Meadow

Rafe probably didn't expect Viveka to run so quickly. He probably presumed her words were just that, empty threats. But the truth was Viveka had meant that all. Rafe had not simply let her down, he'd ripped her heart out while it was still beating. The hollowness that now was left in her chest was now all she had left. The heavily pregnant mare wastes no time wading into the shallows of the ocean that laps at the beaches of the Badlands. If he could see her, he'd probably presume she meant to drown herself again, but Viveka's eyes are not wild with suicide. Instead they are clear with purpose. She knows it is dangerous to flee at this time, especially provided how close she is to the birth of her foal. Hers.

Like the many men in Viveka's life, she had not only had her heart ripped to shreds by Rafe, but her tryst with Balor had been only that...a one night stand that led her into a precarious set of events. Perhaps Balor had dodged a bullet, or maybe she was simply unworthy of love. A brief glance is all she gives the barren, desolate ugliness of the Badlands. She feels the pull of the ocean pushing her out further, and she knows she has no choice but to sink of swim. She kicks with whatever desperation fills her soul as she makes her way as far as she can from the godforsaken island of Salem. Her nose barely swims above water, a choking sensation builds in her chest as she feels herself taking in water. Her eyes burn in desperation and in the final moments when she thinks she may have lost her battle against the ocean, she feels her hooves scrape the sand of the bottom of the ocean. She nearly combusts with relief as each of her hooves finally find purchase on the sandy beaches of what she believes is the Meadow.

But her relief only lasts so long before she feels the unfamiliar constricting of her barrel. She hobbles away from the ocean waters as she finds herself in the seclusion of tree cover as another contraction overtakes her body. She groans as the pain mixes with the tears that now slide free from her sapphire eyes. She isn't sure how long passes between her hectic breaths but soon she finds herself lowering her heavily pregnant body into the wear marks she'd driven into the ground. She lays her sweat covered neck to the ground, her mind in a wrestle over her exposure to the elements as her body takes over, forcing her to push the babe from her womb. Finally in a last attempt to ride herself from the overwhelming pressure, she feels it slip from her and for a brief moment she feels a deep sense of relief before realty comes crashing down on her situation. She desperately buries the panic building in her chest as she lifts her head to note the red filly that lay by her blood covered tail. The filly bleats with surprise for having been violently thrust from the warm seclusion of her mother's belly. Viveka knickers gently, dragging her aching body up as the motherly instinct takes over, an incessant nagging to clean the mucus and membrane from the red foal. Only when she's satisfied with the cleanliness, does she encourage her to stand and nurse. "I love you Eigyr," she barely breathes.

eigyr - pronounce ire v i v e k a mare | silver black | swedish warmblood | 4 | moonless