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 Posted: Sun Apr 05, 2009 1:56 pm
 A few moons ago...Esta knelt in the snow and shivered. The weak winter sunlight reflected dazzingly over field and Usdia, but she ignored it in favor of a far more potent danger.
She was going to die.
Oh, everyone and everything died eventually of course, but Esta's death had a face and it was a Skinwalker. The other Soquili had explicitly stated that this was her only reprieve, and that the next time their paths crossed...Esta would die.
The future, which had once looked as bright as the sun up above, now was as dark as the matte black pelt the Skinwalker sported. All her hopes and dreams would come to naught. The futility of her life overwhelmed her, and Esta broke into tears.
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Posted: Sun Apr 05, 2009 2:03 pm
 Winter wasn't Tregaran's favorite time of year, per se. Snow in and of itself wasn't bad...but snow glare, blizzards, iced-over watering holes and the like weren't very good at all. Still, one had to brave the cold if they were to survive, since Soquili weren't built to hibernate.
The small stallion was out foraging when he heard a sound that didn't belong to the snow-covered meadow. Someone, somewhere was crying.
Curious now, the Usdia looked around, trying to discover the source of the sound, but couldn't see any creature out among the whiteness. He began to struggle through the drifts, trying to find the stranger.
Head held up high, still trying to spot the crier, Tregaran failed to notice the fleshy sound made when he ran right into an obstruction in the snow. Whinnying and snorting in panic, he was about to hightail it out of there when he looked into a pair of light green eyes filled with tears.
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Posted: Sun Apr 05, 2009 2:05 pm
The absolute last thing Esta had expected was to be tripped over. So caught up in her misery, the mare had failed to even notice the presence of another person in the field. Of course now she was a bit bruised and sore, but it wasn't anything major. At least the stranger was another Usdia, which meant he wasn't nearly as heavy as a full-size Soquili.
She stared at him in shock and surprise, unable to formulate any words to respond with.
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Posted: Sun Apr 05, 2009 2:11 pm
Embarrassed and unbalanced, Tregaran backed up a few steps, apologizing every step of the way. "I am so very sorry, but I heard you crying and, well, I thought I could perhaps help you, but I really didn't mean to trip over you, I just didn't expect you to be another Usdia since there's really so few of us in these lands as compared to the other races..."
He broke off as he realized he was babbling and flushed, the cream areas of his face darkening to match his markings. "My name's Tregaran," he told the mare, "and I hope you'll tell me why you were crying and whatever I can do to help." He really did hate to see anyone so sad, and would do anything in his power to help the white mare.
The stallion could see now how he'd missed seeing her; her white coat had scale-like markings that reflected the sunlight just like the snow around her. And though there was a purple and greenish reflection to her scales, they were still white. Only her eyes had any real color that he could see, though they were distorted with tears at that moment.
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Posted: Wed May 27, 2009 2:18 am
"I...Esta..." the white usdia managed to say as her mind tried to cope with the sudden shock of seeing someone else in the wintery wasteland. Even more suprising, someone who cared. Her attention was riveted to him, though she was too stunned to even take in the details of his appearance.
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Posted: Wed May 27, 2009 2:24 am
Tregaran kept his expression friendly and open though inwardly he frowned. There was no reason at all for the little mare to be so shocked and, he looked at her eyes, scared. The whites were visible all the way around her green irises and now that he knew what to look for, he could see sweat on her flanks. Something had scared her badly, that now she was lying almost totally invisible in a snow-covered meadow, revealing her presence only through her sobs.
Esta's plight aroused all of the stallion's protective instincts and he knew he couldn't just walk away. He had found her, and it was his duty to do what he could for her.
"I'm not going to hurt you," he told her gently. "I want to help." The usdia male took a small, cautious step towards the mare.
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Posted: Wed May 27, 2009 2:30 am
Esta cringed away slightly from Tregaran as he took a step towards her. Intellectually, she heard what he said and knew he wasn't trying to hurt or scare her, but the rest of her mind was filled with the lingering overwhelming fear from her enconter with the Skinwalker.
At that thought, she tried to bury her head in her shoulder, as if the thought would bring the terrible Soquili to make good on her threat. Something in her protested the action and the display of weakness she was giving, but she was past caring. Perhaps it would be better to just curl up and die here, in this meadow, and not give the Skinwalker the satisfaction of killing her.
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Posted: Wed May 27, 2009 2:34 am
Tregaran retreated immediately at the first sign of rejection from the mare. The poor thing! He couldn't imagine what had terrified her so, that she would retreat even from him!
He spoke softly, loud enough for her to hear, but only just. He didn't want to scare her away entirely. "I'm sorry that you're so hurt inside, but I want to help you - truly, I do. So, unless if you tell me to go away, I will sit here until you are ready to talk to me. I'm here for you...but I can't help you unless if you let me."
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Posted: Mon Jun 08, 2009 7:47 pm
Tregaran's words fell like sunlight onto the snow and, though most of their force was reflected away, something made it through to melt a bit of the frozen water. Esta was too scared to fully comprehend what he was saying, but she knew that if he left now she probably would curl up and die here, and she wasn't yet ready for that. Deep inside something flared up and refused to give up the fight before it had begun.
"D-don't leave," she managed to gasp out. "P-p-lease."
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Posted: Mon Jun 08, 2009 7:50 pm
The usdia male had been slowly backing away from the white mare when she was finally able to bring herself to speak once more. Tregaran was truly surprised, however, at her request, given her reactions to little old him thus far.
He came towards her again, trying to be as unthreatening as possible. "I'll stay as long as you want," he told her, settling down into the snow a little ways away from her, carefully staying within her view and without touching her at all. She would have to make the next move
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Posted: Mon Jun 08, 2009 7:52 pm
Green, tear-filled eyes met gold as Esta finally looked at Tregaran straight on, seeing him for himself at long last. His face was...kind. Open. And she knew he genuinely wanted to help her, even though they had only just met. Something she had no right at all to expect from a stranger.
"Thank you," she whispered, and laid her head down on her knees to sleep soundly for the first time in days.
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Posted: Mon Jun 08, 2009 7:56 pm
When the mare looked straight at him, Tregaran had thought he might stop breathing. There was something in those green eyes that held him riveted to where he lay in the snow, something that couldn't be seen unless if they were looking right back at him. Then Esta laid her head down to sleep, leaving him on guard and free to move once more.
The stallion shook his head to rid himself of the last of the spell and looked down at the white mare. Having looked into her eyes like that, Tregaran knew he could never leave this usdia. His sense of honor cried out to protect her, his heart demanded that he never leave her. He was in love, as simple as that.
Perhaps, in time, she would feel the same. He hoped so as he settled in to watch over her while she slept.
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