Mighty Protection, Gentle Love

Torch followed his new mother at a springy trot, fairly close, still wary of his new and unknown surroundings. But as they traveled on, and the country grew more beautiful and quiet, he dared step away a few more strides, and gave Joyous a playful nudge with his muzzle. ''You live here?'' he said wonderingly, staring at the broad river, ears pricking at the sound of the thundering falls crashing on the rocks below. But he was distracted by the sound of a call, and then the appearance of another horse, just as large as Zora if not even more so. And this one, a stallion, had something about him- Torch could not put a word to it, not yet, but it was the aura of a leader, the sort of stallion he had never met. He did not know his father, not even the name, and never thought about it; he loved Cormorant, but this one was different. He realized that he quite respected this horse, very much indeed. Rather than bounding forward to introduce himself, he hung back, behind Zora, beside Joyous, not fearful, but slightly apprehensive.

High on the ridge moved a single silhouette, occasionally splitting into two but also rejoining again. Distant enough, but also near enough. Smoke glanced occasionally at the group below, but was fairly disinterested. A little herd, was all. She had her own worries, a lone mare struggling to raise her young colt in the wild. Fire bounded in and out of her shadow, never straying far, but pausing to regard an oddly shaped stick on the ground or a clump of delicate wildflowers. He was thin, as colts his age generally were, but not in any way that endangered his wellbeing. His mother showed fairly good health as well; she had abandoned her awkward limp, realizing that she was far from Dagger and in any case, if he did find her, he would see through it immediately. One did not break a hip and survive, much less maintain solid weight; not in the wild.

Torch listened to the adult deliberations vaguely, aware that they must be discussing him but not understanding and therefore, in his childish mind, not interested. Rather, he regarded his surroundings, sleepily curious, waiting for them to finish the talk that older horses seemed so fond of. The colt turned to Joyous, intent on asking her about this fascinating place, but she seemed to be more interested in napping. He flicked his creamy brush of a tail pensively, wondering if perhaps he should do the same. He was certainly quite tired, and hungry too; but this he had been for his life as far as his memory could sense, which, though not long at all, was all he knew.

Torch jumped slightly when he was spoken to by the large one, and turned about in a submissive fashion. His self-preservation instincts told him this was not one whom he could afford to be cheeky towards. ''Thank you,'' he answered politely, uncertain what to say. What did he know of protocol? He did, however, feel quite comfortable around Zora; she was his mother now, Cormorant had said, and mother was the safest thing on the planet, or so said his instincts. He trotted forward on his toothpick legs, coming near her side with happy obedience.

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Smoke glanced at the horizon. The burning summer sun was dipping low, and soon the dusky night would fall over them. And Fire was tired; he did not run back and forth now, but stayed close to her flanks, stumbling over rocks and tussocks of grass. The quiet mare cast an eye at the small band below again, but decided they were no threat. No doubt she was either on or very near the stallion's lands, but if he was going to be picky and come interrogate them, escape would be simple. She could see any movement from up here, and both she and Fire could easily outrun those drafts. They had the upper hand in strength, but that came at the price of speed. Smoke stopped abruptly, giving Fire a gentle nudge. The bright chestnut colt took the cue and fell into a tangled pile, which quickly organized itself into a comfortable, sprawled position, ears flicking occasionally and sides rising and falling in gentle sleep.

ooc: Smoke and Fire will be joining whether you like it or not. If you don't like it, they can always leave later. But they don't have to join this instant, it could be a bit later, up to you, so I will leave the window open.

Torch stumbled along by Zora, careful not to step on the snoozing Joyous. Just looking at her, imagining how comfortable she must be, what wonderful dreams she was experiencing, he was tempted to forego his meal and simply sprawl out in the grass. But though he was young, he was also sensible; if he went to bed on an empty stomach, he would just have weird dreams and not sleep very well at all.

The fluffy-coated foal nuzzled in beside his surrogate mother's flanks, sensing comfort in her warmth, and also the prospect of food. He didn't think he was so hungry, his growling belly having taken a break over the past few days, but after suckling for a few moments he realized he was starving. Torch nursed greedily, white brush of tail flapping side to side with satisfaction. When he had drunk his fill and then some, the colt licked his lips clean and looked up at Zora sleepily. He was quite content with his lot in life, beside this warm body, protected by the huge one, played with by Joyous.

