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we started laughing ‘til it didn’t hurt;;; kylaia & alayne
Topic Started: Jan 1 2013, 10:45 PM (272 Views)
Magnanimous
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KYLAIA && alayne

Ky knows she has put this off as long as possible. After she received the news, after Caius had to calm Layla, after her world disintegrated around her, Ky had fled. Well--fled is generous; she ran as well as an overly-pregnant mare possibly can, seeking shelter in what she imagines is the last safe place. Alone now, away from the possibility of any stallion who wants to snap up Viral's emotional mares, Ky knows the baby is coming, and for the first time in her life, she doesn't want it.

That scares her more than anything, the desire to abandon this helpless little thing growing inside her. She's been alone in the quarry now for days, wandering and pacing. She's put the birth off for long enough; every movement has her body protesting, muscles constantly aching and uncomfortable. She's up near the front of the territory when it happens, not even secluded or with the possibility of being alone like it was with Layla, Kei and even Irina.

The contractions are the same, though more severe and they come on quicker. Ky recognizes them for what they are, and with a huff lies down where she is. She's thankful it's in the shade, at the very least. She's under a large, long dead tree, the tall grasses pushed down from her restless movements over the last week. Once she's settled in, it doesn't take long, Ky knows her body, and her body knows what to do. Maybe an hour later and she has the final product. The small, grulla foal before her seems tinier than all of her other children, even Layla who had seemed so unreal, so impossibly helpless when Ky was but a filly herself.

She cleans the foal, but beyond that doesn't move. She feels guilty; how will she raise this helpless little filly? She has no home; she could go to Caius, but she had never been close with him, not like her Layla was. She knows she shouldn't still feel so apathetic. No names are coming to her, no desire to help the filly rise; no outpouring love, no hope. All she feels is terror; Viral is gone. She's homeless, herd-less, loveless and lost.

Standing over the small filly as she struggles to rise, Kylaia weeps. What has she done?

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we are not things; those were her words!
salome | ishtar | piper| riesling | rani | anael | iscaie | silas | faolan | sven | nyss|

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kimmys
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Akita has never been a true dark, like her brother. Staring death in the face always has a way of making her solemn and afraid, it forces her to reconsider the risk she takes in bearing Rowan a child so often or in making the trip to the Quarry alone again and again. Luckily, with two newborns to care for, she has little time for such morbid contemplation and has to keep on top of the two foals. Sven had a head start on Muse, who was just beginning to move past the wobbly stage of learning how to walk, and was always trying to get himself into mischief. Gradually Akita had been moving their small group toward the front of the territory so that she could better watch the waves and the weather for an optimal time to make the trip home. It was always more dangerous when the foals were small and the trip long, but there was little to be done for it. Akita was alone and she couldn't leave either behind so they would make the trip carefully, all together.

With the weather calming for this brief indian summer, Akita knew that their best chance would come soon and had moved the entire group to the beach. Alight with curiosity with the new sounds and smells, Akita had allowed the foals to toddle off together to explore nearby while they walked the beach coast. Ahead was what was most commonly considered the front of the Quarry, where the sandy beaches gave way not to spare forestry but to a small grassland dotted with trees. Some mares found comfort in foaling in a common place, where they were likely to be found if anything went wrong. Others were caught short by the suddenness of some foalings and ended up in that area out of desperation rather than choice.

In fact, Akita halts her brood as a mare's figure comes visible. She is rather close, something Akita hadn't caught with her view obstructed by the sand dune and immediately decides that she must turn back as her gaze puts the pieces of the puzzle together. There is a dark shape - one that Akita wonders if it is dead until it's body moves - on the ground, but the mare makes no move to address it for a time. When at last she cleans it, the tovero can only sense a deep melancholy from the mare and remains rooted in place, unable to walk away if the mare decides to abandon the foal. It's been done before. Heaven's knows plenty of mares have abandoned foals for their gender alone. Or because they are too selfish to raise the baby they created, as was the case with Lyris' dam.

But her ire abates as she notices the sadness apparent on the mares face. The way she remains still rather than tender as a new mother should be. Cautious but worried about the health of this mare and the despair she shows, the tovero tentatively moves closer and whickers gently.

"Miss, are you okay?" Reacting to their mother's caution, the two foals bunch close to her and they too, watch the scene ahead, although they have little idea of what is actually going on. While this young, an experienced mother would probably be able to tell that they are not twins, but Akita doubts that Rowan will. The only indications that he will have are that she was not large enough to be pregnant with twins, and the small filly, while appearing his replica with her gorgeous stripes, will not smell like him.

"Do you need any help?" By now Akita has advanced to being slightly out of a normal talking distance, with enough room separating the group that she is not within range to threaten the newborn struggling to rise.
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Magnanimous
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Ky feels as if she's falling apart. She doesn't know how long she's been standing here, how long her daughter has been struggling to rise. Watching with vacant eyes, the small grulla mare stares at the foal. This is worse than she expected; no one will want her, not at her age and with a daughter of Viral at her feet--if they do take her in, it would likely be for her filly, kept for future purposes. Ky is a realist; she knows it's a rather sought-after bloodline, if only for bragging rights.

