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 Posted: Mon Feb 16, 2015 9:00 am
 At the bottom of the ravine Prism's broken body lay. Somehow he was still alive. He was not certain how long he had been laying here. At least one day had passed, he was almost certain of that, based upon how it went from light to dark out, but otherwise the passage of time was unknown to him. Pain raked his body.
When he had first awoken after the initial fall he had been hesitant to even open his eyes. The pain was severe and he was certain that he would die - if he wasn't already dead. Eventually he did crack his eyes open. There wasn't much to see, the rocky bottom of the ravine floor greeted him, along with a strange object. It had taken him a few moments to process that that object was part of one of his antlers, no doubt broken off at some point during his fall. Slowly he remembered about his basket, but even the slightest movement caused a wave of pain that made him black out for some time. He was almost certain he would never see his child, never know what that basket had contained. He would die here broken and alone at the bottom of a ravine.
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Posted: Mon Feb 16, 2015 9:02 am
 It was so nice to have Ipswich along for this journey. Though it was not always possible for her to bring any of her family along when she went out searching for those who needed help, Aquitaine did try to bring them along from time to time. Not only did it mean she got to spend some time with them, usually one on one time since it was often only one of her children or her mate that came along, but it also showed them exactly what she did while she was gone. Of course there was no guarantee that when she left on one of these journeys that she would find someone whom she could help. This kind of work was hit and miss at times. There were times when she would travel for weeks at a time, and while she would meet plenty of individuals along the way, none were in need of her assistance or eduction. Then there were other times when she would barely leave her beach home and find someone who was in distress or just needed a good ear to listen to their story. Those successful times were what spurred her again and again to leave. Once she had helped one Soquili then she knew she had to keep going until she helped all that she could.
On this particular journey Ipswich had decided to come along. Aquitaine was happy to have her daughter by her side today. They had been traveling for a couple of days now, the weather had been cool but clear. Glancing over at her daughter she smiled, Ipswich had grown into a beautiful mare, but she did wonder what path she would follow. Perhaps this little journey would provide her the opportunity to discuss Ipswich's future. Regardless of what her daughter chose to do, within reason, Aquitaine would support her. "Do you have any plans for the future? She asked.
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Posted: Mon Feb 16, 2015 10:18 am
 It was nice to be spending some time with her mother - not that they didn't normally, but typically it was with the rest of the family around and while she loved that her family was so closely bonded it was still nice, every once in a while, to get time with her mother all to herself. Trips like this were perfect for that...and she usually learned something along the way as well.Now if it would just warm up a little bit more everything would be perfect.
Or at least it would have been if her mother hadn't decided to ask her that specific question. Ipswich knew her mother worried over all of them, she wanted them to do things with their lives, go places..be something. Or maybe she just wanted them to be happy. The problem was that Ipswich really had no idea what she wanted to do with her life, where she wanted to go and she wasn't sure her mother would be pleased to hear that, for the moment, Ipswich was more then happy to just..exist on the beach.
It wasn't much of a life goal when she put it that way and her ears flicked slightly as she worried over her answer, her fretting telegraphed to ebony of course whose coils shifted as he looked around for whatever had bothered his companion. Ipswich took a moment to sooth her beloved snake and collect her thoughts before answering her mother. "Umm, not really...I just...I don't know mom."
Welp...so much for collecting her thoughts and giving a good answer. Oh well.
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Posted: Mon Feb 16, 2015 11:49 am
Aquitaine smiled at her daughter when she finally answered the question. "It's alright." She said and nuzzled Ipswich as they walked. "I didn't know what my path in life was until I was older than you are now." She had had several aspirations as a foal and young adult, but many of those changed as she aged, some of them abandoned outright - like her dream of dancing like her mother. "It is not something you should rush into. I'd rather see you take you time and investigate your different options than rush into something only to realize after that it is not for you." Yes, she would love to see Ipswich find her path, but she knew that some decisions took time.
After they continued to walk Aquitaine kept her eyes scanning the area. "Whenever you do find your calling," she said as her gaze swept the ground ahead, "I know you will do it to the best of your abilities." On the ground ahead Aquitaine noticed several hoof prints. This was not something uncommon, but the spacing and depth of them gave her pause. Though she was not a trained tracker, Aquitaine could see that whoever made these tracks had cloven hooves and given the depths of the gouges in the dirt they were moving fast and hard. "Hmm." She said as she slowed to study them a bit closer. Lowering her head she could tell there were at least two different creatures who passed quickly through here. "Now what do you suppose this is all about?"
