|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Wed Mar 26, 2014 6:50 pm
If it was spring, why was it so cold? Scythe shook his head to himself as he dutifully walked the steps of his patrol that morning. It was a close patrol, one not too far from the herd. Because of this, he was alone and could walk it without a partner. It was a little lonely and a little dull, but he didn't question the necessity. It had been a long time since a successful attack on the herd and he wanted to do his part to keep it that way.
A stray gust of wind brought with a few white petals. Even in the cold, the trees were waking from their winter summer into beautiful blooms. He paused underneath one, inhaling of its faint scent. Would the cold harm the blooms? He didn't know enough about trees to tell.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Mar 26, 2014 9:24 pm
 (no cert yet) A young adult, Danica stumbled through the brush, tripping repeatedly as she walked hastily. The cold air hurt her throat and lungs, her ribbed sides heaved from deep breaths. She was not well enough to be traveling this far. It had been days since she had eaten, though thankfully had found water on her way.
Way to where? Danica suddenly paused, stopping in her tracks to both think and catch her breath. Where was she going? She didn't know anything about the wide world, what it pertained. It had only been a few days since her older brother had sent her with another stallion away from the breeding camp in which she was born. Sent away in hopes for a better life. The other stallion was recaptured and killed quickly after their escape. Danica just continued to run blindly, anywhere had to be better then there.
The dark blue mare flicked her tail, the tuft on the end and the long mane that ran down her neck a tangled mess. She still had open wounds on her leg and back, reminders of the camp. They had come from the humans, angry beings. The mare shuddered at the thought. They were trying to keep her down, from growing. Her brother was a large and strong, and he had told her that she would one day be the same. She found that hard to believe - all her life she had been small, thin and weak for a draft. A stunted horn had started to grow from her forehead, curling slightly upwards toward the sky.
Danica had to keep moving. Find someone to help. It took what energy she had to move her foot forward, stumbling carelessly - and noisily - forward into the unknown.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Mar 27, 2014 10:03 am
There was no way that Scythe could have missed the crashing sound. He was immediately jolted from his reverie and began to run towards the source. It could be something dangerous, but in his experience, the dangerous things were the ones you didn't hear. This didn't sound like an intentional act of destruction.
He reached the source of the sound swiftly and briefly hesitated when he saw the cause. A unicorn he didn't recognize. This was no member of the Padmapani, but she was hurt and doing badly. There was no question of leaving this mare here in her condition. Compassion was one of the founding aspects of the Padmapani herd and he rushed to her side in concern.
"Don't stand up too quickly!" he urged her. "You may be injured."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Mar 27, 2014 11:54 am
Danica sighed both in pain and annoyance. Tears brimmed on her eyes, she was afraid. She was growing weaker and without any help, would not make more then a few days at best. All the effort her brother had put into save her would be lost.
Her ear caught the sound first, something was coming. Her body tensed yet a small flicker of hope raised in her heart. Danica turned her head quickly and cream - eyes grew wide. She had never seen such a creature. Feathers and horse combined, with a long spade tail. He had...wings? She had seen very few wind Soquili in her life, a rare treat. He reminded her of the birds that flew over the camp. Danica liked birds, maybe he wasn't bad.
A flood of relief over came the mare when the bird - horse spoke. Just hearing another was music to her ears and his tone was soothing. The unicorn let her muscles relax abit, and remained still as told. A slight frown formed on her mouth, gazing up at the other. "..p - please help.."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Mar 27, 2014 5:48 pm
"Of course I'll help." He hurried over to her and tried to assess her injuries. Nothing looked broken, but she obviously wasn't healthy. His breath caught at the sight of her ribs and unkempt mane. What had happened to her? "Are you being followed?" Immediately he jumped to that possibility. If she had escaped from some sorts of enemies, they could still be around. He'd need to prepare the herd swiftly if they were about to have enemies pouring down on them.
