|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Mon Feb 22, 2010 7:55 am
The days had dragged on, turning themselves into even longer weeks than what she remembered a week to be. Perhaps it had been a full month? To tell the truth, the chocolate mare wasn't entirely certain how much time had passed since her encounter with her brother, the humans, Desmona, and the wolves. Still, it felt as though it had happened just yesterday, and worse sometimes it felt like it was just a couple hours ago that she had fought her way out of the demon's clutches. That's what they were, you know? Wolves weren't anything more than heathens, devil-dogs sent upon this earth to- okay that was going a little too far. The mustang may have hated their guts but even she realized it was just the natural order of things. Not that this realization made it any better for her, far from it in fact.
As the flaxen-maned mare, who had once gone by the name of Spook, and Raspuita at one time in her life, continued forward she couldn't help but feel every scarred over wound as it itched against her hide. Yes her body had begun to heal itself, seeing as how she was no longer deathly tired or exhausted, but she feared her hide would never grow to what it use to be. For weeks she watched as her body slowly recovered itself, closing the wounds and covering them in thick exposed skin, yet the hair didn't seem in too much of a hurry to grow back. If it ever would. What was she to think of this? Nothing. It was the price to pay for the loss of ignorance to the world around her, and the betrayals that came from tangling herself in other's affairs. Rest assured, the mare had no further intentions of doing that again.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Feb 22, 2010 8:08 am
She wasn't entirely certain of where she was going either. The mare had never really had a permanent home, unless you counted her early life with her mother and use-to-be herd. And going back there wasn't an option for her. Its not that she was shamed by how her body looked now, but some small part of her didn't want to face her mother's horrified face and gushing attention- especially after her dam had already lost two of her loved ones to different fates. If the chocolate mare did show up in her current condition, she imangined it would put her dam through unnecissary pain, and this particular mustang wasn't in the business of harming others without good reason.
With a flick of what remained of a once beautiful and full tail, the mare headed in the one direction she knew something still waited for her. The rapids after all had always been a source of comfort for her, and she was keen on seeking out something familar after all this time. Luckily for her, she knew exactly where to find it- and if she somehow lost her way, it would be easy to follow the river up stream. After all, she was facing the mountains just now, and though they were distant on the horizon, she knew the rapids were closer toward them. Her yellow gaze flickered to said mountains, and a passing thought of demon horses entered mind. Ghost stories. That's what she had called Rowan's warnings and tales of the Hell herd, but she found herself more readily accepting of them now than she had been back then. Why? One did not survive near death experiances without realizing the foolishness of earlier years. The chocolate mare snorted, tossing her head to the wind as she did so. It didn't matter anymore, and thus she would not fret and wonder about it as she had before.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Feb 22, 2010 8:21 am
 It had been many days since he had escaped from the strange human settlement filled with weird wooden boxes and cruel people that would mistreat and threaten him. The further away the colt got from that place the scarier it seemed to him, and he wasn't entirely certain why. His young mind kept replaying scenes that seemed to be worse than the last time he had remembered it. And yet he had something else that weighed heavily against him, thoughts and feelings that kept him from sleeping at night. Well, more so than the usual fear of being gobbled up by some frightening predator during the night. What about his comrades he left with the humans? Were they okay or did something terrible happen to them? These thoughts wracked his conciousness, and tormented him whenever he got the chance to sleep.
Maybe that's why he was feeling so exhausted right now. His body shook and stumbled across the plains, once lively eyes dulled over with the lack of sleep coupled with a horrifying feeling of guilt. He should have gone back. No matter what the grown-ups had told him, he should have gone back to help them. With this in mind the colt slowed his pace, craning his neck around to view the path behind him he had just come from. Was it too late to turn back now?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Feb 22, 2010 8:36 am
It was about an hours walk, she figured, until she found herself in the graces of the rapids. How she'd missed seeing their raging white foam and rushing waters. The feeling of being free that came from starring at those sights was something the chocolate mare had been craving for weeks on end. And now she was finally strong enough to make the journey, after carefully taking care of herself to be sure that she healed correctly. Sure, her body was littered with scars, her tail torn to bits, and she suspected part of ear completely gone, but everything would be okay once she saw those rapids again. If not for her own satsisfaction, than for the sheer fact of seeing something familar. Perhaps it would calm her mind and allow her to think clearly for the first time in weeks. Its not that her mind had gone hazy or anything, but her emotions clouded every thought that passed through her mind. Pure emotions she had no control over. Seething hatred, raging fires of ill-manner that she wished to release on the offending parties. Rest assured, if she ever met up with Desmona or her brother again... they would pay the price for betraying her.
