Caligo waded slowly through the murky water of the Koschei Forest, the water reaching halfway to her knees. There was a soft plop as she lifted a hoof out of the muck and moved it further forward, the mud swirling around her leg. The water was rather cool and almost sticky with the disturbed sediment. She flicked her tail and sent up a splatter of mud to the side. The end of her tail and the lower portion of her legs were a light tan color compared to the rest of her black body.

Besides the mud and water, she really liked it here. The screams were familiar to her and didn't make her on edge. They were rather comforting. The dark trees hid her in shadows for the most part and prevented the light from shining down and hitting her. She hadn't seen many people or large prey in here, though. She'd killed a few birds, snakes and other small things. An occasional fish, but that was mainly all she could find in this forest. Large animals were few and far between and had no reason to stay long in such a miserable place.

She felt something touch one of her front legs and froze. Slowly, she tipped her head down and looked at her leg. She watched the water near her, waiting for a ripple or any sign of movement below the surface. She opened her jaws slowly, she was itching to dig into some soft flesh. When she felt another movement against her skin, she snapped down into the water like a viper, submerging her snout halfway to her eyes and closing her jaws on the slimy body of a catfish. The thing squirmed and flipped around, but her teeth had it firmly impaled.

She jerked her head up and opened her jaws, letting the fish slide down her mouth to the back of her throat. In a few quick motions, she had swallowed the fish whole, it was still squirming as it made its way slowly down into her stomach. She licked the slime from the catfish off her mouth with her long pointed tongue. She made a low contented rumble in her throat as she continued walking forward. She was sufficed for now, but she wasn't satisfied. She was looking forward to finding bigger prey when she got out of this haunted swamp.

Yurei doesn't know how long she has been here, or how she got here, wherever this place is, but she knows she would never get bored of this place. Everything intrigued her from the simplest plants to the most terrifying creatures. She walked day and night finding new things to do or see. The thing that caught her attention the most though, without a fail, were the screams

Screams of helpless terror made her feel alive; something that she was not.

It was on one of her countless "expeditions"  when she saw it.

A black horse that screamed "danger" that was nothing like she ever seen before. She stared in awe as it swallowed a catfish whole.

Caligo was still walking through the sludge when she caught the scent of something alien to the swamp. It wasn't musky and damp, nor earthy with the smell of rot and decomposition. No, this smell was very fresh and clean in comparison and it caught her slightly by surprise. The possessor of this scent was very much alive and very close. She stopped walking and looked around, taking deep breaths of this new smell. She saw a form standing a few ways off and focused herself on it, reaching out with her mind.

The creature was a small girl in a long black dress and as she walked closer to her, she saw the white stripes on the fabric. Her ragged pointed ears slipped forward in interest and she felt a grin stretch across her face, showing off her mangled array of fangs. The girl was thin, with long black hair and large gray eyes. She probably had gotten separated from her family or something, in order for her to be out in the middle of this forest all alone. Either way, Caligo doubted she would be missed much. 

Caligo stopped a short distance from the girl, bending her head down low to smell her face. She couldn't find any emotion with her mind, no fear, no courage, no adrenaline. Even the scent of the girl didn't change after she walked up to her. Humans normally had a significant scent change due to the adrenaline being released, but this girl didn't show any signs of it. She still smelled like a living creature, however, she had no mental activity, at least none that was obvious to her. She hesitantly licked the girl's face with her long black tongue, but all she tasted was dust and air. There didn't appear to be any substance to her at all. What are you, girl? She asked her, rather disappointed that she couldn't be eaten.

Yurei stumbled back in shock and surprise. Though things may go through her, she still felt wrong when it happened. 

Looking up at the demonic horse up close only managed to make her curiosity grow. The fangs and claws were things she never saw before as the animals she have seen never grew to be this big.


Nor can they speak, she mused to herself.

If she was a lesser person she would be shocked and terrified. She knew she couldn't be injured no matter how hard anyone or anything tried though, so she kept her place.

"A ghost," she said with a conviction she didn't feel. Wouldn't a ghost remember how they died? Or haunt the one that killed them? There were many questions left to be answered, but one glaringly obvious thing kept her belief true; not being able to touch or be touched.
 

Caligo snorted and blew hot air over the girl's face, moving her hair around her head. Her gray eyes didn't change but remained the same as ever. There didn't seem to be any light or life in her at all. She just seemed like an empty shell, a husk of an actual girl with no actual color or feelings. She peaked her interest, her appetite quickly fading as she observed this new entity. She seemed rather dull, to put it bluntly. Caligo gave her a sneer when the girl answered her question. If she was this boring and uninteresting in real life, it was no wonder that she'd gotten killed.

