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 Posted: Wed Feb 19, 2014 1:46 pm
 Red lines grew longer and longer as they trailed down her legs, her wings, her flank. Where had this come from? Mud caked her fetlocks and her breath was quick and heavy. What had she done? Why was she so exhausted? Her thoughts were panicked and racing as fast as her heart. None of them made sense. It was all just a constant clamor of confusion and questions. Questions she didn't seem to have any answers to. Slowly, Branwen lifted her eyes from the blood staining her coat to her surroundings in hopes of easing her troubled mind.
An open field, dry and brown from winter's touch lie before her. No flowers and only sparse patches of resilient grass that refused to lose its color. Behind her, in the distance a forest full of skeleton trees. There was something ominous about it, not simply in the way it looked but she also felt as if something waited for her there. Something terrible and treacherous. She quickly turned away and tried to find some sort of landmark or familiar sight.
But it all meant nothing to her. She had no clue where she was or how she got there. Everything was so non-descript, there was no way she could determine where she was with just a bunch of dead trees and grass. Branwen shut her eyes, tucked in her wings close, did anything she could to make herself smaller. She was lost. So very lost. And so very scared. Why couldn't she remember anything? Fear was taking hold now. She wanted to lie down, curl up and just close her eyes. Maybe everything would be fine once she opened them again. She would know where she was, she wouldn't be covered in blood, she wouldn't be scared or lost or confused. Or alone...
The feeling of loneliness hit her suddenly and that was what really broke her. She missed someone, missed them terribly. Who, she couldn't say. But the feeling made her chest tight and her eyes sting. And with a pathetic cry, Branwen laid down and curled up in the dead grass. It probably wasn't a good idea, but she didn't care. She was too tired to care. Her body ached and her head was throbbing. She needed to rest, just for a moment. That's all she needed.
Little did she know that she was not alone. She never had been. Vigilant eyes were watching her from above. Searching the area around her. The owl could only hope that he would find someone to help Branwen before someone less favorable found her first.
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Posted: Wed Feb 19, 2014 3:20 pm
Winter's relentless grasp had begun to weaken. The snows had begun to melt, only clinging stubbornly to the areas of higher altitude or in small dingy piles.
It had felt like a particularly long winter. But what a difference a year had made. This was his first winter with his new family. His new herd. Confined to one territory instead of the years of travelling. He was responsible not just for himself but for his foals, and aid the rest of the herd. Helping procure food, helping keep them warm, keep the yule fire burning long enough to last them through the coldest nights. And that was complicated by the fact he still had a long way to go to repair the damage he had caused by leaving those many years ago. He wanted to bridge the gap with Deirdre, find Fianna... but he knew that was going to be another long road ahead, and not one he could begin in the dead of winter. It had been a difficult winter, but he wouldn't trade it for the world. Since Ethan had stepped up to be the leader of the small but growing herd - a fact that was still difficult for the stallion to believe, they had accepted him, let him into their fold, and trusted him. He could share his heritage, his stories, and truly had found a place that he could fit in... even if it was a work in progress.
And here he was... on the other side of it. The snows were melting, leaving behind brown and ragged plants, but they had all made it through. Spring was coming, and with it, Ethan hoped, new opportunities and new joys.
But for right now, Ethan was out searching again - through plains and shrub forests looking for more food and supplies for the herd. The dried grasses the snows had melted and exposed were something, but he wanted to bring back something a little better. Or good materials to craft, at the very least.
he had his eyes pointed towards the ground and wasn't surveying the distance when he spotted a patch of reddish-brown on the straw-colored grass. His ears lay back and he whiffed it. Blood.
A single splotch, but where there was one, there was probably more. A few footsteps away, another splots. Was there a predator on the hunt? He looked around, looking for signs of danger or potential threat to his herd... He didn't think to look up and regard the owl flying silently overhead.
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Posted: Mon Feb 24, 2014 10:57 am
Gethen, on the other hand, spotted the stallion almost immediately. And he wasted no time in trying to get his attention. The owl hooted loudly and tucked his wings in, dropping to the ground near Ethan. He hopped around, head twisting this way and that as he examined this unknown Soquili with a scrutinizing gaze. The horns and tail were looked upon warily, but Gethen knew better than to judge someone based on their breed. Still, he had to be sure. It would be so easy for a foul-natured creature to take advantage of Branwen in her current state. And he did not want to be the one who lead that foul-natured creature straight to her.
