Noctis (Night) - Story

Noctis (Night) - Story

Okay here it is...


I was a little bored, so I hope it is okay if I write a story? This is just a little promo sort of thing...I'll see if I will keep it up. I don't know what the central story is right now, but as I go along it should start to form. :)

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NOCTIS

One

There was a great ocean where this world began, and in many ways it was how this land had formed. For a thousand years the great sea had molded the high mountains and turned them smooth and into fine rolling hills, the soil dark with shell bits and other life from the waters. The gentle, sweeping humps of hills fell into the distance, one by one, each dotted with cottonwoods and willow trees. Birds began to inhabit the trees, animals began to feed on the emerald pastures and sit in the golden grasses of the summer. It was an uninhabited, untouched paradise.

From the highest hill, you could look on with an eagle's eye view to the ocean, which had been called the Ocean for as long as anyone could remember. At dawn the sun rose, and the waters would turn a soft, lavender color, brightened with silver flecks where the water lapped and moved. In the wintertime gulls would sit on the rugged waves and catch fish. In the summertime the animals would watch in stunned amazement as fleets of man sailed along the turquoise waters, crimson sails flapping in the strong wing.

The life in the hills of this great land had not changed since the day it was created. The animals had lived in relative peace and harmony without human or any other outside contact for what seemed an aeon. It had not changed in anyway; it was still the same place as it had always been. The ocean had not changed, nor the hills, nor the sky, nor the wind, or the trees or the salt that came on the breeze. The only thing that had begun the change was when the golden mare had come to the hills.

It was one of those cool, summer evenings where the skies and the clouds resisted the change of day to night. The sky was a deep, rich royal blue, like crisp velvet, tiny little stars twinkling in the heavens, puffy clouds from a broken storm floating along lazily and heavily, like overloaded sky ships. The animals were all drinking and resting from the hot and rainy day in the damp grass. A few crisped spots from the past lightning still smelled of smoke and fire, and if it weren't for the smothering rains the whole place would have caught fire.

A young buck and his mate were resting beneath a willow glen near a tiny little stream that slithered like silver snakes through the grass. His great antlers stood out like jagged knives against the sky as his mate, a delicate beauty with soft eyes and slender legs, dipped her nose into the stream to drink. Proud, he stood over her, nibbling her shoulder affectionately in the way young love is, and she flicked her ears back in appreciation.

In those few quiet moments, she heard something. Her quick ears, made for catching sounds, swiveled this way and that. She raised her head, seemingly surprised at what she was hearing, and looked at the buck in fear and unrest. Together, they bolted off into the open, where a great light was shimmering in the heavens and coming down to the ground. The whole world was shaking terribly as they galloped, their cloven hooves pounding the ground, trying to escape the foreign light which seemed to follow them.

There was a sudden smell like crushed roses, and then the earth seemed to roar as whatever had flew in from the sky came down to the ground. The young buck stopped, and his mate rammed into his back and sent them tumbling down onto the ground, a tangled mess of legs. When the violent shaking stopped, there was a deathly silence like they had never heard before. Was it an asteriod? the female wondered to herself as she shakily looked around. Was it a dream? But when she closed her eyes, and then tried to wake herself she realized she was conscious.

By then all the animals in the hills had been awakened from sleep. They stood, astounded, speechless, after what had just happened. The Crows, a gang of twelve who were the main gossipers and enjoyed squawking for hours or more, were for the first time bereft of words. Their black beaks stayed firmly shut and their beady eyes only glanced between each other in itching urge to squawk and also fear of what had just occurred.

A group of wild dogs had been gnawing on old bones when the incident had occurred, and had been closer to the incident than any of the other animals. They had gotten up, yelped like a pack of world-shy pups and took off with their tails between their legs, making it to the beach shore faster than ever. No one could laugh at this comical spectacle as they once would have, since everyone had been scared out of their wits.

