Feeling as if someone was watching her the pale coated mare stumbled through the darkness not wanting to stop if there should be something lurking about. Perhaps she was just paranoid or something was following her but with her inclination to overthink things it was likely nothing to worry about. Only when the sun began to peak up from behind the mountains did her nerves settle a bit, at least now she could see where she was going. Looking around there was nothing within her range of sight to cause her any problems but it was what remained hidden that scared her. Her legs ached from the battery they had suffered over the course of the night between the stickiness of deep mud to the bruises from crashing into branches hidden by the undergrowth. Not that any of this was abnormal for her.

Spending majority of her life living in fear of everything she was slowly beginning to gain some confidence thanks to the realms of Helovia. So far most of the individuals she had met had been nice enough but it was her nature to be cautious of everyone especially stallions for they had left her beaten and broken many times before. A few had already crossed her path here but to her surprise none had been like those of her past, well at least so far. Hell she had even let one convince her to join a herd, if that wasn't progress she didn't know what was.

Pausing under the shelter of one of the towering willows she let her legs rest so that they might once again carry her back home, wherever that was. Directions were not one of her strong points and inhabiting this new land made things quite confusing when it came to navigation. Eventually she might learn the lay of the land but until then it was just a huge game of hide and seek. The sea she knew ran along the borders of the edge so it was the strong scent of salt that she would search for to help guide her but for now she needed to rest. Sinking to the ground with a sigh of relief she closed her eyes for a few moments to rest her eyes.

Minutes passed by as she lay there silently trying to ease her brain into sleep only to find the task impossible. She would just have to settle for rest rather than for sleep once again, at least it was something other than walking. Leaning herself back the coarse fibers of the bark supported her comfortably, it was actually rather comforting to feel something behind her. The grove around her did give a peaceful atmosphere yet she found herself wondering if others also lingered here.




TAGS: @[Mauja]
MUSE: Good
NOTES: Sorry for the delay <3

The peace remained for what seemed like hours allowing the young mare to rest her bones and mentally prepare herself for the journey ahead. By the time the sun was overhead she already felt restless to move on never liking to stick to one place for too long. It was more of a habit now than an actual necessity but she tended to cling to things that resembled normalcy considering her life was anything but normal. Blue orbs opened once again to scan her surroundings before she dared move from where she lay partially concealed behind the willow's foliage. As her mind drew satisfaction in the tranquility of the scene she felt comfortable to uncurl her legs from beneath her and heave her mass from the ground.

Shaking off the debris that had collected upon her snowy pelt during the course of the night she paused to figure out her next route of travel. Well the first thing that she needed to do was to find some water to quench her thirst that was beginning to grow, there had to be some nearby considering she was standing within a grove of willows who tended to only grow around sources of water. Picking up her hooves she slowly moved along cautiously keeping a watchful eye out for both water and any others that might be lingering. Finding a shallow embankment filled with the clear crystalline liquid she eagerly waded in to the knee deep water lowering her muzzle to drink her fill.

Peering down to her rather pathetic reflection she couldn't help but cringe with the face looking back at her. Granted it was much improved from how she had been only a few short weeks ago but still she could see the signs of her past clinging to her appearance like glue. Her frame was slender to begin with but there was still the bonyness of her ribcage showing through her coat, granted it was in much less contrast to the bag of bones she had been when she had arrived. She was thankful that many of her wounds had healed up leaving no trace, in her mind she could still remember each and every one burned into her memory. Closing her eyes she fought away the pain not wanting to remember that part of her life, things were different now she needed to believe it.

The snapping of branches tore her from her thoughts as her head whipped up in alarm. Wide eyes picked out the form of another equine behind the trees moving along with a bird of some sort perched upon his shoulder. A stallion no less, figures she thought silently to herself. Maybe if she moved away he wouldn't notice her over here, it was worth a try. Slowly she waded through the water to the opposite bank priding herself in her soundless movement thus far, maybe she would get lucky for once. The mud of the bank sucked at her hooves threatening to stop her in her tracks and pull her down but she pursued. It wasn't until she attempted to free her right hind leg that something went wrong. Something had caught around her fetlock forbidding her from pulling her foot free, likely a root of one of the nearby trees. Sharply she tugged trying to free herself only to find her other feet sliding upon the muddy embankment giving her no traction. Snorting in frustration she turned hoping to back out the way she had come only to find herself tripping over herself sending her into the shallow water with a splash.

