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Post by cloudfall on Jul 25, 2011 4:24:49 GMT -5
Cloudfall followed Harrier down below the trees and, following her instructions, kept hovering a little above the ground. Not that he needed to be told, he always hovered when he was nervous and this defiantly counted as nerve racking.
Cloud started exploring around their landing site almost immediately, searching for his lost pony friend. But looking for green fur in a forest wasn't easy. He turned and headed in Harrier's direction when she called out and started towards the river. He nodded as he followed, it made sense after all.
He chew on his lip as they pushed towards the sound of water. Would they find something? 'Oh please, let her be in one piece...' he silently worried. '...and if she's not, please don't let the creature still be around.'
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Post by kindjalsonnet on Jul 25, 2011 15:25:57 GMT -5
Finding a few hoofprints, Harrier picked herself up off the ground and followed their direction, back to hovering for now. Towards the sound of the water, she noted, nodding grimly. If she was in the same position she would've headed for the water as well, although possibly for different reasons. Being able to see clearly would be important in a place as filled with predators as the Everfree Forest, and there were less aquatic beasts who ate ponies, by virtue of living in the water where there weren't any ponies to eat.
After a short 'flight,' she finally came to a clearing where she could see the riverbed... and her frown turned into a grimace. It had been days, so the worst of the carnage had been carried off or cleaned up... but the ground was still stained a rusty brown from blood. "Hold a moment, lads," she called back, wanting to make sure she wasn't missing anything before she broke the bad news.
She circled the area, looking for more signs of their missing pegasus. The blood could have been another creature's, after all, although she highly doubted it. After a moment, she found what she was looking for; Pegasus feathers. Not even coverts, at least not all of them; she picked up one of the smaller primaries, looking at it, before sighing. Stowing it away between her lute's strings for safe-keeping, she landed on the ground and used the force to spring her into the air quickly.
"Meet me high above the canopy, lads. We have some talking we have t' get through, and I'd rather not be ambushed while we're doing it," she said, flying as high as she dared without becoming a giant target for anything with a pair of wings. It had looked like the lass they were looking for was ambushed on the ground, so for now she'd risk the skies for the sake of not running into the same thing that had gotten the other pegasus.
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Post by cyrustrinity on Jul 26, 2011 1:18:59 GMT -5
Trinity took off again, still searching the ground for Wildfire, once he had gotten himself to the tree tops he then just followed Harrier. "So what did you find?" He asked as he continued to fly up to a 'safer' height. He was hoping that Harrier had found evidence that might prove that she was alive...but this scenario wasn't very likely to be. He still wondered about cloud. Hoping through all this mess he would be ok with whatever answered that they unraveled.
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Post by cloudfall on Jul 26, 2011 1:26:23 GMT -5
Cloudfall had stopped when Harrier told them to wait, but it didn't last long as he noticed the odd colour of the ground, a stain that lead towards the water. He had started to follow it when Harrier called out to them again and took toward towards the treetops. Hesitating for a moment, he looked towards the river and the stained ground before launching himself upwards as well.
Once rejoined with the other two at their new height, he turned to Harrier, "What is it? Did you find something? A sign of Wildfire?" he asked quickly with mixed emotions. A sign of Wild could very easily be both good or bad....
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Post by kindjalsonnet on Jul 26, 2011 1:39:03 GMT -5
Harrier sighed, trying to figure out how best to phrase the bad news. Normally she was pretty good at picking the right words for a situation, but... there really was no best way to say this. "Well, I've found some signs," she began. "There was some sort of struggle, and somethin' got hurt. I didn't see any other hoofprints... She could've flown away, but..." She turned back and plucked the feather out from between the lute strings, and passed it to Cloudfall. "Last I checked, ye couldn't fly without yer primaries. She's probably dead."
She shook her head. "Sorry for your luck. If ye want, we can give her a nice funeral here. I know a few songs," she offered half-heartedly, nodding at her lute.
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Post by cyrustrinity on Jul 26, 2011 1:49:11 GMT -5
Trinity turned away when Harrier showed the feather. He started thinking what next? What is there to do if Wildfire really is dead then what will cloud do. Trinity defiantly didn't want him to do something stupid, and the group of ponies weren't really in a 'safe' place to have a mental break down. "Cloud why don't we just go back home, and relax hmm? Wildfire isn't here, which means she could still be alive..." He really hated throwing around false hope but what else could he do to help his friend.
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Post by cloudfall on Jul 26, 2011 2:16:14 GMT -5
The world seemed to go quiet as the feather was passed to Cloudfall, who took it in his hooves. He stared at it for a moment, eyes wide but iris' small. A few of Harrier's words got through to him and echoed in his mind. 'Struggle'...'Couldn't fly'... 'Dead'. Wildfire was dead. That stain on the dirt he saw was probably blood then, her blood. Something ate her and it was all his fault. If he had just--"No."
