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Posted: Wed Sep 13, 2006 7:10 am
T'Cora's movements were more deer-like than horse-like. She high-stepped along a path. She was seeking a friend. She had so few, which she couldn't quite understand. Mystre was trotting at her side He too was full grown now, and his back was as high as her belly. The massive wolf seemed subdued. He knew she had been feeling lonely lately. Her preference for remaining very close to the ocean was limiting how many of her own kind she was meeting. He flicked a look at her that was both thoughtful and full of concern.
"Yes yes, I konw," the mare replied, tossing her head with a snort. Her curling mane flew wildly for a moment before settling back to frame her face prettily. "But I like being near the sea. It speaks to me, and I'd rather not get too far from it's voice." The truth was, it made her feel safe. Mystre knew that, of course. He knew almost everything about her, as her best friend.
Shaking her head again at her concerns, she broke into a run. Again, she did not run as a horse would, with a four-beat rhythm, but leapt and bounded, like an antlered stag, swiftly darting around heavy tree trunks and clearing low-lying bushes. They were traveling through territory unknown to them both. It was Mystre who first scented the trouble. He slid to a stop and looked at T'Cora as she bounded away, eyes wide. She spun and halted as well at his silent call, her nostrils flaring.
"Where?" she breathlessly whispered to her white-furred companion.
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Posted: Wed Sep 13, 2006 11:34 am
Clear, cloud free sky...warm sunlight...a gentle breeze...
Desirable traits when one was flying, at least according to Zaphiro. Nothing made for a better flight experience than being able to see for miles in any direction, applying no effort to actually staying aloft and simply being able to be.
Well, that was what he had hoped for for this particular day, but the weather had obviously decided otherwise.
Flapping his wings heavily, the sapphire blue stallion labored through the sky. Sharp cold gusts of wind blew from first one direction, then that, occassionally catching the stallion off guard and sending him rolling through the air like a dandelion fluff until he was able to get his bearings back...at least until it happened again. Surrounding patches of gray cloud blew this way and that as well, occassionally over him, more often around him.
In fact, all things considered it was a less-than-perfect day to be in the air, but a cardinal rule of flight was know what you were landing on; at the moment, all that Zaph could see was cloud and the dark outline of what might be a forest canopy. As it was, he was slowly starting to descend; maybe he'd be able to see farther at a lower altitude.
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Posted: Thu Sep 14, 2006 4:10 pm
Growing thunder approached her and the wolf. Despite the dark clouds, it was not a sound from the sky that the wind bore to them. It was from the forest. The ground trembled beneath her cloven hooves with it. She cast an uneasy glance at Mystre. It was the sound of hooves, but it would have to be a rather large herd all running at once. And that spoke of danger. She drew a breath, but just then, a shape burst out of the brush nearby and bounded erratically past them.
It gleamed in the dull light of the day, pale against the dark forest. It was a stag, all white save for it's eyes and antlers. It dodged around them, signaling it's terror, and then promptly disappeared into the forest again. T'Cora spared a moment of astonishment that such an uncamoflauged beast could melt so quickly into the woods. But the oncoming thunder of hooves made her realize that perhaps it fled from the same thing that threatened the coming herd. Bravely, she planted all four hooves and prepared to help deal with the threat to her own kind.
What finally came into sight among the tree trunks were indeed horses... but they were unlike anything the mare had seen or met. Their eyes were dull and lifeless, despite their churning legs and tossing heads. And they were bound somehow, with leather encompassing their heads. In this slow moment of discovery, she could hear their teeth champing at something hard and unbending in their mouths. It was only then that she saw the humans upon their backs. Humans unto themselves did not frighten her. She had learned how kind the Kawani people could be. But these humans... they looked different, smelled different, even sounded different. And in their hands were the ends of the leather that bound the horses.
Even as she frowned to take this in, she mentally heard Myster snarl, though no sound came from his bared fangs. He sidled up next to her, communicating his fear to her. He sensed something about them. But before she could heed his warning, they had seen her. One man wrenched the strips of leather that led to his mount's head so hard the poor creature squealed in pain and came to a sliding stop. The first yelled to the rest, and they all came to a thundering halt, staring at her. Some whispered in clear awe, while others pointed at her head and muttered amongst themselves.