Lifting her head up in shock she found herself laying on her side in the water still unable to free her foot. This was just her luck, things had been going well but as soon as she said anything the opposite would happen. Flailing frantically like a fish out of water the feeling of panic began to creep in, if she couldn't get out on her own she might be stuck here forever. She wouldn't drown but if the temperature dropped she would either freeze to death or starvation would take her. She wasn't ready to die! No she needed to get out of here, wait the stallion! Could she maybe call out to him? Would he help her? She really had no other options here she had to try. A whinny escaped her lips praying that maybe someone would hear her and come to her aid. What if no one came she would be surely a goner.



TAGS: @[Mauja]
MUSE: Good
NOTES: Thank you <3 Haha she always manages to somehow get herself into trouble.

Feeling the harsh bark tear at the delicate skin of her fetlock it stilled her motions as her mind attempted to find a solution to her situation. She rather liked having skin upon her bones and if she kept struggling against the restraint it would soon leave none. It had gone in between the roots surely it had to come back out, maybe there was just some angle she had overlooked that would free her if she could just could find it.

An exasperated groan escaped her lips as she took a moment to try and analyze if she had any hopes of getting out of this alive. Dying in a watery grave was so not on her to do list so one way or another she was getting out of this. Mud already clung to her coat where the bed of the pond had decided to deposit its coating as if her predicament wasn't already bad enough. Well I guess it was ironic that if she did perish it would be back to the earth instead of due to some horrific accident. There was so much that she had yet to accomplish in this life dying now would only serve to prove what a failure things had become.

Thoughts of the stallion had all but vanished as her mind went to freeing herself so the masculine lyrics caught her ears she jumped half trying to right herself but failing miserably. As his words set in she couldn't help but feel as if she was being mocked, clearly could someone not see that she was stuck? Like she would really just flop around in the mud of the riverbank on purpose, then again there were some really strange individuals out there. "Well I am not doing this for anyone's amusement." She stated blatantly hesitantly raising her blue eyes to his for a brief second.

Turning her neck around she misestimated the distance to the water and ended up with a muzzle full of water. Snorting to clear the misplaced droplets from her nares completely embarrassed she would have blushed if she could. She could only imagine what it looked like to the spotted stallion and his snowy owl who seemed to look down upon her with a what could have been a flicker of amusement in their eyes. "My foot is caught between the bank and a root. It won't come loose, I've tried everything." She finally admitted in a soft tone feeling as if she was two feet tall.



TAGS: @[Mauja]
MUSE: Good
NOTES: Sorry for delay, just got off working 6 days in a row XD

In her mind she could already hear the laughter of the stallion mocking her rather misfortunate encounter with one of natures harmless. Like really who else could manage to wind up stuck in a pond all thanks to the roots of one particular tree. If she had been wiser and thinking clearly she might have decided to not walk so close to the foot of the giant living stick knowing damn well of the intricate root system they commonly had. When they stood upon the earth dirt filled in the crevices between the netting of roots making it possible to stand upon but when water was involved the stability was washed away leaving pockets of unfilled space. From what she could feel gripping onto her foot the roots were not as thick as they could have been but obviously strong enough to hold her still.

The silence lapsed confusing the white mare, why wasn't the spotted laughing at her like all the others would? Did he have shreds of humility left within his soul that allowed him to see beyond the nature of how she had gotten herself into this mess? It came as a shock for her as the brutes she had known in the past would have used the predicament to their advantage but apparently not this stag, what made him different? Her gaze was a mixture of confusion and inquiry as it hover around the muscular frame of the the masculine creature behind her. "And here I thought you just wanted to make my day," The words brought a small huff in response as at least one strand of familiarity resided, the cocky attitude that she strangely found a vaguely amusing.

"Please be a dear and don't kick my head in," A soft chuckle escaped her throat at the comment before she realized what he was doing. Flinching away from his soft touch at first she stilled her movement knowing all too well he could easily rip her leg or anything else for that matter, to shreds if he wanted to using the sharp tip of his horn as he probed around to attempt to discover the source of her restraint. If she had wanted to she could easily disobey his simple request to be kind to his head. It would only take one well placed kick to take care of that, but that was not the kind of person she was. If she had to choose between the natural instincts of fight or flight she was already long gone before the first even crossed her mind.

