. : The Wild Horses of Pangaea : . |OPEN!|SEMI-LIT|

[Soriams]

Whisper
Whisper looks up a bit when Cadet speaks, a bit confused by his words. What could my age have to do with such a terrible situation?.. She wonders, and is just about to answer when a desperate call reaches them. In a mirror image of Cadet, her head shoots up and she looks off in the direction of the call, ears perked forward. Shadow?.. Why call for us now, after you had already decided to leave?

At Cadet's suggestion, Whisper nods and looks back to Ebony, hoping that he will have the strength to keep up. Giving him a lick of encouragement, she sets off in a slow trot after Cadet, looking back every now and then to make sure that Ebony isn't having too much trouble. The sight makes her smile, despite the tears that still rim her eyes. Ebony is strong, and he follows at a quick gait, his little awkward legs a blur beneath him. Strong like his mother... If only her heart were as strong as her legs...

Suddenly, a scent drifting on the wind makes her skid to a halt, and she lets Cadet disappear over the next hill. Is that a dog? Oh no... Fear for Ebony quickly overrules her desire to help shadow, and she trails behind. Walking slowly in hopes that Cadet will have run the creature off long before she and the foal get there.

Reggie
Reggie smiles to Sapheria as she approaches, happy to see that she is not disturbed by their direction. If anything, she actually seems a bit happier now, perhaps the travel is comforting to her. As she reaches his position, he tips his ears to the sides, relaxing a bit. "It's not too much further now." He assures her, then takes off again at an easy canter. Around him, the briars soon disappear and the land becomes hilly, gently rolling with sparse vegetation and hard caked earth at the tops and soggy mud in between. Prior knowledge allows Reggie to skirt the worst of the mud, and before much longer the smog has almost completely cleared and stars begin to wink into existence above them.

It is about this time that his nose picks up the scent of sweet grasses, and he follows the smell as it floats towards them on a fresh breeze. Slowing slightly, Reggie crosses a small stream and almost immediately finds himself in a pleasant meadow, filled with lovely soft grass. Smiling to himself, he looks back to see how Sapheria is doing. At this point, he plans on stopping here to see how she will react to such a delectable treat, though he knows that there are things far better a bit further from the border.

[♪☾нυяяι¢αηє ιѕαвєℓ☽☠]

~{Saphira}~

Indigo eyes sweeped over the terrain, filled with a startled wonder. Saphira slowed just before Reggie did, stopping completely. She stared around at her delightful surroundings. They were so alien to her. She hadn't seen beautiful hills and meadows like these since she was a newborn filly. She'd caught only a brief glimpse before being hustled back over to the dark side. Wait...her ears flattened and her eyes narrowed. "Where exactly are we, Ridged Form?" she asked cautiously. They were on the light side. Light horses would swarm out of nowhere at any moment, overtaking them, filled with rage at the wretched dark horses for tresspassing. Reggie had brought her to her death. These lights, with their lovely homes and carefree lives, still somehow had the evil to kill her parents? It was hard to believe, but it was what Saphira had spent her life believing. And she believed that they would do the same to her in a heartbeat.

[*SN RADIOACTIVITY*]

. : C A D E T : .

Cadet's ears prick forward as he hears Shadow scream for help again, and notices, at the same time, the lingering scent of a predator. What? There's predators on the Light side?! Cadet thinks fearfully as he breaks into a gallop, his hooves thundering on the ground heavily, tail whipping out behind him. Cadet hears Whisper linger behind, but doesn't stop to wait for her, knowing that she'll catch up with him later. Maybe Ebony is tired or something.

Cadet lets out a reassuring whinny as he enters the forest, lowering his two-toned neck, leaping over branches and bushes. He almost trips over the roots a few times, but quickly finds his footing, his hooves easily crushing any stick that he lands on. The scent of the predator gets stronger, and he is now aware of a strong scent of blood. Oh no, please... Cadet thinks as he picks up pace even more, his heart beating loudly against his ribcage.

Finally, Shadow bursts into Cadet's sight, and to his horror, she has a scrawny dog-like predator hanging off her rump. Cadet rears up slightly, not a high rear, but a rear to prepare himself mentally for the fight with the predator. Cadet rushes forward, and carefully runs into the predator, accidentally getting kicked by Shadow's hooves as he does so. The force of Cadet's attack send the predator to the floor, and it glares up at Cadet, it's strange dark orange eyes glowing with hunger. Cadet paws the ground angrily as it crawls near. He can see, in the predator's eyes, that it will not give up until it has had it's meal. Okay, let's play. Cadet thinks as the predator locks it's target on Cadet.

