"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
"I'm learning how to put the pieces back together...turn the aching to composure."
Diable Rouge walked the perimeter of Tephra; he roamed with head held high, letting his ears flicker back and forth, paying close attention to his surroundings. The tall grasses brushed gently across his deep red pelt, soaked in perspiration. His flared nostrils took in the pungent smell of sulfur - a smell he had become accustomed to...in fact, he smelled strongly of it. The steam rose heavily from the ground, making it difficult to see through - but he knew his way around. He walked around this land every day - not because he was told to, and not because he had met any of the leaders other than Ellyse - just because he felt a deep-set need to protect something.
The stag had not left Tephra since Ellyse had brought him here months earlier. It wasn't common for him to stay in one place for very long, but Rou enjoyed the constant heat and fresh greenery. The summer had faded into autumn, and autumn to winter. Again, the seasons had changed; spring had come to Tephra in full swing, and birthing season was upon them. Soon, foals of all different sizes and colors would be running around on spindly legs, learning the anatomy of their new abode.
His heart ached for a moment.
None of these children would be his.
A feeling he hadn't had until he starting calling Tephra his home - a yearning for love and companionship...the kind of intimacy that results in a foal. He longed for this feeling...he longed to give a foal a better childhood than he had received. He longed to give a mare love and protection.
He longed for a lot of things.
The stallion sighed deeply, two-toned hues scanning the area around him although there wasn't much to see. He had ended up back where he always started - next to the beach. He remembered the swim that took him here; how he was awestruck by the beauty of this land. He had made the beach a sort of starting and stopping point. He bent his large neck down and began to graze, ocean moving in perfect harmony beside him.
Her path was true. Her purpose clear. It had arrived and though she had been taken by magic, it gave her nothing. He was weak. It was a mother sense to know her child's purpose and this one had none. Not to her anyhow. So she trekked the many miles between home and Tephra. Dragging him along. Pushing. Forcing. He knew nothing of the purpose of this trip. He'd know soon though...
The channel came into view as they neared the banks. The high water from spring rains caused the current to be rushed. She would cross easily, he may not. Perhaps if he did make it he was worthy of living. With a splash she took to the water. It's lapping at her sides reminded her of Stillwater. Powerful strides brought her to the other side, she called to him harshly. Obedient like most clueless children he plunged in after her. Not as gracefully. His head barely stayed above the surface, she smiled. Twisted thoughts drifted about her mind as she turned her golden body and walked onward.
Not looking back to see if the waters had swept him away her dark eyes scanned the tropical borders. Searching. Deciding. She had things to do, more important things. A swishing behind her brought the water logged colt to her side again. Ugh! Why doesn't it go away already. Her nares emitted a snort of frustration. Just then her ears honed in on a rustling nearby. Turning her sooted face to the noise she watched in anticipation...
It wasn't who she had come to find but it was a Tephran so she called to him. He was lumbering about so she figured he wouldn't mind an inconvenience, "Hey you! Yes you. You look as though you lack purpose." She grinned devilishly side stepping to expose her situation. She hadn't looked at the bay colt beside her. "Here... Take this. Tell Nymph it is his grandchild, if you should run into him. If not, he's your problem now." She whipped her head around and pushed the shivering colt forwards, knocking him to the ground. "Oh a name.. hmmm... Go with Kaodie. Yeah that's works." With not another word she turned and galloped to the channel again. The damp colt laying sprawled on the beach struggling to grasp what was happening to him.
Karaugh
illicit daughter of nymphetamine and killgore
HTML by Call
Yes she's a b****... Take him or leave him. Ok then, bye bye now XD
07-20-2017, 02:52 PM (This post was last modified: 07-20-2017, 03:49 PM by Kaiode.)
The moment he hit the cold ground, gone was his warm sense of security. He was rushed to stand. Rushed to walk. Stumbling upon unsteady legs as she rushed on. He tried calling to her but his cries fell on deaf ears. I must keep up, he thought.
The hours wore on him. His breathing labored. She hadn't even dried his coat before they left. The gunk dried in hard clumps that crunched when he moved. It itched and he thought for a moment to stop and scratch his rump but settled with the whipping of his ebony fluff. His eyes never left her though she seemed to be getting further and further ahead. Move faster, he told himself.
His teeny black ears catch a rushing sound ahead. As his legs bring him close he watches his mother sink into it. He looks in confusion as she almost disappears and reappears on the far side. He sighs from exhaustion as she demands him to follow. Ok ok I'm coming Mother. He nearly falls in with a splash. Gangly legs kick his head to the surface but at this point he is pretty much floating. His strength has been ripped from his soul. Beady eyes watch her climb the bank and vanish again.
He washes up upon the other side, finally. Beaching a ways downstream and he rushes again to find her. She was searching for something as he came to her side with a shiver. Flopping his head from side to side to dislodge the water from his ears. He hadn't noticed the stallion until his mom stepped away from him. He stood, back arched in discomfort. She speaks then turns to him, flinging him into the sands. He does not rise. Does not flinch.
He was done.
