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 Posted: Thu May 14, 2009 12:42 pm
   This is a self rp. A note to any deciding to read this: For the most part each post is a time jump. The last few are broken apart because otherwise the posts would be huge.
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Posted: Thu May 14, 2009 12:45 pm
“I wouldn’t ask you if I had any other options.” The voice of the blue matriarch almost seemed to echo in the teepee. It had been unusually empty lately. The usual occupants had moved on. Even the two-legger that owned the structure had been gone for the last few weeks spending time with a shaman. This morning only three horses stood inside; Dark Mousey, Lunathiel and Scarlet.
“What about Ayden...he’d help out...” the stallion ventured. He had only come to the village for a safe place to crash for the night. He had not been expecting the old mother to jump him with some bizarre quest an old fluff ball sent them on.
“He has kids now Dark.”
“So do I...and at least one grandkid.” The withering glare he received from the blue mare let him know that he wasn’t getting off the hook so easily.
“Not that you take care of either of them right now.” She countered coldly before stepping away from him and over to the small mare. Nudging her forward she continued. “You brought her here in the first place; I would think that you wanted to make sure she was alright...”
The purple maned stallion sighed and looked at the tan female standing submissively between himself and Lunathiel. It was true; he had intended to make sure she was safe but... “The mountains aren’t exactly safe. Ya know that, right Luna?” He could feel his resolve wavering. It was simply impossible to be completely cold with Scarlet for him. Not after everything that had happened.
“Which is why you’re going with her.”
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Posted: Thu May 14, 2009 12:47 pm
Not an hour later Dark found himself standing beside Scarlet where the river met the lake. Somehow that woman always managed to talk him into doing every little thing imaginable. She was probably some form of evil mastermind but he would never know what exactly she was plotting. Heaving a sigh he stretched out his wings before tucking them back to his sides.
“So follow this into the mountains...then head east til everything’s red. Doesn’t sound too difficult.” No sooner had he spoken did the low rumble of distant thunder reach his ears. Red eyes slowly inched skyward until he could see the dark clouds bearing down on them. Without a word he lowered his gaze and started making his way down the winding river path.
It took him several moments to realize that his hoof steps were the only ones he was hearing. They were heading away from the areas that had been deemed safe; of course Scarlet wouldn’t just follow him like that. “Come on Scarlet...no time to lose...” He muttered glancing over his shoulder just long enough to see that she was trailing after him now. He got the distinct impression that this journey was not going to be a pleasant one. As if to agree with the winged stallion a clap of thunder echoed overhead. “Great.”
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Posted: Thu May 14, 2009 12:49 pm
For most of the day things went smoothly. The clouds had kept coming until they had blocked out the sun and occasionally rumbled. That was it. As the day wore on they stopped for a drink and a little food. By the time they had reached the bend in the river he was starting to think that the little trip wasn’t going to be so bad and then it had happened.
While he was getting another drink from the stream the heavens opened up. At first it was just a few drops here and there but by the time he had gotten back to where the tan mare stood it felt almost like he were standing beneath a waterfall of mountain run off. He made no effort to quiet his curses. Dark should have known that things weren’t going to be so simply, they never were. There was always something that would go wrong. Krad showing up at any point, his crazy off spring interrupting a forced family meeting, Scarlet vanishing right now...
His eyes nearly popped out of his skull to realize that the mare he had been standing next to earlier was no longer there. Where had she gone and when? He wheeled about quickly sending a spray of fresh mud out around him. He quickly inspected the area for signs of the mare and found her standing by the river staring at the quickly moving water.
Her cloudy brown eyes were darting from side to side watching the current. For several moments she stood like this oblivious to Dark’s voice calling out to her. There was something about the water. The rushing sound was all around her. It wasn’t just below her anymore. It was in her ears covering her body and her mouth. She couldn’t breath. It was pulling her down.
“Scarlet!!!” Dark bellowed against the roar of the storm. He watched in horror as the young mare lifted her head to the sky and went rigid before crumpling to the ground limply. Her pale rose colored mane pooled around her with a few strands falling in to the swift current. He wasted no time in rushing to her side but was unsure what exactly to do with her. Nudging her once and then once more only proved to him that she was out cold for no reason that he could comprehend.
It was at this moment he was really glad that Lunathiel was not present or she would have his head. Lowering himself to the ground he nudged his way under her forelegs and kept nudging until her neck and front legs were draped loosely over his back. Once she was situated her took hold of her mane and got back to his feet. The movement nearly sent Scarlet back to the ground but his grip in her hair kept her in place. She made a little pained noise and he was grateful that she wasn’t awake to know that he was the one hurting her. Still, it was necessary; he needed to get her out of the rain and away from the river. At least he wasn’t just dragging her by the hair right?
