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    COTY

    Assailant -- Year 226

    QOTY

    "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


    Run faster than my bullet [Open]
    #1

    All the other kids with the pumped up kicks
    You'd better run, better run
    Out run my gun



    Only a few weeks old, it was clear that Harrier had a very independent spirit and would not be easily persuaded from what her mind thought up. Perhaps it was an improvement to the broken mind that her mother carried. Perhaps it was a throw back to her heritage, or the strong personality of her father--whoever that was. Regardless, the blonde child was on the beach, had wandered from her mother's side. She could still see Scyla at the dunes, but she played at the water's edge. In the distance she could see the Volcano, but Scyla had yet to take her daughter out beyond the sea cliffs. It seemed that Harrier was doomed to the microworld of the oceanside. Harrier was ok with it for the moment.

    The sands made her stronger and the daily lessons with Mother on how to fight, how to defend herself were entertaining. Harrier had the brains for sure, but she really had yet to interact with anyone other than her Mother. Perhaps they were all alone on an island! Stranded! Harrier would save the day! If she built a structure, maybe there would be another winged horse that could actually fly (Mother said with time, she would be able to fly again--Harrier was not sure she believed it) that would see it and come to rescue them!

    She started by gathering seashells, the bright white ones. Her blue eyes combed the sand before finding the PERFECT one, and she went off galloping off to get it. Sliding to a stop, she bent down and nudged the shell. To her wonderment and dismay, a crab crawls out of the shell. Squealing in frustration, and glancing towards her mother, who simply lifted her head and then left her to figure it out on her own--she stomped her foot near the crab. To her amazement it crawled back into HER shell! The nerve of it. She nudged it with her nose, and then backed up. It came out and tried to crawl away with her treasure again! She followed it for a few steps, trying to figure out the best way to get rid of the creature.

    #2
    A blood stained hoof came down a scant inch from the white shell, scaring the little crab back inside. He had heard voices, and it seemed a better idea to head towards them than away. Away was back to the violent ocean. Toward others may be towards help. A vision rose before Bragi's blind eyes, of trusted friends becoming beastly destroyers. Too late though, to turn back. He knew he must be close now to those he'd heard. A tiny high pitched squeal had drawn him here, and the barely audible responses of a tired sounding mare. 
    He stopped as he thought he now stood nearby one of them. The little one. He lifted his head up a few inches, so that his nose no longer skimmed the sand. About where he figured the child's eye line might be. He attempted a wavering smile, uncertain of its effect. "He-hello." He grunted, clearing the dust from his sore throat. He tried again. "Is your mommy near by? Im in sore need of help." He whispered hoarsly. 
    Had he known what he looked like, Bragi likely would not have even considered approaching a lone foal. He looked like something half drowned. Matted mane and tail were twisted with seaweed. Salt and sand crusted his once golden coat, turning it a muddy brown instead. And blood had dripped and now dried in a number of places. It coated his right shoulder, had trickled all the way down his leg. Both nostrils had bloody tracks leaving them, and a trail of scarlet wept down his foreard, staining his forlock with rust. Truly, any mother in her right mind would be aghast at such a ragged creature coming near her child. 
    He breathed an exhausted sigh. He hoped, he hoped, that there would be forgiveness for him. He was so tired of fighting.
    #3

    All the other kids with the pumped up kicks
    You'd better run, better run
    Out run my gun



    Much to Harrier's dismay, it was not a flying horse to save her. No, instead there was some ragged sea-monster horse that scared the crab back into her shell and then also distracted her from the game she created herself. She shies away from him for a moment, but the bravery and stubbornness halts her in her tracts. She curses herself for not listening closer. Isn't that what Mother said? Because of her ear...or at least the lack of one. Her lone left ear twitches back and forth as she tries to decide what to do. Mother said she must always be wary of strangers but she didn't say specifically not to talk to them. Plus she doubted this one could keep up with her long legs! Confident she could run away if she needed, Harrier approached him and sniffed him gingerly at his nostrils. "Whoa Mister...what happened to you?" Her voice was full of wonder, and not a bit afraid. She was tough! She could already rear up and strike at her mother's shoulder in practice!

    She was not extremely helpful. After touching his nose in greeting, she circled around him, investigating. It's only then that she realized that he had asked her a question. She cursed herself for not listening better. "Oh, uh...Mother is up on the Dunes grazing. Can't you see her?" The blue eyes look out towards the distant figure of her mother who did not seem to notice that there was a sea-monster talking to her daughter. Scyla stood out far more than Harrier did on the coastline. The pale white mare stood out against the yellows and golds of the beach whereas Harrier liked her color to the sand beneath their feet.