The first ones to head to the site of the strange occurrence were two cats - both female - who on their silent paws flicked their bushy tails, licked their smirking mouths and trotted silently to where the unknown object had crashed landed. As they came closer they saw that the trees had been swept out of the ground so violently their roots had been torn away from their trunks. The leaves on the branches were covered with a peculiar, silvery dust that somewhat resembled the stars in the sky.

Looking at each other the two cats were both amused and excited. For all the years of their sweet, exciting, and sometimes lazy lives they had never seen such a spectacle as this one! It would be great news to spread around.

When the two cats came to the site they looked down to see a large ream of silken fabric, covered with strange and beautiful ornaments, resting in the middle of a shallow hole on the top of the highest hill. One of the cats, a fat gray with wide yellow eyes, told her friend to stay as she slid carefully down the side of the slope to where the fabric rested. With one delicate paw she tapped it, and then jumped back when a deep, tired grunt emitted from beneath the fabric.

Something was in there! She beckoned to her friend, who did not wait, to come down to investigate with her. As the gray looked closer she was the shape of a head, four legs, a round stomach, hindquarters...it was a horse!

With a carefulness only known to cats they took both ends of the fabric and peeled it away to reveal a small, beautiful, and delicate golden bay mare, in foal.



THE MARE was the color of bright honey. Her coat was reddish-brown, a hint of gold in it. Her mane was long, thick, and lush, the color like ebony. Her delicate nostrils were flared and her wide, brown eyes looked at the two cats in desperation. Her stomach, which protruded from her side in a great lump, heaved with each quick breath and shimmered with sweat. The mare opened up her mouth, and she emitted a long, pained whinny that could only mean she was about to give birth.

The gray cat told her friend to get all the female animals to assist the mare, and all the males to protect them while they watched over her. The other cat took off in a quick run, leaping from tree to tree to save time, and before the gray could even begin to speak to the bay mare all the female animals were by her side.

The dogs licked her face and made sure she was comfortable. They fetched stacks of hay and old pine nettles and the birds made soft nests out of them and placed them beneath her head. The mare sighed in pleasure as her heavy head was rested upon the little pillow. The deer had brought her water in large nut shells, and they helped her sip from each. The cats walked along her swollen belly to massage the tired muscles, and the rabbits braided her tail hair and placed flowers in each braid.

As the night worn on the foal seemed to come quicker, and then slower, and then quicker again. For each hour the mare would tense, and then she would fall limp again. They were all afraid she would not make it past the night, but just before dawn the young foal came and the mare regained what little strength she had.

On four shaky legs she stood to lick the young colt. He flopped down onto the ground, his tiny nostrils flaring to catch each scent. His eyes blinked, and long, dark lashes glittered in the pale morning light. The bay mare nickered to her young baby, and she nudged his slender neck and delicate shoulder, attempting to get him up.

He squealed, and pushed out his long legs. As the night slipped into day the animals all began to notice there was something different about this colt. He was not like any other horse they had seen. They noticed his coat was a pure black, not a white spot to be seen, not even up under the damp little bush of his tail.

He opened his mouth again, showing toothless pink gums, his tiny hooves brownish-gray, set on long, effortless onyx legs. His back legs jutted out, trembling awkwardly, and then his fronts legs slid out, and finally after a few attempts he was standing upright, a dribble of milk on his chin after he had gotten his early morning breakfast.

When the sunlight finally made its way over the ocean horizon, the soft, golden rays struck the now dry coat of the young foal. And it was revealed who he was.

It was no mistaking the colt was a horse of the night. They also realized that the mare wore a necklace of gold with the symbol of the night on the amulet. It was in the shape of a cloud with a rearing horse striking out at a star, his hooves piercing the air. The foal had that air about him that no human horse possessed, and they knew they would have to hide him from the humans who sometimes rested at the beach shore.

And the bay mare named her son Erebus, for darkness, and for the night, and for the stars which they had been sent from.

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Copyright (C) 'NearertoGod'
Please, I kindly ask that if you wish to share my works that you please ask of my personal consent first. Please, do not steal or use my works and label them as your own!
 
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