Vita was no stranger to heat. The fire of life coursed through her veins, perhaps more intensely than most, but this was just downright unorthodox. The cracks in the magma radiated a heat that lapped hungrily at her polished hooves, a silent threat, a not so secret desire to have the crust shatter beneath her and swallow her entirely… This was something she’d started to become accustomed to every now and again, but right now, it was intense.

More intense than she’d ever seen it before.

This didn’t sit well with her. Not one bit.

And it didn’t end up taking very long for her to find out why exactly. The ground beneath her hooves shifts awkwardly, wrenching a noise of terror from her chest as she staggers to one side just in time to watch a writhing, molten shape come throttling through the rock where she’d previously been stood. Her mouth gapes in shock for just a few spare moments before her brows furrow and she snorts furiously. What the hell WAS that thing?!

It bubbled and cracked, liquid rock dripping from its snake-like form, a low rattle that sounded like something between rolling boulders and the hiss of a serpent. The ‘beast’ seemed like it was sizing her up, its ‘head’ waving back and forth like a cobra entranced by music, but unfortunately for it, Vita seemed to be sizing it up just as much as it was with her.

“You don’t want this, promise.”

But it seems, it did. Vita has a split second to react as the thing lunges forward and smacks its snout square into the remaining portion of the hard rock floor, the courser managing to leap out of the way where she proceeds to lean forward and kick a small boulder directly at its head.

It lands with a thud, Vita watching with an open mouth as the rock does nothing but melt directly back into the creature's pseudo-flesh. It rises, exhaling a plume of smoke as another rattled hiss leaves its crude lungs, and in an instant, Vita realizes this isn’t exactly something she can fight here.

“Maybe… you do. Shit.” Her words come out breathless as she paws at the ground for a short moment before whipping around and bolting. Nope. Nope nope nope. Vita would never consider herself a coward, ever, but she wasn’t stupid either. She knew damn well what she could handle, and some big terrifying lava snake was NOT on that list and was never something she even wanted on that list. 

How could she deal with this? 

It seemed so fluid in its home environment but maybe she could lead it away…?

Her hooves beat furiously across the crackling ground, cinders flying past her face as she ran, kicking rocks back at the beast as she went before leaping back up onto the brick and casting a haphazard glance backward. An ear splitting roar rattles the cavern as the snake breaks free of the rock and begins coiling towards her, but… out of the lava, the air struck its molten hide, solidifying it the more it was exposed to the comparatively cold air. 

It was slowing down.

Vita held her breath, deciding to risk it and hold her ground now that she was back on the beaten path, watching the creature inch toward her, closer and closer… before it came to a complete stop just inches from the path with a final, gasping hiss.

Letting out a distressed sigh, the horse hangs her head and grimaces. Dear gods above, that was far too much… that was utterly terrifying… but now she knew how to tango with them. Draw them out of the lava and let them cool off until they were useless, oversized wormy statues. A bit of information she planned to store in the back of her mind for another day.

For now, though, she had to get out of there. She could see the slightest hint of movement beneath the magma to her left and she did NOT want to deal with what looked to be an even bigger mess than what she just messed with.