There were a little less than ten of the humans, and none of the horses they rode even bothered to look inquiringly at her. They just stood and heaved deep breaths, stomping a hoof or nervously tossing their heads. It was as if they had no minds at all. This unnerved T'Cora more than the strange humans did. But as she hesitated, eyes wide, they moved. Two went left, two went right, both directed by a huge mna on a liver bay stallion. He advanced on her as the others circled around, but Mystre chose that time to present himself.
Silently snarling, he lunged forward, snapping at the air in warning to the approaching horse. He was satisfied as it shied away, but the movement didn't last long, for the man on the horse's back wrenched the bay's head back around. The man babbled something incomprehensible to the wolf and then pointed something at him. It looked like a hollow stick really, and it momentarily puzzled the wolf what such a short and useless stick might do to dissuade him from harming them....
The shot rang out loud and clear, despite the rushing winds. It startled the birds from their safe roosts nearby, and sent T'Cora and Myster fleeing in terror. She did not think, only ran. The white wolf loped by her side, ears pinned in fright. He had instinctively dodged just before that stick had made such a very loud sound, and something very fast had dug into theearth where he had stood. But because of her blind terror, T'Cora was going the wrong direction. In a few moments her mistake became clear, but it was too late. They came up against a cliff's edge, one that rose to a trail above them that led over the mountains.
With a shrill whinny of distress, she spun to face the riders, which were spread out like a wolfpack, encircling their prey. And they were the prey.
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Posted: Sun Sep 17, 2006 9:03 pm
Up amidst the swirling clouds, the sudden rumble of thunder caught Zaphiro by surprise; he didn't realize that it was coming from below, what with the wind shrieking at his ears. Even though he was already heading downwards, he knew that the last thing that he needed was to get caught in a storm. If there was thunder, then there would be lightning before too much longer. Regardless of what was down below, he couldn't stay up here for too much longer.
Folding back his wings, the sapphire blue stallion dove downwards, piercing the surrounding clouds and bursting out on the underside, a vibrant blue shape against the pale gray cloud cover. However, once he was able to finally see what was going on beneath him, he was hardly in a better frame of mind.
Though still a decent way up in the air, he was able to clearly see the tableau on the cliff's edge. At the sight of the constrained Soquili he was slightly concerned; he'd spent enough time among the Kawani to be able to tell in a matter of seconds that what those two-leggers were doing was not right, and it both alarmed and concerned him. But what upset him more was the lone mare on the cliff's edge, hemmed in and completely by herself aside from one small wolf. Zaphiro had no idea what was going on, but whatever it was, he couldn't leave a mare to face so many assailants. Not on her own, not while he drew breath.
Narrowing his eyes and flattening his ears, the stallion swooped downwards, landing on the ground directly in front of the mare with a loud thudding of hooves. Wings flared out widely, he snarled a horse's snarl at the men and Soquilis, rearing back and stomping forward with enough force to make the ground shake slightly. Tossing his head fiercely, he glared at the strangers; how dare they behave so! "Have you no shame, to treat a mare in such a fashion?"
Though his words were fierce, Zaphiro was concerned by the sight of the other Soquilis even more now that he was down among them; they looked tired, almost as if they had no willpower or desire to even exist. But that didn't excuse this! Men might not know better, but the horses should!
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Posted: Wed Oct 04, 2006 10:18 am
T'Cora gasped as a huge shape suddenly dropped in front of her, landing with a thud that shook the ground. The shape before her resolved itself into a winged soquili, fiercely confronting the riders and their horses. A wide-eyed glance around told here there was something wrong with these horses. It was clear none of them understood what the stallion was saying to them. One to the right lunged forward at a kick from his rider's heels.
No longer caring about the dull horses, she screamed her defiance and rose up, lashing out with her forehooves, driving the stupid creature back. Others came forward, some threatening the stallion, some attempting to get in behind the two equines. T'Cora tossed her head savagely to one side, keeping a second horse and rider at bay. She noted with satisfactoin that they were not using those sticks that exploded anymore. But how wrong she was!
