[tinyember x HorseGirl private rp]

Gaia

Gaia's heart clenched as the little filly spoke, sympathy sneaking out of her cool demeanor. "Yes." she said. As badly as she felt for the filly, she didn't want to lie to her. She was already withholding the truth from her, about Gaia's parents and about how Cheyenne was going to slowly wither away. If Cheyenne asked a question, Gaia knew she would answer truthfully. The mare was about to suggest that they start heading back the way they came from when she started to feel... funny. She shifted her weight a little bit and turned her head to look at her side, white eyes wide. "You've got to be kidding me." she said aloud, mostly to herself. She was lactating. Gaia literally could not believe her eyes. This must've have been some sick universal karma being acted on her. As if the day could not have been any weirder. Extremely uncomfortable with this newfound discovery, Gaia moved her gaze over to the very hungry foal. It would be cruel to deprive her of this, even if it did make Gaia really uncomfortable. "You can eat but if you use teeth I'll kick you into next year." she said, ears tilted back and tail swishing in annoyance. Why me? she kept thinking to herself.

Cheyenne
     Cheyenne wasn't sure what to say after Gaia confirmed her herd was gone. She would never see her parent's again, and she didn't know what to think about it. The filly stood there silently for a moment. Chey looked back over at Gaia as she realized something was off with her. She took a small step back and lowered her head pinning her ears a bit at the threat. She hesitated as it felt weird for her to think of nursing from Gaia, and it made her feel a bit uncomfortable as well. This made Chey realize that something truly wasn't right with everything. The filly just knew she was lucky to come across Gaia despite everything. Although Cheyenne felt uncomfortable about nursing from Gaia she had no choice. She was starving and she knew it. She slowly stepped forward looking up at Gaia for a moment hesitantly before she nursed though she made sure the threat Gaia had made wouldn't come true. Her hunger slowly diminished as she nursed. The empty feeling she had was soon gone as she finished nursing taking a step back.

Gaia

Gaia caught herself basically holding her breath the entire time Chey nursed, body tense. It was not a feeling that she appreciated in the slightest. She was sure that if Chey was her own foal it wouldn't have been so uncomfortable. When the filly finally stepped away Gaia let out a breath and stepped away as well, her ears still tilted back in a clear display of discomfort. "Okay, we need to figure out what we're going to do." she said, looking out towards the horizon. "Something is wrong. I haven't seen a single animal all day." she said, mostly to herself but when she looked at Cheyenne she made sure to speak directly to her. "You need to tell me if you saw anything out of the ordinary the night you got separated from the herd." she said. Gaia was growing restless. The profound feeling of knowing something was wrong and not being able to pinpoint it was going to drive Gaia crazy. "Did you see anyone? Was anyone acting strange?" she asked, trying to not let panic seep into her voice. She was scared, but she didn't need to scare Chey as well.  

Cheyenne
      Cheyenne could tell Gaia was tense as she nursed, but she was a bit too herself. She looked up at Gaia listening to every word she said. The filly had no choice but to tell her now. Though she looked down as she started to speak, "I don't remember much from that night. I see flashes of what happened when I sleep, but I can't piece things together," she paused looking up at Gaia once again, "I saw glimpses of flames, but they came from a black figure. I can't tell what it is..." she said shivering a bit, but not from being cold. From the scared feeling she got whenever she saw those flashes. Chey was just too young for all of this, and as much as she wanted to be by her mother's side, she knew that it wasn't going to happen. Gaia was the only one she had now, and despite her getting scared by the mare at some points, she had to trust her. Although, Chey was starting to shed her foal coat as some spots of her coat had started to lighten in color. Though this was just minimal, but soon she would look drastically different. At that point, you could now at least tell that she would lighten such as a grey would.

Gaia 

Gaia listened to the filly, her white eyes focused on her the entire time she spoke. When she spoke of the flaming black figure, her heart dropped. Dad. Gaia, of course, had no relationship with the stallion who gave her life. He was cast out when Gaia was born. He had claimed her at the very moment she had opened her eyes. Of course, that didn't stop her herd from telling her stories about him. The black stallion who's mane and tail blazed when he cast spells. Of course. A spell. Gaia took a deep breath and stepped back, realization hitting her like a ton of bricks. She was stuck with Cheyenne. Whatever her father had done, he was the reason for this mess. Gaia couldn't control her expressions any longer. Her face contorted into a look of pain and she turned away from Cheyenne completely, ears flat against her skull. She began walking, not bothering to look over her shoulder to see if Cheyenne was following her. If the filly had any sense of self-preservation, she would.

