Driven by Fire

[Deleted]

I ran. I ran as hard and fast as my powerful legs could carry me. And that was FAST. The forest behind me exploded into a wall of bright red flames. My name meant fire...but that didn't mean I could not die by it! I pumped my legs to go faster, neck stretching out in front of me, lengthening my strides. My tail whipped back behind me, barely inches away from the angry line of fire.

The flames danced behind me, gaining as the wind swept it forward. I had to get away! I felt my heart break at the thought of my parents burning in agony as I fled to safety. Yet, I had no choice. They wanted me to live on...and I couldn't save them...

I had made it to higher ground. The ground was covered in rock, and the flames couldn't reach up to the mountain. They would die down in a few days, leaving nothing but ashes and dead trees behind. I slowed my frenzied pace and stopped, skidding on the solid, rock earth. For a moment, I stood there. My heart thudded angrily in my chest. What now? With a quiet nicker, I looked back over my shoulder. It was all gone...the flames had eaten everything in it's blazing path.

Looking forward again, I saw a narrow path leading through the mountain and over to the other side. I lowered my head in sadness. I couldn't stay here...with a snort, I put my feet into motion. It was almost dark by the time I reached the other side. My auds pricked in curiosity at the sound of water. I looked up. There was a lake here. Where was I, though?

The green feilds stretched on endlessly towards the mountains beyond. A desert lay to one side, and a forest at the other. I saw a range of cliffs as well. And nestled among the mountains was a stretch of cold glaiciers. This would be any horses dream world. But to me, it was much more. It was safe...it was welcoming...it could be home.

I trotted over to the clear, blue water and splashed into the shallow end. I took a big gulp. It was sweet! Getting out of the water, I galloped around, kicking up my heels in joy. Suddenly, I remembered my parents and halted. I lifted my face up to the quickly darkening sky and searched the stars. Where they looking down on me now? Did they see me?

I felt the tears well up and shook my head to stop them. I would not cry! No crying! I snorted, shaking my body and turning to find a place to sleep for the night. This place was beautiful...I found a quiet spot under the shade of a couple of oak trees. Sinking down to my knees I sighed. The day was over. My world had changed in one afternoon, and I was beat. I felt my eyes close, and soon, I had drifted into the world of dreams.

[Velnias]

Niahi

I was very light on my feet. My youngster's hooves, soft and delicate, trotted with a pretty gait, high-stepping and I might go far enough to say haughtily. Oh, no! Not that I was too proud for my own good, but growing up in my family, even amid the strife that tormented me just a little, I'd been taught by mother about dignity. Yes, she was my mentor, Mother. She'd taught me many things...how to be proud, how to respect, how to give honor when due, how to win well and quietly, how to be just, to be ambitious, to hold my own. But most of all, Mother Ali taught me how to keep a secret.

This place called the Abode was a huge, rather intimidating spit of territory. Once you wandered in, you were almost lost in its vast emptiness. In the lands of Tainted Paradise there was a certain air of quiet change, no matter where you were. Each land was so unique, so different from the last! The Abode was made of rolling valleys, endless gray skies, and distant mountains that never came any closer no matter how far you walked. I was growing tired of walking, and the dry shades of lifeless color ever-present in the Abode only added to my weariness of mind. Always a pale yellow-brown, gray in the sky, gray-lavendar on the faraway mountains, and a kind of crystalline gray in the water. No blues, or reds, or pinks or greens. Very depressing. But I pressed myself to go on. Shaking my head, my small velvet ears flapped just a little against my thin silk mane that the wind lifted ever precariously off my petite neck.

When the grass crested on top of a hill, I found myself climbing to its peak. Reaching the top, I looked down over...another plain. This one stretched on long and longer. There was a small cluster of trees though, somewhere about halfway to the end of the valley. There was also a small body of water. Smacking my lips, I realized that I was, in fact, a little thirsty. Drooping my head, I focused on the tiring descent, skidding just a little on loose rocks as I made my way down the slope of the step, jutting hill. I flicked my tail, rather bored with the vast aloneness nd emptiness of the place. It was all the same, still the same. I didn't like similarity. But, at least I'd found water. I stopped for a drink but was soon distracted. A faint, burning smell of ash entered my nostrils and I wrinkled my nose at the sharp odor. There was a faint plume of gray smoke just visible against the gray sky. And, suddenly, if it weren't for the odd sense of foreboding I felt seeing the smoke, I would have skipped about in joy and amusement. The mountains...they were just over the hill! Finally!

And then, I saw the stallion lying, resting under the old-looking oak trees. They looked as parched as I had felt a minute ago. I walked cautiously over, suddenly aware the stallion had the same burnt smell on his coat. He was asleep, but his sides breathed heavily. He'd been running, and I wondered if it was because of the fire? I stopped a few feet away my ears pricked with curiosity. I lowered my head, my soft breath blowing the stems of dry grass, my eyes wide and pale blue-purple, and sparkling. Hussshhhh.... I looked up. It was as though the trees had whispered to me, and the breeze played softly with my mane's locks. I blinked, and smiled, touching my nose to the tree's old, rough bark. It was surprisingly warm! But I was just glad my nature friends had found me again. He'sss sssleeeepingg...he'ss veryy ssaddd... I looked up into the tre's branches with vague thoughts swimming in my head. I looked back down at the stallion who, indeed, seemed very tired although he looked quite young. I didn't see anyone else around, so I dropped to my belly and crossed my forelegs, content to wait until he woke up.

