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 Posted: Sat Jan 12, 2008 8:43 am
The striped mare snorted to herself and moved up from the easy walk she’d kept up for the last hour or so to a brisk trot; the mare called Nyx was to be found on the large rise before her at this time of day. She had burned her bridges and she would not regret it, no, she would not. They had left her no choice, no choice at all. She could not be mate to Diego, her mind could not entertain so disgusting a notion. Let him call it running away like a petulant filly if he wanted; to her it had been the only course of action she could possibly have taken. She was no tool, no slave, no patch of apple trees to be bartered with. She was free, she was her own mistress and...
And she did miss her family.
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Posted: Sat Jan 12, 2008 8:55 am
Well, she supposed some arranged matches did work after all with that couple in mind. Didn’t change her position on Hasani in the slightest, but it was nice to know that all had turned out for the snappy Jala mare she remembered. What was right for one person, after all, was not always right for another. Personally she loved mushrooms but that didn’t mean they were everybody’s favorite food.
The young black creature was topping the rise now, and the splotched Aeri moved over to greet her with a smile and a whicker. “Bastet,” she said with a smile. “I’m Nyx, glad to meet you.” The poor dear did look a bit of a wreck; her lower legs were mud-splattered and her long tail was decidedly unkempt at its ends, she mustn't have had the time or the help required to keep such a thing in good order on her trip... Speaking of, she was looking forward to finding out exactly what had driven the feather-winged mare away from her family, Nina had been a bit vague on that score.
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Posted: Sat Jan 12, 2008 9:01 am
Bastet smiled back wearily and gave a respectful dip of her head to the elder mare. "Lady Nyx, thank you for agreeing to meet with me at such short notice...” Did the tall Nequus know her reason for being here? The leather-winged creature smiled softly, maternally almost, and her blue eyes held no demands; she just... waited. The striped Jala pawed lightly at the ground underhoof and lowered her eyes. “I ah... I come to you on a... a personal matter of some urgency. I was hoping that you could help me...” If the Aeri couldn’t, or if she refused... well, no harm done; she would just move on and either find another group to attach herself to or live alone. Either way she would manage; she’d done alight so far, she’d manage if she had to.
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Posted: Sat Jan 12, 2008 9:08 am
The brightly coloured mare smiled and shook her head. “It’s no trouble at all Bastet, I assure you. Now,” the Aeri settled her blue wings more comfortably against her flanks, “what might this personal matter be? I can’t help you if I don’t know what it is, don’t be nervous, I shan’t judge you for it.” Unless her problem was that she’d been on a killing spree or something, but from the feather-winged Nequus’ bearing Nyx strongly doubted that it was anything like that. More likely it was a family problem; if it was anything else why would she have fled home rather than seeking help from among her own people.
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Posted: Sat Jan 12, 2008 9:20 am
The gold-hooved mare sighed and turned her head to look toward the now well risen sun. If she was at home, she’d be by the stream with her sister at the moment listening to gossip and adding the occasional comment while they drank and washed. Today, and for the last several days, her sibling had probably been alone there. Maybe they all thought she was dead... How could she tell this Nyx, this leader before her why she’d fled? Doubtless the Aeri had an arranged stallion of her own. Perhaps coming here had been a mistake... still, she wouldn’t know until she tried.
“It was... it was my father,” the striped Jala began eventually. “We share a border with this other herd that... well that’s doing quite well for itself. He wanted an alliance and... Well, to get it I was supposed to become mate to the other herd’s leader’s youngest son. His name’s Diego, and he’s a hateful b*****d. I couldn’t bring myself to become his mare and so... and so here I am.” Well, there it was told in its plainest form and it was the moment of truth. Would Nyx welcome her or condemn her? Muscles going tense, Bastet turned her eyes back onto the tall mare before her and waited.
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Posted: Sat Jan 12, 2008 9:28 am
Oh. So it was like that, was it? Nyx heaved a heavy sigh and shook her head. “I’m sorry to hear that Bastet, and you’re welcome to stay here as long as you will. I know what it’s like when somebody tries to force a nice, or not so nice, suitable mate on you.” Poor Bastet. At least the stallions suggested to her had all seemed like decent sorts. She couldn’t imagine not only not getting to say the final word on whether to take an arranged match or not but to have an unpleasant creature thrust upon you to be your partner for life...
She was very, very glad at that moment that she was herd leader not herd leader’s daughter. Might such a fate have been hers if her father had lived longer, or if her brother had taken over as he had been supposed to? Perhaps so. Nyx tried not to think about such a fate. Surely her father would not have done that to her... but perhaps that had been how Bastet thought until a little while ago.