As his head retraced its path of descent she released the breath she hadn't known she was holding. She was hoping that maybe he could free her from this prison but as her eyes probed his the look of defeat dismissed her own hope for freedom. His lyrics only confirmed what she could read upon his face, she was in all senses doomed. The temperature of the water already was starting to feel cool upon her drenched hide, it wouldn't take long for the temperature to drop again if the weather pattern withheld itself. What else could she do other than submit to the inevitable once the stallion left to go about his life. What concern did he have for her anyway, at least he was nice enough to at least make an attempt it was more than she could say for most.

Raising her eyes again from the rippled swirl of muddy water her gaze fell once more upon the stallion. What was she supposed to say to him now, thank you but just leave me here to die alone now? No she didn't want to sound so morbid even though her situation seemed hopeless. Instead she decided on something perhaps a little lighter. "I appreciate you trying to help at least." She replied softly wavering her gaze only slightly.





TAGS: @[Mauja]
MUSE: Good
NOTES: I tried looking up things on frozen branches and such and based on other people's experiences it seems it is easier to split it when it has been frozen :o Would never have thought that but if foresters are calling it plausible lol. He could likely break the pieces holding her foot if it was frozen as they are no thicker than say a broom stick. This is similar to what I was imagining for what is holding her only with shallower water. Her foot has slipped down between the roots and is wedged in between. http://gallery.usgs.gov/images/05_03_201...2483_a.jpg

Her thoughts drifted to attempt to think about if there was an afterlife afterwards for those who die, yes maybe a little premature but one could never her ill prepared when it came to life and death. Others spoke of a place that all souls were taken to once they left their capsules and crossed over but she couldn't help harbor thoughts of doubt. No one that walked this earth could possibly know of such a place without having travelled there themselves which of course if they did they would not be alive to tell of the tale. Maybe that place only applied to those who died honorably and with good intents throughout their lifetimes? Surely those who perished at the hands of a tree would not count as honorable unless of course the tree had come alive and was attacking. In that situation one either would have to be completely insane or drunk on something. In all her imaginations of her own death this one situation had never even dawned to her.

While thoughts of her own fate danced through her defeated brain the silence continued from where the stud stood. Looking up on occasion she couldn't help but wonder why it was he remained when he had already confirmed her thoughts of no escape. Maybe he was trying to figure out how long she would last for out here once night fell. Either way she was not able to do much more than lay where she had fallen trying to twist her foot free without anything budging. The only thing she was succeeding in was stirring up more mud and irritating the skin around her fetlock even more.

The next statement came as a bit of a surprise as she looked up to find her potential saviour seeming to be at war with some internal thought. The wheels were turning in there but what would be the product of such focus. Upon second thought maybe he was just plain crazy, he was already talking to himself or so it seemed. Great if it came to the choice of freezing slowly with some crazy stallion watching and carrying on conversations with himself she would rather choose to stick her head beneath the surface and let the water fill her lungs. At least she would only have her own thoughts to contend with.

"Don't panic, but it's going to get cold around your foot." She had almost passed the comment off as part of whatever conversation going on inside his head until it dawned he was actually speaking to her this time. Wait what? The chill that went up her spine came from not only the sudden movements but the increasing coldness around her fetlock as the stallion seemed to almost zone out from their surroundings. What exactly was happening here? Curiosity grew as the ice chilling cold did as well until a loud crack made her jump in surprise. Eyes returned to his face immediately unsure if maybe the stallion possessed some sort of magic causing all this to happen. She had heard of others talking about things such as this but never actually witnessed it for herself.

His next instruction seemed almost repetitive, wasn't that what she was trying to do all along? All her previous attempts had failed, but maybe she was right about this magic and it had done something to help? Nodding slightly with a rather confused look on her face she focused on trying to right herself upright again the best she could. Managing to gather her knees underneath her she paused for a moment before trying yet again to yank herself from the roots and mud. As her hooves sank deep into the mud pulling herself forward with momentum her back foot strained momentarily against the cold hard roots before she felt something snap and give. As her foot came free she found herself fighting to regain balance and traction upon the slippery slope with four feet rather than three, looking much like a newborn trying to stand for the first time.

