Hooves touched on soft mosses. Taika trotted around the cave, looking at everything, letting Skoll do his own investigation. She poked into various nooks and crannies, wondering if the rock creatures would come out and say hello. There was a soft sound above them and she glanced up to see a family of bats chattering at the strangers that came into their home. Ears perked in interest, she whispered to them, trying to get them to understand her while she strained to hear and understand their chattering.

Skoll sneezed, causing Taika to jump in startlement. She looked over at him.”Sshhh… you might wake the-”

Scuffling and a groan sounded from deeper in the cave. Young eyes looked into the shadows hopefully. Her excitement hitched, thinking it could be one of the fabled trolls or goblins they had just been talking about. Muffled growls and scrapes continued and Taika’s hooves clicked on the stone ground.

”Hello?”

Something roared in the depths of the cave. Claws scraped against the floor and a lion bounded out of the shadows.

”Run!!” Taika dashed between the lion and her friend. Considerably smaller, she still tried to use her own body to push her new friend towards the mouth of the cave. ”Hurry! Move!” Still panicking, she gave up on pushing Skoll and raced out of the cave, praying to the gods the white colt was right behind her.

-------

Taytim had of course been following her daughter fairly closely. Not much else to do with her time, she kept a close watch on the filly, but kept far enough away the child was not aware of her surprisingly watchful gaze. The mare saw the two foals meet, race, and explore, grazing just outside the cave. At the shout, as Taika raced out, Taytim raced in with a whinney that was far more fierce a sound than the young woman had ever uttered before. She used her considerably larger body to block Skoll from the claws of the mountain lion and try to press him out. The cave was small, and the horse could not fight the lion in the close quarters. But she could at least defend.

Taika
Filly ~ Magnus&Taytim ~ 15hh(wfg) ~ Smokey Black Varnish