Hoshor Plains Lichen
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#1
All Welcome 
The day the bay mare stumbled was the day that Fancy made up her mind- and sought out @Maplesmoke and @Selenia, nostrils flared and crown lifted with urgency. Cedar- the quiet bay mare, had been stung by a bee, and in her haste to buck, had stepped into a gopher hole, and fell forward to the ground, dropping as a dull, loud crack sounded. 

Fancy knew the sound, and she knew the peril the bay felt as she squealed and heaved herself to her feet, favouring her left fore. Her ankle began to swell almost immediately, and the mare began to shudder and sweat. 

Fancy reassured her, told her to press closer to the bison and keep her weight off it. 

Thus, she went to the two others, and shook her head. Out of earshot, she still spoke in a low voice. 

”We need to head for higher ground,” She urged. ”There’s more wolves hanging around every day, Cedar hasn’t got a chance if they see her with her ankle like that,” She said with a sigh. She didn’t have much of a chance if anything came after her, now. She looked to Maplesmoke. ”We need to move.”
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#2
selenia groomed cedar's mane, hoping to calm the young mare.

"let's move into the forest, please," she asked with shuddering coat. "silverbirch and cedar will both be safer if we're less visible."

but selenia would not press. this decision was made by the lead mare and band stallion.

she tucked her filly close with a low sound of reassurance, feeling nausea curl in her throat. surely maplesmoke had planted another foal that he'd want to protect, two if nature smiled on both she and fancy.
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The bay mare limped. Silverbirch looked on curiously as her mother doted upon the wounded mare, reassuring her. Having little understanding of what this injury might mean, Silverbirch failed to comprehend the importance of the current meeting, and began to nudge her mother’s side restlessly.

The sorrel spoke; she was always so bossy! And she never had any milk! Silverbirch flicked her feathery tail and snorted- a gesture that might have appeared as agreement in context, and began to nose at her mother’s bag for a drink of milk.
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The reality of the situation was grim. While she felt Cedar might have some inkling of her likeliest outcome, she sensed that the mare was frightened, and would do everything in her power to remain alive. For her, it would mean being protected by others until she healed- if she healed- but Fancy knew where her own priorities lay. 

Selenia had a goal, and there was a chance she might have conceived; the two of them might be carrying foals. At this point, if they were attacked and forced to flee, then there would be no helping poor Cedar. 

”Wolves like forests, too,” She said, her voice toneless. Woodlands had a bouquet of smells- enough to cover the scent of a wolf. They could circle in close, use the forest to their advantage. She sighed. ”But we have to get out of the open for now. We’re too exposed,” she said. 

Her gaze searched for Maplesmoke, who had not yet appeared. Her ears pinned for a moment, and she drew in a breath so she could flare her nostrils and expel it a moment later. ”Let’s go.” She said with a flick of her chin, gesturing with her muzzle toward a dark line on the horizon. 

Their stallion would have to find them on his own- a task he was likely quite capable of. But in his absence, she would steer them so as to give them a fighting chance.
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#5
her ears wilted, but it was true. 

where was he?

when the lead mare directed them on, selenia chivvied silverbirch back to her flank and cedar close for support.

her eyes darted once for their stallion, but she couldn't think of it now, and moved off with the small herd as they departed the plains.

selenia sent one single whinney skyward for the ears of umini.
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The filly’s short, curly tail flicked in circles as she was nudge, and she cow-kicked as she drew her head back from her dam’s flank. Briefly, she appraised her mother’s expression, noted how she nudged the limping mare, but just as she ducked her head to go for another drink, the sorrel began to push them around again. 

She tossed her head indignantly, but moved along at her mother’s side, step high and ears flicking. While she didn’t understand why it was that they were on the move, her instincts drove her to obey, and follow the herd leader’s direction.