Post by avalikia on Apr 23, 2010 21:34:40 GMT -5
(OOC Note: This is a log of the core of the Dorado herd moving to the Wildwood Acre under Luna and Nukpana's leadership, which essentially transfers control of the herd to them. We attempted to get more characters in on this, but a lot of people are understandably very busy this time of year. If you are a member of the Dorado, please read the note at the end for ideas on what to say happened to your character throughout all of this.)
Characters:
Luna - Female Horse
Nukpana - Female Horse
Settings:
Wind-Blown Lowlands, Merging Tributary, Swampy Marsh, and Wildwood Acre
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- Wind-Blown Lowlands -
Luna is cold. Freezing cold. Her winter coat offers only some protection against the strong wind that's started blowing in from the southeast, and the snow of course isn't helping. Easily up to half a foot deep in most places it's hard to see where there's safe footing, and there's simply no place to lay down and not freeze immediately. When she moves her joints give worryingly loud creaks and pops, and she's starting to look a bit on the skinny side from only just finding enough grass under the heavy snow. Right now she's trying to rest, hindquarters against the wind and head low where her body can shield it from some of the cold.
Only a short distance away is Nukpana, who is doing a little better, but not by much. She'd started this season extremely prepared weight-wise, but between her pregnancy and the severity of the season those reserves are been used up very quickly. But unlike the older mare her head is lifted up, head braving the wind in order to get some sense about how the weather might change. Apparently she senses nothing good because when she lowers it she says, "It's getting worse," her voice loud to make sure it'll carry to Luna.
Luna simply nods, careful not to get her head higher than her body. She's knee deep in the snow, her tail pushed far between her legs by the cold wind, and she's shivering; a last, desperate attempt by her body to stay warm. "I know," she nickers back with a sad tone of voice. She turns her head as far to the side as she dares to look against the wind, but she's immediately blinded by the drifting snow. Yuck. She sighs and takes up her defensive pose again. "Yeah, it's gonna get a lot worse than this. A day or two, probably."
Inclined to agree, Nukpana is quick to take stock of the situation. Things are already starting to get pretty dire; whenever the proper time to leave was, they've probably past it trying to convince the other mares to come with them. And now they've been pounded by this storm for what seems like forever and it only looks to be getting worse. At this rate she's sure there'll be mares freezing where they stand. Quickly making up her mind, she takes a couple steps towards Luna, "We're leaving. Now. It'll be death for us otherwise." Glancing towards the other mares present, not really caring who they are and unable to easily see them through the snow and wind anyways she says even louder, "And any of you with any sense are welcome to come with us, but we're going with or without you." Turning back to Luna, she adds, "Come on," as she steps to the old mare's windward side, taking the brunt of it away from her. Nukpana sure seems to have some strength left, and she's going to use it to save her life and Luna's if it kills her. Which is pretty bizarre logic, but she's not in the best of moods.
Luna looks confused for a moment, but she's really too exhausted mentally to voice much of a protest. She knows it's the right thing to do, but she's not very keen on leaving behind any of the herd. Of course, the lack of food has already spread the herd out so much it'd be hard to find everyone on a warm summer day, let alone in this weather. With just a bit of hesitation she drags herself out of the snow, putting one hoof ahead of another as she starts walking. The snow is so deep she can't even lift her hooves over it, instead cutting a jagged line through the whiteness. "Any idea where?" she nickers, ear turned to Nukpana. Not that it matters; the wind really only allows one direction, as walking against it would be certain suicide. North is only, what, moderately assured suicide?
"Anywhere but here," is all that Nukpana can say. She came from the east, but land that way was no better than this for quite some ways. But, she figures if they go one way long enough, they're bound to stumble into some sort of shelter. And north is a good choice because she's heard of it being forested there, even if the wind wasn't making that the easy choice. Trees sound nice, especially big, wind-blocking trees. Matching Luna's pace, if not hurrying it a bit by being half a step ahead, Nukpana's pleased to hear the faint sound of other hoofsteps behind them. Good! Seems that the weather's talked some sense into at least some of the others, but she's not inclined to turn her head into the wind in order to see exactly which ones. Unless the sound of those or Luna's hoofsteps falter, she's unwilling to do much more than keep her own feet moving. The movement should warm them all up a little, at least.
Luna creaks and pops, definitely showing her age in this weather. That she can even walk at all is a surprise, even to herself, but for now she's happy to use it to set an example. If SHE can brave the snow and wind, there's no excuse for anyone else not to. For the first time in the almost two years it's been she's happy that she's unable to get pregnant; if there was a foal in her now, she probably wouldn't have the strength to keep herself alive. And as that thought hits her, she casts a cautious glance to Nukpana and her belly. Hopefully they'll find shelter quickly, maybe even better chances of food. "There's a river somewhere ahead of us," she nickers after a while. "I hope it's frozen, there's no way we'll survive swimming across."
As has been the status quo for Nukpana, she spares little thought for the foal within her if there's anything at all pressing to think about, even though it'll be born all too soon. But even if she did, there'd be little she could do differently; it'll survive all this exertion or it will not, but either way she has to do it if either of them have any chance. Even by helping the others she helps herself and her foal; alone they'll be far more vulnerable even if they do survive this. But above and beyond even all of that Nukpana just plain isn't going to allow herself to get killed by this and that's that. To Luna's comment, she actually manages a smile and there's humor in her tone when she says, "Well, hopefully the weather's bad enough to freeze the river then." Actually she highly suspects that it will be. It's been plenty cold for far too long.
