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 Posted: Sun Nov 21, 2010 2:08 pm
 The night was a silent time for many soquili, a time for sleep and dream and quiet moments. But for the pale stallion the night was the perfect time to be awake, alert and moving. His hooves pounded a soft rhythm on the ground, galloping through field and forest and rejoicing in the freedom the night gave him. Though many soquili found the night scary, for they could not see very well, for him the night was the best time of all. His pale blue eyes had no trouble seeing by just the light of the moon, the brightness was plenty for him. In contrast he found the harsh light of day almost unbearable sometimes, far too bright for his sensitive eyes, and the voices of other soquili far to judgemental for his ears. In the night he was alone, and he roamed far and free and catered to no one's judgements.
Mihal snorted, coming down to walk and shaking out his short mane as he observed the scenery around him. It was a place he hadn't really been much before, but today his wandering had taken him here and so he might as well do a bit of exploring. He made a mental note to tread carefully as he had heard rumours that there were many mountain lions in this area, and some could tend to be quite cranky when it came to territory. Still as long as he didn't make himself a bother he should be fine. And anyways he had heard there was a particularly beautiful lake in these parts and he wanted the chance to see it, without the chance of running into too many other soquili.
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Posted: Sun Nov 21, 2010 3:06 pm
As much as the hybrid mare had come to accept these terms, she had no intention of simply submitting to them without a fight.
The normally calm and distant Nyx was racing through the night, wild-eyed and favoring her left hind leg even as the sound of paws behind her grew ever closer. It had been a stupid mistake, a deadly one, and the giant cat had only managed to rake her rather than knocking her off balance and fixing its powerful jaws on her throat. The trees were too thick here for her to even consider taking flight, and so she pushed herself harder. Adrenaline blocked out the pain of her wounds, and her spaded tail lashed out instinctively as teeth clicked seconds behind it, catching the mountain lion in the eye.
Its yowl split the night, and temporarily smothered the sound of her labored breathing, but it had no intention of giving up the chase.
Blind to anything but the path ahead of her, Nyx burst from the forest nearby and stumbled hard, managing to catch herself on quivering legs. She only caught a glimpse of the stranger's silhouette, her wide eyes fixing desperately on him for a moment before the growl of the cat made her spin. She couldn't run any longer, not with her leg threatening to collapse underneath her weight, and snarled at the hungry predator as fiercely as she could. There was no mistaking the quaver in her tone, however, and the cat knew it too. It hunkered low to the ground, preparing itself for one, final pounce even as Nyx frantically did her best to back up.
Was this how it was all supposed to end? Finally felled just as she'd started to reach towards true peace?
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Posted: Mon Nov 22, 2010 12:52 am
The sounds of thrashing found their way to the stallion's ears and immediately his head rose, ears perked and eyes roving for the source. It sounded as if it was getting closer and he wasn't sure what to do, it sounded like a chase, from the amount of noise. And then, the scream of something feline pierced the night and he felt his muscles tense instinctively. A fight. Or perhaps a hunt. Either way it drew nearer to him by the second and whether his reaction be fight or flight he was ready for both.
The pale white shape burst out of the trees, legs and wings flying as the shape -a mare to be exact- steadied herself on shaking legs. It was but a mere moment afterwards the cat he had heard came whipping out of the bushes behind her. His reaction took less than a second, there really wasn't any thought, couldn't be any thought in this. As the mare turned to snarl at the cat he saw her limbs shake from exhaustion, and as the cat furled itself to pounce, he kicked forward like a shot.
The cat's body began it's ascent through the air and as it did so, the solid chest of Mihail hit the cat squarely in the side, knocking it onto the ground with a thumping sound. The cat yowled again, turned surprised and furious eyes onto him. It had not seen him, so intent on the mare it had been. His back now facing the white mare he looked the cat in the eyes, baring his fangs for the beast to see and shaking his horns. He did not want to kill it if he could help it. Thankfully the beast knew it was beat, already worn down from chasing the mare it was in no condition to fight this stallion who was flowing with energy. With a last snarl, it got up, limping a retreat into the bushes.
He turned to the mare, trying to cover his fangs and hoping the darkness would hide most of him as it usually did. She was a petite mare, and from the looks of it had been wounded by the cat. She was pale white, whiter even than him and yet what he noticed was the pair of wings upon her shoulders. Angel, was the first word he thought of. This mare, was one of the angels. Or that was the closest he could assume from her appearance and from the tales he had heard from others. He felt immediately out of place in her presence, she was far to pure for him. He just hoped she would never realize the devil that he was.