Kylaia doesn't even hear the unfamiliar mare approach; between the sound of the crashing waves and her sobs, and the soft noises her filly is making at her feet, Kylaia isn't pulled from her state until she hears the mares voice. With a choked-off sob, Ky turns to face the mare. She's a lovely tobiano, the colors reminding Kylaia of her Kei. The grulla closes her eyes, a vain attempt to compose herself, before taking a deep breath.

She turns to face the mare, instinct still having her step in front to protect her slowly-rising daughter, even if she still doesn't know what to do with the filly. There are two newborns at the feet of the black-and-white painted mare, a handsome paint and one of the prettiest little black and striped fillies that Ky has ever seen. Two foals--twins for this mare. For a moment, Ky entertains the idea of leaving her own filly with her, asking this mare to care for her own daughter. But the thought of giving up her last baby, her little piece of Viral, is so off-putting that Ky winces, mad at herself for even thinking it. The stripes on the filly are a comfort; one of Viral's allies is striped--Ky has met him on occasion, at herd meetings or the like. She hasn't met many other horses with stripes--maybe this is one of his mares?

Ky realizes that she's been silent too long, not answering the question. But even thinking of it, of how she could possibly answer, has her eyes welling with tears yet again. The instinct to lie is strong; to turn this mare away and find some other solution. But her hormones and her fear win, and she shakes her head in denial. "No, I'm not. He's dead and I have this filly and I'm alone and I don't know what to do. How can I raise her? How in the world can I keep her safe without a home?" Ky hasn't been alone in years; nearing seven, probably, and she had constantly been with Viral tucked safe in the Province. Even if she was never Viral's lover, if their love remained more platonic and more from respect than passion. It had worked for them; Viral respected Ky, looked to her for the mares, and Ky relied on him--on their home, on their children, on his reliability. Ky finally manages to snap out of her stupor, bending down to nose the filly to stand. Her smile is soft and she's still crying, though silently this time. She brushes her muzzle across the filly's soft forelock before nudging the little one towards her own rump, encouraging her to nurse. She's crying again, and manages to force out, "She'll never even know her father."

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we are not things; those were her words!
salome | ishtar | piper| riesling | rani | anael | iscaie | silas | faolan | sven | nyss|

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kimmys
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Akita is bothered by a strange niggle of familiarity in her mind, a sense of knowing this mare although, for the life of her, she can't remember where. The choices are fairly limited, stretching between the three herds she has lived in during her life, and a few odd faces here and there from when Viral was too young to claim the Province and thus, took her and Lilian travelling. But no name comes to mind, and so she decides to come back to it later, focusing instead on how her words seem to shock the mare into reacting.

Akita's black ears come forward as the grulla moves to protect the slowly rising newborn, the first truly maternal movement that Akita has seen her take. It brings up an encouraging smile on her lips, although she is privately wondering the story here. The mare seems, bodily at least, to be perfectly fine and there is nothing visibly wrong with her similarly colored daughter. Nor does she seem like a first time, flustered mother. Rather, she seems terribly sad and lost, and Akita is not immediately sure how to respond. When at last the mare speaks, it's a rush of emotion and tangled words that shock the tovero's memory into overdrive.

It had been many years ago, when she'd been hardly two or maybe three, when she met this mare. She was introducing her daughter, another lovely grulla, to Viral and had been nervous. If she remembers correctly, the filly had been born blind and was one of the first of Viral's children to ever come. She remembers talking to the filly, a delightfully bright girl, but not what had become of them. Akita doubts, however, that the mare ever left the Province, and when she continues speaking, painting the death of the newborn's father, her heart breaks for her. At the same time, Akita is torn. She has not held love in her heart for her brother for many years. His cruelty crushed Akita's formerly strong bond to her family, and had she not had Rowan to turn to at that point, she probably would have wasted away on her own.

However, Akita is not one to hold love of any kind against another creature. She knows that she is not a shining example, being mated to a dark stallion as well. So her heart goes out to this mare who had apparently, loved her brother very much. Akita wants to close the distance between them and offer comfort to the mare, but the newborn's frailty makes that option unviable. Instinct made all mares fiercely protective of their newborn, and she was as unwilling to put her own foals at risk as this mare would likely be to put her daughter at risk.

Opting instead to offer a different plan, she speaks gently. "If it is my brother, Viral, that you speak of, then I am heartily sorry for your loss, and am glad to meet one of his faithful mares."

Akita frowns, guessing that no amount of verbal condolences will ever compensate for the lack of someone held dear. The mare does not seem willing to let go of her newborn, not that Akita would ask it of a mare in anything but dire circumstances, and so she cannot offer to care for the foal. Perhaps though, this mare would be willing to go back to the Lullen with her. Rowan wouldn't object to taking in one of Viral's mares, especially if Akita was there to intervene. The only threat that Akita feared in bringing the mare home would be if Rowan decided to suddenly grow sticky hooves, but even that could be avoided now that Akita and Rowan understood each other. This mare, whose name still does not come to her mind, deserves time to recuperate and recover.

