BRT: Azcarraga’s Herd 2019 Mini Event

[conversett]

please do not post, this will be where I keep all my writing entries for a bear run tolters event. thanks!

BTR Mini Event
Briar Lake Stables

[conversett]

featuring: On High Heels “Oakley”
word count: 1,145

I nibbled at the metal lock nervously, while my hooves were fidgeting in place. The grime and different germs mingled together to assault my taste buds. It wasn’t something I’d normally do, but my eyes were locked in on the horse trailer. I couldn’t help it when the humans conveniently parked the death contraption right in my line of view. It had been there taunting me all night, and I barely got any sleep. Which again, wasn’t something I did.

I love my beauty sleep, and nothing is better then being clean. But that trailer can only mean one thing; it’s time for a show. My human took extra time doing up my braids and bathing me the day before, so of course there’s a show. How could I have not seen it sooner?

Showing was not my cup of tea, you know how every horse has their quirks. Something they fear, don’t like, or maybe act weird about? Well, this is my biggest fear. All the new and different smells coming from strangers, all crowded in a such a tiny space, and they’re all judging you! It’s intense. Plus it makes my human tense with nervous and anxiety. We never perform as well as we do at home, and some times the show will result in my human crying. And that, I absolutely hate. I can’t stand to see my human cry.

Subconsciously, I began to nibble more aggressively at the lock while my thoughts downward swirled into worst-case scenarios for the show. I only snapped out of it when the metal lock in my mouth moved. My eyes grew with surprise and curiosity. It was like the horse gods heard my prayers. With a small nudge of my muzzle, the stall door swung open.

Someone had once told me, not to look a gift horse in the mouth. So I didn’t. I didn’t even give it a second thought as my legs started moving. Before I knew it, I was cantering full tilt out of the barn with a destination of who knows where. I’d run as far as I had to in order to keep my humans pride intact.


———


My ears twitched back and forth as they picked up sounds of birds chirping, rodents scurrying off, the wind rustling the leaves and branches on trees or bushes. It must have been getting into the early hours of the afternoon with the way the sun bore down on my back, and my human was probably already on the hunt for me. My chest heaved with exhaustion, and my body was coated in sweat. Not a particular attractive sight.

I’d nearly ran the entire morning since leaving the stables and entering the woods. Now, I can’t even remember which way is home. I only intended to be gone long enough that we’d miss the show.

With every step I was reminded that I was dehydrated and I needed to get to some source of water before I could even think of finding my way back. My ears twitched again, straining to sort through all the different sounds. That was when I heard it. The sound of salvation. My hooves picked up their pace, until I came face to face with a shallow river dividing the land. Only one thing was on my mind as I rushed to the waters edge and took in my full. I hadn’t bothered looking at my surroundings, nor had I heard the sound of hooves on the opposite side of the river. At least not until I felt myself relax and breath. The morning adventure had been so intense, I didn’t realize what I had actually put my body through.

Once my head popped up from the river, water dripping from my muzzle, I had finally spotted my company. A gorgeous little mare. She seemed more in tune with her surroundings, like as if she belonged here. Her eyes sparkled with intrigue as she looked back at me.

I simply gave her a weird look in return because who was this mare? And I watched as she walked across the river with a sway in her rump. But for some reason, all I could think was mischief.

“You’re not from around here, are you pretty boy?” The mare greeted once she was in my more immediate area.

“Ah yeah no, I’m actually quite lost.” My voice trailed off softly in response, while I was more distracted with my eyes wandering the mares body. But not in that way! Her coat was caked in mud and so badly matted that I couldn’t even make out what her coat colour is. She looked malnourished as well, fortunately there was no evidence of any sort of wounds. So maybe she wasn’t abused, but she certainly looked neglected. “Say, where is your human?”

The mare seemed to give me a look before shaking her head and letting out a laugh. “I don’t have a human, kid.”

“Kid? I’m not a kid. My name’s Oakley. And how do you not have a human? I don’t understand.” I was mildly offended by the mares lack of respect, but not enough to not care for her wellbeing. How was this mare living out here alone without the shelter of a human?

“I am apart of a wild herd that lives deep in this forest. You don’t have to worried about little old me. You on the other hand have a human to get back to I imagine?”

She certainly guessed right, and I also came to find out she was quite a nice mare. Sure she was a little on the wild side, but she ended up offering to guide me back to my barn. During the whole trip back we talked about what our lives were like and how different they were from each other. I had no idea you could find wild horse herds in this day in age. Not to mentioned that I’d ever meet someone like that.


———


I stood next to the wild mare on the tree line of my barn. She was about to turn around to leave when I swung my head around and gave her neck a little nuzzle. “I’ll look forward to when we meet again. And I’ll need more stories about your hunk of a herd Stallion!”

The mare giggled and shook her mane at my childish actions. “Yes, and you don’t go getting yourself lost. I might not be there to rescue you.”

I smiled back before watching her disappear in the forest once more. She left nothing in her wake, almost like a ghost.

“OAKLEY!!”

I startled before looking back towards the barn, only to see my human running towards me. Her hair was disheveled, and her eyes looked bright red and puffy. I nickered out to the girl, before meeting her halfway.

[conversett]

featuring: Splashin’ In “Helios”
word count: 1,088

Helios took a deep breath in, allowing the salty air to attack his nostrils. All the while, wails and squeaks of seagulls could be heard as they flew overhead. It was just starting to turn into that time of year with the warm whether, where you can go to the beach and enjoy the ocean waves.

Every year, Helios and his owner would take the weekends during the summer to travel down to the beach and camp over night. Other equestrians would be preparing for shows and training hard, but his owner was a little different. Together, they worked hard over the winter to improve themselves. Then over the summer they would just relax and have fun in the sun! And it’s exactly what Helios had dreamed about since winter started.

The tolter tossed his head in excitement for what was to come. To feel the earth give to his weight and the water against his overheating skin. He whinnied out at his human, trying to get her to hurry up. The beach was right there, and the water awaits him. It’s just rude to keep others waiting for Pete’s sake.

