[Restful Dead]

username: δρεπάνι
errp: Atticus
prompt: Atticus could tell that his rider, as well as a few other riders and horses, were nervous. He, however, felt calm. He had traveled through woods such as these a dozen times before. To him, the forest was his home and he knew them almost better than he knew his own stall. He supposed that was why he had been chosen to join the rescue in the first place. No good would come of the rescue mission if the rescuers themselves were getting spooked. He felt his rider place a hand on his neck and give it a gentle pat; a gesture that she probably thought was meant to comfort him, but served moreso as a comfort to herself. He appreciated it nevertheless.

There was one thing that worried him, and that was the blizzard that would be setting in before too long. He could feel it forming, slowly but steadily, in the air. The subtle frostiness that nipped at his coat like flies in summer told him that they had very little time to find all of the missing horses and bring them back before the blizzard would arrive. The heavy snowfall would certainly slow down search efforts and if they weren't careful, they could get lost themselves. On top of that, if the blizzard was heavy enough, it could easily erase any prints in the snow as soon as they were made, making tracking next to impossible while it was still snowing. And then there was the cold to worry about. Atticus hated to think of any horses, especially foals, that might be lost out in a blizzard with no shelter and in freezing cold.

All the more reason to find them as soon as possible, he thought resolutely. He pawed the ground and pulled at the bit a little before letting out a snort, hoping to convey to his rider his restlessness to get the search started as well as his determination to see it through to its end. In response, he was given another soft pat on his neck.

[DigitalLinx]

username: DVTProject
errp: Like Catching Lightning In A Bottle
prompt: Aashni paced around in a circle, her ears flicking left and right. Why did she agree to do this, especially when she'd be going all by herself! Alexander and Percy had already left, going to their respective routes and groups. "Breath Aashni, breath..." She muttered to herself, ignoring all of the weird looks. A few people tried to come up and calm her down with soothing words or pets, but she just ran away. None of them were Alexia, who had stayed back at home to make room for any new arrivals they'd be getting. A hard gust of wind blew through the path, causing Aashni to shiver. Winter, she's always hated it. Everything was cold and dry. The air felt like it was going to freeze her lungs at any moment! Aashni stomped her hoof down in agitation.

She needed Percy, Alexander, heck even Etain! Aashni just needed someone, anyone that she was familiar with. She didn't want to be surrounded by all these unknown horses finding some runaways! "Of all the seasons they could have picked to close down it HAD to be winter...!" Aashni huffed, starting to pace again. They should have taken a different horse like Link or Dante, not her. A whistle cut through the air, getting the irritated mare's attention. Sadie, Alexia's daughter, was leaning against a tree, putting on her helmet. Aashni sighed, knowing she wasn't going to get out of this situation any time soon. Reluctantly, she walked over to the blonde girl, just wanting to get this over with.

[Lavellan]

username: Lavellan
errp: Arthur


prompt:

The morning’s light, watery but still bright, peeked in through the window of his stall, and Arthur was not one bit impressed. Pinning his ears, eyes heavy-lidded still, he turned his rear to the beam of sunlight, the bright light holding not a single degree of warmth. Shutting his eyes firmly, he took several deep breaths, attempting desperately to bring the blanket of sleep back over his consciousness, but voices soon became obvious to him, and, snapping his eyes wide open, and pulling his ears all the way back to his blonde mane, he huffed away the hopes of getting more sleep.

Striding towards the stable door, poking his nose out to the still-predawn darkness of the interior of the stables, his ears remained flat as he identified the excited voices, the stable’s youngest members Morris and Hemlock vehemently discussing something.
“I’ve heard that there’s bears!” Morris chimed, his eyes wide with the madness of exaggerated tales. “There’s bears out in those woods- they’re all goners!”
“Bears!” Echoed the pitchy voice of the youngest colt, barely tall enough to see over the door of his stall. “I’ve heard that they’re lions, bigger than-”
“Oh will you two just shut it.”
Arthur’s ears came forward the instant the familiar voice of his best friend echoed from the stall next door, his mane filled with straw and sticking up in all directions to ruin any illusions that he may have been already awake.
“But Merlin, you must know!” Hemlock’s enthusiasm for the fantastical couldn’t be quenched by a grumpy scolding. “You must have been through those woods-”
“Those woods are dangerous, and you both should have more sense than to be so disrespectful. Those horses could be in a lot of trouble.” Merlin’s words were stern, but had little effect on the pair.
“Yeah, go back to sleep, the pair of ye.” Arthur’s words, snapping and cold, seemed to startle the two youngsters, who either hadn’t spotted him or hadn’t known enough not to wake him so early.
With mumbled sorries, the colts both retreated back into their stables. Swinging his head to look over, Merlin rolled his eyes, and Arthur matched the gesture.
“What were they talking about, though?” The dunalino stallion asked, and, to his shock, Merlin’s features drooped.
“You haven’t heard?” The black stallion quizzed, and, at the shaken head of his partner, explained the situation.