Cheyenne
     Cheyenne looked at Gaia as she got a bit scared of her again seeing her reaction a bit before she turned around and started to walk away. The filly had stood there frozen a bit before she slowly started to follow her. Chey trailed behind her slowly keeping her ears pinned due to the fact she was a bit scared. The black filly said nothing as she followed unsure of where they were heading. She wasn't familiar with this place as she looked around in both directions. Soon later she just had to say something, "Where are we going..?" she asked looking up at Gaia still trailing behind her as everything was quiet. Too quiet for comfort. She knew that Gaia was keeping a lot of things from her at this point, but she was too scared to ask her. The filly had slowly started to realize that Gaia wasn't too fond of her, but she had no choice but to stay with her. She had to if she wanted to live. Even in this new world. One of which that only contained the two of them. 

Gaia

Gaia walked and walked and walked. Thoughts were milling around in her head at a million miles per hour and it was giving her the biggest migraine ever. The sun was lowering behind the trees and Gaia paid it no mind as she continued to walk. She also didn't pay any attention to Cheyenne's question. She walked well into the night and came to a halt in front of a beautiful willow tree. It swayed against the wind that blew by, it's long branches sweeping the Earth. Finally, Gaia turned to look at Cheyenne. "This is where I was born." she said, her unnatural white eyes staring at the filly. "I'm Gaia, born from Denali. My father was the shadow figure you saw the night you were separated from your family. I was cast out because he's my father." she said, sighing deeply. "I have a bad feeling he's the reason we're both here." she said, turning back to the willow tree. "There isn't a single living creature besides the two of us in this world."

Almost as if someone was listening to her, something swooped down from the branches. Gaia immediately flattened her ears and shielded Cheyenne with her body, her eyes immediately becoming menacing. The bird landed on the ground before them. It was a crow, black as the night, and it's only identifying feature were it's glowing orange eyes. Like flames. It cawed at her and smoke left it's beak as it did. "I'm on to you." Gaia practically growled.

And then she charged.

The bird flattened beneath her hooves, not making a noise as Gaia ended it's life. The green mare took a step back and looked down at what was supposed to be a carcass, but was met with the sight of ash and bones. Incinerated. "We're dealing with a very dangerous unicorn, Chey." 

Cheyenne
     The filly listened to Gaia as they approached a large yet beautiful willow tree. She had never seen anything like it before, but she loved it. Though she tried to keep her focus on Gaia and not the tree. She looked down for a moment before speaking, "So...we're..sisters..?" she asked Gaia tilting her head just a bit to the side. Cheyenne saw a black figure swoop underneath Gaia and land on the ground. A crow. Chey just watched the bird as it had been awhile since she saw one. Everything was just too quiet, and she missed hearing all the different birds sing their songs. She often fell asleep listening to them. Maybe that's why she was having trouble sleeping. The filly watched as Gaia killed it. At that moment, she wished she never saw that happen. It took a good moment for Cheyenne to look back up at Gaia and what was left of the dead bird. At that point she was clearly frightened. She was stuck in a different world due to a spell from a very dangerous unicorn? Why? Why did it have to be her here? She's just too young. Only a couple months old, and he's taken her away from her home, her family and giving her trauma. Now she wanted her mother more then ever before, but she was gone. Gaia was her sister, and she was the only family she had now even if the mare scared her sometimes.

Gaia

Gaia sighed and stepped away from the magical messenger bird, distain written all over her features. "Half-sisters, but yeah." she replied, turning back towards the willow tree and tilting her head to the sky. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath in. "His name is Aithion. Denali never spoke about him much to me but I've heard stories. Nobody could trust him and in turn, nobody could trust me." she said softly. "I don't know why he's doing this. He's never tried to make contact with me.. nobody has." she murmured, a brief look of sadness passing over her features. She spent the first year of her life as an outcast wishing for her mother. "The best that we can do is look out for one another while we're in here." she said, turning to look down at the frightened foal. Gaia hadn't been around many other horses, let alone foals, since she was a foal herself. She wasn't exactly sure how to get along with Cheyenne, but she sure as hell would try. It beat having to spend however long she was stuck here by herself. "We can sleep here for the night." she said softly, turning away from Cheyenne and back towards the tree where her life began.

Cheyenne
      Hearing Gaia confirm that they were sisters, well half sisters, Cheyenne felt a lot better. The filly thought her family was gone, but she was with the sister she never knew she had. Chey listened to Gaia words, not sure what to say as she walked over to her laying down beside her. Thing's were just getting started for the two of them, but things would get harsher for them at some points in time. In the meantime, Cheyenne just snuggled beside Gaia. She stayed up for awhile watching their surroundings before her eyes had started to grow heavy. The filly tried to stay up a bit longer, but she was defeated as she fell asleep only a few minutes later. Now that Cheyenne was aware of what was going on, she felt better. Gaia wasn't just a random mare she came across, and the filly had now trusted her. Chey slept soundly that night beside Gaia, and despite what was happening to the both of them, she was happier then when she was alone and struggling.

