Pain. Cold. Abandoned. The women found herself utterly alone as she laid upon the shore of an unknown beach. All that she was soaked to the bone in the cold salty water of the sea. Urd had spent what seemed like forever being carelessly tossed about the the currents of the ocean. Such a long time in fact she assumed she would drown and her useless life would finally end, but alas it seems she was even rejected by death. The mare couldn't help that she couldn't have children. She had tried so hard to be helpful to her herd. To help care for the young and old alike, but she couldn't take care of her mate's desire for children. There had been no real place within the herd for her. Surely the others just humored her for as long as they did because of Golden Midnight, but even he lost his want for her. She saw how he stopped carrying for her over the years. She noticed how his eye wandered away to the younger girls. End the end it had been a mare five years her junior who had wooed Midnight away from her. She was a pretty paint, but most importantly she gave him the one thing he wanted most of all - heirs. When Ravenheart gave birth to not one but two healthy colts Urd knew her time as lead was short. Though she hadn't expected to be complete shunned and pushed out of the herd as she had. Urd had no place to go so she stayed at the beach at the edge of the land. She had been preparing to live out the rest of her life alone on that beach for she couldn't go live with her parents they where dead. She had thought about joining them in death, but was too cowardly to end it all. She had just figure out where she would sleep with Ravenheart came to talk to her. That talk had been a joke. She was belittled and pushed off the cliff.
Taking a deep breath her lungs burned and she choked on her tears. Crying as she laid there Urd felt helpless and useless. Her whole body was cold and weak even as her lungs, throat, nose and eyes felt as if they where on fire from the salt water. Laying there in the cold autumn night Urd wanted to give up, but something was telling her to get up and move. So she gathered what strength she had and stood up. Slowly she walked forward away from the beach and into a grassy field. It had taken some time for her to slowly move forward, but it was still dark out when she made it to the edge of fresh water. Lowering her head she took a drink before she started to sway. Turning away from the water she had been going to find a sheltered place to rest, but instead collapsed out in the open within the field. Curse this life. It was cruel and just place rude.
Fear could be both a powerful ally... and one's worst enemy... in the case of a prey animal like the horses that inhabited Beqanna, it served one purpose more than the other on many occasions. Instincts developed over years of survival had fine-tuned the hoofed mammals to sense when danger was nearby, even if they couldn't immediately see it. Were they lucky enough to get a head start, it was easy to outrun the predator.
There were those who, at times, weren't so lucky... whether it was a foal that had wandered too far from it's dam's side... or a grown adult out wandering among Beqanna's lands. On this day, the familiar golden stallion traversing through the Field couldn't help but remember one time when he was here, how he had been attacked by a big cat. The memory had returned to him when he passed by a pile of animal waste, which, by the smell, identified it as a big cat. The scars on the stallion's left flank seemed to burn at the memory, and he moved on while trying to push that dark cloud from his thoughts.
He had still been young when it happened... the first one anyways. The second had been much later in life, when he was more capable of defending himself after nearing his full height and gaining a good bit of muscle mass. Unfortunately, it did little good, since he'd gained new scars in the process. At least he'd come out of that incident without another dark cloud.
On this day, the stallion was on a quest to conquer another demon. The scars on his belly and legs only seemed to burn when he was near the ocean, and though he had made significant strides in conquering his fear, there were other days when he questioned if he would ever go in the ocean past his chest again.
He was thankful that his raptor companion was here again as well; he'd have an eye in the sky to watch for those slippery devils so he could have time to get away.
Aten looked up, seeing his friend soaring ahead of him in the direction of the ocean. He would eventually become nothing more than a speck when he got too far away, but Aten still knew where he was. The link they shared would serve help as well, for if Aten needed to find out where Turul was, he could reach out and ask. Their link mostly felt like a tingle in the back of their brains if they didn't say anything to each other. In fact, when they had first developed it, the tingle had felt like an itch and Turul ended up scratching the back of his head every time it happened.
Aten would've done the same, if he could reach his poll. Sadly, he was left to ask Turul, but that only made the problem worse in the long run.
A short while passed before the ocean came into view shortly before Aten would have to crest a small ground dune to reach it. As he was in the process of doing so, Turul reached out through their link and instructed the stallion to hurry. Not wasting time to ask questions, Aten broke into a gallop and headed over the dune, looking to see if he could spot the raptor.
Since Turul wasn't high in the sky, Aten didn't see him immediately, but did when the falcon told him where to look. Aten turned his head to the left, seeing the raptor circling above a prone object on the ground. It was when he got closer that Aten realized it was a horse, something that surprised him for this gave him the impression that the stranger wasn't in good health.
Aten raced to the spot on the grass where the mare lay not far from the beach. Her coat appeared very dark in color, and she smelled of salt water, indicating she'd been for a swim. Not knowing that, perhaps, she'd done so with an intention other than exercise, Aten looked her over for any other injuries. He didn't see anything external, beyond muscles that seemed tired; her breathing was labored, so the effort to swim through the ocean had taken a toll on her.
Aten instructed Turul to go and find a plant he had found out was good for pain relief, a green common plant that, in some other place where strange two-legged creatures existed, was called wild lettuce. Aten himself had started calling it viroso, differing it in one letter from virosa, a term his dam had used to describe a poisonous plant that looked similar to the one Turul was going to find.
While the raptor went in search of the plant, Aten stayed by the mare's side. He was careful when he lowered his head and gently nudged her shoulder, to see if he could wake her, and help her move out of the cold since the chilled autumn night would not do well for her after a swim in the ocean.
