[PRP] I'm not leaving! [Mossflower/Smooth Swing]

[Ruriska]

Reginald seemed uncertain at first. The duck tested his wings and waddled back and forth along the lakeshore, his head occasionally swinging back into her direction.

"You can do it," she encouraged.

Then the duck quacked once and entered the water, paddling away without difficulty.

Mossflower sat back with a sigh, her emotions a mix of happiness and sadness. She’d become very attached to Reginald while he had been recuperating with her. To see him healthy now, after what the fox attack had done to him, it brought tears to her eyes.

Usually Mossflower knew not to give her sick animals names. It only made it harder to let them go when they had to return to the wild, but Reginald had been with her for so long, it had seemed silly not to call him something.

The duck was swimming around the lake, occasionally bobbing his head under the surface.

The young Phony watched on throughout the day, growing increasingly concerned with the weather. The sunny day had suddenly turned cloudy and a harsh cold wind was blowing in from the North. A big storm was approaching and she didn’t want to leave her newly healed duck out on his own.

Kitomyx

Finally got this started! Sorry for the wait!

 

[Kitomyx]

Smooth Swing had been flying back home on his way from baseball practice with his siblings. He'd stayed behind to make sure everything was put away and urged the others to go on ahead. With the weather gradually becoming as ominous as it was, he was glad he'd asked them to do so. At least he didn't have to worry about them getting caught up in an on-coming storm.

As he began to struggle in his flight against the gradually-increasing wind, something down below caught his eye. Curious, he dropped a little in altitude - just enough to see a young filly about his age standing by a pond. What was she doing? Didn't she know it was probably going to be dangerous outside pretty soon?

Swooping down, he made an acceptable landing, digging his hooves into the soft dirt of the pond shore. He tried not to worry about how difficult it would be to take to the skies again, because right now his only concern was this filly.

"Hey!" he called out to her, unsure if she'd be able to hear him over the wind. He put up a wing to shield his eyes from flying dust and other debris as he slowly made his way over to her. "What are you doing out here?! A storm could break out any minute! You should find shelter!"

Ruriska

((*TACKLEHUGS* SORRY SORRY SORRY!!! crying I DIDN'T MEAN TO TAKE SO LONG!))

 

[Ruriska]

Reginald was still paddling around in circles, even as the wind picked up and started blowing small waves across the lake. Now and then he would look back to where Mossflower was sitting and she took his glances as a search of security. He wanted her to be there and so she wasn’t going to leave him just because of a bit of rain. Or even a lot of rain, judging by the huge black clouds.

She braced herself against the wind, looking small as they reeds swayed.

Hey!

Had she heard a voice? When Mossflower looked over her shoulder, her eyes went wide with surprise to see another youngster battling his way towards her. What on earth was he doing? She shook her head and stood to meet him, doing her best to smile even temperature seemed to drop ten degrees.

"I’m fine! Don’t worry about me! You go home!"

Kitomyx

Not a worry. <3

 

[Kitomyx]

"What?!" Swing could hardly believe his ears. He must have not heard her properly. But she was smiling at him. "You might be fine now, but you won't be in a few minutes! Don't you have someplace to go?"

Perhaps she was waiting for someone, but as he tried to follow where her gaze had been over the pond, all he saw was some silly duck. The term 'sitting duck' came to mind, which was what he was starting to feel like being out in the open and exposed to the elements like this. "You can come to my place! My folks won't mind!" he suggested, urging her toward the mild shelter of the trees.

Ruriska

((*clings to* heart crying

...On another note, Mossflower is reminding me of that scene in Fantasia's Pastoral Symphony where the mother unicorn is standing against the wind and protecting her foals from the approaching storm.

EDIT: Ah, found it.))

 

[Ruriska]

Again Mossflower shook her head, refusing to budge an inch, and to make her point even clearer, she sat down on the spot as if she was enjoying a nice spot of sunshine instead of what appeared to be a cyclone. In any other case she would have taken the time to explain, but with the storm bearing down on them and her worry now extended to her wannabe saviour, getting him to go straight home was her top priority.

"Go home," she told him firmly. "I need to stay here. He needs me."

The duck seemed to have realised the weather was not ideal and had moved closer to shore.

Kitomyx

Aw, that is so cute. Q__Q <3 I can totally see her doing that, with her little woodland babbens huddled beneath her... aaaand now I want to watch Fantasia.

 

[Kitomyx]

As the stubborn unicorn foal sat her rump down, Swing's jaw dropped. He might have gone into some lecture like he would have if it was one of his siblings - maybe something like how pegasai were supposed to know weather better than any other kind of pony and that she should listen to him - but he didn't fancy the idea of going hoarse over trying to get his point across. Besides, it seemed the young filly had already made up her mind and was sticking to it. He had to admire her tenacity, but that still didn't explain her reasoning.

"I'm not going home if you won't," he answered sternly, attempting to match her stubbornness. But when she mentioned someone needing her, he softened. "Who needs you?" Blinking, he glanced at the water fowl still on the lake. "The duck?" Come to think of it, why was that bird still here? It should have flown away hours ago. With a heavy sigh, he drew closer to the green unicorn, using his other wing to shelter her from the worst of the wind's debris as well. "What's wrong with him?"

Ruriska

((Hehe, glad you think so. ^_^ LOL DO EET! Good inspiration! <3))

 

[Ruriska]

Mossflower gave the Pegasus a look of mingled exasperation and gratitude. She supposed that if their situations had been reversed, she wouldn't want to leave anyone out in this weather either. His protective gesture was also quite charming and she shuffled closer to better huddle beneath his wind.

