Onok

Two hours had passed before Onok returned. He'd eventually outpaced Quentin and Shrike, leaving the wolf to use his nose to follow him and hopefully encourage the human to keep trekking after them. The distance gave the lead stallion time to reunite with his family before the would-be predators arrived. His pace picked up even more as he entered the far end of the meadow and pitched into a gallop, anxious to see how his daughter was, and whether they'd been able to free her in the time he'd been away...

Quentin, Shrike, Moor, & Firah

Little to no progress had been made in breaking Firah free from the mud. The young filly was was exhausted from the struggle, and Moonlight Moor had all but paced a circular rut around her trapped child in desperation to reach her. Here and there, small piles of mud and trampled plants littered the space around the foal, marking the spots where she had continued in vain to try and scoop the muck away from Firah, and the mare's coat was positively coated in debris along her legs and underbelly.

Across the meadow, a weary Firah spotted movement. Her head came up and her sagging ears perked, "Father!" She gave a strained whinny and tried to turn about to better see him, but her imprisoned legs were held fast.

Moor swiveled her dial back and snorted in relief at seeing the stallion. She turned as if to gallop his way, but maternal instincts kept the mother from leaving her daughter's side, so she waited anxiously for the lead to reach her instead. And before she could ask if he'd found help, two more figured emerged just as Onok was reaching his family. "Onok, you actually managed to bring him?"

Shrike had been running back and forth the entire trip, charging ahead of Quentin to follow Onok's trail, only to double back and check on his master to make sure he was keeping up. The wolf's long tongue was lolling from his mouth by the time they reached the meadow, but his energy never seemed to dwindle. "I think we're about there, Quentin. I can smell them - wait, I see them! It's the whole herd."

To the human's ears, a few eager whines could be heard. He chuckled at the wolf and reached out to pet Shrike when he returned briefly to his side, "We must be getting close, or I'm going to slow for you?" Quentin pushed his way through the underbrush of sumac and aspen saplings, having to duck to avoid the low-hanging bough of an old oak tree. As he straightened up and took his first steps into the field, the man gave pause. Down at the other end of the field he could see Moonlight Moor, along with what looked like the younger mare and one of Onok's sons. And in the center of them was Moor's little daughter, surrounded by a sea of trampled brown. "Oh no." He couldn't see exactly what was wrong at this distance, but the foal was either grounded or somehow stuck. Keeping his pace calm despite the sudden rise in concern, Quentin began his approach, moving primarily in Moor's direction.

Onok, Callaquoia, & Brennik

"It took some convincing, but they followed." Onok breathed out upon reaching the scene, where he touched muzzles briefly with Moonlit before approaching his daughter as closely as he dared. His heavy hooves brought him within a few feet of the filly, stopping at the point where his flints began to sink slightly into the mire. "Firah, just hold on a little longer, and you'll be out of there."

"I don't like this." Brennik announced with pinned ears. The young stallion jogged back to the edge of the meadow where his parents were. "Can you really trust a wolf and a two-legger?" His eyes turned like daggers towards Shrike and the slowly approaching Quentin, and all he could see in his mind was the lumbering form of Ethan. He still blamed himself for the lost Savannah and Coltran, and having this man here only dug at that raw nerve.

Callaquioa nudged her son's rump, "Trust your father, Brenn." And even though she felt some nervousness at the sight of Shrike, the mare had always held faith in Onok, and that faith wasn't going to be shaken any time soon.

At the edge of the field, Daga and Nightshade watched quietly. The later had enough experience with two-leggers and lupine alike that he didn't balk at their presence, and it was his calmness in this moment that kept the younger Daga from flagging his tail and giving a bark of alarm.

Quentin, Shrike, Moor, & Firah

After sharing the muzzle touch with Onok, Moonlit stretched her neck forward and huffed softly, displaying her trust in Quentin as he slowly advanced in her direction. "He's a decent human, if a bit unsure about us." She said, in answering to Brennik's doubts on the two-legger. "He won't harm any of us. And neither will Shrike."