Luna gives a small nod. Somewhere behind her she can hear others dragging through the snow, but with the wind gaining in force she doesn't dare look back. Every little bit of energy and heat is precious, and she has no doubt she'll end up using every last reserve she has just to get through this. Looking ahead it's hard to tell where she is, any features of the landscape hidden under a uniform white blanket. Trees, large rocks - those she can see here and there, but she has no idea exactly how far it is to the river. For all she knows, she's walking on ice right now. Couldn't tell the difference from the frozen ground, anyway.
- Merging Tributary - (So we skipped a room, sue us!)
If Luna can't tell what they're walking on, the younger Nukpana can't tell either. Well, except if the river isn't /quite/ frozen enough because she's liable to fall in first since she's the largest mare in the herd. But she tries not to think about that; instead she tries to keep her focus on the hoofsteps to her side and behind so that she'll notice if any of them stop. But eventually they come to a section where the snow doesn't seem so deep and it makes her nervous, though she tries to keep that feeling to herself. The ground or ice seems solid enough here, and she's willing to take that at face value as long as it stays that way.
Luna has walked on ice many times, but even then it's hard for her to tell whether it's ice or ground under the snow. That is, until the tell-tale creaking reaches her ears. "We're at the river," she says softly. She's tired, all but exhausted. How long have they been walking now? Hours? For all her body is telling her, it's been weeks. "Careful steps, as long as the noise isn't all that loud it's safe." She presses on, her body aching from both the cold and the exertion. Here the wind isn't quite as bad as it was a way back, but it's still bad, and she can only barely make out the shadows of trees somewhere in the distance. Reach those and they're past the river. Hell, reach those and there might be time to rest. One can always hope.
At the first creak Nukpana pauses, but hearing Luna's words she's quick to decide that she's not going to let fear get the best of her now. Not in front of an audience, anyway. Quick to resume her walking, Nukpana steps as lightly as a mare her size can, listening to the creaks. She's never walked on ice before, having come from a herd who had the good sense not to and this being her first winter away from them. Er, exactly how loud is too loud, she wants to ask, but since Luna doesn't seem too bothered Nukpana forces herself to remain calm since the older mare seems to know what she's doing. She looks eagerly ahead for the other side of the river, if only to get away from it, though she could use some rest too and the trees look like a good windbreak. Not the long-term shelter they want, but already they seem to nearing something better than what they left behind.
Luna walks just as cautiously, though she doesn't really have the strength to tip-toe across the frozen surface like she ought to. Her ears are perked, listening for every little sound that would indicate the ice is about to break, but so far it seems fine. Muffled by the snow, of course, but she knows a properly frozen lake or river can take quite some abuse. Just gotta spread out, not walk too close, and they'll be fine. Of course, the fact that it's frozen solid only confirms one thing in her head: Leaving was way overdue.
With the river here as wide as it is, it takes quite some time and far too many creaks for Nukpana to finally reach an area where the creaking seems to end completely. Breathing a sigh of relief, Nukpana is finally able to focus more of her attention on the trees on this side of the riverbank. Nodding towards them, she says, "We should be able to rest with some protection there, but we can't stop for too long; if the weather gets much worse they won't be enough and we certainly wouldn't want to be out walking in it." Really she's sure that she could keep going if it was just her, but Luna's looking a bit too tired and who knows what shape the others are in? Yes, a rest is needed, so long as it's a short one.
Luna just nods. Behind her there's still a bit of creaking on the ice, and she estimates there's only two or three others behind them. Not a lot, but it'll have to do. Hopefully the rest will wizen up and follow later. She can't afford to worry about them now, though, as she staggers towards the trees. Her breath is growing ragged, puffing out white clouds from her nostrils every few seconds. She stubbornly refuses to falter here, so close to shelter, and it's probably by sheer force of will alone that she drags herself up the bank, across the last open stretch, and into the limited shelter of trees. There aren't many of them, and they don't offer a warm, dry ground to sleep on, but that's okay. They break the wind, and she can finally stop to catch her breath. "Just a few minutes," she pants, eyes half closed. "Not just the wind. If we let ourselves get cold now, we won't be able to move on." Still, they've come a surprisingly long way, that's gotta count for something, even though they obviously need to continue north. The wind's picking up again, carrying more and more snow with it, and these few trees just aren't enough.
Breathing hard herself, Nukpana is only vaguely aware of the other mares, because she's already using the windbreak to her advantage to look at what's ahead without getting wind in her eyes. But windbreak or no, there's still enough snow being blown around that it's difficult to see very far. But it's just enough to say, "Marshland. I think. It's hard to tell with the snow." It's a difficult enough prospect that she too closes her eyes so she doesn't have to look at it. Nevertheless, she's ready to move on, just as soon as their shaky breaths become more steady. Resting here for too long is just as suicidal as staying where they were.
Luna is surprisingly the first to start moving again. She's not gonna argue about there being marshland ahead, as that seems quite probable given the low altitude, and maybe it'll actually be possible to find some good grazing before it gets dark. Already the light is waning, so it's just a matter of time. "Let's go," she calls. Like Nukpana she doesn't look back even now; she knows she'll just be saddened by how few are there. She heard fewer hooves on the ice than would account for those in the herd she cared most about, and that's enough for her. So she takes lead, out of the small cluster of trees and into the marsh. Hopefully the wind will either die down as night falls, or there'll be more and better shelter further ahead.
The second that Luna gives the word, Nukpana's eyes flick back open and she starts forward. If the old mare thinks she's rested long enough, then it's been plenty of time for her, marsh or no marsh. The promised forest can't be too far ahead now, and what's a forest without plenty of trees to keep the wind and the worst of the weather away? With this in mind she pushes herself forward, bringing herself alongside Luna. "Surely we're almost there," she says with conviction, though she doesn't really no the distance between the river and the forest, only that she'd heard it's not far and they've walked pretty far already.