@[Urd]
In the darkness of her slumber Urd hears laughter. Evil and taunting it was cruel and disheartening. She was having a nightmare. Her life flashing by her in her dreams from the time of a filly prized and oogled over to the time she met Golden Midnight after he had just bloodied his hooves in the arena to claim her as his reward to darker moments that would make her twitch and struggle in her slumber. Her hooves kicked wildly as if fighting something dangerous away before she felt the nudge. In her dream it had been Ravenheart’s face she saw as she was nudged awake with laughter ringing in her ears. Eyes opening in a flash she gasped and jolted up. It was just her head though as she rolled from her side to her barrel. Eyes wide and full of fear as she looked around her. Her eyes scanned the world faster then what her brain could take in. Her eyes saw the stallion, but she didn’t see him. Not for a moment anyways.
Breathing hard she turned her head one way before looking back at the stranger and staring. “I ... I.” Urd stuttered trying to find the right words but they wouldn’t come to her lips. The only thing she could do was lower her gaze before closing her eyes. “If you have come to finish the sentence as my executioner please sir I beg of you to do so quickly.” She pleaded in a sob as she laid there and waited. There had been no trial or even real crime, but Ravenheart made it clear her punishment for displeasing Golden Midnight was death. Though the mare had meant for Urd to drown she was confused and didn’t realize this wasn’t her homeland.
@[Aten] Sorry this isn’t the best I am on my phone.
The mare awoke with such a start that Aten nearly missed being hit by her skull when she jerked her head up, her eyes wide to the point where the golden stallion could hardly see anything but white. He took a step back to allow her the space she needed to get her bearings, watching as she turned her head one way to assess her environment before she turned back to look at him.
Her lips quivered as she opened her mouth and tried to say something, Aten's ears going forward so he could pick up her voice. It was rather quiet at first, as if she couldn't even get the words out had she thought of some, and then things changed when her posture did. When she woke, she'd been tense, her muscles locking under her soaking wet skin, but now, her head was lowered in defeat, her body exhausted and laying against the ground as if she no longer had the willpower to even stand in the face of her demon.
What she said startled Aten; executioner? Did he really look that scary? He'd seen foals give his scars odd stares before they'd gotten accustomed to the sight of the golden stallion walking through the field, but he didn't think they made him look scary. Just battle-hardened, war ready, tough, even if he projected a persona that made others think he'd weathered every storm without a scratch.
Aten felt for the mare who obviously thought she was on death row; he reached out to his friend, and got a reply saying Turul hadn't found the plant yet. Needing to wait a bit longer, Aten decided he would do what he could for now to, mentally, help this mare.
He took another step back so she could see him in full view, and lowered his head so he was at her eye level. However, he did not look directly at her; namely, he was eyeing the ground that was right below her shoulder and breastbone.
"I am not here to do the job your... executioner," he hated that word, "would have, nor am I here to let him do so either. If you will allow me, I wish to help you."
He waited a moment to see what she would say before speaking again, "Do you have the strength to stand? You are still soaked through and the night is getting colder by the minute; I know of a suitable shelter where you may rest nearby."
@[Urd] no problem
Laying there she was ready to give up. She was beat in more ways than one. Her soul shattered as she laid there just waiting for death. Her body was soaked to the bone and her joints ached. Her eyes burned from the salt from the sea that flung to her skin and mane. Her hair stinking together not just the strains clinging together, but her mane clung to her neck and cheek. Softeyes felt her heart race for a few moments as she heard him moving. She was sure that her struggle to survive would soon be for not. She was tired from the sea. Her lungs still burned with each heavy inhale and exhale.
Flinching she held her breath right before she heard his voice. Ears swiveling as she perked them. She heard him, but could it really be true. Slowly her eyes opened and she looked curiously at the gold called stallion. Her eyes pleaded to let what he had just proclaimed be true. ”I .. You have not been sent by Ravenheart to finish her dirty work?” She asked timidly as she slowly raised her head. A small look of hope crossed her face for a moment before a frown found its way on her face. ”Why? Why would you help me? I am useless. Exiled and sentence to death by my old mate and his new bride for not being able to birth foals. I am not worth helping.” Softeyes’ tone was sad and so full of shame. She couldn’t help that she had never been able to bore children. It wasn’t fair that she was insulted and torn down until she was nothing but a shell of her former self.
Still she didn’t really want to die. Not here, not like this. Even if she lived alone the rest of her life she would still be living. Lowering her eyes to the ground she let out a deep sigh as she shifted. Pushing up she slowly stood for a moment before she fall on her front legs to her knees. Swaying she just stared at the ground as she tried to find the strength to lift herself up. It was a struggle though.
@[Aten]. Sorry for the wait. Also please don’t mind the random name change I had to change as Urd was taken.
Again she was asking him about her execution, and she seemed truly surprised that he was not there to perform the deed. Aten just continued to shake his head to reiterate she was wrong in her conclusion, but did not voice it like that. She was in a fragile state right now, she didn't need that.
The stallion watched as the mare raised her head and asked why she was worth the effort saving, when she had been so abused and exiled by her former mate simply for the fact that she was not able to give birth to any foals. Aten knew there were far few worse fates for a mare, and empathized with her plight. But that was absolutely no reason to justify what the stallion before had done.
When she asked why, the stallion simply smiled gently at her, "Every horse is worth helping, no horse is useless. And I do not need a reason to help those who need it."
The mare struggled to lift herself off the ground, briefly managing to do so before she went back down on her knees. Aten's eyes softened before he lowered himself onto one knee as well and moved his neck so it was under the mare's, starting to push up on his leg slightly to offer her support but let her stand on her own strength.
@[Softeyes] no problem with the name change.
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