Hateya

The trailer door was swung open to reveal a Zorse mare. The men called her out, but she wouldn't budge. Not one bit. The men weren't about to give up, though. They went into the trailer and nearly dragged the poor equine out. She reared and bucked when she was in the corral, kicking a few of the men to the ground. She had not fear in her eyes, but fire. She was filled with rage.

Another man began calling to the crowd, describing the mare and calling out prices.

Hateya continued to run around, snapping at everyone who came near her. She was unbroken and happy to be that way. You cannot take the wilderness out of a horse, you can only train it to be your servant.

Zuzu

A small little zedonk foal was lead in by a rought looking man. He had a beard and bushy eye brows, his cowboy hat tilted back as he lifted his head to see the zorse in the pen. He had loved hyrbids and wished his farm could have been more successful, but alas, money was short and he had to sell.

Having sold all the rest, Zuzu was the last one and he wanted him to go to a good home. The timid foal stood behind him, gently nipping his pant leg and watching to oversized crowed. He would be the next to enter after the hybrid horse. He being a hybrid donky, would never grow to be the size the mare was now. Patiently he waited, fidgeting with wide eyes, though he never bolted from his master's side.

Firefly

Firefly was next in line. She held her head high and looked around. The crowd made her nervous and the bridle on her head was too tight. She whinnied and shook her mane, ready to go to a new home.

Firefly
Mare
Hokkaido Horse
Highest bidder takes her home

Doyle

The sound of of an auction caused a dark and very fine head to peer out of one of the staff houses of the Corral. The skin was as black as the evening sky, black as a dog, black as sin. Most people would have said that he was merely a very dark brown, but this was not the case with Doyle. Doyle was black. The only brown in him was in the eyes, but even that was a deep mahogany that was almost indistiguishable from the pupils. From the angle at which he stood, it appeared that he had close-clipped hair, but as he stepped forward out of his lodgings the tip of a crisp ankle-length braid swung to and fro behind him, almost like a living thing itself. A black t-shirt and black jeans completed the picture of darkness, making it impossible to tell where the clothes ended and the skin began. His step was smooth and silent, like darkness set afoot to wander among man.

The scythe, his customary weapon, was left in the house, his only armament the knife sheathed at his left hip. As he joined the crowd, standing close to the back, he drew the dagger nonchalantly, absently using the point to clean his fingernails as the mahogany eyes narrowed on the mare in the circle, weighing her with his glance. A fine mare, that...

Hateya & *Man*

Hateya continued to snap at the hands who refused to feed her. She reared up and came to the ground with great force, snorting and tossing her head.

"Can I get 750 for this beautiful mare?" The auctioneer said into the microphone.

Doyle*Fauve

One eyebrow climbed for the dark hairline, wheels spinning behind the brown eyes. Really? Is THAT all? He took an extra look at the mare, watching her ramp and fuss around, expert eyes watching her hooves as she moved, looking for some flaw in her. He caught a good glimpse of her teeth as she snapped at her handlers: she was fairly young, in the first blossom of young marehood. Probably just over her first heat. Finally, he was satisfied. Apparently, the man did not know exactly how much his pretty filly was worth.

His eyes flicked to one side, catching a familiar glimpse of dappled-bay coat watching partially concealed in the trees. Ah, my foolish Nerysu... he murmured.

Finally, he stepped forward through the crowd, his very prescence enough to make most of them shrink back, for many around here knew him. But his smile was benevolent and his voice soft as he re-sheathed the dagger, raising his voice. Aye, I'll give that. I'll give more, no less. I'll give a full thousand for your trouble if you'll lasso her down for me ready to pick up. I've something I must tend to for a moment's time. And he extended his hand to proffer the amount, all in cash and in bills no greater than $50. Unlike most of the money he dealt around here, this money was real.

As soon as the cash had been accepted, Doyle melted back into the crowd effortlessly, as though he had done it all his life. Coming out the other side of the crowd, out of Fauve's vision, he reached to his belt and removed the length of rope that always rode there. He turned toward the trees, footfalls making no sound as he came toward her.