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Smoke raised her delicate head with pricked ears. She sensed that they had been spotted; or at least she had been. Fire, curled up in the tall summer grasses, was quite invisible to anyone standing more than a few feet away. The mare blew out through her nostrils, regarding the foreign stallion edgily. She took an instinctive step over Fire, prepared to nudge him awake if need be, and he stirred in his sleep. But, unless the situation evolved further, there was no need to panic. Smoke lowered her head to the grass, cropping just the tops, keeping one eye firmly affixed on the distant strangers.

(ooc: I'm ready whenever you are, just trying to figure out a reasonable way to enter. BTW, you think we should skip Dusty for a post or two in AA, for the sake of making this place look active? I don't know about you, but I've noticed a distinct dying, even before Dusty poofed. I'm working on advertising, but in the meantime I'm at a loss of what to do. Most of my horses are involved in dusty's threads. BTW, is your internet any better?)

Torch watched the mare for a bit, a speck of light in her massive shadow, then turned his eyes on the stallion. The colt followed his adoptive father's gaze, but saw nothing of interest. He had not developed much attentiveness; in a year or less, he could easily have seen the distant stranger, but at this point the horizon held little interest to him. He skipped from Guilo to Joyous, and stepped towards her carefully. She was sleeping so sweetly, he didn't want to disturb her. His new sister. He knew he had another sister, one by blood, but he only vaguely recalled her face. Tucking his legs under his spindly body, Torch sank to the ground near the draft filly, snuggling up in the grass near her warmth.

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Fire stirred gently beneath her, but Smoke only gave him a short glance before fixing her eyes on the others again. She continued to graze, ever watchful, though it did not seem too necessary. They were spotted, or at least she was, but she remained unchallenged, and had no intention of running down there. The mare gave her colt's leg a gentle nudge out of the way, and uncovered a few more strands of grass. She would rather not move from the spot unless she had to, and stray farther from her son. Her son; not Dagger's. He considered himself the father, if he ever thought about her much, but he wasn't. Fire's true father had been a nobody, whose name she had never asked. Most likely he had been executed by this point. It was not a happy choice she had made, but it foiled Dagger, at least. And now Fire was hers, her duty, perhaps her love.

ooc: museless. Um, I will find a way to bring them in, eventually, once I get any ideas that make sense. You post first in AA, since I was the last one to post there.

(ooc: *ponders* In with the power playing. I am the time goddess swede! Fear me, for we shall skip ahead an hour and I say naptime is over, at least for Fire. Not going to post anything for Torch, he's in the same status as Joyous.)

Grazing quietly, Smoke had not noticed much change in the foreign herd. She sensed a slight movement nearby, and lifted her head. Fire was waking up, slowly but surely. Now, he simply lay in the grass, enjoying the late sun's warmth. After a few moments, he got up sleepily and wandered over to nurse, copper-streaked tail waving to and fro. Withdrawing a bit to have a look around, he too spotted the other horses. ''Look mamma!'' he said excitedly, ''There's others down there! Can I go play?'' ''Fire, wait,'' Smoke answered sharply, but he was already trotting down the hill, bright, innocent eyes fastened on the other two foals. One looked huge, but the other one was just his size.

ooc: blah.

Torch stirred as the heat source grew faint, and lifted his sleepy head. He had not slept unusually long, but like many foals preferred several naps rather than one long period of rest, and therefore felt quite refreshed. Looking up, he saw Joyous' shadow falling over him, and rose on his feet. He leaned over and nipped at her tufty mane thoughtfully, then stopped when he saw the spectacle. What fun! But who was it? The large one did not seem happy.

Fire noticed the other foals awaken and went from a bouncy trot to a flying gallop, bucking once or twice as he went along. He failed to notice the mare's concern, nor the stallion come towards him. Smoke, on the other hand, felt a flutter of panic. She was not an obsessive, doting mother, considering the circumstances of his birth, but nonetheless she refused to allow anything to happen to her son. She only hesitated a moment after Fire's departure before streaking after him. It was slow going down the ridge, but as the land flattened out and she could look up from the treacherous ground again, she spotted the stallion, on a collision course with her colt. A sharp whinny erupted from her throat as she summoned Fire, while increasing her speed. She had to get to him first. Smoke did not trust strangers.
Fire slowed, hesitant and confused, and Smoke came to a sliding stop in front of him. Her ears were pinned aggressively, clearly warning the stranger to keep away from her little one. The mare's tail switched, and Fire understood he had done something wrong, huddling behind her.