"You. What are you doing here? What is your name?" His words were a bit brash and his tone very demanding. They would undoubtedly put off anyone who didn't know the situation he was in currently. But the owl simply didn't have time for nonsense. Branwen needed help. And she needed to get somewhere safe. With a herd. Yes. That would be best. A herd full of nice Soquili who would take care of her and look after her, "Are you with a herd? Where are they now?" He was getting frantic. He shouldn't have been out there worrying about his companion. He should have been asleep, tucked away cosily in a tree while Branwen was safe with her family. Instead he was seriously considering leading a potentially dangerous kalona halfbreed to the wounded and scared mare.
But Gethen wasn't really sure the extent of the damage done to her, physically or mentally. It was quite clear she was in a sorry state though. And if he didn't find someone soon...
The owl visibly shuddered, suddenly becoming quite and solemn. There was no time to waste on thoughts like that. He pulled himself together and looked to Ethan with a most somber expression, "I need your help. Please."
The decision to entrust Branwen's life to this stallion was a rather sudden one, but he didn't have much choice at the moment. Hopefully it wouldn't be a decision he came to regret.
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Posted: Tue Feb 25, 2014 11:53 am
Ethan's danger sense was already seting off alarm bells and his eyes were shrewdly scanning the grasses when a cacophony came from a source he wasn't prepared for - the skies.
He nearly jumped out of his skin as the frantic owl dropped from the skies right before him. Before he could even say a word, though the small familar launched into a speech, not waiting for a response before going into another sentance. Not that it would have mattered too much; the stallion was still collecting himself from the surprise and inwardly chastizing himself for not having noticed it sooner. Granted, owls can fly silently unlike the flapping of crows or eagles, but after havin spent so much time around winged soquili, he should have checked the skies. Especially when danger might be at hoof.
He forced himself to pay attention to what the creature was saying, releived that the avian was obviously not a threat itself... A frown folded across his mouth at the initial accusation. Danger or no danger about, he wasn't going to be accused and bullied by an owl. But before he could protest, the creature's threats turned earnest... and Ethan realized that the small creature was looking for help... probably for his bonded soquili.
"Ah'm Ethan. We're at th' edge o' mah territory." Ethan began, with a tone of skepticism and offense but he swallowed most of it down. "What's goin' on? I saw blood on th' grasses. Is someone hurt...?" He could chastize the bird later. If someone needed help, that came first.
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Posted: Fri Feb 28, 2014 1:09 pm
Gethen's head snapped to one side as the stallion spoke. His voice was so strange to the owl's ears and he had to really concentrate to understand him. But what he was able to make out gave him hope. This Ethan boy was with a herd, which was a good start. And his tone did seem rather concerned. Of course, it could just be an act but there was really no turning back now. The half breed did knew there was someone hurt nearby and if he did have foul intentions, Gethen wouldn't be able to stop him from searching for Branwen and harming her. All he could do now was lead Ethan to her and put his own life on the line to defend his bonded if he had to.
"Yes. I don't know how badly, but I do know she needs help regardless." Gethen turned his head in the direction of the mare, only able to spot a patch of light coat here and there through the dead grass. At least she had decided to lie down in an area with some cover, "This way. And, please..." He turned back to the stallion with a look that was pleading, but also held a hint of sternness,"Be gentle with her. She's scared and confused. She didn't even recognize me..."
The owl's form fell slightly at the last statement, obviously something that weighed heavily on his heart. But he didn't allow himself time to linger on the pain and with a few powerful flaps of his wings lifted himself from the ground. He kept low and flew slowly to allow the stallion to keep up as he led him to Branwen.
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Posted: Fri Feb 28, 2014 1:56 pm
The Irish lilt was even more prounounced in the stallion's voice when he was uneasy, and now was one of those times. He was worried about this unspoken injured ... soquili? familiar? Ethan wasn't even sure. Not to mention the owl's tone. But Ethan couldn't pretend not to be used to others treating him with the stigma of his kalona blood.
He followed the owl's glance as it swiveled his head. He squinted, and saw a glint of a lighter color against the brown grasses. It was too far, and too small of piece showing to even tell what it was at this point. Ethan just hoped that whoever it was was still alive, and not beyond his help.
Ethan paused for a moment, regarding the owl's obvious concern and distress with softening eyes. He was scared and worried for his friend. He couldn't blame him for that.
"Ah'll see what ah can do." Ethan said with a soft smile, and headed towards the figure in the grass.
As he got closer, before he could even really make her out, Ethan called out, "Ah'm here ta help you." Last thing he needed was to startle an injured creature with his appearance, making injuries worse if they tried to run.
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Posted: Mon Mar 03, 2014 9:55 am
In her time of being briefly unattended, Branwen had begun to shiver. The air was still brisk with the chill of winter. Add to that the blood, sweat, and mud caked to her coat and the multitude of emotions running through her, it really wasn't surprising. Even as she caught the sound of another's voice and her whole body tensed it still visibly shook. For a moment, she wasn't sure what to do. Maybe if she just laid there very still, whoever this was would go away. But what if they didn't? What if they attacked her? Or what if they knew her? Maybe they would be able to tell her who she was and what had happened.
