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Post by Crow'sia on Nov 19, 2010 21:23:48 GMT -5
Gertrude,
It had been stupid to come here, but it was too late now. Gertrude shivered in a small copse of trees as the waves rolled over the top of the cliff and washed right around her ankles. The salty spray of ocean water stung her eyes, and again the wind howled loud and sharp.
She had felt the storm coming, a prickling in her skin, and still she had been determined see the shore again. What if the waters had retreated, what if her home had returned? It hadn’t. Even the waves were higher, stretching their evil tendrils right into the sky as if trying to grasp the clouds. Thick clouds, thick and stone grey, like the mountain tops so far far off. She wished she were there now or in the comfort of the Fields, where steady trees could protect her from the wind. Where the few mares that now roamed there, although their alliances shaky, sometimes came to her.
When she’d seen what she came for, when she knew that the roiling ocean might at any scoop her out to see as she stood with feet deep in the flood waters, Gertrude knew she should have fled. The safest bet would have been to run far and fast, maybe even into the Deep Forest, although that in itself had become
dangerous. Instead she had scaled the cliffs, carefully picking her way up the rock face. Instead she watched the storm as it rolled into land on the waves with thunder hard on its tail. When the sky split open and down poured light and sound in a terrible cacophony like a rockslide, Gertrude joined it and screamed. Then she retreated to the only shelter available; that scraggily clutch of trees.
Rain and wind still beat at her fur and drenched her through their leafless arms. She squinted her eyes to keep watch. No great wave came, but as the ocean pounded away at the cliff, Gertrude felt the ground tremble in her hooves. Or was it just her trembling on her own.
She wished more than ever for somebody, anybody. She didn’t much care who. She should leave. Every time the mare tried, every time she took a step, she took another back, blasted by the rain and by the fear that gnawed her stomach.
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Post by Dawning Hope on Nov 21, 2010 15:09:22 GMT -5
Dawn carefully placed one hoof in front of the other. They were now brittle and cracked, from being out in the dreary weather; this place wasn’t as nice as some of the others she had been to. She enjoyed it; it was pretty; however the weather could be dreary at times. She continued walking along the edge of the craggy rock, the salty water lapping at her feathers.
She jumped back as a slimy fish swum by her legs, weaving in and out of them. Dawn had never been fond of anything that creeped, crawled, or swam. Scrambling back onto the rocks, she made her way up the hill that consisted entirely of rock. Gingerly placing one hoof after the next, she walked diagonally across the uneven hill, fighting the wind as she went.
Only about halfway up the rock, the sky opened up. The storm was miserable and getting worse by the minute. She had never been a fan of storms, Dawn tended to be skittish around loud noises. When the thunder rolled, she locked her knees and jumped slightly. When she jumped, her body twisted just enough so that out of the corner of her eye she saw a figure standing atop of the plateau, shivering in the cold. Dawn’s curiosity got the better of her. Who in their right mind would be out in this weather? She continued up the rocky ground, working faster now, as to figure out why she was up there, all by herself in a storm, nonetheless.
When Dawn got within a few feet of her, she called out “Hey, you okay? I’ve seen these kinds of storms before, it’s going to get bad. Real bad. The waves are already climbing up this hill; we’ve got to get out of here.”
Word Count: 298
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Post by Crow'sia on Nov 21, 2010 22:40:49 GMT -5
Gertrude,
Go. Just go. No, every step the wind blasted her face, the mare cried in alarm, and retreated into the trees. Not only that, she couldn’t take her eyes off the waves, as if each one spoke to her. Was this what it looked like from the cliff, the sea rolling, screaming, before it finally had too much and rolled into shore? Was this what it looked like for her father and mother, who had been on the beach at the time? A horrible, snap, like a tooth breaking, wretched her from the sea. Thunder, she thought? And then Gertrude watched as down the hill the top of an older tree, dead and salt battered, tumbled to earth. Her eyes opened wide with terror, as it bounced and slid to earth, cutting a horse sized swath of destruction in the vegetation below. Suddenly, those scrappy saplings didn’t seem so bad.
