Eclipse laid there for the rest of the night. She was half-conscious when she thought that she heard the sound of hooves trotting up to her, but she was too weak to fully open her eyes.
"It's alright, Eclipse. We're here," a familiar voice said.
Before she knew it, Eclipse felt herself drag across the ground. She sighed and slipped back into unconsciousness.
10 minutes earlier:
Barak awoke from a restless sleep. He looked outside from his bed, and saw that it was barely the crack of dawn.
"It's early enough," Barak thought to himself, "She won't know."
He yawned, got up, and went outside. There, a few horse-lengths away, laid his sister. Beat-up and unconscious. Barak sighed.
"Not again," He internally wept for Eclipse. She had to go through this almost every day.
After giving his sister a touch with his nose, he turned and trotted towards Flame's cave.
Present time:
Eclipse woke up to the feel of someone nudging her. She so badly wanted to sleep more, but she heard a voice calling her name.
"C'mon, Eclipse. You have to wake up."
Eclipse opened her eyes to find Barak and Flame staring down at her. She looked around, and saw that they were in the familiar place that they always go to after she received a beating.
"How are you feeling?" asked Flame.
"Lousy," Eclipse moaned.
"Hold still," Barak commanded her sister.
Eclipse lifted her head and looked over her shoulder. Barak was rubbing her wounds with moss and putting this green pulp on them.
"What are you doing?" She questioned him skeptically.
"Cleaning you up and putting yarrow on your wounds, so they don't get infected," Barak replied.
Confused, Eclipse looked at Flame, who shrugged her shoulders. She the turned to Barak, who wasn't looking up from his work. Eclipse cleared her throat to get her brother's attention. Barak looked up.
"How do you know this?" Eclipse demanded, "You've never done this in the past."
"Athena showed me," Barak said matter-of-factly.
Eclipse and Flame both raised their eyebrows.
"You mean that Cimarron filly that you were with yesterday?" Flame spoke up.
"Yep, she fixed me up after that encounter with the mountain lion." He gestured to his side, where Eclipse and Flame looked to see where the lion scratched him. It was healing up nicely and there were traces of yarrow pulp still left on it.
"Good for her," Flame scowled and held back a snort.
Barak turned back to his work, with the two female horses watching intently.
"Done," Barak suddenly said, "Leave the pulp on for about a week."
Flame and Eclipse noticed that there was pain in his voice. Flame was the one to speak up.
"Barak, is something wrong?" the fiery mare asked.
Barak winced and turned away.
"It's nothing," he choked, "I just hate seeing my sister like this almost every day. It makes me sick! How could Mother treat her own foal like that?! She never does that to me, and I'm not even her biological son! It makes no sense!"
Barak wept. His sister and Flame both leaned down to nuzzle him comfortingly.
"It's ok," Eclipse said, "I'm pretty much used to it by now."
"That doesn't make it right!" Barak cried.
"True," Eclipse replied, "But every horse here has to pull their own weight, no matter how cruel it may be. Hey, don't you have to go to training?"
Barak looked up. It was already sunrise.
"Oh gosh!" Barak exclaimed, "I'm late! I have to hurry, or else Mother will make me run laps for a week straight!"
"It's ok," Eclipse nodded, "Go. I'll be fine."
Barak touched noses with his sister, nodded to Flame, and turned to run back.
"Bye, guys!" His voice trailed off.
Eclipse and Flame watched as he galloped out of sight, the Flame let out a sigh.
"Oh, I hope Raven goes easy on him today," she said in a worried tone, "He looked really tired."
Eclipse chuckled.
"Don't worry," she teased, "He'll still be alive for you."
Flame glared at the blue roan, who was holding back laughter.
"Shut up," she said embarrassed, "I know that!"
Eclipse whinnied in laughter, while Flame stood there glaring at her.
Eventually, Eclipse calmed down and rolled off of her side.
"C'mon," she said, "We have to get back."
The red mare nodded, still scowling. Eclipse struggled to stand up, so Flame cut in.
"Let me help you," she said.
"Thanks," Eclipse replied gratefully.
The two friends slowly left their hospital place, with Flame helping Eclipse along the way.
Whats up? Wow, I'm on a roll! Three chapters published in one day! And I already have a picture of Barak done! I'll publish that after I publish this chapter. I should pay more attention in school. Lol! Ok, so basically, Barak, Eclipse, and Flame are kind of like the "good guys" of the Sharir herd, but everyone else is evil and are totally loyal to Raven. Just wanted to touch base with that in case you were thinking that the Sharir herd wasn't actually bad. Don't worry, they're bad. Hope you like the story so far!
RR
