Allow Us to Tell You a Tale~
Mare's Owner: Fatal Irony
Mare's Name: Polly "Ugly Mug" Tripps
Mare's Temper: Pragmatic
Stallion's Owner: xX Green Tea Tree Xx
Stallion's Name: Iccauhtli
Stallion's Temper: Curious
Prompt Response:
Whatever her name might have been to her parents, she had long forgotten it. She was simply too young when they had taken her. The pirates renamed her Polly "Ugly Mug" Tripps, the last part simply for their habit of finding new and humiliating ways of causing her to tumble or fall so they might laugh at her and tell her how inept she was. She learned how to be quick with her biting tongue to lash out verbally at them, to save face and prove her strength. She tried to act like them. She found herself wishing she were more evil, wishing she could stomach the horrible things the pirates did on a daily basis. She faked it well, but inside she felt pieces of herself slipping away with each atrocious act.
Then one day they came upon a stranger. They had traveled far (Polly had long stopped trying to keep track of where they were) and reached an unfamiliar land. The mare stayed back at camp for this particular raid, her spirits down and feeling not up to the task of murder and plunder. To her shocked surprise they brought something back with them. They claimed it was a giant deformed chicken, but something in the back of Polly's mind clicked and she knew this was a type of soquili. Perhaps she had known one in her past life before the pirates, she wasn't sure. What she WAS sure of was that she would not allow them to eat him, as they had just proclaimed.
Night was fully upon them, the light of the fire the only illumination for miles. Most of the crew were inebriated, stumbling and sloshing about unsteadily. Some were asleep. Surely she could pull this off. The fear in the stranger's eyes compelled her to action. With all of the confidence she could muster she swaggered over to the big brute holding the prisoner, fixing him with a daring smile. "How about I take 'im and de-feather 'im, what ya say?" She gave the giant soquili a flirtatious wink, letting her eyes linger over his bulging muscles to immediate effect. "Then lata you an' I can have a bit o' fun, yeah?" She didn't wait for a response, seeing the stallion clearly too distracted by her empty promises to protest. When the pair were just out of earshot and just starting to edge out of the circle of light from the fire she leaned down and whispered "We gonna have ta run for it. Fast. Can ya keep up and stay quiet?"
She barely registered his subtle nod when she heard behind them someone calling out in question to her, demanding to know where she was taking the prisoner. They were just out of the light now and she nudged the little fellow sideways and hard towards the trees. It was pitch-dark, thanks to a new moon, but she had no trouble racing through the woods anyway. She listened for the little prisoner beside her, trying to keep him with her as well as keep them moving and darting around to elude their pursuers. Somehow, through some miracle and thanks in no small part to the impaired mental state of their captors, they managed to find shelter for the night. Fearing to make any noise, the two remained hunched together in silence until dawn and beyond, terrified of recapture.
No pursuit came. It was midday before the two emerged from their hiding place and dared make a sound. The mare turned to the diminutive stallion. "M'name's Polly. Polly Tripps." She smiled and waited expectantly.
The stallion looked at her quizzically and made a strange cooing noise, followed by a few other bird-like sounds. Had she been mistaken? Was he really just a weird chicken? Her heart sunk and she suddenly felt very stupid, lost, and alone.
The small chicken shook his head violently and began making marks in the dirt, continuing to make all sort of bird sounds. It took a moment for it to register to Polly that he was attempting to communicate with her. "Iccauhtli ... Is tha ya name then?" He nodded helpfully and she was flooded with relief. "Well, ma lil songbird, First things first. We gotta get outa here."
