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Post by ponybones on Dec 15, 2014 15:03:30 GMT -5
Sunrise Burns My Fortress Down
After she and Stormcry had removed the make-shift spear from Naphtali's side, stuffed it with cotton and lace, and managed to move his dead weight from underfoot of the battle, Obscura seemed a little lost as the other mare disappeared again, off to do whatever Exiles did, surely. She lay next to Naphtali's prone shape, watching for signs of life, feeling his chest move slightly against her side as his body breathed shallowly, however there were no lights on inside. He was on autopilot, his body seeking life without him fully inhabiting it. Obscura looked vaguely guilt-stricken as she lay beside him, her chin resting on his shoulder, the shoulder of yet another Exile. For all the Lore that she had memorized about these heathen horses, they seemed...well...just like everybody else. It was hard to treat them as lesser beings when they were merely misguided individuals, cast out by the Great Compromiser long ago for their ancestor's evil doings. Was their blood really so tainted? It was hard to say. Naphtali's blood looked just like her own.
So she lay there with him, until finally he stirred back to life, his head lifting heavily from the grass, his eyes starting to come back to focus. Obscura lifted her head off of him, and awkwardly gained her feet as he struggled to do the same. "Can you stand, Exile? Obscura said, with her best attempt at being gruff but rather just sounded slightly preposterous. Naphtali looked at her as if she was slightly mad, before trying again. His legs were weak, and it took all of his might to lurch upwards, and in doing so, dislodged his dressings and collapsed back down, blood starting already to trickle once more and darken his fur. Naphtali's golden eyes began to look hazy again. "Stay here." Obscura said, as if he had a choice, and began to wander away, looking for help.
It wasn't too hard of a task, she realized as she recognized the familiar dark greyish, spotted coat of her husband's friend and her own fellow adviser Guntram, looking a little disgruntled as he tried to find his place in the war, a crack of lightning illuminating his figure for long enough for her eyes to focus. "Guntram, I need your help!" She called to him, rearing up a little bit to catch his attention, though the thunder all but drowned out her voice. Please see me... she thought desperately, before looking back at her charge. She was loathe to part with him, it seemed terrible to do such a thing while he suffered so much. They needed to get him real attention, perhaps by a healer, and she was unsure of whether Exiles offered those services. She took a few steps forward as lightning crackled above them once more, and the rain started to pelt down harder. It was somewhat eerie to behold, as the sun strained to peek through the heavy clouds, lighting up the sky behind them with a bizarre red and pink.
Word Count:// 521 |
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Post by raveniice on Dec 15, 2014 18:16:08 GMT -5
The slender mare shivered against the rain that seemed to increase in force with every passing minute. She had lost sight of her partner, and wherever he had gone she knew not. As she trotted up the slope of a hill that rose from the leveled ground of the vast field, she squinted against the rain, her eyes searching for anyone else that could possibly need her help. The Summer Fields before her, although night had given way to day, did not glow vibrant with summer colors as it's name implied. Taking a cold breath into her lungs she carefully made her way down the hill, careful not to slip on the wet grass.
Suddenly the pale mare jumped as lightning crackled in the sky, followed by the distant rumbling of thunder. But luckily something caught her attention and interrupted her moment of fright. "...I need your help!" Was all that reached her ears, but that was enough to get her going. Her long legs pushed against the ground, propelling her forward as she headed straight for the direction of the voice, and minutes later she found who it belonged to. But the sight before her was almost too frightening for the mare to behold. What in all of Chevalin could have done something like that to him?!
Io approached slowly and with caution, she didn't know many members of her herd, but she did know that the other two horses were not of the Exiles. She couldn't take her pale blue eyes off of the red stallion lying on the grass, blood trickling from his wound. She had no knowledge of healing, but she did know a few tricks, enough that had helped her in the past. But as she watched him for a moment more she couldn't help but feel the worst.
-Word Count: 306
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Post by ghillietoes42 on Dec 15, 2014 21:12:29 GMT -5
The battle whirled about him, and Guntram lost sight of Vasska as he was torn away to yet another fight. Himself being drawn by the flow of the fighting horses around him, he cast about in search of a way out - trying to find somewhere to breathe and get his bearings once again.
