"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
She had been awaiting this birth for months now relishing the thought of having her first foal. She smiled every time the little thing kicked inside of her even though it was painful at times.She had made her way from the deserts a couple days before she thought the time would come and now she was walking to a safe place in the meadows. She called out for Texas to tell him the foal was coming. Oh boy was it coming! The pain was unbearable it felt like her insides were twisting and clenching and she had to find a safe place to lie down. She finally made it to a secluded place a little dip in the forest close to the spring. She winced as the pain became more frequent and more intense causing her to cry out slightly in pain as she fell to her knees and on to her side. She pushed and pushed for what seemed like hours tears streaming down her face. But when the whole ordeal was said and done, she had a beautiful little filly laying close to her. She stood up gingerly walking over to the foal and grooming her clean, she was a beautiful bay dun color with her tiger striped black legs and her dorsal stripe "Hello my little Felise" She said in a warm tone, this was her daughter, she was beautiful and she had her fathers dark intelligent eyes. She smiled "You are so beautiful"
Though Hoku had seemed inclined to take Texas up on his offer to join him at the Falls, he’d not seen the dunskin mare since. He assumes she’s found somewhere else to rest her head, and has not thought of her since. The idea that she might be pregnant had crossed his mind only once or twice in the few weeks after their meeting, but it takes a considerable amount of focus to be one of three horses in a kingdom, he’s given it no thought at all. It’s not like he’d be a help even if he had; children are women’s work, after all.
So when he stumbles across not only Hoku, but also a small filly with more than a passing resemblance to himself, he seriously considers back up casually and pretending he was never there. What if she wants him to be an “involved parent”? What does that even mean? This is exactly why he prefers to keep his dalliances far outside of the places he frequents – morning-after encounters are always so awkward. It’s even more awkward when there’s a child, he’s realizing now.
Too late to back away, he realizes, so he might as well soldier on.
“Hello Hoku,” he says, giving her a brief smile before he turns his dark eyes on the filly. “I see you’ve been busy over the winter.”
After the stressful ordeal she gazes down at the young filly and smiles, soon she realizes she isn't alone it was the filly's father finally coming to join them. "Hello Texas, Yes I have been busy, but hard work always pays off" she said looking up at the bay stallion with soft eyes but she looks back down at Felise and smiles "Isn't she beautiful?" she asked looking back at him with a tired smile on her face. The filly wobbles to her mothers side pressing her muzzle on to her side guiding her self up her mothers body then fianlly looking up at the stallion, she blinks her golden hazel eyes at him and watches him observing him for afar. "Felise dear, this is your father" Hoku said looking down on her bay dun filly. "H-hullo" The filly says slowly but confidently as she pricked her small black tipped ears towards the big equine infront of her.
Putting in effort that results in something as unexciting as a child is not something that Texas would consider worthwhile; this is likely why he is a stallion. He could argue the merits of hard work and its supposed benefits for hours, but Hoku is asking him about the filly, and he chooses to let that particular discussion lay.
He meets the filly’s hazel gaze with his dark brown one, and looks for whatever it is in her face that is supposed to cause a spontaneous eruption of paternal feeling in his chest. As always, the feeling never comes, but he supposes that she is at the very least not ugly. Of course, it’s unlikely that she’d be ugly given her genetics, but he supposes that there was always a chance. “She’s very pretty,” He agrees with a nod, knowing that is what Hoku wants to hear.
As Felise struggles to stand, Texas watches curiously, and when she greets him he does lower his head to her level before replying. “Hello there.” He waits for her to reply, and when she does he looks back up at Hoku, still somewhat curious as to her whereabouts the past few months. “Where have you been living?” He asks.
