"Rita where are we going" grumbled an old man who meandered behind a blue greyhound with a look of weariness etched into his skinny, haggard face. He wasn't that old, you could tell if you looked close enough, but his unkept appearance and wise gaze gave off a more mature air than his real age would suggest. It was beginning to rain, not much, only the odd splash here and there, but it was enough to disgruntle the disheveled stallion who looked like an unkept book that needed some serious tidying up. The greyhound bounded on like greyhounds do, long and graceful, her eyes were focussed on the way ahead as she had noticed the familiarity of this place. They weren't quite there yet, perhaps her wise but forgetful friend would know where they were when they hit the woodland. The vast plain they had been travelling on was already beginning to change as one or two trees appeared and then, suddenly, gatherings of them until finally... Finally! Helovia came into view and the dog thundered into the forest leaving her bonded to loiter behind as realisation came over the roaned stallion. 

She had brought him here? 

Evers had not seen Helovia in... "When was it... 2 years?" he mumbled to himself as if trying to remember the exact date he had left Helovia. It had been so long that he even had to remember why he left but when he did he immediately regretted bringing up the memory. Some things were best forgotten, hidden and left to rot in lost memories. Instead, after the death of Mother, the past he had lost had resurfaced again bringing with it only pain and suffering, he relived it time and time again. It was enough that Evers had wished that Mandrake's power had still remained after her they'd murdered her, so that he didn't have to remember their faces, their names and the life he once had. After travelling from place to place for a while the wound began to heal, not completely, but enough that he could live most days without tearing up at some point. 

Now, as he entered the Threshold of Helovia, he began to lament and wistfully lust for the things he had left here. His brothers, were they still around? He remembered Darwin and felt a pang of guilt, the child had been his responsibility and he had left him alone. What of Irrydae? The beautiful mare who had enchanted him so completely that even remembering her now made his heart skip. Part of him wanted to search for her, to find what almost happened, but he denied himself fiercely. Those were feelings of the past and perhaps it was best that he didn't trouble her present. 

With a little energy to his step now, Evers continued to walk further and further into the Threshold, enjoying the familiar smells and views whist all the while trying to keep an eye on his infuriatingly bouncy dog.

---------
open!

Evers watched Rita in silent envy as she leapt effortlessly here and there with the nimbleness her breed offered her. It made the skinny roan think of how wonderful it must feel to have so much energy in ones muscles that such a movement could come so naturally. Even in his younger days Evers did not think he had ever strode forwards with such exuberance, his mind was always delayed by other things like old histories and the wonders of the world. He was no athlete, there was no fighter in the blue, though fight he could, he preferred the more relaxing life of a scholar. Even now his eyes moved from his tireless dog to the half naked trees and wondered if they felt cold, did trees feel cold? Did they feel warmth? Or did they just grow there, in that particular spot that had been chosen for them by a gust of wind and a plucky seed, feeling nothing and just growing until eventually they died. However, the more he looked the more he noticed their branches that contorted in artistic ways in order to reach the suns rays; perhaps they did feel the cold after all. Some were coated in green moss as if nature had created its own blanket for them. Somewhere in his little, and rather odd musing, a voice echoed in the back of his mind. Strange, it wasn’t his voice, yet it sounded so familiar as it shouted his name in increasing volume and excitement.

"It’s Darwin!" cried Rita into the mind of her oblivious bonded who still had his head lost in the woods, half heartedly acknowledging that the voice wasn't in the back of his mind and belonged to someone they knew.

“Ah, Darwin” Evers nodded distractedly, still gazing at the trees until finally his mind suddenly jolted and his eyes widened. “What, Darwin?!” he spun around on the spot to the roll of Rita’s eyes and, after all the seasons that had passed, finally looked at his younger brother for the first time in what felt like an age. The last Evers had seen of him was when he was just a child, still bay, untouched by times grey hairs, but the blue roan recognised the same markings and the same general design, the scent and the tie of brotherhood. He had grown up into a handsome young stallion and a weight was lifted from the roan’s shoulders, that Darwin was alive and, seemingly, well was a wonderful gift.

Rita bounded forward to the youngster and barked once in joyous greeting, her tail rapidly flicking from side to side. However, before Evers could greet his sibling there was a crack and a rumble as the sound of stones falling filled the blues ears and he briskly moved closer to Darwin, his eyes darting about warily. What was that? Then, after the noise had faded another became more prominent, this time it was a voice and it cried for help.

It was after that, a young filly, a yearling maybe, cried out to them for aid and Evers swiftly (swifter than he’d anything he'd done in months) began to move. “Darwin, do you think you can fly up there and guide the poor fellow out?” he asked of his brother, who had the only pair of wings between them. Once he had waited for his answer, Evers made his way towards the collapsed cave and, once there, fell in beside the young filly. He tried to help her grab the vine and, with Rita also trying to hold on, went to throw it down to the trapped stallion. “Try grabbing onto that” the roan shouted whilst his mind looked for other ways to help. For now he hoped the antlered stranger would have enough strength to get himself out, it was no good Evers trying to climb in to get him, they’d both end up stuck.

“Stay behind me” he gently murmured to the filly with concern.

--- 

[sorry for the uber long wait! Let me know if I misinterpreted anything wrong :S]

It was difficult. He was only a small, skinny old man after all and trying to hoist a stallion in his prime to freedom wasn’t exactly easy. It would have been easier if his younger and more physically useful brother was here, but Archibald wasn't, so Evers struggled with Darwin to help the poor stag to safety as he hadn’t quite the time or enough limbs to check if the filly was okay. They pushed and pulled, with Rita barking along like a cheerleader, until finally the antlered horse burst out of the cave he had fallen into and into the open glade. As he did so Evers let go of the rope and stumbled backwards, catching himself after a few strides and letting out a long sigh of relief. They had saved him! They also hadn’t been pulled in with him in the process, which would have been more than an inconvenience. In all the kerfuffle Evers had been robbed of a perfect reunion with Darwin, however, all the anxiety he had held flittered away and only relief flooded him now.

Offering each of his fellow rescuers a gentle smile, he nodded at both of them “well done” chimed his quiet but noble voice. He’d not been in Helovia two minutes and already disaster had threatened to strike, perhaps he should count himself lucky and leave now. It wasn’t like he purposefully came here… Or did he? Had he unconsciously gravitated back here again (with a little help from Rita) without a single thought as to why or where he was going? He was older now, but he certainly wasn’t old enough to be going senile quite yet!

As all the excitement began to die down, Evers was intent on asking the stranger they had just rescued just exactly what he was doing to get stuck?! However, the filly (who was strangely familiar in some ways) appeared to have recovered from her earlier trip and instead asked after the antlered Sir’s welfare, which was probably what Evers should have thought of doing first, but just like with his own body, he forgot the health issues. “Just how did you manage to get stuck like that?” Evers asked, his voice thick with great interest as he wondered if there had been something to drag him down there or whether he was just born a klutz; though it took some talent to get stuck down a hole on a slender ledge.

“Do you need a healer?” he asked the bruised bronze, casting a look towards Darwin with uncertainty and then back to the child who had introduced herself as Macaria. How long had it been since he’d been here? Were the healers he once knew still here? “I’m Evers and this-“ he nodded to the dog “is Rita” by now the greyhound was laid out, with her head between her paws and waiting for something else exciting to happen.

After that, he looked for the attention of Darwin and he wondered for a moment where on earth that small bay foal had gone. “You’ve grown” he smiled.

-----------

No worries!! <3