Mystre surged behind the two sets of powerful haunches, attempting to fend off the men from the weak point in their defense. He leapt with a silent snarl curling his lips and slashed into the first horse's shoulder as his rider attempted to maneuver behind the unicorn and pegasus. The men were shouting and exclaiming both in joy at their find and in cursing for the trouble they were benig caused by the wild things. Mystre lunged for a horse's throat, but another explosion rent the air, and searing pain ripped through his shoulder. If he could have, he would have yelped fit to split eardrums, so great was the pain. Instead he gave a mental howl at the unexpected injury and crumpled to the ground, now at the mercy of the hooves of the very horse he had been trying to kill.
T'Cora, hearing his piercing mental cry, spun in place, planting both heels into the chest of an encroaching attacker before charging to her wolf friend's rescue. With another scream she lowered her head, galloping full speed, and buried her horn in the throat of the horse standing over the wolf. With a jerk, she recoiled from the hot blood that poured down her beautiful horn, horrified at what she had done. The man on the horse's back jumped off as his mount went to the ground, and he pulled something from a pocket and used it to point at her. Afraid and confused, she stood over the fallen wolf, eyes wide, staring at the crazed human. He was shouting something at what seemed the human leader, and he was shouting back. Were they arguing?
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Posted: Thu Oct 05, 2006 12:24 pm
As soon as he realized that his words had no effect, Zaphiro had lunged into action as well, rearing back and slashing at the strange horses with his massive hooves. Something wasn't right about them, that much was true...but there was no way he was going to sit back and wonder about that when they (or those strange pale humans they had with them) had violence on their minds!
Whirling on his hind legs, he lashed out with his forelegs again, then kicked out with his hind legs, catching one of the riders squarely in the side and sending him flying off of his mount. In the short bit of time he'd been in this battle, he'd already realized that the other horses weren't even close to his equals as far as fighting ability went; they just jerked about and didn't even try to think, it seemed.
But just as he started to think that things weren't as bad as they'd originally seemed, a loud cracking noise like that he'd heard earlier sounded; an explosive boom that seemed to shake the earth. Turning in the direction it had come from, he was just in time to see the collapse of the wolf and the mare's horn disapearing into the chest of one of the attacking horses. This had just gotten a lot more complicated...
Looking around swiftly, the large pegasus decided that it was time to take advantage of the confusion. It seemed that the men themselves didn't know what was going on; the gibberish that they were yelling back and forth seemed to indicate that they certainly weren't all on the same page.
Folding back his wings, Zaphiro drove through to the fallen horse, unicorn, strange man, and wolf. Obviously the mare was the only one who had understood him earlier...hopefully she still did now. "Let's go!"
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Posted: Tue Oct 10, 2006 7:52 pm
Setting aside her horror at what she had done, T'Cora obeyed the unknown winged one. Glancing around desperately, she did the only thing she could think of to save her beloved friend as well. She bent swiftly, baring her teeth as she descended on the wolf. With a strong grip, she sank her teeth into his ruff, lifting the lanky wolf mostly off the ground before fearfully following the blue beacon that was their rescuer.
The fact that the wolf hadn't even sent her a feeling of pain or even discomfort with how she was transporting her made her reel with alarm. Swallowing the rising panic, she focused on following that curly blue tail with flecks of gold making it light up like dusky clouds at sunset. As he led her away from the chaos and danger, that tail and i's individual hairs became her world. Nothing mattered but following it. She didn't even shift her grip on the scruff of Mystre's neck, for fear of dropping him at some crucial moment.
Blindly, she let the stlalion lead her to what she hoped was safety for her and the wolf.
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Posted: Wed Oct 11, 2006 3:57 pm
Breaking through the encircling horses and man had been easier than Zaph had expected; the horses were now panicked and hard to control, and it was all that the mounted men could do to keep themselves from getting flung off. A lucky thing, too; otherwise it was questionable just whether or not the two of them would have been able to get away.
