[open] at the final breath that is drawn

[bolder]

Bolder slithered across the ground.

For the most part, the young shifter moved silently. He had become a rattlesnake, a creature that should hopefully give the nocturnal predators pause (though if it didn’t, he would enjoy becoming something that would), and the copper-and-gold reptile glided over the sandy soil near the River. It wasn’t the most impressive shape - nor his most distinguishable one - but Bolder enjoyed the way that this creature saw the world.

Even though night had come, Bolder’s world was painted in various shades of red and orange and yellow. All it took was a moment of looking and realizing that what he was seeing was the heat coming from nearby bodies. It might prove to be a useful tool if he ever wanted to avoid being noticed, and even more useful because he could keep notice of others.

He kept towards the shrubs, preferring the cover twigs and fallen debris than the open sky. Bolder tried to move carefully, focusing on keeping his motion fluid and glancing around almost constantly, sensing the world around him with a flick of his tongue. The shapeshifter had been looking in another direction, staring at a mass that he could only assume was a weasel or perhaps a fox, when a nearby sound caused him to slither in that direction. He had felt the vibrations from the ground, when Bolder finally approached the riverbed, he was no longer a rattlesnake but a stallion who peered over the edge to see who (or what) had fallen.

It was a mare.

She was nearly as dark as the night that surrounded them (and therefore harder for him to see) - save for a few glowing … fireflies? - and Bolder brightened the glow from the moon-shaped marking on his face so that she might see him clearly. ”Are you alright?” the young pegasus called out, and took a carefully-placed step towards her.

@Nostromo