddenly realized to her horror, that she was not alone in the water. Whipping her head around, Sombra thought her eyes were deceiving her. One of the wolves had actually leaped in after her! Which was to say the least, rather desperate. It's ferocious golden eyes fixed with her own and for a split second, Sombra merely stared, stupefied. When you got right down to it, Sombra was really quite outraged that these wolves had the nerve to pursue her like this. She was absolutely through with the whole thing.

It was too late to make a break for it anyway. The water was surprisingly deep, and thus would slow her movements a great deal. Besides, the wolf would no doubt catch up to her before she got anywhere near the bank. The Gray furred animal began to snarl as it approached, and Sombra put aside her fear and shot the beast a harsh look and bared her teeth. Her ears pinned flat 'pon her crest, she snaked her fine ashen neck and blew loudly through her nares in a display of absolute irritation and aggression. Sombra was fed up, and would flee no more... not until she came to her senses anyhow. Her ocean blue eyes were fierce and venomous as they burned viscously into her opponents.

In the last moments before their flesh met, Sombra was astonished to find herself worrying about Cougar. Worrying! About him. Ha. She really had lost the plot. She couldn't hear anything up there. All that was audible was the wolves extravagantly loud swimming as the creature honed in on her with an eagerness both unusual and unsettling. As it's teeth tried to purchase hold of her throat, Sombra struck out at it with a foreleg, but unfortunately missed. Such huge movements proved to need more efficient effort than they would have had she been on land. The wolf disappeared under water suddenly, and Sombra panicked a little, for she could not see him. But it was soon up again, scrabbling at her side with it's paws in desperation.

Although it's claws were not sharp, they still hurt due to the pressure the wolf used them with. Suddenly, it managed to heave itself over her back, which took the young mare by surprise. They both went under, and Sombra could not quite get her kicking right as the pair of them struggled long and hard in the smoldering darkness, sinking gradually. The wolf sunk it's teeth into her withers and she made an abrupt lunge for the surface. The pain was surprisingly harsh. Sombra had never felt the full impact of such a beasts bite, nor had she truly been subjected to any serious harm in her life, come to think of it. The wolf seemed determined to hold on now that he had a grasp of her. They both sucked in air as Sombra broke the surface, and no sooner had she taken a breath that she sunk her own teeth into his fur and flesh and dragged the wolf from her back, flinging it from herself.

It yelped from the pain and surprise of her attack, but was soon muffled as it disappeared with a loud splash, under the water. Sombra grasped hold of her chance then and swam to wards the embankment ahead with a speed fueled by pure and unsaturated desperation. As her hooves registered solidity, a rush of relief flooded her drenched form, and she took flight up the last stretch of the escarpment, evidently trembling with adrenaline. As she reached the peak, Sombra braked hard and spun around on her hind legs so she could stare out over the water. The wolf had long surfaced and had managed to clamber onto a large jagged boulder sticking out of the waterhole in the far left corner.

He looked pathetic now and rather disheartened, sopping wet with his head lowered in what appeared to be a resigned manner. His right shoulder was swollen, and she came to realize after further examination, that she recognized him as the alpha male whom had attempted to kill her only minutes prior to now.
A stinging pain situated somewhere atop her shoulder blades reminded her of the punctures in her withers from the beats sharp fangs. The small holes weren't too deep, but they were a tad torn, most likely from when she had wrenched her attacker free. They were bleeding, but not too profusely. The bold crimson of her blood rebelled boldly against the bleach white of her pelt, standing out like a sore thumb, and a very sore thumb at that.

Gritting her teeth, she raised her head and looked up at the very top of the small cliff-like wall she had jumped from, and then around at her surroundings warily. There were palm trees riddled everywhere, and below there trunks were multiple kinds of desert dwelling shrubs and bushes. The little oasis was actually quite beautiful, and surprisingly wide spread. But she was to exhausted and weak to care about any exotic paradise right now. "Cougar?" She croaked. How she thought he would hear her was anyones guess. Her voice was quite hoarse from swallowing excessive amounts of water, which of course went anywhere other than the right places.

Sombra decided that the other two wolves from the trio whom had chased her had probably had more sense not to jump into the darkness of the unknown. There wasn't much light down here, as the moon struggled to find it's way through the towering palms and cliff walls. Sombra wondered if Cougar had even seen her fall. For once, admittedly, the thought of being separated scared her. The wolves would no doubt sniff her out now that she was wounded. The scent of blood would refuel their confidence. Give them something more to fight for. "Cougar?" She cried a little louder now. No, being alone did not sound appealing to her at all. And who in their right mind would deny the protection of a capable stallion? Ah well, nobody would put it passed the notorious Sombra. But perhaps she was allowing that small sensible side of her to take lead for now. One could only hope.