Bloodwant

She had tried to just...lay down on the stone and take a nap. The constant emotional high was taxing, especially for her. It was something she didn't usually have to suffer through. As such, she didn't exactly know what to do with herself. The nap plan, though, wasn't working out. She could hear kin battling nearby, exerting the stone's will until they calmed. Each clash of horns and attack cry seemed to kick her in the gut. She couldn't help herself from wanting that too. And yet, she was trying to hold back as hard as she could. If she was blunt in words, who was to say how she was in action? With her teeth sharper than the average Kio, she could inflict some serious harm. And yet, fighting with a Toto would surely cripple her lighter frame. She needed to be careful...

She found herself rising again. There were still things to do for the camp. It would be a chance to try and escape the aura again, but that wasn't exactly where her mind was. She'd overheard something about the local rabbits becoming awful, biting creatures. They needed to be caught lest they cause too much trouble. And she couldn't help but think they had blood in them. Blood would be really nice right about now

[Roll to find hare: fail]

The obelisk's haze followed her, nearly blurring her vision as she stumbled away from the camp. It was too hard to focus... But at the same time, she couldn't sit still. It was one of the most frustrating things she'd had the displeasure of living through, she thought. So, when she started, it wouldn't be honest to say she was properly looking for signs of hares. She slogged through the snow, internally groaning at the relentless thoughts pooling in her head.

Thankfully, the chill in the air and the movement of her hooves helped bring her back. Her mind wasn't clear, but things had begun to un-blur before she'd managed to trip herself on an outcropping. She began to make sure she trotted through the snow, as it would hush the click of her hooves like the stone couldn't. She'd forced her ears alert, training for small sounds amidst the hush. Surely it wouldn't be difficult to hear movement out here were it was eerie quiet, the world holding its breath

[Reroll to find hare: succeed]

She stopped, paw frozen midair. There was a bank of snow she'd been planning to walk towards to continue quieting her steps, but something about it had looked off. At first, she thought it was just the blur of the influence, but the closer she got she realized she was looking at a tuft of fur. A hare crouched, curled up into a little ball with its tail facing towards her. How it hadn't heard her clumsy steps, she had no idea. She lowered herself, shrinking her form despite the creature's eyes being elsewhere. Her orange pelt against the pale mountains would make her a dead giveaway if it turned its tiny head. She had to be totally silent...

[Roll to stalk hare: fail]

Delicately, she extended one hoof and leaned to put her weight on it. The snow groaned underfoot. It had already sounded loud in comparison to the still air, but now its volume had seeming grown even worse. She refrained from flinching. It would just be another sound. Trying to soothe the fire in her belly that had started to broil, she put one paw in front of the other, ever so slowly creeping up on the creature. And then, its ears shot up. Cloy froze, clutched with fear that the thing would sprint away and her hunt would begin again. For some reason though, it didn't turn to stare her in the eye. Its long, delicate ears swiveled, staying majorly pointed forwards, before it reluctantly lowered them, becoming a ball once more. She couldn't believe she was given another chance. Sure to steady her breath, she attempted her approach again

[Reroll to stalk hare: success]

No matter how quietly she padded along, there's only so close one can get to a hare before it catches on. She crouched at what she thought was the edge of its awareness, readying her muscles to pounce. She'd only have a narrow window to snap at it and there was no one to help her corner it if it began to sprint away. She was fast, but keeping up with the thing still wouldn't be easy. She wobbled back and forth slightly, putting her hooves in the perfect position before she lept with a silent snarl. The hare, of course, noticed. It whirled with a piercing alarm screech, its little paws in the air in the moment of uncertainty

[Roll to catch hare: fail]

She missed. Her jaws snapped down on empty air, giving the animal enough time to spin, flinging snow up into her face. For half a second, she was stunned by dismay and surprise. She was sure she'd had it-! But there wasn't time to hesitate. She lunged into a gallop, scarcely having time to pull her head up and shake the flakes from her muzzle. The hare had already sprinted ahead like a bat out of hell. She'd have to match its determination to grab it. Thanks to the obelisk, she didn't think that would be a problem. Her eyes were locked on its little body like a hunting dog going in for the kill. The world blurred around her. The only thing that mattered was sinking her teeth into that fuzzy white coat

[Reroll to catch hare: fail]

Before she could get too close, she failed to account for the unsteadiness of the ground. Her front hooves were suddenly flying off to the side, taking a great puff of snow into the air with them. Her shoulder slammed hard onto the jagged ground, but she didn't have time to dwell on it. Each slip up let that bag of bones prance closer to safety. It was starting to tick her off. Snarling angrily, she scrabbled to her feet and shot off again, taking up a furious series of shouts as she felt she couldn't help herself anymore

[Re-reroll to catch hare: fail]

Every time she thought this would be the leap to close the gap, the infuriating animal would veer too sharply and she'd have to force herself into a crude turn. What was wrong with her? She was a Kio. She was faster than anything. And she couldn't catch a stupid hare! The rage boiled inside her, reaching a breaking point, but she had nothing to do with it other than scream at the retreating tail she couldn't quite snag

[Re-re-reroll to catch hare: success]

Finally, the creature's luck ran out. It made to jump off a tiny cliff, but it landed crooked in the snow. There must have been a notch in the ground that it'd caught, as it quickly became apparent that it'd hurt its leg. It started to stumble away, speed nothing like it'd been a minute ago, but it was too late. Cloy had closed the gap and had her teeth on its neck in an instant. Before it could even cry, she bit down hard and a resounding crunch echoed across the abruptly quiet mountainside. After doing so, she realized that the camp may have wanted it alive... It was too late now, whatever the case

The smell of blood filled her nose as she dropped the stained body to the ground. If it wasn't useful to anyone now, she might as well eat it. It wasn't that she was hungry. It was the blood.