Casting a glance backwards, Zaphiro made sure that the mare was following him; his first instinct was to fall back and get between the mare and their assailants, but common sense reminded him that they had to get as much between them and their attackers as soon as possible. Consequently, he folded back his wings and plunged into the trees. "This way; if we can get far enough in, it should be dark enough to prevent them from following us." Or rather, from seeing them. It was a pity that the mare didn't have wings, otherwise this escape would be easier. But then, had she had wings, then she would have unquestionably gotten away earlier.
At any rate, that was neither here or now. Ducking his head, the blue stallion dashed through the trees, his hoofbeats muffled by the thick carpet of greenery underfoot. Now if only a path would show up...preferably one with many branches.
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Posted: Wed Oct 11, 2006 4:41 pm
She tried her desperate best to follow the plunging stallion before her, darting through trees with none of the grace she normally possessed. Much of that had to do with the schingly still weight that dragged her head down and trailed between her front legs. She was fighting off despair as he remained still and his voice in her mind nonexistant. She could feel his thick white fur slipping from between her teeth. She attempted to grip harder, mentally ignoring the knowledge of the wound she would cause soon if she was forced to grip tighter with her strong teeth.
Despite her best efforts, her head dragged lower and lower, and the wolf's ruff began to slip from her grip. The brush around them grew denser and darker. The last straw came when she was hauled onto her haunches by a sudden and pitiless jerk on her horn. It had slid up between two branches and lodged solidly where they met. With a cry of pain, she let go of her beloved companion, unable to even lower her head enough to see if he was okay. She choked down the urge for another terrified whinny, realizing just in time that they were running and hiding. It wasn't something she was used to.
Desperately, she jerked her head back and forth, her eyes smarting from the pain arcing through her head with each movement. Her horn, however, held fast. She finaly stopped and stood, trembling and frightened and heartsick, eyes showing white all the way around. Was this to be her end, so suddenly and violently?
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Posted: Wed Oct 11, 2006 5:05 pm
One ear swivelled slightly, then Zaphiro turned his whole head, stopping his rapid foreward momentum and wheeling about upon hearing the pain-filled yelp from his companion. As he fully took in the sight, bleeding wolf and the bloodied mare, caught by the branch, he was instantly struck by the realization that really, he hadn't acted in the best fashion. Brilliant, Zaphiro.
Shouldering his way back through the shrubs, he raised a wing in what he hoped was a calming gesture. "Don't move your head...at that angle, you'll only do more harm than good." As he spoke, hushed in tone, Zaphiro was carefully moving around to the mare's side, his golden gaze shifting from the stuck horn to the wounded wolf and weighing the options. First things first, at any rate.
Lowering his forelegs to the ground, Zaphiro moved into a kneeling position in front of her. "Try and step up on my shoulder; you should be able to free your horn, and then we can see to your friend there." Hopefully they'd put enough space between them and the hunters for now...
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Posted: Wed Oct 11, 2006 5:14 pm
For a moment she stared into his golden eyes in astonishment. Here was a stallion, on his knees before her, asking her politely to step all over him? The ironic humor of the odd situation was all that kept her from bursting into traumatized tears. With a choked gasp she did as he bade her, carefully placing her forehooves on his strong shoulder. She took care to keep her sharp cloven hooves away from his feathered wing before turning her attention to her wedged horn. With a deep intake of breath, she arched her neck with a surge, pulling her head up and back. After a brief, heart-stopping moment it finally scraped loose. She took care not to look at the bloody smear her horn had left on the bark... the blood of another hooved one.
Supressing a sudder, she leapt back from her perch on the stallion's shoulder and knelt next to Mystre. Gently she nuzzled him, assessing what she could of his injuries. He was at least breathing, she noted with deep relief. But still he did not move, nor open his eyes. Concerned, she looked up at their rescuer. "I can help him heal, but we need a safe place to stay for a time. Can you help us?" Her turqouise eyes pleaded with him soulfully, filled with fright and the overwhelming need to care for her furry brother.