- Swampy Marsh -
Luna vaguely recalls being around these parts many years ago, but the memory is hazy at best, and it was early fall then. "There should be a forest somewhere ahead," she says slowly, trying to get her bearings - but white on white in white, it's just impossible. The river is behind her on her right, though, so she suspects she's got the rough direction right. "Two, maybe three hours. It'll be dark when we find it, that's for certain." She pushes forward, hooves dragging a bit more in the snow than when they first set out. She only stopped long enough to catch her breath, not to actually rest, and this has been her longest journey since she was chased from her former herd. "Pretty sure I was here when I was expecting my sixth foal." Which would make it about twelve years prior, give or take. "Was a filly. Ayesha, I named her. Sweet little thing." Of course, Nukpana could probably care less, but she's just trying to keep her mind off the cold. "A young stallion succeeded in luring off a few of the youngest mares in the herd that summer. Our stallion was a bit of a brute, and this youngster had charm, so I gave it a chance and followed." She smiles a bit at the memory. "We came through here in the fall, I believe."
Sure enough, Nukpana doesn't really care, but she does appreciate the opportunity to get her mind off of their current situation even if it's to hear a story she finds incredibly stupid. But she lacks the energy to explain all the things that Luna should have done differently if she'd had any sense, and instead comments, "I wish it was fall now." Though she's putting on a good front, the extra burden of carrying a foal that's so close to being born is really starting to drain on her, as young and strong as she is. With a solid rest she'll be fine, but now she's bordering on not fine. You'd never know it to look at her though because her pace remains steady and her eyes are alert, even though she's breathing just a bit too heavily.
Luna mmms and nods. "Golden leaves on the trees, birds singing ... Sun." She gives an amused chuckle to herself. "Anyway, we went through a decently sized forest on our way. We were just heading towards the sunrise, trying to find a good place to settle a herd. The forest did have food and shelter, but there was something ..." She trails off, trying to remember why they hadn't stayed there. She'd almost certainly remember it if it'd been something dangerous, but that particular memory eludes. "Anyway, over the years he grew into quite a fine stallion, though he never quite lost that coltish charm. Always polite to his mares, always attentive to us. Was a real shame when he lost a challenge for leadership after a few years." Her voice is sounding surprisingly clear as she tells the story, as if remembering that time lets her pull on the strength she had then. "Did have four foals by him, though. Three colts, one filly." Say what you will, but even with her faltering memory she obviously remembers every last one of her foals.
"Shelter is what we need, food if we can manage it. Whatever else is there we'll just have to face," Nukpana comments. Sure the whole herd is becoming much too thin, much too fast, but shelter is the priority for Nukpana since they could easily freeze to death before they starve. Still, she's hoping they find /anything/ better than digging through deep snow for grass - even less deep snow would be an improvement. If they can get that, she's sure they'll manage to cope with whatever else. The rest of the story goes by Nukpana without comment, which doesn't mean she isn't listening, but she does seem rather focused on keeping her legs moving.
Luna mmms and nods slowly, still somewhat lost in the memories of an obviously better time, though with howling winds, deep snow and the sun setting somewhere behind the cloud cover it's hard to imagine a worse time. "And shelter we'll find," she replies optimistically. Where she gets that optimism is hard to say, what with her bones creaking like they are, and her breath ragged as she more or less leads the way through the frozen marsh. She keeps to where the snow is a little higher, hoping to find paths of solid ground rather than frozen water. Somewhere out in the far horizon there's a large, dark shape, vaguely reminiscent of a forest, though it could as well be an illusion caused by the waning light. It's still far away, though.
Nukpana's optimism stems from the fact that if what she hopes for isn't true, then they're probably not going to make it through the winter. At least, not all of them, and she's unwilling to entertain that notion until she has to. And so when she sees the dark shape ahead she fixates on it and uses that to further motivate her forward, even though she can't be sure yet that it's what it seems to be. Focused as she is, she lapses into silence, enjoying the sound of other hooves behind her. She's a bit bitter that their efforts to get other mares to come meant that they're only leaving the stubborn behind now, though perhaps even these few will make the whole thing worth it.
Luna remains silent for a few blissful minutes, lost in thought and memories. Every now and then a smile plays across her features at a particularly happy memory, and when that happens she seems to get a small burst of strength, but those are becoming fewer and farther between. She's nearing her limit, if she hasn't already passed it, and that forest is still quite a distance away. "So anyway," she suddenly says. "The herd's next stallion wasn't really much of a keeper. Rude, uncouth, always with just one thing on his mind. Really that stereotype of stallions you tell your fillies to stay far away from, and you dread your colts growing up to be." She sighs, shaking her head. "Fortunately he grew bored with us that same fall and slipped away in the cover of the night. Was a strange winter, a herd full of pregnant mares with no stallion to protect them from hungry predators." Yet here she is, alive and ... okay, alive but not too well.
See, now this is a story that Nukpana can more identify with. She's never been fortunate enough to meet a truly decent stallion - or at least, not for long enough for him to prove as much. She wouldn't know what to do with one if she ran into one. That accounts for much of her personality, actually. But rather than working up the energy to say something biting against such stallions, Nukpana instead works up the energy to worry about Luna. The old mare is probably one of the weaker members of the herd, and even Nukpana is a little too tired. Glancing ahead at the darkness she's hoping are trees, she grits her teeth and there's a sudden burst of confidence in her stride despite her weariness. They're going to make it there, she has to believe that.
