thethirdwonder | The Arrival of Hemera

The Arrival of Hemera

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]]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Kate hears the screeching and goes running. It's a terrible sound. Scared or wounded. Old instincts kick and she's thinking about all the Abnormals she knows of that could make a sound like that or would be terrified just showing up here. God. Now that she thinks about it, they're seriously fucking lucky that Bertha hasn't shown up. That would be the worst kind of mess.

She sees Cassie's there first, crouching over something small with white wings. "Hey, are you okay? That wasn't you screaming was it?" she asks quietly, not wanting to add more panic to the situation. Her hand's already on her knife in case whatever it is was hurting Cassie, but it doesn't seem to be.

Cassie looks over her shoulder with a startled smile. She had no idea how to care for a baby pegasus but something in her was excited to try. "No, it wasn't me." She moves aside to reveal the little foal who had buried its head in her chest. "It was her. I think Iris scared her."

That's not what Kate's expecting to see at all and it startles a soft breath out of her. She lets go of the knife and comes to crouch next to Cassie. "Magnus said they were all dead," Kate says, and she has to duck Cassie's gaze to hide how it affects her to see an Abnormal here on the island. She's not expecting it, the tightness in her chest. "She's really beautiful."

Sensing the emotion, Cassie ducks her head and looks back to the filly to give Kate a little bit of privacy. "Would Magnus know how to take care of her? I wouldn't know how to begin. She's so scared."

Though the petting seems to help and Cassie paused one hand for a moment to grab one of Kate's, bringing both of their hands up to stroke the soft baby fur.

"She might." Kate's fingers brush over the filly's coat. It's still fuzzy which Kate thinks means she's pretty young still. She doesn't know very much about horses at all even though there've been a few lessons and stuff. It's just something she thinks she remembers from Biggie lecturing about one of the other mammalian Abnormals. "If anyone on the island would, probably, it's her."

She presses her lips together and draws her brows down, thinking. "Um. If she's a herd or pack animal, touch will help. They kind of press up against each other when they're scared."

"I should probably take her once she calms down."

Cassie looked at Kate while she spoke and then down at the foal who was pressing her small body against her. She wrapped her arms the filly's neck and just kept stroking. "Would it be best to find some other horses for her to be around?" Even thought she'd just found the baby, the idea of leaving her in the stable didn't sit well with her.

"I don't know." Kate watches the little winged horse for a minute more and then shrugs at Cassie. "She likes you. You found her and saved her. So maybe she imprinted. That happened to me once."

Kate smiles and pets one little shoulder. "Just don't feed her cheeseburgers. You'll never get rid of her."

"Cheeseburgers?" Cassie glanced over with a small smirk. "Do I dare ask?" That had to be an interesting story right there.

But even then, she didn't let go of the filly and the filly didn't seem to want her too. "I guess I'll find someplace for her to live. I don't think she can sleep on the end of the bed like Iris."

"Stenophelhabilis," Kate says and then grins at the memory. "Like a cross between a rhinoceros and a golden retriever. They're hunted for their tusks." Of course, she leaves out the part about how she'd been hunting on herself, but not because she'd never tell but because it's not the right story right now. "We had some in stasis, but the stasis failed and they died. We thought they did. But when I was checking it out, there was a baby and he got out. Got into my room and ate half of a leftover cheeseburger, and then me and Hank ended up chasing him all over town while he went looking for more."

It's the short version of the story, but it works. "He kinda imprinted on me, too, so I was stuck with him."

"Huh." Cassie had seen some strange creatures in her time as a Junior Superhero, but even so that was a little hard to picture. Though the thought of Kate having to chase it around while it searched for cheeseburgers made her giggle.

"So, what did you do with him?"

The first sound Cissie heard as she slowly woke up was Iris barking. This in itself wasn't anything really unusual but the screeching after that was. She bolted out of her bed and paused only to grab her bow and quiver. The minute her quiver was slung over her shoulder, she was out the door and running towards the sound, arrow nocked and ready to go.

"Cass? Cass, are you okay?"

Cassie looked over her shoulder when Cissie appeared and immediately covered the foal with her body. "Wow! Ciss, don't shoot!"

Once the arrow was lowered, Cassie moved aside again so Cissie could see the baby. The foal had buried it's head in her chest, stopping the screaming for now but it was obviously still upset if the shaking was any indication. "Look what Iris found. I think, I think the island wanted me to find her."

