!! It will Rain [Shady]

[Abba]

Knowing clouds will rage in
storms will race in
but you will be safe in my arms

Repla froze as he spoke the next words "Repla... I'm sorry. I'm sorry that you can't remember, and I'm sorry that I don't know what it's like. I'm sorry that I don't know how to help you. We'll talk about this later. But Repla, it doesn't change how muh I love you. No matter what happened, it won't change anything. I love you." She gently touched her maw to his and bobbed her head. "Just being here is enough..." she whispered with a tiny smile before turning towards the couple. "A pleasure, once again, madam." then he turned to Oser, "Sir." Did he happen to know him? Oser... led the last war. Didn't Lao fight in it? Did Lao fight under Oser? That made the most sense. She would go under that idea. It just seemed to fit the most. Gently, she stepped in a bit closer to Lao, as close as she could with her now bulging belly. She just felt safer beside him - knowing he was there - and she made a promise to herself that if he did leave for the war she would follow him. She would be a nurse - and help a healer. She would be there so if he got hurt he at least didn't die alone. He didn't leave her when she was hurt, she wouldn't leave him when he had the possibility of being hurt either...

Rasta caught the tail end of the conversation between Lao and Repla and she could feel her heart swell. The pair seemed to love each other an awful lot and she began to feel horrible that she had suggested that Oser recruit this stag. She wasn't sure how this other mare would deal with their love gone. She had barely been able to deal. How would this mare - when this mare couldn't aid the war and was also pregnant. Taking it upon herself to reintroduce the couple she coughed once to clear her throat and then turned so that she was between the rows. "Oser -" she said motioning to Oser " -This is Lao -" and then she motioned to the stag followed by the mare, "- and Repla" she said shaking out her coat as the sun began to bleed into the surroundings slowly beginning to warm up the air from the cold winter time. It was a much welcomed change - especially since her coat was of the thinnest forms anyways. "Pleasure to see you two again," Rasta said before pausing, "I think Oser might enjoy saying something," and she gave him a gently nudge telling him to speak before stepping back so he was in the forefront to address them without having to step forward...

[/blockquote]

==Into the Mind
.465 words
.Repla is determined not to lose him and Rasta feels bad XD[/size]

[lady shady]

OSER

As they approached, he could hear the horses talking, evidently finishing up a conversation.

"...it doesn't change how much I love you. No matter what happened, it won't change anything. I love you."

Oser felt his heart wrenched, cringing visibly at the unexpected blow to an unhealed wound. What he would'nt give to be able to say those words to Song right now...

They emerged from the trees now, with Rasta introducing them as Lao and Repla. She stepped back, allowing him to state his piece. Lao, she had called him...his mind floated back, grasping at the name...

The storm was cruel, chasing them from the empty battlefield with bitter wind and lashing rain. It was dark, and the group moved swiftly through the cold, wet brush. Though they did not know it, the war would soon be over. For now though the fighting had grown miserable. His fevered mind turned the navy sky maroon, the rain was blood, and the branches were bones...
What carnage they had just left, barely escaping with their lives. Lighting flashed, and his trusted group of guards shied slightly, exhaustion taking its toll. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw them. The silhouettes of Ramaskith's assassins. This time though, the shadows were not just shadows of his mind. They were real, they were real, and they were coming for him! Rage boiled up within him and he launched himself at the nearest one. He paid the price for his lack of control, losing his traction in an icy puddle. He saw the figure's hooves rise in the air, ready to slam down on his ribs. Rama's recruits often seemed to prefer to inflict slow, painful death.
Suddenly, the lightning flashed again and a figure wove its way between the hooves and his outstretched body. A bay form had shielded him. As his guards regrouped, he could see the stag bob in and out of the fray, in and out...
When the morning came, the shadows had vanished. From where he slept, he could hear the steady beating of his own heart, and the low murmur of the guards. "Nicely done, Lao..."

Oser stepped forward, bowing his head to the stag. "Laoch, if you are willing..." He gestured towards a clump of trees a little ways off, where they would be able to speak privately. Would this stag's loyalties remain the same?

LAOCH

He saw the recognition in his old leader's eyes, and a hint of that old longing for comraderie came back, tugging at his heart. So he remembered. He exhaled softly. It meant much to him that Oser even recognized him at all. He had found his first family within his ranks. His old leader stepped forwards, saying in his familiar slightly rough voice,

"Laoch, if you are willing..."

He nodded, following him to the trees, giving Repla a reassuring look before departing. "Please excuse us," he heard Oser say to Rasta and Repla. When they reached the trees, Oser paused, and he knew what was coming, had known what this was leading up to, but wasn't sure what he how he would respond.

"Laoch, there's a war on..."

--behind the post--
ahhh, tried to hurryyy!

