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Description

September Mini Prompt: Team Building

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Word Count: 1002

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It was a bleak day and lightning rolled across the dreary sky, the morning sun completely blanketed in clouds. Due to the weather, the soldiers were trying to keep their activities inside the tent and therefore the camp was very still. In the middle of one of the Nordanner holding pens, a group of horses had begun to gather under one of the trees. A winged horse broke through the rain and swooped down to the herd, landing gracefully among them. Horses murmered among themselves, just loud enough to hear each other over the rain.

"Hush my friends". Duncan stomped his hoof, shaking his wet mane. "I for one want to confirm what Kat here has told us..." The dark peafowl turned to the winged mare that had just landed among them,"Miss Nog, can you explain what you and Kat saw on patrol?"

Nog's skin twitched at the bad memory, her eyes looking distant. "I can hardly explain it... monsters? Demons? I don't know. We accompanied our masters down into this cave. I don't think it had been paroled before. We were ambushed and I can't even describe the creatures but they were vile, pale things with long claws and fangs. We defeated them but they were strong and it easily could have gone bad."

Kat nodded thoughtfully. "See? Just like I told you."

A large bay stallion, Charlie, stepped closer, his head high."And the humans? Did they say what they were going to do? That was not far from camp and if more of those things come here while we are unprepared-"

"We would be finished." Rook interjected, her ears laying back."Why have none of the humans come out since the patrol came back? Don't they know what danger this could be?"

Duncan turned to the camp with a glazed look. "We have to remember, this is not like an army we are used to fighting in. These humans are from all over and are used to many different systems of command. We must expect that orders will not flow down the chain of command so efficiently."

"Then we need to band together to figure out a way to make up for the humans' shortcomings till they become more efficient." Nog added, shaking some rain from her wings.

The horses all fell silent in deep thought, wondering how they could bring all the horses together to keep the camp safe. Suddenly lightning flashed directly overhead followed immediately by a boom of thunder. All seven horses jumped, their heads shooting up. Watching the sky, the nordanners trembled as the rain began to drive harder, stinging their skin. Mulan pawed at the ground, thinking.

"Where I'm from, all of the horses are accountable just as much as the humans. Each night two horses are assigned to watch over the pastures. This way someone is always awake to sound the alarm if necessary." The panda mare looked around.

"Safety in numbers," Charlie looked more confident "There are more of us than humans, if we can rally everyone, this will be the most well guarded army in the land!"

"Right." Rook agreed, gaining Charlie's infectious confidence. "With seven of us, we should be able to spread the word quickly. I think by tonight we should have our first patrol of the pastures set up."

"And we should also organize a separate group to keep watch in camp. A couple of us are stabled at our master's tent and we would not be noticed as easily wandering at night than the pastured horses." Nog stretched her wings out. "I volunteer to spread the word to all of them and we will have shifts set up by this evening."

"Good." Duncan looked appreciative of the initiative everyone was taking. "Please do. Mulan, you have experience with this system so will you handle coordinating the shifts?"

The panda mare nodded."Of course. Charlie and Rook, would one of you take the east pastures and one of you take the west pastures? Assign one horse from each side and have them meet here in the middle at sunset. I will handle this central pasture and will set up two horses from here for tomorrow night."

Tox, who had remained quiet for most of the meeting stepped closer. "Duncan and I will take tomorrow night. We are familiar now with what to look for." Duncan nodded in agreement, turning to Kat. "And Kat should meet each shift here to explain what they should be looking for since she saw the creatures with her own eyes."

"Alright then I think we are done here. Let us get this organized." Charlie stepped away from the group. "Good luck." With that, the big bay stallion cantered off to the west, hurdling the fence, heading out to round up the horses. Rook stepped off in the opposite direction, nodding a goodbye to her companions.

Nog shook more rain from her wings, flapping them slowly.

"Don't be seen if you can help it. We don't need you tied up miss Nog." Duncan looked after the mare.

"Hah don't worry about me." The mare took to the sky, cutting through the driving rain as she headed out to warn her companions in camp. Quietly, Mulan slipped away from the group quietly, trotting over the pasture hill. Kat shifted around nervously.

"I don't like it. One of those creatures could likely take down a horse with no armor or rider. They could still ambush us. And who's to say there aren't more demons like that out there?" The mare looked nervously to the mountains.

Duncan pressed his shoulder to the mare comfortingly and Tox leaned in as well. "We just have to trust ourselves and our friends. The humans will follow in time."

The last three of them moved closer to the tree to get some relief from the stinging rain as more thunder rolled. All were alert with uncertainty, hoping the other horses would sense the urgency of the situation and join them in their fight.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Horse Tracker Image: Tracker
Horses Featured: 1883 Duncan (grullo peafowl) 2510 Toxicity (chestnut peafowl) 4477 Blod Katteart (cemophora) A372 Charlie Scene (pangare bay) 6936 Fa Mulan (panda) A2371 Rukhbah (dunskin) A5552 Swimmin' In Nog (champagne)
Art, Story and Characters (C) Leigh-Fleur
Nordanner Breed (C) HoT-Stables

Image Info
Time Spent: 7+ Hours including story
Number of Layer: 65
Tools Used: PS Elements 8, Wacom Bamboo Fun Tablet

Description

September Mini Prompt: Team Building

<< |>>>Next>>>
Word Count: 1002

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

It was a bleak day and lightning rolled across the dreary sky, the morning sun completely blanketed in clouds. Due to the weather, the soldiers were trying to keep their activities inside the tent and therefore the camp was very still. In the middle of one of the Nordanner holding pens, a group of horses had begun to gather under one of the trees. A winged horse broke through the rain and swooped down to the herd, landing gracefully among them. Horses murmered among themselves, just loud enough to hear each other over the rain.