Smoke shrank back slightly, suspicion in her eyes. She felt the brush of Fire's body against her leg but did not turn to look. ''Would he be anything otherwise?'' she answered harshly. ''You think he is fragile?'' The mare flashed her eyes, quite furious. Smoke had never been a cool, level-headed sort, often dark and brooding; perhaps that was the best way to describe her. Dark. But not evil. Not cruel. That was Ivory.
Fire nudged his mother's leg insistently, knowing that he was in trouble but too bold to allow that to deter him. ''Mamma, can I go play with them?'' he whispered, trying to catch her attention. The mare tightened her ears more flatly against her skull. This was not playtime. If he hadn't acted so foolishly, they could be on their way now, far off, leaving on their journey... to where? It didn't matter; as long as they stayed away from Dagger. She could have simply turned her back and walked off, but she didn't trust the stranger. She trusted no one; and very few trusted her. So she kept her eyes locked on the draft stallion, quite prepared to tear into him if proved a liar like so many others.

Torch pricked his ears, taking a tiny step forward. He wanted to play with the other colt, but that mare looked angry. And the big one might not like it. Or mother. Rather than bounding forward, he weaseled backwards again, close to Joyous and Zora. ''Mama,'' he whispered, looking up at her looming figure, ''Mama, who is that? And why is she angry?''

ooc: muse dead. maybe you can tell. bleargh...

Smoke blew out through her nostrils, staring at the stallion aggressively. Fire gave her leg a push with her muzzle, but she ignored him. Then, quite suddenly, her demeanor loosened, and she replied somewhat stiffly, ''It is not my intention to cause you or anyone else harm. I and my foolish son shall not bring trouble to this land.'' Smoke doubted that Dagger would have forgotten the insult she made to his pride by deceiving him so; it gave her a certain masochistic pleasure, thinking about what he would do when he realized Fire wasn't even his, that it had not been his son she stole away but that of some lowly prisoner, one who had not even held a herd previously.

The ebony mare turned about sharply, and said, ''Come, Fire. We are leaving.'' Smoke began to stalk off, then paused and twisted her head around. The chestnut colt was standing quite still in the grass, gazing at her defiantly. ''I want to play,'' he said. His mother bristled angrily. ''I have told you many times,'' she hissed. ''We stay away from others.'' The colt did not appear to hear. ''I want to play,'' he repeated.

Smoke flattened her ears. She did not want to get into yet another disagreement with her stubborn son; it generally ended up with her being required to either give him a quite sharper nip than usually necessary, and once she had to literally grab him by his tail and drag him for several yards before he gave in. She did not want to resort to such measures.

Torch contemplated this piece of information thoughtfully. ''But, mama, we didn't hurt him or anything,'' he whispered urgently, ''and we're nice. Can't they stay? I want to play too, don't you want to Joyous?'' He directed his words at his adoptive sister, hoping to garner some support for his undeveloped ideas. The colt took a step forward, towards the mare and foal, then hesitated, wary of the stranger. What if she snapped at him too?

Smoke glared at Fire, who stared back defiantly. The mare twitched her tail, and was suddenly struck by a crazy urge to abandon him. Just leave him, here, let him face life and fate alone, not worrying about what happened to him, not glancing over her shoulder every other second to make sure he was safe. Just forget about little Fire, make the colt an insignificant, mildly unpleasant chapter of her life.

But that wasn't allowed. It would make her like Ivory. And she wasn't like Ivory, refused to be, despite her sister's myriad attempts to recruit her. So Smoke stood, waiting, knowing she could not leave but helpless against this brick wall of obstinate colthood. ''We must go. We can't stay here,'' she repeated in a somewhat softened voice, though it still held a stern quality. She would not be reduced to pleading with Fire; that would be too low. But she had no intention of sticking around this place, for several reasons- Dagger, if he followed her, could bring harm to this family, for one; Smoke was not a social sort, for two; and besides, that nasty argument with this stallion was not the best way to make yourself at home.

The colt's lip trembled slightly; he knew he was being disobedient, making trouble for his mother. But the other two foals looked so fun, and he wanted to play, to make some friends, not just wander around. Fire shifted a bit in the grass, uneasy but still glued to the spot.


Torch twitched his tail, watching the strangers warily. He was of half a mind to run and hide behind Mother; but he also wanted to convince that mare to stay for a bit. But what would she say? Or the big stallion? Torch knew that the stud would never harm him, but at the same time felt quite a solid respect for him. He glanced back at Zora for reassurance; then he allowed a little nicker, not much more than a frightened squeak, to the colt and his mother. A friendly greeting, was all, and all he knew how to do in situations like this.

