Jasper had always known Miriella hated him and hated their family, though he couldn’t exactly understand why. He’d lost his mother much sooner than she’d lost hers and he didn’t hold it against anyone in the Prairie, least of all their other siblings. He could never envision himself attacking another one of his blood with such ferocity as Miriella had come after him… and for what? For finding out that she was okay? For being foolish enough to be excited to see she had a little daughter, a niece of his he would have loved to have met?
Not that there was time for him to be too indignant with her. Shortly after he’d managed to dart away from her lunge there was a warning shudder in the ground and Jasper felt fear strike him through at the sight of the large stallion coming aggressively toward him. It’d been some time since he’d been afraid like this, well-seasoned in battle by now, but it seized him then and left him faltering in his steps.
The unknown draft’s teeth found a wrinkle of Jasper’s skin on his neck as he’d pulled his head up and turned his face away - the pain was sharp and hard. One of the stranger’s hooves grazed off his shoulder, offering a stinging contact burn as it collided and scraped along his coat hard enough to tear hair from it. But it was that great, broad chest bullying and colliding into him that gave Jasper no choice but to scramble backwards, going fully on the defensive, doing everything he could to avoid further injury and keep himself from losing his footing.
There was going to be no time to stop and have a civil conversation, which Jasper would have absolutely preferred. No time to shout or ask what the hell was going on, who this behemoth was and if he was abusing Miriella in this same way. Did she need help getting away? Was that why she’d been so angry and so insistent on getting Jasper to leave her be?
(Ah, Jasper, immediately worried for his sister’s wellbeing.)
He wasn’t certain the beast would pursue him the further they grew from Miriella, but he couldn’t be sure. Once Jasper had his chance to spin himself around and gather his legs out under him, he could burst into the speed he needed to finally put space between him and the attacking stallion. His intent was to not stop running until he was no longer pursued, which would hopefully be sooner rather than later, and as soon as he returned to the Prairie he’d tell their father what had just happened.
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