Re: Wandering Hearts (Gypsy and Tribe)
Posted: Mon May 15, 2023 12:37 pm
Sunray came faster than she had anticipated, and was she ever glad for such a thing! Better to have him barrel into her than to have him lost to such a desolate place as this.
Her breath was coming in quivering gasps by the time he neared her, the pain of the portal almost too much to bear. It wasn't meant to remain open and the vast distance was trying very hard to close behind her. She could feel something dripping down the single leg that remained and knew it had begun to slice or burn into her. She would lose the limb before much longer, but there was no need to fret on that; Sunray was here, and warning of followers.
Whatever it was that remained in this place was nothing that the likes of them had any business messing with. By some luck there was a slight glow around Sunray as well, granting her the benefit of watching his progress by the way he lit the ground beneath him; and it was a true boon, for she reached ahead, stretching her neck as far as she could, and grabbed for him. She did her best to latch firmly onto his withers with her teeth, and she was being none too shy about it; he may likely be left with some sort of wound from her bite. Best to get a hard grip than to chance losing him, though. For that same reason she reared at the same time, doing her level best to wrap one front leg around his ribs and the other across his chest, even as she stomped with both back legs as hard as she could.
She wasn't certain if the stomp would dislodge her enough to propel her the rest of the way into this realm, so she had been cautious not to lift her hoof overmuch on the single leg that remained on the far-off beach; it didn't help that she was quickly losing control of the limb in question as the nerves were overloaded and began to shut down. Would it count as a kick? Would they notice? Best she try again, just to be safe...
Before she could do more than shift her weight backwards, before she could try kicking more firmly with the hope of spraying them all with sand, she felt the leg in question get hauled on, tearing her backwards. It was all she could do to keep the one leg on the ground still, her final back limb scrambling to pull her weight back towards the portal as she held on to Sunray with every scrap of trembling strength that remained to her. They would pull, but she wouldn't be a limp dead weight; not while Sunray was at risk. It wasn't in her to sit passively as others stepped up to handle that which was needed.
All they needed was to get back to the beach before the following things caught up to them; the portal would disappear with the absence of their disturbance. All she would have to do is to push against the insistence of the frail portal, the urge to have her spit into this world rather than back to the realm of the wishing well. Luckily, it was such a weak and poorly constructed passage to begin with that she didn't anticipate any real trouble with defying its original purpose.
It worked; whatever the results, for good or ill, it worked as she shoved backwards, as they all pulled, as the entirety of their group came together with the single purpose of retrieving their Sunray.
She found herself tumbled back onto the beach, her limbs giving way entirely as she broke free of the temporary opening - one that she now believed had been hastily constructed by some passerby to rid themselves of some trouble, for why else would anyone wish to enter such a horrid place? The shock of breaking through the thin barrier had overloaded her system, that final burst of pain burning through her and searing away the last of her strength with something that may have looked remarkably like a seizure for any who knew of such events. Her legs gave out entirely, but she bit all the harder, determined not to lose a grip on Sunray, even as she felt the sand of their beach spray over her haunches. She wasn't leaving him behind.
There was a faint, sizzling pop, and she knew before the ability to see even returned to her that the portal had collapsed on itself; that wasn't a surprise either. Her back left leg felt almost useless, her fetlock bruised from where the tangle of kelp had gripped her, her hip strained from having herself hauled in, and a seared and sliced brand bisecting the flesh over her cannon. She lay in a heap in the sand, the crab still swinging from her forelock and waving the other claw in a rather disgruntled manner, and her sides were heaving as she tried to remember how to breathe through the last of the trembling that still clawed at her muscles; a comically pathetic sight, if ever there was one, and well would she deserve any mockery the others lay upon her for the mess she had become. Already she feared their blame and consternation for failing to lead them as safely through the floating passageways as she had promised to. She knew what kind of ripples to seek out in the air; they didn't. It shouldn't have been beyond her ability to notice that this one hadn't been properly tethered and would drift aside to reach one of these lovely serians; these who she had hoped would join her as circle-bound, granting her the chance to finally have her own tribe, and the blessed ability to hold her Magpie, her Gypsy stallion, as a true mate.