She left him with a name and nothing more. Why even bother with a name? He was as good as dead now. The sand coated his wet auburn fluff. It had a sense of warmth that was comforting. So he remained still as the familiar pace of hoofbeats faded from his ears...
07-21-2017, 04:30 PM (This post was last modified: 07-21-2017, 05:04 PM by Diable Rouge.)
The rust-colored pelt of the stallion baked in the midday sunlight. He carefully picked at the grass before him, letting the tropical greenery settle on his tongue with sudden bursts of flavor. His tail flicked on the the sides of his rump, and he moved slowly across the ground.
"Hey you," A voice blistered through the air. Diable Rouge lifted his head, and raised a brow. A golden buckskin mare stared fiendishly at him. "Yes you. You look as though you lack purpose." This remark caused a surge of anger to flow through him, and his ears flattened against his skull in response.
Who the hell does this mare think she is? His mind growled, as he spun around to face her. He began to approach, mouth opened to say something, but he was stopped. The mare stepped to the side, exposing a small bay colt, who huffed in near agony. His deep colored fur was crusted with fluid that had yet to be cleaned off. His mother tells Rou to inform Nymph that this is his grandchild; she spit the words with disgust. Rou hardly listened to the rest of what she said; his eyes are locked on the poor, frail colt, who looked scared and understandably confused.
"...Kaiode...yeah, that works." The mare finished telling the red roan stag, every word heartless. Rou could hardly speak - he was in utter shock...who could be this ruthless, this cold?
...Lucifer... His mind echoed, making the stag grow furious. The mare threw her spawn to the ground, where he landed head-first with no hope of rising on his own. Rou's blood boiled.
"You can't just leave hi-" Rou began, but she had already gone, galloping away as quickly as she could until she was nothing more than a golden speck on the horizon. The colt - Kaiode - laid helplessly in the sand, his coat covered by sand and caked in amniotic fluid. The stallion stared at him.
Diable Rouge began to question himself on what to do, standing motionless. The child looked weak, and in that moment worthless. The stallion breathed in deeply...he could not take care of a child, especially not this one. Although Rou wanted something to protect, he felt uneasy about taking a child that wasn't his, especially one that looked so feeble and inadequate...the stallion turned to leave.
Lucifer thought the same about you... A voice, his mother's, rang in his mind. The voice sounded distant...but he knew it was hers. The only one to ever care about him. ...you are now strong, because once you were weak...
The smoke cleared, and the memories flooded back - they were dim, like he hadn't replaced the light bulb...but they were there. He thought back to the times he was ignored, beaten, and tortured because Lucifer underestimated him. He remembered the fights he won, and how he intended to prove Lucifer wrong.
Maybe this was his time to do that.
Diable Rouge changed his mind, and turned around, walking over to Kiaode. He bent his neck to pull at the colt's soft black fluff of mane.
"Rise, child." He spoke softly - the colt had gone through so much in such a short time...he didn't need someone else being cruel to him. "I will help you."
07-22-2017, 12:44 PM (This post was last modified: 07-22-2017, 12:56 PM by Kaiode.)
His life has been a blur thus far. The landscapes they passed changed as quickly as the minutes in his mind. The bright hues of his birthplace, earthy tones of the next. Now this. Thankfully the swim across the waters had cleaned his coat - slightly - from the dried lumps. Now though he was crusted with sand...
Lids had nearly shuttered when a deep voice was telling him to stand. Why bother, he thought. His ear flicked as a pest buzzed past. Eyes reopened as he tossed his head up to view whoever was speaking to him. It was the stallion from before. I will help you, he continued. His ebony fluff tail swatted the sands as his legs thrashed to seat himself upright, before following through onto his still wobbly legs.
He tipped one way and then the other before standing square. Viewing the bulk of the rusty stallion then trailing his view to his face. He snorted sand from his nares before a shallow breath was taken...
Diable Rouge felt a twinge of empathy for the colt surge through his veins. Weak, beaten down...in the colt's tired eyes, Rou could see himself. He could see the hurt that was coursing through him; it radiated into the stallion.
He watched patiently as Kaiode mustered the strength to rise on wobbly legs. The child gained his balance slowly; he was gaunt and exhausted. He snorted, blowing a puff of loose granulates from his nostrils. The colt mustered a simple "hello." He was in desperate need of cleaning...and while the stag was aware of what mother's did for their children, in all honesty, he didn't know everything. He bent to the colt's level, and began prying the clumps of sand and fluid off with his teeth. The clusters clung vigorously to Kaiode, and it took a lot of pulling to actually rid him of everything.
Diable Rouge knew the pain would just be another thing to add to the list of hardships this little one faced.
"I am Diable Rouge," The stallion spoke softly, head still close to the child's frame as he finished cleaning the bay colt. "You can call me Rou." The stallion rose and gave Kaiode the most reassuring smile he could, but he felt the anxiety beginning to grow in the pit of his stomach.
The colt was a newborn, and while the stallion could provide protection, he could obviously not supply everything. The child needed a nursing mare...and he needed one quickly, or he may not survive. He doubted the colt's insensitive dam did anything other than make him start running. He needed someone...anyone...to provide some milk for the next few months.