The thought didn’t provide him with much comfort but before long he was over it and was dragging her to a few trees to take shelter from the storm. Whenever his companion awoke they would set out again assuming that the storm had passed.
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Posted: Thu May 14, 2009 12:51 pm
The sun sat high in the, now, blessedly cloudless sky. The previous day’s storm had raged on well in to the night and had only let up just moments before the sun had peeked up over the horizon. Dark had been awake on and off for the majority of the storm. The few brief moments that he had been claimed by sleep had been disturbed by claps of thunder, flashes of lightning or various worries that he kept to himself. Scarlet, on the other hand, had remained in her silent motionless sleep. Even as they approached the midday point she slept.
It had crossed the thief’s mind several times to rouse her but he wasn’t sure what effect that would have. He didn’t know what had sent her into unconsciousness in the first place but it clearly hadn’t been anything pleasant. If he listened closely he could hear the faint sounds of her breathing which served to ease his mind a bit. At least she was alive. That was good enough for the time being.
His stomach growled angrily demanding to be fed. For a moment he ignored it but it persisted. He was going to need to get some food soon. Perhaps he could step away for a little while Scarlet slept. She wouldn’t ever know that he had been gone. Shifting slightly he peered over at the crimson butterfly expecting her to be sleeping soundly still. He jumped slightly to find that her brown eyes were open and staring off in to space.
He took a deep breath to calm his nerves a little. After all the nonsense with Krad’s psychotic daughter any number of little things could freak him out. He needed a break or something. A nice vacation away from everything. For the moment, however, he had other tasks to deal with. “You know…you could’ve said something if you were up.”
For a long while Scarlet didn’t say a thing. She didn’t even turn her head to look at her friend. There were thoughts swirling around in her mind that were quickly fading away into nothingness. She wanted to capture them before they vanished all together, they were important after all, but she wasn’t quick enough. They vanished leaving only one thought in her mind.
“Shouldn’t go...” She muttered finally turning her face to look at Dark. He blinked at her several times. Lunathiel had mentioned that she had been saying things without any prompting which would be a good thing but the things she said never seemed to make any sense. Like now.
“We’re already halfway there though...” He said rather dismissively getting to his feet. The stallion didn’t like being so cold towards her but this had been her idea in the first place; which was shocking but true.
Scarlet frowned clearly troubled by something. “Look...you want to find your home right?” He asked taking a few steps towards her. She nodded. “Come on then...we only have one lead right now and it’s this.”
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Posted: Thu May 14, 2009 12:53 pm
He could feel the unhappiness hovering around the mare behind him. Somehow what he had said convinced her to follow him once more but it was plain to see that she didn’t want to. While her silence wasn’t exactly uncommon the aura around her was. It was painstakingly clear that she was upset about the situation. At this point it would be foolish to turn around though. Night had fallen once more and after three days of traveling almost nonstop they had finally made it to the foothills. It would be another day or two before they were actually in the mountains climbing hills was a slow process. He knew that even following the river their progress would be slow. The stream channel would narrow to closer they got and it would be impossible to simply walk along the edge.
For now, that wasn’t an issue. Right now they simply needed to place to sleep for the night. Dark was accustomed to moving about in pitch blackness Scarlet was not and he knew there would be no way to keep on eye on her while leading the way. There was also the problem that Scarlet was reluctant to push on any further in the first. It was a miracle that they had even gotten away from the large river bend.
His eyes drifted back to the mare to see exactly what she was doing in her silence. It wasn’t much. Her eyes were fixated on the stream ahead of them. Even in the inky darkness the movement of the water could be seen and it sent chills down her spine. There was something about it something that she remembered but at the same time could not. Trying to force the memory forward only made her head spin and put a feeling of nausea in her.
“Scarlet?” Dark’s voice drew her eyes away from the stream and immediately the unpleasant sensations faded away. “We’re stoppin’ here for the night.” She nodded and watched as her one time mate stretched out his wings and dropped to the ground. Without a word she turned back to the rushing water. A wave of dizziness overtook her before she quickly mimicked the male and lowered herself down. She felt sick. She felt sick and she didn’t know why.