Luna may be weak, but she's also stubborn. She's survived so many dangers in her life, there's no way the -weather- is going to do her in. There's just no way. "Finding a herd of nothing but mares and foals that following spring, that must've been quite a catch for our next stallion. Sunrise." There's an odd twitch in the corner of her mouth as she says his name, as if she's not sure just how to react to the memories of this particular stallion. As such she doesn't continue the story right away, instead following half a body length between the bay mare who's now the one leading the scattered group. It's getting dark fast, making it hard to tell whether the forest is just a minute or an hour away. Then she stumbles, taking a few quick steps to avoid falling face first in the snow - she has no doubt that if she falls here she's not going to get back up, so it's quite fortunate that she doesn't. "Almost there," she nickers tiredly, then raises her voice loud enough to hopefully reach the followers. "We're almost there." She tries her best to conceal her limping as she continues onward.
Focused as she is on keeping her own feet moving, Nukpana hardly notices when Luna starts to lag behind since she's mainly keeping track of everyone else by whether or not she keeps hearing about the same number of hoofsteps. That is, until she hears a stumble and forces herself to look back. Squinting at the wind blowing snow right into her eyes, she can't see much besides the fact that everyone is still on their feet. Reassured by that, she nevertheless slows until Luna can catch back up, only not stopping so that she doesn't have to resist the temptation to stay stopped. "If you need to lean on me, you can," she offers quietly, barely making her voice heard above the wind as she turns back to face the forest. It's no small offer given how tired she is, but if Luna needs that help she's determined to get there regardless.
Luna just shakes her head when she catches up, offering a faint smile. "I'm fine," she lies. Her leg hurts now, though she thankfully didn't break it. It's just sore, which is no wonder considering how long she's been walking now. It's really somewhat of a miracle that she's made it this far, a fact she's well aware of. No, she's not going to be the one to drain energy belonging to a much younger mare, and a pregnant one at that. "Where was I," she nickers, falling into place next to the bay mare. "Oh yes, Sunrise." Again that little twitch at his name. "All in all a good stallion, he was. A bit single-minded in spring, I suppose, but he was good for the herd. Very protective of us, good with the foals - even those that weren't his that first year. I dare say you can learn a lot about a stallion from how he treats another stallion's foals." She sighs a bit, shaking off the snow that's accumulating along her neck. The wind's died down a bit, it seems, but now it's so dark you could probably walk straight into a tree without seeing it. "Of course, he was also the one who ..." She hesitates, then gives a tired nod. "Who ran me from the herd." And then silence, no further explanation given. She just walks, dragging herself forward one hoof at a time.
Nukpana is well aware that Luna's lying, now. But if Luna has enough pride not to accept her offer, she won't insist. She does feel that she has a little energy to spare, but she's too willing to hold onto it herself to try and be persuasive. Instead she forces her attention onto Luna's continued story, still happy to have that distraction. In fact, this time she even makes a comment, "At least he didn't claim to love you, impregnate you, and then call you worthless (to use a more polite term) before he drove you out of the herd." Obviously now Nukpana is talking about herself; while she does identify somewhat with some of Luna's life experience, she's actually a little jealous that Luna's as old as she is and doesn't seem to have had anything happen that's quite as bad as what she's had to deal with already.
Luna nods slowly to that. "No, he didn't," she says softly. "But he did other things that are just as bad." She perks her ears a bit, trying to get a feel for the others behind them. She suspects Athena and Zeladoni are somewhere back there, and if that's the case ... "I'll tell you later, when we've recovered from this," she says. "We can find a nice bed of soft grass near a trickling stream and share all our stories about how we've been wronged, cursing and damning the bad stallions off to the two-leggers." There's a touch of hate to her tone as she finishes that little rant, something very uncommon to her. Whatever this Sunrise stallion did to her when he drove her off, it can't have been good.
Despite that assurance, Nukpana is sure that her lot in life has been worse, but that argument will have to wait for another time. What she just described is merely the worst single event of her life and not the only one by far. Still, sharing such things is a form of bonding, she supposes, and they might as well bond if they're to lead the herd together. Besides, she half hopes that Luna /can/ convince her that she's had it worse - it'd make her feel a lot better. Maybe. "Oh, that sounds nice," she comments, though really she'd settle for pretty much anywhere where she can get away from this wind and there's some hope in finding food.
- Wildwood Acre -
Luna looks up, though it's becoming hard for to even do that much. Fortunately walking is an almost automatic procedure, as long as you don't give it too much thought. "I think we're almost there," she says, but then again, didn't she say something similar half an hour ago? Still, there is that sense of a change in scenery, even in this darkness. The white of the snow changes not more than a couple of minutes ahead, growing very suddenly darker as if concealed by something. Trees, hopefully. "Guess we made it." She smiles, obviously very tired, and her limp is starting to show despite her best efforts. She's gonna be fighting that for days, at best, so this forest really had better offer shelter, food, and a distinct lack of predators. It had better.
Walking mostly on automatic herself, Nukpana is slow to recognize that they've arrived until Luna says so. "So we are," she says as she raises her head to look around. Trees! Her pace quickens for a brief moment until she finds a spot where the wind can't reach her very well. Taking just a moment to sigh in relief, she stops, exhausted. She doesn't lay down for fear of freezing or being unable to get up again, but now they can finally have a proper rest out of the wind; the whole point of this journey. She's hard pressed to even consider any other thought.
Luna finds her own spot not far away, her rump close against the trunk of a large tree. It breaks the wind, making it flow past her, and she heaves a sigh of relief. She'd had her doubts whether they'd get this far, but apparently they did. The other mares slowly find shelter of their own, scattered out as needed, and in the dark it's just not possible to see who's there and who isn't. Not much to do about it now; she'll know in the morning. She really should eat, she knows that, but she's an old mare and tired now. Slowly she drifts off to a dreamless sleep, standing with head low in the first reprieve from the cold wind she's had in weeks.
(OOC Note: Okay, if you are in the Dorado herd, you have a few choices: You can be one of the unnamed mares mentioned throughout this log who followed Luna and Nukpana, or you could have been left behind with the rest of the herd and have to catch up later. The former is recommended for anyone who is around now or who is able to be active again sooner rather than later. The latter is recommended for anyone who returns after a longer absence. But it's entirely up to you - we'll accept any plausible explanation you'd like to give.)
