ASHA & NYMERIA
The dapple grey mare's eyes slowly flickered open, lids heavy with sleep. Snow, cool and wet, melted on the shedding fur of her hips. The weaker of her twin daughters was still asleep in the grass a few paces away, as she was wont, but her stronger spotted daughter, whose coat was beginning to lighten all over with a peppering of grey hairs, stood at attention next to her, her dark eyes already trained on something which Nymeria had not yet noticed.
She followed her yearling daughter's gaze. Emerging from the twilight shadows of the trees was the red stallion; close behind him was a newborn foal the tawny color of a deer, with faint leg stripes to match his. It was clear the girl was his own, but where was the mother? Nymeria met Vercingetorix's gaze from across the clearing, and knew almost instantly. Perhaps she had not died, but insinctively Nymeria knew that no mother would be coming to claim this foal.
Asha, curious and bold thing she was, already was nearing the duo, her head stretched out and her ears pricked. She chomped her lips together submissively at the stallion-who-was-not-her-father, as she always did when he was nearby (despite the fact she was almost taller than him now), but her dark eyes were only for the tiny filly. She had not seen another foal in the forest, other than her twin sister, in the entire time they had lived here. This was new and exciting for her.
Nymeria followed behind her daughter closely, passing the sleeping bodies of the herd with care. Her huge, swollen belly swayed awkwardly with each step, but her head was held aloft with confidence. She, too, ignored the stallion. She had been cool and aloof towards him her whole pregnancy; a respectful distance was, frankly, something she preferred to maintain with any male. The child, on the other hand... Perhaps it was the pregnancy filling her head with possessive instincts, but something compelled her suddenly to snatch out at her yearling daughter with bared teeth. Asha squealed and cow-kicked, squirming sideways to retire a few paces away, where she continued to watch the goings-on from a safer distance.
The tall dappled mare touched the foal's nose with her own, blowing her own breath softly on the girl's face, then reaching out to scrape her teeth gently across her cheek, lipping at her ear, and nudging almost roughly at her shoulder. Her intention was not to harm, but to test. She did not doubt that the red stallion would have disposed of the foal if she was in any way unfit, but Nymeria wanted to see for herself if the child was worth investing her time in.
1; DRAFT MUTT; GREYING BLACK BLANKET; 17'2HH WFG
8; MEDIUM DRAFT MIX; DAPPLE GREY; 16HH; PLAYED BY SHIVA |