"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
Jack carefully places each hoofprint down to help Aurora as he lays down beside her, protecting her. However, he jerks his head up as she gasps audibly. He looks to her, stressed and not sure what twins means but it doesn’t sound good. She could be dying! Before he gets a chance to say anything, she is asleep. She needs to rest, but thoughts race in his head.
What are twins? Is she gonna die? Am I going to have twins whatever that means? Who’s to say I’m not next.
He stays beside her throughout the night, hearing the wolves howl in the distance, ears flicking around making sure they’re safe. He needs to keep her safe. The moonlight reflects off her iridescent feathers. He nuzzles his head into a spot in her neck under the feathers to keep him warm as he too drifts off under the starry night sky.
The galaxies shine brilliantly overhead as the pair rest. The rise and fall of her chest is steady throughout the night, hinting that she is very much still alive. Winters end is nearing, and the chill tonight is tolerable, but the shared warmth is welcoming between them.
-
Her dreams come and go tonight. Bits of the day replay, mixed with harsh realities of her past. They are playing in the river, laughing without care. Then suddenly there is fire surrounding them. The trees are engulfed within moments and they are trapped. Luckily the water keeps them safe as they huddle together watching the smoke swirl around them. The fear and shear panic in Jacks eyes as he is frozen in place has her whispering reassurances out loud. "It'll be ok Jack. We will make it I promise," her words are barely audible against the babbling of the river in the distance.
Her dream then shifts from a blazing inferno to a grassy meadow. They are grazing lazily in the mid-summer heat. Her ivory tail flicks to brush flies from her legs as she munches on the tall grasses. Trees line the northern edge of the meadow beckoning them to seek shelter within their shade. Her head rises as she whickers gently. Her ears flicker to the sound of children laughing. Her head turns in confusion, her eyes finding two red and white foals coming to her side. The moment of confusion turns to clarity as she acknowledges knowing these children as hers. Jack is not far from her side as she looks to the tree line once again. Her mind wills her to move forward and towards the trees but she remains unmoved, staring into the dark shadows of the forest. There is a faint glow, a pair of red dots seemingly floating in the darkness. Explanation escapes her but she feels fear. The emotions curls within her. Rising like the flame of the inferno. She wants to scream, but there is no sound that escapes her lips no matter how hard she tries. Panic begins to swell now. So much so that her conscious mind jolts her awake...
-
It is hardly dawn when she comes to. Her legs thrash to find the ground and seek footing upon it. Quickly she rises, her feathered gown shuffling in the process. The look on her face is panicked as her eyes scan the area. Her mind trying to place her in reality or dream. Carmel ears twist side to side; forward to back. She then sees Jack, his large stature hard to misplace. "Jack!" She says hastily, "What happened? Are you ok?" In her confusion she forgets she was the one who had been in pain, though it was in her nature to confirm others wellbeing before her own.
Jacks ears flicker as he too dreams, trying to come up with some explanation with the twins . He’s hoping somehow his dreams can explain what is happening to Aurora. The one he, dare he says, loves. He doesn’t want anything to happen to her, anything to happen to whatever caused her to be in so much distress and agony. He wants her to be safe under him, after all that is his job as a stallion. Like it was his job to take care of Kyra. His mind shifts to Kyra. Where is she? What is she doing? Is she loving another horse? He soars over the fields with her, the green lucious pasture where they rode all those years all gone. Burned to a cinder. He was lucky he got out. Kyra saved him.
He needs to save Aurora like Kyra saved him. He jolts awake, scrambling to his feet as he hears Aurora stir and jolt awake. “W-what’s wrong?!” He looks at her, panicked but seeing she’s panicked, he calms quickly to be able to calm her. He nuzzles her and lays his neck over hers and gives her soft gentle reassuring nibbles against her crest. “I’m ok, it was a dream,” he nickers softly into her ear.