Cadet trots around the predator, stamping his hooves vicariously close to the thing. It tries to jump forward, but Cadet is circling it, making pouncing next to impossible. This is what Cadet has been taught, circling for an attack. However, that strategy isn't always the best, as the predator quickly calculates Cadet's speed, and leaps forward, successfully lodging itself onto Cadet's back.

Cadet shakes his head, and jumps forward, letting out a series of bucks, to throw the predator off. But the predator is determined to stay on, and it digs it's sharp claws into Cadet's back. Cadet snorts with slight pain, but does not let it bother him. He bolts forward, away from the clearing, knowing that he need to put as much space between the predator and Shadow as possible. He bucks every now and then as he gallops, but the predator stays on. The dog-like creature doesn't take this as an opportunity to bite Cadet, but it stays still, as if enjoying riding Cadet.

Cadet bursts out of the forest, and enters the Meadow blindly, at first unaware of what he is doing. Cadet continues to gallop, knowing the predator cannot stay on for much longer, but a strange scent begins to impinge on Cadet's consciousness, and he suddenly stops short, the predator flying over his shoulder, having not expected the sudden halt. Cadet snorts, the sight in front of him startling him.

All Cadet can see is grass. Grass everywhere, no hills, no trees, no anything. Just grass. To a horse, this is heaven, but Cadet's inner mind is telling him something is very wrong. And he turns, looking around, but all he sees is the grass. Cadet feels a disorientation coming through him, as he spins around, trying to remember which way he came from. He looks back at the predator, and snorts with alarm to see it lying on the floor, dead. Cadet lowers his head, and sniffs it, wondering how it just suddenly dropped dead. That is when he notices some of the grass in it's mouth. The hungry animal must have smelt the irresistible scent of the grass, and even though it does not naturally eats grass, it just had to try some. Maybe it was sick, or something.

Cadet pushes the thoughts of the predator in the back of his mind, as he tries to focus his mind in which direction he came from. There is no evidence in the grass to help him with this, and the more Cadet stares at the bright green stuff, the more disoriented he feels. Cadet raises his head and lets out a long, loud, desperate whinny, his eyes beginning to roll with fear. He had heard stories about the Meadow, but never really thought them as true, until a few moments ago. Cadet continues to whinny over and over, his only hope in being that Shadow, or Whisper, had heard him and whinnies in return. Hopefully Cadet hasn't ventured too far in to be heard.

[Arctic⚡️Storm]

.:Shadow Of The Lands:.

Shadow see's Cadet burst in from nowhere, and collapses in pain, craining her neck around to lick at the three deep gashes indented on her side, the deep dark red liquid tumbles out effortlessly, covering the ground in a terrifying puddle, maybe too much for the young mare to bear. It was just at that moment that the predator unlatches its claws off of Shadow, and takes a swing at Cadet. Knowing that this brave stallion is way too full of pride to back-up, she lays on the floor, exaustion taking place. The large stallion takes off into the forest, unknowingly uncertain. But untill long, Shadow realizes that that is where the deadly Meadow was... The huge mare lets out a roaring whinny, errupting out like a meteor had just sped into the earth, and before she could react, there was just silence... Heaving herself up in a sheer burst of determination, Shadow rears highly, before setting off into a diformed, yet abnormal canter. Nostrills flaring in an effort to see what was going on.
"CADET!"
Thundered the mare, her whinny rang out for miles, travelling way over Pangaea to the other side... The mare was certain that this distressed call would reach the stallion, and she tried again, this time in a high-pitched shrill whinny. As she did so, the mare soon reached the border of death, seeing a faint figure of a horse in the mist. Relief flooded through her, but not all... The predator had been flung away...
"CADET! IT'S ME, SHADOW! IM HERE!"
She called desperately, pawing the ground, looking at her tracks, and where she had planted her hooves into the ground...

[*SN RADIOACTIVITY*]

. : C A D E T : .

Cadet is still whirling around desperately, nostrils flared, eyes rolling with fear, when he hears the faint shrill whinny that could have only come from Shadow. Cadet spins around even fast, and faces the sound, trying to see the source of it, but his vision is blurred by the blinding bright green grass. He rears up slightly, and takes a step forward, breathing heavily. Suddenly, as his hoof lifts from the ground, desperate hunger fills Cadet, and he gives a snort of surprise. The only time he has felt this hungry before was when he was in the Dark side, but he hasn't long grazed, why is he so hungry?

