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 Posted: Wed Jan 16, 2008 10:47 am
This particular day was not going well. Not very well at all. It had begun innocently enough, with a lovely crisp dawn that led the mare to take a slow and relaxing walk through the woodlands. Oh, her parents had warned her in the past about the wildlife, but she had the philosphy that if she left them alone, they'd leave her alone. That precept had held firmly true... until this morning.
A spine-tingling yowl had mildly startled her as she'd followed a deer path. Turning, she regarded a very angry yellow cat, about a third of her size, but with powerful muscles rippling menacingly beneath that dusty hide. An answering mewl nearby told her the hitch in her philosophy. She hadn't counted on bothering a suckling mother. Inwardly she sighed in tolerant exasperation at herself. She had to assume she knew everything, apparently. Well, lesson learned. Now how to get out of this awkward situation?
"I'm terribly sorry, miss. I assure you, your cub is safe." She took two steps backwards to indicate her lack of threat. The cat merely took two leaps towards her, drawing closer than before and growling in a way that make Damara's mane prickle. She frowned slightly at the lack of communication. What was wrong with these wild sorts? Why couldn't they be civilized like her own kind? She took another few steps backwards, with the she-cat following intently. Those yellow eyes and ratty tan fur were highly unsettling to the mare, making her lash her tail in an uncharacteristic expression of distress.
She began to back more swiftly, unable to follow the swerving trail. She ducked past a low-growing tree and barely managed to avoid a thornbush, the whole time with the ugly specimen of feline following her with dripping fangs and claws extended. A swipe of those claws at her muzzle forced a change of tactics. Pivoting on her hindend, she turned to break into a full run. This cat was nuts! She'd SAID she didn't threaten those rotten cubs of hers! She managed four or five good strides before she stepped on somthing oddly shaped and hard. Before she could wonder at it, the thing folded around her hoof with a clank, and pain shot through her leg. Whatever it was clung to her, spinning her round to face the running cat.
She moved the caught hoof awkwardly, clanking as she picked up whatever it was that had bitten her. She didn't have much room to move, and now the cat had come to circle her, hissing menacingly. Turning was too difficult, so Damara settled for a powerful kick from both hind legs to drive the cat out from behind her. Yowling, the now wary cat eyed her from a safer distance to the front. "Go away, you fleabitten, mangy feline," Damara demanded, stomping her free forehoof. "Leave me alone! I don't care about your squalling offspring!"
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Posted: Mon Jan 21, 2008 8:11 am
Deprived of his daughter and grandson's company for the morning Colonel decided to go for a stroll into the woods. It had been quiet for the better part of the morning, aside from the chirping of birds and crunching of snow under his hooves. His ears perked suddenly as the sound of a mountain cat's hiss reached his ears.
Had he disturbed something by accident? That wasn't likely as the hiss sounded far off. Perhaps some other creature disturbed it? In a peak of curiosity he headed off the deer path in the direction of the noise.
"Leave me alone! I don't care about your squalling offspring!"
As he got closer other sounds joined the hissing, the voice of a Soquili and frustrated neighing. The other was stuck somehow?! The brown stallion quickened his pace and came to a stop in between the mare and the mountain cat.
"Go back to your young. She ment no harm." He neighed and stomped his hoof for emphasis, hoping the creature would understand at least one part of it.
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Posted: Mon Jan 21, 2008 9:43 am
Damara showed no surprise or startlement when a stallion came out of nowhere and joined her in scolding the cat. He didn't attack it, and really wasn't all that imposing or aggressive towards the cat. She merely regarded him calmly and greeted him with a brief, polite nod. She then stepped forward awkwardly and painfully, her new footwear clanking loudly. As boldly as she could, she moved towards the she-cat, stopping when the trap pulled against her foreleg again.
"Now shoo, you uncouth animal," she said sternly, also stomping her hoof. The mountain lion looked from the one to the other of them, eyes narrowed and tail lashing. The masked mare thrust her head forward more aggressively, baring her teeth, though she had no intention of using them. The very idea of the taste of that filthy fur in her mouth made her want to shudder. "Move it," she tried to growl, but it really came out more as a low lilt. She really was no good at this aggression stuff.
But still the cat hesitated, apparently torn between taking down the injured mare, versus facing off with two much larger creatures in order to do it.
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Posted: Mon Jan 21, 2008 9:51 am
Colonel nodded briefly to the mare before turning his attention back to the she-cat taking another couple of steps toward it. He neighed and reared, meaning to frighten the cat but not harm it. His large hooves came crashing down just short of the mountain cat with a loud, heavy, thud.
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Posted: Tue Jan 22, 2008 9:18 am
That did it. The mother cat wasn't going to bother with exacting revenge on prey with hooves as big as her head, at least not when those hooves came so close to her. With a parting snarl and yowl, the feline disappeared into the underbrush, moving quickly and silently so that any watchers would have lost sight of her almost immediately.
Damara heaved an exasperated sigh, looking after the cat as it departed. "I don't think I'll ever understand such an aggressive and beligerent attitude such as that one," she commented, shaking her head. Snorting in an effort to ignore the pain in her fetlock from the metal teeth still digging into her skin, she shifted herself to properly face her rescuer. "Thank you for your help, kindly sir." Somehow, she managed to fold one foreleg and dip in a semblance of an equine curtsey. "I apologize if I've disturbed your morning."
Her wide eyes regarded him from beneath her thick forelock. He was certainly a handsome stallion, but not necessarily the most perfect example of studliness she'd seen. Damara tended to be as practical as she could manage, and honesty with herself was one of those practicalities. She wasn't fool enough to always speak with such perfect honesty, but it seemed best to never fool herself either. She had definitely seen prettier and more majestic stallions in her life, but that was neither here nor there. Looks were not what this mare considered important. They simply were a feature.