Characters:
Luna - Female Horse
Nukpana - Female Horse
Settings:
Wind-Blown Lowlands, Merging Tributary, Swampy Marsh, and Wildwood Acre
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- Wind-Blown Lowlands -
Luna is cold. Freezing cold. Her winter coat offers only some protection against the strong wind that's started blowing in from the southeast, and the snow of course isn't helping. Easily up to half a foot deep in most places it's hard to see where there's safe footing, and there's simply no place to lay down and not freeze immediately. When she moves her joints give worryingly loud creaks and pops, and she's starting to look a bit on the skinny side from only just finding enough grass under the heavy snow. Right now she's trying to rest, hindquarters against the wind and head low where her body can shield it from some of the cold.
Only a short distance away is Nukpana, who is doing a little better, but not by much. She'd started this season extremely prepared weight-wise, but between her pregnancy and the severity of the season those reserves are been used up very quickly. But unlike the older mare her head is lifted up, head braving the wind in order to get some sense about how the weather might change. Apparently she senses nothing good because when she lowers it she says, "It's getting worse," her voice loud to make sure it'll carry to Luna.
Luna simply nods, careful not to get her head higher than her body. She's knee deep in the snow, her tail pushed far between her legs by the cold wind, and she's shivering; a last, desperate attempt by her body to stay warm. "I know," she nickers back with a sad tone of voice. She turns her head as far to the side as she dares to look against the wind, but she's immediately blinded by the drifting snow. Yuck. She sighs and takes up her defensive pose again. "Yeah, it's gonna get a lot worse than this. A day or two, probably."
Inclined to agree, Nukpana is quick to take stock of the situation. Things are already starting to get pretty dire; whenever the proper time to leave was, they've probably past it trying to convince the other mares to come with them. And now they've been pounded by this storm for what seems like forever and it only looks to be getting worse. At this rate she's sure there'll be mares freezing where they stand. Quickly making up her mind, she takes a couple steps towards Luna, "We're leaving. Now. It'll be death for us otherwise." Glancing towards the other mares present, not really caring who they are and unable to easily see them through the snow and wind anyways she says even louder, "And any of you with any sense are welcome to come with us, but we're going with or without you." Turning back to Luna, she adds, "Come on," as she steps to the old mare's windward side, taking the brunt of it away from her. Nukpana sure seems to have some strength left, and she's going to use it to save her life and Luna's if it kills her. Which is pretty bizarre logic, but she's not in the best of moods.
Luna looks confused for a moment, but she's really too exhausted mentally to voice much of a protest. She knows it's the right thing to do, but she's not very keen on leaving behind any of the herd. Of course, the lack of food has already spread the herd out so much it'd be hard to find everyone on a warm summer day, let alone in this weather. With just a bit of hesitation she drags herself out of the snow, putting one hoof ahead of another as she starts walking. The snow is so deep she can't even lift her hooves over it, instead cutting a jagged line through the whiteness. "Any idea where?" she nickers, ear turned to Nukpana. Not that it matters; the wind really only allows one direction, as walking against it would be certain suicide. North is only, what, moderately assured suicide?
"Anywhere but here," is all that Nukpana can say. She came from the east, but land that way was no better than this for quite some ways. But, she figures if they go one way long enough, they're bound to stumble into some sort of shelter. And north is a good choice because she's heard of it being forested there, even if the wind wasn't making that the easy choice. Trees sound nice, especially big, wind-blocking trees. Matching Luna's pace, if not hurrying it a bit by being half a step ahead, Nukpana's pleased to hear the faint sound of other hoofsteps behind them. Good! Seems that the weather's talked some sense into at least some of the others, but she's not inclined to turn her head into the wind in order to see exactly which ones. Unless the sound of those or Luna's hoofsteps falter, she's unwilling to do much more than keep her own feet moving. The movement should warm them all up a little, at least.
Luna creaks and pops, definitely showing her age in this weather. That she can even walk at all is a surprise, even to herself, but for now she's happy to use it to set an example. If SHE can brave the snow and wind, there's no excuse for anyone else not to. For the first time in the almost two years it's been she's happy that she's unable to get pregnant; if there was a foal in her now, she probably wouldn't have the strength to keep herself alive. And as that thought hits her, she casts a cautious glance to Nukpana and her belly. Hopefully they'll find shelter quickly, maybe even better chances of food. "There's a river somewhere ahead of us," she nickers after a while. "I hope it's frozen, there's no way we'll survive swimming across."
As has been the status quo for Nukpana, she spares little thought for the foal within her if there's anything at all pressing to think about, even though it'll be born all too soon. But even if she did, there'd be little she could do differently; it'll survive all this exertion or it will not, but either way she has to do it if either of them have any chance. Even by helping the others she helps herself and her foal; alone they'll be far more vulnerable even if they do survive this. But above and beyond even all of that Nukpana just plain isn't going to allow herself to get killed by this and that's that. To Luna's comment, she actually manages a smile and there's humor in her tone when she says, "Well, hopefully the weather's bad enough to freeze the river then." Actually she highly suspects that it will be. It's been plenty cold for far too long.
Luna gives a small nod. Somewhere behind her she can hear others dragging through the snow, but with the wind gaining in force she doesn't dare look back. Every little bit of energy and heat is precious, and she has no doubt she'll end up using every last reserve she has just to get through this. Looking ahead it's hard to tell where she is, any features of the landscape hidden under a uniform white blanket. Trees, large rocks - those she can see here and there, but she has no idea exactly how far it is to the river. For all she knows, she's walking on ice right now. Couldn't tell the difference from the frozen ground, anyway.
