Rainforest Cliffs
07-18-2017, 07:51 PM
It was becoming normal. Well, as normal as such a strange life can be. A life with cautious excitement, lost friends, and don’t forget the flaming feathers upon his back. So it was bound to happen that when things had become so normal, they would get un-normal. He didn’t mean to, he’d been ever so cautious, but it was only a matter of time.
Of course it was also raining again. Da had said it must never stop. Still, the colt was tired of being pinned up. He’d walked the forest alone before, granted, not when he was supposed to, and come back to tell the tale. Surely they could let him go out now? In daylight? It had won him that golden ticket of permission. Besides he was getting older. He came midway up Ma’s shoulder now, and his horns had grown long enough to comfortably sit their ivory and gold cuffs. So he was feeling quite a little bit of pride as he wandered the woods to seek someone or something new.
Problem was, something found him. In a darker section, where the leaves and vines kept out most of the rain…something stirred. The lofty youthful trot haltly slows as his seas look more carefully around him. A shiver in the bushes to his right startles him, causing him to jump sideways. Yet he doesn’t run. Still he feels even more the ever watching eyes above, and his head lowers slightly. “Hello?” Nothing answered but the usual hum of the rain and insects. His harks begin to fall back, and he steps back. Quick! Something grabs his hind! The colt squeals, kicking out with the other and retching himself from its grasp. He tears through the forest, leaping over limb and dodging bushes.
That’s how it happened. He hadn’t meant to, but it’s hard to be careful when you think you’re running for your life. Sounds behind him push him on and he races harder till there’s nothing but a bush before and thoughtlessly, he leaps through it. Legs scramble to kick through, that’s when he feels the heat. Hot and pressing on his back. No! He kicks harder through the shrub till he is finally spit out on the other side, rolling himself on the root. “Ah!” He hisses as his own flames catch him as well, singing his coat on his shoulder. But the bush…The foal drags himself up, spinning to look behind.
It glows like a touch, slow but growing the white flames begin to consume the bush. Whatever was following him wouldn’t make it through there. But the comfort is short lived. The colt glances up, but the one time it was needed, the rain barely falls, stopped by the canopy. With a limp from his burned shoulder, the pale colt backs up, his eyes wide with realization…he can’t fix this. His heart starts to race in his chest. He knew he wasn’t supposed to really cuss…but setting the whole forest on fire seemed a good enough reason… “Fuck.”
@Requiem
Of course it was also raining again. Da had said it must never stop. Still, the colt was tired of being pinned up. He’d walked the forest alone before, granted, not when he was supposed to, and come back to tell the tale. Surely they could let him go out now? In daylight? It had won him that golden ticket of permission. Besides he was getting older. He came midway up Ma’s shoulder now, and his horns had grown long enough to comfortably sit their ivory and gold cuffs. So he was feeling quite a little bit of pride as he wandered the woods to seek someone or something new.
Problem was, something found him. In a darker section, where the leaves and vines kept out most of the rain…something stirred. The lofty youthful trot haltly slows as his seas look more carefully around him. A shiver in the bushes to his right startles him, causing him to jump sideways. Yet he doesn’t run. Still he feels even more the ever watching eyes above, and his head lowers slightly. “Hello?” Nothing answered but the usual hum of the rain and insects. His harks begin to fall back, and he steps back. Quick! Something grabs his hind! The colt squeals, kicking out with the other and retching himself from its grasp. He tears through the forest, leaping over limb and dodging bushes.
That’s how it happened. He hadn’t meant to, but it’s hard to be careful when you think you’re running for your life. Sounds behind him push him on and he races harder till there’s nothing but a bush before and thoughtlessly, he leaps through it. Legs scramble to kick through, that’s when he feels the heat. Hot and pressing on his back. No! He kicks harder through the shrub till he is finally spit out on the other side, rolling himself on the root. “Ah!” He hisses as his own flames catch him as well, singing his coat on his shoulder. But the bush…The foal drags himself up, spinning to look behind.
It glows like a touch, slow but growing the white flames begin to consume the bush. Whatever was following him wouldn’t make it through there. But the comfort is short lived. The colt glances up, but the one time it was needed, the rain barely falls, stopped by the canopy. With a limp from his burned shoulder, the pale colt backs up, his eyes wide with realization…he can’t fix this. His heart starts to race in his chest. He knew he wasn’t supposed to really cuss…but setting the whole forest on fire seemed a good enough reason… “Fuck.”
@Requiem