With much effort she was finally able to heave herself out onto the grass and dry land! She had never been so happy than to have grass beneath all four feet again. Surprise and joy light her face as she realized whatever the stud had done had worked. Straightening herself she turned around slowly feeling rather cold, stiff and sore but otherwise in one piece to face her rescuer. "It worked! What did you do? How did you?" She stammered joyously still trying to wrap her head around it as a smile curled her maw. "I cannot thank you enough, thank you."

Water dripped down from every inch of her body while mud darkened her normally white pelt but she was alive, dirty but alive! Lifting her previously trapped foot she gingerly set it down testing a small amount of weight on it. It held some weight before she felt the ache but at least it still functioned normally. Mud coated every inch of her legs so she was unable to get a proper look at the extent of the swelling, bruising or any potential cuts upon her skin, she would have to eventually wash herself off to get a proper look at it. Shaking her head to clear away some of the water she hobbled forward a step or two ensuring she was well on dry land. "I never got your name? I'm sorry my name is Brisa." She said sheepishly as it came to her that introductions had not been made yet.


TAGS: @[Mauja]
MUSE: Good
NOTES: XD At least its not shrapnel when it explodes haha
http://paul.cerrone.me/wp-content/upload...6/tree.jpg

The feeling of complete joyous celebration bubbled up within the grey leaving her rather giddy if she chose to express her emotions for once. Inside she was bouncing off the walls happy while on the outside she remained her usual apprehensive self. What does one do when they are beat down again and again? Put up a wall of course and she had done just this but would it be the thing that would keep her from finding someone she could be happy with and express her true self? Self doubt and shame wore on one's soul like a ball and chain, maybe one day she could finally sever the connection completely and feel what freedom truly tasted like.

Gazing back to the leopard stallion before her she faintly wondered if he too held something that weighed him down. Was it just natural to have the odd thing or two or three? Mauja, so that was the name of her rescuer she thought silently finding it rather amusing in a way. Here she was trying to avoid him in the first place and then she had to go get herself stuck in the pond. If fate somehow had something to do with this whoever was watching over her had a really bad sense of humor or they were just trying to end her pathetic life. Shaking her body in an attempt to get rid of some of the muck and water clinging to her she wished that it would just rain so she might have a chance of becoming clean again, its not like she could get any wetter at this point.

After all was said and done she had been expecting Mauja to just carry on his way but something kept him sticking around. He even seemed vaguely concerned about her well being which sure surprised her, no one ever took the time to concern themselves. With a half dumbstruck look on her face she hobbled forward a few steps giving her limbs a chance to become accustomed to moving again. Her foot was tender with weight upon it but it was something she would just have to deal with, it would heal eventually. This sure wasn't the worst injury she had sustained by far.

Taking a rather wide path around the water she decided to go along with the stranger's suggestion. So far he had done nothing but help her so she might as well give him the benefit of the doubt. She was technically in his debt now for saving her sorry butt from freezing to death. Following along behind the stallion and his companion she curiously tried to study them without being too conspicuous. Her blue eyes swept casually over Mauja's muscled frame taking him in. She had to admit he was a rather handsome stallion, not that she was looking or anything... Maybe conversation would help keep her mind from oogling, but what could she say?

"What brings you to these parts of the land?" Her voice was soft despite her quizzical mind playing out many random scenarios of where they could be heading. Her sense of direction was no help considering she had not even the slightest idea where she was in the first place. She didn't recall passing through any open areas but that didn't mean there was none.




TAGS: @[Mauja]
MUSE: Good
NOTES: Sorry for delay my thoughts are all scattered lately. Hopefully this makes sense :)

It felt rather odd to be accompanying another of the opposite sex to a unspecified destination on terms other than those she had decided upon. Her flighty side of her brain told her it was a trap and not be stupid enough to fall for it while the other strangely remained silent letting her make her own choices for once. Where would this have gotten her mere months ago? Likely either dead, raped or almost dead with the luck she had been previous at mercy of. If it was not a single choice than it would be a combination of the latter choices that she had not thought of at this given moment. Apparently today her luck seemed to have something else in store for her as she had already bypassed the dead and almost dead choices and her new companion did not seem like the type to first save her then rape her. Well at least she hoped that he wasn't one of those types. Her mind was rather docile compared to the usual stampede of thoughts making her choices all the more appeasing to her tastes letting bits of her true personality shine through the iron clad walls of isolation.

