...Lost? Me? Hah!

[° Soara • Ore • El niño °]

Soara wandered among the ferns and snorted cautiosly. The land was getting swampier, and she knew she was nearing solvi bog. She slowed her lope to a trot and weaved among the drooping vines and twisted trunks of the foliage here. She Ducked her head and nearly tripped over a root, before stepping into an odd sort of muck. She neighed, alarmed, before settling back into her reasonable paranoia. It was only muck. Quelling her racing heart, she moved on, wings fluttering nervously. She didn't know what sort of life resided here, and wasn't sure she wanted to find out.

She froze. There was an odd, bubbly sound behind her. Her eyes angled back and she took deep breaths. She turned just her head, very slowly, and looked behind her. A bubble rose through the muck, popping loudly. she stood absoloutely still for about a minute, then moved one back hoof forward.

Not a good idea. A vine that had before lain dormant whipped out from the goo. She swiveled around and dodged it as it flung itself towards her. She didn't dare bite it, lest the muck be poison, but didn't know how to defeat it otherwise. She reared up nimbly and raised her wings, but at the movement, all the trees closed their branched above her. She was trapped. As the vine whipped towards her, she dodged again and again, looking for some sort of weakness. In her observation, she was careless and the whip stung her on the side, drawing blood. She gasped silently and renewed her efforts. Look for a weakness, look for a weakness...

She watched the vine as it whipped. It was a noxious purple, standing out among the greens of the forest. It was long and whiplike, and -

Wait a minute. It wasn't purple a moment ago... She folowed the vine along to it's end, submerged in the swamp. The end of the vine started to fade into green, but then renewed it's purplish hue. Each time it did so, the muck around it lowered. That was it! She ran towards the vine, seemingly startling it. At the last minute, she dodged left and stabbed with her hoof at the root of the vine. It writhed and uttered a pained higssing, and green spread along it's length. Where the color touched, it solidified, no longer able to move. The end had been severed. She stepped back, and sudenly heard an odd sucking noise.

Before she knew it, she was surrounded. vines of the same purple hue rose out of the swamp and shot at her. Her reflexes were just a moment too late. Hundreds of writhing vines wrapped around her legs and body, pulling her down into the swamp. She broke a few, but they regrew and renewed their attack. She tried to resist, but slowly, she was ddragged down into the muck. her hooves were fully submerged already. And the worst thing was, she could not call to the sky. The trees blocked any hope of that escape.

Eyes white with fear, she whinnied loudly. The piercing sound echoed in the forest, before being swallowed into the murky depths.

[Yeta'me]

Yeta'me was trying to take to the air again. It was the usual mess. She would take a flying leap off a ledge of some sort- at the moment the "ledge" was just a flat rock- and would end up on the ground again. Her wings absolutely refused to do what she wanted. She was preparing for another volley, when an unusual whinny reached her ears. Pointed auds pricked at the sound. It echoed eerily around her. She took a few nervous steps forwards and backwards on the rock before deciding she should at least see what had made the noise. She still wasn't fully in control of her Earthen powers, but she was learning- she could make dirt and planty things move now. The joys of dirt, she thought dryly, but blew some boggy sludge ahead of her anyways just for the fun of it.

Millions of tiny voices in her head began to pound the sense out of her ears. The plants spoke in their whispering voices, loudly and softly at the same time.

-Intruder... She has no buisiness being here,- thousands of voices said softly, a rolling chorus through the dense trees... So dark... In fact... Yeta'me looked up in time to see a branch fold over a patch of sky, blocking out the light ahead completely. Something was up.

You didn't need to tell her twice, but twice it was. She skidded to a halt, horrified, and stood in front of a twisting purple mass. A vine curled past her breezily, reaching for the shifting shape. The writhing sphear speared her chest with fear.

What in blazes? she gasped to the plants. What are you doing? Have off, and that's a command! It was lucky for her she was getting the hang of this powers thing. The vines began to uncurl. She willed them to go faster, the energy flowing off her splotchy coat in waves, drenching the boggy soil which curled around her hooves in answer. She noticed something as the violent purple began to recede- they were holding onto something... And it was a creature which resembled her in so many ways she was struck by the fact that if she was to be discovered-

Every muscle in her quivering body began to tense up. She did not want anyone to find out she was the Unflying Pegasus... But she couldn't leave the whatever-it-was in that boiling purple thing, either. She continued to force the vines down.

[aeolus]

The canopy below was a great, tangled wall of plant life, concealing whatever horrible swamp things resided within. The magnificent steed surged through the skies, massive wings thundering against the air as he sliced through the clouds, deep mohegan pools slashing a wary glance below. Plushy tassles were slicked back as a bitterly cold wind current hacked across the skies, pale audits fluttering forward. With precision and grace, the czar descended. Seeping through the tiny gaps among the embracing plants, was a voice. A voice in which he did not know, a voice which was throaty and powerful like those of the earth alliance. Supple labrums twisted into a slight grimace. Earthen creatures...creatures bound to land by alliance.

A shrill scream erupted from beneath. The steed was flung back, burly wings flailing as he kept himself still. Soara! His breath was sucked dry from his lungs as he instincitively plummeted down. With a deep, roaring cry and an upward thrust of his silvery horn a fork of electric yellow lightning lashed from the cloudless sky and seared through the canopy, leaving the sunlight to spill into the torn gap through the top. Aeolus plunged through the hole, slamming down into the murky waters. His gaze dashed from the earthen creature to Soara. Perhaps she was helping - he would trust that until further matters. He felt his splayed talons squelch, and descend into the mud. Huge slabs of powered sinew clenched as he gave a mighty swing with his sleek wings to free himself. His shimmering, wondrous horn beamed a soft red as delicate thorns laced back, luxurious plumage slashing wildly behind him. He watched, brimming with fear and rush as she spoke to the plants.

You can talk to plants? What are they doing to her? Soara!

He spluttered, silver dipped dial whipping towards her. His desperateness was beginning to show, like black against white. His mind swam. various ideas flitting in and out his thoughts. He had no time to think, yet how could he attempt without thinking first? He was snagged in the possibilities.

He decided to do what came to him first. He lunged forward, glittering enamels exposed. Deep chocolate orbs blazed with anger as his strong jaw slammed down upon one of the vines that grasped his mate. He threw the entire two thousand pounds of equus back, the vine clenched in his jaw. Daggers the size of dinner plates lurched dangerously beneath him as he continued to pull against the vine he probably couldn't break alone.

[° Soara • Ore • El niño °]

((Ack, too much to reeeeaaaad... Replying soon. Eventually. Whenever I stop procrastinating.))

[Yeta'me]

((Neeee! Hurry up! *Attacks*))

[aeolus]

|ooc| soara? heeEEeello?

[Yeta'me]

((Ahem... Hurry up from your Winnipeg trip, Soara... We can't really do anything until you do--> ))

[° Soara • Ore • El niño °]

((I have nuu time to reply... Sorry, guys... Assume she struggles against the vines, they nearly release her, and she notices aeolus and catches a glimpse of Yeta'me but doesn't recognize her. Next time I'll post, I swear >>))