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Posted: Sat Jan 12, 2008 12:44 pm
Bastet gave a huge sigh of relief and smiled gratefully at the mare before her. “Thank you Lady Nyx,” she said, bowing her head respectfully as she spoke. “I’m not sure what I would’ve done if you’d said no...” So that was that, was it? She was a member of this herd now and safe?... Would her father start a conflict to get her back? She hoped not, she didn’t want to being any trouble to the kind-eyed creature before her.
“So... Did ah... did you take this mate they wanted you to take?” She had to know, to know if it was just her that had balked and run away. Somehow she’d feel a little better about running out on her duty if Nyx had done the same and she wanted to feel better about her choice. Right now she felt a little guilty and couldn’t help but think of the chaos she could’ve flung her herd into. No. Not her herd anymore. Her father’s herd. She didn’t belong to it anymore, and therefore she could not consider that in some small way it still belonged to her.
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Posted: Sat Jan 12, 2008 12:56 pm
Just as Bastet had a moment ago, Nyx turned her face away to look out over her herd. The Aeri of her people were mostly at rest now, the Jala mostly awake and as ever Bae were scattered about both sleeping and flitting over the fertile ground. “No,” she said eventually, “I didn’t. He was a nice stallion, all my suitors were really, but I was already in love so in the end I sent them away.” Almost too late. She’d almost lost him to that mistake... Or had her mistake been sending the nice but not Hasani stallions back to their homes disappointed?
“I suppose,” the splotched mare said slowly, “it’s just a choice you have to make. To follow the duty in your head, or the truth in your heart. I’ve chosen the latter,” and she hoped she could stick to her choice, truly she did, “but that doesn’t mean it's the right choice... Relations with my neighbors a a touch strained now because of it and my own council roll their eyes at me and tell me to let him go, but I’ve still chosen truth not duty. For now. I hope for always. I can’t imagine leaving Hasani.” Why was she telling the girl all this? Did she hope for sympathy? To let the Jala what could lie ahead for her father? Something else? She really didn’t know, but it felt good to confide in somebody other than her long-dead sire and maybe that was all that mattered. She was generally a good judge of character, and she didn’t think Bastet would go blabbing to anybody.
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Posted: Sat Jan 12, 2008 1:07 pm
Truth or duty. It was sort of poetic. “Yes... I suppose so.” If she had a stallion she could love, maybe she’d feel better about this... Yet Nyx still seemed unsure of her decision. Would this be a choice she would come to regret rather than to feel unsure of and slightly guilty about? “The... the reason for my match was tensions between our two hers,” she said suddenly, looking up at Nyx as the Aeri’s eyes came back to rest on her. “Disputed grazing territory and things like that,” she elaborated uncomfortably. “Putting me with Diego was supposed to fix that... Maybe they’ll find somebody else to give to him.” Yes, that would make everything better. If Diego still got a pretty mare of some importance her choice wouldn’t matter anymore, and once there were foals from the match she could probably even return home if she chose. Feeling slightly better, the striped Jala gave Nyx a tentative smile, wondering about the stillness that the other mare suddenly possessed.
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Posted: Sat Jan 12, 2008 1:14 pm
...She hated to do this to the girl, especially after she’d offered her protection and a place in the herd but... Well, some things had to be said. “If this Diego is as bad as you say,” the Aeri said slowly, vaguely recalling tell about him from one who had left that herd due to the golden’s presence, “I would not wish a match with him upon anyone else. I... I hate to say this but if I expected an unpleasant stallion to be pushed on somebody else, especially I cared for, because I wouldn’t have him, I’d bit the thorn and have him. Who would it be? Your sister has a mate, I believe so... maybe a cousin?"
She hated to press guilt on the poor girl but, had she realized that the match might be pressed upon another in Bastet’s absence, she couldn’t keep her silence. She’d assumed that the mating would just be off, foolish in hindsight. The only reason the council wasn’t pushing somebody else up for a good pairing was the fact that there wasn’t really anyone else. All her close family were dead.
Nyx gave a heavy sigh and watched the suddenly frozen black face before her. She didn’t know what she hoped; if she hoped that Bastet would now reconsider and accept Diego or if she hoped the mare would stick to her choice and thus give her more hope of sticking to her own no matter what.