The girl was in the middle of trying to unload the truck for their overnight stay, when she stopped to laugh at her stallion’s antics. “Alright, just hang on a minute. I know your anxious Helios.” She called softly as she walked around to the horse trailer. The girl carefully lowered the ramp to the ground, and unlatched the backend rope before walking around to the front of the trailer. It had Helios nickering happily once he saw his girl coming to his rescue. She just smiled back to the pretty Stallion while she untied his lead line, and unlatched the front-end bar. “Hey, buddy. Easy, back. Easy now. Whoa. Good boy.” The girl commented quietly as she guided the tolter to back out of the trailer. And she made sure to give him a good pet after he safely stepped off the trailer, standing on the solid ground. He nudged at her arm, glad for the affection but still impatient as ever. “Okay, Okay. I’ll let you off on one condition. Don’t go wandering too far. I’m still setting up camp.” She stated firmly before unclipping his lead line.

For a moment, Helios just stood there looking at his girl with intent. All he could think was about picking her up and dropping her in the water. But then she dangled the lead line over her shoulder, and realization came back to him. The beach was calling out for him, he had to go. With that, Helios shot off like a dart on to the beach. His tail was up high like an Arabian’s, and his tossed his head wildly into the ocean breeze. The girl laughed once more at her horse before going back to the the truck to continue on her job.

Helios slowed himself down after noticing his human leave to go back to the truck. Instead of just gallivanting on the beach, he began to scour it for garbage. He never has able to stand people littering the ocean and beaches with their waste. It was disrespectful and just caused harm. One time he even found a poor duck tangled up in plastic, and he had to get his human to help the poor bugger. But surprisingly, the beach wasn’t in too bad of a shape today. Normally the first trip of the season is pretty bad. Other people must have been by before them and was kind enough to clean it up.

Of course, that’s what he had thought before he came across a pile of dogwood, plastic and glass bottles, wrappers, and what look like the butt ends of cancer sticks. Humans and their stupid partying habits, he was lucky that his girl never got into that sort of scene. With that in mind, Helios walked over to the waste. He began to carefully pick up an item at a time in his mouth, and carry it over to the garbage bins. Except the dogwood has gotten placed off to the sides of the beach where it wouldn’t be in other people’s way. At the bottle of the pile was a dirty old towel, which wasn’t anything new to Helios. The weird thing about it was that it started to move! The Stallion shrieked and jumped back. Little bumps, which he originally thought were just rocks under the towel, started to shake. Then something appeared to come out of the rock shaped objects. Helios stepped back once more from the towel, too freaked out to even bother touching the old towel. Though he watched the bumps with intent. What on earth is the world coming to.

A small flipper first appear out from the edge of the towel, then soon after a head, and another flipper. A baby sea turtle was making its way to the ocean, followed by another, and another. There must have been at least 12. Helios slowly relaxed upon realizing there was nothing to be scared off. He continued to watch the adorable little babies clumsily make their way along.

That’s of course when his ears twitched and he heard the squawks of seagulls. Looking up, he saw a seagull make a dive for a little baby turtle. Helios didn’t wait to jump into action, and quickly made his way over. He reared up at the offending seagull to scare it off, and swished his tail angrily. He proceeded to do the same over again as another seagull decided to take a gamble at it. For the entire way, Helios stuck by the baby turtles, until they were safely under the water and swimming away.

“Oh Helios, what have you done now?” His human called out from behind him. He simply looked back, only to see his girl surrounded by a handful of seagull feathers. The Stallion gave the girl a ‘it’s not what it looks like’ look. And once again, it had the girl smiling at her silly horse. “Come on then, I’m almost finished setting up camp but I need your help big guy.”

Helios simply bowed his head and walked over to his human, and together they went back to the campsite like it was just another normal weekend visit at the beach. For Helios however, it was the first time he ever witnessed baby sea turtles and it surely won’t be something he’d ever forget. It was undoubtedly, a very cool day.

[conversett]

featuring: Between The Roses “Rocher”
word count: 1,258

It was during the wee hours of the morning, and the sky was starting to come to life. Birds sung back and forth in beautiful rhyme, while inside the barn horses were chowing down on breakfast.

This was a typical start to the morning for Rocher. Breakfast was at dawn, and then during mid morning she would be turned out, only to be brought in just before supper at five. Although sometimes the humans were running late, and supper would be pushed back til six. Either way she was always happy, because she got her food. Then the cycle would repeat the following day. Although, some times it was interrupted when her owner, Jerry, stopped by to take her out for a ride. She found that it was Jerry’s specialty to interrupt the social norm. But that is what makes him, Jerry.

To her, he was very special because he is her best friend. Jerry has tried to introduce Rocher to other horses to make friends with, but Rocher has never really interacted with them. She’s always in the field, off to a corner, watching. Sort of like a creepy stalker. Which really doesn’t translate very well into friendship points with the other horses. She does have a few that she can chat with once in awhile, but Jerry is her main man.

Everyone chalks Rocher up to being shy, but she just doesn’t understand social interactions and what is acceptable in certain situations. Instead of stressing over it, she just avoids it. Which doesn’t leave much else to do in her day besides observing others reactions.

And it was through her observation skills, that she spotted Jerry walking with Adam towards the barn. They appeared to be in a heated discussion, but it was hard to hear what about. The mare’s ears twitched back and forth as she tried to catch a better angle to hear from. However, it wasn’t needed as Adam clearly said “Jerry. Stop.” The tone of voice chilled Rocher to the bone, as it was Adam’s ‘enough is enough’ voice. Jerry wasn’t about to get his way. Both men had stopped in their tracks and turned to face each other to continue their discussion in quieter voices.

Adam is Jerry’s significant other for a good number of years now, and he also owns his own horse. In Rocher’s eyes, they made an odd couple together. Jerry was clingy, whiny, and very sporadic from one thing to the next. But Adam was independent, focused, and driven to his goals. She supposed they worked because they helped level each other’s qualities out. Jerry makes Adam have a little more fun, and Adam tries to make Jerry be more dependent on himself. However, the mare has yet to see any improvement with Jerry yet.

They had met back when Jerry was broke, and he had started stealing Adam’s carrots. Not for Rocher, but for himself to eat. Adam caught him red-handed after about the third or fourth time, but he was nice about it. At that time, the mare couldn’t hear how the conversation went because Adam pulled him aside into the tack room. She’d imagine that it went along the lines of;

Adam: Why are you eating my carrots
Jerry: Actually those were just sitting out, so that means they were for everyone
Adam:
Adam: They were in my bag, Jerry.

However the case, it ended with the pair of them leaving the barn. Rocher had suspected that they went to grab Jerry an actual meal.

