Abstract had not belonged to a herd in months (though a strong case could be made for a year or more, no one could be completely certain). She’d no idea what had happened to her former herd-mates in the now foreign highlands, nor did she really care. The gray mare had learned quickly that the best way to stay strong, was to move on. There was no sense in dwelling on things that had no place in the present. Though her scars still burned and the fire in her belly erupted whenever the memories were sat upon too long. That was exactly why she chose to forget them--as best she could anyhow. Unfortunately, that meant staying clear of others. To withdraw inside oneself was not only the easiest, but perhaps the safest thing that Abstract could do.
Abby’s snow-caped skull lowered to the slick green at her feet. Everything was dampened by the fog, which sat like a milk-white sheet along the terrain’s uneven faces. She’d managed to acquire a few scrapes and scratches on her journey up the mountain, but now in the eery still Abby found solace in the chilled vegetation. Parting her mottled lips the mare cropped the grasses steadily, ears changing directions like a turning compass, always alert considering she couldn’t see a thing. There was an unusual comfort in this blindness however. Unable to set apart the fuzzy outlines of trees from jagged cliff faces or potential horses, she relied on sound and scent, both of which were heavy, wrought with the chill of thin air.
Suddenly, from the mists behind her, Abstract caught the faint sounds of tumbling gravel. Her strong white face lifted tentatively, turning over her shoulder to face the noise. Flaring her ink-black nostrils, hot air billowed forth in a low rumbling whicker. Another nicker echoed back shortly thereafter. Someone was just over the ridge.
Turning bout to face the stranger, Abby stretched out her graceful head and pricked her tapering ears, icy blue eyes wide and fierce, burrowing through the fog, where they sharpened on what looked to be an amber figure. Abby switched her tattered tail across her patchy haunches and took a few small steps forward, skeptical of the comfort she’d felt earlier, but increasingly curious about the faceless equine just out of reach. Not seeing her yet, Abstract snorted roughly and moved forward again, until the figure before her became defined. A desert-bred chestnut, the classically curved cranium, the heart-shaped ears, the elegant cape of a mane and tail. It wasn’t quite envy that Abby first felt, but the fires did grumble deep in her gut, unsure as to whether this one was what she seemed. Wordless still, she watched her quietly, thick neck arched along the crest, one ear fixed forward, the other prying into the depths of the fog at her side.
GRAYING [AA Ee nSb Gg] : MARE : 15.1HH : FOUR YEARS : MUTT
Character and HTML by Snow
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