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 Posted: Wed Dec 27, 2006 2:49 pm
Lydia shrugged. "How am I supposed to know, silly?" she giggled, plodding back over to the stream. She stared back at her reflection again, sighing as she kicked ice over it.
"I'm not crazy, you know," she said, not taking her cold stare off of the ice. "I remember that being one of the things others used to call me. I hated it." She looked up to him now. "I have the strange feeling that speaking whatever I'm thinking isn't such a good idea anymore, is it?" She scoffed at herself. "'You know, Lyddie, you're never going to have any friends,' he told me. Well, I showed him, didn't I?"
She looked away from the other stallion, almost unwillingly. "Or at least I hope I did. I don't have to go; I can see in your eyes that you're hesitant."
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Posted: Wed Dec 27, 2006 3:25 pm
'Nobody will ever want to be your friend, you're not like us; you can't even play properly. You're going to get old beside your fruit tree and nobody will care when you finally croak and you’ll just lie there and rot in the sun. We’ll only notice you’re dead when we start to smell you as the maggots eat you all up!'
They'd run circles around him and laughed at the strange-eyed, weak little Aeri whose parents hadn't even stayed around to see him born. Well, he'd bloody shown them, he had friends now and he was strong, stronger than any of them with their sneers and weak, weak little minds. If he could help to prove some other bully wrong, even if said bully never knew it, then he would.
The black stallion blinked away the memory and focused on the strange Bae beside the stream. "No, no you're welcome to come, Lydia. I just wasn't expecting company and needed to reassess my plans a bit was all. ...Not having any friends isn't nice, is it? I'd be happy to be yours if you like." Perhaps she's not crazy. What is crazy anyway? Just someone who's different.
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Posted: Wed Dec 27, 2006 3:39 pm
Lydia's eyes lit up and she smiled sadly as the stallion tried to comfort her. She was not one to judge; she may have been crazy, but so was everyone else in some way, shape, or form, and she hated judging people by first impressions.
"Thank you," she said softly. She was about to say something else when her eyes grew wide and she went still. "I remember!" she called out suddenly. "I know who told me that. He looked kind of like me, but he was a Jala. I can't remember his name... something to do with blood." She cursed under her breath. "Amnesia sucks," she laughed nervously.
She trotted near him and touched her muzzle to one of the ribs over his body. They were cold, but not like death; like the stare of a stranger. She shivered a moment, then said slowly, "Well, it's a little cold out here. Care to come back to the Den for a bit?" She flicked her head in the way of a large rock cave a mile or two off into the west. "It's cold in front, but it's warm in the back. That's the earliest memory of being here that I have."
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Posted: Wed Dec 27, 2006 3:52 pm
Lucius frowned slightly as he felt the warmth that usually filled the red bones draw away from the place that the mare's muzzle touched. Perhaps they were more alive still than he'd thought and untrusting of this stranger. How very odd. Worth looking into more for sure. Humm, would probably be very hard to investigate considering the number of strangers willing to come near enough to touch him.
Oh!
He was being talked to!
Orange eyes travelled over to the suggested haven and then to the skies. It had been quite some time since he'd rested; sleep in a place out of the wind sounded like a wonderful notion. Recently, finding a decent place to stop had been hard; everywhere was either exposed or occupied by mares and stallions viciously protecting a sheltered space for their young ones. Not a good time to have young foals, winter.
"Yes, that sounds like a plan to me," the tall stallion said with a slight smile at his strange new friend. "We can head for D'ob later on, maybe during the night if you don't mind travelling in the dark. Best time to be moving a producing extra body heat, night time."
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Posted: Wed Dec 27, 2006 4:02 pm
"D'ob can wait!" she laughed. "Come on -- I think there might even be some good grass still down there."
She started picking her way through the sparse forest, stuffing her nose in various places to make sure that nothing else had followed her. That was one of the things that she hated; being paranoid that there was constantly something following her.
She spun around suddenly, calling out for Lucius. "I think I found some frozen, but still green, grass!" she called excitedly. "I'm saving it for you!" She rather liked this bone-clad stallion; he was one of the very few that seemed to stay around her long enough to hold a conversation with her. And he wasn't frightened away by one of her Episodes; he arrived right in the middle of one! She was surprised that he was still following, however, for she was sure that within the hour, she would have another Episode. She decided that as soon as they reached the Den she'd tell him about them... but no sooner. He might run off, then she'd get lost; she felt strangely confident around him, and the voices had ceased speaking all together. Was there something brewing inside of her?
That, she did not know. But she was growing hungry, and that grass looked mighty tasty. Despite her stomach's angry growling, she resisted the urge to eat the green blades she had saved for him.
