The scent of decaying and rotten flesh reached Gaucho's nostrils as well, causing the bone which pierced the cartilage to dance as his nose wrinkled in dismay. Hadn't he heard stories of this creature before? Had they given it a name....Walter perhaps? No. That one had been friendly - or at least, insofar as it released that sparkly-girl, who Sohalia called a friend. This creature, seemed intent on eating them - or at least, pulling them down into the depths.

Alina's screams pierced his ears, immediately sending them flat against his skull. A creature like that likely had a heightened sense of vibration - screaming could make it easier to whatever was guiding those tentacles below, to pinpoint them. With a loud grunt, Gaucho kicked downwards, colliding against a tentacle which seemed relatively un-phased by his attack. His large hoof merely seemed to be absorbed by the tentacle, rather than shoving it away. Beating his dark wings, he rose above the waters higher - but the tentacles rose with him. And then Alina was screaming again, her striking gaze searching out his with a look of desperation. Gaucho's muscular body rose higher still - and with a help from a tiny bite of Mara's fangs, a silvery mist began to pour from his antlers. Three ethereal eagle shapes began to form - though much larger than any normal eagle could grow to be. Two of them hovered around Gaucho, their silvery sheen casting beautiful patterns against his skin in the storm. The third however, flew silently to Alina. "FOLLOW" He bellowed loudly. Then to the eagle - "Back to Throat"

His attention and that of the two eagles at his side, turned back to the creature, who had managed to grasp his back right hoof. Struggling against it's grip, Gaucho's wings beat to keep him from being pulled down. In his antlers, Mara raced down the length of his neck, using his spiked collar as a holding point, so that she could wrap herself around his wing-joint, and then his back left leg. Hissing violently in the storm, Mara sank her poisonous fangs deep into the tentacle of the creature. Poison released from her mouth, forcing the creature to release its grip. Around Gaucho, the two remaining eagles dove and flitted, drawing the attention of the remaining tentacles.

With a last grunt of effort, Gaucho beat his powerful wings down, thrusting his body higher into the air rather jerkily. His blue-gray gaze looked towards the towering cliffs, hoping to see Alina and her guide nearing them - although even with the light emitted from the eagle, he found it difficult to place them. "Mara!" He bellowed to his companion. Mara wrapped herself around his left leg, hissing weakly in response. Concern flared in Gaucho, as he searched his companion's mind, but found only pain. However, above the stormy seas, with a monster just below the depths was not the best place to dwell on Mara's condition. Indeed, Gaucho couldn't have been more right. Enraged by Mara's bite, the sea-monster drew himself higher to the surface, where his tentacles could achieve maximum reach. However the creature was large and bulky, and Gaucho had nearly flown out of its reach.

Almost.

With a last ditch effort, the creature broke through the surface of the water - displaying a horrifying circular ring of teeth and one large bulging eye. With a snarl, the closest of its tentacles flew towards Gaucho. While it failed to grab hold of him, what it did succeed in, was slapping out his hind legs like a rag doll. Gaucho was thrown sideways in the air, as his body was violently turned horizontal by the blow. His wings beat frantically as he tried to return to a stable position in the air. But the damage was not only to Gaucho - as the creature collided with him, his legs were thrust together as his body pivoted - this caught Mara in a deadly squeeze between her bonded's thick legs. Her hiss was cut short, as Gaucho inadvertently squeezed the air - and most of her consciousness - from her white body. On shaky wings, Gaucho out-distanced the monster, but his right hip was badly bruised, and unbeknownst to him, Mara had been severely injured as well. Thrusting himself into the air, Gaucho followed the two eagles who had remained with him towards Alina, and the cliffs.

[ We have something going right now called "Helovia Hard Mode" - read here about it. By no means is it mandatory, I just wanted to let you why my post unfolded the way it did, why Gaucho's signature changed, etc. Basically, in situations like this, I roll a dice to see how much damage Gaucho takes. The dice indicated that Gaucho took 16 points of damage from the monster (Fairly substantial!) and that Mara received very severe wounds. So that's how I'm going to proceed with the thread. :3

Roll thread ]

[Nope, you're good! Usually NPC's like this only post once...you can sort of write-out what it does after the fact.]