It had only taken a few brief minutes of contemplation to resign herself to her earlier fate of dying there in that pond. The reality of how miserable her life really was had set in upon her making the feeling of failure even more prominent within herself. Was that really what she wanted? To die without having accomplished anything in her short life? With the impending doom and gloom removed from her immediate future she was slowly beginning to realize she wanted much more out of life. Her heart ached where chunks had been torn away all those years ago, maybe she could slowly attempt to fill the voids and close those wounds once and for all. Now the only real thing standing in her path was a plan as to how she was going to do it.

Things had been set in action already with her choice to come to Helovia leaving behind her all those of her past who had hurt her. Yes she had been running away at the time she stumbled upon this place but so far it offered her nothing but new opportunities to make a life for herself. Many of who she had met already had seemed decent and friendly enough, well with the odd exception of the few names she remembered all too well. As she listened to Mauja's answer of trying to find peace she came to the realization that she sought something similar. Her hardships of the past needed to be left there so she could move on so essentially peace was something that she desired. Her answer came a couple moments later as she lifted her gaze to see Mauja watching her awaiting his answer. "Well things have been rather complicated for me before I came to Helovia. I have done a great deal of traveling, I guess old habits are hard to break." She replied snorting softly at her shred of personal humor. " I guess in a way I am searching for the place where I belong, somewhere ...peaceful."

Her explanation was rather vague but seemed to be the best answer that she could draw at the time. It seemed accurate though, she was doing what would be called by some a lot of soul searching. Happiness was something that she wanted to feel again but to have that in her life she first needed to figure out where she had landed in all this mess and then find a way to claw back out.


TAGS: @[Mauja]
MUSE: Good
NOTES: <3 Thanks so much for your patience

Thinking back on what she had spoken of she wondered herself if what she searched for was actually realistic for anybody anymore or was it simply a dream? Was there such a thing as peace now a days with the darkness slowly driving them from their lands along with the creatures that came along with it? Rumours had been going around that they were not only creatures with serious problems but actually what was left of others just like her who had contracted some illness or disease. Many of the healers had been talking about it at the few meetings there had been so far since the outbreak, but she was still very new to this healing aspect she did not understand too much of what was actually going on. Most things still looked the same to her untrained eyes so she tended to stay away from attempting anything without a lot of guidance for now, otherwise she would likely end up killing herself with any concoctions she created for healing intentions.

If she had actually remembered half of the knowledge that had been given to her over the last two training sessions she would have had half a mind to create something to help relieve the aching pain from her foot and the overall soreness. Passing the idea off as quickly as it came on she made a mental note to herself to look into some of the basic herbs that could be used for instances such as this for future reference. "The world is ever-changing, and where we belong today, we might not belong tomorrow." It had been awhile since she had heard someone speak of the future in this way, but it was true. When she was much younger and still with her family she thought about things with a much greater positive attitude thinking that there was nothing the could not be fixed. Nowadays her views had drastically changed on the topic to have a more realist and sometimes pessimistic outlook.

It was much easier to look upon situations believing the worst to be the outcome as if things turned out better then you would be pleasantly surprised but never actually disappointed by the situation. Maybe someday she would learn to have more faith in things but until that happened she was stuck with her old views. " When you have never felt like you belong it becomes much harder to ever know the difference between the two. Maybe it is something that is just never meant to be.." She commented softly letting her gaze fall for a moment as she digested the words herself. Did she really believe that there was no hope for herself finding her place or did she just cling to the idea because having nothing to explain her sadness was even more depressing.

Her ideas came in pieces making things hard to string together into sentences that could be understood frustrating her further. Why did nothing make sense, why couldn't she manage to find somewhere she could be happy? The immense sadness within was suffocating some days while other times such as right now things seemed ok. Shaking her head to clear the thoughts she tried to refocus herself on some other topic she could make some sense of. " What does it feel like to be apart of something... to feel like you belong?" Hesitation touched into her tone as the question left her lips not knowing if it was appropriate to ask another. Mauja's presence seemed to be lifting some of her barriers that had been used to keep herself shielded from the world. It made her feel vulnerable and even more insecure than she had felt laying in the water at the mercy of nature. Yet there didn't seem to be much that she could do to close the walls again, her heart was so desperate to feel something other than the pain.