Fauve had been watching the crowd, and Doyle had disappeared. It wasn't until a small snap sounded that she turned and spotted him. The Darkness! She reared, but with an expert flick of the wrist he swung the lasso up to encircle her neck, immediately drawing it tight and cutting off most of her air.

Fauve plunged and ramped, cursing herself for once again falling into this horrible man's clutches, but as she moved, she became unable to breathe. Finally, she stopped, standing completely still, and he loosened his grip, allowing her small breathing as he began to lead her forward. Several times she tried to fight, and each time the noose tightened, making her lightheaded and dizzy. By the time Doyle approached the corrals again, Fauve was trotting tamely beside him, but with a look of hatred in her eyes. For now, he was the master.

Hateya

A man took the money and examined it, then signaled to another. The other man held a rope, and, with great accuracy, threw it over Hateya's head. She struggled and didn't give up. But she was soon calmed by the lack of air in her lungs. Like Doyle, this man loosened the rope to let the mare breath again.

"Here's your horse, sir." Said the man holding the rope. He held his hand out to offer Doyle the end of the rope. "Be careful. She's a wild one!"

Hateya snapped at Doyle, then looked at Fauve. She had nothing to say. She was afraid that if she opened her mouth a dirty word would come out.

Al Sheratan

She was lurking in the brush as well, and had seen Fauve. Her Fauve! She had been about to rush forth to see her dappled bay friend, when suddenly she saw the darkness capture her. No....NO! Small thorns pinned back, and the stark white arabain rushed forth. She was worth a pretty penny herself, even if she had turned wild. She had been brought here from Egypt, and her small frame and abilty to hold water for massive amounts of time made her a great asset to racers. A few scars littered her body, but nothing that would make her beauty any less. Fauve! She called. She wasn't exactly a dangerous looking mare, standing at a mere 13.3 hands high and a pretty soft angel cloud coat. She looked like a creature that had been sent here from heaven, not one spit up from Hell.

Doyle*Fauve

Doyle looped Fauve's lead rope over the fence, tightening it down properly before he silently accepted the rope from the man, voice soft and certain. Fear not. My Nerysu here is no more tame than your mare, and you see how sweetly she walks with me.

He batted away Hateya's attempted bite with a forceful backhanded smack, tightening her lead to cut off her air. She WOULD learn respect, or at least fear of him. But he did no more. After all, there was no need for these men to know how cruel he could be if horses did not obey him.

Fauve stood completely still, almost defeated in tone as she was tied to the post. She tested it vaguely by rearing once, but as she suspected the knot held true, and she was trapped. So she stood silently, eyes on Hateya as the other mare tried to bite. Her voice came soft and hopeless with so many years under the thumb of Doyle. Don't bother, dear. The harder you fight, the worse things get with the Darkness. The longer you fight, the less you breathe. Better to wait until there is no rope to take your anger out on him.

Fauve

Fauve's ears perked at the so-familiar voice of her best and only friend, but the joy that had erupted at seeing her friend was immediately quelled with terror for her safety. She screamed over the rising wind. Sheratan, flee! Find Kiran, find Avi! Don't come alone, he'll get you! Hurry, before he sees you!

Hateya

Hateya pulled back with all her might, but the man was stronger. She bucked one last time to let out some more anger. She looked at Fauve. "Then as soon as this rope is off, I'm going to trample all over him!" She said. She was a wild equine and she believed she would always be wild.

Fauve

Fauve sighed, a sad smile forming. Hateya possessed the same spirit that she herself once had, and she knew that with such a temper the other mare would suffer much at Doyle's hands. She tried again, voice soft and trying to persuade. Unwise, my friend. Better to lull him, make him think you will do as he says, as he commands. If you constantly attack, he will always be on his guard, and as you have discovered he is quite capable of controlling us sometimes. No, wait, let him believe you sweet-hearted and submissive. Then, while he turns away, when he is foolish enough to believe you dominated... strike. Her eyes were hard, for she remembered her time with Doyle very well, and knew how to survive him.

