Gypsy's Gold (Vel)

[Chances]

Carmen:

With nostril's flared and eyes wide, a beautiful blue roan fae galloped across the sand along a stretch of beach. Her coat was plastered to her frame by the salty sea water and flew off her as she extended into a full out gallop. Her movements were fluid and graceful and her stride ate up the sand. Anyone could see a boat in the distance, belching steam into the sky as it pulled farther and farther away. The mare seamed to want to put as much distance between herself and that metal monster as she could. Her energy was very short lived, due to having to swim to land. She soon slowed to a stop and stood quivering from exertion. She lowered her pretty head and panted, exhaustion rolling over her in waves.

Where was she? Not the rolling fields of her former home, that was for sure. She could not smell anything but sea and sand, and no horses from her family. The last two days had been the worst ever. Scary two-legged creatures had come into her home and scared her family band into galloping to the fence. There they split the herd into to groups and scared them onto scary boxes made of metal. The box rattled under her feet and then she was scared into a little metal box by herself in a big metal thing that rocked. A littleish two-leg had tried to get her to eat something, but she just tried to bite him. She then had to swim here after she was scared off the funny metal thing. She was tired and alone...and that scared her silly.

She folded to the ground and lay her head on the sand. He tummy was empty, but there was nothing she could see that she could eat. She just lay there and tried to catch her breath.

[Vel]

The brindled stag trotted happily along the beaches of Terra delle Liberta. There was one good thing about living in herd; you didn't have to do anyhting. Sure if he were Lassan's true son (and the first born) he would have to fulfill duties of a younger leader. Luckily, the next leader of the Liberta after Lassan passed would be the Arab's eldest daughter and first child Shadow. Many young stallions like Polaris would be infuriated at this idea, but, quite honestly, Polaris was fine with it. Being in a position of high authority had never appealed to him. He liked just laying low, being able to do things without someone watching and judging his every move. It also helped that every little thing he did could possibly affect his herd in some way.

The young stallion slowed his pace when he spotted the form of a fellow equine on the shores ahead. Polaris tilted his head curiously as he approached the figure. "Hello?" he called out. By this point in his journey over to the horse he could now tell that she was, well, a she and that she was covered in sea water. Interesting. She wasn't anyone Polaris had ever seen before. Of course, his father brought home new herd members all the time and this could be one of them. Why would she be out here though? It didn't make sense.

[Chances]

Carmen:[/color]

The spotted mare lifted her head as a voice startled her out of her exaustion. She struggled to her feet, slicing her leg on a sharp shell as she tried to stand. It began to sting as soon as the seawater dripped down her leg and into her new injury. SHe winced at everystep, her ears back and eyes rolling. "Who are you?" She demanded, panting at the effort to speak and back up at the same.

Her rump hit the cliff behind her and she teetered, threatening to fall again. The fear continued to build inside the mare, insincts screaming at her to run, FLEE! but her body could not do any more than try to stay standing. So, the leopard spotted mare stood shaking, watching the horse come nearer and nearer. He was a stag, she could smell it, and that terrified her even more. Her mind was starting to slip into panic overload and her shaking became even worse. She just watched the stallion, the whites of her eyes redish from the sea water.

[Vel]

The young stallion slightly jerked his head up as his ears pinned momentarily to the back of his head as the mare struggled to get herself off the ground. The harshness of her voice and her own body language caused this response in Polaris. He quickly reasoned that any horse laying on a beach, drenched in sea water and bleeding from their leg was not going to be all bubbly and happy.

"Me?" he repeated, stepping back again to give the scared mare her space. "I am Polaris. My father runs this land, Terra delle Liberta. Who are you?" The brindle cocked his head, curious as to who she was and why she was here. Obviously she had washed in from the ocean. He had heard of many horses coming onto this island via sea, but he had never met one like this before. It had to be such an ordeal to go though the trials and tribulations of a horse at sea. He pitied them, but he would never understand what it was like.

The mare continued to back up into the cliff wall. Polaris ceased his movements and lowered his head a bit, his blue eyes still trained on her. As his optics flicked over her lithe frame he noticed that she was shaking. Shaking with fear. Fear of Polaris. He almost wanted to laugh. He was the last horse anyone would want to fear. "Hey, it's alright. I'm not gonna hurt you miss." he said with a small smile. These mainland horses were sure strange creatures sometimes.

[Chances]

Carmen:

The mare trembled, watching the stallion as he lowered his head. His posture was not threatening at all, which mare the terrified mare relax just alittle. Her legs again threatended to give way so she folded to the ground once more. She kept her head and neck up, but she felt a bit better lying down than she had standing up. She took a few more deep breaths to steady herself and looked a bit more calmly at the stag before her. " I don't know who I am...I never really had a name... The littleish two-leg on the scary floating metal box called me Carmen..." She looked up at him, her eyes not showing the whites anymore. Her fear had began to ebb when he made no move to attack her. It had been awful the last few days... but this stag was not trying to take her away from the family she loved. "Liberta? I have never heard of such a place... Have you seen anyone else on the beach? I'm worried for my family..." She looked around hopeing that someone would appear..but of course they did not...SHe was alone and she knew it.

