[FIN] Rose thorns (Coquette x Vervada)

[Faithofthefallen]

Coquette's cream colored hide was streaked with sweat and blood as she lunged and parried, her slender body gliding sinuously through each form with grace and strength. Her long mane and tail whipped through the air, following each motion. It was a silly vanity, Coquette knew a warrior had no business with tresses that tumbled to her hooves in silky waves but she took an enormous amount of pride in her long elegant locks. Vincento, her grandfather and trainer, did not require that she shear off her hair. He valued strength and beauty and thought that cropping her mane would be a crime.

The roses that blossomed from her sides needed to have the thorns trimmed again, her grandfather would fly into a rage if he saw her right now, thankfully, Vincent was away on a hunt. Coquette planned on trimming the thorns today, but had decided the evening was too beautiful to waste with such a tedious task, she would get a workout in before breakfast and then ask one of her sisters to help her. The roses were beautiful and many of the mares in the Sinclair herd sighed in envy when she passed, but the flowers were both gift and curse. However they were attached within their body, they did her no internal damage, but if allowed, they would grow long thorns just outside of her skin that pierced her with each movement. Coquette did her best to keep on top of their growth, but she could not trim the thorns herself and often lost track of how long it had been since her last trim until thin trickles of blood began to stream down her chest and sides. Consequently, the skin surrounding the roses was permanently scarred from the briars.

The sequence finished, Coquette spun to a standstill, her sides heaving, sweat burning in her many cuts, her mane sticking to her face in sweaty strings, but she was smiling. She loved the burning exertion, her body was a weapon, and she kept it formidably honed. She was one of the best fighters in the Sinclair herd. Vincento, of course, was the first. Her aunt Evangeline, second, and Coquette a close third. She could match her aunt in strength and skill, but Evangeline was seasoned and experienced, and could outsmart her in when the sparred every time. Coquette was proud that her grandfather knew he could call upon her to defend her family now that she had come of age. The mirror bright, wickedly sharp blade clenched between her teeth was a symbol of that. Her aunt had gifted it to her only a few days prior and it was Coquette's most prized possession.

Coquette walked around the practice circle a few times to cool down, her breathing and heartbeat slowly steadying.

A soft rustle and the sound of hoofbeats made her spin around towards the path, whoever it was, they weren't trying to sneak up on her, but it was better to be cautious than dead. The dark form of Vervada emerged, Coquette tossed her hair out of her eyes and eyed the mare warily. Vervada was her grandfather's newest addition to the herd, having been with them for only a few weeks, she was raised outside of the herd. Coquette knew little of her history, it was rumored she had been an assassin, certainly she was abnormally skilled with brewing potions of all kinds, poisons in particular. Coquette knew she could defend herself physically against any opponent, but against this invisible foe, she would be helpless. Coquette was not shy, but she was prudent. It would be better for this mare to like her, so she spoke carefully, "Good evening, mistress Vervada." she chimed politely, "What brings you to the practice circle?"
 

[Faithofthefallen]

Vervada mulled over what had become of her since leaving her patch of forest years before. She had led a solitary existence and had been perfectly happy to do so, interrupted only occasionally by the odd traveler, or that hideously irritating frumious snapper, Vervada hissed at the thought of him. Delightfully devious, he was also quite dangerous to cross paths with as well. Of course, she was dangerous too, but it was best to never tempt fate. It was with great reluctance that she had left her home to join the guild of assassins known as the dark brotherhood, but something had told her it was the right decision. Living amongst so many other souls had grated against Vervada like sandpaper, but she had learned much before she had decided to go on her own way again. She had been mid journey, returning home to her forest, when the mare had met Vincento. A more dangerous and elegant stallion she had never before encountered. They had talked, he had made an offer, and feeling again the hand of fate guiding her steps, Vervada had accepted. She was now situated within the Sinclair herd lands, but this time she found the lifestyle far more to her taste. She lived in a small cave away from the main body of the herd, it was dark and secluded, she had began to breed spiders again and their wispy webs draped across nearly every surface of her small territory made her feel at home again for the first time in a long while, the music of the spiders dancing across their webs lulled her to sleep each morning, and she was content. Vervada had also cultivated the earth around her cave and the sprouts of a new batch of night blooming flora were already beginning to poke up through the soil. In the meantime, the foals of the herd were more than happy to go out and seek the herbs she described to them for her concoctions.

Vervada had woken up and desired a stroll, but as she was passing where the warriors of the herd practiced their skills, she smelled the sharp tang of blood. Not entirely uncommon, but the warriors in general tried to not harm their own, most of the herd was family, after all. Curious, Vervada followed her nose up the path, her eyes were nearly useless, but she moved quite easily up the well trodden path, her acute hearing and smell guiding her where her eyesight failed. At the top of the path the refreshing sweet fragrance of roses tickled her nostrils, mingled with the scent of fresh blood and sweat, it was enough to identify the mare standing before her.

"Coquette," she greeted with a polite nod of her head, Vincento's protege was a mare to step carefully around. She would never harm one of her own blood, but Vervada was sure she wouldn't hesitate to retaliate should she sense Vervada was a danger, she had not yet earned the young mare's trust.

"Just going for a stroll," she responded, "I smelled blood and wanted to make sure everything was alright." Vervada sniffed again, and remembered the rumors, "Your roses, they need to be trimmed?" She questioned, tilting her head inquiringly. She thought of the times she herself had been pricked by a rose thorn and unbidden, the thought of what it would feel like to have multiple thorns dragging through her flesh came to mind. Vervada frowned slightly, a flash of sympathy motivating her, "Would you like me to assist?"  

