by LemonBunny » Sat May 27, 2023 10:53 am
Prompt:
When Athena was captured, she fought tooth and nail, refusing to be taken down by ropes and strange people so easily, she reared and bit and kicked and at several points even broke free and had to be tracked down over several days to be re-roped and led once more.
This is because with every ounce of her heart, Athena loved being wild, she had a herd that warned her of danger and access to endless miles of wilderness to roam and conquer for herself, however her perceived luck and her stamina ran out one day and she found herself surrendering to her captors.
Athena expected the worst and still provided as much resistance as she could given her dwindling energy, however she found herself greeted by other horses, food and water and a place to sleep. which caught her off guard severely.
Athena was suspicious of everyone and everything for months, refusing to let humans come near her, chasing off the other animals who had come to inspect her and refusing treats or to leave her enclosure, though over time Athena becamse adjusted to her surroundings and began to allow those around her some of her precious and hard earned trust.
When she did, she found herself somewhere new once more where the cycle began again, the wariness and distrust returned only to fade with time and patience and she eventually bonded strongly with a few of the other horses at the ranch she was taken to.
But one thing that never changed about Athena was her wild and free heart, which could never truly be fenced in or tamed.
She found herself galloping full speed like she always used to, the wind whipping her mane and tail around and seemingly carrying her worries away somewhere they'd never bother her again.
She would follow the creeks and rivers along the ranch and jump alongside the spawning fish, seeing if she could reach higher altitudes than they could, only occasionally stopping for a sip from their clear waters before her sprint continued.
But the one thing that took Athena back to being wild, something that made her heart flutter with familiarity and lifted her soul beyond the horizon that stretched before her, was climbing the small peak behind the headmaster's office at the ranch and surveying the rolling green hills and pines below her.
Visitors to the ranch often take photographs of Athena overlooking her new home, comparing it to a scene out of a disney horse movie as she looked too majestic to be real.
This area is even affectionately dubbed "Athena's Peak" by those who work at the ranch due to how often the mare can be spotted up there when she is allowed to free roam.