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--September/October--
Wyatt was working in the barn when the way-too-shiny black truck with it's small trailer pulled up.

A few weeks ago he'd paused his long road trip to come work on this small ranch. They needed hands. The owner - an imposing man with long black hair, rugged maple skin and dark eyes had taken one look at the 'city boy' and immediately had his doubts, as did his son. The grandfather however - a weathered man with long graying locks but the same rugged skin and dark eyes as his descendants - vouched for him. Wyatt had never met this man before, however the sagely grandfather had looked him up and down and it was as if the elder could see into his soul. It was uncomfortable but Wyatt was never one to openly show his less becoming emotions.

Whatever the grandfather saw in him was irrelevant - Wyatt was hired. ..and set to do the most menial work. Well, he'd expected that. He'd gotten his foot in the door but hadn't earned the trust of the owner yet, and had the absolute disdain of the son. However, his time had just pulled up in a shiny black truck. The cosmic reason he'd been led here waited in a too-small-trailer.

There were raised voices outside now, and things were looking like they were going to get physical. That caught Wyatt's attention. Putting down his rake, he sauntered out of the large barn with all of the swagger of someone who wasn't taking anyone's s**t. What he saw when his eyes adjusted from the dark barn to the bright light of day was the owner and a man yelling at one another, and three, three other men struggling to get one large black horse out of the trailer and in to the large round horse exercise area.

The horse was obviously scared, angry, wild,and hurt. He could relate.

"Wyatt," Snapped the owner, "Get Sike." - the grandfather.

He nodded, and took off to the house, the brouhaha behind him going nowhere as the screams of men and horse echoed. Reaching the house and pushing open the creaky screen door, Watt saw Sike, pipe in hand, reading over some papers.

"There's a problem out front. Charles needs you," Wyatt said, somewhat out of breath.

Sike quickly put down his pipe and rushed passed Wyatt. He may have been an older man, but a moving rock gathers no moss, and Sike was still very active on the ranch despite his 'retirement.' They made their way back to the ruckus unfolding. Now the three men had finally gotten the horse in the gate, and looked exhausted. The horse angrily ran around the relatively small area, kicking its hills and making all manner of aggressive noises. One of the men went to lean against the gate and the horse rushed him. The man scrambled to get away, landing a face full of gravel.

"What's going on here, Charlie!?" Sike asked, stern but keeping the anger from his voice. Authoritative.

The situation was explained - these men had illegally caught themselves a wild horse. They'd tried to break the horse themselves, but to no avail. The law was called on them and they'd had to hide the horse, which didn't help matters. Finally the law had caught them, and now they had to get rid of it, but it was illegal to just release it back. This was the only ranch in the area with any legal recourse to deal with the native wild horses. Not only had this man spent an ungodly amount for the 'perfect' horse, but now had legal fines, and nothing to show for anything. Now the ranch had a very angry, very wild, very hurt and starved horse.

Wyatt watched the horse while all the other men fought. Stupid people. Didn't they know you can't take something so wild and break it to your desires? He would know. He'd tried. Wolves were different from horses, but the sentiment was the same.

A few weeks later, and Wyatt was still on barn-work only, and none of the other ranch hands, nor Charlie could make any progress with the horse, now humorously called Lucifer. It was late one after noon and Charlie was frustrated. They couldn't even get close to the beast. Sike laughed at his son. Wyatt was just stepping out of the barn during this exchange.

"You're not going to get anywhere with him unless it is his idea," Wyatt said, offhandedly as he set aside the rake he had in hand.

"You think you know how to do my job?" Charlie asked, irritated.

"I know a thing or two about psychology," he replied with a shrug.

Sike watched the exchange, nodding as he'd just come to an idea of his own.

"Let the horse be the boy's responsibility, son."

Charlie put up some resistance, but ultimately had to respect his father's decision. So from then on, Wyatt's main priority was Lucifer.

At first, it didn't seem like Wyatt was doing anything, much to the frustration of Charlie and his son, Sam. But how do you get close to a horse that doesn't even want anyone within view of the fence? Well, you stand there until it gets used to it. Now, he didn't do this all day, but he did it consistently and long enough throughout the day that, soon enough, Lucifer got used to him being there. In another week, Wyatt could even lean on the fence without upsetting the horse who would previously rush anyone nearby. And during all this Wyatt would make sure he was not looking at Lucifer. Ignoring him. Playing the mind game that he wasn't here to do anything to the horse, and this seemed to make the dark stallion curious.
Especially one day when Wyatt actually sat on the fence, facing away from the enclosure, eating an apple. Lucifer, who would usually stand on the far side away from him, started getting closer; and when he would get to the middle, Wyatt would toss the remains of the apple in, and leave. This went on for a while, until one day before Wyatt could leave he felt to warm breath of the horse ruffle his silver hair. Surprised and definitely a bit startled, Wyatt kept calm, and continued to ignore Lucifer. The horse pawed at the ground. This was frustrating!...for the horse.

From the house, leaning against the porch railing, Charlie watched, shaking his head, while his father chuckled at his son who professed his disbelief.

