to think of you and think of that; any

[Apocalypta]

I follow suit and laid out on my back...imagine that.

The frosted morning made her grimace, features snared in a twisted snarl. She longs with summer though it had just passed through her grasp. The woman shivered in the slight of the cool as though she were left exposed in freezing temperatures.

But that is what happens when you are skin and bones.

Like tanned hide after it's been cured by the sun, the inky black fur stretches painfully over her bones. The eyes recessed slightly, the lining of her nares less pink. Each footfall thudding dully with the weight of the hooves that dangled from each limb like an ancient church bell. The winter made her creak and pop in it's enthusiastic embrace. Black, black pools skim the clusters of horses. They seem to bask in the warm rays of light as they chit chat and laugh. The skeletal mare does not envy then. In fact she sashays her bony right along with the rest of them. She was born different. She was born of bone and flesh and she fancies this.


Heavy skull sinks to the earth upon it's slender post as sharp incisors clip at the small shoots of new grass. Ever watching dark eyes shift to the forms that neared her. Ears flicker as she first hears then sees a set of hooves approaching and stopping. Crown lifts as those empty eyes stare unblinking at equine that has just thrust themselves into her company.

apocalypta

[Zayn]

It hadn’t taken him long to come to a decision regarding the Mourning Mountains. The hole left by Gryffen’s disappearance needs to be filled, and who better to fill it, than his own, dear son …

But first he needs mares. He already has one foolish wanderer trapped against her will, but one mare does not make a herd. He needs more - more mares to carry on his line and his father’s line.

So naturally he has come to the field. The pickings are slim today - most of the mares present have already been snapped up by recruiters and other stallions - but it does not take him overly long to discover a mare that has yet to be approached. And what a mare it is.

The dark creature is all skin and bone, as if someone had taken a skeleton and simply stretched a thin hide over it. She is horrifying to look at, and yet entrancing at the same time. She looks as if she should be on death’s door, but there is health there that should be impossible. Of course, she is still weak, but there are advantages to that too.

He must have her.

He does not hide as he approaches, instead boldly fastening his red eyes on her body in open appreciation. He does not shy away from her strangeness - he embraces it. He stops when he is a respectful distance away, but he cannot help the smile that crawls across his face. “What’s a beautiful mare like you doing here all by yourself?”

ZAYN

I'm an ugly mess

[Smother]

Smother

I just love the field.

It is like Christmas, all these presents laying around with no name tag. You get to judge on outer wrapping and the size of the package, you get to leave lots or pick lots. You can have a holly jolly holiday all in an hour should you please.

Which is why I am making more of an effort to treat myself. After all I do deserve a little more recognition in the Jungle and I won’t get that basking in the sun all hours of the day (though as a cold blooded reptile shifter, it is preferable).

Turkish is resting in a wrap around my neck, his head resting comfortably on my withers. He, on the other hand, would much rather bask in the sun than gain a little brownie point.

And then, I see the perfect opportunity.

The girl is skin and bones, though I am not much of a sympathizer. I had been homeless for years and yet I remained a fancy figure. No, what intrigues me is a man stalking her like a cougar on the trail of a doe. What sparks my interest is the fact I could be her saviour from this thirsty brute.

Well, you say saviour, I say doubled intentions but really, who is even listening to me.

“Hello,” I vocalize as I become within speaking distance, I feel Turkish tighten around my neck as he watches the stallion. Turkish hates males, maybe because of what they have done to me or perhaps because they all seemed as honest as a boy in church, but again… who am I to judge?

“I am Smother, from the Amazons.”