Zahra, Ilham, and Hanna

It was pride that turned angels into devils

Nestled beneath a lush quilt of resilient trees, well-guarded from the howling, frost-laden gales, Zahra huddled low in waiting, and Bird pressed snug against the stiff pillar of her near foreleg. Velvet lips straddled the soft, smooth, white fur between the kitsune’s large triangular ears – a comforting gesture for the sake of both sisters, because they had been waiting alone in anticipation of Camon’s return for a good length of time already. He’ll be back soon, she promised optimistically, silently, because the bronze-spotted stallion hadn’t let their tight-knit little family down thus far (she had so willingly adopted him as brother). Quietly golden eyes continued their endless roaming – the constant search for passing pastel or antlers still paler than the intertwined timber above.

It won’t be long now…

“We should weave a blanket!” the filly joked awkwardly, shivering violently; scrawny, underfed body enveloped cruelly by the freezing air. She and the youngest of their foursome, Ilham had created a rather stunning ribbon – its satin-grace far underappreciated by the queer crow-girl – and a collection of quite unsuccessful patches of delicate fabric that were either too loosely woven to hold or so tightly that their shape was skewed, ruined. Regardless, Zahra was a brazen mind whose determination seemed hard to move. She revelled in their unified art form and had saved already enough cloth to create something special - something more significant than her precious ribbon. Stashed securely between warm skin and cold silver, the small Pegasus had carried it right the way across Helovia.

There was a splash unexpectedly nearby, and though a dense hedge of scrub prevented view of its source, the water further beyond began to ripple faintly in sequence.

Twin black ears pricked with interest and she fixed her focus upon that location beyond the bank.

Camon!

The unlikely siblings waited at length with baited breath, but their brother never broke through the undergrowth to find them. “Do you think he’s fallen in?” Zahra whispered down cautiously, rogue fore-hoof rising tentatively into the chill air; Bird’s throat rumbled uncertainly, unconvinced that the familiar, pretty stallion would have skirted the plainly obvious path in favour of weeds and water to begin with – the pup’s perspective of the world around them was far less oblivious after all. Slit nostrils purged a conclusive snort, and as Ilham sank again into the safety of her mid-mane, burrow, the filly slithered forward in search of the water’s edge; whatever might lie therein.

There was a good distance between, a solid venture through limber, whipping wood and over swollen, round-knobs of surface root; neither were particular easy to navigate. While Bird skipped with remarkable expertise from one surface to another, padded toes grasping each tightly, Zahra slipped and stumbled quite horrifically, and paused to gather her nerve after a crude slip left her skinny foreleg wounded. We should have stayed on the path after all… she sighed softly as the rough tongue of her sister arrived to sweep away the golden, metallic blood. She cast a jaded glance back the way they had come, but it seemed now they were nearer to the pond. As the cold air caressed the open gash, it began to sting awfully, and the small filly wished desperately that Camon would arrive to whisk them to safety.

Instead her silent begging was met with an ungodly scream, blood-curdling and freakishly close. Bird leapt back with a wary snarl, and her foal sister wavered indecisively on the spot; injured and less swift upon her feet than she had been moments before (as fleet-footed as she had been since her father’s full-sized collar had been placed).

“Ha… hallo?” she called timidly towards the vegetation, sliding one back-hoof into the thick, sucking mud a step behind. Still the kitsune growled – her smaller stature saw movement that the taller did not, and the presence through the quivering foliage was not that of a horse standing.

“Camon?” Zahra tried again hopefully.