"If you show your discomfort your enemy has won. They will continue to pester you relentlessly once they have discovered your weakness." Audonaās attention slipped lightly to the Princessā words, and a short huff of air pressed past her nostrils once more with a simple blink before her pupils were directed elsewhere. The words were empty to Aislinnās ears- weakness was a relative term. Besides, she was already in such a state of relentless harassment from the group of wanderers. Furthermore, creatures were expressive beings, unlike humans who relied on physical language and speech; a sad excuse for a quip, considering that the Kelpie was technically as human as she had ever been, comparatively speaking.
A heavy pack was then unceremoniously settled onto her back and fastened there- no doubt only the smallest of harbingers when it came to the full pack-up of their camp. Some of the companions preferred to carry their things around with them- a fact that Audona recognized but did not really consider in any form of lessening her burden. It was more insulting than heavy to carry all of the equipment- after all, Kelpieās supposedly had the strength of ten or more of any equine. However, something felt a bit off about the pack.
Soon after, Fuilteach was departing again, leaving with only the simple expectation that everyone would be ready to depart upon her return. There was no doubt in Audonaās mind that she was going to handle the ungainly presence of whatever was out there in the forest. AonSuil and PĆŗicĆn, Vern and Lyon, followed dutifully after her at her command.
It was then that the little Uallach, Yuna, turned towards her direction and started wandering over. Caoimhe was a bit surprised that the elf did not fulfill her name-sake along the way. Clumsy; Scatterbrained. Yuna did not trip, stumble, or stutter on her approach, and after the initial inspection, a sense of acute awareness dawned on Audona. She lifted her head backwards, straightening in a subtle, agitated manner.
"Would you like some meat?" The Kelpie regarded the girl for a split second as she extended her hand in an offering of food. After that short fraction in time, Audona managed the most suspicious, untrusting look that she could muster at this unexpected gesture. Her left foot stamped the ground softly as her nostrils flared, inhaling the air and the scent of the meat at the same moment. A few seconds passed of Audona sizing up the little female, trying to discern her ulterior motives- had she poisoned the food, would it make her sick, was she trying to get her close enough to somehow inflict pain on her?
However, her suspicions lost out to her hunger- she had not been allowed anywhere near the small stream that was inevitably somewhere near their camp, and thus had not been able to feed on the little creatures and water-plant life. Audona did not like flesh, or so it was her human side that refused to allow the cursed one to sink into the desires for human meat- which was not particularly hard to do at all, since she naturally had a taking to fish and anything from the water. She did not like taking of any greater creatures, whether it be a bird or a squirrel or larger, besides the fact that there was no need since all her sustenance could be found in the bodies of water.
In this case, however, and in many cases before since her time began with the group about two years ago, she eagerly accepted the miniscule meal of meat, if it could be called even that. Her muzzle leaned down and rested somewhat heavily on the little elfās hand, her lips and nostrils snuffling against the girlās palm as she- uncharacteristic of any Kelpie or inhuman- delicately took the strip offered to her. Audona pressed a bit into the other, asserting a bit of a dominate factor that she was larger and probably stronger, and would not hesitate to overpower the other if she tried anything funny.
However, the gentle and somewhat surreal moment was abruptly ended as PlĆ” spoke up, āā¦go after her on that horse thing?ā Where she previously had been ignoring the little devil and minding her own business, her head lurched backwards a fraction of an inch, her jaws suddenly parting and revealing sharp teeth where before there had been none. They clacked shut mere centimeters from the elfās fingertips- the punishment for being there as her head was sliding backwards until it was lifted back into its regular position. She glared steadily at Aglaeca, her hackles rising as she bared her teeth once more in silence.
With a snort and a shake of her head, she seemingly sidestepped the entire situation as she simply shifted away from the elf and consequently the demon. Her tail swatted at her haunches, exerting the rest of her irritation into the air in that simple act. Luckily she did not need to suffer the little PlĆ” any longer than that, as he was suddenly disappearing into the forest after the Princess and her associates. It hadnāt been so much the suggestion that the demon had offered to the air, but rather the fact that he spoke in such a derogatory tone was what caused her actions.
She then blew off everyoneās presence, simply turning and staring out into the forest. Her ears twitched at the distant dins of disturbance caused by the Princess of Massacre, and she focused on that instead. However, she did not get to dwell languidly on the sound for very long, as a loud hiss of echoing voices rumbled from the bushes surrounding the camp. And suddenly the scene was tumbling into chaos as a pack of shadowy inhuman hounds suddenly burst forth to attack everyone in sight.
Audona snorted in surprise and took a few hurried steps backwords as she was approached by two of them, their teeth bared and snarls dripping from their parted maws. It was then that Audona acted on the off sensation of the pack on her back- she reared once the creatures were close, the burden suddenly clipping and sliding off of her back to crush one of them just as it was leaping in to bite at her ankles. She then whirled on her heels to face the other, which was currently circling her hungrily. They were not intelligent in the least bit, but it would still be hard to nail them since they were mere shadowy beings.