Looking up from the ground to Ipswich. "Shall we investigate?" It could lead to nothing, or it could lead to something, but since it had been a relatively quiet trip so far it wouldn't hurt them to take a bit of their time to see where the tracks led.
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Posted: Tue Feb 17, 2015 8:44 am
Ipswich blew out a slight sigh of relief as he mother responded, she had expected a lecture - something along the lines of 'your a grown mare now and its time to start thinking about your future' but her mother had been supportive instead. She should have known that she would be, her mother had never been anything but supportive and Ipswich wondered briefly if her fears over her mothers reaction were based more on her own inner fears and thoughts then her mothers.
Shaking her head slightly because things were getting just a little bit to deep to deal with for the moment Ipswich realized that her mother had noticed something and eyeing the deep hoof prints the young mare reminded herself that she needed to start paying more attention to her surroundings. "I guess we should." She agreed thought her voice was tinged with a slight bit of worry - hoof prints like that could mean many things and not all of them bad...but her mind tended to assume the worst. Maybe it was just a race she told herself firmly.
"They are going in pretty much the same direction we are anyways." She pointed out, it wouldn't cost them anything to follow the trail and see where it lead - though she was fairly certain that her mother wouldn't need any such excuse, even the potential for trouble would have been enough for her mother to look into things. That is what it meant to follow her mothers path she supposed - to devote your life to helping others.
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Posted: Tue Feb 17, 2015 1:29 pm
"It may very well be nothing." She told her daughter as they started to follow the tracks, she had caught the worried tone in Ipswich's words. From her time out searching for others to help and education, Aquitaine had seen many signs of quick movement but it turned out to be nothing. But of course, she knew that it could also lead to danger or someone needed help. It was better to check and find nothing out of the ordinary than to overlook the tracks and not be there when someone needed help.
The tracks moved from this move open area into the trees, but they were still fairly easy to follow. She noted that one set of tracks veered off, but another two remained together. "Looks like there were three who passed through here." She said to Ipswich pointing out the different hoof markings. While tracking was not her strong suit, Aquitaine knew enough to judge speed and direction of travel, and depending on various elements she could also see how many had passed through an area. It was slow going through the trees, but eventually they parted and led to another open area. This was where that third set of tracks rejoined the other two. Glancing up ahead Aquitaine noticed that they led towards a fairly good sized ravine. Quickening her pace she followed then tracks, her curiosity turning to worry now.
"Watch your footing." She warned Ipswich as she continued forward, the edge of the ravine coming up. And that was where the tracks ended. That did not bode well. Coming to a stop at the edge of the ravine Aquitaine took a deep breath and then looked down. "Oh no." At the bottom lay a Soquili. There was no way of knowing if the Soquili was alive or dead, if it was the former then they would surely need a healer. "We need to find a way down there." She said looking over at her daughter. "The side here is too steep to climb down without following that poor Soquili's fate." Surely they would find a spot further down where they could descend into it's depths and see what condition the Soquili was in. "You travel that way." She said pointing to the left. "Don't go too far, but look for a path that we can use to get to the bottom. I will go the other way and see if there is a way down over there." Without waiting for her daughter to respond, knowing she would follow these directions, Aquitaine set off to the right, looking for a way into the ravine.
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Posted: Wed Feb 18, 2015 9:21 am
This would be one of those times where it would be really nice if someone in her family could fly, Ipswich thought to herself as she peered down into the ravine along with her mother. The longer htey had followed the trail the more Ipswich's stomach had managed to work itself into knots, the running had just been too desperate...too...reckless to have been anything good and it seemed that her fears were being confirmed..of course that didn't mean it was foul play..perhaps it had just been a game gone terrible wrong.
If that were the case though then where were this poor souls friends? The two who had been running with him? Come to think of it ..where had their tracks gone? They must have been flyer's..the ravine was much to far to jump. Nodding to her mother Ipswich turned in the direction indicated, there wasn't much time to waste, if the Soquili down below was injured then they might not have much time left to try and save him. Trotting carefully along the ravines edge Ipswich moved farther and farther downwind from her mother - but no matter how far she went the jagged rocky edge didn't seem to change, after going a couple of miles with no sign of change in the distance she turned back hoping that her mother had had better luck.