Would they still want her, after all this? They were a fine group, these bond-kin of her Gypsy, and she a trembling mess coated in sand and... whimpering? Was she seriously whimpering through her stuttering breaths? Yes, yes she was. The pain of her leg had begun to sink in as the shaking had begun to ease, and the ache in her hip was certainly no more than that - no dislocations, thankfully - but the cut that had seared into her cannon, the spot the portal had tried to close over her leg, stank of burned flesh and ash and rotted blood.
Better than losing the limb entirely, she supposed.
With a great effort of willpower, she managed to stop her pathetic whimpering as her eyes finally began to focus again, only to realize that she had been missing quite a bit of sound while she had flopped and twitched over the beach. She would have to parse that together in a moment; her first concern was to ensure that she hadn't lost her grip on Sunray, that he was here with her, and that she hadn't accidentally bitten to the bone in her desperate attempt to return him to his people.
His people, for now; perhaps their people in time, if they could forgive such a misstep on her part. And perhaps not; but if not they, then she was certain she and Gypsy would simply search out those who were better suited to become their soul-bonded family. He, at the very least, she didn't doubt; not with as long as she had admired him from afar. Her Gypsy was a wanderer, just as she was, and he would be well familiar with both missteps and the absolute mess that one became at times.
She had little doubt he would be eager for details of wherever it was that she had seen, not that she could grant many of them. Sunray would perhaps have more to share, but that would be for her sweet magpie stallion to glean from him.
Because surely, surely she hadn't lost her grip. Surely he was here, still attached by the teeth she had buried into his flesh, probably dragged down to the sand with her as she collapsed, and eager to have her let go already so he could get to his feet. It would be another moment or ten before she could try to stand herself - her muscles still twitched uncertainly - but Sunray must be eager to be out of the sand.
In that first instance of having sense return to her, Tribe's entire focus was bent towards making certain that she had brought the stallion with her. The rest would follow.
Her breath was coming in quivering gasps by the time he neared her, the pain of the portal almost too much to bear. It wasn't meant to remain open and the vast distance was trying very hard to close behind her. She could feel something dripping down the single leg that remained and knew it had begun to slice or burn into her. She would lose the limb before much longer, but there was no need to fret on that; Sunray was here, and warning of followers.
Whatever it was that remained in this place was nothing that the likes of them had any business messing with. By some luck there was a slight glow around Sunray as well, granting her the benefit of watching his progress by the way he lit the ground beneath him; and it was a true boon, for she reached ahead, stretching her neck as far as she could, and grabbed for him. She did her best to latch firmly onto his withers with her teeth, and she was being none too shy about it; he may likely be left with some sort of wound from her bite. Best to get a hard grip than to chance losing him, though. For that same reason she reared at the same time, doing her level best to wrap one front leg around his ribs and the other across his chest, even as she stomped with both back legs as hard as she could.
She wasn't certain if the stomp would dislodge her enough to propel her the rest of the way into this realm, so she had been cautious not to lift her hoof overmuch on the single leg that remained on the far-off beach; it didn't help that she was quickly losing control of the limb in question as the nerves were overloaded and began to shut down. Would it count as a kick? Would they notice? Best she try again, just to be safe...
Before she could do more than shift her weight backwards, before she could try kicking more firmly with the hope of spraying them all with sand, she felt the leg in question get hauled on, tearing her backwards. It was all she could do to keep the one leg on the ground still, her final back limb scrambling to pull her weight back towards the portal as she held on to Sunray with every scrap of trembling strength that remained to her. They would pull, but she wouldn't be a limp dead weight; not while Sunray was at risk. It wasn't in her to sit passively as others stepped up to handle that which was needed.
