To love and have lost.

[Bonchance]

Shadi

A thin, smokey figure tangled amongst a knot of black threads muddled to the edge of the creek in front of her. 

Shideezhi would never have let this happen. She was too sociable. Too kind. Too appealing to anyone she met. Too much of the opposite of her counterpart. 

The dark femme dipped her muzzle to the frigid, murky liquid beneath her hooves and snorted as the water leapt from the stream and tore down her throat like shards of glass.  It was a cold night and she was covered in half-dry mud and deep burgundy stains ran along her once snow-white knee.  That's what happens to stupid white coats.   At least it was only one leg. She waded into the cool liquid to rid herself of the crimson marks but on contact it stung. Like a thousand blades ripping into her pillar. She didn't realize the wound would be so fresh after so many hours. She allowed the icy waters to soak into her wound as she focused on the calm waves rolling past her, rather than the uncomfortable sensations pulsing through her white leg.

Stepping back from the creek's edge, the mare scouted out a large tree nearby to take cover for the night. It was only a few minutes walk down the water's edge so she began her trek. New blood dances it's way back down her pearlescent knee but she ignored it. Noises came from the tall grass next to her and so she moved more quickly. They got louder and her pulse ran more furiously through her veins. The mare felt something grab hold of her hind leg and let one limb jolt out behind her before she saw a flash next to her. Instinctually Shadi jumped to her hind legs and lashed out in front-splashing loose crimson water onto her smokey face. Her mind was spinning. Not again. I should have known better. I didn't think it was still breathing. 

As her forefeet met the earth again, her heart continued to race and she felt it in her skull. Reality was almost worse than whatever had just happened. It should have been me, not her. She calmed her terror-filled mind but it soon flooded with mourning thoughts as she found herself collapsing beneath that tall, lush foliage.

[Yael]

Yael is a protector; one of those damn goody-two-shoes that the Chamber and Valley love to complain about. She takes in the orphans and the wild ones and tames them with a gentle hand and loving soul. She heals – the best of her ability – and hopes that one day their healed wings bring them back to her again. The little golden woman does far more than that, of course, but you wouldn’t know it just by looking at her.

The smell of blood breaks her conversation with the stars, nostrils flaring and eyes wide. Very rarely is there blood in the Field, unless there’s been a fight, and she hasn’t heard any challenges lately. The predators that lurk in the forest areas never come here, as there are simply too many horses to give them an easy meal. The foals are well  guarded, and she has a hunch that the recruiters would work together to drive off any real threat. So that telltale tang of blood means that someone is hurt. Terror quickly follows, making the stranger a figurative beacon for the magical woman. She turns her head to gaze into the darkness, and then breaks into a brisk trot, metallic wings pressed closely against her sides.

The moon, full and heavy with white light slips out from behind the clouds, illuminating the area. Yael shines ever so subtly under the moon’s rays, picking her way around the half-sleeping, half-whispering little groups that dot the area. When she finds the mare prostrate on the ground, she whickers a low and concerned greeting. Her head dips down to be at the other’s level, and she murmurs softly. “Xello dear.. . ahr you xurt? I can xelp you…” She offers the scared one a gentle smile, trying to reassure her that Yael is indeed safe.

[Bonchance]

Shadi

The grullo femme parts from her rest as she hears a far voice. Shadeezi. My sister. My friend.  she became alert with the thought and let the words of the voice soak in.  the mare's heart couldn't help but flutter in excitement and relief.

"I can xelp you" The female's words were kind like her sister and made her feel safe,  but this was not Shadeezi. The sound was comforting, but the mustang's soul sank.  This is all my fault.  I want to wake up now. I can't do this alone. I tried. Please come back to me, sister.  

"Hello," climbed dryly up her throat and morphed into a vocalized thought.  "They call me Shadi."  

A tickle danced on her leg and Shadi bit at it quickly, coiling back quickly when a metallic taste hit her lips.  Looking down, she was reminded once again of her reality, as she took in the sight of her crimson-painted limb.  

"It doesn't hurt." She spoke with confidence this time.  "I can't feel anything." And that was the truth, the dull mare had gone numb. No pain, no pleasure, no fear.  "Who are you?" She asked the unusual golden creature she finally absorbed with her dark, sunken orbs.  

Whoever this was, she radiated a light that almost made Shadi squint at each glimpse.

[Yael]

yael

The mare’s despair comes in waves, swimming towards Yael in tandem with her untapped thoughts. She remembers that feeling, the alternating hope and unrelenting surety that nothing would ever be the same again. Loss of a loved one is devastating, and she is right - Yael will probably be nothing like her sister, unless her sister happens to be a magical, gold and silver mare who was once a Queen. If she is, Yael would love to meet her and compare notes.

As it is, she’s always forgetting to introduce herself. Oops. “Oh, I alvays forget… I ahm Yael.” Her gaze darts towards the once again bleeding wound, and she purses her lips into a hard line. “Even eef eet doesn’t xurt… blood ees not good. I can xeal eet. But eet’s up to you.” She flashes Shadi a gentle smile and rolls her shoulders in a shrug. “Vhere ahr you from, Shadee?” The grullo lady clearly isn’t from B’kanna. She smells nothing like the land here. She is afraid and lonely and has traces of guilt. That in itself is not uncommon, but it makes Yael wonder what happened to her, before she got here.

The golden lady ruffles her wings and takes a dainty step closer. Ever calm, ever patient.