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Posted: Fri Feb 20, 2015 10:57 am
The further she got away from the spot where she had seen the fallen Soquili the more Aquitaine worried. She had no idea if they would even find a way down into the ravine, and if they did, how long it would take to get there and then back to where they lay. The ravine was wide, deep and long, but at some point there just had to be a way down. She moved fast along the edge, scanning the rock wall for anything that could be used as a path. Aquitaine traveled much farther than she planned to, but eventually she was rewarded with something that may be suitable. Stopping, she carefully inspected the area. While not necessarily a path, it could be used as one if they were cautious about their footing and took it slowly.
Turning she raced back towards where she had parted ways with Ipswich. With luck her daughter would have found a way down, if not they would have to chance that not quite path so she could check on the Soquili below. She ran fast now, wanting to see what Ipswich had found. Her hair dragon snapped his mouth repeatedly, feeding off of Aquitaine's adrenaline and agitation. After a while she finally spotted her daughter heading back this way. Please let her have found a more suitable way down, she thought as she slowed her pace. "Any luck that way?"
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Posted: Mon Feb 23, 2015 9:08 am
Ipswich was starting to worry as she went farther and farther without finding her mother, mental images of her mother fallen into the ravine herself kept surfacing in her mind - which was silly, if anyone in her family could take care of herself it was her mother, she traveled all the time and Ipswich was sure that she had faced worse obstacles then this silly ravine.
Sure enough before her fears completely took her over Ipswich saw her mother in the distance, she was fine..just as Ipswich logically knew she would be, but feelings weren't always logical and the young mare was just happy that things were fine. Skidding her a halt as she reached her mother she shook her head in response to her mothers question, taking a few deep breaths before answering her fully. "Nothing, I went for a few miles and there's nothing out there but deep jagged cliffs, you ?" She asked a hopeful question in her voice. She knew they needed to get down and help the Soquili in the ravine and that time was precious but..how and if he was terribly injured...how in the world were they going to get him out?
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Posted: Mon Feb 23, 2015 9:23 am
That was not the answer she was wanting to hear and a breif flicker of disappointment crossed her face. But she couldn't dwell on that fact for long, the Soquili at the bottom of the ravine needed their help - she was assuming that he was alive still - and any delay could be costly. "There was a spot quite some distance away that looks like we could possibly travel down it. But it will be very dangerous, and we may need to turn around if it isn't good further down." Since it was their only option, there was little to do but go and check it out. Worse case scenario is they would have to climb back up and find a different way down. "Come on."
Leading the way back to the spot she had spotted Aquitaine prayed that it would work out. Knowing that time was of the essence and how far that spot was from the fallen Soquili she took off at a gallop, knowing that her daughter could keep up. It felt like it took far too long to reach that spot and as she glanced down at the 'path', there was a hint of worry. "We will have to watch our footing. Go slowly." She told her daughter. "I will start down, once I get a bit of the way down then you can follow." She didn't want them traveling too closely together in case one of them slipped.
Carefully Aquitaine placed her hooves down on the first section of this makeshift path. The journey was slow, and she was cautious not to pull her full weight down on her hooves until she knew the rock would hold, but she was making progress. After several long moments of climbing down, Aquitaine turned her head and looked back at her daughter. "You can start coming down now." She said and then put her gaze back to the rocks ahead, inching forward, hoping that they could make it down safely and to the Soquili in time.
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Posted: Wed Feb 25, 2015 6:00 am
Ipswich could tell that her mother was disappointed with the news she brought but the young mare knew the disappointment wasn't for her personally, no one could help it if nature decided not to cooperate and nature had apparently decided that it didn't want Soquili down in that ravine.
At least it sounded like her mother had found a possible way in and knowing that time was of the essence Ipswich followed closely behind when her mother led the way, of course after laying eyes in this supposed path Ipswich was more then a little bit wary. That wasn't a path..it was barely a goat trail! She wanted to ask her mother if she was really sure about this but she knew that her mother wouldn't back out with a n injured Soquili on the line so she kept her mouth shut, anxiously pacing as she watched Aquataine make her way down.
"Okay.." She stated when her mother told her to start following thought it took a bit of soul seeking before Ipswich found the courage to actually follow the invitation and start down, like her mother she was extra careful about here she put her hooves, testing each grip for stability before placing her full weight on it. It certainly wasn't the fastest way down but they were making slow and steady progress none the less.