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Posted: Wed Dec 27, 2006 4:23 pm
Lucius' ears pricked up at the mare's call. Bother. He'd managed to get distracted by an interestingly shaped tree. Bother, damn bother him and his easily caught eyes. He didn't want to get seperated from the grey coated mare now he'd promised to see her to D'ob.
"Coming!" he called in response to Lydia's voice, setting off at a gentle canter for the source of the voice. Green grass at this time of year and she was saving it for him?
That was... sweet. More than sweet. He couldn't quite think of a word to describe it right now but sweet would suffice.
The black Aeri spotted his small compaion after a moment or two and hurried over to her. There indeed was some of autumn's last good grass, held in suspension between life and death by glittering frost at her hooves. The tall stallion smiled at Lydia, what sort of creature was she to offer something like this to an utter stranger? A rare one for sure.
"How about we share it?" he suggested, bending his neck down to nibble at the green blades. They were cold but better than anything he'd had in many a day. "It's delicious," he commented, raising his eyes to the Bae mare with a smile in their orange depths.
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Posted: Wed Dec 27, 2006 8:11 pm
Lydia smiled, but shook her head. "I know where more is, you just savor all of that." She trotted forward slightly. Watching this stallion eating the grass she had found was... somewhat enjoyable. But she couldn't linger; a distant howl resounded through the area, and the hair on her neck and back stood up straight.
"I think we'd better keep moving..." she said slowly, scanning their surroundings. "I feel a presence." The voices started up slowly again, frantically rushing about as though they were being attacked. Lydia trotted over to a tree nervously, pressing her forehead against the trunk.
"Don't come near me," she warned Lucius. "I'm having another Episode... shut up, shut up!"
She dropped to the ground and rolled about, screams mixed with sobs emitting from her body. She breathed in shakily and hoped the worst was over; but it was far from it. She got up and bolted through the trees, calling after her, "Follow my hoofprints to the Den!" before disappearing through the ever-denser forest.
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Posted: Thu Dec 28, 2006 3:57 am
Lucius stared in disbelief as the mare collapsed to the ground and as piercing screams emitted from her throat. What was she? What was happening to her? What the hell was an Episode, besides the obvious. The tall stallion gave a snort at the Bae's instructions - not bloody likely - and galloped after her when she bolted, the sweet grass forgotten. It seemed as though during one of these Episodes of her's she was the most danger to others and to herself. If she came upon a foal... well, he didn't like to think of the consequences.
The trees were thickening, making speed more difficult for his bulky form but the red maned Aeri thundered on in Lydia's wake regardless. Thorns tried to nick his body but were foiled for the most part by the bones about his body. Calling out to her, mindless as she appeared to be right now, would probably just be a waste of breath.
The muscular Nequus pressed on, orange eyes fixed determinedly on the fleeing Bae. He had to keep her in view, losing sight of her could be catastrophic for anyone she met in this state.
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Posted: Thu Dec 28, 2006 6:26 am
Lydia kept going, through the thick patches of thorns and flowers. A small, yet steady, stream of blood slowly oozed its way from her pastern on her back left leg, but she ignored it; the voices would be done soon.
She stopped suddenly in the middle of the path. Looking from right to left, she tried to mark a clear, easy way to get to the Den. The Episode, being a particularly short, yet strong, one had left her disoriented, and she giggled as a creature brushed past her leg.
"Silly little bugger!" she called after it. "Whatever you were!" She sunk her pastern deep into the snow, trying to at least stop the bleeding for a little while. The dirty snow, having been mixed together in a patch of dirt after she had run through, along with the blood that now loomed at its surface, reminded her of her own coat, and she kicked it away.
She looked back to where she thought Lucius might have been, calling out sadly, "I think it's over."
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Posted: Thu Dec 28, 2006 12:59 pm
There she was, just ahead of him, still of body and apparently calmer. The stallion dug his hooves into the frozen ground as best he could and skidded to an ungainly halt at the end of four long furrows in the snow. Lucius shook the snow off his legs and stepped away from the piles that had ended up in front of each huge hoof. His heavy, slightly ragged breathing made clouds of steam in the air before him and he could feel heat rising from his body in waves as his heart hammered with exertion and adrenaline from the chase.
…She looked so small and so sad, standing there looking at the snow.
"That's good," he said, walking tentatively closer to her. "What... what happened back there, Lydia?" he asked carefully, hoping that his words wouldn't spark her off again.
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Posted: Thu Dec 28, 2006 3:41 pm
Lydia stared at the ground, her eyes wide and her breathing labored. She shook her head, letting her neck hang low from her shoulders.
"I... I don't know," she said finally. "It might have been the howl... there was a howl, right?" She shook her head again, laughing pitifully at herself. "I'm sorry..." she said softly. "I really am."