When she comes to she hardly realizes she had been holding her breath until she hears Jack offering comforting words. She exhales deeply, a puff of white vapor casting to the dawn, before drawing in a breath, now realizing she is awake and what he says is true.
Her balance is remarkably steady for all that has transpired. The healing magic given to her by the fairies had renewed her physical state so now it was only the mental she need deal with now. Her golden flecked eyes find Jacks as he is nuzzling her. "B-But it was so real! They were there. The twins. And you, you were there," the memories flash through her mind like still frames. "A-and there was someone, something else there too... In the darkness. I saw it," she explains. The twins! Her necks curls to bring her muzzle to brush her side. Her ears flicker as her minds sifts through more memories. The beach. The injured horse. The words whispered into her unconscious mind now scream at her. I will be back for what is mine. Her eyes widen as she realizes what the words truly meant...
"I'm fine. This is fine. We are fine. Everything is fine," she manages a halfhearted smile even in her whispered ramblings. She regains composure as she looks again to Jack, "It was just a dream. A silly dream." She musters a light laugh before looking to the rising sun.
Jack lifts his neck and head as she curls her neck to touch her side. She mentions the twins again, and again he’s very confused. “It was a dream, you’re safe. I’m safe,” he smiles reassuringly to her. He nuzzles her side, with her, not sure why but feels like it is the right thing to do. “What was I doing in the dream?” He asks, his own dreams of fire still so vivid in his mind, but he tries to shake that to take care of Aurora.
“It’s all going to be okay,” he reassures again, trying to reassure himself as well. The rising sun shines over the horizon, causing the river to shine blue and pink and orange, like the colors of her feathers. “The sky is just as pretty as you are,” he blushes lowering his head in embarrassment that he just said that.
“What are twins?” He asks, keeping his head down still embarrassed that he doesn’t understand. Maybe it’s a mare thing but he hasn’t ever heard of such things.
The moments pass as a whirlwind and she realizes she hasn't explained much very well. She smiles warmly at his remark. She never thought herself to be pretty. Though the feathers did help. She sees his embarrassment and is quick to respond, "Thank you." Her head lowers to his with a smile, her eyes searching his face as he asks what twins are. She hadn't considered he didn't know what it meant. "Oh... Umm it means I'm pregnant with not one but two foals," her expression goes stoic as she thinks of what she said could sound like. Quickly she offers more explanation, or what she could fathom as explanation, "right before we met, on the beach, there was this injured horse... Well I thought he was injured. I went to go help him. He looked...dead almost, but he wasn't... I guess. His eyes, they... glowed red." Her mind searches thru more memories, digging as deep as she can, "All I remember is leaning to help him up and then everything went black. B-but I remember him whispering something... Or I dreamed it maybe, I'm not sure." Her brow furrows in confusion and frustration, "He must have done something to me Jack. There is no other reason I would be pregnant..." Her eyes look into his to see if he understood now, or perhaps to see any other reaction he may have...
She begins her explanation about having two foals and it finally clicks in his head that she’s having babies. (It took him long enough). He smiles from ear to ear and reaches his nose out to the side of her belly and nuzzles the unborn foals. She continues on about a weak stallion on the beach and how she blacked out and then now she’s pregnant. The wheels turn in his head, wondering if he too saw the stallion she was speaking about. But then, something clicks. “W-wait didn’t you say in your dream you saw a stallion with red eyes,” he asks her, wondering if the two are the same stallion.
“C-can I do anything for you?” He asks, seeing an apple hanging off a low branch. He goes over,
Rears up on his hind legs and grabs it with his mouth gently as to not make bite marks in it for her. He comes back over, drops it, and pushes it towards her with his black nose. He smiles gently as he stands beside her, protectively. “I don’t want anything to happen to you… or the foals”. Little does he know, he’s in for an awakening when these foals decide to make their appearance in the world.