Such thoughts crowded into her mind once more and the chocolate mare settled into them like she had all the other times before. She allowed them to enter and spawn, even encouraged their wrath. While doing so she couldn't help but release a piercing cry, striking out with her front hooves in quick succession as her gait transition from a walk to a near charge. The feelings stayed with her for a moment as her body halted, rigidly still as her head held itself upon a high arch, chin tucked toward her chest and ears pricked keenly forward. She stood panting into the chilled wind, fierce muscles twitching underneath her hide. They would get what's coming to them, that much was certain.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Feb 22, 2010 8:44 am
So what if it had taken him all these days just to get out of that dreadful place? He should have known better, he should have fought the urges to run for his life and go back to help those poor horses. He certainly couldn't expect the Stranger to go back and help them, now could he? The stallion had definately done him a favor by undoing his ropes, but... but he didn't undo the ropes of the other mustangs. It was settled then. Shiloh would just have to go back to that weird place and undo the ropes himself. He was fairly certain he remembered how the Stranger had gotten his undone- OHHIGHHEAVENS WHAT WAS THAT?
The colt couldn't help but be startled by the sudden cry that came out of nowhere, and yet had sounded so very close to him. The first that went through his mind was that perhaps it was some kind of predator like a wolf or a mountain lion, but then reason sprung into action and told him it was a horse. His body still shook from a mixture of exhaustion and now fear as he craned his head around to gaze at his surroundings, and sure enough across the valley there was a figure of a horse no more than a hundred yards away. An adult at that. He watched as she stood there, doing nothing and wondered if the sound had indeed come from her, or if there were others around them.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Feb 22, 2010 8:56 am
It took several deep breaths for her to calm down long enough to make any rational thought, but as she came down from her emotional high the mare unconciously pawed at the frost-covered ground beneath her hooves. She needed to conserve her energy, she told herself, trying to wind down after such an outburst. She may have been better after all of these weeks, but the mare was far from peak-condition, and the last thing she wanted was to get herself into a situation and be exhausted because of such foolish behavior. Slowly her body untensed itself as even her hoof stopped pawing at the ground, and she finally allowed herself to stand as she normally would. Finally she untucked her chin and lowered her head to its usual place, giving uncharasmatic flick of her tail as she did so. There, that was better wasn't it?
Now she just had to continue forward until she reached the rapids, and after that she allow herself to heal further. It would take awhile to regain all of her lost energy and strength, but the flaxen-maned mare was certain that she'd be back to her old self in no time if she just let her body do what it had to in order to fix itself properly. Of course, she'd never forget what happened, but she could at least move herself forward on that front and be patient. She'd find them eventually, and it'd be better for her if she was completely healed first.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Feb 22, 2010 9:12 am
It seemed like an eternity as he watched the chocolate colored mare just stand there, pawing at the ground every once in awhile. Shiloh wasn't so certain about her anymore. The long her watched her the more discontent she made him feel, and the more upset he seemed to think she was. He had learned early on that approaching upset horses didn't always turn out the way he liked, sometimes ending in a harsh scolding and other times with a n** or a kick. They just didn't seem to like being bothered. However, as the colt watched the mare from a distance he caught on to her posture and how it relaxed over time. Now if he hadn't been in the situation he was in now he probably would have left her alone, but he was tired, far too tired to even consider being left alone for any longer. He wanted to sleep, he really did, but not while anything could just jump out of nowhere and attack him while he rested.
To say the least he missed his dam, but it had been several months since he'd seen her. He had been living with his comrades in the other, nicer two-leg village for some time, and had gotten use to not seeing her or being around her, but not now. He wished heavily that his mother were here to comfort and protect him while he slept. Perhaps that's what drove him forward without him realizing it, and maybe that's what made his little shivering body push out a weak nicker towards the strange mare. He didn't even notice he had done anything until she looked in his direction, and terrified for just a bried moment he froze in place.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Feb 22, 2010 9:23 am
The chocolate mare began forward once more, determined to reach the rapids without another foolish display of emotion. It would deplete her energy supply for sure, and that was something she did not want to happen at all. If anything she wanted to help herself along the road of recovery in any way that she could, blissfully ignorant of the way she looked as a whole. Sure, she had craned her neck around to peer at her sides and legs, and saw that they were covered in scars, but she had yet to look at her reflection in the pond. Maybe she was hideous? Perhaps there was some large chunk of her missing somewhere and she just hadn't been able to see it just yet. Or maybe her face was terribily maimed, and would frighten off anyone who looked at it. She wouldn't be certain until she got up the courage to look at herself. Not that it really mattered. If she truly did look like that it would just give her one more reason to hate those who had betrayed her.