Eventually, Branwen's head slowly rose from the grass, ears forward and alert and eyes wide with an anxious fear. She caught sight of Gethen first and immediately snorted as the owl settled into the grass some distance away from her. Then she saw another figure on the edge of her vision and her gaze quickly snapped to it. Another Soquili. A rather strange looking one with horns and a whip-like tail. But it wasn't that strange. In fact, there was something a bit familiar about him that she couldn't quite place. She felt just a bit calmer now that she saw him. But only a very small bit and certainly not enough to make any kind of response to his call.
Gethen was not calm at all, however. His eyes shot back and forth between the two Soquili, waiting for any sign that the stallion might try to hurt Branwen. The bird was poised to fight if he was given a reason to.
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Posted: Mon Mar 03, 2014 7:30 pm
Ethan almost thought he was seeing things when the mare lifted her head and Ethan saw a pair of kalona horns on top of her head. But, as he eased closer, feathered wings were splayed around her, and her whole body was shaking... due to fear or blood-loss, Ethan wasn't quite sure yet.
His rankled nerves from the owl's backhanded accusations were immediately forgotten as his ears drooped and he dropped quickly to his knees in front of her, worry all over his face. She reminded him.... SO much... of some of his daughters.
"Jus' try'n lay still," Ethan soothed as he lipped open a satchel he wore across his chest and withdrew some fragrant herbs.
"This is jus' gonna help ye with the pain," HE said around the herbs, proferring them. He didn't ask her name, what she was doing, or how she was injured. Not yet. First, she needed some help. "Chew on it, 'n try 'n keep them in yer mouth as long as ye can before swallowin."
He'd wait till the pain was soothed and numbed before he looked at the injuries. He was certainly no unicorn. He didn't possess the miraculous healing magic that their kind possessed. But he knew a few things about herbs that he learned from his mum, and could bind a wound. At least tend to her long enough to get her to someone who might actually be able to help.
He just hoped that she didn't have the temperment of the kalona whose blood flowed through her veins as well.
But Ethan would never make that assumption first.
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Posted: Fri Mar 14, 2014 1:30 pm
Naturally, Branwen was wary of this stallion at first. She didn't know who he was or why he was approaching her. All she did was was he seemed to be with the owl that had been following her this whole time. That was something she wasn't sure how to feel about. The owl made her nervous. When she first saw it she thought it might have been chasing her. Hunting her down, or perhaps keeping track of her for whatever she had been running from. It had even tried to talk to her a few times, but she had been far too panicked to pay attention. Branwen had assumed it had nothing good to say, but now that she had calmed down just a little bit she realized that perhaps that wasn't quite true.
And this other Soquili certainly didn't seem like much of a threat. His voice was soft, if a bit odd, and his posture was anything but offensive. If he meant her any harm, he certainly wouldn't be able to do much damage while kneeling, that's for sure.
She was still wary of him, though. And when the halfbreed produced some unknown plants from his pouch, she was understandably hesitant. Branwen wanted to believe him, she really did. His words seemed genuine and really she was grateful for his company, as cautious of it as she was. But she simply couldn't help the concerned look she gave the herbs. It was going to take a bit of coaxing to convince her to eat them.
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Posted: Fri Mar 14, 2014 5:35 pm
Ethan waited for a moment, proferring the herbs in his mouth before her darting eyes between the herbs and his face made it obvious that she wasn't sure if she could trust him.
He sighed, brows knitting in sympathy before he set some of them down near her and chewed on a bit of the remainder. "'s fine, miss," He said, muscling through the stringent, bitter taste, "It don't taste great, 'll admit... but it should help er pain."
He watched her earnestly, and decided to continue talking, hoping to help ease her nerves with reassuring conversation in addition to the medicine, "Mah name's Ethan," He smiled, "You... look like ye might've some Kalona blood in ye, too... did... did something happen? Ya know... when I was travelin', I ran into a lot o' soquili that really weren't too sure 'o me because o' my horns 'n tail... f'r a while, I was worried that they might know something about me that I didn't... but o'er time... I found that it didn't have ta define me.." He was mostly talking, hoping the sound of his voice might calm her. But he also hoped that he might see a flash of recognition.
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Posted: Thu Mar 27, 2014 11:40 am
Branwen's eyes followed Ethan's every movement, watching him closely as he took some of the herbs in his mouth and began to chew them. That was reassuring enough to convince her to try some. It wasn't a pleasant experience and she was quite tempted to spit the plants out immediately. But he had warned her that they wouldn't taste so great and now that her nerves had settled a bit a throbbing pain in her flank was slowly growing. If these herbs really did what he said they would, she'd want to hold on to them as long as possible.
