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 Posted: Mon Mar 09, 2015 11:28 am
 For five days now Aquitaine, along with help from her daughter Ipswich, had been tending to Prism. When she had first spotted the stallion at the bottom of the ravine those days before Aquitaine hadn't been sure if he was even alive. But after days of rest, strengthening herbs, salve to his cuts and her own healing magic poured into his broken leg, the stallion had made a lot of improvement.
It had been a tense moment when she first helped him to his hooves. Though her healing magic had been used on his broken leg, she had no way of knowing for sure how much it had healed. So she had kept him from getting up for several days, testing his leg each day by pressing on it to see if it gave it any way. The stallion had gotten up fairly easily, and under tight supervision had placed some of his weight on his leg. Aquitaine stood close by to lend support should he need it. After that she allowed him to take a few steps. His had quite the limp but his leg held the weight good enough.
Now the day had finally come that Aquitaine felt that Prism was strong enough to make the journey up out of the ravine. Even if they only made it up to the top, she would be happy. At least there would be more grass for him to eat, water to drink and herbs accessible there. Once already she had had to send Ipswich out for more herbs while Prism recovered. That trip had allowed her daughter to truly test out the path, while it was still a bit crumbly at times Ipswich had said it was a much safer and easier way than the path they had taken down.
Today they would see if they could get out of the ravine. A lot would depend on Prism's leg and how much energy he had. The climb out may very well tax him. "Alright Prism, nice and easy." She said as she leaned in to help the stallion stand.
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Posted: Mon Mar 09, 2015 11:30 am
 It had been a long few days, but Prism felt his strength returning slowly but surely. The first time he stood was an exciting and nerve wracking moment. But Aquitaine's healing magic and herbs had done the trick. The leg still hurt, but she assured him that would lessen as time went on. Since that day he had walked a little bit, trying to return strength and function to his once broken leg. And now they would attempt to climb out of the ravine.
He was obviously nervous as Aquitaine helped him to his hooves. A whole string of 'what if's' floated about his mind. He tried to push them to the back of his mind. He could do this. It would take some time and would probably cause him a bit of pain, but he could do it. Once he was up and steady he nodded to the two mares. "I'm ready." And he was...for the most part. The climb ahead was daunting but it would get him one step closer to being free of this rocky ravine and his basket.
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Posted: Wed Mar 11, 2015 8:45 am
It seemed like they had been in the ravine now for days and Ipswich was more then happy to be leaving..the grass was getting picked over, the trips for water were irksome and quite frankly the ravines clay bottom wasn't the most comfortable to sleep on. So the news that Prism had finally recovered enough to try making up it the path she had found was good news indeed.
But as excited as she was for this to happen she was also slightly worried, what if Prism stood up and his leg wasn't healed enough? What if he got hurt further in the effort? Ipswich knew her mother knew what she was doing - and that she would never let Prism try something that she didn't think he was ready for but the young mare still couldn't help but worry just a little bit. However when Prism stood up and nothing terrible seemed to happen Ipswich blew a sigh of relief. "Great! Things will be much nicer out of this ravine." She rejoiced before looking to her mother for further instructions. They had already gone over the footing and path they would take up the collapsed part of the ravine and yesterday she had gone and tried to clear the path of loose rocks, tramping down the loose soil as best as she could to make it easier..but her mother would ultimately be the one calling the shots as they went.
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Posted: Tue Mar 17, 2015 10:34 am
Aquitaine waited for Prism to get a solid footing under him before taking a step back. He was getting better with walking and supporting himself, but every now and he needed a little help to get going. They would need to go slow today, especially on the climb out of the ravine, but Aquitaine knew Prism could make it. He had been making good progress the last few days. Turning to look at her daughter Aquitaine smiled. Ipswich had been so helpful these last few days, doing most of the running around, gathering food and water for Prism while he slowly gained strength back in his leg. But now it was time for them to move on. While Prism still had a long road to full recovery, she knew he would be much more comfortable out of the ravine, and if they could get him back to the beach then he could relax and take the time he needed to get up to full strength again.
