Hunting For His Prize {Shrine Prompt}

What was perhaps the most evil, most terrifying, most fearful being in Ivras doing? Well, he was, of course, loitering by a bin, not a single thought behind his eyes. What he was waiting for was anyone's guess.

Something shiny caught the mad stallion's attention. It glinted in the spring sunlight, teasing him to chase. He must follow.

With pained steps, he hurried as quick as he could across the courtyard, skittering into the dark shadows that were cast by the surrounding buildings. No one could see him. This was a stealthy operation.

Like a cat with three legs and no eyes, he scuttled down the alleyway (about as majestically as a cat with three legs and no eyes would). The mysterious object disappeared out of sight round a corner. He must follow.

Round the corner he veered, tittering to himself about the shiny object. However, what he thought were inside voices ended up being voiced opinions and it turned the few heads he passed. As expected, they all gave him a wide berth, eager to avoid the fool who had clearly lost every single marble (if he had any to begin with). The ugly whispers and stares didn't bother X though. His sights were set on the thing that shone. It was like someone had captured a star.

The person who held this shining gift from the heavens above stopped briefly, hiding away in a doorway as to have a chat with a fellow neighbour. X stopped mid-step, paused in the centre of the street. He couldn't turn left or run right. There was no escape behind him either. Instead, he just froze to the spot, eyes wide and wild. The conversation was brief and the stranger continued his route along the path, hugging the wanted object tightly to his chest. The camouflage had worked by some miracle.

They continued down the cobblestoned road, each hoof step chiming out. The stone underfoot soon teetered off into sand as they exited the village. Here, his hooves couldn't be heard and the road was quiet around them. This was his chance to take it.

The unknown creature he was following seemed to have no idea they were being tailed. They merrily went about their day, making house calls and doing whatever it was they were doing with their day. Softly, they hummed a little tune to pass the time, entertaining themself on the journey. They were having the most wonderful day.

They met up with a scattering of tall trees. They offered a little curtain of leaves to hide the path from the village beside it. Despite being one sandwich short of a picnic, he knew when they opportune moment was to take a swipe at something like this. He picked up a wonky canter, his back legs dragging behind him from his severe deformities. As the gap closed between him, X began to giggle like an insane child. Ears flickered as the stranger began to turn in interest.

As their body turned to face Xavier, he leapt up and grabbed at the shiny object. He clasped it tightly and yanked hard, ripping it from their grasp. They gasped suddenly, startling X. He backed away, clutching onto his new toy. Then came the screams. It was as blood curdling as he usual victims but it was SO high-pitched and screechy. He, too, began to scream. His was more of a sad, painful wail like a dog with its tail trapped in a door.

For a moment, they stood there, just crying at one another. It was a sorry state of affairs. The shouts had stirred a couple of the locals and as they began to emerge through the bushes, X was gone. He took off across the field, his poor tired body limping away from the scene of his crime.

So, you're probably wondering what exactly was it that he was so intent on getting that he traumatised a perfectly happy little yak on his innocent little outing. This 'shiny object' that 'shone like a star' was just a jug. Not a special, one-of-a-kind jug. Not a only-for-special-occasions jug. Just...a jug. It was a polished silver water jug with some silver feet and a silver handle which is why it looked so special from afar. But, no. It was just a jug. He had robbed a stranger blind for a jug.

As he collapsed among the reeds of a tiny pool of water (literally could be considered a puddle in a dry spell), he could feel the sun pelting down upon him. It was hot and seared into his skin. After one of the coldest winters Ivras had ever seen, most would be thankful of the gracious weather but it made X's skin crawl. He was uncomfortable. The grass didn't feel right beneath his body, a metallic tang rose up in his mouth, his nostrils flared at the heavy stench of dread. His whole body clenched, his jaw tightened and his hazel eyes rolled back into his skull. In agony, he scrunched up his face, closing his eyes and writhed in pain on the floor. It felt as if every body in his body was breaking; being pulled apart in every direction.

Then the hunger began to growl, this deep gluttonous rumble from within. It reared up, forming a lump in X's throat. He felt like he was going to be sick. If the loud-mouthed bitch hadn't raised the alarm, he'd go back to eat them to settle the feeling. A nice, juicy mage soul always satisfied the craving, even just for a little bit.