Gaucho could not see Alina, but he could see his missing eagle. It was hovering about 10 feet above the waves, like a ghostly hallucination. Surely the white mare couldn't have flown all the back to the cliffs in time for the eagle to have come all the way back? Perhaps she possessed magic like Kri did - to summon wings to boost her speed but...even that would have been a stretch. Confused, Gaucho flew towards the Eagle, lowering himself to about the height that it had was hovering at, and suddenly he understood.

Even though the waters churned and frothed with the violence of the incoming storm, for all of its darkness, it could not completely swallow Alina. Her body was almost made brighter, but the stark contrast of its purity, against the stormy waves. Gaucho's body momentarily tensed, as his primitive mind tried to calculate the possibilities that were available to him. The cliffs were too far away to reach in time - especially since it didn't look as though Alina would be able to get out of this on her own. Not only that, but as the darkness of the storm descended upon the sea, their bodies would soon be lost from vision: no one would be looking.

Had Gaucho known that Mara was fading in and other of consciousness, his decision might have changed - likely not, but it would have weighed on his mind somewhat. Mara was not just his companion, she was possibly the only one in the world that he had sentimental feelings about. Still, she had a warrior's heart to match his, and would have stood by his decision to rescue the drowning damsel.

Gaucho dove headfirst into the waves, are silently commanding Mara to hold on, and hold her breath. The three spirit-eagles coalesced into a blob of silvery light, and followed Gaucho below the surface, where they quickly dispersed into a large dolphin-shaped mass. Gaucho hoped that the light and shape would distract the creature, as it flitted by the tentacle holding Alina. He didn't know anything about the creature's tastes, but hoped a shining dolphin would look more appetizing than a floundering pegasus. Gaucho flapped his wings in an effort to propel himself down to where Arlina was. He tried to strike at the tentacle holding her, and cut it with the sharpened spikes that protruded from a band of leather fastened around his shoulders.

[I didn't want to write too far ahead - up to you if it lets her go! ]

[Sorry for the delay!]

Gaucho wasn't sure what had caused the creature to release it's grip on the white mare - whether it had been his outright attack, or the distraction of the dolphin, or perhaps some other source - it didn't really matter. All the dun knew, was that he saw Alina's body moving towards the surface, seemingly on her own. He did not dawdle to understand the situation any more than that - he needed oxygen just as much as she, as did Mara. With a grunt, Gaucho beat his wings, using them like paddles to move his large body through the water. It was difficult, for his mass was so large and his body already so fatigued from previous injury, but he managed. As his antlered skull broke through the crest of the waves, his gaze spied the mare moving steadily towards the shore. Weakily, Mara slithered to his antlers - being able to move her body much easier through the waters than her bonded. She looped herself over the very top of his antlers, mentally begging him to keep his head afloat.

His thigh ached immensely, and for the first time in a very long while, Gaucho felt physically exhausted. Normally Gaucho would appreciate the opportunity to build a different set of muscles - to learn of any weaknesses in his body was merely a tool to improving them. Now however, he just wanted to reach land. The extent of Mara's condition was slowly seeping into his brain, but he knew he could do little for her while he was still in the sea. So, with what remaining strength he had, he followed Alina to shore.