"Why don't you lead the way to the path?" She told her daughter. They would stop for a short rest once they got there, or before if Prism needed it, and that would give her a bit of time to fully assess exactly how they would get Prism up.
Prism turned his gaze in the direction that the path out of here was in. He knew it would be quite the walk to get there, and then an even greater amount of work to get out, but he was eager to do it. He had been cooped among these rocky walls for too long now. He craved being out among the grass and trees. He wanted to find out the fate of his basket, which he would mention to Aquitaine and Ipswich once they got out of here, and then after that...he wasn't sure. A lot would depend on what they found at the spot where he had been forced to abandon his basket. Each time he thought about the basket a pain settled in his heart. He had just started to turn his life around when he had been chased off. Prism knew he should have mentioned it sooner to the pair of mares, but initially he hadn't been sure if he could truly trust them. And now he feared that they would be too late.
With a deep breath Prism began to walk towards Ipswich. His limp was still quite large, and it made him walk slowly, so as to not put too much weight or stress on his still healing leg. Just one step at a time, he told himself, it was something that Aquitaine had said to him when he had first gotten on his hooves again. He just needed to take this one step at a time.
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Posted: Tue Mar 17, 2015 11:10 am
Ipswich watched as Prism took his first few steps..well he was up and moving at least and while her mother had assured her the stallion would eventually make a full recovery Ipswich was thinking it would take a good bit of time for that to happen. Bones did not heal quickly and the muscles would be weak from lack of use. But...at least they had found him, if they had come across the ravine a few days later well...they likely would have found nothing but a corpse.
Shaking her head to rid herself of such unpleasant thoughts Ipswich nodded to her mother and moved ahead of the pair, setting a slow pace to the pathway she had found and been using for the last few days. It took a bit longer to get there with Prism walking so slowly but they had started out in the morning for just that reason - plenty of time to get out without worrying about it getting dark on them. "There it is!" She told her companions as the caved in side came into view. "It looks steep from here but the other side is more gentle and I've trod out a pretty decent pathway over the last couple days. I know he can make it." She assured the pair of them.
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Posted: Tue Mar 17, 2015 11:25 am
It was slow going, but overall Prism was doing very good. This was the farthest he had walked since his broken leg had been fixed and Aquitaine was pleased to see he had made it this far. They had only needed to stop once for a short time on their way here. But she could see Prism was tired. "We will rest here for a while." She told the stallion after taking a look at the pass out of the ravine. It did indeed seem steep, but when it would need to be in order for them to get out of these vertical rock walls. Turning her attention back to Prism from looking up the path she looking him over. "How is your pain? I can give you some herbs or berries if you need them." She did not want him pushing himself too much and either re-injuring himself or adding new injuries.
Her eyes drifted over to Ipswich. "It looks much easier to travel than the one we came down on." If that section of the ravine could even be called a true path. Honestly, they had been lucky to get to the bottom without injuring themselves. The path looked fairly wide as well. "Can we travel side by side?" She asked, relying on Ipswich's knowledge of the path to play into what they would do next.
Prism was more than relieved when Ipswich announced that they were at the path out. His eyes traveled up it for a moment before letting out a slight groan. It looked like it would be quite difficult to get up. But they had to do it, as it was apparently the only way out. "The pain in manageable." He told Aquitaine after a moment. He didn't want to have to reply on the herbs, but he also knew that if it got too bad he would have no choice but to take some. "I think I will lie down for a bit." He needed a rest before taking on the next leg of this journey. Lowering himself to the ground Prism took a deep breath and let his body relax a bit. His once broken leg was achy, but that was to be expected. He would just need to continue to take it slow and they would be out of here before the day was done.
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Posted: Wed Mar 18, 2015 7:05 am
Ipswich gave Prism a sympathetic look as he groaned, it really wasn't as bad as it looked from here but Ipswich knew that the stallion likely wouldn't believe her until he did it for himself. He would see soon enough that he would be up to the task. Until then she turned her attention back to her mothers question, flicking her ears in thoughts before she answered.