Edited 2012-02-03 05:41 (UTC)

Whatever she had been expecting to find, it was so not Cass and a baby pegasus. Cissie boggled for a moment then quickly unnocked the arrow and put it back in her quiver. She carefully set her bow against a tree and cautiously moved until she was next to her friend.

"Oh my god, that is amazing! She's so little... and she has wings, right? I am not seeing things?"

When the arrow went away, Cassie let go of the filly for a moment so she could wave Cissie closer. "She's tiny and terrified, but yeah. She's a genuine baby pegasus. I hope..." She looked at her best friend with a beaming grin. "Oh I hope she'd supposed to be mine!"

It was genuinely surprising to Cassie how much she wanted to take care of this little filly.

Cissie couldn't help but smile back at Cassie. "She's got to be yours," she said. "Iris found her, right? I can't imagine she'd be anyone else's."

"Oh Hera Ciss...I have no idea how to take care of her!" Despite wanting her more then she could stand, Cassie started to panic. What did she know about taking care of a baby, much less a baby winged horse.

"We'll find out somehow," Cissie said, hugging her friend tightly. "We'll beat books out of the bookshelf if we have to or get some advise from someone."

Uncurling one arm from around the baby animal, Cassie returned the hug gratefully, glad Cissie was her to be a calming and stable influence. "Thanks Ciss."

Then Cassie looked back at the filly and sighed. "I guess we can start by asking some of the people who own horses. There are enough of them on the island."

Sam had made the trek up to Cassie's hut with the intention of surprising her with a bouquet of flowers and a rather sappy "just wanted to say you're wonderful" note to be waiting for her when she got back from her run.

Partway there, he heard the unmistakable sound of Iris barking. He immediately broke into a run, weaving through the trees and skidding to a stop when he saw what Iris was standing over and Cassie was standing at.

Sam screamed in terror.

"No, no, no!" he shouted, scrambling behind a tree for some cover. "Look out! They're back!"

"Sam, stop it! You're scaring her!" Cassie had just gotten the foal to stop it's scared screaming when Sam's had just set her off again.

It took a lot of coaxing but Cassie finally got the filly to calm down again, her head hiding in Cassie's arms. Once the foal had calmed, she looked over her shoulder for Sam. "Are you done hiding from a baby? Come here!"

"Fuck no, it's going to eat me!" Sam said.

He was already halfway up a nearby tree, even if that wasn't the best place for someone to hide from a horse that could fly. Cassie could risk herself all she wanted, a flying horse had cockblocked him and almost bit off his junk, he wasn't going to risk it.

"Any minute now it's going to try and kill you, you know. That's what they do!"

"It's not stuffed, I promise! She's flesh and blood and terrified, now get down here, you big dork." There was a tiny bit of Wonder Girl in Cassie's tone, trying to get Sam to chill out and stop scaring the filly who was practically trying to crawl into her arms.

"Alright, but if it tries to attack me I'm counting on you to protect me," he said, slowly climbing down the tree. Once he was on the ground, he began to inch closer to Cassie, the dog, and the pony. Out of those three, he was confident that only one wouldn't try to eat him.

"Is that what I think it is?"

"She will not try and attack you. Iris, go lay down." The dog glared at Sam and was very reluctant to go but go she did. The filly got nervous again as Iris got further away but calmed again as Cassie pet and soothed her.

Then, once the filly stopped shaking again, Cassie looked up with a smile at Sam. "Yeah. It's a baby pegasus. A real one this time. Isn't she beautiful?"

"That is definitely a baby pegasus," Sam agreed, inching closer with one eye on the horse and one on the dog. There was no way this was going to end well for him, no way at all.

He supposed it was beautiful, the pegasus, but he couldn't see it. He had too many issues dealing with coitus interuptus and flying horses. Maybe when it wasn't quite so small.

"Come here!" Cassie gestured with one hand before reaching out for him. "Please? I think she's my gift from the island so you better get used to her." She gave Sam a pointed look before it softened. "You wouldn't leave a baby to fend for herself, would you?"

"A baby monster I would," he grumbled, taking her hand and inching closer. She seemed excited about this thing, so he supposed that he should at least not hate it too much, especially if it was going to be around a lot.

"Why does the island have to get you pets that want to eat me?"

Cassie tugged his hand until he was sitting next to her and then let the filly sniff their joined hands. Once the baby seemed okay with this new arrangement, she brought their hands down so Sam could touch the soft fur of the filly's neck.