After that Adam started bringing lunches to the barn for Jerry, and the two just seemed to get closer until they were just merely inseparable. Rocher came to quite enjoy Adam too, he was nice. He and his horse didn’t treat Jerry and herself as the weirdos that they are.

“Why can’t you just let me make my own decisions for once?!” The sudden shouting from Jerry had startled Rocher from her daze and back to the present.

“Bloody hell Jerry. I just want you to be safe. If you wanted to go jump off a cliff, do you think I’d just let it happen?”

“Well, no...?”

“Exactly, so I’m not going to just sit back and watch some horse accidentally step on your feet.” Adam stated as if that was the end of their argument, and both men looked down to see Jerry’s choice of footwear. He had a pair of sandals on.

The mare highly doubted for it to be their only argument of the day. For some strange reason the pair of them would start up in a verbal war over nothing at all. Like the other day, they went out on a trail ride but were stopped on their path due to a gate. Either of them wanted to dismount so they bickered over who should be the one to open it. Their reasonings were literally about one having a much too difficult horse, even though they ride that horse daily. And the other one reasoned that he had too tall of a horse to get back on without a specific mounting block. They’ve also argued over who’s fault it was that they were late arriving to a show, and also who was at fault for the show going the wrong way. Now that day was an absolute mess. They got the pattern down wrong for jumping, then the wrong letters and movements were called out for dressage. And to top it off, they were all rushed to get ready after getting there so late. The riders were tense and stressed, and it made the horses feel none too great either. In the end, they got second to last place.

A loud shrieking sound went off, that awfully resembled nails on chalkboard or bad car brakes. It startled Rocher out of her daze once more, causing her heart to go thundering away in her chest. Again it was jerry. Except this time the mare was completely took off guard by the sight outside of the barn. She excepted to see Adam laying dead after Jerry finally decided to get rid of him, or he was hit by a car. Who knows? But there stood Jerry, shoeless, while Adam was kneeling on the ground next to two discarded pairs of shoes. One pair was some expensive looking sneakers, and the other were Jerry’s ratty old sandals. He was probably in the midst of swapping out Jerry’s shoes, only one thing didn’t quite fit the picture. Adam had a small velvet box open in hand, while looking up at jerry with love infested eyes. To the mare’s best guess, Adam was placing a ring on Jerry’s finger. That’s when Jerry shrieked again with glee, and thankfully more quieter than the first. Before Rocher could blink, Jerry was literally jumping into Adam’s arms. Fortunately for him, Adam had fast reflexes, otherwise Jerry would be smushed on the floor like a near-dead horsefly.

Finally, Rocher pulled her eyes away from the scene. She could tell they were going to need privacy very soon. Plus she had seen enough of their shenanigans.

Thinking about them had always brought a laugh, because they bicker over such trivial matters. But the mare had shook out her mane and had let out a sigh, as if to shake all of what happened out of her mind. No more distractions. Especially because it would probably be getting pretty close to turn out time, so she figure that she ought to finish up her breakfast!

[conversett]

featuring: A Verse In Jabberwocky “Jagger” + Perched On Willow Ware “Wilbur” + Seeing Through The Darkness “Ciana”
word count: 1,786

I could easily swear that Jagger’s sleek black coat shimmered beautifully in the sunlight. And I never ever swear, I’ll promise you that. His velvety soft muzzle gently caressed the grass before his pearly teeth ripped it from the earth to munch on. Because, while he was busy grazing in the field, I took advantage to steal some looks from across the way. And man oh man, he was the best eye candy to ogle at. I could never openly stare at him like this with him knowing. Jagger has been my best friend since we were both colts. We’re partners in crime at the bests of times. It’s a bit of a scary thought, how dependent I’ve become with him. I just... he’s so... caring and sweet. Sure, he gets hot-headed at times, but that’s usually when he’s standing up for me or our humans. He’s been considerate of my emotions, and making me laugh when I’m down. Not to mention, he knows me. With one look he always seems to know what mood I’m in. And he knows how to deal with me. He knows when I need someone near by or whenever I need space. He never tries to smother me, and he’s always in my corner. I don’t think we’ve ever really fought, except when we were young little boogers. Now we just bicker once in awhile. In my opinion, it’s good to keep on top of banter like that. Makes things spicy.

When we were both coming of age, I had to come to face certain realizations. One of them was that I had the largest crush on my best friend. If I were to ever be in a relationship, I’d want something that Jagger and I have. Since then, I’ve kept it all a secret. Jagger just thinks I’m not interested in having a mate or quote on quote, dating. The other realization was that I’m homosexual. Try explaining that one to your human. I know that I haven’t. No one knows, or at least no one is suppose to know. I’ve never told anyone. The last thing I’d ever want to do is lose my anchor, Jagger, then I’d be adrift at sea all alone.

“Wilbur, whatcha staring at?” Jagger called while glancing around himself to see what had I had been so invested in staring at. It seemed to really irked him. And I was totally screwed. My mind was drawing a blank, and I could feel my heart running a marathon inside my chest. A small voice at the back of mind was warning me that he’s going to find out.

“Ah, da, you just. There’s, a thing. Like, um. One of those, da. Dogs! I thought I saw a dog run off into the bushes.” I cringed as the words left my mouth. There was no scent of dogs in the air. He’s going to know I lied. Oh no no no, this can’t be happening now. I had to cover this up fast! He’s going to know somethings up. “Or maybe it was large bird, who knows. It doesn’t matter.”

Jagger turned and started to trot his way over to me. Though, it awfully looked like he was strutting it. Was his butt actually swaying? Wait, no I can’t have those thoughts. I need to focus. It was struggle to advert my eyes from the other Stallion, but I managed. Instead, I began to ogle the clouds.

“You doing okay?” Jagger asked with concern lacing his voice once he was beside me.

“Me? Yup, totally a-ok. Just jittery, I could really go for a ride.”

“Oh that’s right, your girl hasn’t been around lately has she?”

I just nodded to answer Jagger’s question. I really really didn’t trust my voice anymore. Or my brain to mouth function for that matter. And with that, comfortable silence fell over us while Jagger looked up at the clouds. However, it hadn’t lasted long with Jagger around.

“That one there looks like a bunny.” He comments. I twisted my head to try to see the bunny. But all I saw was a baby dolphin. All I could do was shake my head, resulting in Jagger just giving me a look like I was crazy for thinking otherwise.

