SSOWeek - June 2015

Happiness

Rebecca sat on the beach near the Golden Hills stable, looking out over the waves she had crossed earlier that day. There was a lot on her mind, what with Dark Core and Justin, and it hadn't all set in yet. She had removed Midnightwarrior's tack, and he had happily bucked a few times and rolled in the sand. But after that he had stood next to her, watching the ocean with her. Most evenings when they were done for the day he would wander off a ways to graze, but tonight he stuck close to her side.

The dark stallion occasionally breathed on her, blowing her hair as though to make sure she was still there before lifting his head again.

Out there, somewhere, was the Dark Core Drill platform that Mr Sands and the others were on. She couldn't quite believe that this was all real, it seemed more like a dream or a movie than reality. Rebecca couldn't remember a time in her life when she was as scared as she had been when she had to watch Midnightwarrior get loaded up and taken away. She was sure that she was going to be caught by one of the goons and unceremoniously thrown off the platform and into the ocean to her death. But somehow she had managed to not get caught and escape with her life, and her horse, as well as valuable information that the druids would need to hear. For now it seemed that Justin was not going to want to be rescued, as it had sounded like he had his memories tampered with. She wondered how she was supposed to fight an enemy that could manipulate minds, who knew what else Dark Core could do.

Midnightwarrior gave her a nudge, not happy that she seemed lost in thought. She idly scratched his nose until he gave her a harder shove, completely knocking her over.

"Hey! What was that for?" she asked from the ground. The horse pawed the sand and nosed her face and stomach, making her giggle. He knew she was upset, but more importantly he had been worried about her too. He hadn't liked being locked away from her, unable to help her, and he knew his human felt guilt that she had used him as bait. But now he was able to make her laugh and shove him away. The horse snorted and pranced into the water before bouncing back to her in a trot. She rolled her eyes but tossed her shoes and socks away. He tucked in one leg and extended the other so that she did not need anything to help her mount him, and with her on his back he stood and walked into the water.

"Alright, what do you want to do?" her horse answered by cantering through the waves along the beach, taking her from the ocean side of the side to the eastern side that faced the cliffs. To her surprise he galloped and left into the water, pleased that his human was laughing on his back, her fingers tightly gripping his mane as he swam to a small beach. The girl recognized the beach, but not because she had been on it before. She had seen it from the stable island and had wondered how to get over to it, it wasn't connected to the shore near the bridge to Cape West Fishing Village. But the faithful steed did not stop at the beach, he continued carrying her up a path up the side of the cliff until he stopped at the top. It was a grassy location, flat with a few trees and the remains of a camp fire stop. There was also a large cave, and she wondered if there were any supplies in there, like flint to start a fire.

With Midnightwarrior stopped, she slid off of him, looking out over the ocean from the higher vantage point. She couldn't help but smile, the sun was almost set and the stars were just starting to come out. To her left she could see the fishing village, lights slowly coming on in windows as the sunlight faded. She rubbed her horse's neck and gave him a kiss before she sat down once more.

"Thanks for bringing me here," she told him. He snorted in response, looking up at the sky and the appearing stars before he began to graze. Rebecca cracked a smile at that before she leaned back, resting in the grass and looking up at the stars. She would deal with Dark Core and the approaching end of the world tomorrow, for now she just wanted to enjoy this.