Swaddled as he was in the blankets of youth and naivete, Balderdash approached the sea's edge with no reservations, rushing ahead of the golden figure of the only mother he'd known to scamper through the foamy surf. As the first flecks of moisture dampened his loudly-spotted coat, the coat squealed and thrashed his limbs, sending a light cascade of water to settle over Aliyana and Jabberwocky. Having survived the lonely first hours after his birth apparently unscathed, Baldur possessed a zeal for life that surpassed even the most enthusiastic of youths - he lived in the moment, and right now he wanted nothing more than to romp about with his brother and enjoy the bright, late-spring day.

Unfortunately it seemed Aliyana had different plans on this day, and was soon herding her charges into the ocean with gentle nips. Though he had enjoyed the water on his own terms, Balderdash balked at the thought of submersing himself any deeper than his hocks, standing mulishly amidst the dragging waves until their pull gently tugged him further out in small degrees.

It was then that he noticed the delightful buoyancy of the water, so different than the grasping clingyness of land. Thoroughly enjoying the abandonment of his earthly fetters, Balderdash strikes out with his limbs in imitation of Aliyana as she begins to head further out to sea, falling behind Jabberwocky and determinedly attempting to keep pace with the pair. Unfortunately for him, it was a task that he was doomed to fail; the amber mare had failed to take into account that the spotted colt was younger than her own ebony son, and Baldur soon found himself watching the indistinct blobs of their forms fading into the distance hopelessly. Frightened, the colt's tiny ears flatten against his skull and he calls out desperately - a sound that is carried in the opposite direction of his new mother by the unhelpful breeze.

Mustering the remaining dregs of his courage, Baldur's limbs begin to churn again in steady strokes, though his progress was slow against the pull of various currents and his young muscles were beginning to tire. Finally, just as the shore of a distant island loomed into view, his strength gave and the colt stopped to rest - without understanding that the concept differed here than it did on land.

Making to fold his limbs beneath him much as he would in preparation for a nap, his head suddenly dips beneath the surface, his nostrils filling with not sweet air, but rushing, salt-stung water. Panicking, Balderdash seeks to right his error but ends up overcompensating, propelling himself, in a frenzy, straight into one of the rougher shore's currents. Here the ocean snags his small form like it would a piece of driftwood, casting it wheresoever it pleases - above the water, below, up and down, sometimes with his hooves pointing skywards the colt makes rapid progress towards the beach, barely managing to snatch a breath between each surfacing of his snout before the sea drags him back under.

It seems an eternity to the waterlogged colt, though in actuality it is just a few terrifying minutes before he is deposited - with ironic gentleness compared to his journey - upon a sandy beach. His small body aching from both weariness and the sea's battering, Balderdash drags himself out of the surf's reach before succumbing to the darkness at the edge of his mind, and slipping into the slumber of exhaustion.

That same darkness seems to have manifested in the world around him by the time he awakens, his throat raw from the inhaled saltwater and his limbs stiffened from overuse. A more insistent ache in his belly drives him to his feet, however; Baldur hasn't known hunger, not since the first dark hours of his life. He has come to liken the blackness of night with such terrifying concepts as death and abandonment, and longs for the warmth of his sun, his mother, and the reassuring presence of his brother. Neither are here; however, as he inhales through his nostrils in the kind of sniffle that precedes tears, a stray wift of scent is caught that stirs and strengthens these memories.

Too petrified to move in the darkness, Baldur stands facing inland, the riot of unfamiliar tropical night sounds discomforting in his ears. Releasing a tentative, plaintive cry, the colt pauses - and then, more boldly as a silence falls (perhaps the world had decided to watch the events unfold with bated breath) a loud, more insistent call. He was certain Aliyana would hear, and come to restore the warmth and relieve the aches of his body as she had before.

Cursed with the innocence and ignorance of youth, it didn't occur to him that something more menacing may potentially heed his call.


stallion .. mixed .. fouteen.three [wfg] .. newborn .. spotted chestnut sabino [ee/aa/Lplp/nSb] .. reba
bandersnatch x seeker