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 Posted: Tue Feb 16, 2016 8:37 pm
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Posted: Tue Feb 16, 2016 9:16 pm
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Even though Berith and her father were never in the same place for very long, it was always the same routine: catch word of a herd needing healing, find the herd, collect ingredients for medicine, take care of those that were sick, and then the process repeated itself. Sometimes it only took a day or so to take care of the problem, other times it took her father what felt like forever to cure the current set of Soquili of their illnesses. While Berith didn't mind travelling and helping out where she could, sometimes she wished that they could just go and continue their travels... or that she could at least play with the other foals. It wouldn't be nearly as bad if she had someone to play with, especially since her father was so busy this time around, but he usually told her to stay away from any of the herd members because sicknesses could spread.
She was used to hearing him say "Not now, Berith," or "Berith behave yourself," when she was particularly energetic and today was no different. Samael was too busy for her and there was nothing she could do to help. Waiting was so... so boring! She just wanted to play and have fun and she knew he wouldn't let her go off and ask about a playmate while they were helping this particular heard. Berith couldn't exactly remember what her father had said about what was wrong.... something about a fever? Either way it didn't seem like that big of a deal. There just had to be something better to do than stand around and wait. So, without a word, Berith ventured not too far off from her father and found a large, lovely puddle.
The surface of the water was completely still and the young foal could barely remember the last time it had rained, but she was sure nothing bad could happen. This puddle was no ordinary puddle after all, this puddle was going to be the thing that saved Berith from complete and utter boredom! With a grin and a quick leap, Berith splashed into the puddle and sent water flying up and out around her. She couldn't remember the last time she had felt water on her fur and today was so hot that it was a relief to feel against her. A gleeful laugh escaped her and she frolicked in her puddle until she was too tired to jump as high as she could.
Unaware of how much time had passed (it had only felt like a few brief minutes to her), Berith made her way back to her father, content with the play time she had managed to find for herself. Just as she had thought, Samael was standing not too far from where he had been when she had gone off on her own. "Papa, did you find all the things you were looking for? Will you be able to heal them now?" The young one bounced lightly on her hooves as she stood a short distance away from her father, a smile resting on her lips.
Fatal Irony I hope this quote works > >;; Had to edit it into this post because I forgot to do it while I was writing.
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Posted: Thu Feb 18, 2016 4:27 pm
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It was a hot day. Samael was constantly flinging his hair out of his eyes irritably as he worked, focusing almost entirely on the work. He had only just discovered the cause of the fever, but a diagnosis didn't help as much as he had hoped. It was malaria, something the herd would carry with it for life. To compound that, the components they would need to treat the symptoms were hard to find. He had just finished showing those who were not sick how to find, recognize, and prepare the treatment and using up the last of his own private supply. He would have to take Berith out into the wilderness to seek out more to collect for the herd to survive this flare up.
Thoughts of his daughter brought a thrill of panic through him as he realized it had been hours since he had seen her. He knew the filly to be the curious type, and as the mosquitoes that transmitted the disease were still in the area he worried for her safety. He turned suddenly and let out a breath he hadn't been aware he was holding when he caught sight of her approaching. He gave her a stern look, arching an eyebrow in curiosity. "Where have you been?"
He couldn't help feeling guilty at her perpetual boredom and didn't blame her for wandering off constantly. If only Agares hadn't suffered that accident... he could be here to keep his sister company. Their mother could be here helping Samael heal the herd members. He missed both of them dearly but was comforted by his confidence that Naamah would heal Agares and they would all someday be reunited. He hoped it would be soon, but with the memory of his son's injuries haunting his dreams he knew it would take a great deal of energy and time before he could travel again. He sighed, resigned to their current predicament and silently promising to somehow make this up to his family. He still regretted leaving his mate and son behind. What was done, was done however
Berith came closer and he peered at her with scrutiny. It was a hot day, and the temptation to find a nice pool was strong. He could feel the pull himself, but he knew the danger. He THOUGHT he had imparted the importance of avoiding standing water to his daughter, but her fur was still damp and clinging to her.
"You're wet," he noted gruffly, looming over Berith as she came closer. "Where have you been." It was a tone that brooked no nonsense. He would hear no excuses from her. He needed to find out if she had found a still pond or if she had been smart and stuck to faster-moving rivers as he had instructed.
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Posted: Sat Mar 05, 2016 11:38 pm
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Her father always spoke in low, gruff tones. Berith had grown up with it and she knew that he cared for her more than anything, despite how rough his voice came out. She was used to him being direct, by no means an individual for sugar coating things, especially not in his line of work. Chipper as always, Berith grinned at her father. "I went to play by myself."