Her body shifts as she relieves her weight from one to the other, tipping a rear hoof to rest it while the other holds the burden of her heavier than normal mass. Her ears flicker as he reaches to press his muzzle to her side. It had been nearly a decade since another had touched her so kindly. She smiles briefly but as she listens to him speak of her dream and the red eyes it fades. Could this stranger on the beach have been the thing that hid within the shadows of her dreams? She supposed it could be possible, so she replies simply, "Yes in my dream there was a pair of glowing red dots in the depths of the trees. I suppose they could have been eyes glowing against the darkness."
Concern wrinkles her features as she thinks. That is until Jack presents her with an apple from a nearby tree. A warm smile erases the concerned expression when he speaks. "Aw thank you Jack," her head lowers to the rosy treat and gingerly bites it in half. The sun was beginning to rise higher into the sky. Her gaze glances around the area, "Maybe we should continue north? There is a meadow not far from here that should have plenty to eat... Now that I'm eating for three it might not be a bad idea."
Jack casts a worried glance at Aurora, noticing that she seems uneasy. He is concerned and wonders what he can do to help her feel better. However, he is relieved to see her relax as she takes a bite of the juicy apple he has given her. "We can do whatever you want," he says with a warm smile, eager to follow her lead.
While heading towards the north, they pause for a quick snack of the lush green grass. Jack is eager to discuss the topic of the upcoming foals with Aurora, but he is unsure of how to approach the sensitive subject. As he observes her body shifting from side to side, with her belly protruding more than usual, he is filled with joy and peace at the thought of the new life growing inside her.
Suddenly, he jumps in front of Aurora, with his ears pinned back and his nostrils flared in alarm. "Back up slowly," he says in a concerned tone, making sure not to make any sudden movements. There is a faint rattle that grows louder as they approach. Jack rears up, ensuring that Aurora is out of harm's way. A yellow and black viper is attached to his leg. His legs flail in front of him as he tries to dislodge the snake's fangs from his flesh. He kicks his front legs out in front of him as the viper flies off him and crashes motionless against a rock. Jack hopes that neither Aurora nor the babies have been injured. Blood begins to stain his white socks, and he feels a tingling sensation up his leg.
She decides on a path that is north bound, winding along the river. Her gown of emerald and sapphire envelopes her body in a cloaking embrace. When the fairies had gifted her the wings upon her arrival, they were simply to conceal her scarred hide, not to fly. They feathers were long and flimsy, only holding enough together to create the gown in which she wore. They shifted easily and were quite weightless to carry, upon her back which was a godsend with the extra pounds she carried within her. With each stride they shift, the very tips trailing slightly behind her like the train of a fine dress.
She choosen her path carefully, but it is not without the usual dangers. Loose stones, hidden rodent holes, and even creatures could pose a threat at any moment. She doesn't hear the faint rattle alerting them to danger, but Jack does. He springs before her, stopping her in her tracks. She slides onto her hunches, her body half rearing and twisting away from him. Her peripheral vision catches sight of the serpent attached to Jacks leg. Her nostrils flare as she snorts in alarm, turning herself in a 360-degree circle until she is faces him again. The snake is now dead in the brush as she rushes to Jacks side, "Jack! Are you ok? How bad is it?" Her face lowers to see the blood staining his white socks red. She can see the puncture wounds and slight swelling beginning to inflame his tendons. "This doesn't look good at all," she says, concern in her voice. Usually, she would ask for permission before calling forth her magic, but time is of the essence. "Hold still Jack, I promise this won't hurt," the powers within her crawl forth. They brush along his flesh before penetrating deep within the veins. The snakes' venom was already making its way to other parts of his body. The magic begins to destroy the poison and repair the damage. The swelling slowly subsides and the wounds eclose. Her breathing shallows as the energy from her drains. All that remains is the blood stains as she stumbles forward from exhaustion. Even though she has spent years, decades even, strengthening her magic, it still takes a toll on her just the same. "There, all better," she says breathlessly as she looks to Jack to see that he is alright.
AuroraElis
