The Arrival of Hemera

[thethirdwonder]

It had started out like any other morning. Or at least any other morning that she didn't spend with Sam. She and Iris were out for their morning run, Cassie alternating between jogging and sprinting while Iris just looped along beside her. It was a beautiful morning and Cassie was almost tempted to go a little farther but something seemed to call to her back towards her hut.

And it was a good thing too, as just before the hut would have come into view through the tree, Iris veered off the path and went charging into the woods. Moments later, Cassie heard a racket of barks and some sort of screeching. Afraid for the her dog, she ran after her, following the noise until she found them.

When she did find Iris and the source of screeching, Cassie couldn't help stopping in shock. Iris was standing protectively over a little golden colored foal, barking not at it but to get Cassie's attention. But the barking was still scaring the baby animal, thus the screeching. But it wasn't the screeching that was making Cassie stare, but the two white wings growing out of her back. It seems like the island had decided Cassie needed a baby pegasus in her life.

Once she got a grip on the situation, Cassie ran the last few steps and fells to her knees to try and comfort the little foal. "Hey, hey it's alright! Shhhhh....no more of that crying, it's okay."

[For reference, the foal will look like this when she grows up. For now, she looks more like this]]

Comments

[giftless]

There was an awful noise coming from the forest. Edmund wasn't sure what to make of it, or the barking that came with it, but with his hand resting on the hilt of his sword (which he wore every other day or so, when he felt like it), he dashed off to investigate. Honour, who had been walking with him and radiated a sense of being significantly less interested in the disturbance, loped after him to make sure his human didn't get into any trouble.

When he came upon the scene, the screeching and the barking had stopped, but that didn't relax Edmund entirely. He took in Cassie, the dog, the baby pegasus with a single glance and, noting nothing dangerously out of the ordinary there, began checking the perimeter, sword still sheathed for now. (A pegasus might strike you or I as out of the ordinary, of course, but winged horses, while not common, were known to inhabit Narnia. Edmund would have treated the little creature with great respect if not outright shock and awe, if he had realized it was the cause of the commotion.)

"What happened, Cassie? Everything alright?"

[thethirdwonder]

Cassie hadn't noticed Edmund's arrival but Iris had and she moved to stand between Cassie and the new comers. Her head dropped and she began to growl, warning them not to come any closer.

With the foal still a bit upset, she couldn't responded right away, but when she finally could, the first thing she did was call Iris off. "Iris! Down girl, stop that!" When the Golden huffed and sat down, she gave Edmund a tired smile. "Yeah, everything's fine. We just found this little girl who was terrified."

[giftless]

Honour strayed to the undergrowth, half-hidden in greenery and shadow, not out of fear of the dog but a dislike of large groups in general. (Four creatures that were not his brothers and sisters constituted a crowd in the direwolf's mind.) Edmund, for his part, ventured forward a few steps and offered the Golden Retriever his hand to sniff.

It was then, as Edmund waited patiently for approval or dismissal, that he fully noticed the foal. "A new arrival? Or did something set her off?"

[thethirdwonder]

Iris stayed sitting but she pointedly watched Honour and kept her eyes on him even as she sniffed Edmund's hand. She sneezed her reluctant approval, her eyes never leaving the direwolf.

"New arrival, I think." Cassie replied as she moved slightly to give Edmund a better view, especially of the wings. "She was terrified when Iris found her."

[giftless]

"Well, same to you," Edmund murmured under his breath, responding to the tone of the dog's approval. He gave her head a quick rub as he passed nonetheless.

He moved forward with confident but cautious steps and crouched down as he came nearer, careful not to startle the poor creature any more.

"It can be a terrible shock, that's for certain. Poor girl. You're alright. It's a wonder she didn't fly away outright at the barking."

[thethirdwonder]

At the pat on the head, Iris shifted her gaze to Edmund for a moment to glare at him before returning to tracking the direwolf. Cassie gave an apologetic smile. "Sorry about that. She's never been too fond of boys for some reason."

The thought of the baby flying away hadn't even occurred to Cassie and as she thought back, the filly hadn't even tried. "You know...I'm not sure she knows how to fly. She hasn't even made an attempt since Iris and I found her."