"It's not going to eat you. Stop that."

Sam's hand shook a bit as he touched the animal's neck, just waiting for it to snap and take his hand off. When it didn't, he relaxed just a bit and inched closer. Maybe the horse was going to wait until it was big enough to eat all of him or something.

"What are you going to name her?" he asked. "Wingfoot the Devourer?"

The filly looked up from where it had it's head buried in Cassie's chest and sniffed at Sam's fingers. Then, as if accepting him, shuffled closer to lean against him too before hiding her head again.

Cassie smiled, before she smacked him. "I think she likes you. And be nice. She needs a prettier name then that." She paused, thinking. "Hemera."

"Is that anything like the Chimera?" he asked, although he didn't really mean it, not with how it had leaned into him. Maybe it was a long term plan to endear him and them it him, but if so it was a good plan.

"Her nose is soft."

Cassie just grinned as she watched Sam melt at the foal's charms. "She's the Greek Goddess of the Day. I think it fits, with her bright coat. And it kinda matches Iris, who was the one to find her."

Finally, she squeezed Sam's hand. "You okay now?"

"I'm pretty sure she's still going to try and eat me at some point," he told her, squeezing her had back. Still, with how pleased Cassie was, he could at least try and not freak completely out about this.

"We should, uh, probably get her some oats or something, right? I mean, I think that's what horses eat, oats. And hay. Maybe carrots and apples?"

"I promise I'll protect you." Cassie leaned over and kissed Sam's cheek.

Then she blinked as she realized that she hadn't even given the care of her new charge any thought. Her expression dropped. "Oh goddess....Sam, I don't know how to take care of a horse!" Not she had to fight the urge to panic.

"Hey, whoa, it's okay," he said, reaching out to put an arm around her. Cassie could face down all number of scary things but apparently unprepared responsibility was not something she handled comfortably.

"There are horses on the island. And- Bart looks after those chicken things, right? People will be able to help you and show you how. I'll learn with you."

"But...she's just a baby!" It was ironic really. Cassie had been terrified of getting pregnant and now she had a baby to take care of. It was four legged sure but it still needed the extra care. "What if she needs special care I can't give her?" It literally broke her heart to think about having to give up this little filly that she'd already fallen in love with.

Even as she was freaking out, Cassie leaned into Sam's embrace, feeling so damn lucky she had such a supportive person to back her up.

"And she's lucky to have you to watch out for her," Sam said, just holding her close as best as he could. It was unusual to comfort her to this extent, but he didn't mind it.

"Yeah, it's a lot of responsibility but I know you're up for it. And I know you, there's nothing she'll need that you won't do everything you can to provide for."

Cassie tried to be strong most of the time as per the super hero she was...but sometimes things were just outside of her experience and she panicked. And it was those times that she was grateful for all the support she had here on the island.

"Thanks Sam." She said softly before giving a heavy sigh. "We should probably get her somewhere safer then the middle of the jungle. And find someone who knows what they are doing."

"Your dog will eat anything that tries to get near her," Sam pointed out. He would have picked it to even take on a dinosaur and win. Especially if it was a male dinosaur.

"But yeah, she'll probably prefer to be someplace with food more to her liking and around other animals."

"Anatoly won her over with sandwiches you know. Maybe you should try it." But Cassie appreciated the sentiment, as well as Sam doing his best to get along with her crazy dog.

"Then I guess we should go." She kissed Sam's cheek before turning her attention the foal in her lap. "Hey little one. Let's get you some place safer okay?" She kept her voice soothing as she carefully stood up, encouraging the filly to do the same.

"That's it? All I have to do is bring her sandwiches?" he asked, glancing over at the dog. "She's easy."

Of course, he was probably going to get eaten for that comment, although maybe if he grabbed enough sandwiches before hand he would be okay. He'd have to find out what kind she liked though, peanut butter and jelly was probably not her favorite.

"And you, little one," he said, turning to the Pegasus, "We'll get you some carrots or whatever."

"Well, it does help that he owns her favorite playmate too but it could be a start?" Cassie shrugged, glancing over at Iris, before turning back to the filly. She was positive her dog would follow.

She helped the filly to get her balance and gently grabbed hold of the soft mane to lead her. "Come on....that's it!" She said encouragingly as the filly began to follow her with shaking steps.

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?"

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."

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?"

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."

"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."

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."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

The Arrival of Hemera

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject