Okay... here it is. Sorry it took me so long. I literally scraped it 3 times and started over, but I think I'm finally (mostly) happy with it. I love him so much though. I honestly just wanna give him a big hug xD
Username: |Winter|
Name: Darwin
Gender: Male - He/Him
Taming Prompt:The handsome gelding kept his head low, circling aimlessly around in his pen. I made sure to approach upwind of him so he could smell me coming. As I got closer, he lifted his head, sniffing the air. I had talked to the rescuers a bit earlier and gotten his story. The extent of his inbreeding was shocking and he would definitely be a handful, but I was ready.
I reached the gate and entered, approaching him slowly. He stuck his head out, obviously searching for me. I touched my hand to the tip of his muzzle and let him smell me. He stood there for a second trying to figure out what to do before putting his head down and charging straight at me. I hardly had any time to move and he barreled into me, knocking me to the ground. Before I could even stand up, he was back, shoving his head under my arm and rubbing himself all over me. Was he trying to… play? Of course, I had played with my own Skepluvias before, but this was different, almost like he thought I was one of them.
I finally managed to get away long enough to grab a bottle for him and quickly headed back. He was nervously pacing around again, stopping every once and a while to pick at his feathers. There were already new bald patches forming on his rump from this morning. I immediately ran up to the gate to stop him. As soon as I got there and went inside, he stopped and gave me a small greeting like nothing had happened before moving to the bottle in my hands. He was definitely a curious one.
It took him a few minutes to figure out how to get the formula out. I imagine he had probably never used such a thing as a bottle and his stunted muzzle surely didn’t help. But nonetheless, he eventually figured it out, and when he did, he just started chugging. Even after he had finished it all, he continued to suck until I pulled it out of his mouth and turned away. He was persistent though, and I felt him nuzzling at my back, surely hoping for more. I giggled a bit and playfully leaned into him. He reached over my shoulder, his nose and top lip quivering, searching for the bottle.
He finally calmed down a few minutes later, slowly starting to fall asleep. However, as I began to leave, he started to panic. I tried taking a couple of steps away from him, but he wouldn't let me. He started whining and insisted on always touching me. After that, I didn’t have the heart to leave him, so I stayed.
As the sun sank down, he pawed gently through my hair. It seemed like he was trying to groom me, but his little nubs of hands weren't doing much. He then fluffed up his feathers and brushed up against me, asking to be groomed himself. I gently ran my hands down his back, careful to brush out any dust mites or other nasty stuff I came across. It wasn't long before I felt his breath deepen. He slowly sank to the ground and curled his short tail around his body, finally asleep. With his head resting lightly on my lap, I didn't have the heart to move him, so I spent that first night laying in the dirt with him. He woke several times, always in a fit as if he didn’t trust me not to leave. I knew I couldn’t stay out here with him 24/7, but I also couldn’t leave him alone either.
So, in the early hours of the morning, I carefully snuck away. I felt bad leaving him, but there was something I needed to try. I returned soon after,
Rosa trailing behind me groggily. Her strong motherly instincts and a generally calm demeanor could be just what he needed. Darwin woke when he heard us coming and began getting excited, it was obvious he could smell another Skepluvi close by. They carefully sniffed at each other through the gate and after a few seconds, Darwin began joyously running and jumping around his pen, bumping into walls every couple of seconds. Afraid he would end up hurting himself, I turned them both loose into a bigger enclosure.
It was absolutely perfect. Better than I could’ve ever hoped for. They played for at least an hour, chasing each other through the sand dunes, Rosa never going too far ahead of him when he struggled and always staying where he could smell her. Afterwards, they were both exhausted and settled down together to begin grooming. She was so gentle with him, carefully going over his featherless patches so as not to make them worse.
I smiled as I watched the once anxious and terrified Skepluvi settle down into his new home. I knew I would still want to keep an extremely close eye on him in order to bottle feed and give him his daily medication, but at least with Rosa he would always be able to have someone with him at all times.
--- One Month Later ---I could hear his cheerful little chirps before I even reached their enclosure. By this time, Darwin had come to know our routine and would start chirping and calling out to me at every feeding time. Rosa stood dutifully behind him, carefully grooming through his growing feathers. But as soon as he smelled me coming with the bottle, he started getting antsy and pulled away from Rosa, making a pitiful, yet valiant, attempt to climb the fence. The moment the bottle touched his lips, he began to guzzle it down. He drank it so fast; he didn’t even notice the myriad of different medications mixed in with the formula to help with his different challenges.
After he finished, he carefully made his way back to Rosa for a few moments before they both headed off to join the rest of the scuffle. We still had a lot of work to do, but already he was improving so much, and with his fight and spirit, I knew he could do it.
[1040 words... oh my]
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