[Vel]

Polaris watched helplessly as the mare fell softly to the ground. Even though he barely just met her, Polaris wished that he could have some how helped her back to her feet. Perhaps it was better this way. If she was weak, resting like this was the only thing that would keep her calm. At least she did not think of him as a threat anymore. Any horse in their right mind would never lay, or fall, down in front of a horse they were weary of. Even though this was a subtle little fact, it meant something to Polaris.

"Well its nice t'meet you Carmen." Polaris said with sincerity. She never had a name before? How horrible. Polaris always thought that horses were given their names by their parents when they were born. Then he had met horses from the mainland and they said that the humans named them after birth, but they had a name nonetheless. Carmen must have come from a very strange place where no one cared about giving a horse a name.

The stallion remained silent as he let the mare finish her sentence. Silly him, of course she never heard of Liberta. That was a talk for another time. Right now he could just help her figure out what had happened. "Other horses? Beside me, no. I think you are the only one. They could be down a ways more." he offered, trying to give her hope. "How many of you were there?"

[Chances]

Carmen:[/color]

The spotted mare looked at the stallion, eyes dull with fatigue and sadness. "None...I don't think any of them came with me...My family was pushed into a huge metal box back at home. It smelled wrong...Like blood and fear. The one I was in was clean and I was alone... The other horses that came off the large floating box. I knew not..."

She lay her head down and closed her eyes. This stallion would not hurt her, and why would she care? She was alone on a strange land, soaked and exausted. Something flicked through her head. She smiled and opened her eyes. She lifted her head a bit and said, Where are my mannors. It's a pleasure to meet you, Polaris..."

[Vel]

Polaris kept his gaze soft as he watched the mare as she spoke about how she came upon this island. It was always so tragic how horses showed up, especially ones who were ripped from everything they new and put aboard strange contraptions that could either fly in the air or float on the vast waters of the surrounding ocean. "I could tell the ravens to keep a look out for any other horses who washed up if you'd like." Polaris offered the mare, hoping it would make her feel a bit better that there was the slim possibility that she was not alone in coming to this island.

The brindled stallion stood stock still as the mare closed her eyes. She had been through so much in the past few hours that he did not blame her for wanting to lay her head down and close her weary eyes. She deserved it. Perhaps he should send one of the ravens to tell his father what had happened. There could be more survivors out there.

A smile crept up on the stallion's face as Carmen apologised for forgetting her manners. A small chuckle escaped the stag's lips as he said "Well I forgive you for forgetting your manners Carmen. You've been through quite a lot today. If you'd like I can take you to a safer, and more comfortable spot a bit inland."

[Chances]

Carmen:[/color]

Carmen looked a bit shocked at the offer. "Ravens? Those huge black birds? You can speak withthem? And they keep watch for you? Oi Veh! What a strange place this is..." As blinked and slowly struggled to her feet. She wanted to get into clean water to wash the salt and sand from her body. Her beautiful coat was crusty and looked horrible. It saddened her that the proud stag before her saw her in such a state.

He hung her head to rest a moment and limped towards the stallion, blood dripping fresh down her leg again. She approached with some caution, but it did not really mater. She could not run even if he desided to hurt her. "I safe place to rest would be welcomed. Thank you for your forgiveness, Lord Polaris." She whickered, dipping her head in gratitude. She knew even this short journey was going to be a struggle, but she hoped she could make it. Her body was shaking less not, since her coat had pretty much dried. Some strength had returned to her after the short rest, but not enough to travel much farther. She waited for the stag to lead on, her ears flicking tiredly back and forth.

[Vel]

Polaris had to hold back a chuckle as the mare spoke. Of course she wouldn't know about the ravens! She just arrived here. "Yes, horses on this island, especially in my herd and the herds aligned with us, use ravens to communicate. They work as messengers, guides, informants, spies, and even guards for our herds. In return for their services, we give them safe places to live and offer their kind protection." Polaris explained to the mare. What a strange place was right. Even Polaris thought that it was strange and he had been living here his whole life.

The stag smiled at her as she accept his proposal to go inland a bit. Polaris almost had to keep from laughing once again at the title she gave him when addressing him. "Oh Carmen, just call me Polaris. You can drop the 'lord' bit. That title is exclusively my father's." he informed her as he watched her struggle to her feet.

When the stallion was sure that she was steady, he set off at a moderately slow pace so she could keep up easily. "So Carmen, you say this island is very strange. What was it like for you back at your old home?" he asked. Keeping her talking would help push her on and make the short journey a bit easier.