With slow and steady steps, Quentin closed the distance between himself and the mare he'd rescued from auction. He reached a hand out, first to touch against her soft muzzle, then to pat at her cheek and neck. "Look at you, all covered in mud." He looked to her legs, where chunks of mud were clinging to her dark coat, and saw the same on the striped mare. This pair had obvious worked hard to free the foal, but their hooves simply weren't the right tools for the job today. "I see why your mate was so upset. Well then, lets see what I can do here." Moonlit was given another pat before Quentin stepped away from the herd and began to gather what limbs and branches he could find.

Firah tried to reach her muzzle out for Onok, but he was just beyond her reach. The tired little filly let her dial droop, resting her muzzle down to the mud to give her sore neck muscles a rest. Her big eyes roved to Quentin as she did this, watching the strange looking creature scurry around and snap branches from what small shrubs dotted the meadow. "Mama, what's it doing?"

"He's building a thing." Shrike replied with confidence, even if he really had no clue what his master was up to. The wolf was currently sitting in a patch of grass, and mindfully keeping his distance from the herd that didn't seem entirely keen on his presence here. "Just wait and see, he makes all sorts of crazy, interesting things with his paws. He'll get you out of the mud in no time."

Onok

"We should give him some space." Onok ordered more than suggested, with a gentle nod to Callaquioa that had the mare taking several hearty steps away from the mud pit. Before he moved away himself, the stallion nickered softly to his daughter, "Stay brave, Firah. I'll be waiting right here once the human has gotten you free. It won't be much longer now." For all the certainty portrayed in his deep vocals and confidence expressed in his attentive posture, the stallion didn't feel entirely assured. He was trusting Moonlit's words on this, and prayed to Imre that the mare knew what she was talking about.

Brennik trotted several yards away, his chestnut ears flattened and his tail animated with frequent swipes. He had half a mind to rush at Quentin and give him a good flailing of hooves, but Onok's presence was enough to keep him in line. It didn't stop him from staring at the man though, with his dark blue eyes glued hotly to what the young stallion viewed as a predator. A tensely held foreleg was a further visual threat to the man, warning him that any wrong move would bring Brennik's wrath down on him, whether his parents agreed with it or not.

Quentin, Shrike, Moor, & Firah

Quentin was utterly oblivious to the conversation going on around him. What he didn't miss was the clear signals of hostility being sent by Brennik. He almost wished that he'd brought a few apples along to try and bridge the divide between them, but that would have to happen at a later date. His only goal right now was to free the young filly that was showing signs of exhaustion. To that end, the slender man ignored Brenn's posturing and focused on gathering all the scraps of timber and foliage he could.

In the next several minutes, he began to lay the brush along one side of the mudpit, effectively creating a platform that would allow him to walk across the mire without falling victim to it's grasp like Firah had. Once that was done, he began to carefully place more of these branches near the filly herself, while offering her soft pats and gentle words as he went. After enough material was laid down, Quentin carefully began to scoop away the mud around Firah's front legs, then fling these handfuls of muck several feet away. It was a laborious task, but little by little, he was breaking the suction that held her down and slowly excavating the youngster from the trap.

Firah had a moment of panic the first time Quentin approached her, but the encouraging words of her father and the close presence of her mother quickly tempered that fear. And after a few pats from the human's strange paws, the little filly found that he wasn't all that unpleasant. And better yet, after enduring several long minutes of the human pawing away the mud, Firah found one of her front legs suddenly moveable again. "My leg! It's free - errghhh!" She pulled it from Quentin's grasp and tried to rear back, only to find the man grabbing for the limb and holding it forcefully, "Hey, let go!" She squealed, her voice raising sharply above the strange grunts and barks of the man's voice.

"Stop struggling, he's trying to help!" Shrike issued in a harsh whine. "Just let him do his thing."