"How's your leg," he asked softly, not wanting to frighten her after her ordeal.
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Posted: Mon Nov 22, 2010 12:53 pm
She barely had time to process what had happened; one minute, the mountain cat had been lunging towards her with bared claws and teeth--and the next, there was a stallion in front of her, sending the lion scrabbling back into the safety of the shadows. Nyx had quite forgotten how to breathe at this point, and found herself gasping for air soon, trying to steady her still-quivering limbs. Her wings pulled tightly against her sides, careful to avoid the gashes that clearly marked where she had been struck. Shallow, at best, superficial--she didn't think they'd torn anything, but better safe than sorry.
"I.. I think it's all right." She managed to answer in a somewhat-steady voice, swallowing even as she did her best to right herself. Now that the sense of panic was beginning to fade, she was on the alert, muscles quivering as though she wanted to run again and get herself as far away from this forest as possible. "Nothing crippling." There, that was a bit more firm.
Nyx allowed herself to hesitantly look over her savior the best she could--and unconsciously let her spaded tail snake around her uninjured back leg, doing her best to keep it from view. It was hard to make anything out about him other than his size, and the sound of his voice.
"Thank you," She finally settled for, praying she still sounded calmer than she felt. Her heart would likely beat out of her chest if it didn't relax soon! "For saving my life." She was indebted to him, completely and utterly, but couldn't bring herself to say such a thing. "I... My name is Nyx." It was the first, foolish thing she thought of, and she bit her lip for a moment, ducking her head down so her man could messily fall over her eyes. "I'll be all right. I just need to--"
Her first step had her leg buckling in protest, and the mare gasped before she could furiously silence herself, ashamed and embarrassed. Stupid! How stupid she'd been, to wind up in this mess! "I'm sorry, so sorry, you've done enough--I'll be fine once I manage to find a safe place for the night."
Just go away, please, leave me alone. She couldn't bear the thought of being so helpless in front of anyone, even with her attempt to take a new outlook on her life. It was too soon, all of it.
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Posted: Thu Nov 25, 2010 7:40 pm
He watched her with pale eyes, noting the stutter and recovery of her words. She seemed okay...obviously still in a bit of shock though, who wouldn't be after all. Still he worried about her leg that had buckled so easily, but she probably knew best. Once she started walking it would be evident anyways so he decided not to press anything at the moment. As long as she was alive that was the important thing. Lucky too, he had been there at just the right moment. His mother might have said it was the work of the spirits, then again she said that about most things and he had never put too much stock in her spirits. Still he did have to admit the way certain things worked out was often interesting.
He looked her over again, mentally trying to figure out a little more about her and make sure that she had no obvious injuries that would need immediate attention. He caught no dripping blood or gaping wounds so he assumed she was probably alright. She too, was hard to make out in the darkness, and though her tail may have flicked he did not notice the spaded end or lack of hair. He was more focused on her luminescent wings and midnight coloured hair. He had only ever met one other with wings like hers, and that soquili had told him that those were the wings of an angel. It was curiosity for him, since the idea of angels was something he was so unfamiliar with.
Nyx. So that was her name, it was simple, but like nothing he had heard in this land, it held a certain allure to it that he could not place. A fitting name for her though. Before he could introduce himself however she stepped forward and he saw her leg shake, and then a small gasp of pain escaped her lips. He stepped forward in instinctive response, close enough that if she fell he could catch her. Alright, his previous thought had been wrong, she wasn't okay and whatever he was going to do, leaving her in the middle of the forest was certainly not one of them.
"Don't be ridiculous, I can't leave you here, your leg can barely support itself." He saw the way she immediately dismissed it and could tell she was used to doing things on her own, that she didn't like relying on others. He could relate to that, but in this case her independence didn't concern him nearly so much as her safety. Mihail walked right up alongside her, so she could lean on him as they walked. He took a risk, he knew this. She may or may not see his face, his horns, his teeth that were a little too pointed. That depended of course on whether she turned to look at his face, she very well may not. He hoped not, she might try to run if she did and he didn't want that. He certainly meant her no harm, but others had gotten the wrong impression before and it wasn't unrealistic to think she might do the same. Still, not like he could avoid it.
"Here, lean on me I'll help you find somewhere safe. I'm Mihail, by the way. It's nice to meet you Nyx, despite the circumstances."
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