"But the dream, the echo, slips from him as quickly as he had found it and as consciousness comes to him (a slap and not the gentle waves of oceanic tides), it dissolves entirely. His muscles relax as the cold claims him again, as the numbness sets in, and when his grey eyes open, there’s nothing but the faint after burn of a dream often trod and never remembered." --Brigade, written by Laura
Beneath the pale light of a setting sun, she finds herself weakened at the knees as a trembling contraction pulsates heavily across the length of her body. She quivers beneath her own weight, and with a crumbling resolve, she tucks herself away within a blackberry-lined thicket (ignoring the superficial scratches that the thorns lay along her swollen, heaving sides) and collapses onto the dried brush. Agony ripples through her and her nostrils flare with each elongated breath. She muffles the wry sounds of anguish from her throat, urging herself into silence as she gives herself to the crippling pain while the heavy waves of oxytocin begin to flood through her throbbing veins and arteries.
Hours pass and soon, the sun dips below the horizon, leaving nothing but the blinding moonlight to drench the darkness with its light. With heavy, baited breath, Misra presses the bridge of her nose to the damp skin of her daughter, lips and tongue ridding her of the dreaded afterbirth. A deeply set instinct sets in, and she rises, urging her to rise with her. She is radiant and beautiful; feeble and weak but nonetheless unadulterated perfection. Her legs tremble beneath her, but with some encouragement in the form of gentle nudges, she cradles herself close to her exhausted mother's side, suckling from her at last.
Weary and worn, she observes her for a long moment as the soothing sounds of the nearby trickling creek and the trill of crickets emerge from the darkness. Her pelt, though still damp, is painted a deep copper - she is the daughter of Nymphetamine, there is no doubt. A pang of regret lingers within her aching chest as she touches her whiskered lips to the delicate girl's flank, inhaling her earthly scent. Her heart is heavy with loneliness, knowing that yet again, a child is born out from an impulsive need for physical touch and little else - but she is precious, in spite of it all. Gently, her voice breaks through the heavy barrier of thick heat and echoes against the dense foliage. She calls for him, but knows he may not answer - but only time could tell.
It was bad enough that Siba was getting bad feelings following rumors she'd heard of a war; she could still feel the restlessness of the land within her bones. Now, on this cold night, she could feel it... something else was happening. At first, she didn't know what, but it rattled her senses. She felt motivated to go investigate the source of it, but was unsure. Should she really try and get herself in trouble by investigating a potentially dangerous situation?
The filly had definitely inherited her dam's mischievous personality from when she was a foal. Siba knew the answer immediately, despite half of her consciousness screaming at her to find a safer place to stay for the night, rather than the enclosed berry grove where she had a feeling something was happening.
Siba took a moment to think about the berry grove; it was a nice place filled with delicious berries to eat, despite the thorns threatening to prick her tongue, cheeks, and muzzle when she tried to eat them. Oh well, at least they never got stuck in her skin, and she had to deal with feeling sore for a couple of seconds while enjoying the blueberries she snagged.
Relying on the light of the moon to guide her, Siba ventured into the grove, keeping an eye out for whatever she was sensing. Soon, a new smell entered her nose, one that she had never smelled before. Curious as to what it was, the filly turned in the direction it was coming from, her blue eye scanning the darkness carefully.
Sounds of distress echoed in the quiet night, and Siba quickened her step. She reached the source of the smell, but thought for a moment that there could be two situations going on, since the noises had stopped. Was it possible that the two situations were one in the same, and she was just getting more than one weird feeling?
Siba stayed hidden among the tress lining the grove, as well as using the thickly packed bushes to hide the white patches of her coat. Through her limited line of sight, she could see a mare - a dark-coated one - laying on the ground, clearly worn out from something. Then, upon looking closer, Siba noticed the small form of a filly lying on the ground next to the grown mare.
The painted filly fought the urge to sigh at how cute the little creature was. Instead, she focused on the mare. She couldn't tell much, but she did know the mare had a dark coat. She thought she spotted some small tinges of gray, but it could've just been the moonlight. One feature she could pick out were the wings, given how they made the back appear oddly formed when viewed from a certain angle.
A dark mare, wings, thought of have tinges of gray...
Could it be Misra, a mare that her sire had mentioned to her a time or two before? She didn't know much about the mare, but Nymphetamine had described her. Siba wondered if this was the same mare.
When the new mother let out a call, Siba could only assume she was calling some horse. So, figuring she could help somehow, the mare made herself useful by helping clear a small path into the tightly woven branches so that the foal's father could come meet her.
They had been walking on worn paths of the forest, he and Mortal, minding their own business. Well, mostly they were, Mortal was anyhow but Ivo had an ear for any passing conversation. He was a nosy child some might say, interested in things that were never his business. It is on this cool night that something else entirely unconcerning him catches his attention, much to the discouragement of his older brother. They had both stopped at the sound, the smells wafting from a thorny thicket not far off and Ivo tilted his head. “What was that?” the small bay asked the bigger black. “Nothing that concerns us Ivo, come on,” he urged and began to pull forward once more.
