Weather girl, where's your forecast?
Her legs felt like ice, yet as she leaned forwards in a feeble attempt to touch the stallion but a few feet away, quite uncharacteristically, they shuddered like a wounded tree. Branches trembled and a scatter of leaves fell before the bark snapped, cracked and gave way as roots tore up earth and debris. So she removed to move, frightened that any movement would simply give motive to the ice, as though it was some icy demon just waiting for the opportune moment to swallow her whole.
But his words gave her focus - a distraction from the ice beneath her sweating hooves. He spoke of a 'courbette', though she simply gazed with glassy eyes, her expression blank. Pretty words were meaningless in her home land. Strength was all that mattered, not fancy parlor tricks, yet as she forced her eyes to focus, to rid herself of the blurred vision that had captivated her, she realized that he was demonstrating/ He was majestic in his movements, but she was too far filled with fear to appreciate that. It looked easy enough, but Artemis was too smart to think that it was a simple as the powerful stag made it out to be. She wondered if she could do it, for her shoulders were her strength, not her hind legs.

As she tried to memorize the movement so that she might attempt it, the mare stole Tharos's attention from the one who needed it most. She tried to blank their words, but she was unable to and through their heated argument came a few choice statements that not only confused the fuck out of her, but sent a deep, stirring feeling resonating within her gut.

"Whatever ya got to say, ya can say it in front a my mate." Was the first kicker. Mate? She stared between the two, momentarily lost for words or even thoughts. "I don't love you, said the mare. Another punch to her stomach. What was between these two, Artemis did not know, but she wished she was not considered close enough to hear it. The pair seemed oblivious to her torment, now. "I don't want to raise my son knowing he has a bastard father that he doesn't even know!" That was the kicker. Artemis felt... she didn't know what the feeling was, but she felt it, and it hurt. She felt hot tears forming in her eyes, but she squeezed them shut, refusing the emotions that threatened to bubble to the surface.

"Now, i'll help you save the mare."

The mare. Like she was some sort of handicap to their oh so loving family reunion. The mare. Nothing worth naming. nothing worth helping before all of this drama. She was an after thought. A chore.

No fucking way, the white thought bitterly as her eyes snapped open. She was saving herself. Her front legs reared up, tucking under her chest as Tharos had done as she crunched down her knees slightly. Her knees felt weak and she strained under her own weight. The ice beneath her crunched and groaned, as if baring its fangs wide for its morsel. Her hind legs kicked out, yet she lacked the finesse and strength that Tharos had and her hop was short and worthless. As her hind legs landed from the bunny hop, the ice gave way.

The firs thing she felt was the cold. It soffocated her in a way water alone could not. It froze her lungs, gripped her legs and tugged her down with invisible tendrils, like sharp claws scratching at her body. For a moment she felt helpless to the ice, but as she submerged, she heard it. "Run, my child! Survive! He mothers words. So she kicked her heels and ran through to water, galloping and ascending through the ice, yet as she neared the surface, her head collided with a thick sheet of ice. The current under the water had taken her closer to the edge and closer to safety - had she been on top - yet here it brought only death.

Through the translucent surface she could see Tharos. Her eyes were wide as she trashed helplessly, her body forced by her own movements away from the hole she had made, and away from him. Mother, save me, she wanted to scream, and as the ice crushed her lungs and tried to squeeze out her last breaths, she did it.

Through the holes Tharos himself had formed in the ice some distance away, her head burst. her movements and the current had carried her swiftly from the pair and into safetys slightly warmer embrace. As her head emerged she sucked in a pained breath, legs scrabbling for some grip. For a while she failed, going through the motions of finding land and breaking ice, only to fall back under, yet after a struggle she finally managed to tug herself onto a thick layer of ice.

She knew she could not simply lie there, for she would quickly freeze to death, so the mare forced herself to her legs. Her body shook yet, she forced herself to move slowly and rigidly toward the safety of the snow where she knew solid earth lingered beneath. She wasn't sure where the others were, or even if they noticed her near encounter with death, but she didn't care. Let them have their lovers quarrel. She had no time for that.
"Speech goes here"