[SWP] ... Are You Ready For It?

Suddenly it bolted, the tree, lifting the very things that should have anchored it into existence, and with near-silent steps made haste in the direction of the Portal; yet the monster, pieced gruesomely together with various leftover body parts, was standing there peculiarly, causing the astonished Shieldmaiden to query whether he had perhaps swapped identities with the moving timber. Eyes examined him across the way, dodging between the excited bodies who seemed completely determined to stand in her way. “Move!” she wanted to scream at them, but there was no time, for the creature dressed in a veil of quivering emerald foliage turned, and fled the other way. It almost looked as though it were frightened, though the young horse scorned the thought. The only thing it had to worry about was the mud-splashed man with an overactive salivary gland… Valkyrie wasn’t at all sure what was happening - or why she should feel the need to contribute her time - so she stood as a spectator on the outer fringe of the gathering, entertaining herself with untold criticisms and retorts about the scene unfolding. The dove-like wings to either side of her porcelain-like skull retired to a more comfortable position, crisscrossing across the thickly purged mane from her crest. The hind-left hoof cocked casually, and she drew a long, pronounced breath. The coloured woman who had fallen stood nearby with her gruffalo on hand. Valkyrie examined the peculiar beast more closely now that she had a brief moment to spare; although not as ugly, it was easily as oddly made as the looming hulk of - everything - now bearing down behind the group. There was a beak at the front, like a bird, winged, tailed and even ornately crested, but behind it followed most of the hind-end of a wolf and to the sheltered Daughter the combination made no logical sense. No matter the force of her blink, nor the angle she tilted her face, she couldn’t decide where one species finished and the other began; though, it had a strangely suave look about it which intrigued her vain heart. A bustle of movement sliced through her focus. It appeared that they (not she), had let the rogue wood-folk slip through their hooves, for it made haste towards space through which the murky shadow of the far-off forest loomed. “Oh dear…” she blurted, feigning an exaggerated display of dissatisfaction. “It escaped!” Of course, Valkyrie had no idea that herding it home was the intention, and should not the whole herd of misfits been oncoming behind it, she might have offered them aid by stepping a lean foreleg across its path, to trip it over and stop their stupid hurtle…