[Faithofthefallen]

Coquette shifted uncomfortably. She did need assistance for the task but would have chosen one of her sisters or other familiar family members for it. She couldn't see how to refuse Vervada without being perceived as rude, however, especially if the mare came upon her later in the evening being assisted by someone else. It would undoubtedly be perceived as a slight and an indication of mistrust. Vincent trusted Vervada, that had to be enough for the young mare.

She walked over to Vervada and put a smile on her face, she knew the mare had poor eyesight, but it was a polite habit. "I would really appreciate it actually, I can't reach them without help and the thorns are getting out of hand again."

In unspoken agreement, the mares began to stroll back down the path away from the practice court. Coquette was loath to part with her blade, but realized that Vervada would need one for the task and likely didn't possess one of her own. They had been walking for a while before Coquette realized she had no idea where they were going. She thought about asking but decided Vervada seemed to have a destination in mind. She became more and more uneasy as they strolled up a narrow trail, gauzy spiderwebs were draped over and around the path making it look almost like a tunnel. They stopped at the mouth of a cave and stepped off of the path.
Coquette's ears picked up the burbling sound of running water, and sure enough, they stopped on the banks of the river that wound through the Sinclair's lands. She stopped and waited expectantly, unsure what Vervada wanted her to do and feeling too nervous to ask.  

[Faithofthefallen]

Vervada enjoyed what she perceived as companionable silence as they walked side by side. It wasn't often she found herself in company that didn't need to fill the air with brainless chatter. She found herself feeling quite friendly towards Coquette for this simple reason alone.

When they reached her cave, she led the young mare off to the branch of the river that wound close to her homestead. Vervada had piled rocks into one area of the stream to divert part of it into forming a pool for bathing. She led Coquette to the pool and motioned towards it, "Hop in, soaking the cold water will help numb the cuts."

Coquette obliged. Nodding in satisfaction, Vervada turned away, "I'll be right back." She strode back to her cave to collect what she would need. Grabbing a roughly made mortar and pestle, she quickly and efficiently mashed together some herbs that would make a numbing paste. She also grabbed the slim blade she used for when she needed to chop or slice ingredients and carried the whole lot out to the pool.

Coquette had finished washing and was laying on the grass next to the pool, shivering despite the warm evening, her long hair dripping into her face.
Vervada set her supplies up next to Coquette and carefully began to daub the numbing paste on the angry red flesh surrounding the roses. Already blood was beginning to bead from the wounds. The young mare sighed in relief as the paste took effect, "Thank you," Coquette breathed. Vervada smiled but continued her work in silence. Once all of the wounds were numbed to her satisfaction, she gently wiggled the roses, careful not to dislodge any more petals than could absolutely not be avoided, and hissed in sympathy as each curved thorn slid out of its sheath of flesh. She held the blossom awkwardly out of the way with one hoof and deftly sliced the thorn away with the blade in her mouth. It occurred to her that she could really use an assistant that could help her with procedures like this that required deft precision.

Trimming all of the thorns took the better part of an hour and intense concentration. Coquette closed her eyes and took a little nap out of boredom, but Vervada didn't mind. She disliked chatty patients and would not have appreciated any distractions. When the final thorn was sliced away she sat back with a heavy sigh and gently patted Coquette on the shoulder.
"It is done." she pronounced, "I would suggest not allowing them to go so long without trimming next time, the pain aside, you could come down with a serious infection walking around with open wounds. If you ever need help again, I hope you will come to me." Vervada surprised herself at the offer, but she didn't rescind it, she wouldn't mind the company of this mare. In fact, it was soothing to have company... For very short periods of time... With long breaks between each visit. "The mixture I put on your wounds will control the pain for the rest of the night and also prevent infection before the cuts can close up. Just try not to wash or sweat it off until tomorrow."  

[Faithofthefallen]

Coquette watched with tightly controlled alarm as Vervada approached with a small bowl of...Something.
She sat still and gritted her teeth as the other mare smeared the mixture on her side but marvelled at the sudden and complete relief of each burning spot of pain as Vervada applied the paste.
"Thank you!" she breathed.
Normally, when the thorns had gotten this bad, the procedure of removing them was a painful and messy affair. She prided herself in her ability to endure each piercing bite of pain without comment or complaint but it was a novelty to know that the same task could be accomplished without her discomfort. Feeling numb , tired from her exertion, and finally warming up as the water evaporated from her body, Coquette let her head rest on her forelegs and slowly drifted off into a light slumber. She wasn't fully asleep, every so often she felt an especially hard tug in her side, but it was not painful, so she was able to ignore it.

She was unsure how long she had drifted before Vervada called her back into consciousness. She smiled and nodded in thanks at the mare's pronouncement, her mouth twisting in reluctant agreement at Vervada's chastisement. She was familiar with being chided for this particular oversight.
"I will," she promised, and this time she meant it. After spending some time in Vervada's company she felt much more comfortable around the mare and even felt warmly affectionate for her. The mare wasn't talkative or particularly friendly, but she was kind in her own eccentric way, and Coquette could respect that.
"Until next time, then, thank you!" she called over her shoulder as she headed away from Vervada's abode, sensing that the mare was not one for drawn out goodbyes or thanks. She had tolerated Coquette's company long enough to help her and was now ready to be alone again.
Coquette was rewarded with a rare smile from the dark mare, it entirely changed her features, and the young mare felt lighthearted as she went in search of something for breakfast.

Fin