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Description

References used:
Getting up by AlterEgo-EquineStock
Pulling (shadow) by LyraWhite

          Story [499 words]

He stood, food bag on his nose, chewing. As he always had done.

Under his skin, his insides grumbled. They kept making noises. He didn't like the noises. Or the sensation. It wasn't... good.

It wasn't... pain? No. Not pain. Not pain like rocks in his hooves or biting insects. More like cold-ache or heat-burn. Always under his skin. Bubbling. Running like river water. Noisily.

It was unpleasant. A constant irritant. More so than the long trails he had to walk with horses he never got to know. With the clatter of supplies and people and large pungent metal rocks that others had to pull all those miles. He had yet to be pulled off into smaller groups with their riders, sent away for long hours. Days, even, before less came back than before, covered in fear-sweat and the warning scent of injury and death.

He wasn't any of those horses.

He was the horse who kept losing his thick fur and long hair on his long tail.

His rider muttered unknown words to him as he was brushed, light brown and cream strands dusting the dark oiled leather shoes of his rider.

Other people came to talk around him as he ate. Grain out of a bag. Grass around him at night. Insides gurgling, never quiet.

It started costing more to keep up with the herd of leather and metal and of horses and riders. He couldn't get his breath back or stop his feet from dragging by the afternoon.

His rider gave him another bag of grain. More people talking around him. He ate it all, as he always did. His mouth would always get wet and thick with saliva. He didn't use to eat this way.

His rider and someone else kept looking at and into his mouth. Pulling his tongue to the side and poking at his gums.

He didn't know what was wrong, other than his insides were not like they used to be. He didn't need his thick coat in this heat and his tail still worked. If only they walked fewer miles in a day. Or his packs were not so heavy.

His rider was not happy.

His rider patted his neck. Took off all the leather and metal and bags and put them on another horse. A taller one, one with a gleaming coat and energy in his legs.

He stood obediently where he was tied because he knew how to do that. He stayed put until it was clear no one else was staying with him. That is when he started to call and pull. He could follow!

But his rider put him here.
His rider knew he was here.

Maybe he was meant to stay here. Wait here.

Stand among grass that made his stomach turn and insides twinge and water run out of his mouth.

Maybe it was something wrong with him?
It felt like there was something wrong with him.

He didn't know how to fix it.

          Link to Horse: Dunalino 2608
          Issues: Hard Keeper, Fussy Eater
          XP Breakdown: Fullbody (6 pts) + Full Background (4 pts) + Full Shading (2 pts) + Literature (+5 pts)

Description

References used:
Getting up by AlterEgo-EquineStock
Pulling (shadow) by LyraWhite

          Story [499 words]

He stood, food bag on his nose, chewing. As he always had done.

Under his skin, his insides grumbled. They kept making noises. He didn't like the noises. Or the sensation. It wasn't... good.

It wasn't... pain? No. Not pain. Not pain like rocks in his hooves or biting insects. More like cold-ache or heat-burn. Always under his skin. Bubbling. Running like river water. Noisily.

It was unpleasant. A constant irritant. More so than the long trails he had to walk with horses he never got to know. With the clatter of supplies and people and large pungent metal rocks that others had to pull all those miles. He had yet to be pulled off into smaller groups with their riders, sent away for long hours. Days, even, before less came back than before, covered in fear-sweat and the warning scent of injury and death.

He wasn't any of those horses.

He was the horse who kept losing his thick fur and long hair on his long tail.

His rider muttered unknown words to him as he was brushed, light brown and cream strands dusting the dark oiled leather shoes of his rider.

Other people came to talk around him as he ate. Grain out of a bag. Grass around him at night. Insides gurgling, never quiet.

It started costing more to keep up with the herd of leather and metal and of horses and riders. He couldn't get his breath back or stop his feet from dragging by the afternoon.

His rider gave him another bag of grain. More people talking around him. He ate it all, as he always did. His mouth would always get wet and thick with saliva. He didn't use to eat this way.

His rider and someone else kept looking at and into his mouth. Pulling his tongue to the side and poking at his gums.

He didn't know what was wrong, other than his insides were not like they used to be. He didn't need his thick coat in this heat and his tail still worked. If only they walked fewer miles in a day. Or his packs were not so heavy.

His rider was not happy.

His rider patted his neck. Took off all the leather and metal and bags and put them on another horse. A taller one, one with a gleaming coat and energy in his legs.

He stood obediently where he was tied because he knew how to do that. He stayed put until it was clear no one else was staying with him. That is when he started to call and pull. He could follow!

But his rider put him here.
His rider knew he was here.

Maybe he was meant to stay here. Wait here.

Stand among grass that made his stomach turn and insides twinge and water run out of his mouth.

Maybe it was something wrong with him?
It felt like there was something wrong with him.

He didn't know how to fix it.

          Link to Horse: Dunalino 2608
          Issues: Hard Keeper, Fussy Eater
          XP Breakdown: Fullbody (6 pts) + Full Background (4 pts) + Full Shading (2 pts) + Literature (+5 pts)