Another silence fell over us, but this time I could tell Jagger was agitated. His tail kept swishing back and forth every few moments, his ears twitched ever so often, and he kept switching his weight back and forth. I snapped. “Spit it out, Jagger. What’s got your tail in knots?”

“Well, I’ve been thinking lately. A lot of thinking. And what do you think of Ciana?” Jagger was hesitant at first but by the end of it, his words were rushed out and melded together. I had to think about what he said at first before I could really answer. Meanwhile he only got more fidgety with my pregnant pause.

“Ciana? She seems to friendly and nice. Why do you ask?” I finally say slowly as I look at the dark stallion. We made eye contact and I could swear again that my stomach was doing summersaults. How was that possible?

“I’m thinking of maybe... asking her out.” Jagger stated as his eyes left mine and went searching for the mare in question, Ciana. My stomach felt like it dropped out of my body and my heart stopped beating. Everything just went silent and almost empty feeling. I hated it, and I knew that I needed this feeling to stop. I had to stop Jagger.

“Why?” I questioned quietly, trying to keep the panic out of my voice.

Jagger looked back at me once again. “Because I don’t want to be alone, romantically. I think it’s time for a new chapter in my life. Your not ready, and that’s cool. But I can’t keep waiting up for you.”

If that didn’t feel like a jab to my heart, I don’t know what was.

“No, I get it. It’s fine, Jagger. I want you to be happy.” Happy with me, I thought to myself, but I knew I had to snap out of it. This day was bound to come eventually, and it’s not right for me to hold him back. I’m his friend right now. I just... it almost feels like I’m losing him at the same time.

“Thanks, buddy! I’ll go ask her now.” The dark stallion called back to me as he started to make his way to Ciana.

The panic surged inside of once more, and I let my emotions take control. The next thing I knew, I had my teeth in Jagger’s mane to stop him. And Jagger did stop, turning to look at me confused. I slowly released the mouthful of hair, before looking sheepishly at my friend. Nothing more than a good, dear, loveable, friend.

“You can’t just go ask her.” I stated with out my filter in check. I had to stop myself before I blurted out the forbidden words to him. “She’s a beautiful mare, don’t you think other stallions have already asked her before? You need to stand out from the rest. Show her what she’ll miss if she rejects you.” Or more actually what I’ll miss, I think sourly to myself.

“Oh you’re right! Thanks Wilbur, you’re the best.” Jagger stated excitedly. “Only thing is what can I do that another stallion hasn’t done yet?”

“Um, you could sing her something? You do have a very beautiful voice.”

“That’s perfect, I’ll be back to let you know how it goes.” And with that said, the stallion cantered off.

I watched him go and felt a part of me leave with him. Ciana will be such a lucky mare to have Jagger. A small voice returned to the back of my mind, questioning why I couldn’t be the one. But that’s silly. Jagger is a friend. A friend whose about to potentially get himself a mate. Like he said, he couldn’t wait for me. I paused for a second because why would he wait for me. Unless...

— — — —

I ran as fast as my hooves could carry me across the field. Jagger was already with Ciana, and I could hear his song coming to an end. Dread filled up my core. I knew I spent too much time picking flowers, and now because of it I’m going to miss my last chance.

I came to a stop next to Jagger, panting rather hard. The song was over, and my eyes budded with tears. I was too late.

“That was awfully sweet of you Jagger, but I’m going to have to decline. You and I both know that I’m not the one you want.” Ciana murmured softly and gave the stallion a soft look.

Jagger gave her a knowing look, something that went completely over my head. What was happening? I literally watched Ciana turn away from Jagger and I to return to her friend group. I then looked to Jagger, only to find him staring at me already.

“What’s the basket for?” Jagger asked with a smug grin. I can’t really explain why, but I really really wanted to know that look off his face.

I carefully set the basket of goodies down on the ground and nudged it gently in Jagger’s direction. And slowly a blush creeped up on me. I was about to do this. I can’t believe I’m doing this.

“It’s for you. You’re always doting on me, so I figured you deserve the same in return. You see, I care for you a lot Jagger. And I... I’d love to be with you.”

“But you are with me, pretty much all the time.”

He still had that dumb smug look and it fuelled me. “No! I like you, you idiot! Like like you. A lot. I don’t want to be just your friend anymore.” My voice started off harsh, but mellowed our as my confession came it. I felt giddy, like a weight being lifted and I could finally be free.

“I know, I just didn’t think you were ready and I was. I’m glad, Wilbur. Because I love you so much. Will you be my mate forever and always?”

A dumb loving smile found it’s way onto my face, which Jagger mirrored. I answered with a nod of my head before dropping my head to rest my forehead against his chest. I felt Jagger drop his head lightly to rest it along my crest. And I found this to be the best feeling in the whole wide world. Jagger was mine and he wanted me to be his. What more could I ask for?

[conversett]

featuring: Evening Ghosts At Dusk “Eve” + Seeing Through The Darkness “Ciana” [mentioned]
word count: 642

The wind blew violently against the wooden walls of the run-in barn, causing the panels to creak and quake. Inside, Eve laid in a small pool of her own sweat. Her body trembling and her face was torn in distress. A large gust of the freezing wind startled her awake from a bad dream. At a daze, she quickly looks around to reaffirm her surroundings before letting out of a sigh of relief. However, she could not escape the sights of her dream. The only thing she could think of doing to help calm her mind, is taking a walk in the field to clear her head.

With nothing but the chilly air to distract her, she starts to dwell on the dream. It was about a previous lover that manipulated her and abused her. Actually, it was her only lover to this date as she was still too frighted to start engaging in a relationship with someone else.

The lover was kind at first, and trying to help eve be more self efficient. But little did she know, they were really just isolating her from her friends and family. So that in the end she only had them to go to. So that she couldn’t leave them and she was trapped by their side.

They played house together until the lover had enough, only acting sweet in public. Eve didn’t catch on at first, not until she felt it was too late. She had already pushed everyone else away in her life. When the two of them were left alone together, the lover verbally abused eve into thinking depressing thoughts.

Together, they both stayed like this. Eve believing the rest of her life will only consist of the lover and appeasing then. She wanted to get away from them so badly, but didn’t know how. Eve’s human arranged them to be in a run-in together, since they seemingly got along so well. There was no way out in her mind. Things progressed to even where they ended up having a child together, ciana.