He shook his head, trying to clear his mind of the horrible thoughts that were forming. "No...no no no...." He dropped the feather and darted back down towards the river, "Nononono!" He pulled up just before hitting the dirt and started to search around, "No, she has to be alive. This is not my fault. I didn't do anything wrong, I was just going to let her cool off, then talk to her in the morning." he rambled he hovered along the river side next to the blood marks. "Everything was going to be fine. She just needed a few moments alone. She wouldn't have, couldn't have, just--"
Then he froze, his eyes locked on some brush not far from the water. A green spot that didn't match the rest of the forest caught his eye. Slowly, he made his way over to the bush and, with a hoof, pushed the leaves back. Instantly, he recoiled away from the bush, the leaves snapped back to cover the remains he found. "No..." he muttered as his wings faulted and he fell the short distance to the ground and just sat in the dirt in shock. Wildfire was dead.
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Post by kindjalsonnet on Jul 26, 2011 2:45:40 GMT -5
Harrier sighed again, flying over and patting Cloudfall on the back. "What'd ye find?" she asked first, waiting for him to answer. When he didn't after a few seconds, she shook her head. "I know it hurts, lad, but you have t' look forward. I'm sure she'd have wanted it." She paused again for a moment, before getting out her lute. "I'm going t' sing ye a song, lad. Consider it a last farewell to your friend, if ye like." Tuning the instrument rather quickly, she strummed out a chord and began to sing in an airy alto. "The wind doth blow today, my love, And a few small drops of rain; I never had but one true-love, In cold grave she was lain.
"I’ll do as much for my true-love As any young colt may; I’ll sit and mourn all at her grave For a twelvemonth and a day.’
The twelvemonth and a day being up, The dead began to speak: ‘Oh who sits weeping on my grave, And will not let me sleep?’
‘’Tis I, my love, sits on your grave, And will not let you sleep; For I crave one kiss of your clay-cold lips, And that is all I seek.’
‘You crave one kiss of my clay-cold lips; But my breath smells earthy strong; If you have one kiss of my clay-cold lips, Your time will not be long.
‘’Tis down in yonder garden green, Love, where we used to walk, The finest flower that ere was seen Is withered to a stalk.
‘The stalk is withered dry, my love, So will our hearts decay; So make yourself content, my love, Till God calls you away.’ She didn't have the best voice, but it was good enough for the folk songs she knew, and generally people appreciated it. She relaxed, putting away her instrument and getting up. "Come on, lad. It's not safe here; we have t' go."
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Post by cyrustrinity on Jul 26, 2011 3:05:37 GMT -5
Trinity started to shed tears of his own. Seeing his friend go into shock and Harrier's heartfelt song broke him down. He snapped back to the task at hand as he shook his head and stopped his tears. He flew down to Cloudfall and tapped him with his hoof. "Lets go...there isn't anything we can do..." he said with a small sigh. He searched around for anything that could attack them. "Umm Cloudfall can we leave please...Not to ruin the moment but its safer if we weren't here." He flew back up to Harrier. "Thanks for the song Harrier." He said as he hung his head in disappointment over the loss of Wildfire.
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Post by cloudfall on Jul 26, 2011 3:16:03 GMT -5
Cloudfall snapped back to reality once the song finished and Trinity tapped him. He nodded and wiped his eyes with the back of his hoof. Shaking a little, he got back onto his hooves and hopped into the air. Taking a second to look back at the bush before catching up with Harrier and Trinity, and passing them as he flew up and above the trees once more. He didn't speak, but made it clear that he didn't want to be here anymore.
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Post by kindjalsonnet on Jul 26, 2011 8:18:22 GMT -5
As unfortunate as the ending of this journey had been, Harrier was glad to be headed out of the forest again. Full of dangers, full of chances, full of memories... Never a place to stay, especially not for something like this. When she got back to a safe place she'd make sure to light a candle for the pegasus who had disappeared...
She shook her head, focusing. Not out of danger yet, and she still had a job to do. She focused on making sure that they remained as safe as they had been for the way here. It was a wonder nothing had come searching for ponies.
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Post by cyrustrinity on Jul 27, 2011 3:37:15 GMT -5
It would be a quiet fly home. Or that's what trinity expected, he was silent as he occasionally glanced at the other two ponies from time to time. He hated the silence. But it was a chance for him to think, he was going to keep an eye put for Cloudfall, and make sure that he will be ok.
But for now silence.
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