shelter from the storm

[fORTE]

The sky had been cloudy for days on end, but now those clouds were dark gray rather than white. Brisk wind whistled through tree branches, gusting hard enough to double over some of the more exposed ones. Pinecones were ripped from the branches and flew like missiles every which way, as it did with the flurries of fine snow that had been rain at a lower altitude. The storm had reached the Wildflower Meadow territory.

So had its leader. The silver Andalusian stallion traveled at a fast walk, keeping near his two new mares as he led them up a steep slope, the wind tearing at his forelock until he could hardly see. He turned back frequently to be sure the mares were still with him. “We’re nearly there,” he shouted at them reassuringly, trying to see them through the wind and snow and darkness.

Above the trio loomed a huge gray cliff, and as they reached its base it threw them into deeper shadow while not offering any protection from the elements. Cathedral paused, looking first one way, south, then north, trying to figure out which way it was to shelter. He had never had to find it in such a storm before. His gut pulled him north and he set off again, this time at a trot, hugging the vertical base of the cliff, scanning it for the dark mouth of the cave he had been using for shelter on more desperate nights such as this. He almost missed it as he passed; luckily the wind howling past the entrance caught his attention and he stuck his head inside to make sure it was the same one he had been using.

It was warmer inside, being sheltered from the wind and snow. It was a deep cave but not wide, being several meters deep but only three or so wide. The entrance was smaller; a horse of average height had to duck its head in order to get into it. He had figured initially that mares could use it to give birth in and the weakest herd members would shelter inside during the winter. His herd was not yet so big, however, that all of them could not fit inside comfortably enough, and he was pleased. The stallion withdrew his head and whinnied to the mares, “over here,” and stood waiting for them to investigate. He was relieved that he had been able to find the cave in the storm, and it had to impress, at least somewhat, Bella and Nabilah.

[Kailolu]

Bella

Bella had her head down most of the way. The wind was biting fiercely at her coat, which had not fully grown out. Her legs were numb and cold, but she pressed on. She wasn’t exactly worried about freezing right now, more so then to make sure she didn’t slip and break a leg on the slightly slippery ground. The weather didn’t take kindly to the horses, and the wind gusts had proven Mother Nature’s point. Winter snow was days, if not hours away. She glanced up every so often, seeing Cathedral power through the wind, guiding them to safety. A voice ripped through the howling wind, and Bella lifted her head, her black mane whipping angrily at her neck. They were almost there, and Bella let a sigh of relief escape her lips. Bella glanced back at Nabilah, feeling sorry for the smaller mare. Bella wasn’t much bigger, but still, she imagined the Arabian was having at least a little trouble with the cold.

Bella looked ahead to Cathedral, but her eyes traveled past him. There was a towering cliff that looked threatening enough to drop heavy boulders upon the three if it wished. Thank goodness rocks didn’t have minds of their own. One second Bella was walking, struggling not to be pushed by the wind, the next she was pushing herself to trot and keep up with the silvery stallion. He obviously knew where to go, and he was trying to get there quickly by the looks of it. Blood ran quickly through her veins as Bella trotted slightly faster to stay closer to Cathedral. The wind, being just air, was blinding enough, and she wouldn’t want to get lost in this kind of weather. Then again, how could she get lost when there was barely one trail?

Suddenly, Cathedral vanished. Bella stopped, and blinked quickly. He was there a moment ago, what had happened? Then came his deep reassuring voice and Bella looked to her left, seeing him standing in a cave. She wasted no time getting over to him, and she lowered her head slightly to step in side. Instinctively, the first thing she did was shake her body, feeling as though snow had been clinging to her pelt. The next thing she did was turn and readjust, trying to use as little room as possible. She didn’t want to end up crowding Cathedral or Nabilah. The black mare shook her head after finding a comfortable, less space taking, standing position. It was warmer in here, and after being in the chilly ice driven wind, this felt ideal. She looked at Cathedral, her head dipping slightly in the same simple respect she had given him when they met. “Thank you, Cathedral.” She said softly. The thanks were to him for getting the mares out of the cold, and taking them into his home in the first place. Bella was grateful for all of the things he had done for them.

[SpotLover]

Nabilah trotted into the Vista Cliff lands behind the two other horses. Once Bella stopped she stopped, walking up over to Cathedral reassuringly, the storm was getting worse, and she wanted to stay close to the others to insure she was safe. Cath must know his lands, and if there was any safe shelter to reside in until the storm was over. "Cath, is there any part of the land that is covered where the storm will not affect us?" she asked, in hopes that they wouldn't have to fight out the storm, some storms could last days on end, and many horses would lose their lives.