"Two of us for sure..three might be pushing it, the footing gets looser the closer to the sides you are." She finally answered, It was possible they could make it three wide but it would probably be dangerous for the Soquili closest to the edge and there was a good chance of slipping off the side or backwards with a mis-step.
"But there is a level spot halfway up he can rest again." She offered after a few more moments knowing that such knowledge might be a relief to the injured stallion and her mother who was worried about him.
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Posted: Wed Mar 18, 2015 7:16 am
Aquitaine considered her daughters explanation of the path. "I think it would be best if I walked beside Prism. That way he can lean on me if needed. I want you to come up behind us, if he loses his footing in any way you can be there to stop him from sliding back too far." Aquitaine didn't want to take any chances of leaving Prism open to falling in any direction. No matter what, they would need to take their time ascending the side of the ravine. "We will stop at the level spot to rest before pressing on." Even if Prism was feeling up to doing it in one go, she felt it would do him better to rest half way up. There would be nothing worse than him losing his momentum and his will to continue forward on a section that was impossible to stop on.
"Rest as long as you need to Prism." She said, turning to the stallion. "You set the pace we travel at, and let me know at any time if you need to rest or need some herbs to lessen the pain." Over the days that they had been in the ravine, Ipswich had needed to go out and gather more herbs. Her bag only carried so much and with Prism's multiple injuries she had used them up faster than usual.
Prism half listened to the conversation between the two mares as he rested. He was dying to get out of here, but the climb looked absolutely daunting. He didn't think that Ipswich was lying that it was easier than it looked, but she wasn't recovering from a recently broken leg either. He nodded at Aquitaine's words. He would do as she suggested and let her know if he needed anything along the way. Right now the only thing he needed was to get out of here.
After several more minutes of resting Prism got to his feet with a grunt. "I am ready to go." He said, though his voice lacked the confidence he had wanted to put behind those words. He looked up the steep path, took a deep breath and began the climb, Aquitaine falling in beside him.
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Posted: Wed Mar 18, 2015 9:14 am
Ipswich nodded to her mother, the plan made sense, if he slipped due to his bad leg it would be helpful to have someone near the danger zones to stop him. "That's pretty much what I had in mind." She agreed with her mother and when Prism stood up and declared himself ready Ipswich was keep to get things going, the faster they got out of this ravine the faster they could start home to the beach and Ipswich sorely missed her home and the rest of her family.
"Alright!" She exclaimed as the stallion started up the incline with her mother beside him "As long as you follow the tracks I've made the last few days then your footing should be good." She told Prism as she edged in behind him, close enough to lend support if he started to slide but far enough away so that she wasn't hindering him.
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Posted: Wed Mar 18, 2015 9:27 am
The pace he set was slow, but he found that the incline put more pressure on his still healing leg than compared to flat ground, so he had to take his time and watch his steps carefully. But with Ipswich's guidance, to follow the path that she had worn down, it wasn't all that bad of a climb. Well it was bad, but he was trying to look on the bright side of things. This was the way he was getting out of here, and he was so grateful to have been given a second chance by Aquitaine and Ipswich.
It was good to have Aquitaine by his side, as the limp he had made him lean towards the edge of the path. While he doubted he would fall, it was good to know that she was there to catch him should he slip - same with Ipswich behind him.
After what felt like half of a day, they finally made it to the flat area where he could rest, and he was grateful for that too. His leg needed a few moments rest and mostly he needed to confess something to the two mares. "When we get out of here, there is something I need to look for." He said after a few moments rest and to collect his thoughts. "There is a basket, one I was watching over before those Kalona chased me into this ravine. It's mine. I need to know if it's still safe." He hung his head in shame. "I should have told you sooner, but when I first saw you I didn't think I could trust you with that information. Now I fear it may be too late to save my child." He had failed Poppins. He had taken that third basket from her to relieve the burden upon her and now he was certain he would find nothing but devastation at the site where he left it.