"If you would like, you and your daughter are welcome to return to Bitter Lullen with me. Rowan was an ally of Viral's, and we certainly wouldn't let his memory be forgotten."
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Magnanimous
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Kylaia is astonished when the mare correctly assumes what herd she comes from. The small grulla mare glances up in surprise, ears pinned to her head and eyes narrowed in suspicion. How does this mare know where she comes from? She's vaguely familiar, from her scent down to her looks, but Ky wouldn't put it past herself to assume every paint horse on the planet was one of Viral's relatives and safe to trust. It's been years since she interacted with this mare, but the feeling that she knows her won't go away, and Ky wracks her brain. It takes long, silent moments, but then she remembers--this is the mare who was no more than a filly herself when Ky presented Layla for the very first time. Ky relaxes at her own memory, and the next words that the mare offers.

With a sad, watery smile Ky nods her acceptance of the words. "Of course. I'm glad to meet one of his sisters. Family was important to Viral. You'll have to forgive me, but I don't know your name." By this point Alayne has finished feeding with a happy smack of her soft lips and settled to sleep, sprawled on the ground at Kylaia's feet. Kylaia is ready to cry again; there isn't even evidence of viral on this foal. No paint markings, no fancy blaze, no already-impressive stature. She is lovely, though, with a clear grulla coat and pretty black points. Ky sighs as her filly settles to sleep, and glances up yet again when the strange mare speaks.

Ky won't lie--she's surprised at the offer. She knew Viral, knew many of his family. 'Generous' wasn't exactly the term she would use when describing them. But a few moments of thought, and yes, well, it does make sense. To be able to acquire a mare for whatever stallion this other belongs to would be a feat. But does Ky really have any other options? Not to mention--does she really have any other options? This mare claims to be one of Rowan's, and also a sister to Viral. Really, her options don't get much better than that. Viral must have trusted Rowan enough to call him an ally, to share family members with him. Ky hasn't answered yet, and she realizes that it's rude. So finally she nods and says, "I would appreciate it, as long as you're sure Rowan won't mind me joining you in your home."

Kylaia wonders what it will be like to just be any other herd mare; no longer lead, no longer dear to the Lead stallion. No longer in her home--Bitter Lullen is probably as close as she will ever get to Serpent's Province again, but it is still a frightening prospect. But Ky forces a smile to her face and says, "You had twins; they are absolutely lovely. I'm sure Rowan will be pleased."



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we are not things; those were her words!
salome | ishtar | piper| riesling | rani | anael | iscaie | silas | faolan | sven | nyss|

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kimmys
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Now that the adults are more comfortable, the tension level drops significantly, and Sven's pale face peeps inquisitively around Akita's shoulder, pale ears pricked forward. He is positively brimming with the excitement and energy of a young foal, and desperate to explore his world, including the new mare and foal that have walked into it. Steadily his mother calms him, keeping him tucked close as the tired newborn sinks to the ground and sprawls out in the utterly trusting position. Barred from crossing to greet her, the colt settles for stretching his neck out and whickering nearly silently, his tiny rosy nostrils flaring with the effort. Curious as to what her adopted brother was up to, but not nearly as outgoing as he is, not yet anyway, she peeks underneath Akita's stomach to watch him.

Aware of her children as always, the tovero nonetheless keeps her attention mostly on the grulla mare and the way her expression shifts between wariness and finally acceptance. She still seems unsure, but Akita assumes that is the kind of thing that she will have to wear away from Kylaia's heart with time rather than words. Benevolently, a grin passes onto her features but it is tainted by sadness, and the soul crushing realization that all creatures are mortal and that someday, this might be her. The thought frightens her a little, well, a lot actually. Rowan is her rock, her homebase, her other half. While she assumes that she would be able to mother a child without his presence, she cannot say that her heart would ever recover.

"It doesn't surprise me that you do not know who I am, as I believe we haven't seen each other since I was very young and a ward of Viral's. I do remember your daughter though, Layla, wasn't it?" Unaware that this may cause the mare further pain, she pauses for a moment with a smile, recalling the endearing filly she had once known. She realizes with a start of surprise that the foal she'd known had been slightly older than her very own Paisley, which meant that this mare may too be a grandmother. Feeling at once more comfortable with her, she smiles gently again. "My name is Akita, and I'm sure Rowan won't mind. He is my mate and I have brought stranger things home from the Quarry."

And in doing so, neatly skirts the issue of her children's relation. She has not yet decided whether she will tell Rowan that Muse is not her own, nor even his although what Akita wouldn't give to take her lover's child away from Daire. No, Muse looks the most like her love, but shares no blood with him as far as the tovero knows. And Sven, too, only vaguely looks like his father. Now that his downy foal coat has darkened the slightest bit, she can see primitive markings not unlike those that Kylaia wears, hiding underneath all of his white, but she doubts that he will be striped like her first daughter or son. Still, Duncan hardly resembled either of them at birth but grew into his form and was a stunning colt in his own right.

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