The intoxicating scent of the grass fills Cadet's nostrils, and he feels a huge desire, lust, to eat the stuff. His head lowers slightly, trying to give in to the pressure, but Cadet stops himself, knowing that eating this stuff will lead to a certain death. But how do you know it is true? How do you know if the horses that tell you that are just saying that to stop you from trying to delicious grass? a snide voice in Cadet's head tells him. No... This place is driving me insane, it's all tricks! Cadet tells himself as he hears Shadow's voice. He whinnies back,
"Shadow? Is that you?"
He calls loudly, hoping desperately that somehow she can save him from this place before it is too late. Before the snide voice rules his head, before he gives in to the pressure and poisons himself with grass. He takes another step forward, and the desires gets stronger, and he realises, with a sickening worry, that the more he moves the stronger the feeling will get. Would he be able to get out of here before being taken over by the desire? Cadet's muscles tremble with worry and fear as he considers the question.

[Arctic⚡️Storm]

.:Shadow Of The Lands:.

Worried, the mare trembles, waiting for a long couple of minutes. She was just about to step over the mud, and onto the vibrant green grass before she heard a piercing voice penetrate her ears. It was Cadet, and the stallion sounded in trouble. Soon, her muscles started shaking in a panick, and she was thinking too fast, all the mares thoughts travelled in a whirl of chaos, and nothing sempt to make sense. Shadow blurted out whatever she had in her mind, and shouted loudly, so her voice thundered over to the stallion with a fierce urgency, or rage to make him break out of his reverie.
"YES ITS ME SHADOW! NOW MOVE, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE!!!"
The mare stands tall and proud, not wanting to waste valuble time, her head held high, and she could just see, edging towards her, the faint figure of her mate, Cadet. What must've seemed hours was only a couple of minutes, and soon enough, she would see what was going to happen... Weather it was bad or good. Slowly, lowering herself off of the hill, she bounded down the steep land mound, and waited impatiently for his remarkable arrival.

Shadow hoofed the ground, also getting a swift desire to nibble at that lush, heavenly grass. Come on said the calm voice in her head only a little bit, it wont be much, after all, you've had to live in peril all you're life on the dark side, why don't you unravel?It's presence was slightly convincing, though Shadow was too smart to fall for it.
"GET OUT OF MY HEAD, YOU EVIL VOICE!"
She scoulded.

[*SN RADIOACTIVITY*]

| C A D E T |

Cadet hears Shadow reply, her voice thundering to his ears, and never had he noticed, until now, how loud she really is. That is, of course, a good thing, as he can hear her as if she is standing next to him. Cadet closes his eyes, squeezing them shut. His jaw muscles tense as he tries to visualise the beautiful black mare beside him, willing him on, to make it to safety. Cadet takes another step forward, and the desire comes over him again, but this time, his mind is focused on Shadow, knowing that if he gives in to the lust, he will never see the mare again, or their foal, or anything else.
"I-I'm coming!"
Cadet says, his voice weakened by the mental strength it is taking for him to ignore the lust. He isn't even sure if he spoke loud enough, perhaps he was talking more to himself than anything else.

Cadet hears Shadow say something else, but his mind cannot make out what it is as he is too concentrated on trying to make his way back to the forest. Cadet continues to walk forward, his legs shaking, threatening to give way under him. Cadet gives a small cry of relief as scents from the trees fills his nose, he opens his eyes slightly and sees the trees not so far ahead of him. The sight is like a mental fuel for Cadet, and he moves quicker, his breathing shallow. His eyes finds Shadow nearby, and he tries to neigh to her, anything, but no sound will come from his throat. His head is aching from the strain, and just as he thinks he might make it to the forest without falling, his legs give way under him.

Cadet's face buries in the long grass, but he keeps his mouth firmly closed, and is careful not to breath too hard. He raises his head, and struggles to get up, the voice louder than ever, telling him the only way he can get the strength to stand is if he takes a bite from the grass...
"No... Shadow..."
Cadet chokes out, wriggling his legs, trying to find his feet. He must get up and he must live. Cadet finally finds his feet under him, and forces himself up, his breathing getting heavier. His eyes pick out Shadow, and he moves towards her, stumbling slightly, as if he had been through an entire desert and is in desperate need for water... Except apparently he is in desperate need of the grass, and he isn't about to let himself give in to the desire.

[Arctic⚡️Storm]

.:Shadow Of The Lands:.