Rather than having to yell over the storm, she put her face closer to his ear.
just released him back into the wild," she explained, her gaze never leaving the duck half-hidden be reeds. "He won’t fly away because he’s still unsure of himself. I didn’t realise the weather would get so bad. This is my fault."

The water bird chose that moment to paddle to shore and stood standing there staring in their direction. Mossflower wondered if she should try and get him to come home with her again and wait for a nicer day to try again, but even as the thought crossed her mind, Reginald turned back to the water again.

Mossflower sighed. They would just have to wait out the storm together.

Kitomyx

 

[Kitomyx]

Naturally drawn to the other's warmth, Swing absently stepped a little closer to the green filly as well, still staring at the bird on the water as he tried to discern what was wrong with it. Broken wing, maybe? Lost family?

It wasn't until the other foal spoke into his ear that Swing realized just how closer they had gotten to one another. His body instantly increased in temperature, but he hoped the storm was distracting enough to draw attention from the red flush he was sure was spreading across his otherwise pale complexion. Oh well; nothing to be done about it now. If he moved away, they'd both be cold again, he wouldn't be able to hear her, and he couldn't shield her with his wing.

He tried to distract himself by maintaining the conversation, speaking next to her ear in turn. "It's okay. You had no way of knowing." He paused. "Even if it's a little foolish, I think it's also really brave of you to stay for his sake despite the storm." Smiling a little, he added, "Maybe you should ask a pegasus about the weather before you go out next time, though?"

Catching sight of the bird coming toward them, Swing wondered what was going through its mind. His curiosity was only heightened when it returned back to the water. What was it thinking? "Seems pretty sure of himself to me," he murmured. "Do you think maybe he might just be a little too used to your care to want to leave you?"

Ruriska

 

[Ruriska]

It didn't occur to Mossflower to be embarrassed or even notice how close they had become, so she took no note of Swing’s blush and was simply grateful for the warmth and slight shelter he provided. Such close proximity was simply something friends did and he’d earned that title the moment he’d stopped to see if she was okay.

"I’ll keep that advice in mind," she said with a rueful smile. If she’d known that was a skill her Pegasus friends possessed she would have called Star Spangled up a lot earlier and saved herself some trouble… and speaking of her best friend, there was definitely a sense of familiarity coming off her new huddle partner.

It wasn't a thought she had much time to dwell on and she shoved it to the back of her mind as she took in his last words. "I… am I making it worse by being here?" Maybe he was right and it wasn’t the Reginald that was the problem but her? Maybe she couldn’t yet let go of the duck she’d helped heal?

She opened her mouth to speak again, to perhaps suggest that yes maybe he was right-

And then the heavens opened up and then rain came pouring down, drenching them both instantly.

Reginald in his pond quacked once and seemed completely unconcerned.

Kitomyx

 

[Kitomyx]

"W-well, I didn't mean it like that, exactly," Swing said quickly, looking away when she asked about her making it worse. "I’m sure you did him a lot of good, too. It’s just that…er, I think if someone gets too used to being taken care of, they forget how to take care of themselves and become reliant on others. I could be wrong, though! He might just really like you and not want to leave."

Looking back at Reginald, he added, "I don’t really take care of animals, so I’m not sure what the right way to do it is. But I’m just speaking my opinion as a brother of four other foals. It’s like when they might ask me for help with their homework. It’d be easy for me and faster for them, but I know I can’t do it for them because they have to learn how to do it for themselves. I think that’s why it might be possible to care for someone too much so that you end up spoiling them."

"That doesn't make you or your intentions bad, though! I think it’s just hard to see the harm things like that do when people are blinded by how much they want to help. Oh!" Raising his wing a little higher, he exclaimed in surprise as the rain began to shower them in cold sheets of water. "Ugh…I don’t know if ducks get sick from weather like this, but if this keeps up for much longer, we might get pneumonia. You don’t have any way to call him back from the pond?" Swing asked. "We can all huddle by the trees over there until the storm lets up."

Ruriska

((Sorry it took me so long to respond! Currently on a road trip, so tricky to get wifi. ^_^; ))

 

[Ruriska]

Didn't she know that already? Of course she did. It was why she held back from giving them names, from getting too close, when she knew they needed to return to the wild soon. They weren't her pets. They were friends who lived in the forests and fields. Reginald had snuck his way into her heart like no other had. Now as she watched him in the storm, in her heart she knew the duck was strong and capable.

Mossflower lifted her head as the rain started pouring down, closing her eyes as the droplets ran down her face. Then she nodded firmly, took a deep breath and said, "let’s go."

A smile brightened her eyes as she looked towards Smooth Swing. "Part of taking care of someone is knowing when they can take care of themselves. Reginald will be okay. But I’d rather not get you too sick. I’m sure your siblings wouldn’t be very happy with me."

The green filly laughed. "Come on. Let’s go home. I’ll come back tomorrow and see how he is."

Kitomyx

<3

 

[Kitomyx]

"Huh?" The colt seemed surprised by the filly's sudden decision, but as she continued speaking with a smile, Swing couldn't help smiling back.

"Yeah, you're right," he agreed. "About the first part, at least. I don't know about the second - my siblings might thank you instead." Infected by her laughter, the little white pegasus nodded and looked back at the duck.

"Nice to meet you, Reginald. Take care."

Ruriska

The end! heart