[fORTE]

The stallion shivered as the wind beat and lashed at his hide; his shaggy winter coat had not yet reached its full potential. He dared not lower his head to better shield it from the wind lest the mares think less of him; instead he kept his head at a relaxed height and watched as Bella entered the cave. He stood before the entrance, watching her to make sure she got settled, then nodded to her as she thanked him. "My pleasure," he replied, making sure to be heard over the wind. Again Cath withdrew his head from the cave and looked around for Nabilah. He pricked his ears and listened hard over the wind as she spoke. "Of course miss," he answered, "there is a cave right there, big enough for all three of us." He nodded toward the yawning mouth of the cavity and stood aside so that she could enter, hoping she would hurry so that he could get out of the wind as well

While he waited for Nabilah to settle in with Bella in the cave he looked around the area around the cave. It was hard to see very far with the snow and darkness, which made him jumpy. He had known wolves to sometimes wander this far up the mountain, and the snow was their element more than it was the horses'. If there were indeed wolves out there, he doubted they would hesitate to attack three cold, travel-weary horses. He would have to be attentive if they were all to survive the night.

[Kailolu]

Bella

Bella watched as Cathedral and Nabilah lingered in the cold. She knew they wouldn't stand there long, out of fear of getting harshly beaten by the wind and snow. With her dark brown eyes closing, Bella curved her head in, her chin touching her chest gently. The howling wind wasn't as bad as the cold. Now that she stood still, the chilled air dug feircly into her thin winter pelt. Bella had days, if not weeks until her short fur grew longer to keep her warm. Until then, she'd have to deal with the chills.

Her forelock was whipping around and was biting at her forehead. She took a step back, letting the cave take the burden of the wind. By morning, the land would be covered with a thick blanket of white. Bella pranced joyously in her mind, smiling inwardly at the thought.

[SpotLover]

Nabliah stepped over to beside Bella, trying to share her body warmth with the mare. She looked over at Cathedral, encouraging him to come over too, they could all huddle together until the weather had gotten better. She did not like this weather, it was extreamly cold and harsh. She put her head over Bella's back, trying to share more of her heat with the mare to keep her warm. If she was in a herd, she would do whatever she could to keep all of the members safe.

[fORTE]

Taking one last look over his shoulder at the shadowy trees, Cathedral ducked his head and entered the cave. It was already warming up inside with the breath and body heat of the mares, and he was grateful to get out of the cold finally. It had been a very long, satisfying few days that he had been away from this cave, and being back calmed him greatly.

The stallion took the spot as far into the cave as possible while still shielding the others from the cold drafts drifting into the cave, and closed his eyes, sleep coming almost immediately to him.

((Time skip-- next morning.))

Cathedral woke as a bright light suddenly shone into his eyes. The light of the newly-risen sun had become familiar to him since moving into the cave, and he had woken at sunrise every day for months. The stallion looked at the mares, then stepped out into the open, breathing the crisp air. It was colder than it had been the night before, but luckily the clouds and the storm had passed.

The stallion started down the hill, admiring the beauty of the trees in the morning sunlight. There wasn't much snow on the ground or on the trees, probably because all that wind the night before had blown it away, but the inch or two of fine powder was plenty for him. He had been through many winters, and it was always the least enjoyable season due to the scarcity of food. Cath was not eager for the dark depths of winter to enfold his home.

He walked down the hillside until he reached a patch of grass, still visible from the cave, that stood out of the snow, and started grazing peacefully.

[Kailolu]

Bella

Bella was breathing soundlessly, peacefully. Her eyes remained closed, yet she was stirring awake. The light was irritable against her eyelids, yet at the same time she welcomed it. The morning air was clean and sharp, sending almost a painful feeling through her nostrils and throat as she inhaled the coldness. At last, Bella opened her dark chocolate eyes. She blinked hard a few times, ridding herself of the leftover sleep that lingered. She was warm, not only by the sun, but by the mare that was dozing at her side. Bella couldn’t help but smile as she silently crept away, not wanting to wake the mare if she was still asleep. She stepped out of the cave, shaking first her head, then her body. It was cold, but it was even with the rising sun.