TAGS: @[Mauja]
MUSE: Good
NOTES: Hope it makes sense XD

There was a point in life where you could do nothing more than to fall back and surrender to the many things beating you down. What was one supposed to find strength in to rise back up and fight for freedom again was it this feeling Mauja spoke of? Despite the words making sense the meaning was still meaningless to her not being able to relate. Most of her life she had never relied on anyone but herself to get by each day to drag herself to the next. Was there something wrong with her that did not allow her to feel joy or happiness? "How can you enjoy it when you have never felt it, is there someway to find it?" Her voice questioned drawing up beside the stallion with a little effort on her behalf.

All this walking was not exactly what she had in mind when he had mentioned finding a way to dry off. Even as her coat dried the scratchy mud clung in patches where it had been. " Where exactly are we going?" She asked gently casting her eyes around. Her ankle was beginning to get rather sore with all the movement and she was finding it impossible to keep the limp out of her now uneven stride. The cold wind caught her on occasion bringing a shiver onto her flesh as the dampness chilled. Sooner or later the sun would be setting and already she had no idea where she was going to take shelter from the cold night ahead of them.

"Why do you chose to travel alone, do you not have others to return to? " The moment the words left he mouth she felt herself blush slightly in embarrassment, she should not be questioning him about such things she was an idiot. No wonder she was alone left to her own devices likely until the day she either took her own life or someone else did. Well there was a third option as well considering her earlier mishap with getting stuck in the pond so clearly the third option would be if nature tried to kill her again. With the herds becoming scattered and scarce there was no place for her to go. She did not want to be alone but she couldn't just force herself into a group and make them accept her. If only she had someone waiting for her, someone to brighten her days, someone who cared, it would make life worth fighting for again. The stallion at least shared a bond with his companion and maybe had a family as well. Her best source of entertainment was talking to herself for the lack of anyone around.

"I apologize if I am talking too much, I don't get to talk to others often unless they want something...of me.." Cringing at the thought she drew inward trying to shield herself from the painful memories of her not so distant past. Each and every scar she could remember across her hide where teeth, hooves or just physical brutality had punctured, torn or bruised. Her heart beat faster at the recollections as she took a breath to calm herself again.



TAGS: @[Mauja]
MUSE: Good
NOTES: None

"It's when you realize you're no longer expecting them to betray and abandon you every single day. One day you just wake up and realize.. it has happened." Letting the definition sink in she walked along in silence for a couple moments. So she had been right all along in her assumption without really having a proper meaning to the word. She was alone and always had been alone. In some way she had hoped that she would have been proven wrong so that the truth wouldn't hurt as badly as it did right now. She wanted to feel like she belonged, that she was loved was this really all too much to ask for someone like her? The world was a cruel place but she had never thought it could be relentless and that in time things could change. Maybe she was just lying to herself in hopes of bettering her life when in reality this was what she got, all she could ever have.

As the tree cover faded from overhead the sunlight was finally able to hit her dampened pelt to finally start to warm her up. A soft sigh escaped her lips as she took a moment to enjoy the feeling of the warm rays beating down on her, it was a relief to her weary soul. Thinking back to her earlier question about where they were heading she rather liked the idea of traveling towards the ocean. It had always been one of her favourite places to be when she was able to get there. The lull of the waves lapping gently at the shore, the salty air and the sounds of many birds came to mind as her imagination laid out a mental image of it before her eyes. It was a place she could manage to find some peace and quiet and just forget about things for awhile. Being there with company was even more appealing to her tastes, she might as well enjoy the social opportunity as they came few and far in between.

"Why is being alone best for you?" She finally asked after a few moments of silence. To her choosing a life of solitude was rather depressing, she could not understand why one would willingly pick this as an option when they could have company. " I ask only because I know what it is like to be alone and if I had the choice I would rather enjoy having others around. It gets really lonely wandering around alone after so many years."

Her past had not been kind by any means but even with everything that has happened she still could not ever wish to be alone. Maybe things were different for Mauja, he did have his companion for company afterall. There had never been anyone in her life she could talk to, to mull things over with, to help her make sense of what was happening. As a result most things she kept bottled up inside hidden away so it could only ever hurt her and no one else.



TAGS: @[Mauja]
MUSE: Good
NOTES: None