"Give a broken horse a broken boy and watch the two heal one another," Sike said, lighting his pipe.

Neither of them knew what the silver-haired boy that had come to them a month ago had been through, but Sike had seen in him pain, and resilience. Someone who's spirit had been greatly wounded, but refused to fall into the darkness that nobody would have faulted him for if he did. It was that kind of spirit that could take hold of others falling into the dark and drag them back to the light.


--November/December--
It had taken time, but finally Wyatt had been able to get in the arena with Lucifer, pet him, get a halter on him. Now today was the day they'd try a blanket on his back. One step before getting him used to a saddle. Lucifer was still wary around other people, so Wyatt was alone in all of this, but that was perhaps best for the both of them. Sometimes you needed privacy to work on yourself without the pressure of others. That was okay. Wyatt had spent a lot of time brushing down Lucifer's back these past few days until the horse didn't seem to pay any mind to the odd touch. He slowly brought out the heavy blanket - no quick movements. Everything about this since he was put in charge of the horse had been slow. Wyatt let Lucifer sniff the blanket. The other day he had set it out on the fence, so the horse had some familiarity with the otherwise foreign object. Once the blanket was on, Lucifer stomped a bit, nickering and sniffing it as it lay upon his back. He tried to pull it off, but Wyatt pulled out a distraction - the small food bucket.
Lucifer's head immediately popped up and he let out a gentle sound. Alas, Wyatt was simply trolling. Trolling the large, heavy, wild animal. It was time to take him around for a walk until he forgot the blanket entirely.

By Christmas Lucifer would be wearing a saddle. By New Years, and a few breathless throws to the ground later, Wyatt would be riding him.


--Mid/Late January--

January, although cold, was an important point in Lucifer's progress. The ranch didn't 'break' horses like traditional horse ranches. The preferred term for their method was 'gentling,' and that is exactly what they did. Well, 'Gentle' was an overstatement for Lucifer. The horse, was feisty and stubborn and getting to ride him was a test of not only skill, but determination. It also took consistency. Every day, cold though it was, Wyatt was riding this dark behemoth of a horse around to property, then on trails, which took teaching the horse proper trailer etiquette as well.


--February--
This all did not miss the eyes of certain unscrupulous people. Unknown to Wyatt, the men who had brought Lucifer to the ranch had been speaking with one of the ranch hands. Plans were made and morality tossed aside. Wyatt would put Lucifer into the barn for the evening as the sun began to set and snow began to fall on the cold, dry, ground. It was to be a quiet night.

Until 1AM.

Around November Wyatt had traded in his car for a larger vehicle, and bought a camper where he had been living, rather than the main house, which was small and cramped. Both were parked behind the barn, so when the sound of the barn door was opened, and the whinnying of horses shot through the stillness of the night, Wyatt was easily awoken.
Dressing quickly, although it still consumed more time than he'd liked, Wyatt quietly snuck out of his camper, booted feet meeting fresh snow which crunched beneath his feet. By the time he got around to the front of the barn, the would-be horse-napper came rushing out.

"s**t!" Wyatt exclaimed, heartbeat skyrocketing. There was only one black horse in that barn. Someone had just taken off with Lucifer, riding the horse hard down the driveway, and into the woods. Wyatt didn't have time to tack up another horse, but he could quickly grab the keys to one of the four-wheelers and chased after them.

He had to get off on foot once the woods got too dense. This part of the trail was only wide enough for a horse - the stocky vehicle just couldn't make it. If it had been the later end of the trail, he'd have had no problem. However it was also hard to sneak up on a thief in a loud vehicle. Of course, Wyatt was assuming they had stayed on this trail. The trail would eventually widen again, and he saw the tracks. And then he heard the whinnying. He was close. He took off into a run until he saw lights ahead, and a group of men with their own four-wheelers. Then there was a ranch-hand he recognized, with Lucifer. It took Wyatt a moment to recognize the faces of the other men. He didn't spend another second hidden, before he stomped on to the scene.

"What the hell!?" He growled, rose eyes heated.

All the men turned on him in shock and- Oh great. Guns. He really should have guessed.

"Back off, or we'll drop you right here!" Shouted the boss man.

"Afraid I can't do that," Wyatt replied with a smirk.

There were times he almost forgot about his magical space-terrorist powers. Then there were times, like this, that he was actually glad to have them. Taking advantage of the blinding brightness that came with powering up, the Knight shoulder-checked the ranch hand, and hopped on Lucifer. Before any of the men could react, the panicked horse was running, rider in tow. The display of light had frightened Lucifer as much as it has distracted the men, and Hawara wasn't sure what direction they were going, just that they were getting the hell away from there. But the men weren't too far behind.

How long did they run in the cold of the night, as the snow fell harder, chased by the loud engines of the men's four-wheelers? Battered by branches and making sharp turns as the men tried to cut them off at several places along the trail. Hawara didn't know where they were, neither he nor Lucifer could see. He had no idea of where this forest ended. Something inside told him that he needed to get them turned around. He tried to guide Lucifer, but he couldn't - the men were right on them, firing bullets, and Lucifer wasn't responding to any orders, any pulling of the reigns, or direction from his rider.

