"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
05-03-2016, 04:57 PM (This post was last modified: 05-03-2016, 04:59 PM by Anahi.)
Anahi, as a mare, had always known what having a foal would be like. She'd witnessed it in other herds, including her birth one. How the dam would go through a great effort to bring the little one into the world. It seemed like a very painful experience, but in exchange, one would receive a lifetime of happiness, as her dam had often told Anahi.
Now, even though she was extremely tired, the champagne mare knew that her mother's words would ring true. Her muscular body was covered in sweat, and there was an exhausted look in her eye. Despite that, her heart was exploding with joy as she heaved herself so that she was laying on her stomach. She flicked her tail to the side as she turned her head, looking upon the little creature that now lay by her side.
She still couldn't believe it. Her very own foal, her own flesh and blood. She'd always envisioned it all those years back when she became pregnant by another herd stallion, but never got the chance to. She didn't think she'd ever get to experience the wonder of this moment. Yet here she was, lying in the grass, still exhausted, but happy with what she'd accomplished.
The foal was lying beside the grown champagne mare, looking around nervously as her body shook to spread some warmth. With effort, Anahi got back to her hooves, and turned, lowering her head to place her muzzle near the foal's. The mare sniffed at her daughter, nickering gently before she ran her tongue over the filly's face, taking note that she sported a star on her forehead.
All the while nickering to her foal to remind her she was still here, Anahi continued to clean her daughter off until the majority of her fur was no longer sticky and wet. Now that she was cleaner, Anahi could see the filly had a light chestnut coat with a slightly darker mane and tail, along with pink skin on her muzzle. Her coat was much like Anahi's when the mare had been a foal, until it began to lighten as she grew up.
The champagne mare then began to nudge the filly's hindquarters, in an effort to encourage her to stand. She wasn't pushy about it, but every so often, she gave another nudge, wanting her daughter to stand and get used to those wobbly legs of hers.
This bright light... what was it? The little filly didn't know exactly what was going on, only that she was cold, shivering, and there was a big horse lying beside her. The filly squealed as the big horse stood up before lowering its head to sniff her. In that instant, the filly knew.
Mother.
The filly whinnied as the mare began to clean her off, exposing the lighter colored coat that lay beneath the grime. As she was cleaned, the filly also began to feel warm as the blood in her body began running, the circulation improved by her mother's act of care. The filly whinnied at her mother again, her ears twitching toward the larger horse.
Her mother then began to nudge her hindquarters. What was she doing? Was she trying to get the filly to stand? Whatever the case, the filly didn't like that, so she decided to try and stand to see what would happen. However, it was harder than it looked. The filly tried to get her legs to work, but it didn't seem as if they would listen. Several minutes passed before she finally got the spindly limbs to move where she wanted, and the filly nickered, pleased with herself. She tried her front legs first.
One by one, she moved her front legs in front of her body, before focusing on the back. This wasn't going to be easy, not when it was still so hard to get her legs to listen in the first place. She tried hoisting her weight up, but quick as that, her back legs gave out, and the filly fell to the ground. Huffing angrily as she didn't get it the first time, she tried again, with the same results.
Finally, on the fourth time, the filly got her legs to work. Throwing her weight onto her front legs, she extended her back ones, surprised that this time, they held. Smiling, pleased, the filly tried to take a step forward, only to almost fall over again. She tried again, and this time, she did fall back onto the ground. The filly snorted, clearly getting frustrated.
Standing up again, finding it was easier this time, the filly took in a breath. She placed one hoof forward, testing it. It held. She tried the next hoof, carefully, making sure she wouldn't lose her balance. She took several more steps, each one becoming easier than the last one.
The filly whinnied in happiness before she turned, walking to her mother. She reached her tiny tapered head up, nickering at her mother. Her blue eyes shone with happiness, her tiny hooves stamping with excitement. Clearly, she was pleased with herself.