Rou kept his composure, however, and willed the colt to follow him.
"Come, Kaiode," He urged, walking away from the sand and onto the grass. Out of the pits of his stomach, Diable Rouge called for somebody - anybody - to help him. This was a job not even he could do by himself.
Perched atop weak legs the ashed bay colt looked to the stallions face. Noticing the concerned expression obvious in the rigged muscles of his cheek and empathetic eyes. His own golden eyes lightless as the stallion observed his weakened state. His gaze fell from him as neck lowered. The heavy weight of his head taking a toll on the colt to carry. He was fading quickly.
The stallion neared and as gently as he could, began to pluck through his sienna and ash fluff. A wince each time a patch was pulled from his flesh. Now his ebony tail barely twitched in retaliation. He had no more strength.
No more will to go on.
Once he finished as best the stallion could he gave a name. Rou... A rough edged smile broke across the stallions lips but Kaiode could tell it was forced. There was little to smile about here. Death was circling his frail body and Rou knew it.
Rou paused in thought then attempted to coax the colt inland. Come Kaiode... Still his eyes didn't lift but remained distant. Focusing on his raspy breaths and tiring legs. He has been through too much, too quickly. His front knees buckle as his body collapses back onto the sands. I can't, he wants to say but doesn't find his voice. His dimmed eyes close shut as he brings his small head to rest at his side...
07-27-2017, 05:28 PM (This post was last modified: 07-27-2017, 05:29 PM by Diable Rouge.)
Diable Rouge didn't know what to do. Two-toned eyes wide, and heart collapsing as he watched the weak foal in front of him dying slowly.
The ashy colt was feeble, and he was unable to stand any longer. His legs wobbled slightly before completely buckling, his frail body plummeting back to the sand as the stallion tried to make him move forward. Kaiode tried to say something, but it came out a pathetic squeak.
Another cry erupted from the stallion's belly, and he bent his head to eye level of the colt, who leaned on him for support. If he was going to die, at least Rou could bring him some peace. His life had barely started and it already was ripped away.
He let the weak colt lay as he sang a sort-of lullaby his mother used to; it was soft and slow, and Rou felt his heart wrenching as the words belted out from his stomach.
"Two blackbirds on a highway sign,
are laughing at me at four in the morning.
They play the war drum out of time...
So I'm not sure where I've been marching.
I want to be strong...but it's not easy anymore.
I'm hoping I'm wrong..."
07-28-2017, 01:57 PM (This post was last modified: 07-28-2017, 02:02 PM by Solace.)
Solace
Little Solace, a delicate as could be, followed a trail of seashells. They led her up the shoreline, away from her mother and brother, and to a mermaids grotto she was sure. But the seahorse kingdom was quickly forgotten when she lifted her round blue eyes to see a curious sight. A father sings his son a song she had never heard before and she listens intently, not knowing enough to wonder if she is intruding.
The song ends and as the thin boy’s head collapses to the ground she begins to suspect something is not quite right. This is not a very good napping place. She thinks as she looks over her shoulder to see if her mother or Svedka have followed her, but she cannot see past the bend in the coastline where she had come from. Stepping forward she brings her pink nose to touch the boy’s muzzle, her eyes wide and blinking. “Hello,” she whispers, lipping at the salt which has dried in white chalky lines across his face.
And then the soft golden shape of her mother is beside her, but she does not look away from her new sleepy friend.
Tangerine allows Solace to wander a little, watching with amusement as the girl walks briskly up the coast with her muzzle gliding above the ground. But soon she sighs and rises from her place in the sand to follow and make sure the little filly does not find her way into the surf. “Svedka, come with me.” She calls out gently to her son who is scaling sand dunes.
As she rounds the bend the sight of the two strangers takes her by surprise. And she breaks into a trot, looking at the colt and back to the stallion. “Is something wrong? Do you need help?”
The song ended, and the boy was still. Diable Rouge bowed his head closer to his chest, and took a long, deep breath, letting the familiar feeling of sadness envelop him. It felt like a weight being placed on his shoulders - another burden of death to bare. Although, he wasn't sure if the colt was dead, he had a feeling in the pit of his stomach that told him otherwise.
And then, another child made herself known, as she came from the shoreline to the pair. In her naivety, she whispered a soft "hello" to the motionless colt, and played at his sand-covered face with child-like wonder. Rou did not have the heart to tell her to stop...to tell her that her newfound friend may not be breathing for very much longer. And then, a shape appears beside the child, with another close behind. They are all nearly identical - a family.
"Is something wrong? Do you need help?" The buckskin mare asks, concern written on her face. The roan raises his head and swallows, looking to the two children by her side. Could she help, with two hungry children at her heels? He hoped, if Kaiode was still alive, she could be of some assistance. The boy couldn't die...not this way.
"His...his mother. She just left him here, like he was nothing. She didn't even clean him," He looked down to the ashy colt. "I want to help him...but I don't have the most important thing he needs." The stallion breathes deeply, and then looks into the mare's amber eyes with his own two-toned hues. He hoped that maybe, just maybe, she would help him.
