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 Posted: Sun Jun 28, 2009 8:49 am
Fox knew that the water would be cold, a shock to her already battered system, but there was no choice in this matter; it would have to be done. She could feel the tightness on her skin as the blood from the cuts dried, and the flow slowed down.
'Down there,' she said, pointing to an incline that dropped away. She could hear flowing water, and thought that it might be the river that fed into the Lake. She leaned on Lamb still, letting him take her weight when she felt her legs giving way, and moving as swiftly as she could on her own when she'd gained a little more energy.
'I don't know where to begin to thank you.' she said as they moved, her voice still sounding croaky. She could have probably stayed silent, but she needed to talk. She was of course aware of the irony of her student coming to her rescue, especially after she'd said that she never relied on anyone.
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Posted: Sun Jun 28, 2009 9:28 am
He nodded slowly still not sure he liked the sound of traveling through the water. If she told him too, though, that meant it needed to be done. Keeping the fact that it was necessary in his mind he turned to move towards the sound of the water. For the most part he focused on where he placed his feet to make sure he didn't slide down the slope.
At the sound of Fox's voice he twitched an ear to the side to better hear her. He frowned a little at what she was saying. He didn't need thanks for saving her. If she had been killed there would have been no way he could have lived with himself. "Just live..." He said finally. That would be the only way to thank him, he concluded. If she lived then saving her would mean something.
He fell silent after that for more then one reason. He could now see the water flowing not three feet from them. It was time to get in to the cold water now and he wasn't looking forward to it. "I'll test." He said quietly making his way to the water before getting in as carefully as he could. It had a biting chill to it making it unpleasant but he had no troubles standing in the current. It was safe enough to walk in for a bit at least. "Safe, Fox...let's go." He said looking to the mare waiting for her to come to the stream so he could help her in if he needed to.
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Posted: Sun Jun 28, 2009 9:39 am
Fox felt sure she was delusional from pain now; that had to be the only explanation for the fact that she wanted to spill her feelings to him. Not now..you still feel the same way when you're not all beaten up, then tell him.. her inner voice chided, and she strove to stay on her hooves when he left her side to go down towards the running water.
'Live? I think I can do that..I hope I won't die on you.' she joked feebly as she walked down towards him. She walked into the water, gasping at the chill which seemed alot worse in her current state.
Don't be such a baby. she thought, and she waded towards Lamb, her teeth chattering.
'We need..to walk..mile..least.' she said, shivering slightly.
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Posted: Sun Jun 28, 2009 10:05 am
Lamb missed the joke. He tried not to show the worry too much. He needed to focus on getting them upstream and to safty so that he would be able to help her. Despite his best efforts however the concern was all over his face as she came towards him. He could hear her teeth clicking together as she shoke from the cold and he could see the shaking.
This seemed less and less like a good idea to him. His dark coat still had some heat in it from being out in the sun but Fox's coat was light. As she gave him further directions he moved to bring his side next to hers. He would help her get that mile and to safty and hopefully he would also be able to keep her at least a little warmer.
"Let's go...one mile..."
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Posted: Mon Jun 29, 2009 6:11 am
Fox slogged through the water, a constant stream of mental chatter going in her head to keep her from stopping. She brushed against Lamb every so often, his coat was warmer than hers, and she felt reassured by his being there - a companion that she'd not asked for, never wished for, but now was so glad he had been persistant. Yes, if he hadn't come into her life, the days events would probably have been different, she'd had probably moved on again, out of the area and today's attack wouldn't have happened.
But if not this one, if not today, it would have happened eventually. She'd travelled alone more often than not, and it was only through her skills that she'd not been injured worse than this yet.
'Out..' she said, sloshing to the stream bank, and digging her hooves in, she pulled herself out of the water, an internal measure reckoning that they'd travelled long enough downstream.
'Smooth..' she croaked, motioning to their hoof prints. If the Kalona was clever enough she might realise their plan once she came to, and follow the water. Fresh hoofprints in the mud leading away from the stream would be a give away.
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Posted: Mon Jun 29, 2009 8:42 am
To say that he was happy that Fox ordered them out of the stream would have been an understatement. His teeth had started to chatter in his head but just barely. Any heat that had soaked into his coat had left before too long. He pushed his way through the water towards the same bank that Fox had gotten out at. He looked around for a short moment to figure out where they were before clambering out after the mare.
Smooth? He looked down to the soft ground and could see what Fox was seeing. "Okay." He said bobbing his head taking it as an order. He lowered his tail all the way to the ground and began to brush it over his footsteps as he moved forward. The motion of the tail smoothed out the indentations in the Earth so that it was almost like he hadn't been there.
He stopped where Fox stood and smiled slightly at her. "Get yours too..." Once he finished they could get somewhere safe and he could make sure that she was alright.
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Posted: Mon Jun 29, 2009 8:53 am
Fox waited, shivering slightly, dripping on the ground. She was no less glad than him to be out on dry land, and she forced a weak smile for him so he wouldn't worry about her. Though she didn't imagine it would fool him one bit.
'Good.' she said, not meaning to sound blunt, but every word was a little like she was swallowing thorns off a bush. She stepped back onto the grass a ways up from the stream, waiting and watching for him to smooth over her hoof prints as well.
'Cave now.' she said, looking around them. They would have to travel a bit more, but hopefully in this next leg of the journey she would warm up again.
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Posted: Mon Jun 29, 2009 9:07 am
While a smile could quite easily deceive Lamb he knew better in this case. He had seen what had happened and he knew that damage didn't just vanish. He frowned and didn't his best to quickly and effectively sweep over Fox's own tracks before moving away from the soft earth and onto grass.