Then, a familiar voice floated to his ears, barely audible over the roar of the fighting. His head snapped up as he spun about on his rear legs, searching for the source.
"Obscura!" What was she doing out here, in the battle? He had thought that she had stayed back - that had her intention earlier in the day, hadn't it? What could possibly have pulled her out here. Could... Could something have happened to Arturo?
His heart pounding, he galloped to the dark mare, not paying any notice to the hooves and occasional teeth that lashed out toward him from the fray. He skidded to a halt when he reached her, a few clumps of turf and mud getting kicked up from his feet. He dreaded having to look at whose injuries might have caused her such fear...
His breath caught as he looked down at the wounded horse. No, not one of their own, thank the unicorns. But... he looked terrible. It didn't matter who this was; they didn't deserve to suffer like this. His thoughts reeling, overwhelmed by the ugliness of war that had arisen yet again, tearing their world and so many lives apart, he looked to Obscura with great sadness in his eyes. "This needs to stop," he muttered. "What can I do to help you?"
|| Word count: 273
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Post by ponybones on Dec 16, 2014 13:18:29 GMT -5
Obscura watched as Guntram approached and analyzed the lifeless body of the Exile stallion, though the bleeding had stopped now that he wasn't warping the wound with his movement. What CAN we do? Obscura thought, not having any clue beyond 'if it bleeds, put something over it to stop it' when it came to healing. She had been hoping the older stallion would have a better idea of what they might be able to do about him, though perhaps it wasn't the case. It felt better not to be completely alone, however, with a familiar face that she trusted to at least attempt assistance.
However they looked like fools, standing over the fainted Exile as they were, and as lightning crashed again, Obscura sighed, clenching her eyes shut. "I guess...we need to move him further away, and find a healer." That was the best she could come up with. It seemed like the fight had started so central, and now it grew and grew as other horses were caught running away, or stepping over fallen comrades. As she opened her eyes, she saw something pale moving off in her peripheral vision, coming up slowly. She willed her eyes to focus, and they did, barely. No familiar horse - a Bachelor or Exile surely. Her ears started to fold back, apprehensive of the slow gait at which the stranger was coming closer, and cast a side-long glance at her companion. She knew that he had more experience with battle than she did, but he was an older horse, and she herself was frail. What if this other meant them harm?
The war was no place for her, that was for sure. She'd been utterly useless before, and now she felt even more so. She was scared and she hated it - why were the Unicorns testing them so thoroughly? What had they done to deserve this. "Stop there, whoever you are." Obscura said, her voice sounding at least slightly less airy than usual.
Word Count:// 332
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Post by raveniice on Dec 17, 2014 0:25:41 GMT -5
Io's eyes widened slightly when she realized that the dark mare was speaking to her. She forced her ears to flick forward from their previously flattened position as she slowed even more to a stop. "Please, I-I mean you no harm." She tried to sound as confident as she could, raising her head above her shoulders. "I don't want to fight." She added, her pale blue eyes switching from the mare to the red stallion on the ground. She had gotten a little closer now, but was still a reasonably safe and cautious distant from them. But now she got a good look at him. Although she never knew him personally or had even spoken to him, she had at least seen him once before among her herd. Her ears suddenly flattened, pinning against her white head. The sight of one of her own herd members in such a state shocked her, and broke her heart. "P-please," her eyes pleaded with the mare. "Let me offer you my help."
She stood there quietly, her heart beating rapidly within her chest. She was so scared. War was so new to her and she was beginning to see the cost of it. It tore her in two knowing that there was nothing she could have done to prevent it, and even now she had no idea what she could possibly do to help. But at this point, and based upon what she had seen, she was willing to do anything.
-Word Count: 251
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Post by ghillietoes42 on Dec 17, 2014 19:58:59 GMT -5
Shaking his head, Guntram sought desperately to clear his thoughts. This wasn't the time for panic, fear, or regret. There was no time for that in battle. The evidence lay before him, unconscious and bleeding. "Yes," he said, his voice regaining a little of its typical confidence. "This is no place for healing." And no place for me anymore, he thought. I can't help anyone like this.
