Searches in the Dark - Chislev & Zero

[[+Katch+]]

She was no spring chicken anymore, that was for certain, old scars ached and her joints creaked. Chislev had been an old battle mare for ages - through small battles and immense wars, she had fought, lost, won, retreated. She had spent a lifetime just fighting this way, her armor was scarred, as did her heart. For she threw herself with abandon at her enemies - as the last war, the last great war started - She and her mate had been celebrating their first child, their only child. For he was killed shortly after. She was called to battle and could not bring her child, could not subject him to the cruelty that was battle, and so she left her dear child, her sweet child, in the hollowed out shell of a great pumpkin and told him to be still, to wait for her. He was a sweet wide eyed thing, so young and so strange, he looked exactly like his father. His father was known as a monster, but she knew better. She had always known better.

She was put out to pasture after years of fighting, she could fight no more, her body could not take it, and her heart even moreso. She had set out to wander, to be a nomad, a creature of peace instead of battle, she had gone back after the war had ended, the blood washed off. Her child was not in the pumpkin, he was nowhere to be found. She had grieved for her fallen husband and her lost son - she yet grieved. She wandered for many years after being put to pasture, wandered and wandered for ages, helping others where she could - When one day, in a land far from the land of her birth and the birth of her son, she heard whispers of a "nightmare" a creature of fiery eyes and skeletal legs who haunted the graveyards around two legged settlements. Her ragged heart soared, for the first time in a long while, se had hope, this could be her son, her lost baby. She searched with fervor, asking any who spoke of this nightmare, she was directed many places and into many dark forests, where she was unbothered to tread, if it would help her find who she was looking for.

Finally, she had found gold, when she traversed a dark forest, dank and wet, unfit for any sort of home until one got to the near center, where surprisingly, the dankness dissipated, the darkness lifted and the sun shone on a clearing where a mixed group of the strange and exotic stared at her in surprise and suspicion. She steeled herself, while they were strange looking they did not seem dangerous. " Hello…my name is Chislev, I mean you no harm…I have come looking for my son. Or some mere mention of him. Do you have a representitive of this, your herd?"  

[[+Katch+]]

The herd members flickered like ghosts among the trees around the clearing, it was not often strangers came to their safe place, the place where strange souls like them came for relief, when no one else would accept them for who or what they were based on their looks. A flash of white in the tree line, stark against the mossy ash and cypress trees with their dangling swaths of moss - He stepped out and smiled, this mare, though certainly humbling with her ropy muscles and her old scars, seemed harmless enough, perhaps who she was looking for was here and he could help some. He seemed a white shadow covered in a rather silly outfit something resembling a white rabbit with a long nose, though the child who had made the costume for him insisted it was a dog.

" Hello traveler Chislev, welcome to our herd - My name is Zero" He tossed his head, the hood of his costume flying back to reveal a handsome young face, jet black, though very cheery, eyes and a great shock of white hair. " I'm surprised you knew where to find us - this is not the easiest place to get to, as you are no doubt aware"  

[[+Katch+]]

This, of course, was not her son. It shone in her stormy eyes and she immediately closed it down, the sorrow was a heavy thing and she needed to be light on her hooves in order to live the rest of her life. " Greetings Zero. And I confess, indeed it was difficult to get here, but my mission is greater than swamps and root tangles. I was directed here by the locals actually - I am searching for my son. And he is…memorable enough to many folks, they say he lives here, or may have lived here."

She looked into the eyes of Zero, as if she were trying to look into him, through him. " He was also known as the "Nightmare. If that helps."
A few widening eyes and gaping mouths betrayed the members of the strange little herd to her, they had heard of him, even perhaps known him.
What a mix of joy and pain she felt - " Tell me…"  

[[+Katch+]]

Zero blinked at her awkwardly, this…this made a surprising amount of sense. now that he looked at this old mare he could see the worn battle stallion in her, he had her coloring, the armor, the determined feistiness. " You, my dear lady. You're his mother! Nightmares mother…" He whooped, surprising half his herd and her as well. " i mean, it's great to meet you, you know, he's never told me he had any family, well, besides his son that is, Tannin is a great kid too - Ah! And that makes you his grandmother!"

He looked up from his exuberance to find the lady gaping at him much like a fish out of water.

" Uh" Zero curled and uncurled his strange tail nervously "i'm right aren't I?"  

[[+Katch+]]

She gawked at him - finally…FINALLY. She had a solid lead on her son…nay, her family! She was shocked to her core - her son, her grandson…Perhaps even more now!…How large had her long lost family grown since she had lost him? She pressed forward eagerly " Where are they!? Zero, help me find them, i've been looking for so long! the sparkle of a tear shimmered in her eyes " please."  

[[+Katch+]]

Zero smiled at her, though sadly " well yes, I know both of them lady, both good souls, driven, perhaps troubled, but aye. I took over this herd until Nightmare returns, this is his herd you know. You should be very proud, he's a good stallion…though he didn't look so good the last I saw him. He sent his son off to become a knight and then found us - made a herd, I'm but a substitute for Nightmare and his kind heart. He had me take over for him, he told me he needed to…find himself I suppose." A line of worry appeared between his eyebrows " He left many moons ago and has not returned since, nor has Tannin, his son, but I believe they are both safe - they are of course capable stallions."

" I can only tell you the direction that either of them went and wish you safe travels. You have obviously come far."  

[[+Katch+]]

"Nightmare" She whispered " What a name, I doubt decided that for himself." But I see" She murmured "Yes,show me the direction my son left - once i find him, I will find my grandchild." She felt a tension in this stallion, her son had gone to find himself? When had he been lost? Or had he been lost this entire time? " Show me" She said, her voice ringing with resolve.  

[[+Katch+]]

Zero smiled, this lady still had some fight in her yet, he had never looked for his family as hard as this one did now, he had assumed he had never had any, just as Nightmare did. Perhaps this would make him curious about his own roots, perhaps his parents, somewhere, were looking for him. " Yes, I will show you" He walked with her to the very edge of the clearing, where a unused path winded down into a dark valley, twisted trees and weeds choking up the way. " He went down the dark path, he was…convinced it was the only way to find himself. I'm afraid I couldn't convince him otherwise, but he insisted." He looked at this mare, so strong at her age, so determined. "I hope you find him lady Chislev. He was good to us, us different folk you know." He tilted his head towards the path " I would go with you, but the herd needs me -good luck."


And with that he watched her go, not once looking back as she picked down that path towards the darken woods.