((Anyone's welcome to jump in- no need to ask~ Also, my next posts will probably be much longer, but don't worry about mirror-posting, I'm just long-winded ^^))
It was the sort of night that just seemed to have been made for exploration. The velvety black sky was heavy with iron-grey clouds; the golden glow of the moon just barely visible. Petrichor and ozone rode on the crisp, gentle breeze; their scents carrying the promise of the brewing storm. Nocturnal insects sang their raucous songs as the first fat raindrops made their appearance amid an otherwise mild drizzle. The sea of tall grass rustled and shifted ceaselessly; the whisper-soft sounds of the night only serving to make the encroaching storm all the more enchanting; the electric current that drifted lazily on the air that much more enticing.
A lone creature, far taller and heavier than most of the other creatures that were awake that night, shook her large head before setting off deeper into the grasslands, tail swishing at her hocks as she trotted, giving a little hopping, playful buck every now and again; hind hooves not really clearing the ground by more than a few inches, at best. Chewing on a mouthful of sweet clover, yellow fabric tied tightly around one of her upper fore-legs, she cut quite an unusual figure, dancing and hopping about as she was. For she wasn't a beautiful doe or even a mare that had escaped from her owner; nothing of the sort. She was a big, black-and-white cow, screwing around as though the grasslands were her pasture. The bovine wasn't in a hurry to reach anywhere in particular; in fact, she was simply having fun; running and jumping around like a calf without a care in the world.
Things weren't supposed to have gone the way they had. Something had gone wrong in her calculations the other night, but she wasn't quite sure where she'd messed up. Instead of being on the other side of the grasslands and in one of the extremely few-and-far-between little settlements to treat someone's sick child, Locria had misjudged her time between transformations.
So, as luck would have it, there she was. Missing a job that had promised to pay well, just roaming through and playing in the plains for no reason other than she could (her bovine brain was unaware of the dangers that could have lurked anywhere out there; at the moment, she didn't smell any predatory creatures, so that meant everything was okay, at least for the time being) and there was no reason not to just enjoy herself while she could; playing solitary games that only she knew the rules to, munching on clover and the occasional berries.
Until the first peal of thunder rolled overhead, the first bright flash of lightning split the night.
Flinging her head upward, she bellowed her displeasure at the mostly-hidden moon; a long, low-pitched lowing sound that the thunder swallowed; followed by a worried snort. The games had come to an abrupt end and it was time to start looking for somewhere to wait out the storm. Shelter wouldn't exactly be something to bother looking for, of course; but at least she wouldn't be standing in the middle of the grasslands. Lowering her head once again, she began trotting, then running as swiftly as her legs could carry her; not entirely sure of what she was rushing toward, but wanting to get there before the rain picked up.