Eve heavily adores ciana to this day, however she is also a constant reminder of the lover.

Eve continued to endure the abuse up until her human noticed Eve’s spirit was missing. She tried cheering up Eve, but nothing she tried really worked. That is until she took Eve away to her cottage.

With finally being able to get away from the lover, Eve was able to regain a little bit of her spirit back. She wasn’t ever the same after that, almost like she had become haunted by her thoughts. But she was better than she previously was, so that was a win in her humans eyes.

Once they returned to the stables, Eve’s human began having a specialist tend to Eve. A horse whisperer so to speak. The whisperer ended up deducing that the so called lover wasn’t good for Eve to be around.

From that day on Eve, Ciana, and her human relocated to a different stables. But every so often the reoccurring dream comes, where Eve is back at the barn with the ex-lover and this time she cannot escape. Her human is no where in sight to save her this time.

Eve tried to shake the nasty thoughts away. After all, everything was in the past now. But it only ever gave her a momentary relief. All she wanted to do was forget, but this seems to be the one thing she never will.

The mare slowly looked up at the sky, having an idea come to her mind. She began counting all the constellations in the night sky in a new attempt to keep her mind busy. And Eve stayed like that until she saw the sun coming up over the horizon, and the roosters announcing the arrival of a new day.

[conversett]

featuring: Suda Incandescent “Dezi”
word count: 1,060

Dezi’s ears twitched, listening intently to her surroundings, while she grazed in her favourite spot. It was at the edge of the field, just along the tree line. It was also where the birds danced in the sky and sung their beautiful songs.

The mare always found it such a delight, that she constantly found herself impatient to be turned out. Which was odd for Dezi, she never really got impatient before. But being out there brought her enjoyment, and a blanket of security and safety. Having no sight can be quite scary sometimes. You can’t see anything around you, so you never truly know what’s about to happen. You don’t know if it’s good or bad, and what causes certain loud bangs or crashes. Dezi tries her hardest to remain calm and relax for being blind, however everyone has their off days. Over the years she had been able to decipher the differences in a bird’s pitch, as well as the different types of birds and their calls. She personally has grown quite fond of the robins, having found their call quite soothing for her soul. But it was key for her to learn the differences, because that way she was able to tell if something bad was about to happen.

Birds don’t only have their sight, but are also very skittish creatures. They normally don’t sit still for too long of a period of time. And when there’s danger lurking around the corner, they are known to panic. Letting off loud squawks and noisily flap their wings in their haste to get away. For Dezi to recognize this, she is able to also flee away from the situation. Which she is ever grateful for, as the mare doesn’t need her guard up as long as she’s around the birds.

So it’s started to become quite the hobby for the mare. She’s able to quietly graze while listening in awestruck to the songbirds natural talent. The odd one or two birds can’t sing too well, but it’s endearing that they try and never give up. Dezi just imagines a poor male or female songbird trying to attract a mate, however they get rejected for their off tune over and over again. She can definitely relate to the sweet little things.

She even managed to befriend a small handful of them after sharing her fruity treats with them. They might visit her in the barn from time to time, but Dezi suspects to because they’re hungry and Shes always willing to share with them.

It’s also quite interesting because she’s been able to gather up quite the amount of stories. Young foals seem to seek her out for once and awhile to hear an entertaining story. Their favourite story being of the time some horse thieves tried to sneak in through the woods. They thought that if they had came around from the back of the barn yard, they wouldn’t be noticed. And they certainly would not have been if it weren’t for Dezi and the birds. The thieves were carrying tranquil guns in their arms, and they had began to load them up. It hadn’t escaped the songbirds, and each and everyone one of them sounded as though they were screaming in horror. Most likely thinking the thieves were poachers of some kind. They hadn’t wasted any time as the flocks took flight, a few even crashing into each other. Fortunately they were not hurt during their escape.

With the birds flying loudly away from the danger, Dezi was able to detect which direction to run off in. The only problem was that the mare didn’t know what she was running from, and she couldn’t see the fence line. So she booked it up the field and had met an unfortunate fate with the electric wire. Her wails of agony had quickly alerted the humans milling about around the stables. This isn’t a normal thing for Dezi to do, so while some people helped the mare, others went to try to figure out the cause. They searched the woods, thinking they would have found some sort of predator tracks in the mud. But instead, they found tire tracks and footprints. Having known of horses being stolen at other local barns, the humans were able to notify the cops just to be safe.

Dezi had been in the barn that following morning, all bandaged up, when she over heard the humans during feeding time. They were talking about how the police caught the thieves after being notified of the incident. Despite her injuries, Dezi was quite happy with knowing some of those missing horses will be returned home. Absolutely no regrets from that mare.

There isn’t always cases that are as severe as that one, and it certainly wasn’t the only time she went running into walls or fences, sometimes even the hay bale feeders or trees. Sometimes it’s because of the dogs, certain wild predators, noisy children, other birds. It all varies from one thing to the next, and there always seems to be something new. Dezi has a few small scars hidden away in her coat to even prove. The sad thing is that, she wouldn’t be deemed clumsy if it weren’t for her blindness. Luckily, she trusted her human enough that they could ride and compete in flat work like dressage. And it really shows then that she can be quite the graceful mare.

But her human can’t always be around her to help her. And as much as she cares for him; grazing surrounded by the birds would always be her favourite thing. They are part of her routine, meanwhile her human comes to visit her when he wants with no rhyme or reason at all. It makes her feel a little bit guilty for picking favourites, but the birds are more reliable.

It is sweet though, as she’s noticed that her human has paid attention to her likes and hobbies. On the odd occasion, he’d take her out on a hack in the woods in the late morning. He packs a bag for a picnic and brings treats for Dezi and the birds, so that they can bird watch together. Or in Dezi’s case, bird listen. Those have to be her favourite moments in life, being able to be with both of her favourite creatures.

[conversett]

featuring: Postre Llameante “Phoenix” + Return to Sender “Vuelta” + 6817
word count: 1,715

The air was damp with the occasional breeze that filtered in through the barn. If you got caught in it, it would surely chill you to the bone. Fortunately, the breeze didn’t come by too often. Unfortunately, it still made everyone sluggish, and although there was work to be done, no one had the motivation to do any of it. Paired along with having to feed horses early in the morning, it was no surprise to anyone that some times were left unchecked in the barn.

