Trail of Tears {OPEN}

Trail of Tears {OPEN}

Cherokee Posts: N/A

Unregistered

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04-20-2015, 11:08 PM

Cherokee

I'll keep a part of you with me...

The mare stepped slowly though the underbrush, as though she feared making a wrong move. Three white legs cut a path in the bushes followed by that one yellow front, her broad chest enduring the whip like branches without flinching. She had been wandering for moons, unsure of where she was or even where she was going. All she was sure of was that she had to keep going, further and further she finally outran the pain of the past.

High above her the wind whistled sharply for an instant as a winged shadow flickered past, and the howl of a wolf in the far distance set a shiver down the buckskin's spine. Shivering against more than the growing night, she continued her slow descent of the rocky hill before her. Never once did it cross her mind that she could slip and fall, break any number of bones on the slope littered with traps of branches and stones, keeping her feet was as easy as breathing for the stocky mare.

As she picked her way down, the twilight fading away to dusk, casting the world into ominous shades of grey, she tried to keep her mind blank. It was no use thinking about the past, the friends she had left behind, the wonderful lover who no doubt blamed himself for disappearance, but most of all she tried to block out any thought of the beautiful corpse being torn apart by scavengers thousands of miles away. The poor thing had only breathed life for a few days before her fail body have broken down for good, but a few days was all Cherokee had needed to fall madly in love with her daughter.

She had been gorgeous, a deep bay like her father, but she had her mothers' unique markings. High white stockings on all her legs, a delicate face that looked as though someone had splashed fresh snow across it, and the plethora of white speckles on her underbelly. It had taken hours for the filly to make it back to the herd, and even then she was weak and unstable, born far too early. Cherokee had tried, given her heart and soul to the young creature, knowing that she could beat the weakness of her body and survive.

Oh how wrong she had been. It had been a peaceful death yes, at least compared to the ones Cherokee had borne witness to as a filly, but with the death of the tiny bay, a part of Cherokee fled the world as well. Flicker, she had been named, though the new mother had been told not to name her until it was sure that she would live. So positive that she could nurse her baby to health, the golden mare had named her in spite of the warnings. It had made her passing that much harder, though she refused to admit it.

Every night she would lay with her foal, keeping her warm and safe, standing and moving about periodically before returning to the tiny bundle that held her heart. On the third morning however, when Cherokee nudged and bumped Flicker gently to wake up, the filly had not moved. Worse than that, when Cherokee pushed harder, the body had rolled over limply, the once bright blue eyes staring dully at the sun rising over the tree line.

It had felt like a dream, or maybe a nightmare, pushing and biting at her dead foal, pulling at her mane and withers, begging her over and over to stand up, to blink or flick her ears, anything. At last Cherokee had been herded away from the body and the whole herd left, leaving Flicker's body to rot in the grass.

It had been only two days before Cherokee could take it no more. In the dead of the night she had slipped away unnoticed, or perhaps the others had seen her go but thought she would return. She had no intention of ever going back. As far as she could go was as far as she would go, to the edge of the world if that's what it would take to forget the past.

Shaking her head, and casting her ebony forelock out of her diamond eyes, the mare halted mid stride, yellow leg upraised. The wind had shifted, bringing a new scent to her. Water. Though this water smelled, different, foreign. Perhaps she had traveled far enough.

Now with new purpose she pushed forward towards the pure liquid. As the trees finally gave way, she stared in awe as the moon rose fully and its reflection filled the pool in front of her with an almost magical silver glow.

One hesitant step after another she gained on the waters edge and looked down into its depths. Reflected back at her was a snowy white face and blue eyes, that only served to remind her of Flicker. A sigh parted her lips, and closing her eyes tight against the pain, she bent her head to drink.

OOC: Holy crap on a gawd damn cracker, that was hard to pump out. I know it's a little rusty... Okay a lot rusty... Give me a couple posts, I'll warm back up :)

Word Count: 836

And everywhere I am, there you'll be.

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