Hateya

Hateya nodded, then looked at Doyle. Lull him... She thought. She scraped her hoof on the dirt and shifted her weight. "Where is he going to take me?" She asked, getting impatient. She made herself appear completely calm, but anger was building up inside of her.

Doyle*Fauve

As Hateya spoke, Doyle reshifted the rope in his grip, loosening the tightness of Hateya's throat as she seemed to calm. Ah, smart one, are ye? That said, he reached to unhitch Fauve from the post. With a gentle but firm tug on each lead rein, he began to lead them back towards his lodgings. As they approached, he led them around back.

Fauve's voice came, answering Hateya's question. To the pen, no doubt.

As they rounded the corner, "the pen" came into view. It was a nine foot high wooden slatted fence, built strong and thick enough to prevent it from being kicked down by a determined horse. Attached to the top and rising a full 6 feet above the wooden fence was a more common chain-link and barbed wire fence, attached to the wooden peices by thick, ropey chains over two inches thick. The posts that supported the chain link fence where buried six feet into the ground, so that even a tornado could not knock it over. The total height of the fence was fifteen feet, and the enclosure was about a half-acre square. A little small, but plenty big enough to house the two mares. At the back was a little lean-to that provided shelter from the elements, and several feeding and watering stations were placed around the perimeter, including one inside the shelter so that the horses would not have to venture out into the wet to eat on stormy days. Again, a bit small, but very nice and a comfortable place for the pair of mares to stay.

Doyle reached up the hand that held Fauve's rope and opened the gate leading the two mares inside. His touch was actually gentle and unforcing since both mares seemed to be behaving. But he was nobody's fool. As soon as both mares were inside, he stepped back outside the pen, ropes fisted in one hand. With the other hand, he closed and latched the gate, and again the latch was strong enough to prevent kicking it down. As soon as the latch slipped into place, he released the ropes. If the mares wanted them off, they would have to help each other. He wasn't going to give them a chance to attack.

He stepped up onto a platform next to one of the feeding stations and pressed several buttons on the console there. The spring mechanisms in the top of the feed-boxes were released, and fresh food and water flowed into each feeding station.

Satisfied with his work, Doyle spoke down to them. Well enough, Nerysu. Now what shall we call your new friend, eh? He screwed his face up in thought, and then finally a wicked grin split his face. Ahhh... Rozenwyn. Yes, our new friend shall be Rozenwyn. And he climbed down from the platform, disappearing back into his house.

Hateya

Hateya calmly obeyed the man, almost stopping when she saw the tall fences. How she hated those things. They held her back. Kept her from her home. She shook her mane, hating the feeling of the rope on her neck. She squealed when the feed-boxes released food into the troughs, but soon enough calmed down and walked to the food. She lowered her head and began eating. This wasn't the grass she was used to. She looked up at the evil man. Rozenwyn?! She thought, but she didn't say anything until fear and curiosity overwhelmed her. "What is he going to do to us?" She whispered.

Fauve

Fauve reached over to grasp the rope around Hateya's neck, lifting it over the other's head with a gentle touch. But Hateya's voice made her look the other in the eye, and her own vocals were soft. For now... he will do nothing. Not to you, at least. You will soon be glad that you listened to my advice. I have defied him for a long time, and he has reason to hate me. He will make my life a living hell whether I behave or not. But you... she smiled softly at Hateya. You still have a chance. You have behaved thus far. Continue to behave, and no harm will befall you. When he calls you, with the name Rozenwyn, come. When he asks things of you, obey. Lull him, friend, lull him. And when he believes you good, then you will be able to escape.

She shuddered, for she knew exactly what Doyle had headed to the house for. He hated her, oh how he did. He now intended to discipline her for escaping him.

Hateya

Hateya smiled when the rope was removed. She then gently pulled Fauve's rope off. "So I must act as if my soul was taken away?" She asked. "I think I can do all you tell me to do..." She dipped her head to drink the cool water. She would have to pretend she was a loyal slave, even though she was truly wild.