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Posted: Thu May 14, 2009 12:55 pm
The light of the midday sun had always promised warmth. Warmth that was needed for climbing into mountains. Today, the light was blocked out by fat clouds and there was no warmth. The lack of sunshine had dampened the thief’s spirits. That accompanied by Scarlet trying to turn and run back to the village every time they reached the crest of a hill made him quite irritable. It seemed that every time either the mountains or the river came in to view she lost her resolve that hadn’t exactly been stony in the first place.
At this pace he estimated the journey taking them an entire month. That was not time he intended to waste like this. As they neared the top of another hill he fanned out his wings preparing for what he knew was coming. For a moment there was silence as the petite mare stood at the top. Dark counted backwards from five in his head and when he reached one a frightened whinny filled the air around them sending panicked birds into flight. Scarlet spun about quick as lightning and bolted down the hill where Dark was waiting to catch her.
She collided with him and forced Dark to take a step backwards. With that much momentum behind her she hit fairly hard. His chest was going to be a bruised mess by the time this was all done. Without a word he pivoted his wings inward to keep the butterfly from going anywhere but backwards. She stopped moving, as she always did, and simple stood with her head down, eyes wide and panicked with her entire body shaking. When Luna had told him that this had been what Scarlet wanted he vaguely wondered if she hadn’t been mistaken.
“Scarlet...Scarlet?” No time like the present to find out right. Her head slowly lifted to signal that she was listening. “Did Luna put you up to this?” There was nothing for a moment and then she shook her head in the negative. “So you want to go to the mountains?” She nodded her head once to confirm. So far this was getting them no where. Lunathiel hadn’t made the little mare go, she wanted to and yet she still tried to run away every time their destination came into view. There was something going on that he didn’t like. “Why...”
“Do I run?” Dark blinked as the mare asked his question for him. The way she said it gave him the chills. It was like all of a sudden she had learned how to read minds and had developed some form of confidence. It was almost like she had turned in to a different person all of a sudden. The hazy cloud that normally sat over her eyes had faded and there was life visible in the brown hues. That all changed as she shook her head frantically. Tears pooled in her eyes but didn’t fall. “I don’t know...I don’t know! Every time I look there’s something there...there’s laughter and then...and then...” She went very still all of a sudden with her gaze to the ground.
Slowly Dark pulled his wings back getting the distinct feeling that she wouldn’t be running off again any time soon. He was strangely disturbed by the words that had come out of Scarlet’s mouth just moments ago. When he looked at the mountains he saw mountains and heard the wind, occasionally a bird as well. He didn’t hear laughter or see anyone. They were too far away to see anything living there anyway. Which left only one conclusion to be made: whatever Scarlet was seeing and hearing was all in her head. This trail that they were on seemed to be the right one. No matter what they had to get to the end of it and find the answers that would certainly be there.
Taking in a deep breath he stepped away from the mare and continued on. “Come on Scarlet. It would be long now.” Slowly the mare turned to follow him over the hill and down the other side. At the top she paused and gazed out at the water once more. A pang of fear struck her chest like a knife but she fought it to press on.
“And then...I can’t breathe...”
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Posted: Thu May 14, 2009 12:58 pm
It had taken the two a full three days to get out of the foothills and into the cold stone mountains. Rests and side trips had been frequent in the hills slowing their progress to a crawl. What had looked to be a simple and quick week long journey there now looked like the march from hell. It had taken them another day and a half to reach the end of the river. For the time being the two were resting beside the mountain lake. It had been quite the experience getting this far and it wasn’t over yet. One night he had awoken to find Scarlet forcing her way in to a cave far too small for even her to ‘escape the laughter’. The next day she had refused to drink anything until he had gone completely out of sight like she was scared of him all of a sudden. These events were paired with various outbursts of terror and several more attempts at running away.
He heaved a sigh. Reflecting on the events were giving him quite the headache. At least she was being quite for the moment. It almost didn’t even feel like she was there. Glancing to where he had left Scarlet he cursed quietly. There were times when moving like a ghost impressed the thief greatly and then there were times like this where he just wanted to hurt something. Why did she have to be so quiet all the time?
He scrambled to his feet and charged off down the path calling for Scarlet. He just hoped that he was headed in the right direction. After only ten minutes he still had seen no signs of her and was beginning to consider turning around and heading the other way. As he rounded a bend he finally caught sight of the mare ahead of him. In front of her fluttered several bright red butterflies and she followed them.