Lucifer let out a shrill sound as a pullet grazed his backside. Now there would be no controlling him, as the horse panicked further. The cold air and snow hitting Hawara's face blinded him, and he was sure Lucifer wasn't having it any better.
But he could hear.
Late into the evening, or rather, early into the morning though it was, the highway traffic was still busy enough.

They broke through the treeline, having long since left any semblance of a path behind. they had maybe a few feet before the land just stopped, and an roughly nine feet tall cliff separated them from the highway. Hawara didn't know. The horse didn't know.
It was tragedy perfectly orchestrated. He had acted with little fore-thought. If Wyatt had it to do all over again he would have made vastly different decisions. A new guilt was about to be placed on him.

A stumbling leap off the cliff -- the trucker couldn't have stopped. The impact knocked the magical glamor out of Hawara, now Wyatt again, as they then bounced off and went rolling onto the roadside, and dragged.

Consciousness went in and out. The echoing sound of a screaming horse filled his ears, then darkness. Then the sound of sirens entered his consciousness again, the screams, the gunshot, the silencing of screams, just the sirens, and darkness again.

--Early March--

There was a steady beeping that eked its way into his ears as he began to gain consciousness. For the first time since the accident, Wyatt opened his eyes. At first he was surprised to find himself in a hospital. Then everything came rushing back. He didn't want to ugly cry, but dammit, he was ugly-crying. The change in his heart rate alerted the nurses, and soon someone was in there. He'd later feel bad for his angry outburst as they tried to calm him down, but right then, he was an emotional mess. He'd hadn't cried or lashed out when his Ex had cheated, hadn't cried when his Ex left him, but now, now he cried. Now he lashed out. Until he was sedated, and again fell in to sleep.

When he awoke the next time, Sike was there. Guilt was the first feeling that raced through him, and when Wyatt started to apologize, Sike shushed him, calmly. A silence followed, and seeing that Wyatt was going to be calm this time, Sike signaled that the doctor could come in.
The doctor explained Wyatt's injuries; Dislocation of the left hip and knee from actually hitting the truck, fractured kneecap on that same side, road rash, separated right shoulder, minor head injury, and then a fractured left ankle as his foot had been stuck in the stirrup, and he'd been dragged with the horse... Apparently he was healing better than expected, Wyatt couldn't tell them that it was that magical space-terrorist healing factor, but would likely always have some pain.

Wyatt kind of zoned out as they talked about recovery and physical therapy. Regular therapy. He was glad when the doctor left. Finally, Sike asked him his side of what happened. He recalled everything as best he could. No tears this time. A numbness had set in. Sike nodded once the story was done, and followed with some parable tale from his people. It was clear he didn't have any blame or hard feelings for the, now literally, broken boy. It gave Wyatt some measure of relief. The elder then assured him that he had a place to stay while he recovered. They both understood that Wyatt wouldn't be working for a long time, and likely never at the physicality of before. Sike encouraged him to go home once he was able.
The visit ended once lunch was brought. He wasn't hungry.


--End of April--
For the most part, Wyatt was physically recovered. He still wasn't supposed to be on his feet too much. He had a cane for when things hurt too much, but he hated it. Pride was a mighty beast. He hated showing weakness. At least his leg injury was on the left, so driving wouldn't be too taxing. Still, he had been told to make frequent stops to move around. He was being treated like a kid, and although all the advice was well-meant, Wyatt found it hard to keep his temperament even. Finally though, he was all packed. Sike and Charlie were there to see him off. Sike had given him a parting gift, which Wyatt wore around his neck - a silver cage charm with a blue tiger's eye gem.



Curious, he had looked it up after receiving it;
'Blue Tigers Eye is actually a calming stone that will keep you calm and relaxed and lessen your anxiety and stress. Furthermore, it helps in eliminating fatigue and relieves the warning signs of depression.
Other than that, this stone can offer you focus, mental clarity, and a deeper insight regarding your experiences, whether it is positive or negative. Blue Tigers Eye will allow you to perceive the problems which may have been difficult to perceive otherwise.
Moreover, this stone will unlock your aura, clear your thoughts, and more importantly, discharge what is inside your heart. As a result, you’ll be prepared to accept worldwide certainties.
When it comes to the stone’s healing energies, actually, they will motivate you to go with the flow instead of feeling worried about everything. In fact, if you feel calm and relaxed it is a lot easier for you to face your fears, lessen your worries, and calm down your hot temper.
Furthermore, Blue Tigers Eye may improve your creativity by removing creative blockages. This stone can also help you in when it comes to coming up with new concepts and ideas.
Nevertheless, it is connected with your throat chakra. Most importantly, the energies of this stone will nurture effective communication. '

And being a magical space-terrorist, who was he to question any of this metaphysical stuff.

He thanked them both, and was then headed back home. To Destiny City.