Aquitaine remained at Prism's side, close enough that he could lean on her if needed, but far enough away that she wasn't crowding him on the path. She could see the strain the climb was putting on him, but he told her more than once that while it was painful, he didn't think that he needed any herbs yet. She would need to check his leg once they made it to the top, to ensure he didn't do any new damage or needed a long rest period before traveling to her beach side home.
When they stopped and Prism spoke of the basket her heart began to race. He had been here for at least five days. That was a long time for a basket to go alone. Would the foal still be contained inside of it's wicker shell or would it have already popped out? If it had popped out, then what was the fate of that foal now? "Oh Prism, I'm sorry that you had to go through all of this and worst of all leave your basket behind. Had we known sooner I would have sent Ipswich to check on it for you." She leaned forward and gave the stallion a reassuring nuzzle. "We will rest a moment when we get out of her and check your leg and then we will find your basket." She could only hope that it was still safe, for the last thing Prism needed right now was another defeating moment in his life.
Part of her wanted to sent Ipswich to go look for it now, but she needed her here still to be a brace just in case Prism slipped. He had done good so far, but she would hate for something to happen this close to getting out of the ravine.
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Posted: Wed Mar 18, 2015 9:41 am
Slowly and steadily they were making their way out of the ravine and as the top got closer Ipswich's jubilation at that fact grew...until they stopped and Prism decided to drop his bombshell. How could he have been so stupid? How could he have left some poor defenseless basket all alone when he could have told them and she could have been looking for it?!? She wanted ot yell at him, rage and scream and tell him all the terrible things that could have happened to a defenseless basket.
But she was pretty sure he already knew all f that and as much as she wanted to kick him off the side of the trail and go look for the basket right now instead of wait for him to recover and get to the top she managed to just flatten her ears and seethe in silence until her temper was more under control. "When we get to the top you have to tell me exactly where it was." She told the stallion in a far to quiet voice.
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Posted: Wed Mar 18, 2015 9:49 am
Admitting this major fault in his life had been tough, but hearing that quiet tone of Ipswich made him realize how much of a complete idiot he had been. But he couldn't apologize to her. She had no idea what it was like to be chased, to fall and expect death to follow, to give up on life only to then be saved by two strangers. He had made a mistake, a terrible one. But at least he was trying to make it right now. At least Aquitaine was sympathetic to him...not that he really deserved that.
With a shake of his head he began to walk up the path again. There was nothing else they could do but get out of here and then he hoped to redeem himself a bit by finding his basket safe and intact.
The further up they got the more dread he felt. He was already fretting over what they would find. "It's a short distance from where I fell in." He finally said as the top of the ravine came into clear view. Just a bit further and they would be out.
Aquitaine flashed Ipswich a warning look. She understood that her daughter was angry and upset with what Prism had just told them, but he needed support as well. This was no easy thing to deal with. Of course, now the pace seemed to slow. Aquitaine wanted desperately to get to the top and find out the fate of Prism's basket. But she could not rush him.
Finally they crested the ravine and were once again on flat land. Immediately she turned to her daughter. "Go and look for the basket. It should be around the spot where we first found those tracks, a bit further away perhaps." She turned her attention back to Prism. "Ipswich will see if she can find your basket, but right now I need to look at that leg, see if it's strong enough to continue on today.
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Posted: Wed Mar 18, 2015 10:00 am
It was all Ipswich could do not to ram Prism from behind and push him up the hill faster, but if he got hurt then that would just slow them down even more. Practically frothing with impatience Ipswich jittered behind Prism until they reached the top, all but bolting away as soon as she was told where to look. She didn't even stop to say good-bye or assure them she would be careful while she looked. there was no time for that sort of platitudes!