Berith knew that she should have told him she had gone to the pond to play, but part of her also knew that doing so would only result in a chastising she didn't necessarily want. It was a small lie and what harm could it do? It's not really lying. I didn't say where I went, chimed in her rationale, So now Papa can't be mad at me for lying. Even so, the filly couldn't fight the slight agitation from guilt that stirred in her. Deep down she knew she had done something wrong, though she didn't understand what exactly, and there was little that could be done to appease the growing knot in the depths of her stomach.
The knot only grew as Samael approached her, the draft stallion towering over the young one and causing her to tilt her head back ever-so-slightly so she could maintain eye contact. The lively and cheerful expression quickly fell from the daughter's face, washed away and replaced by one of anxiousness. Berith attempted to offer a nervous smile, hoping she could still play the card of innocence, but she knew the chances of success was very very slim. Her father was perceptive and hardly cared for blanket statements and nonsense and Berith knew that. Still she hoped that one day she would be able to slip something past him, unnoticed, simply so she could avoid the confrontation that came with doing something wrong. It was never a pleasant experience and the filly truly learned her lesson by the end of them.
"O-oh, you know Papa, I was playing," she began, her voice still trying to mask her nervousness by lilting upwards in a typical cheery tone. The pony knew that she wouldn't be able to lie her way out of this one, or any other one, for that matter; Samael always had a way of finding out the truth. "It was just so hot out and I was so bored a-and I really wanted to play. There was a puddle nearby and I know you don't like it when I go off too far, so I thought that it would be better to stay near you, but it was soooo hot." Her eyes quickly fell from her father's face, her voice diminishing in volume as she spoke her piece. "And the water didn't look weird or anything. I looked at it, really, I did! And... I played in the puddle." Her soft soprano of a voice was barely above a murmur when she finished, looking off to the side, head ducked in shame. "I just wanted to have fun..."
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Posted: Tue Apr 05, 2016 4:18 pm
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His black eyes bore into her void-like, narrowed to slits as his worry and anger bubbled over. He felt a grip of panic and a stab to the heart as she described the puddle in which she had relieved herself. He was angry she disobeyed, guilty he had left her alone so long, and worried she had been bitten and contracted the deadly disease. All of these things warred within him in a maelstrom of despair, yet his face was a blank mask of narrowed eyes and frowning lips. He couldn't bring himself to speak for a moment and looked away from her, breathing out a deep sigh.
What was there to be done? There was no way to test for the disease, and any mosquito bite would be far too small to locate on her now. He began pacing, thinking about what there was to be done. He should punish her surely, for disobeying his express wishes. And yet... he looked at her and couldn't bring himself to admonish her. If she had the disease she could die... he shut his eyes and shook his head at that thought. No. She would not die. He grit his teeth and growled the fears away.
"You went deliberately behind my back and against my wishes." His tone was dangerously calm, edged with the anger and frustration he felt at the situation more than at his small daughter. "Do you have any idea what sort of danger you put yourself in? Look around, Berith. Look at the pain, the death that hang around us. You might have exposed yourself to this!" His voice shook almost imperceptibly as it rose, belying the worry he truly felt. "How could you put yourself in such danger?"
His anger was short lived and he calmed himself. There was nothing to be done now. If she contracted the disease it would be its own punishment, on both of them. He sighed again and pulled her closer to him, nuzzling her gently. "I worry about you and what might happen. From now on, I need you within my line of sight at all times, ok?"
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Posted: Tue Apr 05, 2016 10:25 pm
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Silence. That was always the first thing that came when she got in trouble. It was always heavy and imposing, adding on to the already powerful presence of her father, and it was inescapable. There was no way to escape its weight for its demanding silence kept even her, the bubbly filly with the mouth that never stopped, from so much as making a peep. It was the worst.
Coal black eyes stared up at Samael in nervous apprehension. Was he going to yell this time? Ooh, what sort of punishment would she get? Berith was usually so careful with not getting in trouble but she had her run ins with her father's life lessons and knew that she would never be let off easy for disobeying him, especially when they were in the territory of a herd they were helping. That had always been a big no and the young pony had completely disregarded it.
Her eyes turned back at the growl he emitted, head sinking lower to the ground and eyes downcast as she attempted to make herself smaller. Berith had really gotten herself into trouble this time.... But the angry yell she had been expecting was not what she heard. Instead her father's voice was cool and sharp like the thorns on the bushes she ran through. She felt the gravity of what she had done without truly understanding what had been so wrong with jumping in the puddle that had called out to her.
And then death. It was a heavy word, a concept that she still struggled to grasp but something she had witnessed many-a-time from her father and mother's work. They could not save everyone that they tried to take care of and every time someone had passed on, her parents had spoken to her and her brother about it to guide them through a word with so complex a meaning. Berith, however, did understand that it was never anything to joke about.