Phoenix was set in a stall beside Vuelta, which was probably the first mistake of the morning. The two stallions were quick to get the gears turning in their heads. Unlike everyone else, they took to the morning all bright eyed and bushy tailed. After all there was opportunity in the air, and it made them both ambitious. These two were notorious for causing mayhem when they we left together. Heck, they were chaotic enough on their lonesome. Getting into feed bins, stealing saddle pads, escaping off to lord knows where, dumping wheelbarrows full of manure, knocking over water buckets, causing fights with other horses, and simply doing whatever they please with no conscious for the consequences. You name it and they’ve done it.

So once all the humans cleared out of the barn, Phoenix waited precisely 5 minutes before he began to nip at the latch on his stall door. That was the second mistake made, as the humans had forgotten to add the locks back onto the latches. It was within minutes that the stallion was freed from his stall. He impatiently pawed at the stall in front of Vuelta, trying to get him to hurry up. It was almost like an unspoken word between them at this point.

“I’m going as fast as I can, cool your jets.” Vuelta snapped while he had his head cranked in an awkward angle to get the door unlatched. Phoenix was about to snap back at the other, while the latch finally gave. Vuelta pushed his stall door open, and with one shared glance, both stallions galloped out of the barn. They didn’t even stop to graze, and instead they just kept on pushing themselves forward with no destination in mind. Even, daring a risky venture down and cross the human’s suicide lane. You know, that slab of pavement that human take those death traps on for transportation.

Their little run continued on for a few minutes, before something peeked Phoenix’s interested. In their haste to leave, he hadn’t noticed that the sky was over casted with gray clouds. Or the thick fog swirling around in the fields and weaving between forest trees. And never in his life of living here has he noticed the farmers field with the old abandoned barn yard. It was difficult to see through the fog but he could tell through the silhouette that the place was most definitely on its last leg. The stallion came to a slow stop, still very intently staring down at this odd place. It even looked to have a tree next to it. Albeit dead, with the fact that it had no leaves whatsoever. Vuelta soon stoped a few lengths ahead, and turned himself around to face his mischievous friend. “What? You getting cold hooves, Nix?”

Phoenix pinned his ears back in distaste at that notion. “I don’t get cold hooves. You want to turn tail and go running back to your human because your getting scared for once. Can’t be stallion enough to admit it.”

Vuelta’s tail swished back and forth in aggression. His head came up high like he was trying to make himself bigger than Phoenix.

However, before Vuelta could say anything back, Phoenix stomped his hoof down on the ground. “I bet you’re too scared to even go over there.”

There was a gleam in his eye and the challenge was very clear. Vuelta wasn’t about to back down now. He simply sent a glare at the childish stallion, before he made his way onto the field. Neither of the stallions were truly scared, they just enjoyed pushing each other buttons. So Phoenix really wasn’t long in following up along side Vuelta. The closer they got, the clearer the buildings cane into view. It was clear no one lived there any more, as the place was in shambles. The wood was all black with rot, and the windows were either musty with dust or smashed. What appeared to be the barn, had a large crater in the roof. And what could only be assumed as the farm house, was now leaning to one side, almost as if it’s lost it’s supper beams on that side. Both buildings were missing some siding.

Phoenix startled at the sound of a crow cawing up at in the dead tree. He looked back at the bird with a dirty look. Only to find the crow staring back with its head turned so you could see one big beady eye. Meanwhile Vuelta was in the middle of a fit of laughter. “Not scared, eh?” The stallion poked.

Phoenix’s head snapped back to Vuelta with the dirty look still very much set in his face.

“You know if you keep making that face, you’re going to be stuck like that for the rest of your life.” Vuelta stated once more with a very smug look.

“I-“ Phoenix was about to verbally put Vuelta in his place when he noticed a red colt emerged from the fog. His eyes widen in shock. The poor thing was caked in muddy from head to hoof.

“There’s a little foal behind you” the words seem to just tumble out of his mouth with zero brain to mouth filter. Vuelta only looked at Phoenix like he was insane, while the foal crept closer. It wasn’t that the foal meant to, he was just naturally quiet because in the wild you had to be. Otherwise the predators would find you easier.

“Hiya, misters!” The colt cheerfully called with a tilt to his head. Vuelta might as well shrieked like a little filly and jumped out of his own skin. Now it was Phoenix’s turn to laugh, and boy did he ever get a good laugh out of it.

Irritated, Vuelta ignored his companion in favour of turning around to see the little red colt. “Sorry, didn’t mean to scare ya.” The foal said slowly.

“It’s quite alright little one. Where’d you come from? You don’t live here do you?”

“Well.. ah.. no, I don’t really live here. Is your friend there okay?” The colt questioned Vuelta while he looked back at Phoenix.

“He’s fine, I’m more concerned about you though.” Vuelta attempted to turn the question around back to the foal, but the little guy really wasn’t having it. “Are you sure? I think he needs to get checked out.”

Phoenix slowly calmed himself to the best of his abilities, before joining their conversation. It wasn’t without a sly smirk. “I’m okay kiddo, so what are you doing out here all alone?”

“Uh.. going on an adventure.”

“But all alone?” Phoenix pressed softly as concerned started to overtake his smirk. His eyes kept glancing about their surroundings, searching the thick fog for anything.

“Well, everyone back at the herd was busy with preparations.”

“Preparations?” Vuelta asked softly getting more and more confused by the second.

“I’ve been told it’s spring so that means sacrifices have to be made and not everyone will get to stay with the herd. So we all have to be prepared. I’m practicing for when I get be sacrificed.”

“Why will you be sacrificed?” Phoenix quickly asked, having not liking where the conversation is going. Meanwhile his back kept twitching, getting that feeling like he was being watched. And it wasn’t just the crow.

“Because our leader doesn’t like me. His word is the law. I mean he doesn’t really like anyone except his mares. The only other adult males in our herd are sterilized. I’ve seen him get into some pretty nasty fights, and he’d come back pretty bloody. His eyes would be filled with a dark lust and almost like he wants more? He always on the lookout.”

Phoenix and Vuelta both shared a look of horror before Vuelta quickly asked the foal about his parents.

Having seen the looks on the two stallions, faces, the colt quickly recognized that he made a mistake somewhere. “They’re, uh...” His voice trails off as he glances over his shoulder at the tree line. However there was nothing there except for the trees and the fog seeping out from them.