At Obscura's words of warning, he snapped his head away from inspecting the silver bay stallion. He watched the two mares as they stared at each other, both seeming just as scared and out of their comfort as he. He had never heard Obscura's voice so defiant, and he found it more chilling than even her eerie predictions and morbid fascination. His muscles instinctively tensed, slowly settling into a defensive position. He didn't want it to come to a fight, but clearly this day hadn't to follow his wishing. If only his luck would change.
His voice low and gentle, he offered his own words to the two mares. "I don't want to fight, either. Too much damage has already been done. Please, let there be some road we can take out of this mess and talk as civilized creatures. I wonder what the Unicorns would think of our behavior through these recent seasons..."
|| Word count: 221
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Post by ponybones on Dec 18, 2014 16:52:19 GMT -5
Obscura's eyes narrowed a little bit as she watched the strange mare stop, and stutter out her words, claiming that she didn't want a fight. Her own ears tucked back further against her head as she watched the other horse with her failing vision, not trusting the stranger. Exiles didn't seem too terrible, but Bachelor mares, she couldn't find trustworthy. They stayed with these stallions and were created into their servants, essentially. They bore them children out of wedlock, against the Unicorns' wishes, and saved their heathen hides in this war even though they were treated so poorly. One shouldn't trust a horse that couldn't explain their actions, at least being in their own self interest or in the Unicorns', and helping their own captors in war did not seem to make any sense. There was nothing about this mare that said Bachelor per se, but how could Obscura be certain?
She glanced over at Guntram as he suggested civilized discussion, and looked at him as if he had just started speaking jibberish. "Our only punishable action is helping this Exile. They sent them away for a reason, and they sent us to war for a reason." She said, staring at Guntram as if she still couldn't believe what she had heard, and then down at the stallion. "How do you know she's not some Bachelor mare sent to trick us?" She added, lifting her head, looking somewhat indignant.
Word Count:// 240
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Post by raveniice on Dec 18, 2014 17:15:38 GMT -5
Unfortunately the pale mare didn't seem surprised by the other mare's reaction. What was she thinking simply marching up to them, thinking they would simply trust in her words? Her soaked mane was now clinging to her neck and she was feeling the cold at her skin as a stinging pain. Io took in a breath before she forced herself to try and convince them. If this confrontation should ever come to a fight, she knew for certain that there would be no way she could fight back. She wasn't built for war, and she couldn't afford any injuries. "I'm just an Exile wanting to help my own kin," she began, "there are only so few of us out here. I haven't seen many."
Io watched them with sad eyes, wondering if her words made any difference.
-Word Count: 137
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Post by ghillietoes42 on Dec 24, 2014 19:31:45 GMT -5
((my gosh, I'm so sorry for the delay. This week has been awful.))
Again looking to Obscura, he wondered who of them was in a better position to choose a reasonable course of action. He knew he was treading the line on herd politics, but they didn't fit the situation now that he had more information. He wasn't sure if it was some fault in his own character, or perhaps Obscura's in that she was so locked into the letter their traditional laws.
Worried what might arise from the Olde mare's anxiety, Guntram cautiously spoke, proposing what he hoped would cause the least damage to everyone. "We don't need to cause more pain, Obscura. She has not hurt us or any of our brethren, even if she were to be lying about being an Exile. Hurt is not why I'm out here either. If it's too extreme a risk for you to consider negotiation, could we at least let them go in peace? How terrible could it possibly be for us to simply make sure the Exiles may also help their own, when that's all we want for ourselves? This impasse isn't helping anyone either - our own are still in need of help."
Looking back to the paler mare, he let out a slow sigh. "Sometimes, I think tradition needs to be reevaluated. I wish this was a time for more rational decisions." He gestured to the wounded silver bay. "Can you find care for this one? I will not seek to hinder you if you try." He stepped back slightly, providing some neutral space between himself and the unconscious horse on the ground. He still was tense, prepared if anyone were to lash out at him, but he prayed this wouldn't fall to blows.
|| Word count: 282
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