Taking a few steps forward she couldn't help but pick up what sounded like a very weak and quiet whinny. She would have guessed that it was much further away, but to her surprise when she craned her neck around she happened to see a foal no more than fifty feet away. How had it snuck up on her like that? Oh, right. She wasn't paying attention. How many times had she gotten in trouble because of that pesky habit of hers? Anyway, as she stared at the foal who had seemed to go into some kind of shock, she bemusedly wondered if she indeed looked like some horribily maimed creature. That didn't stop her from calling out though, ears pricked forward in interest. "You okay, kid?" My, he certainly looked shakey...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Feb 22, 2010 9:31 am
W-what was wrong with her? He hadn't noticed so far away, but now that he was closer he could see the thick lines of pink and white that covered her body. He would have dismissed it as nothing but a coat pattern, but patches of her hair were completely missing in those places. Were... were those scars?! What kind of a mare was this, to have so many awful looking scars in some many places around her body. Sure, he'd seen some stallions with wounds on their bodies, and they would proudly show them off as 'battle trophies' but none of them every even came close to having this many. Did... did that mean this mare was stronger and better than they were? The young foal wasn't certain, but the only thing that flashed into his mind was that she must have been terribly mean to get into so many fights.
He wanted to run away right then, not liking those kinds of thoughts, but then he heard her voice and something in him prevented his movement. She didn't sound mean, but that could just be a trick he told himself. And yet he stayed frozen in place, knees quaking as with the effort of standing and fighting the urge to run. "M-my name's not kid", he told her, swallowing the knot that had formed in his thraot, "It's... I mean, I'm Shiloh." He wasn't exactly feeling too brave right now, and if she was mean he didn't want to evoke any of her wrath.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Feb 22, 2010 9:39 am
Ho-kay, judging from his reactions she must look like some kind of monster. Part of her was dispared at this, but the much larger part found it amusing above all else. Figures. The friendliest, most open-to-all-company mustang would look like a beast wouldn't she? Damn irony. With a huff that displayed her humor, the mare began to walk slowly forward, not wanting to frighten the poor little thing any further. "Okay Shiloh, I'm-" she started but paused. Who was she? She certainly couldn't be Spook anymore, that alias just didn't seem to fit like it had for all those years. And she certainly wasn't going to go around calling herself Raspuita anymore, that was out of the question entirely.
"Scar", she blurted before anything else could come to mind. Did she really just say her name was 'Scar'? How horribily cliche. Oh gods, why not just go with something like Nailus? She liked Nailus! Aug, oh well, the damage was done and she didn't really care what she was going to be calling herself from now on. With a roll of her eyes at herself the newly dubbed Scar returned her attention to the foal and gave him a smile. "What's wrong Shiloh?" He definatly looked scared of something, and if it wasn't her she might need to know just in case something was lurking in this area.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Feb 22, 2010 2:33 pm
She was coming closer to him and all Shiloh could do was stand there with his mouth half agape and his blue eyes darting from scar to scar. He couldn't really tell if she had any on her face though, since it was mostly white and pink really didn't stand out that well against it. Oh man, it would have made her so much more scarrier if she had scars on her face! Oh wait, she was saying something. That snapped his attention, which had very blantantly been starring at her mangled hide, to her face once more and Shiloh could have sworn she said her name was Scar. Well... duh. That made him smile, just a little bit. It was just such an obvious thing for her to be named, he couldn't believe just how simple it was. There's no way her name was actually Scar. He was about to call her on it when he snapped his mouth shut at a sudden bit of fear that struck him. What if it really was her name and she got mad because he was making fun of it? Eep.
"I..." he wasn't really certain where to begin with that question. Lots of things were wrong. He still wanted to go back and save all the mustangs in the human settlement, but he certainly didn't want to tell Scar about that. Not until he knew her true intentions at least, espeically if she turned out to be as mean and evil as she looked. "I'm alone, I've been by myself for days and I can't go to sleep", he spoke with a half truth, figuring he might as well do what he had orginally intentioned. It would be nice to finally get some sleep, but only if he didn't have to worry about things coming to eat him while he did so.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Feb 22, 2010 2:46 pm
Huh. That wasn't the kind of threat she had been expecting, not by a long shot. So, the colt couldn't sleep because he was alone? As sad as that sounded there really wasn't anything for Scar to do about it. Its not like she was going to adopt the little thing... right? Yellow eyes watched the little dun body shake and shiver and she had to guess he'd gone at least a few days without proper sleep, probably even eating. What exactly had he been through to get himself into such a condition? Oh, wait. That's something she wasn't suppose to be sticking her nose into against, remember? No more carring about others and their plights, no more trying to help them to the best of her ability. Sure, her life had been saved by just a mare who had taken that chance on her, but surely she would wind up being betrayed again.