Kyrie

The wind seemed to pick me up. I looked around, saw a lonely stream, a meadow of swaying dead grass that was taller than a hose's knees. I smelled fire that had just shortly died out, and smelled the two nearest scents to me. Inside the long oval of the grassy valley, there was a younger filly. I remembered her, but from long ago and in a faraway herd. The one she'd been with I'd found dead, in fact, long ago. There were new smells all over her. She was talking, or rather listening, to the tree and she lay down beside the heaving body of the stallion that had run from the fire. I'd watched him run here, from my hidden profile between the trees in the distance, and I heard the cries of anguish he'd left behind. The agony itself was written on his young face. I looked up into the sky, thanking it for bringing me here; I asked it now, to take me back. The monotone clouds drifted aimlessly over the sun as always. I pivoted my iridescent form and, silently, I cantered through the trees. Away again, the wind passing its cold breath through me as I cantered off on floating hooves.

[Deleted]

The wind shifted over me and I felt my mind coming out of it's sleep-induced state. Another presance was near me. It was another horse. I could smell them faintly...a mare? A young mare. My blue orbs opened and I lifted my head in curiosity. "Oh, where did you come from?" I asked quietly, curious and puzzled.

I gathered my feet under me and stood, shaking the dirt from my red coat and shifting on my legs, stretching them out. With a swish of my tail, I looked over at the young mare again. She didn't seem to be full grown yet, much as I was. We were both young souls in an old world....

OOC- Egawhd! Writers block...><

[Velnias]

Niahi

Bettterrrr nowwww........ The trees' whispers faded away from inside my head and I nodded thanks to them for making me aware. I smiled down at the young stallion, my eyes brimming with curiosity. I subdued the questions for now but I still couldn't help letting my gaze scan his face. The cold wing stung at my sides and surprised, I drew in a sharp breath. The summer air was supposed to be warm! I looked up into the sky and the clouds were still there, looming over me. And the mountains, right over the next set of hills, were standing against a misty gray sky.

"Tell me," my soft voice pleaded, "did you come from those mountains?" I motioned to the peaks that rose up from the horizon but were so close, so sudden. And huge. The plume of smoke still rose into the sky, though it was fainter. I didn't want him to be feeling pressured so I lowered my gaze, dropping it to the grass. I took up intrest in a tiny butterfly that alighted from a stalk of grass right in front of my nose. Butterflies, too, were usually so common but very rare in such a place as the dreary Abode. There was no sun here, and so the grasses dried out and died, and hardly any wind to blow away the dead grass and leaves, so they stayed. No new grass and leaves grew, usually. And no flowers. Nothing for the butterflies. So why did they come?

I'd always seen butterflies as a sign of hope. They always seemed to come to you at just the right moment. A sign of beauty in a lost, unstoppable world. Now I needed that ray of hope. I needed something to push me on! This stallion had no idea; or, maybe, he did. But I could at least, if the topic came up between us and I dearly hoped it wouldn't have to, explain that I wasn't some giddy airhead that took pity on him. For now, looking down into his eyes, I saw the mixture of many emotions I didn't dare try to decipher. I gave him a small, comforting smile. I had nothing to fear from him. So I went gainst Mother's deliberate in structions. I told him my name, in an attempt to get the conversation going. "Niahi," I said. "I am Niahi."

The birds overhead chirped me a song and I smiled up at them. I watched the stallion from my level angle where I lay in the long grasses. "These are my friends," I added softly, my words like lyrics to a song, and I looked around at the beautiful scene. Why was it beautiful? Everything has beauty, even if it's dead; you can still appreciate the legacy it left you. "The trees, the birds, the wind." My ears listened for their whispers, but there were none. Only peace and silence, and the looming feeling that something had happened atop that mountain. Something driven by fire.

[Deleted]

I stood quietly for a moment, taking in her question. The memory from behind those iced mountains sent a pain through my heart and I lowered my head a little, saddened. I didn't want to drop all of it upon this mare, but I answered her question. "Yes," I said, just as quietly. "I ran from a raging fire and crossed the mountains. What lies beyond them is actually worse than here." At least here, there was grass, even if most of it was dead. I saw that better lands lay ahead, but as for here, it was a barren feild. Still, it was better than in the torched land behind me.

The mare was focused on a pretty buterfly for a moment and I smiled. "Butterflies are a symbol of hope, no? They are so beautiful, but...their lives are so short." I shifted, glancing around to see if any more of the fluttering insects were around. As excpected, there were none. "So, in their short life," I continued. "They do as much as as they can and live life to its fullest."

When she spoke her name, I was a little surprised. So bold was she! I smiled and told her my own name. "I am called Falkon." I replied, bowing my head slightly in her direction.

"Your friends...?" I asked, looking around. "Does that mean you have a connection with nature? I myself have the power over fire, though...I really do not want it. I can't even control it." I sighed, swishing my tail and debating on wether or not I wanted to lie back down. I was restless and couldn't decide on what I wanted or anything really.

Notes
Muse- a little better
Words- uhhh...