- Merging Tributary - (So we skipped a room, sue us!)
If Luna can't tell what they're walking on, the younger Nukpana can't tell either. Well, except if the river isn't /quite/ frozen enough because she's liable to fall in first since she's the largest mare in the herd. But she tries not to think about that; instead she tries to keep her focus on the hoofsteps to her side and behind so that she'll notice if any of them stop. But eventually they come to a section where the snow doesn't seem so deep and it makes her nervous, though she tries to keep that feeling to herself. The ground or ice seems solid enough here, and she's willing to take that at face value as long as it stays that way.
Luna has walked on ice many times, but even then it's hard for her to tell whether it's ice or ground under the snow. That is, until the tell-tale creaking reaches her ears. "We're at the river," she says softly. She's tired, all but exhausted. How long have they been walking now? Hours? For all her body is telling her, it's been weeks. "Careful steps, as long as the noise isn't all that loud it's safe." She presses on, her body aching from both the cold and the exertion. Here the wind isn't quite as bad as it was a way back, but it's still bad, and she can only barely make out the shadows of trees somewhere in the distance. Reach those and they're past the river. Hell, reach those and there might be time to rest. One can always hope.
At the first creak Nukpana pauses, but hearing Luna's words she's quick to decide that she's not going to let fear get the best of her now. Not in front of an audience, anyway. Quick to resume her walking, Nukpana steps as lightly as a mare her size can, listening to the creaks. She's never walked on ice before, having come from a herd who had the good sense not to and this being her first winter away from them. Er, exactly how loud is too loud, she wants to ask, but since Luna doesn't seem too bothered Nukpana forces herself to remain calm since the older mare seems to know what she's doing. She looks eagerly ahead for the other side of the river, if only to get away from it, though she could use some rest too and the trees look like a good windbreak. Not the long-term shelter they want, but already they seem to nearing something better than what they left behind.
Luna walks just as cautiously, though she doesn't really have the strength to tip-toe across the frozen surface like she ought to. Her ears are perked, listening for every little sound that would indicate the ice is about to break, but so far it seems fine. Muffled by the snow, of course, but she knows a properly frozen lake or river can take quite some abuse. Just gotta spread out, not walk too close, and they'll be fine. Of course, the fact that it's frozen solid only confirms one thing in her head: Leaving was way overdue.
With the river here as wide as it is, it takes quite some time and far too many creaks for Nukpana to finally reach an area where the creaking seems to end completely. Breathing a sigh of relief, Nukpana is finally able to focus more of her attention on the trees on this side of the riverbank. Nodding towards them, she says, "We should be able to rest with some protection there, but we can't stop for too long; if the weather gets much worse they won't be enough and we certainly wouldn't want to be out walking in it." Really she's sure that she could keep going if it was just her, but Luna's looking a bit too tired and who knows what shape the others are in? Yes, a rest is needed, so long as it's a short one.
Luna just nods. Behind her there's still a bit of creaking on the ice, and she estimates there's only two or three others behind them. Not a lot, but it'll have to do. Hopefully the rest will wizen up and follow later. She can't afford to worry about them now, though, as she staggers towards the trees. Her breath is growing ragged, puffing out white clouds from her nostrils every few seconds. She stubbornly refuses to falter here, so close to shelter, and it's probably by sheer force of will alone that she drags herself up the bank, across the last open stretch, and into the limited shelter of trees. There aren't many of them, and they don't offer a warm, dry ground to sleep on, but that's okay. They break the wind, and she can finally stop to catch her breath. "Just a few minutes," she pants, eyes half closed. "Not just the wind. If we let ourselves get cold now, we won't be able to move on." Still, they've come a surprisingly long way, that's gotta count for something, even though they obviously need to continue north. The wind's picking up again, carrying more and more snow with it, and these few trees just aren't enough.
Breathing hard herself, Nukpana is only vaguely aware of the other mares, because she's already using the windbreak to her advantage to look at what's ahead without getting wind in her eyes. But windbreak or no, there's still enough snow being blown around that it's difficult to see very far. But it's just enough to say, "Marshland. I think. It's hard to tell with the snow." It's a difficult enough prospect that she too closes her eyes so she doesn't have to look at it. Nevertheless, she's ready to move on, just as soon as their shaky breaths become more steady. Resting here for too long is just as suicidal as staying where they were.
Luna is surprisingly the first to start moving again. She's not gonna argue about there being marshland ahead, as that seems quite probable given the low altitude, and maybe it'll actually be possible to find some good grazing before it gets dark. Already the light is waning, so it's just a matter of time. "Let's go," she calls. Like Nukpana she doesn't look back even now; she knows she'll just be saddened by how few are there. She heard fewer hooves on the ice than would account for those in the herd she cared most about, and that's enough for her. So she takes lead, out of the small cluster of trees and into the marsh. Hopefully the wind will either die down as night falls, or there'll be more and better shelter further ahead.
The second that Luna gives the word, Nukpana's eyes flick back open and she starts forward. If the old mare thinks she's rested long enough, then it's been plenty of time for her, marsh or no marsh. The promised forest can't be too far ahead now, and what's a forest without plenty of trees to keep the wind and the worst of the weather away? With this in mind she pushes herself forward, bringing herself alongside Luna. "Surely we're almost there," she says with conviction, though she doesn't really no the distance between the river and the forest, only that she'd heard it's not far and they've walked pretty far already.