“I... I have to go. Bye for now!” The little muddy red colt said hurriedly before he took off back into the woods. It was like in a blink of an eye and either stallion could say or do anything else. They just stood for a few minutes to come to terms that did happen and this is real.

They both shared another look, as though they were having a silent conversation with their eyes. It didn’t take much to see the fear in each other’s souls, so they booked it out of the field pretty darn fast.

Once they were back on the main road, they were intercepted by their humans from the barn. Lead ropes were clipped back onto their halters and they were brought back to the barn. Safely stored away with the locks securely on their stall doors. However, they were still placed next to one other. Fortunately for the humans, neither of them were looking for any more trouble.

——————

“This morning was really weird... I can’t stop thinking about it.” Vuelta spoke softly so only Phoenix could hear him in the next stall over. By then the moon hung in the sky and stars twinkled brightly like little beacons.

“Yeah, did you see that figure in the fog?” Phoenix asked while the whole experience seemed to replay over and over in his mind like a bad dream.

“What” Vuelta gave Phoenix a deadpanned look.

“There was someone standing in the fog. It disappeared when the foal was leaving.” Phoenix whispered while staring straight ahead with his eyes glazed over in fear.

What had they both witnessed?

The end.

[conversett]

featuring: The White Snake “Elyan” + Heirloom At Sky Reach “Cloud” [all humanized]
word count: 2,588

Elyan sat at the dinning table while he scraped his fork against the plate, moving the peas from one side to the other. The meal was absolutely delicious, the only problem was that cloud shouldn’t be here making him meals. She should have to be taking care of her father.

“Oh will you stop it!” Cloud stated as she had set her own plate down on the table. Her voice broke Elian’s thought process, and he glanced up from his plate to see Cloud giving him a look.

“What?”

“Don’t what me, I know that look.” Cloud retorted while elyan’s facial expression morphed into one of confusion.

“What look?”

“The one were your bottom lip hangs out and you’re eyes get all big and watery with this glazed look blanketing them. Then you start to mindlessly fiddle, and you dig yourself a grave.” Cloud ranted while staring her father down. Then a loud sigh slipped out from her when Elyan’s expression did not change in the slightest. “You’re sulking.” She deadpanned before sitting herself across from her father.

“I do not sulk.” Elyan argued back while his eyebrows furrowed up because surely he didn’t? Did he?

“You do so!”

“Since when?!”

“Since mother passed away.” Cloud snapped, causing both of them to fall silent. It was almost deafening with how they were yelling at one another so loudly, and now you could hear the clock ticking away time. The occasional car driving passed. Even one of the many neighbours cats meowing at the door to be let out.

Elyan was about to excuse himself form the table and go lock himself away in his room. Much like he did every time they had these arguments. Cloud had found it quite childish, and it irritated to no end that he never did anything to make his situation better. The girl spoke quietly next, interrupting her father from leaving. A first that’s ever happened, as Cloud was never one to take charge of a situation. It almost completely shocked Elyan.

“Look, I know its hard and it hurts. But you can’t be mopping around all the time. We both miss her, but it’s time you moved on. I’ve seen the wishful glances you give other couples. And I really think you should get back into the saddle again.” Cloud slide a flyer across the table to her father. It had read: “DATE N DASH” “come to the local brewery this afternoon and meet other single pringles. You have 60 seconds to talk with your ‘date’ and see if there’s a connection before it ends and you get a new date.”

Elyan’s eyes scan over the flyer reading it over and over. Here was his darling little girl taking care of her father again. But when he looked up at her, he could see the concern she bore for him. He knew he was never good at hiding things, especially with Cloud. “I suppose it couldn’t hurt to try it.”

As soon as those words left Elyan’s mouth, Cloud has let out a joyous scream. Ear shattering really. Then she jumped up from her sit and raced around the table to get to her father, giving him the biggest hug she could manage. It made Elyan chuckle a bit, the first in a long time actually. And it only made Cloud smiles wider.

The suddenly, she was pushing Elyan away. “You have to go get ready!! It’s going to start soon, and you certainly can’t go to it wearing that.”

Elyan rolled his eyes at his daughter antics before getting up and making his way to his room. The smile on his never ceased for once.

—————————

Tables were all pulled out to the centre of the room, and each table was accompanied by two chairs and a number in the center. Some people were already drinking, most were mingling.

Elyan stood at the entrance taking it all in and observing who came. They all seemed like decent people, and he could only hope that this wasn’t a mistake. Hesitantly, he made his way over to the organizer of the event to sign himself up. He was just in time too, because after he wrote his name down, the organizer rang a bell to call everyone’s attention.

“Welcome everyone to our first Date N Dash! What we will ask of you all is to write your name on a piece of paper and place it in one of the two hats. Women for one, and men for the other. Then we will draw out name from each hat, and that pair will receive a number. The number you get will be the number table you start at. You then have 60 seconds to talk to your date, once the time is up you will hear our bell ring. Once that bell rings, I’ll ask the men to stand up and move to the next table. After we’ve gone through everyone, there will be some snacks and drinks available. Any questions?” The organizer announced to the room full of people. When no one stepped forward, the organizer grinned and clapped her hands together. “Well then, let the dating begin. May the odds ever be in your favour.”

Elyan went and wrote his name on the paper and placed it in the hat, like everyone else had. Then, much like the organizer had promised, they began to draw the names and call out people’s table number. He missed what the girls name was, but he knew that he ended up with the lucky number 3.

He had to search a bit before he found the table with the three on it. And he’d come to also find that the woman who was to be his date, was already sitting there. Elyan noticed the woman kept rubbing her hands together, and her skin tone looked rather flushed. Once he finally sat, he heard the bell ring to signify the start of 60 seconds.

Elyan gave the woman the best smile he could muster up, hoping that she was just nervous like himself. He introduced himself softly, and then looked to her. However, the woman just stared blankly at him. He was about to repeat himself, thinking she hadn’t heard him the first time, but that’s when she spontaneously broke out in tears. Elyan’s eyes widen with panic thinking he’d done anything wrong. But instead, she finally decided to speak. Or more like mumble between her sobs.

“You have a smile just like his, and his name started with an E too.” Her make-up started to run down her face and she quickly grabbed her purse in shaky hands. The woman took out several tissues and quickly blew her nose. “You look so much like him, are you two related? Has he mentioned me at all? Can you tell him I miss him. I’ll do anything if it means I can see him once more.”