Fauve*Doyle

Fauve smiled at Hateya, voice a little happy for the first time in quite a while. Then perhaps you will be spared. I am Fauve.

But as soon as the smile crossed her face, a sharp voice hit the air. Nerysu! Come. The dappled-bay mare flinched her eyes shut. So, it had come already. She opened her eyes and spoke softly to Hateya. No matter what you see, no matter what you hear... stay here. If you interfere, you will become a participant.

NERYSU! COME! Doyle's voice was sharper this time, and angry. He gazed down on her from the platform, eyes hard and cold, but sparkling with the fires of his fury. Trying not to tremble, Fauve moved forth, stopping at the base of the fence and gazing up at him. Hateya's view would be partially blocked by the lean-to, but she could see enough, hear enough.

Doyle's evil grin smirked down at her, and he lifted a long, thick rope from the floor of the platform. This one was thicker than the one Hateya had just removed: it would have spanned the width of a man's hand. It was tied in noose-fashion, thick and wiry. This he swung over the fence to drop over her neck.

Fauve reared, trying to avoid it, but alas his aim was true. As soon as the cable encircled her neck, Doyle dropped all his weight into his feet, using all the strength of his back and arms to haul Fauve aloft until her hinds barely touched the loam. She whinnied sharply, but it was cut off as the rope began to cut into her throat. Satisfied, Doyle reached to tie his end of the rope to one of the base-poles of the platform so that Fauve would continue to be held high without his having to put forth effort.

That done, he reached down and pulled up a much more fearsome weapon: an elongated cat-o'-nine-tails. With leather straps almost six feet long, it was plenty long enough to reach Fauve now that she was held aloft. Each of the nine leather straps was tipped with either a thick shard of glass or a sliver of metal, all the better to scrape across Nerysu's flesh.

Grinned and stroking the weapon as though it were a pet, he spoke down to Fauve, who was panting, trying desperately to get enough air into her lungs. There now, didn't I tell you Nerysu? I warned you that one day I'd make you pay for this scar. And he fingered a white mark that ran from his left temple to the base of his jaw. I always keep my promises, Nerysu.

And with that he raised the cat-o'-nine-tails and brought it down across Fauve's back again and again, making sure to drag it back across the flesh before pulling up to release it and starting again. Fauve's gasping morphed to a pained hiss before she ran out of air and had to return to concentrating on getting oxygen. So much pain, and unable even to scream... blood ran down her sides as she prayed that Hateya would stay out of this.

Hateya

Hateya listened to Fauve's words and nodded, though she was clearly scared. She looked up at Doyle. Oh, how she wanted to be rid of him. But she now knew that strength alone was not the way. She watched her new friend walk towards the man. But she kept her mouth shut. She could only stand still, and not show any hint that she was still a wild creature. But she squealed when the rope was put over Fauve's neck. She stepped back a bit, waiting.

Fauve*Doyle

The beating went on for several minutes, until Fauve was awash in crimson and barely concious. But finally, finally... Doyle lowered the whip, and reached his long-poled scythe down to cut the rope away from Fauve's neck.

Unable to support herself any longer, Fauve flopped in a heap, panting and fighting the darkness that was trying to claim her vision.

A dark laugh escaped Doyle as he retrieved all his bloodied supplies, voice coming cold. There now... perhaps that will teach you to behave, my pretty... And he dismounted the platform and walked away, disappearing once again into the house.

Hateya

Hateya held her anger in while Fauve was being punished. As soon as he left, she let it all out with a series of wild bucks. "Are you okay, Fauve?" She asked, trying to calm herself down. "I'm Hateya, by the way."

She looked up at the house where the sinful man lived. "Who does he think he is?!" She spat. "We're all God's creatures, and deserve to be treated as such!" She then looked back down at Fauve and nudged her gently. "He may make you into his servant, but nobody can take the wild out of a horse."