In a similar manner as she, once his large hooves struck the sand and his body was forced to deal with full gravity once again, he collapsed. Gaucho was like a giant boulder as he slumped on the beach, compared to Alina's much smaller and more graceful shape. "Need Onni..." He grunted weakly, his deep voice now course with pain. His right thigh felt nearly paralyzed with pain from the monster's attack, and Mara had almost completely lost consciousness. He was in no condition to fly - nor was Alina, it seemed. Gaucho felt his chest tighten, as he once again tried to call on the magic that swirled within his soul, but it would not come. The spark of power could only be ignited when his blood had been spilt, and the small gash Mara had given him, had completely closed. Gnashing his teeth together, Gaucho forced himself up slightly, thrusting a dark forelimb forward. There was a rock nearby, and with a little effort, Gaucho pulled his body towards it. Ears against his skull, he slammed he knee onto the sharp side of the rock several times, until it pulled the skin away and blood began to rise to the surface. With a sigh of exhaustion and pain, Gaucho slumped over in the sands, as silvery liquid once again poured from his antlers. Nearly too mentally tired to force the magic into a shape, it remained a floating blob for a moment, before finally forming into two distinct animals : a snake, and a songbird. "Find...Onnninniiiii..." He grunted weakly to the floating shapes. Could they go that far away from him? Gaucho had no idea - nor did he know if Onni would understand the symbolic animals. But it was the best he could do.

@[Onni]

The world begins to crash down upon Gaucho, much like the waves which are still lapping against the shore. While the storm has moved farther away, the effects on the sea are still admirable and considerable. The churning of the tides has caused the waves which roll up against their bodies to be colder than normal - but Gaucho almost welcomes it. The chill of the water helps to soothe the flaring pain that he feels spreading from his hindquarter into his spine.

Gaucho's steely-gray gaze opens as he feels the soft touch of Alina's muzzle upon his dark cheek. For a moment he is surprised that she has come so close - most keep their distance, due to the war paint that covers his body, the spikes around his neck, and of course, the snake. Perhaps the mare is dazed herself - more than likely - but Gaucho welcomes the touch. It tells him that he is still alive, and so is she. As she moves closer, Gaucho gaze swims, mistaking her for Sohalia. They are nearly the same size with nearly the same pattern of white covering their feminine frames. Were he in less pain, he might have noticed some of the differences - Sohalia had one blue and one green eye, while Alina's eyes were the same, but contained both colours. He might have noted the odd glisten of blue against Alina's mane, that's Soh's lacked, but for all purposes at the moment, they might as well have been the same.

Gaucho's bone-pierced nose lowered to his chest, where he pressed a small button located on his collar. Instantly, the bone-spikes retreated, leaving his muscled chest and shoulders, harmless. With a grunt of pain, he rolled his body towards Alina's, vaguely understanding her motives for being close: warmth. Although a creature like Gaucho likely would have spontaneously approved of the physical contact, even were no purpose immediately evident to him.

Gaucho's own blackened wing raised, gently moving to fall upon Alina's wither and back - indeed, the difference in their size was so great, that the expanse of his wing could nearly cover her completely. His antlered skull lowered to the ground, tilting slightly to encourage Mara to follow the white mare's suggestion. "Mara go." He encouraged, to which the snake gave no response. Her black eyes opened weakly, looking into the sea-bright gaze of Alina. Her forked tongue taste the air, as she regarded the mare's warm smile somewhat skeptically. Mara sssssleep She mentally hissed to Gaucho. Pinning his ears back, Gaucho shook his antlers, forcing the snake to either move, or be tossed from her cradle. Hissing with slightly more energy now, the steel coloured snake slithered from his antlered, onto the wet sand. Raising her head up slightly, she moved to the place where Gaucho and Alina's intersection would create the most heat. Coiling herself tightly, the snake once again ceased to move.

With a grunt, Gaucho nodded with thanks to Alina. "I Gaucho" He offered, shifting himself slightly upon the sands, so as not to cut off circulation to his hind end while laying down. Inadvertently, this would have caused his feathers to move gently upon her back - should she not have tried to avoid his touch. Their proximity was so close now, that the dun took great care as he turned to face her, not wanting to knock her with his antlers - yet once again, his towering size proved beneficial, for even laying down as they were, he still rose much higher than she. "Are you alright?" His speech sounded primitive, choppy even, but filled with concern. Each member of the Throat, whether unknown to him or not, was his to care for, to protect.

