Expanding My Horizons | Private

Little Bird hummed absentmindedly to herself, trotting out of the mountains and into green fields as she made her way to the Great Pine. The journey had been a treacherous one especially with all the tears she had shed on the mountain over her father's death. It had been so sudden that she was still in shock that it was even true. Half of her wanted to believe that he was still where she had left him, happy and alive, waiting on her return like he always did, but she knew that he had been raising her to be a Ranger to take his place one day. She just hadn't expected it to be so soon.

The beautiful landscape around her was a welcome escape though. The roan mare broke out into a gallop over the hills, giggling to herself as she chased bugs that tried to fly out of harms way. Her legs ached from the journey though and soon begged for her to rest. A sigh of relief rushed out of her at the sight of a small group of trees that stood in the middle of the plains. The shade washed over her, and she found a tree near the middle of the small bunch to rest under.

Her eyes closed fer a moment before she heard the steady hoofsteps of someone nearby. Her head jerked up. She had heard stories of the Bachelor herd and their horrors. No way was she about to be taken by one of them to their herd. Bird stood up, waiting for whoever it was to show themselves. It was too late to run. All she could do was fight if she had to.

Bird's ears were pinned back slightly as a young stallion came into view. Her heart hammered in her chest. Her father had told her that if she were ever on the Eastern island to never trust any stallion that approached her. He had told her that they were all snakes ready to steal her away and use her solely as a foal maker to add numbers to their herd.

This one seemed honestly curious about her well being though. She knew it was hard to fake true curiosity and concern, so she lowered her guard slightly. "My name is Little Bird. I came from the island of Olde, so that's probably why you've never seen me before," she said with a small chuckle. This stallion seemed nice enough though she couldn't help but feel a bit on edge. She'd heard plenty of horror stories of the Bachelor herd.

Her legs shook beneath her in exhaustion, and she flopped back down on the ground. "Sorry. I'm just really tired. Those mountains weren't exactly forgiving." The roan mare let out a slightly nervous laugh. Her eyes glanced over at the stallion, Ephraim, as if expecting him to do something while she was vulnerable.

Little Bird chuckled at the younger stallion's frantic tone. She shook her head with a small smile. Maybe he wasn't like all of his brethren. "Thank you, Ephraim, but I think I'll be okay." The roan mare said, flicking her long mane out of her eyes. Readjusting her legs to get into a more comfortable position, she tried to remember all he had asked her. "I came from the city on Olde which is conveniently on the other side of the island from the landbridge," Bird said in a joking tone, rolling her brown eyes at her misfortune. 'It's also where my father died just a short while ago.' Her mind whirled in shock. It was still hard for to believe that her father was really gone. He had been such a constant thing in her life that she had really taken him for granted.

The loner mare nodded with a soft laugh. "It's okay," she said in a light tone as Ephraim slid to the ground as well. Her ears perked at the stallion's question. "Yes, Olde is my home. I was born and raised there in the city," Bird said with a sad smile. She didn't have to worry about being far from family any longer. Her teeth ground together as she fought back the tears that had been so constant during her trip through the mountains. No way was she going to cry in front of this stranger, no matter how nice he seemed. "So you have family here on the Eastern island? I wish I had siblings sometimes." She said in hopes to distract him from her wavering voice and teary eyes. 

 

Little Bird nodded with a grin at the thought of the glorious city that she was born in. "The Olde city is really beautiful with lots of interesting things in it that the humans used to use," she said, smiling as she talked about the wonders of her home. "I've got my own little collect of things that I thought were pretty cool." Bird lifted her head proudly. Her little collection of treasures weren't exactly amazing, but they all held a soft spot in her heart.

She listened intently as Ephraim talked about his family. It made since that a Bachelor would have a rather large family. They did like to keep their herd furbished with lots of fighters and horses to take young mares such as herself. The strawberry roan shuddered slightly at the thought. She couldn't imagine how hard it must be for the mares of that herd, so much expectation to perform and no respect in return. "Well, that's good. I'm sure your brother and mother are good teachers," Bird said with a small smile.

Her brown eyes swept over the landscape. The rolling hills of the Eastern island were so different from her usual sight of crumbling concrete. "This place is really beautiful. I wish I had more time to explore it some," she said, gazing out at the graceful fields.