Fauve

A voice caused her to look up, spots swimming across her vision as she fought to focus. Finally, she found her voice, though it still held the gasping. There...is no God... Hateya. Not here. Elsewhere... maybe. But... *cough* not... not here. *cough cough* There is...only pain... and its absence. God... does not travel... travel here. Here... he turns... blind eyes. And she ceased speaking because she could not stop coughing. It made pain lance down her throat and across her bloodied back and sides. She gazed into her new friend's eyes, forcing words past the coughs. Remember... pain... and its absence.

Hateya

Hateya lifted her striped head. "Don't say that!" She scolded, completely ignoring her maternal instincts. "The Lord is with us all the time. Through the calm times and through the storms. He is always there, and we see signs of Him all the time. The rising sun, the bird's chirp, the tiger's stripes..." She would continue, but she lied down next to Fauve and recited a poem she had once heard. Words she heard through her childhood; words that her mother spoke to her in frightful times.

She spoke in a soft, tone, almost is if she were singing.

One night I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord.
Many scenes from my life flashed across the sky.
In each scene I noticed footprints in the sand.
Sometimes there were two sets of footprints,
other times there were one set of footprints.

This bothered me because I noticed
that during the low periods of my life,
when I was suffering from
anguish, sorrow or defeat,
I could see only one set of footprints.

So I said to the Lord,
"You promised me Lord,
that if I followed You,
You would walk with me always.
But I have noticed that during the most trying periods of my life
there have only been one set of footprints in the sand.
Why, when I needed You most, You have not been there for me?"

The Lord replied,
"The times when you have seen only one set of footprints in the sand,
is when I carried you."

She stopped speaking and watched Fauve. "Sometimes God calms the storms. Other times, He walks through the rain with us." She said softly. Hateya was named after this poem, as her name meant 'to make a footprint.'

Al Sheratan

She had seen the beating, and with each strike anger coursed through her pretty little veins. She looked to the house where the Darkness lurked, then launched forward. He wasn't out here, and easily she could out run him for even though she was small, she was fleet footed. Fauve...Oh Fauve, I'm so sorry. Tears welled up in the scarred mares eyes, and she raised her dial to look at Hateya. God....He does not exist here, my friend. Where Darkness lurks, he can not go. Her tail flicked, and her ears were moving constantly in case the door of the house opened. Ready to run, she was.

Fauve

Sheratan's voice made Fauve turn her head, looking desperately at her friend. She began to struggle with herself, determined to rise and show Al Sheratan that she would be fine. After a few false starts, she managed to regain her feet, and stumbled over to the fence. She was panting as though she had run a marathon, and the world was spinning, but she had made it. She pressed her nose to the fence, voice soft. Sheratan... never you mind. It's... gonna be... okay. I... I promise.

Al Sheratan

A soft look came into the little egyptians eyes. Ah, my friend. You are weak. Soon, Soon I shall get you out of there. She glanced to the house making sure the darkness had not escaped just yet. I will find Avi, my friend. We'll get you out of there, you and your new friend. A faint smile spread across her lips as she looked to Hateya. A friend of Fauves was a friend of hers.l

Hateya

Hateya held in her anger. "God is everywhere. All the time. He is with us in our times of need - like right now. From the East to the West, South to North, He is always there." She said softly. "God is even with that man. And I pray that God will change his heart. God wants us to not hate our enemies, but pray for them." She lied down on the ground, watching Fauve.

Fauve

Fauve held soft eyes for Al Sheratan, though she did understand Hateya's anger. So she spoke again, nudging noses with Sheratan as best she could through the fence. Now... you must... you must go. Find... Avi. Find Kiran. Bring them. Even... even that demon... cannot fight all four of us.

And she gave her friend one last nudge. Hurry.

And she turned back to Hateya, laying down next to her, voice soft. Hateya... my words were of my own desperation... not of contempt for God. Sometimes... *cough* sometimes it is difficult... to imagine a God... who would create the Darkness. But perhaps... perhaps there is wisdom... where I cannot see it.