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Posted: Tue Jan 22, 2008 9:40 am
Colonel lowered his head. "My morning needed some excitement..." He trailed off. "...I just realize I don't know your name, fair one." The stallion let out a small shy whinny and looked down at her legs, only now noticing how throughly the trap had her snared. "Lets see what can be done about that."
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Posted: Tue Jan 22, 2008 11:02 am
At his words, she smiled. Her smile had a strange, smoky feeling to it, as if it began at her lips and slowly drifted up her face until it entered her eyes and glowed here, her moon-pale eyes bright against her dark mask. It certainly had been an unexpectedly nice compliment from somone she'd just met. "My name is Damara, daughter of Delphia." For that was how she thought of herself. Her mother figured prominently ini her life, even though they weren't often actually together. She could feel her mother, like a glowing coal of warmth and love in the back of her mind. "And what might your name be, brave hero?" Her eyes still smiled, even as she glanced downward at her metallic captor.
"I know not how to loosen it, but," here she gave in to a mild wince, "I must admit, I would appreciate its removal." The cruel teeth, while not especially sharp, were digging into her smarting skin. She held herself still so that her new friend could examine the contraption. Damara guessed it had been left to capture the mother cat. The thought of this fierce trap capturing and holding the feline made her feel faintly sick. It was unthinkable to simply pin a creature down and leave it to die. Some humans could be so... beastly!
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Posted: Tue Jan 22, 2008 12:05 pm
"Colonel." He snorted briefly as he examined the trap. It was a beastly thing, created by the other two-leggers no doubt. "I think I might know how to open this." The stallion gingerly lifted a hoof and pressed it down on the side of the trap; carefully applying pressure until the trap was full open, then resting his full weight on it to keep it open so Damara could remove her foot.
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Posted: Fri Jan 25, 2008 10:53 am
"I thank you, sire Colonel," she offered quietly as he worked. Damara gingerly lifted her hoof out of the nasty thing, jumping when it clashed shut again. Carefully she set the injured hoof on the ground. It seemed sound enough, but her experimental step brought unexpected pain. It wasn't terrible, but it was enough that she wasn't keen on taking any more long, ambling walks. She didn't give voice to the pain, though she did blow through her nostrils with particular force.
She glanced up at her companion apologetically. "It seems I was foolish and have gotten myself hurt." She tipped her head to the side, still smiling ruefully. "Please forgive my clumsiness. Don't let me keep you, if I happened to interrupt an errand." None of this was affected or put on. She knew herself well enough to know she could make it to safety and wait out the pain, and she quite honestly didn't wish to bother Colonel with her troubles. She wasn't the sort of mare to wail and dramatize in order to gain a stallion's attention. Her lunar-eyes turned to examine her fetlock cautiously, nostrils flared, lips gently skimming her occasionally torn skin.
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Posted: Fri Jan 25, 2008 10:59 am
"That's certainly not as bad as it could be, your lucky." Colonel glanced up at her. "And...your not keeping me from anything important." He smiled softly and whickered gently. "Though, your hoof should be looked at. I know someone who would be able to help get that cleaned up for you....it's just down in the village."
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Posted: Fri Feb 29, 2008 8:43 am
Damara winced as she took another step. Perhaps it was better to let whoever was in the village look at it. "My mother has told me of how friendly the humans are," she offered conversationally as she limped in the direction he indicated. "I myself haven't met any yet, but I trust my mother's opinion." She very nearly idolized her aging mother, for she was a wise and gentle mare, quite worthy of emulation in Damara's eyes.
"So do you live in the village?" she asked ti fill the silence that was sure to stretch with the slow pace she had set through the forest. Signs of spring were everywhere, with green things bursting forth and leaf buds beginning upon the bare branches above their heads. Doggedly she limped on, ignoring the discomfort and focusing on getting to know this new friend while they made their way to their destination.
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Posted: Tue Mar 04, 2008 7:38 am
"I find most two leggers are trustworthy...at least ones I know." Colonel trotted along beside her, keeping an eye out for signs of trouble or discomfort. "I've lived with the Kawani ever since the other two leggers released me." He snorted softly, remembering the other two leggers. It seemed like such a long time ago now. "There are others of our kind in the village as well and many wander nearby."
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Posted: Fri Mar 07, 2008 10:20 am
She listened attentively as she limped along. It seemed he'd led an interesting life, from the sound of it. "So many questions come to mind." She paused for thought. "What do you mean, other two leggers that released you? Were you a prisoner?" She tipped her head to look at him as they walked, her forlock falling away from her masked eyes. "Why would two leggers want to hold you against your will?"
This was going to be a long walk, she imagined, so there was no harm in getting to know him a bit better, was there?
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Posted: Fri Mar 07, 2008 10:37 am
"I was born and raised under the settlers care back across the sea. They brought me with them to this land...and ended up setting me free." Colonel whickered softly and looked over at her. "My two legger, one of the Kawani, caught up with me near a river not too far from here." He glanced at the trail ahead, making sure they stayed on an easy path.
"He has always been very kind to me. We sort of look after each other."
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Posted: Fri Mar 07, 2008 11:15 am
This quite honestly startled her, and she halted to stare at him in astonishment, manners temporarily slipping. "You are from across the sea?" She pictured the tossing, changable ocean in her mind, and traveling across it... without wings! "Oh my, that must have been harrowing!" She collected herself then, closed her dropped jaw, and moved on again, this time with a more thoughtful expression. It seemed this stallion was a good bit older than she'd originally thought.
"Why bring you this far, then simply let you go?" She really was thinking aloud, though she slanted a questioning look at him. "What did they bring you here for to begin with?"
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