He had never seen a soquili looking so unhealthy. Whoever her enemies were, he hoped they were far away.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Mar 27, 2014 5:57 pm
The mare looked over her shoulder into the brush behind her, thinking about his question. She hadn't seen a human in a couple days, they knew she was weak and probably wouldn't last long. "...no..no I'm sure they gave up the chase a while back." Her eyes continued to scan the brush before looking up at the male.
With the strangers assistance, Danica rose to her feet once again. She bowed her head slightly. "Thank you, stranger, for your help. I've been on the move for so long." Danica observed the brush around her. It was quite beautiful, small pink or white petals would float by occasionaly and the trees were starting to awaken from their winter slumber. " I bet this place is very nice in the spring. Is this your home? I apologize for intruding....." She hesitated slightly, realizing she had pretty much bombarded onto someone else's territory.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Mar 27, 2014 6:09 pm
"There is no intrusion. The Padmapani welcome all peaceful travelers to our herd lands." She was obviously skittish, looking around like she expected something to pounce on her even if she claimed she hadn't been followed. Either she was lying about pursuit... or she was too on edge to be able to relax even in a safe place like this. Scythe had seen his herd members go through similar moods. His father had explained it as them reliving bad memories, such as the attack on the Padmapani led by his sinister half-sister. From the looks of this mare, he wouldn't be surprised if she had plenty of bad memories to give her that haunted look.
"Please, consider yourself welcome here." He was not usually so soft-spoken, but thought that the mare might welcome some gentility. "We have several unicorns in our herd that could tend to your injuries if you allowed them."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Mar 27, 2014 6:38 pm
"...The Papa...." Danica flustered as she mispronounced the name her had said. Slowly, she tried again. "The Padmapani herd? A whole herd?" There was both surprise and slight excitement in her voice, but it quickly faltered and the start of any smile quickly dropped away, her ears fell back. " Are there any....humans...."
Danica became very panic'd, wondering if this was a trap to lure her into the capture of humans. She quickly started looking around, scanning the brush and her heart raced. Not again. She wouldn't survive. They would use her for fodder. Before he could even answer, her mind was already rushing a mile a minute, but she was frozen to the ground. What kind of camp would this be? The male was not a draft like herself, though that didn't mean he couldn't be a work horse. Maybe this camp had flyers instead. She had heard of that. Danica glanced down at his wings and tried to regain calmness.
He had said 'peaceful' after all. Humans were not peaceful. A camp would bring in any kind of horse, peaceful or not because they would quickly work any bit fire in your spirit into a ashy mush. He had also said 'Heal'. From what she knew, camps did not heal. They killed.
Danica managed to give a nod. "Yes, yes please. That would be great."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Mar 27, 2014 6:59 pm
His ears pricked up when he noticed her reaction. She looked terrified at the idea of humans. Could it have been humans that left her in this state? Scythe found the idea repulsive. All of the humans that the Padmapani herd had ever dealt with had been kind. It was almost worth celebrating when humans passed through, because they always left the soquili with newly braided manes and lovely trinkets. He could believe that evil humans existed somewhere out there, but it hurt his heart to contemplate.
"There are no humans in our herd," he told her, hoping that it might soothe her. "Only soquili. We do have some with kalona blood, like myself." He raised his tail before letting it drop back into its natural position. "But they are no different from the other members of the herd and are no danger." He thought it best to warn this mare of things that could possibly spook her before they encountered them.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Mar 30, 2014 10:39 am
Danica let herself relax, just a little. She saw no reason for the male to be lying to her about humans. His calm nature relaxed her a bit further, she decided then she would trust him. Slowly she turned her head down to the ground, gently licking her tongue and realized she was thirsty. She gently pawed a hole into the ground, and pushed a bit of her weight into it. This yielded nothing, she was hoping a small pool of water would form. Feeling silly, Danica abandoned the thought and went to focusing on the male.
The mare watched as the he raised his tail up. It was intriguing, she had never seen anything like it before. Danica had heard of kalonas though but the thought didn't bother her. She shook her tangled mane abit. " ...kalonas don't bother me so much....just..humans.."