And while he spoke her attention was only half on his words, the other half focused on trying to chew through the awful taste. But it was soon fully on him at the mention of kalonas. The word rang a loud and clear bell. It was only a moment before the tales of this breed came back to her. And they frightened her. Was this who she was? Was she a monster?
Taking some time to look Ethan over, Branwen made note of his features that seemed a little odd. The horns, the tail, the split hooves. Were these traits she also possessed? The horns were something she herself couldn't see, but her own hooves lay before her and it only took a flick of her tail to see the truth. She was a kalona. And at that realization her frame fell, her ears laid back and she finally swallowed the herbs.
What if these wounds were the result of an attack she had initiated?
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Posted: Thu Mar 27, 2014 2:05 pm
Ethan nodded encouragingly as the mare chewed on the herbs. It took a few minues, but her pain gradually began to dull. It hardly alleviated the pain entirely, but it made it easier to think through it, and helped her muscles relax.
Ethan's brows knit in worry. She hadn't spoke much... but it looked like she had been through a traumatic event.
Only after she swallowed the herbs did he try to coax some information out of her. Of any soquili, Ethan was certainly one willing to overlook obvious Kalona heritage... but it didn't mean that he was just willing to lead her back to his herd without at least speaking to her first. He had met another halfbreed once... his own half-brother... that had gotten a lot more of the demon in him.
"Wha's yer name?" He asked gently, "How'd ye wind up so banged up?" He tried to ask the question as non-judgmentally as possible
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Posted: Sun Mar 30, 2014 9:48 am
Confusion was written all over Branwen's face at the stallion's questions. What was her name? It was a simple question, one she shouldn't even have to think about. But she did. She had to think so hard, and even then it was only a fragment of the name. She struggled to answer him, becoming increasingly distressed, "It's...It's B...B...I'm-"
"Branwen." Gethen chimed in, hopping just a bit closer and giving the mare a hopeful look. Maybe there would be some hint of recognition, "Her name is Branwen..."
The mare turned to her familiar with a disheartened expression. This owl seemed to know so much more about her. She didn't know how to feel about that. Surely his knowledge of her must mean he knows. Sense would tell her he was a friend and she shouldn't be so wary of him, but there was a low supply of sense right now. With a quiet sigh, she looked back to Ethan, "I don't know what happened. I can't remember."
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Posted: Sun Mar 30, 2014 4:27 pm
"Branwen, eh? That's a really lovely name. Ah have a daughter named Bronwyn." Ethan's heart ached as he saw the confusion on the mare's face. It was painful, seeing her struggle to remember her name, let alone how she had been injured. Her... wounds must have been even more extensive than they appeared. Maybe she had taken a blow to the head. She needed medical care - but Ethan wasn't sure how much he could do for her beyond ease her pain and make sure she didn't succumb to her wounds. But then, even unicorns couldn't heal an injured mind... could they?
Maybe it would pass when she recovered, or maybe it wouldn't. What if when she did recover, she remembered some burried ferocity? Or... maybe if she did have it, this was her chance to recover. But no, that was judging her, and Ethan would be a hypocrit to do that.
But Branwen... maybe it was a sign. A name so much like one of his daughter's... and her features, the feathered wings and kalona horns and tail... also so familiar. Maybe he had been meant to find her by the spirits.
He looked to the owl, seriously, "What de ye know of yuir soquili?" He tried to ask objectly, but he wanted to help her... but as Alpha he needed to be careful who he let around his herd... his family.
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Posted: Sun Apr 06, 2014 3:16 pm
He had a daughter. Some of Branwen's worry was relieved by that fact, though she wasn't sure why. It was a pretty common thing, Soquili having children, and not all of them were kind. But knowing he had a family helped her trust in him grow further. She even managed the slightest of smiles at this revelation, though it didn't last long. Her attention was drawn to the owl as Ethan questioned him. He seemed to be the only one here who knew anything about, so what would he reveal? Nothing terrible, she hoped.
Gethen waddled even closer to the pair of them, still looking to the mare as he spoke, "...I know she looks like she could be dangerous," He turned to Ethan now, the truth in his words very clear in the owl's gaze, "But I think you know not everyone with kalona blood is foul-tempered. You have nothing to fear from her. She's a gentle soul, wouldn't hurt anyone."
It was such a relief to hear, to know that she wasn't as horrible as she thought. And so disheartening that she had to rely on the words of others to tell her who she was. It was all she had, though. And while she had been unsure of both of them, it really did seem like they meant her no harm. They were all she had right now, and really she was grateful for them.
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