12-11-2015, 01:20 AM
She remembered this place from before. The deep shadows which blanketed the undergrowth, the old tree trunks with their branches that creaked and whispered words indistinguishable yet no doubt bore secrets untold and yet sought. Those unspoken whispers had told her to come back, to explore and to discover. And as she had travelled with the companionship of her two young friends to the Gates, Illae had made a promise to herself and to the forest, that she would return when she could.
That day had come. And Illae lingered beneath the creaking branches of one of the old giants, her nose pressed against the moss covered surface of a gnarled root twisted out of the earth. The moss was soft and she breathed in its curious scent and wondered how such a thing could grow in such a place.
Thump
Illae twitched an inquisitive ear towards the noise. It sounded wrong, and not something intoned within the naturalness of the forest.
Thud
She lifted her delicate head, the moss disregarded when she realised there was something else strange lurking between the tree trunks. And because the thrill of discovering something new was too big a draw, Illae stepped away from the shadow of her tree, and moved be it with curiosity or foolishness towards the sounds.
She moved as silently as she could, each hoof-fall placed carefully on the patches of earth free from leaf or twig. Although soon enough from her own carelessness or perhaps from the annoying incoordination of her growing limbs, a twig snapped beneath her weight, and with a wince of disappointment, Illae knew her game was up. And yet, perhaps that didn’t matter, for as she rounded another tree close to the noise, she discovered a young stallion who seemed so unaware that she began to wonder if her effort and game of being as silent as a tree shadow had been wasted on him…
Illae thought yes. And she moved towards him with intent and wearing the disappointed scowl she could remember her mother had always worn when she had returned to the herd covered in mud. “You’re disturbing everything.” She informed him matter-of-factly, her frown becoming pointed. She breathed in a whiff of him, his strange scent becoming embedded within her nostrils. There was something about that scent she didn’t like, something that almost felt like it could choke the life out of a horse if it became too strong. “You smell odd.” She said, her voice trembling with her curiosity rather than any fear. “Why?”
That day had come. And Illae lingered beneath the creaking branches of one of the old giants, her nose pressed against the moss covered surface of a gnarled root twisted out of the earth. The moss was soft and she breathed in its curious scent and wondered how such a thing could grow in such a place.
Thump
Illae twitched an inquisitive ear towards the noise. It sounded wrong, and not something intoned within the naturalness of the forest.
Thud
She lifted her delicate head, the moss disregarded when she realised there was something else strange lurking between the tree trunks. And because the thrill of discovering something new was too big a draw, Illae stepped away from the shadow of her tree, and moved be it with curiosity or foolishness towards the sounds.
She moved as silently as she could, each hoof-fall placed carefully on the patches of earth free from leaf or twig. Although soon enough from her own carelessness or perhaps from the annoying incoordination of her growing limbs, a twig snapped beneath her weight, and with a wince of disappointment, Illae knew her game was up. And yet, perhaps that didn’t matter, for as she rounded another tree close to the noise, she discovered a young stallion who seemed so unaware that she began to wonder if her effort and game of being as silent as a tree shadow had been wasted on him…
Illae thought yes. And she moved towards him with intent and wearing the disappointed scowl she could remember her mother had always worn when she had returned to the herd covered in mud. “You’re disturbing everything.” She informed him matter-of-factly, her frown becoming pointed. She breathed in a whiff of him, his strange scent becoming embedded within her nostrils. There was something about that scent she didn’t like, something that almost felt like it could choke the life out of a horse if it became too strong. “You smell odd.” She said, her voice trembling with her curiosity rather than any fear. “Why?”