And that’s when she saw her. A bright body, so much larger than her own, standing outside in the rain. Gertrude didn’t recognize her, but the voice sounded like a mare. Reassuring, given the rumours her mother had been spreading. She could barely make out her words for the wind. Gertrude shook her head, steeled herself, and burst from the trees. When she reached the other mare her chest already felt tight, her eyes flew around wildly, even as she squinted against the salty spray.
“I know!” she cried, because she didn’t think her voice would be loud enough. “The beach is flooded. I just, needed to see.” She took a breath, which really, was more like a drink. Rain and wind rushed into her mouth, scoured her throat. Over head, the thunder boomed. Gertrude ducked before she could help herself. The mare's words rattled her. “You don’t really think it will really rise again, do you?”
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Post by Dawning Hope on Nov 26, 2010 19:51:00 GMT -5
As the bay mare continued to climb up the hill, she could see the mare in distress more clearly. She was a sopping wet dark bay, with a stunningly bright mane that deeply contrasted her coat. She had rarely come across a horse of such an unusual color, her mane was unusually light, which Dawn found sort of odd. The entire looks of the mare intrigued her, as she had known a similar looking horse, a Rocky Mountain Horse, from a previous herd she had once long ago been a part of. It couldn’t possibly be her though, Dawn told herself, reassuring herself that she wasn’t going crazy.
Dawn stopped near the mare, nervous to go much closer to her. She appeared to be at a loss of what to do, panicking of sorts, and Dawn didn’t want to be on the receiving end of some sporadic action of hers, which could cause Dawn much pain, as small as the mare was; she appeared defined and muscular. Pausing before she spoke, she said “What’s your name? I didn’t catch it, the wind is sort of carrying your voice in the opposite direction, making it difficult for me to hear.”
The mare appeared in no shape to hurt Dawn, so she moved closer to her, a nose length away from her now. As she spoke again, Dawn cocked her head in confusion. What would anyone possibly want to see in this kind of weather? ”What did you want to see? This place is really in no shape for us to be up here, it’s dangerous, rocky, with crags and deep abysses that a horse, like us, could fall into, never to be seen again.” Dawn shuddered, letting the thought scare herself for a minute, before pushing it aside. “I don’t know, it could very well rise today, maybe even tomorrow, it’s happened before, hasn’t it? That’s how this whole cliff got to be this way, am I correct?”
Word Count: 327
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Post by Crow'sia on Nov 27, 2010 16:19:53 GMT -5
Gertrude,
Gertrude heard. She tried to calm herself. What good was she, really, if she kept jumping about thunder and wind? Of course this was considerably more than normal, but even back in the fields, didn’t she scream about every little noise? No wonder no one stuck around. Amid the rumours of spirits and outlaws, who really needed a crazy mare on the side? Now was not the time to be down about that.
“I’m Gertrude!” she called. As they moved closer together, she began to feel more at ease. She closed her eyes against the rain and listened. So she didn’t see the mare’s confusion, or the thunder that cracked, and the trees that toppled. Instead, with her mind’s eye the mare was plotting out a route, one that would take them from the cliff. The beach didn’t seem like the best idea, who knew what hidden places a horse might stumble into? The other mare was right, after all. There were many crags and cracks in the stone up here, but there were just as many below. The thought of falling into one such crack on the beach, only to be washed beneath the waves, for Gertrude that was far more terrifying.
“Last autumn,” Gertrude shouted back. She nodded over toward the beach. “I used to live there. We saw the wave come. We can follow the cliff down into the forests.”
Eyes open, she took one last look at the waters, the torrent of rain, the lights in the sky, and slowly placing her hooves on the rock, forced herself to leave the other mare. Only a few steps. Gertrude didn’t have the courage to go too far and she often looked back. What if one of them did fall, she wondered?