All they needed was to get back to the beach before the following things caught up to them; the portal would disappear with the absence of their disturbance. All she would have to do is to push against the insistence of the frail portal, the urge to have her spit into this world rather than back to the realm of the wishing well. Luckily, it was such a weak and poorly constructed passage to begin with that she didn't anticipate any real trouble with defying its original purpose.
It worked; whatever the results, for good or ill, it worked as she shoved backwards, as they all pulled, as the entirety of their group came together with the single purpose of retrieving their Sunray.
She found herself tumbled back onto the beach, her limbs giving way entirely as she broke free of the temporary opening - one that she now believed had been hastily constructed by some passerby to rid themselves of some trouble, for why else would anyone wish to enter such a horrid place? The shock of breaking through the thin barrier had overloaded her system, that final burst of pain burning through her and searing away the last of her strength with something that may have looked remarkably like a seizure for any who knew of such events. Her legs gave out entirely, but she bit all the harder, determined not to lose a grip on Sunray, even as she felt the sand of their beach spray over her haunches. She wasn't leaving him behind.
There was a faint, sizzling pop, and she knew before the ability to see even returned to her that the portal had collapsed on itself; that wasn't a surprise either. Her back left leg felt almost useless, her fetlock bruised from where the tangle of kelp had gripped her, her hip strained from having herself hauled in, and a seared and sliced brand bisecting the flesh over her cannon. She lay in a heap in the sand, the crab still swinging from her forelock and waving the other claw in a rather disgruntled manner, and her sides were heaving as she tried to remember how to breathe through the last of the trembling that still clawed at her muscles; a comically pathetic sight, if ever there was one, and well would she deserve any mockery the others lay upon her for the mess she had become. Already she feared their blame and consternation for failing to lead them as safely through the floating passageways as she had promised to. She knew what kind of ripples to seek out in the air; they didn't. It shouldn't have been beyond her ability to notice that this one hadn't been properly tethered and would drift aside to reach one of these lovely serians; these who she had hoped would join her as circle-bound, granting her the chance to finally have her own tribe, and the blessed ability to hold her Magpie, her Gypsy stallion, as a true mate.
Would they still want her, after all this? They were a fine group, these bond-kin of her Gypsy, and she a trembling mess coated in sand and... whimpering? Was she seriously whimpering through her stuttering breaths? Yes, yes she was. The pain of her leg had begun to sink in as the shaking had begun to ease, and the ache in her hip was certainly no more than that - no dislocations, thankfully - but the cut that had seared into her cannon, the spot the portal had tried to close over her leg, stank of burned flesh and ash and rotted blood.
Better than losing the limb entirely, she supposed.
With a great effort of willpower, she managed to stop her pathetic whimpering as her eyes finally began to focus again, only to realize that she had been missing quite a bit of sound while she had flopped and twitched over the beach. She would have to parse that together in a moment; her first concern was to ensure that she hadn't lost her grip on Sunray, that he was here with her, and that she hadn't accidentally bitten to the bone in her desperate attempt to return him to his people.
His people, for now; perhaps their people in time, if they could forgive such a misstep on her part. And perhaps not; but if not they, then she was certain she and Gypsy would simply search out those who were better suited to become their soul-bonded family. He, at the very least, she didn't doubt; not with as long as she had admired him from afar. Her Gypsy was a wanderer, just as she was, and he would be well familiar with both missteps and the absolute mess that one became at times.
She had little doubt he would be eager for details of wherever it was that she had seen, not that she could grant many of them. Sunray would perhaps have more to share, but that would be for her sweet magpie stallion to glean from him.
Because surely, surely she hadn't lost her grip. Surely he was here, still attached by the teeth she had buried into his flesh, probably dragged down to the sand with her as she collapsed, and eager to have her let go already so he could get to his feet. It would be another moment or ten before she could try to stand herself - her muscles still twitched uncertainly - but Sunray must be eager to be out of the sand.
In that first instance of having sense return to her, Tribe's entire focus was bent towards making certain that she had brought the stallion with her. The rest would follow.