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[Abba]

I may seem crazy, or painfully shy
and these scars wouldn't be so hidden
if you would just look me in the eye

Repla shifted a bit uncomfortably but let the two horses leave. If they needed to talk they could talk. Rasta dropped her head and began to munch upon the grass not doing anything. They could both feel the tension in the air as they stood there. Though neither decided to speak upon it. It was as if they both understood that voicing what was on their mind would simply end into a fight. So Repla stood stark still and looked off to where they were. Lao wouldn't leave her for Rasta. He couldn't! Could he? It was just respect - since she was an Alpha. It had to be. And he wouldn't leave her for the war. He had promised if. And if he dared to try she would follow him into the holds of it all. She would be there with him. She would help to care for those which she could. that was exactly what she would do.

[/blockquote]

==Into the Mind
.159 words
. So completely pissed and can't write anything about awkardness. I'll fall back in place once Lao comes back and is like 'i'm going to fight' or however he words it XD[/size]

[lady shady]

OSER

And so it was settled.

The pair of stags were silent as their hooves crunched in the crisp patches of icy snow still left, both caught up in their own thoughts.

Oser's eyes were bright, alert, calculating. His mind was whirring away inside his skull, strategizing, thinking...

It had taken a bit of persuasion. But, he figured, their arrangement was reasonable. Lao deserved nothing less. He had not wanted to leave his mate; had initially said no, but with the right bargaining! With the right bargain, he'd come around. He'd stumbled upon it by accident, offering all he could think of to the warrior. To status, Lao had laughed, saying that he didn't see the need. To power, he had shaken his head. To protection for Repla, he had replied quietly that he would protect her himself. But to a share in the spoils...Oser had seen a gleam in his eye, a hint of the disease, a bit of the land-hunger knawing away at him.

And when he had offered, Oser found himself a general.

LAOCH

And so it was settled.

Lao walked by Oser's side, a newly minted general of the Western army. His heart sank, and he wondered how he was ever going to tell Repla. Oser had promised him that during breaks in the fighting he would be able to go off and see her, but "Forever" didn't have quite the same ring, he realized, when it really meant, "Forever, except for...".
How had he gotten himself in this situation? His heart had been torn as Oser described how the residents of the west had fallen under Ramaskith's power. They couldn't help who ruled them...
And then there was Oser himself. The army had given him his first family, and he owed them that much...
But Repla was his family now. He had a foal on the way. Was he to just leave her and abandon their child just as his own father had done? Too late, he tried to stop the thought. No, his father was independent, not unnoble. But he wanted this baby to know him, and he wanted to know it. He wanted to ruffle the soft fuzz on its back and to stand over it while it slept. He would protect it. It was his family now. The baby and Repla.

Oser had tried, had offered him fame, status, anything he could ask for. He had refused them all, explaining to Oser his decision. But when Oser had offered land...he saw himself and Repla, perched on the edge of the cliff on that secret valley, looking down on what could be theirs, what could be his kingdom. She would be his queen, and their offspring would have land to call their own when he was gone. When he had offered him land, Lao had finally broken. He had agreed. When Oser had asked him where, he had replied, "You know the place. It is a hidden valley in your domain where you used to rest..."

It was his if he fought. It was somewhere, once they won the west back, where Repla could hide, somewhere that she and the baby would be safe while the fighting raged. No one could touch them.
Now just to tell her. He caught sight of the two mares ahead, and his head dropped low to the ground.

How would Repla ever forgive him?

They approached, and he nodded to the pair of Alphas, drawing Repla away from the group. "Sir, would it be possible to meet here again in three days?" He didn't expect Oser to nod, didn't expect him to know the agony of separation. Though brave to the point of foolishness sometimes, Oser was, in Lao's most recent memories, not very emotional. Quietly, he thanked him, exiting soon after with his mate.

When they were well away and Rasta and Oser had disappeared from sight, he turned to Repla. He could practically feel her anxiety building, but couldn't bring himself to deliver the fatal blow. "Repla..." he began, stopping himself before he could truly start. Avoiding her eyes, he touched his muzzle to hers lightly, tracing her beautiful worried face up to her forelock. From there, he let himself travel down the top of her head to the base of her mane, pausing to tenderly touch her side, which cradled their child. Pressing harder now, as if forcing himself to remember the shape of her form, he made his way around her, pausing again to let the tendrils of her tail brush his side. When he reached her head again, the setting sun was just a sliver in the sky. He had to do it now. "Repla," he murmured quietly. "Love, I joined him. He asked, and I didn't want to, Repla. But you will be safe this way." The sun had set upon his worlds, cloaking the pair in darkness as he continued. "He promised me land, Repla. He's giving us our home. Our own little paradise. You will be safe there while I fight. I'll come visit you, and at the end of it all, we'll be together."

His heart ached, not knowing what to do or what he had done.

--behind the post--
yep, that's their deal.
And Lao's very nervous.

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