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Posted: Wed Oct 11, 2006 5:23 pm
Closing his eyes, Zaphiro managed to hold himself steady as a rock as the mare stepped up onto his shoulder; to be on the safe side, he leaned a little bit more heavily on the side that she was standing on. But once she was safely back on the ground, he rose back to his feet, looking down at the still wolf.
At her question, he found himself wincing slightly; after all, this was a strange place for him. "I can try...but you should know that I've never been in the forest before in my life, Miss...so at most we can weave about a bit longer and hopefully find a thicket or something. But that should at least throw those...creatures off of our tail."
As he spoke, the blue stallion glanced back down the way they'd come, then looked back down at the wolf. "Until we have reached a place of safety, though, I can carry your friend. Here." With that, he spread his wings as wide as the surrounding branches would allow, exposing his bare back. "If I fold my wings over him, he should be safe from falling or being injured anymore..."
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Posted: Wed Oct 11, 2006 5:42 pm
The look of gratefulness the unicorn mare gave him would have melted the coldest heart. She gave him an impulsive nuzzle before considering how high she would have to heft the full-grown wolf to get him on the stallion's back. The despair began to creep back as she cast him another look, this one bordering on panic. Just then, the wolf's voice murmured to her in her head.
"Sweet one, I'll need help to get myself there," he whispered to the mare. "Just don't grab my scruff again, will you?" His mental voice was dry with humor. "I'm not a pup anymore you know." He managed then to drag his eyes open and regard the mare and stallion. She looked deeply worried, and he appeared genuinely concerned. He drew a deep breath and rolled up to sit panting, keeping all weight off the elbow of his bleeding shoulder. "Tell him to be still, and stay where you are, darling one."
It was a painful process for the wolf, she knew, but he managed it. He used her as a ladder, climbing slowly over her and up onto the proferred space. She stood to see him slumped exhaustedly along the stallion's braod back. The wolf's shoulder still bled freely, staining the blue hide beneath him dark. She sucked in a breath and spoke urgently. "We need to go. Now. I will find us a safe place." And with that she turned and took the lead, weaving through the trees like a forst sprite.
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Posted: Wed Oct 11, 2006 6:49 pm
Zaphiro simply nodded his head in acqueiesance with the mare's words, folding his wings securely but gently around Mystre and starting off through the trees after her. It was quite touching, actually, her devotion to the wolf...obviously the two were quite close. Inwardly he smiled as he thought about the nuzzle she'd given him; the impulsivly grateful nuzzle of a foal who had gotten a present. It was awfully amusing, and given the current situation, any amusement was appreciated.
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Posted: Thu Oct 19, 2006 9:17 am
She didn't know this forest very well, but as she ran, she asked it to speak to her. With her cloven hooves drumming the earth, she pleaded for the mysterious entity to open it's secrets to her and show her it's safe inner sanctum. Slowly, so slowly.... her awareness slipped outwards in a green ripple, taking in the area immediately around them. It extended bit by bit as she threaded her way deeper into the trees. Then she saw it. With a neigh of relief, she plunged forward, her curling mane flying behind her like foam on a wave.
Her lion's tail swung behind her, a counterweight she wasn't aware of using. It's feathered tip fluttered in front of the stallion who followed her, carrying the most precious cargo in the world to her. She tossed a glance backwards, catching hi eyes with her own aqua ones. "There is a glen ahead, ringed with brambles. We are almost there," she called back. Her words were just as much for the wolf as the soquili.
Moments later she slowed drastically and crouched herself down. Carefully pointing her horn forwards so as not to catch it on the twisting vines or the sharp barbs, she nearly crawled into a virtually invisible tunnel that pierced the wall of brambles. The base of her horn throbbed in sudden memory of it's recent abuse, but she brushed the pain aside and made it into the sheltered glen.
Sunlight flitered through oak branches that spread above them from trees close by. The glen itself was very small, with just enough room to accomodate the two soquili. The wolf was going to have a hard time staying out from under hooves while here. Still, the hedge of thorns rose high, obscuring even her horn from those without. It would shelter them safely from those terrible two-leggers and their dead steeds. She shuddered and edged as far into the little space as he could without pricking herself on the massive thorns. She then turned to watch for the stallion to appear through the hidden passageway.
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