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Post by Byrdie on Nov 3, 2017 10:20:26 GMT -7
 A wickedly spiked mare dropped her slender head to the earth and carried it low over the ground. She labored her way up the hill, solid hooves landing in a dogged rhythm as she climbed. Even her studded, capped tail hung at half mast, flopping against the back of her hind legs with each step. Ananzi scanned over the horizon and eyed the afternoon sun peaking behind a dark cloud, pregnant with rain. Her territory was expansive and she was thankful for what she had built for herself, all virtually alone. Though there had been souls alongside of her on occasion, she had spent the majority of her life in solitude. After the loss of her sister, life had hardened her. Jezzabella was all she had had in the world and once they had been separated, Ananzi had to live on assuming her twin half-sister had perished in the wake of the storm. Rarely did her thoughts race towards her parents, however. Shenzi was a wild mare, odd and presumptuous. Sernutarzi, her sire, was something of a hostile stud. But Ananzi rarely saw him, and what memories she had of her father, he had mellowed with age. Now, as she thought of her mother and father for the first time in ages, a grin crept over her yellowed canine teeth. Perhaps they would be proud. Though her dam was flightly and her sire self-concerned. So, perhaps not. Ananzi felt a rumbling in her gut. She tried to think back to the last thing she had eaten. Nearly a month had passed and this was the first time in a long time that the pangs of hunger nudged her into noticing. With a snort of frustration she hauled her reluctant body up the arduous incline.. When she reached the top, her red eyes gleamed downwards with intent perplexity. With a force of effort she lifted her head and tail higher as she came to a halt at the base of the rolling loam. Pride was a habit she had adopted long ago. In the brush, she noticed a rustling of leaves. Her eyes squinted, focused. She lurched through the tall grasses, blackened ears pinned back slightly in concentration as she searched for anything that could pose as prey to slaughter. The wind stirred. There was nothing of value to hunt. Her slinking movements were the mimic of a stalking tiger. Ananzi was a fierce, but lazy, hunter. In the distance sat a crumbled structure, utilized by the two-legged species long before she owned the lands. Sights on the ruins, she marched up the steep incline and circled around the large marble pillars. It was relatively concealed here, in the crook between shattered, crumbling walls, and she needed a moment to think. There were no rabbits. There were no raccoons or possums. A flustered snort was issued as she dropped her head to graze at the peaking patch of green through the fractured floor. She tore a clump of blades and chewed, bored. She allowed her mind to race for a moment as she calmly grazed. She tore her head away from the grass and eyed the stuff suspiciously, as though it had somehow offended her. This was not the meal she wanted, by any means. She sidestepped away from the carnage she had created in the soil. She peeped around through the entrance of the castle and stepped down onto the dirt pathway that had once been lined with cobblestones. When she was out in the open once more and the sun was glinting down on her pink and purple snake-like spots, she turned her dial curiously, searching for any movement in the distance. She inhaled deeply, her belly expanding majestically and let out a surprising belch emanating from the back of her throat. She had high hopes that the day would at least finish with a morsel of food worth having. |
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Post by pailerification on Nov 3, 2017 11:59:00 GMT -7
A rouge dusted grey horse trod aimlessly through the entire valley of a vast mountainous range. The valley provided gentle areas with grass and life but also treacherous moments. At times it narrowed into near nonexistence where mountains protruded from the surface at awkward angles and the space of travel was lined with depths of snow trailing deeper than should be possible to move through. There had been a whole day of no food where she'd sworn she was done-for. By the grace of nature she'd found refuge in a miraculous patch of evergreen. Even though she'd promised herself she'd never leave, the fear of bear and lonliness pushed her onwards.
By the time the young mare realized the valley had finally ended she was too far uphill to care. Her body had become thick with muscle from trudging through endless snow. Her fur coat lengths could cause observers to question just what kind of creature this was, especially being half covered in a two inch thick layer of ice and snow.
Instinctive will-to-live kept her shoulders and hips churning but her hoof tips were no longer making it above the snow to make seperate prints. Rather, dragging along in the exhaustion of a creature near death. Her mind had given up any reasoning thoughts of survival. One thing kept racing, replaying over and over like a video on loop. Over and over.. Huge puffs of steam rushed from her nostrils and open mouth constantly drifting across her vision but she could not see them. Only this same video over and over. So eventually as the breath's mist began to disappear, a terrible sign that her body temperature was below survivable warmth, she was not alarmed. She was not even in this realm.
Somehow she had crossed over an entire mountain. Her legs were wobbly and misled. She'd fallen many times on the descent, first in the rocks and then when it came to crossing logs in the trees. Her black knees and hocks dribbled blood from various cuts and scrapes. She was too numb, mentally and physically, to notice the wounds.
At last the battered horse's movement stopped. She trembled throughout her body, the shakiness clearly visible in her legs. Water droplets and snow clumps fell from her in an arrhythmic fashion. Her tail sat low and her neck draped perpendicular to the earth, barely keeping the body balanced and upright. Frost and icicles still hung from her eyelashes, whiskers and nostrils. Her closed eyelids varied between fluttering, twitching and squeezing tight at that video which continued to replay in her mind. She'd never forget the words her dam last uttered to her before bolting off and over the cliff's edge, her rump and tail disappearing.. Her black legs flailing about wildly...
An abrupt sound caused the two year old mare to physically jolt back into reality for the first time in many hours. A startled and hoarse cry of fear had left her lips. Her knees buckled and everything within her told her to run for her life. The eyes of a predator were locked into her, she could feel it. Her entire body made one dedicated attempt at escape manoeuvres but the only movement produced was a hard thud as it collided with the ground. She laid there in a heap. She sighed and groaned, ultimate exhaustion clear as she laid there waiting to be devoured.
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Post by Byrdie on Nov 3, 2017 19:04:13 GMT -7
 ❦ ❦ ❦ Ananzi heard the shuffling of feet before she saw the stranger's face and her ears twitched in the direction of the newcomer before her eyes landed on the target. She held the grey mare in her unwavering gaze. She had never seen her before. As a matter of fact, Ananzi couldn't remember the last time she had seen someone else in her territory in quite a while. It didn't bother her so much. She relished in the solitude for the most part, but it would be nice to see her lands teeming with souls once more. But by the looks of things, the stumbling fae before her was hardly going to breathe life into her kingdom.
Before she could postulate another move, the stranger stumbled and fell into a pile all over herself. Ananzi raised a non-existent brow, curious and a little baffled at the lack of grace before her. She didn't take her title too terribly serious when it came to ruling, but she was not keen on weakness. But Ananzi was never one to turn away from someone who clearly needed her help. And this mare, lying on the ground feet before her, had faced many struggles before finding herself here. And being the kind queen that she was, or rather strove to be, she knew she needed to do something. Ananzi took a few patient steps towards the crumpled mare and upon closer inspection, it was obvious she had not eaten in quite some time. In the heart of winter, her land was quite barren in the ways of nourishing foliage (and small game, she had learned.) Her large black hooves stopped just inches from the mare's muzzle, which was dusted with powdery snow. Nanzi bent her head down and touched her nose to the female's neck, her breath pillowing in a cloud and crystallizing before fading to nothing. With a pensive gaze, she spoke. "What can I do for you?" It was a simple question. But of all the things she could have said, that seemed to make the most sense considering that state of things. The muscles in her shoulders quivered and she pawed at the earth absentmindedly, urging the spasm to cease.
She waited for the stranger to respond...or not.
SPEECH
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Post by pailerification on Nov 6, 2017 15:13:23 GMT -7
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