"Hush my friends". Duncan stomped his hoof, shaking his wet mane. "I for one want to confirm what Kat here has told us..." The dark peafowl turned to the winged mare that had just landed among them,"Miss Nog, can you explain what you and Kat saw on patrol?"

Nog's skin twitched at the bad memory, her eyes looking distant. "I can hardly explain it... monsters? Demons? I don't know. We accompanied our masters down into this cave. I don't think it had been paroled before. We were ambushed and I can't even describe the creatures but they were vile, pale things with long claws and fangs. We defeated them but they were strong and it easily could have gone bad."

Kat nodded thoughtfully. "See? Just like I told you."

A large bay stallion, Charlie, stepped closer, his head high."And the humans? Did they say what they were going to do? That was not far from camp and if more of those things come here while we are unprepared-"

"We would be finished." Rook interjected, her ears laying back."Why have none of the humans come out since the patrol came back? Don't they know what danger this could be?"

Duncan turned to the camp with a glazed look. "We have to remember, this is not like an army we are used to fighting in. These humans are from all over and are used to many different systems of command. We must expect that orders will not flow down the chain of command so efficiently."

"Then we need to band together to figure out a way to make up for the humans' shortcomings till they become more efficient." Nog added, shaking some rain from her wings.

The horses all fell silent in deep thought, wondering how they could bring all the horses together to keep the camp safe. Suddenly lightning flashed directly overhead followed immediately by a boom of thunder. All seven horses jumped, their heads shooting up. Watching the sky, the nordanners trembled as the rain began to drive harder, stinging their skin. Mulan pawed at the ground, thinking.

"Where I'm from, all of the horses are accountable just as much as the humans. Each night two horses are assigned to watch over the pastures. This way someone is always awake to sound the alarm if necessary." The panda mare looked around.

"Safety in numbers," Charlie looked more confident "There are more of us than humans, if we can rally everyone, this will be the most well guarded army in the land!"

"Right." Rook agreed, gaining Charlie's infectious confidence. "With seven of us, we should be able to spread the word quickly. I think by tonight we should have our first patrol of the pastures set up."

"And we should also organize a separate group to keep watch in camp. A couple of us are stabled at our master's tent and we would not be noticed as easily wandering at night than the pastured horses." Nog stretched her wings out. "I volunteer to spread the word to all of them and we will have shifts set up by this evening."

"Good." Duncan looked appreciative of the initiative everyone was taking. "Please do. Mulan, you have experience with this system so will you handle coordinating the shifts?"

The panda mare nodded."Of course. Charlie and Rook, would one of you take the east pastures and one of you take the west pastures? Assign one horse from each side and have them meet here in the middle at sunset. I will handle this central pasture and will set up two horses from here for tomorrow night."

Tox, who had remained quiet for most of the meeting stepped closer. "Duncan and I will take tomorrow night. We are familiar now with what to look for." Duncan nodded in agreement, turning to Kat. "And Kat should meet each shift here to explain what they should be looking for since she saw the creatures with her own eyes."

"Alright then I think we are done here. Let us get this organized." Charlie stepped away from the group. "Good luck." With that, the big bay stallion cantered off to the west, hurdling the fence, heading out to round up the horses. Rook stepped off in the opposite direction, nodding a goodbye to her companions.

Nog shook more rain from her wings, flapping them slowly.

"Don't be seen if you can help it. We don't need you tied up miss Nog." Duncan looked after the mare.

"Hah don't worry about me." The mare took to the sky, cutting through the driving rain as she headed out to warn her companions in camp. Quietly, Mulan slipped away from the group quietly, trotting over the pasture hill. Kat shifted around nervously.

"I don't like it. One of those creatures could likely take down a horse with no armor or rider. They could still ambush us. And who's to say there aren't more demons like that out there?" The mare looked nervously to the mountains.

Duncan pressed his shoulder to the mare comfortingly and Tox leaned in as well. "We just have to trust ourselves and our friends. The humans will follow in time."

The last three of them moved closer to the tree to get some relief from the stinging rain as more thunder rolled. All were alert with uncertainty, hoping the other horses would sense the urgency of the situation and join them in their fight.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Horse Tracker Image: Tracker
Horses Featured: 1883 Duncan (grullo peafowl) 2510 Toxicity (chestnut peafowl) 4477 Blod Katteart (cemophora) A372 Charlie Scene (pangare bay) 6936 Fa Mulan (panda) A2371 Rukhbah (dunskin) A5552 Swimmin' In Nog (champagne)
Art, Story and Characters (C) Leigh-Fleur
Nordanner Breed (C) HoT-Stables

Image Info
Time Spent: 7+ Hours including story
Number of Layer: 65
Tools Used: PS Elements 8, Wacom Bamboo Fun Tablet