    Perhaps she was not the most helpful of creatures. "Are you a sea-monster?" It was an honest inquiry, and she stopped in front of him again, her pink nose wrinkled up against the smell of seaweed and blood. Forgotten was the shell and it's intruder. There was a new game afoot and Harrier was keen on seeing what would happen!



    @[Bragi] Sorry not sorry she's a snotty kid? Scyla will join them...eventually! Smile
    #4
    He heard the quick shuffle of steroids through the sand, first away from him, then slowly back. He flinched at the unexpected tickle of a light breath on his nose, but he remembered himself, and returned the air as her velvet nose tapped his. He heard the high voice ask what had happened to him. A filly's voice. He could hear ferocious pride and notes of challenge in her question. He was reminded of Gull... a sick swooping passed through his gut. "What happened to me... I'd like to know too, lass." He answered slowly, uncertainly. There was so much he still did not understand. 
    He broke into a racking cough, feeling the last of the seas water pull from his abused lungs. It dribbled from his cracked lips, painting the sand at his feet a shade of pink where it mixed with drops of blood. 
    She was circling him, and he realized that he truly must look ravaged now. If the outside matched how he felt inside, it was truly horrifying. No wonder she was curious. She must have finished her inspection, as she stood in front of him again, and pointed out her mother to his unfocused eyes. They were still the clear, crystal blue they had been... before. Not holding the tell-tale clouding his brother's did, there were no outside signs of his new disability. That did not change the fact that they saw only darkness and nightmares. He shook his head, not even sure which direction the girl was indicating. "I cannot see anything. My sight was stolen from me." He could not keep the bitter undercurrent from his voice, despite his not wanting to scare the girl. The last sentence was a growl. Of everything that had occurred, he resented that the most. It was salt in a gaping wound, and the more he thought about it, the worse his now ever present headache pounded. He took a deep, steadying breath. It was not the girl's fault. He could not be mad at one so innocent as her. 
    Her last question surprised him, but it shouldn't have. He was familiar with how young minds worked. He gave a humorless laugh, thinking how best to answer the innocent question. "No. I'm what the sea monsters spat out." He finally ventured, musing on whether or not that was true. He wasn't sure how much it mattered. If this little one grew fangs and attacked him, maybe then it would. For now, he knew the demon island still gripped his mind. Reality was a long lost dream, and he felt that it would not take much more to push him beyond redemption. His breath shuddered in his painted chest, as he felt a lump grow in his throat. Tears prickled behind his eyes, as the sound of the waves grew tinny and painful. Forcing himself to breath, to ground, was a battle that he almost lost. Welcome to the island of lost toys... He bit his tongue until the taste of iron blood appeared, sharp pain bringing him back to the present. He could only breath for a moment, breath and cling to existence. The moment passed, however, and he still had things to ask. "Where are we? And who... who are you?" He asked with a note of hesitation. She was young, far too young to have been here when he first was. But perhaps he'd know her family. It was a chance. 

    @[Harrier] Snotty kid is fine! He's a mess either way lol
    #5

    All the other kids with the pumped up kicks
    You'd better run, better run
    Out run my gun



    Her expression became worried as he spoke with her. There was no answers to any of her questions except that he was definitely blind. A half-deaf girl and a broken, blind stallion. What a pair they made! She watches him cough and there was a tender chord struck in her stomach, a new feeling she didn't quite understand. Pity, perhaps? "I'm real sorry for you, Mister." Exactly which part? It was unclear even to the blue eyed golden child. "Sea monsters ARE real! I knew it though." She was momentarily proud of herself, though she could see that he was trembling--perhaps seeing something that she herself could not see.

    She touched his muzzle again, gently and as comforting as a filly could muster. "We're on the beaches of Tephra. Momma says they are the safest place to be! And I am Harrier. What's your name?" She glances up the beach where she was sure Mother was watching. Her singular ear flicks forward to the beaten and broken stallion. "My momma knows a little about healing. She can help you feel better! But you have to be nice to her, she doesn't trust others very much." All the youthful exuberance and hope in her voice didn't change the fact that honesty coated every word she spoke.

    She moved to his side, careful not to touch anything red, and nudged him towards the Dunes. "Come on-I'll take you to her." She hoped he could walk further because Scyla would not be able to much with her wings damaged and still healing.



    @[Bragi]




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