"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
Summer was coming to an end and Fall was on them, the summer days grew cooler and the flowers slept longer. The leaves even began to fall from the trees, oh the dreadful winter was upon them, but that just meant another year he loyally served his kingdom. He had so much on his mind, but today he was curious to the whereabouts of his friend Raxa, the last time he saw her she appeared to be limping before she disappeared.
He stepped forward from his position aside the waterfall and took in a deep breath before allowing a whinny to escape his maw, hopeful that Raxa was near and would respond to his call. The two have grown close recently and he did view the mare as a close friend and he worried about her health.
Seems like another fall season was on its way. Raxa showed her displeasure in the form of a snort; she wasn't much a fan of the colder seasons as much as the warmth. The summer days meant longer time periods for training, running, and chasing off stallions who were otherwise after her. Well, she did that on regular basis when she went to the Field anyways, but point put aside, Raxa loved seeing the look in the stallion's faces when she got away.
Whether they were looking to claim her for her unique coat color (not that she thought that was the reason) or just to add another mare to their harems, Raxa wouldn't let them have the chance. She'd rather take a chance at living in the flooded Desert.
The brindled mare had been doing all right since her last predator encounter. She'd received a pretty nasty wound to her hindquarters, but with time and patience, it had healed. A scar was left over, of course, but now Raxa was able to run like she hadn't even been injured. She was glad her limb still worked okay, otherwise she'd be pretty much useless. The mare shuddered; she didn't even want to think about such a thing happening.
A light breeze brushed against the mare, ruffling her sleek coat. Her long mane drifted forward, falling onto her neck to the point where it almost covered her eyes. The mare shook her head to clear her line of sight before grabbing another mouthful of grass, content to spend her remaining time in the day grazing before she went out on her regular patrol.
A call from the crows echoed above the trees, and Raxa's head went up immediately. What could have alerted them? It didn't seem like they were over-reacting, so it might not have been a serious matter. Still, she would remind herself to check it out later, just in case whatever frightened the crows was a threat to the kingdom.
Another call sounded off, but this one was familiar, and definitely not a crow. Rather, it was a horse, Jedi, to be exact. Raxa rolled her eyes; he hadn't stopped trying to find her since she'd disappeared that day, wanting her wounds to heal in peace. She'd been lucky to get away from him; she didn't want him worrying over her. He'd say she should rest and he'd help get anything she needed, but that wasn't how Raxa worked. She wanted to do things herself, and hated being treated like a foal. If anything, it was her biggest pet peeve.
However, she knew Jedi was genuinely worried, and there was no need to be treated like a foal anymore, not after her wound healed. Knowing he wouldn't stop looking for her, if just to make sure she was okay, Raxa decided to go see him to assure him she was fine. The mare cantered away from her grazing spot and headed in the direction of Jedi's call.
After a time, she reached where he was. Slowing to a walk a couple of strides away, Raxa smiled playfully at her friend, "You called?"
He gazed about as the winged birds chirped out loud, whether it was playful or a battle he couldn't tell. But his thoughts were distracted when Raxas voice rang through his ears, his head moved to find her and a gentle smile grew on his lips. Ahh yes, I see you have been hiding from me? he tilted his head sarcastically. I am sure this does not come as a surprise to you, you never did tell me what happened to your leg he questioned as he gazed down to her legs, all of which appeared healed.
She managed to escape his questioning long enough that her wounds healed, he breathed a sigh but was glad to see no severe pain came of it. Perhaps a story to share? he laughed, cocking his hind right leg as if he was preparing for a long story.
Raxa rolled her eyes and gave the stallion a playful look, "Good job figuring that out."
As suspected, the stallion asked Raxa about what happened to her hind leg. The mare should've known this was coming; she wished she didn't have to tell. She liked keeping things to herself, not letting any others have an excuse to worry about her. In this case, she was giving Jedi an excuse. However, she also figured that Jedi would be more worried if he didn't know what happened.
Raxa sighed, deciding to tell him. The mare's tail swished a couple times as she looked at the stallion, her electric blue eyes meeting his, "Just some stupid incident with a big cat. I was out doing a border patrol and saw some activity near the southern edges toward the Field. I went to investigate, and ran into a big cat. I chased it off, but it left a mark. I'm doing fine, it's healed by now," she explained, turning to glance at the wound a moment.