Moonlit began to pace, "Stay calm darling, you'll be okay." Like Brennik before her, Moonlit found her ears lacing back as she began to grow more agitated by the sound of her daughter's screams and Quentin's closeness to her. She trusted the man, but her bond with Firah was blurring that faith right now.

Onok, Callaquoia, & Brennik

Brennik didn't posses the same faith that Moonlit did. The panicked screams of his sister brought back the last cries he ever heard from Savannah before the human stole her away from him. Rage welled in the horse as those desperate cries echoed in his mind, until he was left with no choice but to charge forward. "Leave Firah alone!"

Calla uttered a sharp, startled snort as Onok lunged forward, his 1,500 pound frame careening towards the pit. But it wasn't to trample the human, it was to cut his son off, and deliver a stinging bite to the other's shoulder. "Stop!" The order was roared out with force and delivered with an arched neck and flaring nostrils. He reared and boxed his front hooves, though didn't extend either leg to strike at the younger stallion. It was a visual warning, and it was effective.

Brennik squealed and shied back from his sire in surprise, and galloped in a tight semi-circle back to where he was originally standing. "Dad, she's in-"

"The human is helping." Onok cut in, still holding an offensive posture just to quell any further ideas his son might have for charging forward again. "We need to trust him, and trust Moonlit's word. For your sister's sake."

Quentin, Shrike, Moor, & Firah

Quentin was doing his level best to keep Firah from thrashing around and undoing all the work he'd made in freeing her front leg. He was a decently strong man, but it still took all his strength to hold her foreleg pinned up against her body so that it would wind up dashing through the barrier of branches he'd laid out and sink back into the mire. "Easy, easy. Calm yourself." His strained voice was otherwise spoken in a soothing tone, and quite the contrast to the harsh snorts and squeals that were suddenly going on right in front of them.

For a few harrowing seconds, Quentin was bracing for Brennik's sudden rush, and following that, was certain the father was joining in to trample him into the mud. Unable to rise up and dodge out of the way in time, Quentin had simply held tight to Firah and prepared for the worst. To his immense surprise and great relief though, Onok had blocked his son's charge and disciplined the younger stallion with a nip and a show of force.

There was no time to dally around. The man knew the more Firah cried and struggled, the more the herd's patience was being tested. After doing his best to calm the filly, Quentin went back to scooping and flinging mud, and methodically placing branches and mats of leaves and grass down, until he was at a point where her back legs were nearly free. Summoning all his strength, he did his best to lift her legs and shove her forward, hoping that he'd dug out enough that she'd be able to pull herself out the rest of the way...

In the backdrop of all of this, Shrike had nearly rushed the horses. His hackles had gone up, and his muscled had prepared for action. But unlike Quentin, he'd read Onok's intentions before the big stallion had even begun to rush forward, and knew that his human would be protected. Still, the wolf turned a warning eye against Brennik, letting him know he was ready to intervene of the youngster tried to pull that stunt again.

Onok, Callaquoia, & Brennik

Brennik shuffled his hooves and swatted his tail, but let that be the extent of his frustration. He may not agree with his dad right now, but the young stallion had to admit that his sire was wiser than him, and wouldn't knowingly put any of his children in jeopardy. "He looks so much like the other human, how do you know to trust him?"

Once Onok was sure his son was under control, he swung his broad head back towards Quentin and Firah. One ear forward on them, and one back to catch his son's words. "I trust Moonlit. And I've learned that humans are as varied in temperament as we are. This one has a gentler nature, and he carries no boomsticks." His confidence in trusting Quentin was far shakier than he was letting on, but that wavering faith was beginning to solidify the more he watched the man work. From his soft words used to calm Firah, to the clever way he used branches as a platform, Onok could see that the two-legger was genuinely trying to help.

Callaquioa moved in a little closer now, once she saw that Firah had all but been dug free of the mud. "Come on Firah, you can do it. Just a few steps forward, and you'll be free of that pit." She knickered encouragingly.