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Posted: Wed Feb 25, 2015 7:36 am
The way down was not an easy one. It took much longer than ever Aquitaine had expected. A few times she felt the rocks slip under her hooves, a few small chunks breaking off and crashing to the bottom of the ravine. It had been a nerve wracking experience, but eventually she made it to the bottom. It felt good to be on solid ground again. Moving away from the end of the 'path' Aquitaine made room for her daughter to finish her descent. Already she was beginning to wonder how they would get the injured Soquili out of the ravine. There had to be another way out, a truth path somewhere. That was something they would need to find after she assessed the Soquili's injuries and tended to them. She could not allow herself to think that the Soquili was dead, but there was a chance.
"We will rest for a short moment." She told Ipswich as she caught her breath and waited for her heartbeat to slow. Her adrenaline had been high on the climb down, but she needed to be calm and level headed once they reached the Soquili. "When we make our way to where he is, look for a path that leads up, even if it's on the other side of the ravine. At some point we will need to get out, and I would prefer not to have to use that same path."
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Posted: Wed Feb 25, 2015 8:27 am
Ipswich didn't think that she had even been happier tobe back on solid ground in her life - and living on the beach there had been a few dicey swimming trips in her life so she felt like she knew what she was talking about. None of those had ever compared to the crumbling deathtrap they had just managed to climb down - and thinking about doing it again to get back out nearly made her knees wobble.
"There has to be another way somewhere." She told her mother sincerely while she caught her breath, certainly that couldn't be the only path down, now they could look at the other side of the ravine and maybe they would have to venture a bit farther then this but ..there had to be another way. Somewhere. For the moment however getting out wasn't as much of a concern as making it to the injured soquili was, one problem at a time right? "I think I'm good to go." she told her mother after a few more minutes of rest, sure she felt like she could lay down and take a nap..but that wouldn't help anyone.
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Posted: Wed Feb 25, 2015 8:54 am
Aquitiane smiled at her daughter. "There will be another way out." She told her confidently, she just hoped that that confidence was true and that they would indeed find another path out. Right now though the priority was reaching that Soquili and tending to whatever injuries they had suffered. Hearing her daughter say that she was ready to move again, Aquitaine nodded. "It's relatively flat here, so we should be able to make good time without tiring ourselves out."
With that Aquitaine began to lead the way to where they had spotted the fallen Soquili. It would take some time to get to him, but there was little they could do about that. Part of her wishes that she had wings, her grandfather had wings after all, but that trait seemed to be missing from her family. But even with her lack of wings, Aquitaine would reach this Soquili to them him - it would just take a bit longer this way. With her attention focused ahead, Aquitaine relied on Ipswich to keep her eyes out for another path to get our of the ravine.
They traveled for a long time before Aquitaine finally spotted the Soquili's body laying ahead. She saw no movement at this distance, but that didn't mean that life had left him. She slowed down, not wanting to startle the poor beast. There was a lot of blood, on him and on the ground, and a chunk of his antler lay a short distance away from him.
Prism heard the hoof beats echoing along the ravine. Someone was coming. He wanted to get up, but that was impossible. As much as he wanted to live, a bigger part of him just wanted it all to be over with. Let the Kalona spill what was left of his blood and end his life. As the sound got closer, Prism cracked his one eye open, but his vision was too blurry to see much, so he closed it. There were two though, he was almost certain of it.
He went to talk but nothing came out at first, his throat was too dry. But he managed after a few attempts to finally squeeze a couple of words out. "About time...you came...to finish me...off." He said in a ragged voice. He just hoped the cruel beasts would be quick about it, he had suffered enough already.
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Posted: Thu Feb 26, 2015 7:02 am
As they approached the fallen Soquili Ipswich squinted slightly trying to see if there were any signs of life, any tiny movement that might indicate the stallion wasn't dead - but after a fall like that and with all the blood on the ground...well she wasn't holding out much hope.
So when the supposedly dead Soquili spoke Ipswich nearly jumped out of her skin and shied slightly sideways. Feeling a bit foolish for being so easily startled she inched closer once she got over it. "So it wasn't an accident then..." she whispered to her mother and then, realizing that the stallion had obviously suffered quite a bit of trauma..both mentally and physically she went on "What..what if we scare him? Can he handle another fright in his condition?" She asked - it might not make sense for most healers to ask a question like that but well...she and her mother weren't exactly normal, maybe she was closer then some others in her family but she still wasn't your typical Soquili either.
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