Anahi lowered her muzzle, gently nuzzling her foal along her face and neck. A quiet nicker escaped her before she lowered her head further, nudging the filly's hindquarters again so she would move closer to Anahi's side. Anahi knew that her filly would more than likely be hungry, so helping her figure out where to get food would be the first step in making sure the filly was healthy.
As she watched her daughter, Anahi's thoughts shifted to Archam. Most likely, he was off in the Field again or tending to kingdom business, but she smiled when she thought of how happy he'd be when he saw his foal. At least, she sure hoped he would be happy. She knew that he had been hoping for a colt, but a filly was just as good. Especially one like this; Anahi could already tell the filly was going to grow up and become a strong and passionate mare.
And then the perfect name came to Anahi's mind.
"Sirana..." she muttered to herself, smiling down at her daughter as she did so.
It was early morning and Archam had just returned from a border patrol for the Falls. It was finally spring and the snow had melted, the air was crisp and carried a sweet scent to it. It was officially birthing season and the mares in the field were all delivering, he was curious to when he would see the first of his foals being born.
Although him and Light already had a foal last season, he was not there for the birth and truly wanted to, and was excited to get to see the birth of his foals this year. As he approached the inner portion of the cobblestone he could hear movement, a struggle really, and could smell distress of another. This made him pick up a fast pace and travel nearer until he could see Anahi laying down and a little foal sitting on the ground next to her. A smile was quick to form on his face as he moved as fast as his body would allow. He was slightly disappointed that Anahi did not call upon him when she grew uncomfortable, and grew angry with himself wondering if he was gone when she did call. As he neared closer the filly was beautiful and flawless. A small star on her forehead, a pink strip on her nose. The filly was precious and he turned to Anahi giving a nuzzle on her forelock She is perfect he smiled turning his head to the filly pressing his muzzle on her cheek Hello darling he spoke softly to the filly. What happened, happened, they could not go back in time he was just happy to be able to watch the filly grow.
He listened as Anahi announced the fillies name.
Sirana....
He muttered it in his head, familiarizing himself with the way it sounds Sirana he said aloud Thats perfect He smirked unable to move his gaze from the amber foal.
archam
OOC: sorry i shoved him in between the posts, I can edit if you want
Sirana nickered at her mother as the mare gently nudged her daughter toward her hind end, where her milk was. The filly stomped a hoof eagerly before she moved under her mother's belly, reaching her head up and finding the teat. She eagerly began to drink her mother's milk, taking a breath every few sips so that she wouldn't choke. When she was done, the filly nuzzled her mother's hind leg, whinnying in excitement.
Sirana's little ears swiveled to the left as she heard the sound of someone else approaching. It was another horse, this one even bigger than her mother. The filly pressed herself close to her mother's belly, watching as the bigger horse rubbed his nose against her mother's forehead. Was he showing her affection, like how Sirana's mother had toward her? Perhaps this horse liked her mother.
Then, he turned to face her. The filly, despite being nervous at seeing such a big horse, was a tiny bit curious. She stretched out her neck, sniffing, inhaling the big horse's scent. Suddenly, he reached forward and brushed his nose against her cheek, saying a few words to her as he smiled. Sirana squealed and hid behind her mother, the filly poking her head out from behind her mother's hind legs as she watched this big horse warily.
05-03-2016, 10:11 PM (This post was last modified: 05-03-2016, 10:11 PM by Anahi.)
Anahi, unlike her filly, nickered in greeting as Archam approached. The mare nuzzled his shoulder as he did the same on her forelock, drawing a content sigh from Anahi. She quietly watched as Archam moved to greet his daughter, and Sirana, a brave little one, sniffing at this bigger horse before he nuzzled her cheek. The skittish filly hid behind her dam, something that caused Anahi to chuckle.