Arthur couldn’t find the words to express what he felt once Merlin had told him what happened. But a strange determinedness settled in his heart.
“We’ve got to help.”
Merlin scoffed.
“Arthur, we’re no Search and Rescu-”
Arthur replied with nothing but a snort, swinging his head away from the black stallion. Merlin was right, of course, but Arthur wouldn’t say that aloud.
But sense wouldn’t stop him from doing what’s right.

Soon enough, Ellen peeked her head through the door, the tell tale bags of too-little sleep hanging beneath her eyes. Merlin had retreated back into his stall to catch twenty more winks, but Arthur was ready for her. As soon as he locked eyes with the barn manager, he knew.
She understood.

Before long, he was loaded into the back of the trailer, and they were on their way. Merlin was right, he was no Search and Rescue horse, but he was trained to be in crowds and intense situations. Surely a group searching through a quiet woods would be nothing compared to the shouts and calls of parades and ceremonies.
But the nerves crept up nonetheless. The journey was slow, with Ellen driving carefully along the icy roads, and the longer he stared at his shadow on the trailer’s wall, the more nerves started to dance in his belly. What if the other horses were all profession Search and Rescue horses, what if he stuck out? What if they turned Ellen away, because she hadn’t a proper mount? And, worst of all - what if they couldn’t find the horses?

Soon enough, the trailer was halted, and he was unloaded. As he walked beside the woman, his ears pricked, and the worry melted away. All horses and people here were just here to help - there was no way that they were all SaR horses. Locking eyes with several strangers who looked at the newcomers, he answered each and every one with a solemn nod of his head.

He was determined to keep moving no matter what, not stopping until they find them.

[LivingLethal]

"We're so happy you came to help!"

The following users are cleared to enter in Route One horses:
Alhena
BadgerBuddies
doggface
lynx!
Lex.
Queen Vivane
δρεπάνι
DVTProject
Lavellan

[Southern sweetie]

username: Southern sweetie
errp: Difference in the Blitz
prompt:

██████████

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Passing the early morning fog while coming down from the mountains was an amazing thing. But to be honest it was the only thing that was remotely great while coming down the mountains. Popping of ears, trying to keep a steady balance, winding roads. It was like a death trap but with scenic views. Blitz couldn’t believe that she was drug out of her nice warm stall so early in the morning.

Usually competitions didn’t start this early unless they were the major leagues out of state. And it was definitely not the month for it. She heard Cassie; her owner. Talking about some type of blizzard and search. Blitz snorted with disdain. The audacity Cassie had to be pulling her out; early morning with a blizzard brewing!

All for what? Some type of search game? Pshh we will see just how ‘fun’ this search game would be. Blitz rolled her eyes and tried to take a nap for the rest of the journey. She would soon have a very rude awakening.

The journey was short lived as she awoke to the sound and feeling of a bumpy road. This road was familiar. A road she’s passed many of times before but never saw the end. As they pulled to a house with a few barns and pastures. She noticed there was quite a few of trailers, riders and several horses. In paddocks, ties to trailers, and even in stalls.

Her curiosity perked along with her ears. What was going on here she wondered. And it was in that moment she saw her owner Cassie walk to the back of the trailer. Fear was written all over her face ... something Terrible was going on.

As she was unloaded from the trailer she heard chatter from a few of the nearby horses. Talk of the awful storm coming and lost horses. That must be what Cassie had meant by searching. It was all clear to blitz now.. she was tied to the side of the trailer as the other horses were unloaded. Tox and Jet tied next to her. Small chat between them was short lived when she felt a blanket and saddle heaved on her back.

Anxiousness and fear was starting to swell within her heart and lungs. Finishing the last park of tack she was led to where other riders and horses were saddled and ready to go. There was a very overgrown and scary trailing they were hovering around. Cassie climbed atop her back and clicked for her to move forward. It was in that instance a very loud voice rang out “Let’s head out!! Stick together and call out if you see anything. Let’s bring these horses home!!”


-452

╚════════════╝

[kennymcnenny]

username: kennymcnenny
errp: Sweet as Can Be // Eclair
prompt:
Azalea had been horrified when she heard the news and had rushed out to the barn as quickly as she could to get the equipment she needed. As well as her horses. She decided to bring her three stallions along to this search and rescue- Merveron, Hunter, and Eclair. She wasn't worried about the first two, they had the training and the experience to keep calm in these woods. But Eclair... Eclair was a little young and a little inexperienced. That's why she decided to take him out first, hoping to get in the easiest riding out of the way with him before the storm hit. She didn't want to stress him out too much.