- Swampy Marsh -
Luna vaguely recalls being around these parts many years ago, but the memory is hazy at best, and it was early fall then. "There should be a forest somewhere ahead," she says slowly, trying to get her bearings - but white on white in white, it's just impossible. The river is behind her on her right, though, so she suspects she's got the rough direction right. "Two, maybe three hours. It'll be dark when we find it, that's for certain." She pushes forward, hooves dragging a bit more in the snow than when they first set out. She only stopped long enough to catch her breath, not to actually rest, and this has been her longest journey since she was chased from her former herd. "Pretty sure I was here when I was expecting my sixth foal." Which would make it about twelve years prior, give or take. "Was a filly. Ayesha, I named her. Sweet little thing." Of course, Nukpana could probably care less, but she's just trying to keep her mind off the cold. "A young stallion succeeded in luring off a few of the youngest mares in the herd that summer. Our stallion was a bit of a brute, and this youngster had charm, so I gave it a chance and followed." She smiles a bit at the memory. "We came through here in the fall, I believe."
Sure enough, Nukpana doesn't really care, but she does appreciate the opportunity to get her mind off of their current situation even if it's to hear a story she finds incredibly stupid. But she lacks the energy to explain all the things that Luna should have done differently if she'd had any sense, and instead comments, "I wish it was fall now." Though she's putting on a good front, the extra burden of carrying a foal that's so close to being born is really starting to drain on her, as young and strong as she is. With a solid rest she'll be fine, but now she's bordering on not fine. You'd never know it to look at her though because her pace remains steady and her eyes are alert, even though she's breathing just a bit too heavily.
Luna mmms and nods. "Golden leaves on the trees, birds singing ... Sun." She gives an amused chuckle to herself. "Anyway, we went through a decently sized forest on our way. We were just heading towards the sunrise, trying to find a good place to settle a herd. The forest did have food and shelter, but there was something ..." She trails off, trying to remember why they hadn't stayed there. She'd almost certainly remember it if it'd been something dangerous, but that particular memory eludes. "Anyway, over the years he grew into quite a fine stallion, though he never quite lost that coltish charm. Always polite to his mares, always attentive to us. Was a real shame when he lost a challenge for leadership after a few years." Her voice is sounding surprisingly clear as she tells the story, as if remembering that time lets her pull on the strength she had then. "Did have four foals by him, though. Three colts, one filly." Say what you will, but even with her faltering memory she obviously remembers every last one of her foals.
"Shelter is what we need, food if we can manage it. Whatever else is there we'll just have to face," Nukpana comments. Sure the whole herd is becoming much too thin, much too fast, but shelter is the priority for Nukpana since they could easily freeze to death before they starve. Still, she's hoping they find /anything/ better than digging through deep snow for grass - even less deep snow would be an improvement. If they can get that, she's sure they'll manage to cope with whatever else. The rest of the story goes by Nukpana without comment, which doesn't mean she isn't listening, but she does seem rather focused on keeping her legs moving.
Luna mmms and nods slowly, still somewhat lost in the memories of an obviously better time, though with howling winds, deep snow and the sun setting somewhere behind the cloud cover it's hard to imagine a worse time. "And shelter we'll find," she replies optimistically. Where she gets that optimism is hard to say, what with her bones creaking like they are, and her breath ragged as she more or less leads the way through the frozen marsh. She keeps to where the snow is a little higher, hoping to find paths of solid ground rather than frozen water. Somewhere out in the far horizon there's a large, dark shape, vaguely reminiscent of a forest, though it could as well be an illusion caused by the waning light. It's still far away, though.
Nukpana's optimism stems from the fact that if what she hopes for isn't true, then they're probably not going to make it through the winter. At least, not all of them, and she's unwilling to entertain that notion until she has to. And so when she sees the dark shape ahead she fixates on it and uses that to further motivate her forward, even though she can't be sure yet that it's what it seems to be. Focused as she is, she lapses into silence, enjoying the sound of other hooves behind her. She's a bit bitter that their efforts to get other mares to come meant that they're only leaving the stubborn behind now, though perhaps even these few will make the whole thing worth it.
Luna remains silent for a few blissful minutes, lost in thought and memories. Every now and then a smile plays across her features at a particularly happy memory, and when that happens she seems to get a small burst of strength, but those are becoming fewer and farther between. She's nearing her limit, if she hasn't already passed it, and that forest is still quite a distance away. "So anyway," she suddenly says. "The herd's next stallion wasn't really much of a keeper. Rude, uncouth, always with just one thing on his mind. Really that stereotype of stallions you tell your fillies to stay far away from, and you dread your colts growing up to be." She sighs, shaking her head. "Fortunately he grew bored with us that same fall and slipped away in the cover of the night. Was a strange winter, a herd full of pregnant mares with no stallion to protect them from hungry predators." Yet here she is, alive and ... okay, alive but not too well.
See, now this is a story that Nukpana can more identify with. She's never been fortunate enough to meet a truly decent stallion - or at least, not for long enough for him to prove as much. She wouldn't know what to do with one if she ran into one. That accounts for much of her personality, actually. But rather than working up the energy to say something biting against such stallions, Nukpana instead works up the energy to worry about Luna. The old mare is probably one of the weaker members of the herd, and even Nukpana is a little too tired. Glancing ahead at the darkness she's hoping are trees, she grits her teeth and there's a sudden burst of confidence in her stride despite her weariness. They're going to make it there, she has to believe that.
Luna may be weak, but she's also stubborn. She's survived so many dangers in her life, there's no way the -weather- is going to do her in. There's just no way. "Finding a herd of nothing but mares and foals that following spring, that must've been quite a catch for our next stallion. Sunrise." There's an odd twitch in the corner of her mouth as she says his name, as if she's not sure just how to react to the memories of this particular stallion. As such she doesn't continue the story right away, instead following half a body length between the bay mare who's now the one leading the scattered group. It's getting dark fast, making it hard to tell whether the forest is just a minute or an hour away. Then she stumbles, taking a few quick steps to avoid falling face first in the snow - she has no doubt that if she falls here she's not going to get back up, so it's quite fortunate that she doesn't. "Almost there," she nickers tiredly, then raises her voice loud enough to hopefully reach the followers. "We're almost there." She tries her best to conceal her limping as she continues onward.
