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 Posted: Mon Jul 13, 2009 12:03 pm
Lowering his head, he lazed forward, thankful for the thinning of the forest here. Today was one of those unfortunately days on which, for no reason in particular, he began to think of the past and things that had happened both in and out of his control. Years flashed by in muddied blurs, accented with certain dates of rich, clear color and misfortune. Even the smell... Even the smell now...
The wanderer snapped from his daze, having come upon the source of the smell he had begun to experience. So, it really hadn't been a too real remembrance. Instead, it was the corpse of a fallen something or other. It was smaller and hooved, but missing its head, and Nguyen wasn't sure he cared to stay long enough to decide on what it could've been. As he stepped around the rotting remains, some of the snowbells growing from his tail were jolted loose and fell to the ground. The once pure flowers soaked in what remnants of blood and other liquids there were, dulling and wilting completely.
He paid them no heed at all.
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Posted: Mon Jul 13, 2009 12:13 pm
Snow rose around hooves and covered the couple's tracks before they could even take another step. "I can't go further, I can't see!" A weak voice called, barely audible through the whipping of the winds. "Keep moving!" Came a stronger, determined one. "We have to make it!" The winds struck up louder and faster and harsher, as if in protest. The movement of the two forms became shrouded in white flashes until they disappeared completely in the blizzard.
It was then the sound stopped completely and they sky ripped open. Heavy breathing came from the heavens-
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Posted: Mon Jul 13, 2009 12:27 pm
The male woke with a start, form shuddering harshly. When had-? Nguyen couldn't remember stopping let alone laying down to sleep. A cold sweat beaded under his thinning fur. The shudders began to reside as he set his head down on the ground between folded legs.
He usually made great attempts to stay awake on days he felt like this and thought like this. The same dreams always plagued his mind. However, in his haggard and travel-worn state, it seemed the once strong stallion could not keep his old form from craving sleep. At some point he had closed his eyes and her voice had called to him. He could only praise Aerithe that.... No, not Aerithe. Aerithe didn't exist in his world any longer.
Regardless, he was glad he had awoken so soon.
Uncurling his legs, he set one hoof stiffly, ready to move on again. But as he tried to put force behind the motion, his knee bucked and he was sent to the earth with a thud, unable to catch himself. Grumbling, he tried again and failed, and again and failed. Suddenly his body was complaining as if he had been traveling for days without stopping.
Wait-
Had he been?
In complete honesty, he could barely remember what had happened only a day ago. Was this a side-effect of exhaustion or had his short-term memory really become that terrible with age?
Eyes began to close now as he laid there. It was getting too difficult to fight, especially now that he couldn't move. Besides, the fallen leaves made a nice bed.
"I'll be there soon..." he muttered, wishing the true meaning was much more profound than it really was.
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Posted: Mon Jul 13, 2009 12:56 pm
It was the first week of a particularly cold Newlight. A mare, heavy with eggs, traveled alongside her mate. It had only been about a year since the only child born of their previous attempts had left them to make his own place. They had seen it coming. No matter how much the wished for Tuyet to remain by their side, he had the soul of a wanderer even greater than the two of them combined. They had made him promise to visit soon and let him go with a smile.
But now, all thoughts of a happy family were gone from their minds. They had waited far too long to begin their migration from the middle of the mountain to the base, where they normally spent all of Snowcross, Newlight, and Snowbreak. A mild Snowcross spent at mid-mountain had lulled them into a false sense of security and when she had become pregnant, they opted to wait it out, thinking Newlight would certainly be as nice.
They had been wrong.
Snow rose around hooves and covered the couple's tracks before they could even take another step. "I can't go further, I can't see!" A weak voice called, barely audible through the whipping of the winds. "Keep moving!" Came a stronger, determined one. "We have to make it!" The winds struck up louder and faster and harsher, as if in protest.
The stallion opened his mouth to call again and try to keep his dam inspired. However, before he could speak, the vision of her falling before him met his eyes. "Diu!" he called, rushing forward and diving to neck. Nuzzling beneath her, he tried to force her to rise. "My stomach hurts," she muttered into his ear. A worried expression struck him.
"Hang on!" he pleaded, trying in vain to budge her again. But she was far too weak to lift herself at all and the blizzard had beaten him down enough that he knew he couldn't carry her. They had no choice but to remain where she had fallen.
As he moved to cover his mate, a vicious wind knocked him from his hooves before he could even think to try and steady himself. On his way down, he flailed blindly, clipping his own head thoughtlessly with a hoof. The pressure when he hit the snow was immense. He blacked out.
The wind had slowed in some time that he couldn't remember. The world was completely white when he woke, which burned his eyes. It took a time of confusion before things began to return in bits and pieces.
"D-Diu!" he choked out as it hit him as hard as the fall had. Struggling to stand, he sent snow flying every which way without mind. He had to find her, he had to find Diu.
His head flung this way and that, but she was no where to be found. Had she made it to safety? Stepping tentatively forward, his leg caught on something beneath the snow. Pulling, he uncovered a pale blue hoof. Eyes widened in a sick realization. He could barely bring himself to nose the snow away from his love. She hadn't made it to safety. She had never moved again. And now she was completely gone.
Nguyen heaved dryly. It hurt, it was sickening, he wanted to die, too. He had been unable to protect her. And now that she was fully uncovered, he could see for sure that her chest was no longer rising.
Dulling eyes slid down her form, landing on her protruding belly. She had been nearly full-term. Not only had he lost her, but their children... Eyes moved back up to her face. To her visible cheek clung a flower, poor and broken, a snowbell.
He was-
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Posted: Mon Jul 13, 2009 1:07 pm
Eyes opened slowly this time. His mind had been expecting it. He had been prepared. Or, as prepared as he honestly could be.
This time as he placed his hooves firmly beneath himself, he was able to rise and shake the stiffness of sleep from his body. It was time to move on again. After that, he couldn't keep thinking or it would ruin him. It would ruin him more than he already had been. His tail dragged lamely behind him as he continued the trek. But he couldn't be mindless. It seemed the thoughts truly wouldn't go away today. He put on a sour expression.
It was time to go home.
The minutes turned into hours as he thought, every once in a while he lifted his head to see if he could scent the freshness of snow. He was still unbelievably far away. But even so, something told him where to go, what paths to take. He knew he could make it back unlike-
He paused, mentally and physically.
He could make it back. He could. Unlike him. Completely unlike Tu- Tu- Tuy-
What was his name?
Nguyen canted his head, looking almost confused. The name of his son. The one who had abandoned him and never returned. After Diu had passed, he wanted to leave the mountain and never look back. But he hadn't, all for the hope that he could see his son and they could mourn together. He wanted his son to know what had happened.
But that son had never returned, not for the many years he waited.
Finally he had left, unable to deal with the thought that he would be forever and always alone.
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