“Scarlet!” He called trying to catch her attention. She didn’t look his way. Her brown eyes were trancelike and completely focused on the insects fluttering around her head. He cried out to her again but he still received no response. What the hell was going on? He tried calling her again and again but still received no answer, at least not from Scarlet. As he began to step towards her nearly a dozen of the red winged bugs spawned from seemingly nowhere and began to circle his head. A few landed on his face and crawled to his eyes as though they were trying to block his view. It took him less then a second to shake them free of his face and just in time to see Scarlet vanish through what had seemed to be a solid rock wall.
As he gaped at what he had just seen the butterflies fluttered off to pass through the wall as well. Were they all ghosts or something? That was completely ridiculous! He and Scarlet had had children at one point. She was alive enough to give birth and he knew she was solid. There was something strange going on.
Without wasting another second he raced to the spot where Scarlet had disappeared. He almost couldn’t believe his eyes. From this angle, perpendicular from where he had stood previously, there was a narrow gap that looked like it just might be wide enough for him to fit through. All he had to do was tuck his wings in tight and bow his head. Doing so proved ineffective. He was still too broad to fit through but Scarlet had been taken to the other side. He had to get over there somehow.
It was moments like these that he really loved having wings. Rushing away from the wall he unfurled his black wings and beat them a few times. Then he turned about and charged the wall flapping his wings furiously. He took off in to the sky with ease and soared over the odd rock gate. From the sky he noticed something odd about the area they were in: it was coated in red. The path he had just been on was bordered by crimson blooms and in the place before him, where the stone gateway let out, was a ruby red paradise. Red butterflies danced about in the air, red flowers coated nearly every inch of the ground, the buds in the tree held the same deep blood red color and every bush seemed to be full of scarlet berries.
It was shocking to behold and in the midst of it all he spotted Scarlet weaving in and out of the trees. Her eyes were still fixated on the butterflies flitting about before her. They were leading her somewhere but she couldn’t think where. She couldn’t seem to think at all. The vibrant crimson hue all around her was very familiar but it somehow numbed her mind. It made it so that she was completely unaware of the winged stallion landing behind her. All she needed now was to follow the guides fluttering around her though as her feet met with chilled water the insects flew away, almost vanished. Without her guides she stopped and looked around.
“Where am I?”
“Hell if I know...” Dark muttered glad that she was finally responding to the world around her. How she had made it so far without taking a moment to even glance around surprised him. It shouldn’t have, it was Scarlet after all.
“I...know this place.” Dark watched the mare with a sense of fascination as she lowered her muzzle to the pool of water that she stood in. As the ripples faded her eyes met those of her reflection and she stood still, staring in to her own eyes. It felt to her as though there was a fog clearing from her mind and that the longer she stayed the clearer things would become. What felt like an eternity passed with images fading in and out of Scarlet’s mind accompanied by voices, scents and feelings. Then the silence was broken by a surprised gasp.
“My, my, this is quite the surprise.”
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Posted: Thu May 14, 2009 1:03 pm
Two heads turned quickly to locate the source of the voice. Between two trees stood a mare barely a hair taller than Scarlet. She too bore painted wings though they were black feathers on her back instead of the red butterfly on her chest like Scarlet had. Her hair was jet black and her eyes were a dark olive color. Dark snarled at her and was quite surprised to find that when he opened his mouth to growl her name it wasn’t his voice he heard.
“Thorn...” The pale mare blinked dark eyes in amazement as Scarlet muttered her name.
“So you remember me now?” Thorn cooed, a thin smile on her face, as she stepped forward. The smile quickly vanished as Dark blocked her way with a wing. With an impatient huff she turned her attention to the stallion. “You know…that gate is meant to keep the low-lives out.” She said giving a toss of her head.
Dark snorted. “Yeah, but when ya actually have wings ya can go a lot of places where ya shouldn’t be.” He smirked as the mare’s eyes darkened further in fury. From this distance he found he could notice a lot of interesting details, like the thin nearly invisible scars that dotted her body now. “Ya get in a fight with a tree or something?”
Thorn blatantly ignored him and stepped around his outspread wing to get to the treasure he was so desperately trying to block. He didn’t take it well and stepped in front of her just to be brushed past once again.
“My little butterfly, you finally came back...but why to this place?” She asked getting close enough to try and nuzzle the other mare. The motion did not go over well and Scarlet took a step backwards. Thorn frowned. “Come now...I know we had our little disagreements in the past...but that’s over now.” At this she laughed rather coldly and the rosy maned mare flinched visibly.
Her comments did not go unnoticed by Dark and he stepped around so that he would be in her full view. “What do you mean 'disagreements'?” He asked with eyes narrowed.