The dark stallion wasted no time in hurrying to his friend's side to give her something to lean on. If only the caves had been closer to their starting position.
He moved as quickly as he could without putting any more of a strain on Fox. Safety was so close now, but still too far for his liking.
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Posted: Mon Jun 29, 2009 9:19 am
After they had walked a way, Fox could soon see the small wood that hid the location of the caves, and she motioned to it with her head.
'Soon be there, and I can stop putting my soggy, bloodied body on you.' she joked, trying to show she was still as strong. Why she had to keep putting on such a show she wasn't sure, he'd already seen her beaten. It was that pride of hers, and the will that had always kept her going.
If she hadn't tried to come across as a strong fighter from the beginning of their relationship, maybe she could be letting her guard down properly - leaning on him properly. Instead she was only doing it when absolutely necessary, and now her legs shook all the time with the effort to keep going until they were safe.
'Here I think.'
There were faint tracks from where she'd been her before, and a small gap between trees through which she could see the rock face of the hill. She let him lead her the rest of the way through and in as she was feeling dizzy.
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Posted: Wed Jul 01, 2009 7:44 am
Lamb frowned and would have stopped walking altogether to look at the mare leaning on him if not for the current situation. "Not funny." He muttered completely failing to see where her sense of humor was coming from. It wasn't as though he minded helping her and it wasn't like she had purposely come out of that fight bleeding.
Of course just thinking those things led him to notice something else: she wasn't letting him assist as much as he would have liked. This did not surprise him much at all. For as long as he had known her he had come to realize that there was a limit to how much she would allow him to do for her. This seemed to be one of those limits.
The closer the got the more familiar things became to him until he could see the hidden entrance. He felt her lean more on him and was both thankful and worried. They were so close though so he pushed those worried thoughts from his eyes and led the way. He picked his way through the trees and didn't stop until his hoof steps were echoing off the rocky walls of the cave.
"Here, lie down..." He said firmly but gently hoping she'd actually listen. Then the challenge of fixing her would begin.
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Posted: Thu Jul 02, 2009 7:07 am
Sometimes you just had to laugh. If you didn't you'd cry, and she'd never been that kind of mare. She wasn't sure Lamb understood that though - a dark sense of humour did help occasionally.
'Well, it might not show up on your coat,' she said, as they walked into the shadow of the natural cave, the temperature dropping slightly as they did so.
She limped now, her legs and muscles thoroughly worn out, and it was with a noise of gratitude that she lowered herself to the floor of the cave, rolling onto her side, her head resting on the floor as she passed into a state of semi-unconsciousness for a short while.
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Posted: Fri Jul 03, 2009 9:48 am
The speed that she brought herself to the floor alarmed Lamb. At first he thought that she had died but the slight movement caused by her breathing pushed that fear out of his head. She was just tired and still hurt. At least they were somewhere safe now and she could rest and recover.
"Go get food." He said lowering his head to nudge the mare gently. Whether she would actually hear him and comprehend he wasn't sure but she would need food to keep her strength up. She would also need water but that was something that he would be unable to carry back to her.
With one more look over her injured form he turned to leave the shelter to seek out sustenance for the mare.
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Posted: Sat Jul 04, 2009 7:57 am
Fox hadn't heard him, and when she roused a few minutes after he'd left the cave she was flooded with panic.
'Lamb?' she called his name, struggling to her hooves, calling again for him, her anxiety rising. How could she have passed out?! She berated herself soundly, looking around the cave, listening and calling for him.
What if that Kalona hadn't been as badly hurt, what if she'd managed to track them and had gotten Lamb? It hadn't registered that she couldn't scent a fresh smell of the mare, or that there was no sign of a struggle on the cave ground.
She was tired, overly so, and meant she was emotional too.
'Lamb!' she shouted his name again, leaning in the cave entrance.
'Answer me please.' she murmured.
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Posted: Sat Jul 04, 2009 9:23 am
Out away from the cave Lamb stood on his hind legs with his shoulder braced against a tree. He was trying to locate something that could be brought back to the cave easily enough. From where he stood, however, it didn't seem there was much around. There was plenty of grass in range which was always a good meal but it wasn't something he could transport.
It was still too early to give up the search, though, so he pulled away from his support and dropped to the ground. It was at this moment that he heard his name on the wind. Turning around he blinked a few times. Never one to believe that the wind actually spoke he had to assume that there was someone trying to get his attention and the only one near here was..."Fox..."
His brows creased a little in worry before racing back towards the cave to see what had happened. It took him less then a minute to get back and he found the mare leaning against the entry way. "Should be sleeping..." He said approaching her slowly looking around cautiously. He couldn't see anything that seemed threatening but his instincts on what was actually dangerous had never been quite right. "Fox okay?"
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Posted: Sat Jul 04, 2009 9:33 am
Fox let out a noise of relief, not quite believing that he'd just been out and about when she'd been worrying herself silly.
'Sleep?' she echoed.
'I couldn't, I mean, I woke up and you were gone, and I thought. Thought she'd come again, and I thought the worst.' the mare babbled, moving forwards and pressing her nose on his head, then his neck, making sure it was him, and not some nerve induced delusion.
'You're back.' Fox smiled weakly, looking up at the stallion.
'Don't do that again! Please...I can't lose my friend.' she almost let slip different words, but she still wasn't sure if she was only thinking this way because of how dog-tired she was.
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