Calmly standing now, Shadow sniffs the air quickly, and rears up, trying to get a clearer surrounding, and also to get her bearings. She hears a twig snap and almost jumps out of her skin in pure trauma. Letting out a long and irrisistible whinny, Shadow gallops full-pelt towards Cadet, though it sempt more like a charge than anything. The mare does not think to stop, and therefore slams into the stallion, causing both to go flying back into the safer forest. Away from that meadow. Of course, Shadow was planning to do that for a long time, because she was not very keen after being mawled on by a canine, to drag the ruthlessly-disired-stallion away from that grass. It was like a sudden death. Never take any risks, and always try to be strong...

The thought slowly drifts out of her mind, and the young Fresian mare throws her body-weight up, and hauls herself forwards, hanging her neck and head weakly over Cadet. A few emotional tears slide down her face, though nothing could ever separate them again... Not ever...
"C-cadet!IthoughtyouwouldneverpullthroughbecauseIwassoscaredand-and-and.... OHILOVEYOUSOMUCH!!"
Shadow was too upset, yet happy to slow herself down, she collapses beside Cadet, and lets her crystal-clear tears flow down her soft, kind face...

[*SN RADIOACTIVITY*]

| C A D E T |

Cadet hears hooves come towards him, and before he even realises it, he is suddenly thrown in the air, hitting the ground hard, no longer on that meadow. The leaves tickle at his nose as the dizziness and weakness slowly lift from him. He hears a voice in his ear and turns, to see Shadow next to him, and he feels a warmth spread over him as she says she loves him. Cadet leans forward and touches his muzzle gently with her's, breathing out softly,
"Oh Shadow, you saved me, thank you so much."
Cadet says in a rush, his voice showing appreciation and affection at the same time. He moves his nose so it trails up her cheekbone and rests it just below her ear,
"Shadow, I've never stopped loving you, even when you left me."
Cadet says gently, his heartbeat gradually slowing down as he regains his former strength. Cadet looks up at the trees, the silence suddenly calm, the meadow looking innocent and beautiful. Though Cadet has learnt by now it is not innocent at all. He looks back at Shadow, his dark brown eyes gazing into her's.

[Soriams]

Whisper
Walking slowly in Shadow and Cadet's trail, Whisper listens with alarm to the desperate whinnies that reach her on the wind. Head back and nostrils flared, she has to force herself to continue, and though her progress is halting, she eventually reaches the trees with little Ebony still in tow. Far from frightened, the colt actually seems to be enjoying himself as though he has forgotten about his hunger and he now romps around Whisper in a high-hoofed gait.

The pair pass under the canopy of the forest, and both horses look up at the leaves that tower far overhead. Whisper has spent little time in the woods, finding the closeness of the trees a bit oppressive, as well as thoughts of what they may hide. She much prefers the openness of the plains, where she can feel the sun on her back and there is room to run. What was Shadow doing in a place like this anyway? Is there even anything good to eat here? She wonders, trying to take he mind of the scent of the dog, and following Cadet's harried footprints deeper into the trees.

It is only after what seems to be an eternity of searching that Whisper comes upon Shadow and Cadet, still standing cheek to cheek in what she can only hope is some kind of reconciliation. Smiling, she picks up her pace and approaches them at a happy trot, Ebony right beside her. When she gets close enough to pick up the scent of blood, she stops out of alarm, nose flared and ears back. Shadows wounds are quite alarming, and Cadet too has been injured. What... What happened? Did the dog do all of this? She thinks, holding back as if afraid to intrude. Ebony however, has no such reserve, and at the sight of his mother immediately runs to her, letting out a tiny little nicker. He circles her, affectionately nuzzling her with his muzzle before giving into his hunger and attempting to nurse.

Reggie
Reggies smiles calmly to Saphira, standing his ground and not moving towards the mare in fear of her mistaking his advance. Careful Reggie... You're loosing her! He thinks, feeling a bit of desperation rise up inside of him as he takes in her worried expression. "These are the borderlands, Saphira. A place that seems to be completely forgotten by both the light and the dark..." As though to show her that he is completely at ease, he dips his head and tears at the luscious grass, only picking it up again when he has a good mouthful to chew.

He looks over her slender form as he chews, her white pelt nearly luminescent as it glints in the starlight. Common... Please! You've got to understand! Reggie wishes silently, he has brought so many to this point, only to have them turn and run. Sure, he could just snake a mare, but there is something unfulfilling about that. More than a mate, Reggie wants a companion, someone who shares his mind and thoughts, not a prisoner. Some part of him senses the strength in Saphira and now desperately wants to hold onto that. Finally swallowing, he speaks again, in a quiet voice that might barely reach her ears, inviting her forward to hear him better. "At least come and have a bite to eat... I promise it is good, and there is little to worry any horse here."