Stretching out her neck Ipswich ran as fast she she could make herself go, Ebony clinging tightly to her mane as they went. It took some time before she could backtrack around the ravine and find the place they had first spotted the tracks. How long could a foal survive out here all on it's own? What if the Kalona who had chased Prism away had done so just to eat the foal? Kalona could do such things she had heard though she had never met one herself and wasn't sure that she ever wanted too.
As much as she wanted to rush Ipswich forced herself to slow down and pay attention the tracks, she didn't want to miss the basket along the way, following Prism's cloven tracks proved to be quite easy however and it wasn't long before sh came across the spot where he had started running..a bit more casting around and she found what was left of the basket, it was trashed..but not in a brutal attack sort of way...it reminded her more of the ways eggs were trashed when birds hatched and that gave her a bit of hope.
There was no sign of the foal however and calling out produced no results so she turned back to the clearing to look about some more, it was a bit longer before she found a trail of tiny hoof prints in the mud along the stream bank close to the basket and beside those the prints of a larger Soquili, the foal seemed to have followed someone else and Ipswich hoped that it had been a kind stranger though she knew that Prism would be distraught..at least his foal was alive. Heading back Ipswich picked up a few pieces of the basket and started back towards her mother and the stallion.
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Posted: Wed Mar 18, 2015 10:10 am
He desperately wanted to follow Ipswich, to be the one to find his basket, and yet part of him didn't want to know - especially if what was found proved his mistake was a costly one. Plus his leg almost couldn't take anymore walking. "I think...I'll take some herbs now." He finally said to Aquitaine as Ipswich's form disappeared in the distance. Maybe with the pain lessening and that calming effect of the herbs in his system then he would be able to handle whatever news Ipswich brought back better.
When Aquitaine dug out some berries and a few herb leaves he happily ate them, willing for the throbbing in his leg to go away and the ache in his gut to go with it. Waiting to hear about he fate of his foal was even worse than everything he had been through in the last few days.
Aquitaine watched her daughter rush off and hoped that she would return with good news. Once she had Prism settled down, and after he requested some herbs for the pain, she dug them out and then went about checking his leg. The leg was warm, but after such a long hike out of the ravine she wasn't surprised. A bit of rest and the herbs should make the heat leave enough for them to continue on. But their course of action would also be determined by what Ipswich found. Focusing on his leg Aquitaine tried not to think of all of the possibilities that could be awaiting her daughter where the basket was last seen.
"Does it hurt anywhere more than before? Can you walk more today once the herbs numb the pain?" She asked as she continued to feel his leg, looking for any signs that he had over stressed it. Her gaze lifted once she finished the exam and was waiting for Prism to reply. He looked tired but she knew that would pass with time. Bodies healing themselves could be draining on the individual, especially with something as severe as a break and then being on that still mending limb for quite some time.
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Posted: Wed Mar 18, 2015 10:22 am
Ipswich slowed her pace somewhat on the trip back, now that she knew there was no lonely foal out there wandering alone she could take the time to not run herself into the ground getting back. She still hurried however - as she knew her mother and Prism would be anxious for any news.
But she wasn't returning with a foal and Ipswich worried about how Prism might take that news..his foal was alive yes - or at least it had been hen it left..but he had still lost it and that was likely to hurt. Would the stress of the news slow his recovery? She hoped not..perhaps it would strengthen him..make him desire to go out and find his lost foal. It was hard to tell and Ipswich didn't know the stallion well enough to predict the direction he might go.
Seeing Prism and hew mother appear as vague forms in the distance Ipswich picked up her pace, not wanting to let them linger with the unknown news while she got to them, they would be able to see she didn't have a foal with her and would likely assume the worst. hurrying she called out as soon as she got close enough.
"It's alive!" She told them before slowing as she got closer and catching her breath "It's just not there anymore..but I found foal tracks following a larger Soquili's tracks - they went north farther into the woods but there wasn't much of a hurry to them so whomever found your foal I think they are taking care of it..oh and I brought these back for you..I'm sorry I couldn't bring back more.." Ipswich told Prism, laying the basket scraps down before him.
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