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Post by Dawning Hope on Nov 28, 2010 14:32:09 GMT -5
Dawn was contemplating what to do to help the obviously frazzled mare, but was unsure of what to do. She glanced down the steep decline of land, trying to trace a path of where it would be safest to go about the rock, without hopefully slipping into a crevice between the huge boulders that lay scattered about the hill. Her mane and tail had become entangled in the branches within the grove of trees that they were standing underneath; trying to take shelter from the harsh rain and wind.
The bay mare jumped sideways a bit, as a small tree and some surrounding brush started to collapse around them. Dawn looked over at the mare who she now knew as Gertrude, who appeared to be deep in thought with her eyes closed against the elements; and Dawn sighed with relief as she knew the mare hadn’t seen her so skittish in the air already filled with tension and danger.
As Gertrude started moving slowly down the rocky cliff, Dawn reluctantly followed her lead. Painfully, slowly, hoof after hoof, she daintily walked down the cliff, gravel skittering in every which direction whenever she placed weight upon her hooves. She knew if her whole attention wasn’t focused on where she was putting her weight down, it could cost her, maybe even both of them their lives.
Dawn shifted her eyes from the ground to the beach, and beyond, the horizon. She narrowed her eyes against the rain, in hopes to see what was happening down below. When she finally managed to figure out what she was looking at, she knew there would be a serious problem in the events to come.
Not even one hundred feet below them, boulders were slipping, breaking away from the main rock that supported them, creating a blockade of sorts, across the path that they were following. Oh god, now what are we supposed to do? If only I hadn’t let my curiosity get the better of me, then we wouldn’t be in this situation right now. Trying to think of another way that they could go around to the bottom of the cliff, something dark caught her eye off in the distance. A dark cloud, with a seeming appendage, that was reaching to the ground. “Oh god. No. It couldn’t be….” Dawn muttered under her breath, in utter disbelief. It’s always when you think things can’t get worse, and then they always somehow manage to, even if it’s seemingly impossible.
Realizing she hadn't told her findings to Gertrude, she called out. “Gertrude! Hang on a minute. Look further down the beaten path that we’re following…do you see those boulders? I don’t know how we’re supposed to get around them, do you? And another thing, I think we have more trouble ahead. I’m not positive, my eyes may be playing tricks on me, and I may be overly paranoid, however, I don’t really think that’s the case. Is it me, or is that a funnel cloud…..” Dawn trailed off, frozen with panic.
Word Count: 505
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Post by Crow'sia on Dec 9, 2010 15:31:37 GMT -5
Gertrude,
Every step sent tiny bits of rock flying that either tried to wedge into her feet or send her down to the rock. What had she done? She took small comfort in the fact that really, she hadn't led this other mare to her death. But what if this was home and she had? If she'd not been up here, would the other girl have come investigating? Gertrude pushed it out of her head when she stumbled and her legs caught over a sapling. She leaped back. Really, she hated stepping on things.
Behind her, with a voice made quiet by rain, she thought she heard the mare. Gertrude made her way back, head whipping around when she saw what Dawn had referred to. Across their path, a line of broken rock. Gertrude recoiled. How could they ever pass such a thing? Her eyes roved wildly over the cliff and the beach. They could try that waters, but risked being wash away. She didn’t search long though, she couldn’t miss the funnel cloud that Dawn has just brought to her attention.
Gertrude, who had never seen a tornado before, watched a column with a mix of awe and fear. How beautiful and strange it was, twirling along the earth, roaring with the wind. It nagged at something in her mind. She skittered away from it, away from the growing wall of moving rock, boxed in with Dawn. This thing, this monster, it was just as dangerous as the sea. Surely, spirits must really exist. Was she wrong, all this time? “What- what is that!”
The mare cried. She scurried back and forth over the stone, this way and that. “The water- I don’t want to go into it. Maybe we could just cross? Jump over, you know?” She tried to sound sure of herself, but she was as worried as ever. She doubted they could jump so far.
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