She knew Cathedral wasn’t in the cave. There wasn’t his reassuring presence when her eyes were closed. She wasn’t frantically worried, because somewhere inside of her, she knew Cathedral wouldn’t be the kind of stallion to leave a couple of mares alone while they slept. At least… that’s what she thought. And she had thought correct. He was down a small bank, grazing quietly by himself. The mare’s stomach clenched suddenly and released with a low, quiet growl. She started to walk down the hill, and stopped once to reach back and nip at an itch on her barrel. She turned and continued to walk, thinking about the weather. There wasn’t as much snow as she had thought there’d be. Possibly because the sun had began to melt it already, or, the storm had silenced itself early in the night. It didn’t bother her, but she would have liked to take a walk in the snow.

It was just moments later she was within a few meters of Cathedral, and she dipped her head respectfully to him, not even sure if he had seen. Bella was grateful Cathedral had taken them in and given them a place to stay. The mare was sure she wouldn’t have done so well by herself in that storm. She lowered her head and grazed quietly on the grass, swishing her tail a few times. The emerald blades were tasteful, and wet with the morning dew. Or was it just melted snow? Oh, who cared? It was food. Bella made sure she didn’t come too close to Cathedral. He had his own little area of grass, and she had hers. She didn’t want to intrude on his space. A few birds chirped together, the ones that decided to stay and wade out the storm. The quiet, almost inaudible hum or their wings bounced off Bella’s ear as she listened to the world around her. The sound of Cathedral eating, the sound of the birds chirping, and the faint sound of a source of water somewhere, was all calming to Bella. There were times where she would love to just come out in the morning, soak up the sun, and listen.

[SpotLover]

Nabilah awoke to the sound of Cathedral leaving the cave, she nickered to him quietly, trotting over to his side and nuzzling his withers as he grazed. She looked back at Bella, she had started to follow over to Cath like she did herself. She nickered to Bella, greeting the mare. It was nice to finally feel the warm sun against her pelt. She pawed against the ground, removing the snow from where she was soon to graze. The grass was slowly dying, and losing it's lush taste of summer.
She took a bite of the grass, chewing it slowly, savouring every bit of the "summer taste" that was left in the remaining bits of grass.

[fORTE]

Cathedral looked up as Nabilah trotted spiritedly out of the cave toward him, her tail high, and he smiled as she nuzzled him and he returned the gesture, swishing his tail playfully. She acted so young and energetic and carefree, like a yearling, and he liked it. He sometimes lamented the passing of his foalhood days when he was justified to act like he had no responsibilities, but there was no way to prevent oneself from maturing, no matter how much one might wish or hope. "Good morning, dear," he greeted her.

Then he turned to the black mare who was approaching more slowly. Bella was, from what he knew of his mares so far, the complete opposite of Nabilah. She was calm and level-headed, if a bit proper at times. He liked those traits too; she was lead-mare material, although he had no need of a lead mare just yet and he didn't want to alienate either of the mares by unnecessarily appointing the other a higher rank. He smiled more softly as Bella neared. "And good morning to you too, Bella," he dipped his head in greeting as well. "It's nice to see the sun again."

The stallion then returned to his grazing, letting his mind wander between the occasions when he looked up for a few seconds at a time to check for danger. He never sensed any predators, and after a while the sun began to make him sleepy again. He briefly studied the expressions of the mares, wondering if they were feeling the same thing. Just in case, he thought they all needed something to keep them awake. "How would you girls feel about doing a little exploring before the day ends? There is a lake on the other side of the territory that I haven't spent much time around. It's all a downhill journey and I myself would like to look around the banks and such."

[Kailolu]

Bella

Bella had smiled at Cathedrals greeting and dipped her head back before taking in the crisp morning air. He made his comment about the sun, and Bella couldn't have agreed more. This time of year the sun often left the horses with little day light, but she was thankful that Winter had almost ended. "Yes, I hope to see it much more often." She said warmly, taking a small step closer to Cathedral. She had dropped her head and was grazing silently, but looking around, exploring her surroundings with her bronze orbs. This seemed like a vast land, with beauties as well as dangers.

Cathedral spoke again, and Bella raised her head in response that she was listening. Her ears perked up at the mention of exploring. She smiled and nodded, "I think that's an excellent idea." She said, almost eagerly. Surely they would take just a little while longer to fill their bellies with their morning feed, but after that, Bella would enjoy a walk with Cathedral. Exploring the land, finding it's secrets and basking in the warm sun while it lasted. Bella looked down, tucking he head almost, and smiled again, she said voicelessly, This is going to be a good day.