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Posted: Sat Jan 12, 2008 1:24 pm
For a moment or two, the lithe mare’s stillness remained but before long she sagged; head lowering and wings drooping. “Yes” she said softly, “a cousin I suppose...” She had two girl-cousins, one slightly older and much prettier than the other. She would be the offering then. She hadn’t realized. Hadn’t thought. If she choose to save herself, she sacrificed another in her place. Could she live with that?... Probably not, but she didn’t think she could live with Diego either. Perhaps she should let him have her once, bear him foals and then find a cliff to fall off or a river to drown in.
...But she couldn’t go back, not after fleeing like that. She would be considered mad or irresponsible or both and no good for dear Diego at all. “I’ve burned my bridges,” she muttered softly, shaking her head but not raising it, “there’s nothing I can do.” She couldn’t look up, couldn’t look into Nyx’s eyes and see whatever was there, whatever abhorrence the mare held for her selfish choice.
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Posted: Sat Jan 12, 2008 1:36 pm
Nyx smiled softly and moved closer to the younger mare, bending down to nuzzle gently at her neck as though she were a foal in need of comfort. “Bridges dear?” she chuckled. “Why do you think we were given wings if not to fly over burned bridges. Now listen here; this is what you’re going to do...” For a few moments the blue-splotched Aeri was silent and still, considering just what course of action was best.
“Go out and explore the world a bit,” she said eventually. “Go to the coast, have a look at mountains if it pleased you, see Yisi. Once you’ve done that, had a chance to think about all of this and to grow a little in yourself, make your choice. I shall send a messenger to your father and to Diego’s father explaining that you felt you had to see things before you settled down and became a mother, so if you do choose to go back they oughtn’t to have forced golden boy on somebody else in your absence. If you don’t... Well, you can choose any of the places you’ve seen to settle in or keep wandering about if you like.”
She hoped now that the striped Jala did go back, no matter whether or not that cast doubts in her own mind about her own choice. In this case, it was not just a duty to herd and a convenience match but duty also to family and to putting a stop to possible conflict. If Bastet choose herself, the Aeri mare knew she would lose the respect she held for her as a strong spirit... Was that how her herd and her council were thinking? Had they lost respect for her because she’d chosen love not alliance, truth not duty? But it wasn’t the same, it wasn’t; if Bastet choose to go back she might be choosing only duty and sacrificing a truth, but if she let her cousin be Diego’s though she kept one truth she sacrificed another, and her duty with it. It wasn’t the same situation at all. ...And now she felt as though she was making excuses, best to move on from that train of thought.
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Posted: Mon Jan 14, 2008 6:19 am
As the Aeri finished speaking, a real smile broke over the Jala mare’s dark face. “Nyx I... Thank you.” That seemed a bit inadequate but it was the best thing that had come to her somewhat reeling mind. Yes. She had time. One way or another she didn’t have to condemn herself or anybody else to the fate of being Diego’s just yet. She’d always wanted to see the world a bit, to know what it was like out there and to meet people who weren’t of her herd. She’d have to choose in the end of course, and already at the back of her mind there was a niggling voice that told her she already knew what she was going to do. For now however, she could ignore its murmuring and be... free. She couldn’t start out soon enough!
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Posted: Mon Jan 14, 2008 6:28 am
The tall mare chuckled softly and shook her head, pulling herself from her own musings to focus on Bastet again. “It’s my pleasure dear,” she told the Jala, “I’m glad to be able to help you.” Seeing the feather-winged girl smile made her feel better about her own situation somehow. One way or another it would come out alright; things usually did in the end.
Looking down over her herd, Nyx frowned thoughtfully to herself. “Well, I’ll go and find myself a messenger then; don’t you worry about hanging about dear; get your hooves moving.” A smile returning to her face as she made to head down the rise, the splotched mare turned one more time to the purple-marked Jala. “If you want my advice, head to Quirne. It’s beautiful there, though I didn’t stay long myself to explore. I’ve heard a lot of people say they found answers looking out over the ocean.”
With these words and a last smile to the gold-eyed creature, Nyx set off down the slope at a canter; she had a candidate for taking the message in mind already and the sooner he was found the better.
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Posted: Mon Jan 14, 2008 6:33 am
For a few moments, Bastet watched her go. The ocean, eh? Frowning thoughtfully to herself the black mare looked up at the sun and, after deducing south from its position, turned about and broke into a gallop almost from a standing start. After a few long-legged paces she was at the edge of the rise and bunching her muscles to fling herself into a leap, beating her wide wings as she did so. A moment later she was in the air, rising up above Nyx’s land and sparing a few moments to mark the large mare’s progress down the hill, set off through the sky. She had made a new friend in that Aeri today, and she was not beaten yet. She was not. Diego did hot have her yet. There was still a little time. There was time.
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