She turned herself back towards the way that she knew the Den was and limped painfully along the old, beaten path, her pastern sprouting heavy bleeding as walking and more sticks angered the wound. She dunked it in as much thick snow as she could and left tracks of blood where ever she went; not such a good idea, especially if she had heard a howl.
As she saw the Den in sight, she limped a little faster; the Den meant warmth, quiet, and best of all, she had never had a single Episode in the Den. That's why she chose to stay there; she felt sane, a regular Bae with no real problems with the world. The Den was her make-believe house, her dream, and that's all it would ever be.
"Are you coming?" she called to Lucius quietly. "I understand if you don't want to come..."
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Posted: Thu Dec 28, 2006 3:58 pm
In answer, Lucius lengthened his stride until he was walking beside her instead of behind. "Don't apologise for being you, for something you can't help," he said quietly with a soft smile.
Well, he certainly hadn't heard a howl himself... but he had been occupied with the grass, he might have missed something like that. The bone-covered Aeri kept his ears pricked up just in case, being wary never hurt.
They were very close to the Den, as Lydia called it, now and Lucius slowed his pace slightly to allow the Bae into her home first. Firstly it was rude to push past someone into their own space and second, the limping mare seemed desperate to get there. He didn't want to jar her and make her injure herself any further, especially since they would need to travel soon.
"This is it then?" he asked with a slight smile, peering around the immediate area with interest.
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Posted: Thu Dec 28, 2006 4:11 pm
Lydia smiled and nodded her head. The immediate area was a small clearing, near the center of the forest, completely surrounded by thick evergreens and dense foliage. A small rock stood in the center of the clearing, with a single flower laying on top. The Den was not all too big, maybe just large enough for three or four Nequus to pack in there tightly, but to Lydia, it was Home Sweet Home.
She breathed in a deep sigh of relief. "This is it," she said. "I hope you like. I'm probably moving out the second an Episode happens in there... I assume it doesn't accomodate them well." She motioned towards a sharp rock protruding from the doorway. "It can't be helped." She ambled inside, laying herself in the back of the Den and slowly putting pressure on her leg to stop the bleeding.
She remembered a few things, a few precious memories, from her earlier years that she wished she didn't, and she thought of those now. There was the fact that she knew which herb to put on her wound to make it stop bleeding, but the whole 'winter' thing had ruined that idea. Tourniquet? Yes, let's just amputate her leg. Sarcasm wasn't helping.
"Would you mind fetching some white snow for me?" she asked Lucius. "The dirty snow is no good."
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Posted: Thu Dec 28, 2006 4:33 pm
The black stallion blinked a few times. "Umm, yes, snow. Give me a few moments." What does she want with... Ah, yes. Cold makes the blood pull back from the skin, lessens bleeding presumably. Dirty snow might make the wound go bad, makes sense. Now how in the hell do I transport it?
Outside the little cave once more, the Aeri frowned around at his surroundings and began to nose around for something to use as a receptacle. Large animal skull would be ideal but not luck there, sadly. Humm... Yes that might work.
Lucius walked over to a smooth trunked tree, whose name temporarily escaped him; some kind of deciduous tree for what it mattered. Rearing up on his hind legs, the black stallion dealt a blow to the trunk with one forehoof. It left a small groove; all he needed to carry out the plan that was forming in his mind.
Rising on his hind legs once more, wings extended for balance, Lucius pressed his muzzle to the trunk and set his teeth into the bark where his hoof had marked it. As he sank back onto all fours, the bark peeled slowly away from the trunk.
Lucius grinned around his prize and placed it on the ground beside a fresh patch of snow that his blow had shaken off the tree's branches. A few nudges with his nose piled a good quantity of snow onto the bark and an inventive movement of his tongue pulled one side of the bark close enough to the other for him to place his teeth around both.
Positively glowing with triumph, Lucius returned to the cave and set the snowy package on the ground beside Lydia. "There," he said with a grin. "Fresh snow as requested."
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Posted: Thu Dec 28, 2006 4:41 pm
Lydia smiled and nodded. "Thank you," she said, spilling the snow from the bark onto the wound. She winced momentarily, then chuckled.
"I was wondering how you might transport it," she said. "I thought you'd try to carry it in your mouth first. That's what I would have done." She applied more pressure, then moved some of the snow away with her muzzle, licking it off of her lip when it got stuck.
"It's almost over," she said. "Just a little runoff." She spread her wings out behind her, letting them thaw from the blistering cold outside; it wasn't helping much, as it was cold in the Den as well, but at least it blocked off the wind.
"Have you ever wondered why we're here?" she asked absent-mindedly, staring at a small indent in the wall where a spider had insisted on making her home. "I mean, not the whole race; why us two are in this particular area at the same time?" She looked up at him now. "I'm not one to dwell on things such as that, but still..." She looked back down at her pastern. "Once the bleeding's completely done, we'll go to D'ob."
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