Eclair was stressed. The noises of workers and other horses calling out to each other were making him nervous. Old friends greeting each other after time spent apart, workers calling out groups to get going on the search. All of this noise. He stomped his hooves as one of the riders suddenly yelled something to another group, prancing sideways and right into the shoulder of his father. Ah, Hunter. He'd done this before, and he seemed calm and confident. So did the other horse brought along with them, Merv. He trusted those two and they had given him plenty of pointers on the drive over. He was gonna be fine, he knew he would be. Yet he still couldn't get rid of this nervousness.

About half an hour later, Eclair was tacked up and ready to set off through the woods, ears flicking at every single little sound he heard. Azalea was trying to calm him down before they started the ride, patting his neck and helping him relax. This was going to turn out okay, they were going to find these horses and bring them to their new homes safely. (306 words!)

[LivingLethal]

"We're so happy you came to help!"

The following users are cleared to enter in Route One horses:
Southern sweetie
kennymcnenny

[JerseyDusk]

username: JerseyDusk
errp: Aim to Please || Atraxi
prompt:
Atraxi was one of the first Euphorians at River Valley Equestrian to hear the news about the Hawthorn Hooves horses and the horrible accident that had occurred. Her slender ears flicked backwards at the news and she stopped munching hay. She couldn't believe something so terrible would happen and her brow furrowed in worry over the poor horses in the incident. As Lea, River Valley's stable owner discussed plans to hook up the silver trailer and make way to the scene of the accident, Atraxi lifted her dark muzzle and let out a whinny. The woman turned to the silver bay and smiled, "Of course you can come with us 'Traxi girl!" Lea knew that if she could count on any of her Euphorians in an emergency situation that she could count on Atraxi, the most willing to please and courageous mare that lived at the stable.

Once the team from River Valley arrived, Lea and Rosalind backed Atraxi and Bruce out of the trailer. Atraxi turned around to a large crowd of people, horses, dogs and noise. Her stomach did a flip in a mixture of excitement and nerves, and she let out a small nicker. Lea patted the bay's silky neck in reassurance but the woman's stomach had just done the same tumble. There was a strange haze of anticipation and focus in the air as people started to tack up their horses and Lea placed the headstall around Atraxi's ears. As Lea and Rosalind continued to place tack on the pair of River Valley Euphorians, Traxi felt the nerves in her stomach calm into determination. Her earlier worry about the missing horses was melting into focus, she couldn't wait to get out into the routes and on the search.
word count: 292

[LivingLethal]

All Route One horses are open to be posted on!

"We're so happy you came to help!"

The following users are cleared to enter in Route One horses:
JerseyDusk

[Exotica.]

username: Exotica.
errp: Mystique

prompt:
Mystique is a naturally nervous mare, but she knows when she needs to be brave.

At the beginning of the day, as she was loaded into the trailer, I gave her a few reassuring strokes down her nose and said, "Hey girlie. I need you to be really brave today. There are a lot of horses out there that need our help."

Mystique seemed to know exactly what I said, she even gave me a head bob that I took for a nod.

When we arrived at Hawthorne Hooves, I saw how many others had come out to help with the search. After a quick scan of the area, I made my way to the back of the trailer to let Mystique out. She was nervously pawing at the hay on the floor that she knocked out of her hay bag. Once I opened the doors she stopped pawing and looked up at me. Slowly, I brought her out of the trailer and she looked around.

"Huh..." Mystique thought, "this looks a lot like some of the cross country courses I've done. Maybe this won't be so bad!"

I brought Mystique over to the tie-ups on the side of the trailer and started tacking her up. She wouldn't stop looking around, watching the other horses around her while they got tacked up and set off on the trail, making it very difficult to get her bridle on her.

After about 15 minutes of me flailing around trying to get the bridle on her, we were ready to head out onto the trail. I hoped on her back and found the next search and rescue group to go out. Mystique paced a bit for a few minutes while we waited for enough people to join our group in order to head into the woods. Once we got moving, Mystique calmed down significantly. She happily walked the trail, making an effort to walk under every low hanging branch so I got hit in the face. At one point in the trail, there was a small tree down. Most horses walked over the small tree without a problem, but of course Mystique being the show-off she is decided she needed to jump it and clear it by at least one foot. Everyone in our group stopped to stare at us for a moment while Mystique proudly trotted out of the jump. The nervous mare in the trailer was nowhere in sight.
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