Little Bird's brown eyes gleamed at the colt's excitement at the mention of her little collection of human things. "Yep! It's a hobby of mine. It's hard not to find cool things in the Olde city. There's tons of human things laying around. It's just a matter of finding them," she said with a fond grin. It was a hobby that she didn't get to do too often with the rigorous Ranger training her father had put her through, but it was something she certainly enjoyed. "Really? That's strange. Some of the things are pretty interesting. My favorite that I've found has to be some of the books I've found. They have really pretty pictures in them that depict, what I think, are things from the past." Bird nodded at her words, remembering some of the drawings that were in the books she had. "Lots of them are pretty faded though, so it's a little hard to see them, but some of them are still bright enough to see what's on it."

The roan mare nodded at Ephraim's words, trying to imagine what it was like here in the different seasons. She couldn't imagine it being very forgiving in the winter with no protection like the Olde city offered. "Yeah, I bet it gets pretty cold here in the winter especially with no place to really hide for shelter." Bird agreed, looking out over the swooping, green hills that laid before them.

At the colt's next question, Bird simply shook her head, stopping short when he mentioned her family. She clenched her jaw, grinding her teeth together as she fought back the raking sobs that had plagued her since her father's death. The strawberry roan blinked rapidly as few times, taking a deep breath before responding. "My mother left me when I was really young, and my father.... left as well recently, so I guess I don't really have to worry about anyone missing me," Little Bird said with a sad smile. A ragged sigh escaped her, and she averted her brown eyes from Ephraim to hid the fact that tears were beginning to form in them.

(( Don't worry about it!~ <3 There's no rush. ^-^ ))

Her brown eyes swam with tears of her own, and she forced back a sob as the young colt began sputtering apologies. Rangers were supposed to be strong and powerful, and here she was crying in front of a horse that she was meant to be protecting. Granted that her father had died and left her with no one after having been there her entire life... that was a saddening thing to think about. "It's alright, Ephraim. You couldn't have known. Both of my parents were quite elderly, so it was really just a matter of time." She explained with a tired sigh. Little Bird shifted her weight with a flick of her long tail. It had been a long, treacherous journey through the island of Olde and over the mountains just past the landbridge, and her hooves seemed to ache from all of the walking.

'I shouldn't be so teary eyed in front of such a young horse. He must think the world is a truly awful place after seeing a grown horse brought to tears.' She pondered silently, clenching her jaws. Her father wouldn't want her to be so weak, even after his death. He would want her to push on and fulfill the task he had trained her for for all those years. Her ears perked up as Ephraim began speaking again. "Yeah, meeting your herd doesn't sound like a very good idea." Bird joked, chuckling softly. "I'm sure some of them are nice, but I'd rather not meet the not-so-nice ones." Looking away and toward the grassy hills, she wondered where exactly his herd was. She'd been avoiding them pretty successfully so far, but obviously by meeting Ephraim, she was getting a little too close. Her brows narrowed slightly as she thought of what Ephraim had said. He didn't know about what his herd did? He was young, but surely he had a general idea of where the mares of his herd came from. They didn't just appear by some form of unicorn magic. Maybe the Bachelors didn't let the younger stallions participate in any of their 'antics'.

Little Bird snorted gently and rose to her hooves. The warmblood mare stretched out her sore legs, allowing some blood to flow back to her limbs. If he really didn't know why she was so terrified of the sight of his x-shaped scar, Little Bird wasn't going to ruin whatever image he had of his herd. He'd let them decide on what he thought of them themselves. "I'd love to know a more about this island from a resident of it." Little Bird gave him warm smile as she nodded in agreement. "Lead the way." 

Little Bird nodded at Ephraim's apology. "Thank you. It can get lonely at times, especially after living with my father for so long, but I guess that's why we are called loners." She joked, chuckling softly. 'I hope I can find others as nice as Ephraim to be around. Traveling alone forever doesn't sound very welcoming.' She thought, shaking off some of the dirt on her pelt.

She rubbed her face against one of her legs before walking after the young stallion. A smile pulled at the corners of her lips at the sight of the hop in his step, and she wondered if he got to see very many horses outside of his herd. She knew most tended to avoid this island because of its deadly inhabitants, but there had to be a few horses that roamed this place. It was much to beautiful to neglect at least trying to explore it.

The roan mare quickened her pace, trying to match Ephraim's even though her legs were still sore from her long journey. Her ears swiveled in his direction as he chose a path for them to take. "A river? I was beginning to think this entire island was just grasslands." Bird laughed as her brown eyes swept over the green grasses around them.