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 Posted: Wed Mar 28, 2007 10:42 am
"I have no intention of showing myself," Jacques told his companion softly, examining the scene with as much composure as he could muster. "You do as you've said, and I thank you for it. I'll find a quiet way in, leave the fruit where she can find it easily, and go in search of more permanent help. Food, protection, whatever I can get. I've...done this before."
The sight of broken fruits never became any easier to behold, no matter how many times he reached out to such unfortunate families. One young stallion, landed with a tree when his mate had died in a fall, had lost all of his five fruits save one. Only with human aid had he and his son survived. Eden was a paradise, true, but even paradise can be deadly to the unwary.
Watching Aitumn go off to check the nearby woodland for danger, he was glad to have the blood bay at his back. Stranger or no, the Jala seemed trustworthy and he was strong enough to handle most kinds of trouble. Delicate tasks like this, however, Jacques was glad to be handling for himself. He slipped from among the trees with the basket in tow, leaving it quietly near the tree trunk where the mare could discover it later. She was too absorbed in her mourning, poor creature, to notice him there. Not wanting to attract any attention, the snowbae hid himself again at once. He would await Aitumn's return before heading for Ryuten. The humans knew their snowbae, and they would know his signals that help was required.
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Posted: Wed Mar 28, 2007 5:15 pm
Swiftly the Jala had given a stiff bob of his head, sending his midnight mane into a fit against his neck. Without further prompting the blood bay made his way into the line of trees, careful to keep away from the mare's line of vision, but was propelled forward with flashing hooves. The pace was a very brisk trot, smooth and tensed, Aitumn was sure to carry quite a bit of momentum into his strides; just in case. Despite his silence, the blood bay's nostrils flared a heavy crimson, and pricked ears swiveled from side to side, catching any and all sounds around him. If there was something out here, and it happened to have the dumbluck of getting into the Jala's path, it would be an encounter not at all pleasant. At least that's how he was feeling at the moment, with his neck arched and hollow eyes careful to pick up on anything strange.
Upon reaching the full circle around the perimiter, and finding nothing that may cause a threat to the mare and her fruit, Aitumn finally angled himself over towards Jacques. He wasn't sure about what would be done now, but he assumed that since the Bae no longer had his basket, that the apples had been delivered. Though his voice was still hidden in a spell of unexpected fury, so he just flicked his ears in the direction of the snowy stallion, a questioning gesture he used from time to time when he hadn't the need to speak.
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Posted: Sat Mar 31, 2007 7:02 am
Jacques nodded once, leading the Jala away from the tragic scene as quietly as he could. Once they were out of earshot, he explained his plan in a low voice.
"I'll run to Ryuten now, Aitumn, as swiftly as my hooves will carry me. The humans know me well. I can bring help for her. ...I'm sorry I dragged you into this. I had no idea it would be this bad today - I expected no more than a few touching family scenes, perhaps a weary traveller or two. These things always seem to creep up on me."
Turning his head to look into the distance, the sobs still echoing in his ears, he visualised the route in his mind. "This time I really must go," he said wearily. "I thank you for your assistance and your understanding. If ever you help a Nequus in their time of need, you also help me. Remember that, Aitumn, if a time should come that you recall the snowbae."
But not fondly. Never recall him fondly. He had handled himself much too poorly for that.
As he turned and galloped away, though, the regret at losing another possible friend was already fading from his mind. What did it matter who liked him or hated him, thought he to himself, if in the course of this day he had helped to save a life?
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Posted: Sun Apr 01, 2007 8:10 am
The blood bay had followed him silently away from the scene, and upon the explanation and the seeming good-bye, he simply dipped his head. "I'll remember", he spoke as the snowy stallion began to move away from him. Of course, he still had a bit of riled fury in his hooves about the sight, so he turned in the other direction and just let everything loose. In a burst and a lurch forward the blood bay tore his heels into the ground and flagged a lengthy tail; a warning to any threats around the area that he might have missed, and might still be lurking around somewhere. His strides? Wild and ground eating, but his body twisted in such ways, and his hooves slid with such grace of movement, that he was able to avoid collisions with the trees. If he kept this up, his fury would run its course, and the stallion would once again be able to travel at leasure, and without a care in the world.
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