08-19-2025, 02:51 PM
Nikolas pauses, his front right hoof caught lingering in the air after her soft voice reaches his ears. He snorts, turning his head to look at her, but he doesn’t really see her—no, he focuses immediately on the stars twinkling like cruel reminders of whence he came. A low, guttural growl rattles around in his chest. His teeth sharpen, leaving pricks of blood on his lips as his mouth is slow to follow suit and shift to accommodate his growing fangs.
The dark stallion turns around to face her, slow but deliberate, his movements more akin to a prowling big cat than a horse; the starry-eyed girl continues despite him, noting that something has changed. But what?
Tarnished would have had the answers she sought.
Nikolas does not.
The stars snarl back at him, swirling around and twisting themselves into twinkling beasts from beyond; he cannot help the fear that causes his throat to tighten, no more than he can help the anger welling up inside him. He wants to kill her, eat her, swallow those stars—like the inky black portals that sent them to one place and the others to another. His muscles coil, he lowers his ever changing body towards the ground, his hooves now clawed paws, preparing to strike. His bones crack, his skin splits and heals and then splits again until he is twisted into something more fitting of a nightmare than the reality he crash landed in—but then he notices something else.
“Can you see me?” He stands up suddenly, his gray eyes narrowing ever so slightly.
The dark stallion turns around to face her, slow but deliberate, his movements more akin to a prowling big cat than a horse; the starry-eyed girl continues despite him, noting that something has changed. But what?
Tarnished would have had the answers she sought.
Nikolas does not.
The stars snarl back at him, swirling around and twisting themselves into twinkling beasts from beyond; he cannot help the fear that causes his throat to tighten, no more than he can help the anger welling up inside him. He wants to kill her, eat her, swallow those stars—like the inky black portals that sent them to one place and the others to another. His muscles coil, he lowers his ever changing body towards the ground, his hooves now clawed paws, preparing to strike. His bones crack, his skin splits and heals and then splits again until he is twisted into something more fitting of a nightmare than the reality he crash landed in—but then he notices something else.
“Can you see me?” He stands up suddenly, his gray eyes narrowing ever so slightly.