She pranced back and forth. Eyes darting between the trees as the licks of red, orange, and yellow seem to grow, to engulf these trees. Except they never seem to actually take the trees down with them. They're taunting her. Taunting her while she starts to break. Valiance had done his job - he'd gotten the one creature he thought might be able to fix her, fix whatever was broken because he had no clue what was going on.

Spreading his wings, he curled up in the tree - not willing to touch her pelt, to try and jerk her out of it when she was already so far gone, when he had seen the images of his lifeless form being thrown over a cliff and down to the broken bodies of a buckskin and of Aly being hit by the crashing waves. However, it is her name that reaches her ears, but not her mind. No. Her eyes latch onto the painted one, who is taking steps closer and closer to her. It is slow, but the panic is only widening in Res's eyes. No. No. She's dead. She's dead - I saw her form with waves crashing on top of her. It wasn't possible - not in her mind. The only explanation was that dark stag conjuring up magic to make them hurt her - to kill her and make her die as well. To torture her in her last moments.

And as Aly inched in closer, another appeared. But, no heed was paid to her at first, Res's attention snapping to the fluffball which had come from Aly's pelt. It's going to hurt me. Get it away! Away! Res screeches in her head, but can do nothing as the bird positions himself upon a branch near her face. In fact, it is Valiance who is shuffling his weight to sit beside Hemlock, his long wing stretching out to wrap protectively around the young one in an attempt to anchor him to the base of the tree should he allow it as Res bucked out - knocking the tree violently in her panic, hoping to the dear Gods that it would get the zombied beings away from her.

She leaps forward a few strides, body trembling uncontrollably. How was this happening? How was this possible? Her eyes dart now, to the one who is telling her she is safe - to the strange colours on her back. No, wait. It was the one who had set those in the Falls on fire. Panic. Immediately it sets in. She is the reason that the forest is on fire. She is the reason that her friends were engulfed in flames. "Stop the fire! Please! I'll do anything... Just stop burning our family!" she's choking on her words, and stumbling backwards again. Her long tendrils are wrapping around her limbs - tugging on her limbs. It's as if she is being drug to the ground with each movement she attempts to make. It won't be okay. It won't be okay. That's all she can repeat to herself over and over again. Why? Because the fire is waiting to be unleashed - to burn the forest down and to eat everyone alive.

But again, another horse has come. Her name is spoken and it still doesn't break through the deep confines of her mind. It's a deeper voice, and her dead eyes radiate nothing but panic and uncertainty as they turn towards him. A softer voice. And he continues to speak until he is right up with her. But I'm back up, backing up until I'm against the tree that she is convinced is burning. Black. He's black. No. He must be hiding his horn. Gods. Gods save me...

She's trapped as he reaches out with his muzzle and she winces as he presses his maw up against her shoulder. Valiance hissing in discontent with the situation his bonded was already in. Someone needed to stop this madness. Someone needed to snap her out of it. However, nothing was helping. She was sliding in deeper, and tears were starting to fall like waterfalls down her cheeks. Des-or-maybe-the-dark-stag, tells her to look, to take in those around her, to realize they were there to keep her safe. But, all she saw were the flames. The flames that should be eating them all alive yet wasn't inflicting any damage.

"Make it stop... please.... make it stop..." she's begging, pleading. But it isn't working. The fire wasn't stopping. The air seemed to be getting thinner with heat, and she couldn't take in enough oxygen for herself. Valiance was shifting his weight, uncertain of whether to leave the fluffy one, or to attempt to fly into Res's mane to attempt to calm her.

And, just when the calm almost has a chance to ebb into the corners of her mind Quilyan comes crashing into Destrier. She's shuffling again, letting out a yelp as her hair wraps just tightly enough to put enough pressure on her hocks and cause her hind legs to crumble beneath her. Make it stop. Make it stop! But it doesn't stop, and she's kicking out blindly to free her legs from her hair, Valiance darting from the tree and pulling the hair from areas that his face would never have to meet her hoof. And, when she finally has enough space from the confines of her hair she stumbles back to her feet - unwilling to stay in such a defenseless position. Her eyes span the width of the area before landing on Quilyan. More panic, more uncertainty. His wing raising, her name murmured and his wing lifted.

But she doesn't want a wing - she wants the world to be right again. She sobs, darting away from the wing and into Destrier, which then causes her to dart into the middle of the circle that seems to have formed. She's spinning now, unwilling to keep her back to any of them and Valiance is attempting to keep her tendrils from coiling up around her legs again - to try and keep her from scaring herself even more.

"You're dead -" incoherent babble falls between the coherent words as she sobs and twirls, sobs and twirls. "- Broken neck - drowning - fire - he killed - join Rowan -" It makes no sense, not really, but she can't think. She can't make herself act normal. The fire is there - and in fact, the fire is only staying away from Quil at this point.

She needs to start counting, but she can't concentrate enough to do even that. There is nothing but the sickening dullness of panic and a mare in a world that is not the present one flashing her eyes. Her ear is pinned as she takes in a shaky breath - "You-" she starts, staring at Des, feet unable to stand still and Valiance carefully pulling strands out of the way (in fact beginning to braid it up and out of her way) "- you killed Rowan," and then she spins sharply to Aurelia, "You-" a sob as she sees the fire engulfing everyone, even her, without the pain, "- please don't burn our family. Please.... stop..." And then, she spins around, looking between Quilyan and Aly, "I - You, no. You were dead. Broken necks, wings, dislocated limbs. He killed you I-"

And she's sobbing, sobbing and trying to get away from the circle. Her limbs refuse to work, though, and her left hind catches on a thick branch. Weakened hocks from all the trembling she has been doing this whole time has her now crumpled on the ground without the ability to return to her feet.

Valiance? Well, he decides it is a good time to perch on Aly's withers and continue to hiss his concern for his bonded. His bonded who still has violent images of all of their deaths spinning around her cranium.

When will it end?


TAGS: still open ;3
MUSE: omg overflowing
NOTES: 1334 words guys <3