By a little foal? her mind mocked, laughing at the very thought of such a thing. Well, there really wasn't any reason to be afraid of something happening like last time, especially since he wasn't a very strong looking foal at the moment. But what if- look at that face, its so pathetic and weak, her mind told her once more. And she looked, studying the way the colt's face creased and how his nostrils flared in either fear or exhaustion. It was stupid to be afraid of such a creature hurting her, and yet Scar really couldn't bring herself to accept it after what Desmona and her brother did. "I'm sorry to hear that, but you see I'm on my way to the rapids and-"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Feb 22, 2010 2:52 pm
"I'll come with you!" Shiloh quickly butted in, blue eyes wide with the fear of being left alone in the wilderness again. Yes she looked scary and terrible, but she didn't seem that bad and he certainly didn't want to be on his own out here for a moment longer. It really, completely sucked with everything that had happened to him and his comrades, but the foal in him wanted to be comforted and held close. This mare wasn't his mother, she certainly wasn't as sweet or beautiful as his dam had been, but she was all he had and the colt wanted to cling to her side like a newborn foal. In truth he was almost a full year old, having been born in the early spring months, and normally would have been fine on his own. But not now, not after what had happened to his friends.
"Please let me come with you Miss Scar, I promise I won't be a bother", he pleaded, walking up to the strange mare the rest of the way. Yes, she was truly horrifying to a foal, what with all those fresh scars and those weird yellow eyes that kept looking at him, but she was better than nothing. And nothing was looking pretty darn scary right now. "I can keep up, I swear I won't slow you down either", he promised, holding back the desperation that threatened to overwhelm him.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Feb 22, 2010 3:03 pm
That startled her almost right out of her skin, and in fact the full grown mare almost shied away with the foal's sudden outburst. Okay, maybe she wasn't completely over the wolf attack... thing. It just meant she needed more time to recover, that's all. With a flick of her tattered tail the chocolate mare starred at the little colt and his heaving sides, watching as he approached her almost out of desperation. Whatever fear he may have had about her appearance, it seemed something else greater than that had overcome it. Something that was driving him to stay in her company. It made Scar suspicious about what all had happened to Shiloh, and she couldn't help but wonder just why he was all alone. Whatever the reason, it seemed to have him spooked about being on his own.
With a deep sigh the mare reached down to blow warm breath onto the foal's face, bemused and annoyed all at once. She really wasn't looking for company, especially such loud and demanding company, but who could rightfully turn a foal like this away? It was definately pathetic, but in a cute kind of way she supposed. He was a foal after all. "Fine. You can come, but that's it", she stressed, not wanting to dive head first into a situation she wouldn't be able to get out of later on. With that she snorted her amusement once more and turned in the direction of the rapids, expecting him to follow.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Feb 22, 2010 10:27 pm
The colt finally released his held breath in a huge sigh of relief, realizing after the fact that he had been holding his breath. Scar was definatly better than staying by himself, even if the mare was the scariest thing he'd ever seen in his young life. "Thankyou", he breathed heavily, his sides rising and falling and she fought to catch his breath once more. Before he could say much more to her about how grateful he was, she actually turned around and started walking! Well... he might as well follow. As much as he wanted to just lay down and take a nap, the foal realized taht he did not want to be left behind, especially after finding out that Scar was willing to allow him come along. With a quick hop and fumbling strides he caught up to the larger mustang and bumped his nose against her hip, just to make sure she was actually there. He would have felt silly if he had just made her up out of no where, that was for certain.
Of course it was then that he noticed her tail was practically half missing. It wasn't too easy to see, but he did notice that it was missing large chunks and when it swished he could definately see part of the fleshy bits that made up the tail. Eep. Whatever had happened to Scar to make her look like such a monster, he never wanted to meet it. Or them, which ever it turned out to be.
As the foal attempted to keep up with the longer strides of the older horse he found himself stumbling and falling behind off and on. He'd need to run to catch up to her at points, and it was making his weary body all the more tired. The foal huffed and strained, willing himself to continue forward for fear of losing the lone mare. To his astonishment she suddenly stopped and looked back at him, a pecular almost blank stare to her yellow eyes. "W-what?" he questioned, hesitantly, afraid she might decide that he was slowing her down and she was going on without him. Oh he would not like that at all! In order to show his toughness then, the colt puffed out his chest and arched his thin neck. "I'm okay, I'm good", he pressed, hoping to fool her.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