She flicked her tail between her hind legs, stirring up the dirty water. She shook her neck and flicked an ear towards the girl. She seemed rather surprised that she could talk as well. It's been a long time since I've met a creature like your sort. I've met your kind before, but they are usually few and far between. I normally take life, but it's always intriguing to me when I find life even after they've lost their physical bodies.

She stopped talking and walked slowly around the ghostly form of the girl. She didn't see any signs of injury or damage, normally when an individual is killed, there are marks from where the person met their end, but on this girl, her clothes and skin were flawless and without a blemish. Even an illness or plague would leave some sort of sign, but those were also absent. She was puzzled at how this girl met her end, her life robbed from her at such a young age without a trace.

How did you lose your life? She asked. It wasn't in her nature to care about other creatures, but she could see the useful potential with this one if she was able to help her. She'd be good bait to lure unsuspecting travelers to her, or at least divert their attention so that she would be able to get close enough to kill them. Not that she had any trouble with that on her own, but she wouldn't turn down an accomplice if there ever was one. 

Yurei followed the horse's path with her eyes as the mysterious horse examine her. She didn't think there was anything wrong with her (except her unruly hair she stopped trying to untangle long ago…). 

"I don't know how I died." She answered nonchalantly. Without waiting for a response she immediately began to ask questions. "What are you? I didn't think horses could ever look like that." She stated impolitely. "Doesn't that hurt?" She said gesturing to Caligo's thin skin.

Caligo watched the girl as she answered and then began to quickly rattle off questions of her own. It was strange for someone to ask her questions, thinking about them was alien to her and it took her awhile to figure out an answer. She growled a little bit and snorted at the rude comment, but said nothing about it. She focused her energy instead on answering the little ghoul's questions.

I am a descendant of Deinos the Terrible, one of the four man-eating Mares of Diomedes. Deinos, the child of death and shadows themselves. She, along with the other three mares, due to their diets of flesh, became insane and along with the twisting of their minds, came the twisting of their bodies into shapes unrecognizable to that of normal horses. Through the generations, even after breeding with normal stallions, these twisting have become more and more grotesque and prominent. All descendants of the mares are female and all of their descendants will be as mutilated as they were, if not more so. 

We will always prey on men and fellow beasts that inhabit the earth. That is what we have always done and what we will always do. We are no longer docile horses that graze the earth, but fearsome predators that have earned a place for ourselves in folklore and legend. Kelpies, Phookas, Death Horses, we are all descendants from the original four mares. 

She shook her head and clicked her teeth together. It was odd having to talk for such a long stretch of time and she couldn't help but flick her tongue out of her mouth to lick her lips, even though she hadn't eaten. She looked stretched her neck around and watched as the spectral girl attempted to poke her flank. She couldn't, given the circumstances, but still asked another question. It does sometimes, it's skin like a normal creature. She replied. I can't help the way I am made, but yes the bones sometimes get caught on the skin and hurts it. 

Though Yurei didn't understand a few things, she got the gist of it. She peered into the hollow eyes of the horse and idly wondered how she could see.

Magic probably. She thought to herself.

"Are there any others of your kind around?" she asked. She knew vaguely that horses travel in herds, but she didn't know if that applied to all horeses. "Why can you speak?" As her hands ghosted through the skin of the horse, she imagined that she could feel the roughness of the skin and the hardness of the bones beneath. It was one of the things she hated the most abotu beign a ghost; not being able to feel. If it wasn't for the smells, she probably wouldve went insane.

Without touch, everything feels like a dream. 

Caligo perked her ears forward at the girl and pawed absentmindedly at the ground. It was so rare for her to talk to someone for any length of time that she wasn't practiced in the typical behaviors required for the social interaction. If she had eyes, they would have widened as she saw the girl reach around and try to touch her flank. Her cool translucent fingers went through her hide and she wasn't able to feel anything except for a brief numb cold. She had never had someone try to touch her before.

She flicked her tail, sending up a splash of water and shifted her weight on her back feet. She flicked an ear casually before speaking again.  There are more of my kind, but they are few and far between. We usually keep to ourselves. It keeps the competition for prey down and prevents us from going after each other. We aren't very common as it is, so it's better if we don't practice cannibalism unless we have to. But we won't turn down and easy meal, even if its one of our own.

She bent down slowly, still listening to the girl and scratched the side of her face on her leg. Straightening back upright, she resumed speaking. All animals can speak, child. It's only after they are able to speak to humans and make them aware of their ability to communicate, do people actually take notice. Most of my kind are able to speak. Our throats and mouths, however, are designed so that we can not speak physically, but only have a mental voice. We primarily use it as a way to invoke fear into our prey or to lure prey within range.