Elyan looked at her utterly confused, but as the woman went on, everything seemed to click. She was talking about her ex, and she most likely wasn’t over their break up. He certainly was no where near ready for anything like that. Fortunately for him, he got saved by the bell. Literally. So he simply apologized quickly to the woman before heading over to the next table. He figured that was at least the polite thing to do.

At the new table, he noticed a small woman and what looked like her mother sitting beside her. It irked him slightly, but he still sat down and gave them both a smile. That’s when the mother pulled out a notepad and pen, and she started to scribble down what he could only imagine was notes about him.

“Ah... hi, I’m Elyan.” He began, and to which the mother started scribbling faster. She only paused to look up at Elyan before continuing on her way. The petite woman introduced herself to Elyan, but then didn’t continue the conversation any further. Her shoulders were drawn in and her hands fidgeted in her lap. All the while, she kept looking to her mother. It was awkward to say the least. Elyan pitied the little woman.

Once the bell rang again, Elyan moved on. He shared a small wave with the petite woman, and gave her a quiet good luck wish. There was something about that situation, that Elyan knew she wouldn’t be going home with anyone tonight.

Elyan was almost scared to sit at the next table. A rather butch looking woman sat there, with her hair in a pixie cut and tattoos overflowing her arms. He slowly sat down and made sure to lean back into his chair. After all, he could just tell that this wasn’t going to go well. The butch woman didn’t wait for Elyan to take the lead, she just jumped right into introducing herself. However, before Elyan return the favour, she started flexing her arms. Her eyes raked over Elyan’s body and then she smirked. “You look like you need a big strong woman around.”

Elyan didn’t know if he was to vomit or cry at this point. He wasn’t sure which of the three girls he’s been with were worse, but perhaps that was a bit harsh of him.

“I bet I could bench you. You would make an interesting weight lift, that’s for sure. Might need to put more meat...” Elyan just tuned the woman out after, and it was like she didn’t even notice. The entire time she just went on about herself, tattoos, the gym,. It was a vicious, endless, cycle.

The next bell rang, and Elyan found himself debating on leaving. If all the woman were going to one form of crazy to the next, then he was just wasting his time here. He wasn’t going to find someone he liked here. Well, that was his thought process until he heard Cloud’s voice in the back of his mind pushing him on. He let out a large sigh, before he found himself at the next table. He couldn’t let his baby girl down.

This time it was a woman that look rather gothic. She wore black clothing, had black dyed hair, heavy dark make-up, and he lost count of how many piercings. There was probably even more that he couldn’t see on her. Elyan have a weak smile, and she didn’t even look like she blinked! No smile, nothing. Just a creepy, blank stare. He looked behind himself to see if there was something there she could be looking at, but there was nothing he could notice that was significant.

“You’re hair is super white. Have you ever thought of dying it black instead of bleaching it? It would probably take very nicely and you’d look really good in it.” The woman spoke up in a very bland tone.

Elyan startled a tad from her voice, score he turned to see properly in his seat. He also stared at her completely offended. His hair wasn’t white. It was platinum blonde. And it wasn’t dyed, this was his natural hair colour. Why would he dye his hair?! He couldn’t even form out a response at this point. He just stood up and walked out of the brewery while messaging his temples.

He was going to have to think of an apology for Cloud, and he could practically his head throbbing. It was only a dull pulsing ache, but it was one of those headaches you know will stick around and only get worse from here on out.

Coffee. He needed his salvation, and at this moment it was coffee.

—————————

A deep inhale of the freshly ground coffee beans already had Elyan’s headache subsiding for now. He entered the small cafe and bought a large black coffee to go. However, the longer he waited in the cafe, the busier it seemed to get. The only thing he could think of was it being the off-work rush. Once the barista called out his order, he wasted no time in hurrying up to the counter. He collected his coffee and paid the young woman with the most genuine smile. He looked down at his cup and he just knew that this was the highlight of his day. Cloud had been recently trying to cut back his caffeine addiction, so she’d gone ahead and banned coffee from the house. Without his permission, mind you. He tried to rebel, but his efforts went to waste with the coffee being thrown out or given away to homeless people. So this right here, all of this, was his heaven at the moment.

As Elyan turned to leave the cafe with his currently most prized possession, a young woman was walking up to collect her own order. Unfortunately, Elyan was too distracted with his coffee to noticed her. A yelp and a splash later, Elyan found himself staring at his precious coffee spilt all over the woman. While the woman was frantically apologizing and trying to clean up the mess, even though Elyan was the one to cause it. When she quickly looked up and their eyes met, Elyan’s breath was taken away.

This was the one.

He got a new coffee, but this time he got it in a mug to stay. And he went with the woman to sit in a secluded corner of the small cafe shop. They talked for what seemed like hours, it was surely past supper. And Elyan was actually able to not think about Cloud’s mother for once. He wasn’t reminded of what he lost, and instead he was reminded of what there is to look forward to in life. He was able to finish his day laughing with a pretty lady he met in a cafe shop, instead of sulking in the seclusion of his bedroom. Okay, so maybe he was sulking earlier. But it’s okay now, because he got the pretty cafe lady’s number. And that’s all the matters in this moment. They exchanged numbers, and agreed to meet up next Sunday for coffee. Elyan couldn’t possibly wait for that Sunday to come.

—————————

Later at home, Cloud had been getting anxious. It was well past time for her father to be back, and the only thing running through her mind was worse case scenarios. Did he get kidnapped? Was the brewery being held hostage? Or did someone decide to mug him? Her thought process was cut off, and her feet stilled from their pacing, when she heard the front door open and then close. It was music to her ears. But, she also felt rage consume her.

“Where were you?! Do you know how worried sick I was about you?! Couldn’t you have at least called or texted, like a decent human being would?!” Cloud shouted as she made her track throughout the house to get to the porch. She was just about ready to rip her father a new one when her actions were frozen.

There was the biggest smile she had ever seen, since her mother passed, graced upon her fathers face. The rage melted away, and Cloud soon found herself mirroring his smile. “So it went well then?”

“Aye, yes. No.. the speed dating wasn’t my thing. Never again. But I did meet someone. Oh you’d love her, Cloud.” Elyan stated with a dopey grin and love struck eyes.

“How about we talk about it over pizza?” Cloud suggested, while she was already reaching for their home phone.