Focused as she is on keeping her own feet moving, Nukpana hardly notices when Luna starts to lag behind since she's mainly keeping track of everyone else by whether or not she keeps hearing about the same number of hoofsteps. That is, until she hears a stumble and forces herself to look back. Squinting at the wind blowing snow right into her eyes, she can't see much besides the fact that everyone is still on their feet. Reassured by that, she nevertheless slows until Luna can catch back up, only not stopping so that she doesn't have to resist the temptation to stay stopped. "If you need to lean on me, you can," she offers quietly, barely making her voice heard above the wind as she turns back to face the forest. It's no small offer given how tired she is, but if Luna needs that help she's determined to get there regardless.
Luna just shakes her head when she catches up, offering a faint smile. "I'm fine," she lies. Her leg hurts now, though she thankfully didn't break it. It's just sore, which is no wonder considering how long she's been walking now. It's really somewhat of a miracle that she's made it this far, a fact she's well aware of. No, she's not going to be the one to drain energy belonging to a much younger mare, and a pregnant one at that. "Where was I," she nickers, falling into place next to the bay mare. "Oh yes, Sunrise." Again that little twitch at his name. "All in all a good stallion, he was. A bit single-minded in spring, I suppose, but he was good for the herd. Very protective of us, good with the foals - even those that weren't his that first year. I dare say you can learn a lot about a stallion from how he treats another stallion's foals." She sighs a bit, shaking off the snow that's accumulating along her neck. The wind's died down a bit, it seems, but now it's so dark you could probably walk straight into a tree without seeing it. "Of course, he was also the one who ..." She hesitates, then gives a tired nod. "Who ran me from the herd." And then silence, no further explanation given. She just walks, dragging herself forward one hoof at a time.
Nukpana is well aware that Luna's lying, now. But if Luna has enough pride not to accept her offer, she won't insist. She does feel that she has a little energy to spare, but she's too willing to hold onto it herself to try and be persuasive. Instead she forces her attention onto Luna's continued story, still happy to have that distraction. In fact, this time she even makes a comment, "At least he didn't claim to love you, impregnate you, and then call you worthless (to use a more polite term) before he drove you out of the herd." Obviously now Nukpana is talking about herself; while she does identify somewhat with some of Luna's life experience, she's actually a little jealous that Luna's as old as she is and doesn't seem to have had anything happen that's quite as bad as what she's had to deal with already.
Luna nods slowly to that. "No, he didn't," she says softly. "But he did other things that are just as bad." She perks her ears a bit, trying to get a feel for the others behind them. She suspects Athena and Zeladoni are somewhere back there, and if that's the case ... "I'll tell you later, when we've recovered from this," she says. "We can find a nice bed of soft grass near a trickling stream and share all our stories about how we've been wronged, cursing and damning the bad stallions off to the two-leggers." There's a touch of hate to her tone as she finishes that little rant, something very uncommon to her. Whatever this Sunrise stallion did to her when he drove her off, it can't have been good.
Despite that assurance, Nukpana is sure that her lot in life has been worse, but that argument will have to wait for another time. What she just described is merely the worst single event of her life and not the only one by far. Still, sharing such things is a form of bonding, she supposes, and they might as well bond if they're to lead the herd together. Besides, she half hopes that Luna /can/ convince her that she's had it worse - it'd make her feel a lot better. Maybe. "Oh, that sounds nice," she comments, though really she'd settle for pretty much anywhere where she can get away from this wind and there's some hope in finding food.
- Wildwood Acre -
Luna looks up, though it's becoming hard for to even do that much. Fortunately walking is an almost automatic procedure, as long as you don't give it too much thought. "I think we're almost there," she says, but then again, didn't she say something similar half an hour ago? Still, there is that sense of a change in scenery, even in this darkness. The white of the snow changes not more than a couple of minutes ahead, growing very suddenly darker as if concealed by something. Trees, hopefully. "Guess we made it." She smiles, obviously very tired, and her limp is starting to show despite her best efforts. She's gonna be fighting that for days, at best, so this forest really had better offer shelter, food, and a distinct lack of predators. It had better.
Walking mostly on automatic herself, Nukpana is slow to recognize that they've arrived until Luna says so. "So we are," she says as she raises her head to look around. Trees! Her pace quickens for a brief moment until she finds a spot where the wind can't reach her very well. Taking just a moment to sigh in relief, she stops, exhausted. She doesn't lay down for fear of freezing or being unable to get up again, but now they can finally have a proper rest out of the wind; the whole point of this journey. She's hard pressed to even consider any other thought.
Luna finds her own spot not far away, her rump close against the trunk of a large tree. It breaks the wind, making it flow past her, and she heaves a sigh of relief. She'd had her doubts whether they'd get this far, but apparently they did. The other mares slowly find shelter of their own, scattered out as needed, and in the dark it's just not possible to see who's there and who isn't. Not much to do about it now; she'll know in the morning. She really should eat, she knows that, but she's an old mare and tired now. Slowly she drifts off to a dreamless sleep, standing with head low in the first reprieve from the cold wind she's had in weeks.
(OOC Note: Okay, if you are in the Dorado herd, you have a few choices: You can be one of the unnamed mares mentioned throughout this log who followed Luna and Nukpana, or you could have been left behind with the rest of the herd and have to catch up later. The former is recommended for anyone who is around now or who is able to be active again sooner rather than later. The latter is recommended for anyone who returns after a longer absence. But it's entirely up to you - we'll accept any plausible explanation you'd like to give.)