User blog comment:Ohmpahkan/Cycle of life/@comment-1011548-20110406205225

Snowy Mountains, Area 2
The Popo grazed aimlessly on the freshest shoots of grass, unaware they were being watched. Above them, a series of grass covered, step-like rock shelves led away, higher up the mountain, and it was from this high-ground that the predators prepared their ambush. They were wary, as well they should be. Popo, despite their lethargic, easy-going nature were surprisingly firm in the defence of their offspring, and their curving tusks were more than capable of inflicting a fatal gash up the flank of an overconfident Giaprey. They all had a thick layer of brown, shaggy hair that not only protected them from the freezing temperatures closer to the mountain peaks, but was also effective at catching the stabbing, scything claws of a Giaprey. A pack of Giaprey, however, is something that even the top predators of the mountain held in occasional fear, depending on the size and strength of the pack… and these five individuals were more than capable of taking down a young or ill Popo. Whilst being unnervingly intelligent predators they were also equipped with powerful, muscled legs, each ending in two sharp claws and one even larger one, sickle shaped, designed for stabbing arteries and other weakpoints. Their raptor-esque bodies were tireless, balanced by a long, whipping tail, and covered in electric blue scales patterned amongst white ones, which gave them surprisingly effective camouflage in the snow-filled icy caves that were their home. Their most dangerous features, however, were large, drooping talons on their forearms and an impressive, slender pale yellow beak, in which needle sharp teeth were distantly spaced out. Oh, and they were led by a fearless pack leader, the Giadrome; identifiable by its great blue crest, it was the alpha male, a good fifty percent bigger than its subjects, and it commanded the pack with absolute authority. After taking control of the group some years ago, hormonal changes had dyed its sickle and foreclaws a deep blue and special glands in the throat (underdeveloped in normal Giaprey) released a combination of fluids that froze into a hard, icy substance on contact with solid material. It was the Giadrome that now watched over the herd of Popo from high on the rocky steps… waiting for the perfect moment to strike… There. A Popo with a pronounced limp and thick, hairless scar up its left side had wandered away from the rest of the group and towards the rock shelves. Whilst Popo generally had poor eyesight, especially with the long hair that often obscured their faces, this individual had its head down, snuffling across the ground – it’d never be able to see the pack coming. The Giadrome screeched an order to its pack, the shrill call reverberating across the mountainside. The herd looked up in concern, but the Giaprey were already bounding down the rockface, covering two to three shelves in each jump. Alarmed bleats came from the Popo, and they quickly formed a protective circle with the young in the middle, the adults and their protective tusks on the outer edge. The wanderer, however, had only begun to limp back to the group before a Giaprey stepped between them, beak agape, talons primed. It jumped… To be continued! Damn, writing is harder than I remember.