It then came to her that the pair had been standing for abit but had not exchanged names yet. She felt it was safe to do so, and was actually more curious about the male and his herd. "..My name is Danica, by the way. I apologize for not saying it sooner."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Mar 30, 2014 6:53 pm
"And I am Scythe," he said. Adding a moment later, "Named for my grandfather." That was very much a part of his daily life and he rarely forgot it. Still troubled by her haggard appearance, he gestured back in the direction of the Padmapani with a wing.
"Would you like to come meet the herd, Danica? It is a safe place for you to rest." He would certainly tell his parents all that he had heard from her, such as the pursuit that she supposedly had lost. It would be good to know if there was even the slightest possibility of dangerous humans in the area. Humans could be dangerous, even for the most accomplished soquili warrior...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Mar 30, 2014 8:35 pm
Danica nodded, again feeling a little excitement. Meeting a whole herd of soquili, who were untamed and had not become broken zombies at the hands of humans.
"I would be grateful to meet your herd members, Scythe. It will be nice to ....relax.." Danica seemed to pause at the word, as if it was foreign. She had never fully relaxed before, and knew she wouldn't be able to for some time but this was a start. Slowly the mare started walking in the direction Scythe had pointed his wing, carefully placing each step and being sure that her hooves would hold her weight for just a little longer.
While they walked, Danica decided to break the silence and quite a few of the questions buzzing around her head toppled from her mouth. She was still a young mare, after all and curiousity is a powerful thing. "How big is this herd? They are all like you...friendly? I've never seen a flyer up close before...whats it li-" Quickly she stopped. So many questions, too many and she might come off as rude or overwhelming.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Mar 31, 2014 9:02 pm
She was silent at first when they walked, and Scythe was happy to let her keep her silence. He had the feeling that she would not enjoy discussing whatever it was that ailed her. If his parents or the alpha wanted to question her that was their right, but it was not his.
"It is a large herd," he found himself saying. "The largest I've ever seen." He expected there were bigger herds out there, but he had yet to encounter them personally. "We have... perhaps forty members? Maybe even more than that." Soquili came and went as they pleased so the number was always shifting. Any census they carried out would be nullified by the next day.
"We are peaceful and try to live our lives with compassion, as was taught by the herd founders." He wasn't certain what her final question was meant to be. Could she truly have never seen a soquili with wings?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Apr 03, 2014 8:40 pm
Danica curled her tail close to her body as they walked, taking in everything Scythe said. " Your herd sounds amazing..." She half sighed, almost dreamily. " I'm not sure how many were where I .....was....." The mares eyes dropped and her ears flicked low against her head. " I only really ever saw...maybe 10 or so..but i could hear more....many more." She seemed to grimace at the thought, the sound of the hurt, the sad, the lost crying out amongst each other in the camp.
If Scythe wasn't lying about such a haven, and from his voice her heart felt the truth, she wouldn't want to leave. A large herd just like him, filled with compassion and hope. Danica hadn't even seen the herd yet, but the next question just came out of her like it couldn't be stopped. "Do you think I could stay? With the herd? I-i can prove myself first...I could help with..." She paused her speech. Help with what? She didn't have any real skills or knowledge. Danica's expression seemd to droop alittle more in sadness and she fell silent. Her mouth slightly turned down into a frown. She couldn't help at all. She felt as though she had nothing to offer, and would be only a burden on them.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Apr 03, 2014 9:00 pm
"You can stay as long as you wish." That was a promise that he knew was within his authority to make. Any Padmapani member could make that promise to a soquili in need, and this mare was certainly in need. They were mostly a family herd, but they occasionally attracted outsiders. Most often their new members came by way of romance and birth. Dryly, he wondered if he'd have to make any awkward explanations after bringing home a mare, even one that he had just met. He hoped that the more irreverent members of the herd would keep any comments away from Danica, at least.
"We even have several unicorns," he added, wondering if that might make Danica feel more at home.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