“Just little things. This and that. You know how it is.” She giggled and the sound sent a chill down his spine. Why was she always so creepy?
“I really don’t...” He said, tone and face flat, as he looked to Scarlet. Her eyes were wide and she was shaking. There was something between those two and he needed to know what. “Why don’t you share?”
“I really don’t see why I should.” She countered turning her head away. “I mean really. You intruded on our home without asking and didn’t even bother to apologize.”
“Our home?” He blinked a few times and glanced between the two mares with his eyebrows raised in surprise.
“It’s not...she isn’t allowed here anymore.” Scarlet said with surprising authority in her voice. Thorn’s frown deepened as her eyebrows knit together in fury.
“Oh goody...you really do remember. How fortunate.” She snapped bitterly.
“Why isn’t she allowed here?” Dark was confused. The two mares both knew something that he didn’t and he didn’t particularly enjoy the feeling of being kept in the black. Scarlet shook her head.
“I don’t know.”
This seemed to perk the pale mare up quite a bit. “Oh I see.” She laughed a little and gave her head a little shake. “It doesn’t matter...you don’t need to remember everything. You know who I am and you know what this place is and that’s all that really matters in the end. Oh! And just so you know...you won’t find anyone. They’re gone. They decided this place wasn’t good enough for them.” A truly wicked grin had settled on the mare’s face as she watched the tears start to roll down Scarlet’s cheeks.
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Posted: Thu May 14, 2009 1:08 pm
“Thorn!!!” Dark roared furiously flaring out his wings as though he planned to beat her with them. The dark eyed mare backed up fearfully. Getting attacked once was more than enough for her and somehow she doubted that the brute would take much more before reacting poorly. “What the hell are you talking about? Who’re ‘they’ and why is Scarlet crying?”
“M-my...you’re awfully defensive about her...now.” The thief’s eyes narrowed to show he meant business and Thorn cleared her throat to avoid flinching. “It’s quite a long story and I’m not sure you’d want the little butterfly to know it all.”
“I...I want to know...” Scarlet said softly, tears still rolling down her face. She hadn’t a clue as to why she was currently crying. Something deep within her just said that she should be said that ‘they’ weren’t around. The reason why was unknown to her.
“You’re not going to like it...” Thorn added as another weak attempt at getting out of it. She wasn’t one for telling stories like this. It didn’t seem either of them intended to back out. She heaved a sigh and rolled her eyes. “Very well than. I’ll make this a quick as possible, I don’t have all day to waste. Not too long ago Scarlet and I lived here with a small herd. We were both young at the time and of course everyone loved Scarlet. She was always quiet but she was fun to play with. With enough insistence she’d do just about anything.
“The others didn’t much like our games so they sent me and my parents away. I came back and sent Scarlet on a little trip since she was so precious to everyone. They left about...oh two seasons later...” She ended with a very nonchalant flick of hair tail that made Dark wonder if she even knew what she had just said.
As he thought over what he had just been told he glanced over to Scarlet. She seemed fine enough. She looked perfectly normal to him. Her eyes were their usual hazy color and her expression was blank. Given what he had seen from her on this trip he wondered if he should worry about that. He shrugged it off for the moment. He had one more question.
“What do you mean you sent her on a trip?”
“Oh you know...it was raining, I told her not to tell anyone and gave her a little push that was all.” At the blank stare she received from the stallion she gave an exaggerated sigh. “When it rains the river floods and moves faster.” She supplied like he was an idiot. The second she voiced it Scarlet’s eyes went wide and she began shaking.
“You pushed her in the river?!”
She remembered.
“Well I wasn’t going to kill her.”
The water rushing around her...
“She could have drowned!”
The pain in her lungs...
“It is quite clear that she didn’t.”
The pain in her head...
“What the hell is wrong with you?!”
The black...
“She’s the reason they forced me out of my home!”
And then...Dark.
“Dark...” Both the thief and Thorn looked over at the rosy maned mare as she spoke. There was an odd look on her face, a mixture of confusion, fear and sadness. “Goodbye...” It took her less than a second to turn away from the two bickering and bolt for the exit. Never once did she look behind her. She couldn’t bring herself to do it even when she heard her name being called.
She remembered now. There were still a few blank spots but there was enough. There was enough there to bring a new emotion to the surface for her, regret. All the things she had done she wished hadn’t happened. There were many things she wished that she could undo but knew she couldn’t. So she ran to get to a place where she had never been, to a place where she had nothing to regret.
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