"I am happy you think she's perfect; I will admit, I was a bit worried that you would be disappointed she was not a colt, but I can already see she's got a lot of you in her," Anahi said, a gentle but tired smile on her face. She nuzzled the stallion again, glad that he was here to see his daughter. She noticed he was still watching the young foal, even though Sirana had moved to hide behind Anahi. The champagne mare moved away from her daughter, then used her muzzle to gently nudge the little one closer to Archam.
"Go on Sirana, say hello," Anahi said, keeping her words low and patient so that the newborn could understand. She knew Sirana wouldn't be able to talk just yet, but given that newborns could hear as well as an adult, Anahi figured the filly could figure out what she was saying.
OOC: It's fine Archam, don't worry about it one bit.
Sirana squealed as she felt her mother nudging her in the direction of the bigger horse, apparently a boy horse. The filly's ears turned back as she heard her mother tell Sirana to say hello to this big boy horse, something that the filly was a bit nervous to do. He was just so tall...
And yet, for some reason, a gut instinct told Sirana that this horse was safe. Her mother wouldn't have been so friendly to him if he was mean or anything. Did her mom like this horse a lot? Perhaps one day the filly would remember to ask, but for now, she guessed she should get this over with.
Cautiously, the filly took a few steps forward. Her neck was stretched so she could smell this boy horse, her nostrils enlarging as she took in his scent. He didn't smell bad, and he seemed pretty nice. Perhaps he wasn't a bad horse after all.
The filly lifted her head so that she was looking up at him, and Sirana let out a small whinny, wanting him to lower his head so that she could look at him better considering she was so much shorter than him.
The stag watched as the filly extended her nose to him before he nuzzled her, spouting a smile in the foals curiosity. He couldn't help but laugh when the filly ran off to hide behind Anahi, he could not blame the filly for hiding from an equine she has never met. Sirana playfully peeking her head out from behind her mother, the curiosity was there, she just was not sure if she should approach him.
He turned his attention to Anahi who said she was nervous he would not like Sirana because she was not a colt " nonsense! he said quickly nudging Anahis shoulder, he would love his foals regardless of there gender. Besides he still held out hope that he would have a colt this year between the other mares. His gazed pondered back to the filly as Anahi pushed her closer to him, showing her that he was not to be feared.
The filly squealed in return, slowly but surely Sirana moved her body from underneath Anahi extending a greeting to Archam. He lowered his head sniffing the foal who suprisingly carried a sweet smell, almost like the sap that leaks from the trees. He gave a playful snort, his nose almost touching hers, causing her forelock to sway in the movement before resting gently. Sirana, I'm your father He said before moving closer to nudge her nose.
Sirana snorted as the boy horse did the same to her, his breath causing her tiny forelock to sway backwards before it came to rest just above her star marking. The filly stomped a hoof on the ground, her eyes glinting mischievously.
The boy horse then went on to say that he was her father, a word that the young filly did not understand. She knew mother, because that's what the big golden female horse had smelled like to her. She treated her very gently, had cleaned her off, provided milk, something that Sirana figured a mother would do for her child. That's how she knew.
But how did she know that this horse was her father? She'd only just met him, and didn't quite understand. The filly glanced back at her mother, a questioning look in her eye.
Anahi smiled, glad that Archam was just as pleased to have a newborn filly as opposed to a colt. She had little doubt that all his foals this season would be fillies, but even if he grew to love the colts and started grooming them to take over his herd, the champagne mare did not care. She knew her daughter was special; something in her gut just told her that Sirana would grow up into a fine mare, wanting to help others because that's who she was.
Watching carefully as Archam and Sirana got to know each other, the mare berated herself for thinking that way. Archam wouldn't hurt her. However, Anahi was technically a first-time mother, since her first pregnancy had not lasted.
After Archam told Sirana that he was her father, the filly turned to look at Anahi. The mare chuckled a little before explaining, "I'm your mother Sirana; that means I'm part of your family. A family is made of the ones who love you, and who will take care of you. Archam is one of those, and mommy also likes him a lot too, so that means he's your father."
