"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
It soaks her to the core, her cold and wet flesh absorbing the water as it drips along the musculature of her neck and shoulders, leaving her feeling numb. She felt paralyzed, her hooves sinking slowly into the once solid ground that was now turning to slop beneath her weight. Despite the mud that caked her lower body and the bone-chilling rain that ran across her skin, Merida always found the rain to be soothing.
She realizes, though, as her golden eyes shift to the tumulus sky above that it was the clash of thunder and lightning that she enjoys the most. She snorts softly with exuberance as lightning rips through what was thought to be a seamless, black sky. Black ears flip placidly backwards as she awaits the roar of the expected thunder, her black skin shivering with anticipation. Fiery red tendrils of mane and forelock press tightly against her neck and face, plastered icily against the curvature of her skin. The unforgiving bite of winter whips at her, sharply cutting against her flesh.
With a sharp snort and a thrust of her head upwards, Merida awakes with a start. It is early morning, with the sun barely peeking over the horizon of the meadow. All around her was sparkling white snow, smooth and untouched from horses moving through its heavy banks. She sighs heavily (and almost sadly), black sides rising with the extension of her ribs outwards. Her dream, which could seem like a nightmare to others, was the most excitement she had experienced in a very long time.
As the sun slowly brings it’s warmth above the horizon, its rays touching the snow and causing the world around her to glimmer and sparkle serenely. After a quick toss of her head, she begins to walk slowly through the meadow, searching for areas where the snow wasn’t as thick so that she might find some breakfast.
Merida was always on the search for adventure and thus her time spent away from Beqanna had been extremely long. She was no longer a small filly, though her fiery personality and yearning for excitement hasn’t changed – in fact, it’s grown (just as she had). Thanks to her time outside of Beqanna, Merida has become strong and muscular as well as cunning and smart. But even she knows that all adventures must come to an end and she slowly found herself aching for home.
She’s slowly realizing that home isn’t exactly the same as it was when she left it. The curiosity made her skin prick in a way that she enjoyed, wondering what had happened here that had caused the gods to make the lands to shift.
The black mare stops where the snow gives way to a small pond, the water not yet frozen all the way through from the recent temperatures. With a flick of her red tail against her haunch, she lowers her head and drinks deeply from the icy pool.
A break from her island home was healthy at times. The blanketed mare knew that it was best for her unborn daughter that she move, keep her body strong for the birth. From Ischia she had altered herself to a whale shark, docile and massive, so she may clear the waters without harm.
It felt good to skim the waters, eating tiny krill and drifting along. Porter was safely back in Ischia with his father while the bay woman found some rather minor adventure on the main land. The cold does not bother her Marlyn returns to her equine form beneath the water's surface. She can tell with a thud to her poll that winter was still in full swing in Beqanna (it does not reach Ischia) and so she smacks it a little harder so she may emerge from the frigid temperatures.
One hoof in front of the other as she dredges from the water as amber eyes look about. Marlyn had not expected to surface near another horse. "Oh hello there." A slightly lopsided smile moves across her face as her mane sticks to her neck in a rather embarrassing manner. "Lovely day for a swim." The mare muses with a joking tone as she knows it is winter and the other would probably be confused by the sudden formation of a wet sopping pregnant woman. Small pond or not, the waters were all connected beneath the the land like underground passage ways for those like her.
Now, Merida was not one to be taken by surprise. The ebony mare, flecked with bright scarlet and scars to remember adventures past, has a sharp eye that would not allow her guard to be lowered. Even as her black lips sip icy water, her ears were constantly swiveling and her eyes constantly moving – she had learned to never be caught unawares.
Of course, even with this mindset, Merida never could have expected anything to breach the top of the pool she had been drinking from. Ice covered most of its surface, and most of the carnivorous creatures that would wish her harm would no longer be lurking beneath its depths. So when the water suddenly gives way and opens up to a mare emerging from its chilling and frigid waters, Merida is utterly shocked for the first time in ages. So much so, that she had leaned forward a bit too much before pushing off of the bank in a half-rear, that the water had entered her nose.
Merida’s hooves land squarely (and almost crossly) onto the muddy bank, and she snorts loudly in an attempt to relieve the burn that the water left in her nostrils. Brilliant red tendrils of mane and forelock fall haphazardly as they come to settle on her face, her bright golden eyes staring wildly out from beneath the tangled mess. Immediately she recognizes that the creature that pulled itself from the freezing waters was not a threat. Who would be wary of a pregnant mare? Merida’s black ears tip backwards slightly. Perhaps she should be more cautious of those who leap out of water to scare innocent bystanders.
“Aye, right then!” she says gruffly in response a hint of a Scottish accent on her voice. She tosses her head slightly in efforts to gather herself as well as to get a better look at this strange mare, golden eyes surveying her curiously. “Is this a thing you do, then?” Merida asks bluntly with an emphasizing flick of her bright fiery tail against her red-flecked haunch. “You just appear out of near-freezing waters to startle someone to bloody bits?”
Truly, Merida was extremely curious to know how exactly this bay mare, frosted with white, came from the depths of the pond. She, of course, would refuse to appear too eager. However, she isn’t able to stop herself from taking a few steps closer to the pregnant mare.
