A Hero of Darkness

Taken

Lightning took another small bite of the grass and sighed. Cloudy raised her head and looked at him curiously.

"Something wrong?" She asked gently, coming over to him.

"Uh- its nothing."

"Please. Lightning, I've known you for years. You haven't been the same since you came back from the forest. What's wrong?"

Lightning nervously studied a blade of grass. He hadn't told the rest of his herd about Zuri. He had hoped that she had been a dream, a hallucination, but no such luck. Four days later, she was still all he could think about.

"I can't tell you." Lightning muttered.

Cloudy looked sadly at him. "If that's what you want, then its fine. Don't tell me. I understand. There are- some things I never told you either."

In surprise, Lightning raised his head and looked at Cloudy, but she had already walked away. "What?" He said quietly to himself.

Barley looked up at Lightning, gave him a look that was almost pitying, then returned to his grazing. Even Scarlet snorted at Lightning.

Was there something they knew that he didn't?

What was going on?

Lightning shook his head, confused. Then he dipped his head down and continued to graze.

What was the point of living here? There was nothing to do. Everyone was bored. Maybe it was time to continue travelling again.

. . .

Zuri paced back and forth next to the pond. What to do. What to do.

"I cannot leave without him. But will he come?" She wondered aloud, scaring a nearby rabbit.

Ugh. This was so complicated. Sage didn't say the Darkness would be so- stubborn.

"Why can't he just come with me?"

The rabbit looked at her. It's face seemed to say, its your problem, not mine. Now shut up.

Zuri groaned. "Seriously?"

. . .

"We're leaving." Lightning said.

The other horses looked at him in surprise. Even Scarlet, who kept saying she wanted to go, looked confused.

"Everyone's bored. There's no point staying here if we're all biting at each other."

"Mostly just you and Scarlet." Barley pointed out under his breath.

"Whatever. Let's just go."

"Alright, alright."

The small herd left the meadow and continued on. Travelling. To where?

No one knew.

"What's that?" Scarlet asked, bounding in front of the herd.

Lightning followed her. "Oh, wow!"

The herd had been moving for a few days. They had been pretty quiet, sleeping when night fell and travelling as long as the sun was up.

"It's a stable!" Cloudy cried eagerly.

Barley came up from the rear, and looked on approvingly.

A large stable was spread out in front of them. Jumping courses, race courses, rolling green pastures. Some horses could be seen out, with people on their backs.

"Humans!" Scarlet whinnied, swishing her tangled tail, as if imagining it being brushed.

THe horses trotted to the stable. Lightning hung back, savoring the last few breaths of freedom. Would he really want to give it up?

A human walked out and yelped when he saw the new horses. Scarlet nickered eagerly, nosing the human. He laughed, and more humans came out. They made little cooing noises, reminding Lightning of the birds in the forest.

A few humans patted Lightning. He had expected the feeling to be comfortable, and welcoming, but it was like a cold slap from the past. The times before freedom.

A big human walked out and yelled at the others to be quiet. They hushed immediately, but a few still talked quietly amongst themselves, pointing at some of the horses. The big human, the one whom Lightning assumed was the stable owner, went to each horse and checked them over. He looked at the other humans and nodded. They squealed, ran back into the stable, and grabbed halters. Each halter was fitted onto a horse and the horse was lead into the stable.

Lightning wrinkled his nose at the familiar, yet foreign, scent of the halter. The human leading him was tall, with dark skin and long black hair a similar color to his coat. She patted Lightning's nose and spoke quietly to him in a language he didn't recognize.

Lightning was lead into a stall and groomed. The strokes were smooth and experienced. Every bit of mud and debris was cleaned from his pelt. His mane and tail was detangled and brushed.

Lightning hated it.

The feel of hands and brushes on his back. The smell of the tools and the feel of the hay underneath his hooves. Everything felt wrong. He should be free, not trapped in this box.

Lightning began to feel claustrophobic. The walls were closing in. The dust caught in his nose as he breathed heavily. The human, working silently on his shoulder, noticed nothing. Quickly, Lightning whipped his head to the side. There was an opening in the wall. He moved closer to it and put his nose near the hole. Fresh air filled his lungs, and Lightning sighed in relief.

The groom girl looked at him and gave a tinkling laugh. Sparrow songs from the forest filled Lightning's mind. He took another breath of the air, and relaxed. He could take this.

The groom continued her work. Lightning's mind was filled with the sights, smells, and feel of the forest.

Maybe I'll go back.

Maybe.