"Sorry Papa..." It was all she could muster. Head hung low, eyes averted to her father's feet, a typical show for the lively girl whenever she was reprimanded. Berith had been scolded and she understood it was for disobeying her father, but she didn't understand what was so wrong with wanting to play. "I really just wanted to have some fun. I didn't mean anything by it. I'm sorry."
Yes, the anger of her father was a terrifying thing that was feared greatly by his daughter, but he was a loving man. She heard the steely tone dissipate and the filly perked her head up as her giant of a father pulled her closer. The familiar smile of hers spread across her features as her nuzzled her, her small frame wobbling just the slightest as he comforted her. "I know Papa. You and Mama always worry about us. I'm sorry for not listening to you." She quieted at his new request, nodding her head with a vigor only youth could manage. "Promise! But I bet nothing bad'll happen," she chortled, "I don't feel sick at all!"
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Posted: Sat Apr 09, 2016 9:50 am
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He knew she was far too young to truly comprehend the gravity of the situation, too young to fear for her life the way she should be. And too young to heal herself. He glanced at her unicorn horn and thought of his mate once more. He wished she and their son were here, where he could help protect them. He worried for Agares, and began worrying for Naamah as the days wore on and she didn't appear. And now he truly needed her, to help keep the disease away from their daughter. Not for the first time he questioned the wisdom in splitting up, furrowing his brow as he turned the issue over in his mind. He hadn't yet come up with a better course of action than the one they'd taken, and yet Samael still felt the Spirits were punishing him for abandoning his mate and child to their fate. No, that can't be it. What of Agares' accident? No, it seemed the family was being torn apart by forces unknown and it ate away at Samael to have no way to remedy the problem. Were they simply cursed?
He shook his head to clear it, pushing away thoughts of things he couldn't change. He gazed down at his daughter, his heart heavy with concern. "We won't know you're sick until it hits. You've seen the way it's affected the herd here, yes?" He gestured at the strangers who stood, sat, or lied some meters distant. Some were dragging away the corpses of their friends or family members. "You're young, so it will perhaps not hit you so hard, but it will be sudden. You won't feel it coming on until it's too late for you to come find me. That's why I need to be able to see you at all times, ok? Do you understand?" He waited for an affirmative response before continuing.
"We need to gather more medicine. It's late in the day right now and we need to go far, so we'll rest for the night and leave in the morning. We'll need to gather a lot; the herd is still in trouble. You're good at finding it, so it shouldn't keep us away more than a day." The disease hopefully won't hit her before then, but it was unpredictable. "Have you eaten? Why don't we get something to dine on before we retire."
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Posted: Tue Sep 27, 2016 9:11 am
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Her eyes held their sparkle as she looked up at her father, tail swishing as she waited for her father to say something. He was always so quiet, always thinking, always pondering. It was part of the reason, Berith always had so much fun sneaking off and exploring. While she loved her father dearly, sometimes he was just a little too stiff for her tastes. She missed playing with her brother, Agares, but they hadn't been together in quite some time. While the filly couldn't remember why she and her father had separated from her mother and brother, it had been so long since she had last seen them and new experiences and memories made her old memories slowly fade into nothing but a blurry recollection.
Her head tilted as she waited, offering more of a questioning, but patient gaze as she look at the large draft stallion. Her smile lit up as he finally looked at her again, though it fell into something more humble as he mentioned the suffering herd they had been helping. Berith gave a small nod of her head, her voice small as her lively energy wavered. "Yes, I have..." Berith looked off to where he father had gestured and the scene was like that of many other herds they had helped. There was always death, always someone being consoled by a fellow herd member over someone they had lost.
There was a much more somber air hanging above the father and daughter. She looked back at her dad as his deep voice rang through the air. Berith undersetood that her usual wandering would no longer be permitted. She had seen how quickly the unafflicted became the afflicted, she knew firsthand how the illness spread and acted. While it was disheartening, knowing she would no longer be able to explore on her own, frolic, and amuse herself as the boredom that came with her young age set in, Berith also knew that she couldn't disobey her father, especially after she had promised him she would behave. If there was one thing Berith didn't do, it was break promises.
"Okay!" The filly nodded her head, her chipper tone returning to her voice as she playfully shifted her weight from hoof to hoof. "I like finding herbs for you! It's more fun than waiting around." The plan for tomorrows day excited her. Berith loved helping find herbs with her father. She was good at it, quick to notice small, leafy plants and colorful berries that often went by unnoticed by many. At his question of eating, Berith shook her head. She had been so occupied with playing that she had completely forgotten the growing hunger in her belly. "No, I forgot to, but now I get to eat with you, papa! We haven't done that since we got here." Berith had often fallen asleep long before her father had finished helping the herd for the day, often eating on her own and then curling up in their small area they had set up some distance away from the ill herd. Although it had only been a few days since they had last had a meal together, it felt like an eternity to her.
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