He gently laughed at the sarcasm Raxa gave, it was so interesting to see the young angry mare turn into a playful friend. It was clear to Jedi that she did not want to share her story of what happend a few weeks ago, but after a few moments of silence she sighed and began to tell him. He smirked and lowered his head to grab a mouthful of grass, lifting his head to continue listening. His eyes bursted open as she talked about a big cat and he almost spat out the grass in his mouth.
you encountered a big cat and didn't tell anyone?! he snorted slightly irritated you could have been really hurt, you should have told someone! he cared for all the members of the Falls but he and Raxa grew close over the past year and he wished she would have allowed him to help her. She was so independent and did not want to let anyone know of her struggles, mainly because she did not want anyone to think she was weak, or whatever reason.
Raxa sighed, annoyed, knowing that Jedi would've reacted that way. She glared at him, her eyes narrowed a little, "There was no need to tell anyone," she snapped. "I managed to chase it off. It's gone now, away from the kingdom. It's no threat to the foals or the others who live here. I recovered just fine too, so I didn't see any need to inform anybody else."
The mare swung her head, pawing at the ground with one of her hooves. She was clearly irritated with how Jedi was reacting to a situation that was far in the past.
"Look, it happened, okay? So I've got a new scar on my pelt, big deal. My wound healed up, I can still perform my job as a warrior, and the big cat is gone. So can we please drop this topic of conversation and focus on other things?" she asked desperately, not wanting him to know about anything else.
The painted stallions ears flicked back as Raxa glared at him, she was so quick to change her attitude it was really just annoying. She was quick to give a tongue lashing, one in which he stomped his foot with anger and whipped his tail about with irritation. He would not stand for such disrespect, he was just being caring and Raxa was so quick to turn rude.
She spoke again, stating she was fine and it was over, pleading to move on to a new topic. He rolled his eyes and looked off to the left, he gazed at the animals that flew in the sky and ran around on the ground. His ears lifted back up as he calmed down and his muscles relaxed from there irritated state. Of course he flicked his gaze back to her with suspicion, why was the topic so hard for her to talk about? have you recruited any new members? he asked curious to the mare who appeared to always be out and about. He sighed, always the one to keep calm, he never had a short temper like Raxa but perhaps that was why he was good at his position. He was able to keep a political stance at all times.
Oh damn, she annoyed him again. But at least he was willing to move onto a new topic. Raxa withheld a sigh of relief, feeling a small twinge of pain on the underside of her belly as Jedi asked her if she recruited any new members. Cursing the pain, the mare painted on a brave face and smiled at her friend, her look almost forced, but still a careful mask, one that couldn't be seen through unless one was extremely close to the brindled mare.
She noticed he still seemed to be suspicious though, if that look in his eyes was anything to go by. Ignoring it for now, hoping they could move on, the mare gave a shake of her head.
"Not yet," she told him. "I've been journeying out to the Field a number of times to see if there are any new horses worthy of joining the Falls, ones who offer promise to help defend the kingdom. However, so far, I haven't found anything myself. Have you?" she asked.
Raxas body seemed to relax when his did, but of course she remained slightly on edge. As expected the mare just withheld full trust in Jedi, no matter how hard he tried to be a good friend. His eyes narrowed in on her as she spoke, she did not recruit any new members and inquired about his own.
He stood for a moment of silence and gave a shrug no, I can't recall any new members that you haven't already met. his voice was gentle So Raxa, have you thought of having any foals? he asked, the mare was older like him and it was odd that she did not bare a child yet. Was he crossing the line? Did they talk about this already? Surely she would not like the topic, but there was little that Raxa did enjoy.
So no new members yet. No biggie, the two of them would just need more time to find some worthy recruits for the Falls.
Raxa listened as Jedi asked her again on if she'd thought of having any foals. Why did he keep bringing that topic up? Raxa would ask him that later.
"Since you last asked... I've... thought about it a bit more," Raxa confessed. "I still don't believe I'd make a great mother though. I don't know how to take care of any children. I was on my own since before I was a yearling. The way my parents, the extended family of the herd treated me... I don't want my foal to grow up with the same fate, or live with a dam that doesn't know what she's doing."
The brindled mare felt a twinge in her heart. Like she said, she did think about having a foal, but her fear held her back. She figured that with the coat color she'd turned out with, her foal would probably end up having one just as odd, if not slightly more normal. The point was, it'd be unusual like her dam, and there was the possibility of being teased for such a matter. Raxa still ran into that problem when she'd ventured to other kingdoms to take a look at what the Falls was facing.
That, and, right now, with the changes Beqanna had been going through, in the case a war erupted, Raxa did not want her foal to grow up in that kind of environment. She'd be damned to hell before that happened.
