Had she made the right call in leaving when she did? Her brown eyes narrowed considerably as the mare cast a single gaze over her shoulder. For a few moments, Daire's mind was far out over the water. It waited there a moment, perhaps considering something in the past and the familiar. Plumes of condensation rose from dark nostrils as a breath loosed from her lungs. And, with a turn of her head, Daire looked away and left what she could of her thoughts and feelings there on the shore. There were more important things to worry about here in the present.
Daire was still wet from leaving the water well over an hour ago. They both were. Concern knitted the black mare's brows together as her gaze ran over the huddled shape at her side. The leggy, shivering thing was her son: Lir. Admiration warmed Daire's gaze then. He was only a year and some old now, and he had braved the seas just as much as she had. So young for such a perilous journey, and he had done it all without complaint. In her own mind, it made Lir braver than most she had known by half or more.
A muddled swell of emotion burned low in her chest, tightening the black mare's throat. She then pulled the youngster in closer to her, raking her tongue over his damp neck and shoulders furiously. The white-splashed boy stood complacently, even obediently, still and within reach for her as Daire worked him over for the second time that day. It was quite out of character for a boy notorious for pranks and mock defiance for months before the... She stopped then, lifting her head to look away from the colt. Or, perhaps, away from whatever thought had confronted her.
She wondered just how much of their situation Lir had grasped, how much he understood of the dangers they had left behind. Did he know that just as much uncertainty lay ahead of them as behind? Daire lipped at his cheek and nose, teasing at what long baby whiskers still managed to cling to his maw. He wasn't so much a baby anymore. Lir was getting taller now, and it wouldn't be long before he was fully able to go off on his own. Right now, that thought terrified Daire, but a lot could change in just over a year.
The drizzled mare let the yearling doze for an hour or so after his impromptu bath. Then, they were off. The female had to hope that things might warm up at least a little if they moved inland. In the high point of the afternoon, Daire couldn't quite tell in which direction they were headed, only that the ground was moving upward. Memory told her that moving upward meant colder air. Dark ears pinned for a moment against her poll; this was not the answer to their problem. The brindled mare paused, frozen on the hills. There she was, very obviously pregnant, and with a yearling cradled into the curve of her side for warmth. Vapor rose from her nostrils again as Daire almost desperately looked around, praying an answer would just suddenly appear.
When the black mare heard a whinny reverberate through the surrounding hillside, she simultaneously laughed and almost fainted. A local would be able to steer them in some sort of direction. In fact, Daire threw caution to the wind and whistled an answer. She didn't care who it was: friend or foe, mare, bachelor, wanderer, anyone. Anyone close enough to come by meant a chance at finding her bearings and a direction. The mare stiffened as the child within her shifted, bringing up the severity of her situation yet again. Hope, she had to have hope.
daire . mare . 13 yo . black reverse brindle . orlov trotter cross
lir . colt . 1.5 yo . amber cream champagne dun overo splash . orlov trotter cross
vervain . filly . unborn . black reverse brindle . warmblood mix