........

ooc: Muse has been blasted to pieces, obviously. i'm quite interested to see how you will manage to reply to that; i am making it more difficult than is fair, I think

Torch sensed Joyous move up beside him. He answered her push by half-rearing up and nibbling on her ear. Though the stranger was still there, still frightening and sour, the colt was emboldened by his adoptive sister's presence. By himself he was alone, but the two of them... that was practically an army, in his young eyes. And their play quite distracted him from his original motive, a motive that was suddenly rather vague and unimportant. He was just a foal, what could one expect of him but frolicking and play?

Smoke blinked and stared at the thing that had voiced the greeting. A foal, Fire's age more or less. The mare was rather stunned. It wasn't that her own son would never do such a thing- it was that anyone else would. Fire was stubborn, bold, bordering on arrogant, and naive to the point where he considered himself invincible. She had thought other foals would be a bit more sensible, or at least timid.

Fire glanced backwards, and gave a delighted hop straight up in the air. Playtime! He spun on his haunches and charged at the other foals, bucking as he went, and exploded in between them. The palomino colt looked quite startled and reared back, tossing up his nose. Fire did not stop, but kept galloping forward, spotted the gigantic mare ahead and rolled back. Only when he was at a relatively safe distance from the humongous stranger did he stop and face the foals again, a mischievous glint in his eye.

''Fire...'' Smoke started angrily, but trailed off. What could she say? What could she do? There was no getting him to listen now. It seemed that she had lost, embarrassingly and infuriatingly enough, but where did that leave her? Quite suddenly unsure, she took a half step forward and then backed up again, pawing uneasily. Her smoldering eyes remained intensely focused on her colt, though one ear was turned to the stallion. He had acted harmless, but she didn't trust anyone, especially not when her son was in the middle of their band.

Smoke watched them all dubiously, flicking her tail against her flanks. Fire looked to be thoroughly enjoying himself, but she was never comfortable around strangers, and stopping anywhere hadn't been figured into her plans. ''Friend?'' she muttered to herself. Oh, if her mother had heard that... the crazy old mare had been afflicted with some sort of obsession, or compulsion perhaps, to become infamous. When she realized she wasn't capable of scaring a baby bird, she had tried molding her daughter instead. And terrifying killers didn't have friends. Perhaps it was the secret thought of defying her mother that did it. In any case, Smoke decided to play along, and answered, ''Fine then. We will stay, for a little while at least.'' Having not much else to say, she stood still for a moment, then allowed three steps forward. Smoke was not used to a typical herd setting, it had been so long since then that she had nearly forgotten it all.

Fire barely noticed that his mother had given in. So he heard what she said, but he didn't care much since he had already made up his mind to stick around. Mother's decision to stay simply meant he wasn't in trouble anymore. But he had other concerns on his mind.

He narrowed his eyes, plotting a dastardly deed. That colt had produced a fine reaction, but the giant filly hadn't really noticed at all it seemed. Fire let loose a wild buck and set off careening towards the two again.

Torch snorted contemptuously. He wasn't going to get caught off guard again, he was ready now. But the sorrel colt didn't look like he planned to stop or swerve; was that idiot just going to crash into them? Crash into Joyous, rather- Torch's previous retreat had placed him somewhat behind her from the stranger. Joyous was quite a solid horse, and he loved her very much already, but still- if that Fire colt managed to knock her over, she would likely end up smushing himself. And he had nothing against being close to Joyous, it was just the thought of being stuck under her older draft body that frightened him a little. So he darted forward, and dashed off at the colt, meeting the charge.

Fire noticed the palomino's show of bravery and giggled quietly to himself. He sure didn't plan on getting out of the way. But apparently the other foal had assumed that Fire would change his mind if he was stood up to, so the pair managed to crash into each before either realized what had happened. They sat in the grass, somewhat dazed, blinking confusedly.

Smoke watched Fire's antics without a flicker of emotion, except perhaps disapproval. Or it could just have been the way she was- Smoke rarely looked particularly happy. It didn't particularly matter; he was in no mood to go fight with her son again. It was about time that he learned horse foals were a lot tougher and less skittish than the young fawns he had occasionally run into on their travels. And she was of the opinion that the other two could handle themselves fine; and if not, it was now that they would learn.

Smoke nodded, and followed the massive roan mare into the shade of the trees. She politely lipped at some grass, more for the sake of grazing than from any real hunger, then lifted her head again. At the mention of her troublesome son, she turned and regarded the youngsters, one ear still flicked in her companion's direction. ''A month, give or take. The seasons in my homeland are a little different than here, so he was born late for this area. And I had not originally planned to breed at all, last year.'' Of course, plans had been changed; Smoke had been trapped between a rock and a hard place, and chose a course that would give her a secret knowledge, one that Dagger might kill her for when he found out, but it gave her a sadistic pleasure knowing that Fire wasn't his.