Gaucho frowned as she called him milord. Weakly, from underneath their wings, Mara hissed her laughter, causing her silvery body to shake slightly with effort. The snake mentally described Alina's meaning, causing Gaucho to grunt in response. He was no Milord. He was called a Sultan, but that was My-das' request. If anything, he would have preferred the title of Commander, as Kri had called herself, but ultimately it mattered little. What he was called didn't matter - it was what he did, that counted. The dun shook his antlered skull to dismiss her worries. In his current state, however inappropriate their position was, was heavily outweighed by the precarious health of his companion. Not only that, but he was unsure if he would be able to move - to stand. He hoped that Onni would come shortly, so that he wouldn't have to find out.

His dark lips parted in a painful smile, as she spoke her name. It was a simple name - the first one at least, and that was a change. Most mares, while dainty as Alina, had complicated names that strained his lips to pronounce. This one, All-eee-na, rolled off of his dark lips easily enough. "A-leen-ah" He said slowly, his voice husky with pain.

As she noted that she was fine - stiff and sore, without any serious disabilities - Gaucho sighed thankfully. Still, he allowed his stormy gaze to wash over her (noting the sleekness of her body along the way), as he searched for hidden injuries. Often, after such traumatic events, the mind would block the more serious wounds to prevent shock. Although her coat was slightly coated from the seawater and sand, Gaucho's roaming gaze couldn't find any marks upon her to suggest significant wounds. As she turned her attention towards him, the dun unhelpfully shook his head ambiguously.

"Gaucho...fine.." He mumbled wearily, as he laid his muzzle upon the sands, silently pleading for Onni to arrive quickly. In truth, his right hip was almost entirely numb, and the pain was beginning to radiate into his spin. He feared that something had been dislodged deep within him, and was now affecting the rest of his body. Not only that, but he could feel his energy levels rapidly decreasing. The amount that it took to keep his core warm, was now seriously hindered by the amount of magic he had expelled in trying to rescue Alina, and sending more after Onni.

He could hear Alina speaking but...why had she gone so far away? Her voice sounded like it was being brought to him from across the sea, on some wayward breeze, rather than right next to him in the sands. For a moment, he considered opening his eyes and looking - to find out where she had gone but - alas. Even the thought of using his mind for such a trivial task seemed...unimportant. At least, that's what his slowly-fading from consciousness brain would have him think. Sleep seemed...like a luxury he was so often denied, and now, as his weary body was supported by the frigid sands, and his hind-end was slowly losing feeling due to the waters lapping over him, it seemed like something he had earned.

Was that breath on his nose? His mind stirred slightly, as Alina's pale muzzle inched closer to his own. Funny... He thought drowsily as his eyes remained firmly closed. How she make her voice do that, if she still here? But that not----Onni? Suddenly the idea of the nearness of Alina and the presence of Onni began to overlap in his mind. Mentally, he saw the white-winged one he had thrust from the ocean but...she didn't have those patches of brown before did she? Onni's mental image began to shift and superimpose itself over Alina, until the dun was sure that it was over her shoulders, that his dark wing now rested.

As their voices melded together in an unsettling conversation - if indeed they were one mare, as his oxygen strained brain was now starting to believe - Gaucho forced his eyes open. They were nearly bloodshot now, and very weary looking, as he strained to see what was going on without moving his antlered head. It was indeed Alina next to him, and not Onni. For a moment, an indescribable pang of emotion burst in his chest as the mental-scene was broken apart. Or perhaps, it was simply blood flowing through his wearily muscles as he tried to move. Grunting with effort, he raised his head off the sands, craning his neck to try and bring the shaman into view. As his gaze fell upon her, his head promptly fell back to the sands with a dull thud.

"Onnnnnniii" He whispered almost dreamily, as his eyes threatened to close once more. Then, almost immediately, they snapped open as memories of the preceding few minutes crashed upon him. His focus sharpened with an almost hostile ferocity, as he gazed at the paint. With what seemed like a ridiculous amount of effort, Gaucho raised his black wing off of Alina's, revealing the unconscious snake huddled between them. Without moving his gaze from the shaman, he let his wing slap down against his flank. "Mara. Onni heal. He demanded, before adding in a much quieter and weaker voice, "-please."