smoke & retribution [spectra]

[Lyrics]

GENOCIDE BURIED IN THE TIDE,

Her sleep had been feverish and sporadic - at times her mind raced with only semi-coherent thoughts and her body felt strangely detached, a frustrating combination that left her too restless to sleep and too tired to be awake. Normally such a troubled night would not concern her as mild viruses were common to spread through the bitterly cold Northern air, but around her even the strongest equines were dropping like flies to this cursed plague. She had taken precaution to avoid contact with others (after all, that wasn't that much of a change), but Pyracantha knew she couldn't expect to escape unscathed just because she hadn't directly come into contact with someone who was visibility affected. When the sun rose and she woke from her fitful sleep, it occurred to her maybe she was falling victim to the sickness, something that caused an icicle of dread to stab her deep in the stomach. A few sunrises ago she had visited the Weaklands, intending on a little self-appointed patrol, and been appalled to sense the stench of sickness even from a fair distance away. As she hesitantly trod further into desert lands, she found an emaciated body of a Weaklander spread on the ground. This wasn't uncommon to see, but the sour smell she had only detected from afar was now strong and overwhelming and the corpse visibly had been suffering from a malady. Overcome with fear and disgust, the Warlander mare turned tail and promptly abandoned her mission, knowing the borders would keep by themselves if the sickness was so strong in the Weaklands.

It's not that bad, she tried to reason with herself. You've just got a little bit of a temperature, that's all. Sure, she was a little hot and cold at the moment but otherwise she felt fine; no coughing or spluttering, no stomach troubles, not even a runny nose. In fact, she was a little hungry, and the pine tree she was standing underneath offered little but rough, tasteless bark; only treated as food deep in the winter when nothing else was available. Knowing the Hot Springs were nearby, she deliberated for a moment. Should she risk the chance of exposure to illness in the often populated springs, or try and find edible vegetation elsewhere? She was feeling a little cold as well, despite the time she'd spent navigating the snowy lands. At this point, she couldn't tell whether the day was abnormally cold or whether she was suffering from chills, but either way she figured it would be better to move elsewhere warmer. She tried not to let the fact she hadn't seen another one of her own for a while now contribute as a factor in this decision, but the thought lingered in her mind despite herself. She wasn't a particularly social creature, but she wasn't a total recluse either, and the time she'd spent in solitude was slowly gnawing away at her brain. So, decision made, her sooty feathered legs making their way through the snow towards the rocky springs, looking forward to warmth of a physical and social form.

The journey wasn't long, but it gave way to her thoughts nonetheless. She felt a little sluggish and not quite alert yet, but she hoped that was simply because of the lack of sleep she'd had the night before. She was now into her fourth year of life - two years since she had arrived in this land and assimilated into the Northern allegiance. Did she feel any different from before? No, she still didn't think herself any more mature or authoritative than when she had left those clan of youngsters to explore these tumultuous, war-ridden lands. Pyra still hadn't really made herself known within the ranks of the draft side and felt sharp regret at that; a frustrating thing she had had to learn was that being a female was a considerable disadvantage to her initial ambitions. Not impossible, for sure, but she'd found it was almost exclusively stallions who were responsible for defending and patrolling the Weaklands, as well as being subject to battle training. In fact, she couldn't think of a single mare she'd met who undertook these tasks, and while that meant the silver bay mare was free to do what she liked on these grounds, she felt purposeless; apparent by her aimless wandering. On occasion she'd thought about joining a herd, if indeed there was a suitable one out there, but the idea didn't particularly appeal to her. She'd often found that once mares put themselves under the charge of a lead stallion they became swallowed by their own petty problems, with no concern for the outside world. Her mother's opinion had been the same on this matter, having been a former lead who'd been forced down the ranks after her co-lead had been replaced. However, she was aware of the fact that here, she may not have the choice in whether to join a herd or not. The fact (or perhaps the cold she was feeling) made her shiver, and she felt relief we she saw the steam of the hot springs rising up ahead.

She tread as close as she dared to the hottest pool there; a small but vigorously bubbling body of water that would easily scald any part of her body if she tried entering. A small sigh came from Pyra as she felt the radiating heat, warming her frozen limbs. She could feel the clumps of snow clinging to the feathering on her legs melting, beginning to drip down her fetlocks and evaporate. A tiny groan came from her as she dropped her head and let her eyes flutter closed, thoroughly enjoying the thawing of her whole body. If she was hungry before, she was famished after her travels, but for now the spotted mare was happy to bask in front of the springs, all matters other than warming herself completely forgotten.

CLEANSE IT IN THE SAND
lyrics- "smoke and retribution" flume