Ivo however was not so easily sated, he wanted to know and he wanted to know right now. As to be expected he cut away from the path, turned and went towards the sounds instead. Mortal frowned, stalking behind him and attempting to coax the boy back. Ivo was stubborn though, he tested the rules far too often and with such little care. Rather than fight and bicker with the boy the older brother left, snorting loudly in the runts face before going back the other way.
The indigo pointed colt smiled, proud of himself and his ‘win’. He would carry on, twisting through the pines and the bramble until another noise caught his ears. A call, not a call for him but for another, the Governor. Ivo shrugged, let him tell him he couldn’t be there, then he would tell Mother on him. Maybe he wouldn’t even come, he had yet to hear or smell the corpse bringer and wasn’t sure he was even out and about. He could very well be off recruiting or tending to the alliances or some other lofty job Father had delegated to him.
Ivo peeked past the brush, bay head catching the moonlight, a single white star smack dab in the middle of his face. Silvery light also played pleasantly on the deep blue of his lips, his ears and his mane and he blinked bright blue eyes out at the dark, winged mare. “You raaaang?” he said sassily, emerging from the thicket and making himself welcome in their presence.
08-03-2016, 10:20 PM (This post was last modified: 08-03-2016, 10:21 PM by Kimber.)
you love me for everything you hate me for
The dip-dye mare had not socialized much with the newcomers of the Chamber, especially the women - not because she didn't want to but simply because the nature of her duties rarely permitted. She had wondered if Gendry was still around and if they would grow to become to know each other beyond just the sharing of one other's sweat. The night is when she did most of her thinking and with the sun setting with each minute, it was like a catalyst to her thoughts. She had briefly recognized Warships return but for the most part had been preoccupied with other things to dwell on it and surprisingly, she had avoided Nymph for the better of the past year. She wonders if she's made the right choices in doing so but it seems his life is happily moving along and upward. Secretly, this makes her smile though she wouldn't be caught doing so.
Finally, nightfalls and although typically the Chamber would be mostly quiet spare the few owls and howling wolves; other creatures rustled beneath the moonlight. She, too, hears a call ring out in the night and although she is certain it isn't intended for her; she watches as two youngsters fall in towards the thorns. With a large sigh she makes her way towards the root of the commotion to peak her head around, pricking her neck with a thorn and feeling a chill run up her spine. Partially from the pain of the real thorn, partially from the proverbial one of seeing yet another child of Nymph's born beneath her nose. She has since noticed Siba, a half sibling to the newborn no doubt and a boy that she can only deduce to being the Prince of the Chamber. "Misra, I'll be sure that these children see their way out, although the Prince I'm certain knows better; this other, I can't speak on," she scowls at the two, baring her teeth and biting at the air - they were foolish to approach a mare with a new baby at her side to begin with. Must the General do all the teaching around here?
The blue mare doesn't intend on staying so she makes gives a nod to them and begins to turn her back towards them, "I only came to see what the two young ones were getting into, so I'll be seeing my way out but before she leaves, perhaps you would like to begin introducing her to her sibling; one of many," she glances at Siba, then back to the newest child, "Congratulations." Her lips draw tight as she takes her leave, nudging both Ivo and Siba though there is no guarantee they'll follow; she could only attempt to help them. Misra and Nymph were sure to have an overly disgusting display of affection once he arrived. Somethings in life Kimber would never understand, mostly because the luxury hadn't been provided.
08-03-2016, 11:13 PM (This post was last modified: 08-03-2016, 11:13 PM by Siba.)
Oh great, this guy again. Siba had heard about him from other members of the kingdom, and so far, with his sassy attitude, she was not a fan of the colt. When he walked up, speaking in that annoyingly sassy voice, Siba rolled her eyes, the sight looking a little strange since her milky blind eye didn't appear to move that much.
Then, another horse showed up. This one was a full-grown mare with a familiar coat color. Hearing the voice only made it worse. Siba had heard of this mare from her sire, and had even encountered her once or twice. She got the immediate feeling that this mare didn't like her, though for whatever reason, Siba did not know.
Did it have something to do with her sire perhaps?
When the mare turned and snapped at the two young horses, Siba shied back, not liking how this mare was acting. What did she have against her, really?
The blue mare turned and began walking out, explaining the nature of her business here. Then, she made a comment that startled Siba. This young foal was her sibling? But it clearly wasn't her dam, Nitika. A half-sibling, through her sire, Nymphetamine?
The thought of having a little sibling made Siba happy. As far as she knew, if there weren't any others out there, she was no longer an only foal. She had a little sibling, a little filly to look after and protect, if the dam would let her of course.
Siba felt a nudge on her hindquarters, and she skittered out of the way, knowing who it was that had touched her. She watched the blue mare with a careful eye until she was gone, then turned back to the new mother with her newborn foal.
"C-congratulations," Siba stated, smiling at the winged mare, "I-if it's okay... I... I'd like to meet her... once she's older..."
Without another word, Siba turned and made her way out of the horned bushes, wincing when a few of them cut the skin on her legs. Once she was out, she took off at a gallop, heading for the grove where she and her dam stayed when Nitika was here for a visit. Right now, Siba was alone, but the grove made her feel safe, so, for the night, and to get away from the blue mare, that's where she would head.