     Several month's past and Cheyenne was close to being a year old. Her coat was a mess as she was shedding her baby coat, as some spots were lighter in color then others. She was graying. Her pink highlights had started to take over more of her mane and tail, as pink markings had also started to appear on her coat. Chey looked completely different then when her life changed completely. As she got older, Cheyenne would wonder around a bit away from Gaia. Occasionally, they would come across a black animal with eyes that resembled fire. Aithion. They got rid of his 'messengers' whenever one would appear. As Chey got older, she grew less dependent of Gaia, but they still needed each other.

Gaia

Gaia stirred, her white eyes fluttering open. It had been many months trapped in the world her father had cultivated and unfortunately, the green paint mare had grown accustomed to living here. Part of getting cast out of her family at such a young age rendered her with the ability to make a home out of most places. Besides, she wasn't alone anymore. Cheyenne had grown on her over the past few months. As the filly matured, Gaia found her more tolerable. She was weaned, she was becoming more independent, and she had come out of her shell. They moved around a lot. Gaia was almost always plagued with anxiety about her and Cheyenne's fate, but she had become much better at hiding it from her younger sister. She was still working on accepting that Chey was her sister as well. It was tough. Being around the yearling was a constant reminder of Gaia's childhood pain but they had grown to like each other. 

Gaia shook off the dust that had settled over her skin and started walking towards the creek that she had settled by, chewing as she woke up. She dropped her head and drank from the creek, slowly looking around to see if she could spot Chey.

Cheyenne
     Cheyenne was already up and wandering around at the first crack of dawn. She was growing to be a bit adventurous, and was starting to become wary of her surroundings even they it was just the two of them. The yearling never knew when one of those 'messengers' were going to appear, or Aithion himself. He hadn't shown himself, but she had the feeling there would be a point of time he would. Chey still missed her parents, but she had grown up and didn't need them anymore. Although, she still hoped there would be a day they see each other. In the meantime, the yearling was around not too far from the creek Gaia had been at. She occasionally stopped to sniff flowers or examine new things she hadn't come across before. She forgot about how birds would sing throughout the day, and other little stuff. Being in this strange place with no other animals or bugs caused her forget about somethings concerning them. She walked over to Gaia once she saw her out in the distance lowering her head to get a quick drink from the creek. One thing Chey hadn't really know about was the magic she had. Usually she would start learning about her magic, but just like Gaia she was never given the chance.

Gaia

Gaia looked over and pricked her ears when she saw Chey approaching, her eyes softening slightly. The filly was in her 'messy' stage of life so her coat was definitely a sight to behold. "Hey, you." the green paint mare said, lifting her head from the creek. Water dribbled off of her lips as she did. "Find anything interesting?" she asked, stepping back from the creek and turning towards Chey. The yearling had grown substantially since they first met and it filled Gaia with a sense of pride. For a mare who hadn't been around another horse in four years, she had raised a pretty healthy filly. It had been a while since they had seen a black animal sent by Aithion, so Gaia was especially anxious anytime Chey went off on her own.   

Cheyenne
     Cheyenne got a quick drink on the opposite side of the creek from where Gaia was before looking up at her. "Sadly I have not. There still aren't any creatures besides us, or what your father had sent," she said with a sigh looking around. Things were still a bit hard for her, but as she matured, the more she learned that she had to keep going. Even if they never got out, Chey couldn't give up. Not after Gaia had saved her. "Things are just too quiet...sometimes I forget the music from when the birds would sing. Sometimes even some creatures." she said looking back at Gaia. This world was full of plant life, but they were the only living creatures. Despite this the world was alive and thriving. The messy Yearling wasn't paying much attention as she talked to Gaia as a venomous black snack had silently slithered underneath some vegetation sneaking it's way to Cheyenne. Although she had learned to more wary of her surroundings, she wasn't always. This world didn't have all the dangers like the real world had. 

     Chey had also never seen a snake in her life before, so she was a bit taken back by the sudden sharpness of pain on her lower rear right leg. She jerked her head back a bit to see what had caused the sudden pain, but she saw glimpses of a black creature slithering away underneath the vegetation. The yearling had picked up her leg that was bitten by the strange creature to see two red dots on her fetlock. Cheyenne looked back at Gaia unsure of what just happened.

Gaia

Gaia was only half listening to Cheyenne. She empathized with the filly, but she had already accepted that this was new life. She did however turn her head to see why Cheyenne had moved so quickly and was met with a sight that made her heart sink. "Don't move." she said quickly and turned towards the shrubbery where the tail of the snake disappeared into. She approached, her heartrate quickening and her ears pinned as she scanned the bushes. As she was going to turn back towards her bitten sister, she spotted the snake slithering away. Rearing back, she charged into the brush and pummeled the snake beneath her hooves. It hissed and spat, trying desperately to swivel back and bite her fetlocks. It's death was quick, and it disintegrated like so many other messengers Aithion had sent before. Quickly, Gaia returned to the filly and dropped her head to sniff her bite. She threw her head back, eyes wide, when she smelled the potent venom. "Get in the water and soak it." she said, her voice hushed with panic.