Fire bounced back to his feet and darted after the filly. No way was she going to best him! Torch leapt up too, but Fire outran him easily, having always been very surefooted. The palomino colt refused to give up, and flattened out, trying to gain speed. In his concentration on catching up, he tripped over a tussock and was sent flying. Tumbling around and coming to a thudding halt, he twitched his nose and stood up again, unharmed. Young animals seemed to be remarkably resilient; though a typical occurrence for a clumsy foal, an adult horse could easily have broken its back. Fire glanced back and laughed at the demise of the other colt, but then switched his attention back to the filly. Drawing up close to her side, he bucked wildly, unable to contain himself. Torch looked up to chase after them, but was compelled to relieve a sudden itch behind his ear, bringing his hind leg up and rubbing his head against the little hoof.

ooc: it sucks, and its only like half as long as my other post, but losing that one killed my muse.

Twitching his nose in a last-ditch attempt to get rid of his itch, Torch looked up. He laughed in delight at the furious race; it was almost as fun to watch as it was to take part. The golden colt noticed the obstacle in their path, but failed to call out a warning. Rather, he trotted forward, utterly fascinated by the mystery of the immediate outcome of reaching an invincible object like that at top speed.

Fire grinned with glee, extraordinarily proud of himself. Of course he was better than the filly; what else would anyone have expected? Too focused on running and gloating, he failed to notice the ledge until it was too late. He saw Joyous slide to a halt, frowned in confusion, and looked forward just before slamming into the solid rock and bouncing off like an insignificant pebble. Fire sat in the grass, somewhat stunned, and sniffled a little. His velvety soft nose had been scraped; and it hurt.

Smoke watched the play impassively. ''It was not my choice,'' she answered Zora shortly. ''His true sire is probably dead. Only he even had an inkling of the truth.'' She was quiet for a thoughtful moment, then tossed her head scornfully. ''It was the lesser of two evils; I allowed another prisoner to breed to me, so that my captor's advances had no effect.'' Smoke cringed mentally; the last part was not entirely true. Dagger had foregone kindness and focused on his own pleasure. Though she was already pregnant by then, for some time she had wondered if his brutality had made her lose the foal. ''I managed to break free, by faking a broken hip. Such a life-threatening injury made me useless, deadweight. I am believed dead, and my unborn foal with me. If rumors reach my captor's ears telling otherwise, we will both be brought back.'' Me to be beaten and bred for the army, Fire to be taught the ways of killing the innocent. ''And if Dagger discovers that Fire is not his, then my son is dead, and perhaps I as well.'' Her voice remained stony, without a flicker of emotion. She had learned to shut her mind off, lock out the world. Smoke saw Fire's incident, but made no move to help him.

Fire sniffled, but quickly subdued his display of weakness. He wasn't a crybaby, after all! He pushed away Joyous angrily, and stood up, staring down the two foals agressively. Torch had caught up to them and stood by Joyous calmly, wondering when the games would begin again. The chestnut colt made quite a fierce sight, with his grumpily switching tail and the tiny little drops of blood on his nose, or at least so he thought. With a high-pitched squeal, he dove at the two, and aimed for the palomino. Joyous was too big to take down reasonably, so Fire chose the smaller foal as his target and his outlet, instead.

Torch wheeled backwards, rearing and boxing with his spindly front legs defensively. Fire responded by snatching the palomino's fluffy little mane with his baby teeth, eliciting a surprised whinny from Torch. The violent outburst quickly subsided back to harmless play, however, as the two managed to tackle each other simultaneously and sat on the ground, panting. Torch grinned at Fire, who reluctantly smiled back, and the pair of colts looked up at Joyous. As if by some hidden cue, both leapt back to their feet and charged at her, ganging up on the older filly with playful nips and bucks.


Smoke chuckled at Zora's surprise. ''All's fair in love and war,'' she chanted in a sing-song voice. ''War it is indeed. Has been for generations, centuries, millennia for all anyone knows. Old grudges run deep, in my homeland. I say 'prisoner' not because I was stolen from any herd in the natural way of stallions, but because it was follow or be slaughtered, submit or be tortured, all in the name of victory. You say evil, perhaps, but that is how it was, and is; those of my kind who were allowed to live were considered inferior. But the fighters who share my ancestry had no qualms either, and treated the enemy the same.'' She broke off, watching the draft mare with amusement.