As you laid there waiting to die, it took you a while to register that the screeches you were hearing were not just the howling of the wind. You chanced a glance up and came face to face with a THING that sent shivers racing down your spine and a scream off of your tongue. While the scream was immediately whipped away by the wind, the terror was not. What was this?! You tried to move your legs, but nothing happened. As if this was a scene from one of your nightmares, you were trapped, rendered immobile by stiff joints and by nature itself it seemed: even if you could have managed to stand, it was doubtful that you would have been able to travel far. You could only shrink back as the creature reached at you, all teeth and sharp talons, seeking to sink them into the stringy flesh of your neck. At times, it came disturbingly close and you felt sharp tugs at your mane, but the wind prevented it from landing. You’d never wished for short, ugly hair so badly. All the while, the Thing screeched, and you laid there still, trembling from the effort it took to get up.

And then, from the side came a sharp prodding, and you twitched and screamed, thinking it had finally got you. Not wanting to be torn limb from limb, you struggled, adrenaline lending you the strength to thrash about wildly, pointing your horn in all directions. Between the storm and your rheumy eyes, you could not make out the figure of the other unicorn until she yelled, screaming above the storm, “You need to get up! You’re going to—“ Just as Sikeax pronounced the word die, your legs finally moved and you rocketed up unsteadily…to come face to face with one of your own kind. “I can get us across and out of the storm,” she cried above the wind, and though you may have thought she was crazier than a loon, you took a halting step closer, using her for protection—both from the storm and from the Thing you were sure was still lurking around somewhere. “Yes,” you whispered, voice a low rattle in your throat. You did not have the strength to yell above the storm as she did, but you indicated your consent with a nod of the head. You’d rather not die alone, after all…you just never would have guessed that it would be in the middle of a sandstorm with a stranger who’d lost her marbles.

@[Sikeax]