Anna ~ Don't let anyone dull your sparkle ~ & Maven's Queen

[[deleted user]]

Jarin turned his gaze to where the little boy had wandered off; far enough away to give himself some space but close so that the two young adults would not have to be afraid of him running off again. Jarin sighed a little. The boy had been through too much in such a short time. He should be able to go run and have fun with other kids his age but always attempting to watch out for his father and other dangers meant that opportunity was stolen from him.

"Yeah, let's go check on him. Then we'll figure out a better place to stay for the night," he said with a reluctant nod. He hesitantly put his arm around Dasha's shoulders for a moment before walking off to check on Mattie.

Mattie was still facing away from them in the blowing prairie grass.

"Mattie," Jarin said softly, pausing beside the child. Mattie was quiet for some time but let out a small sigh.

"I got Rudy hurt," he whispered. His jaw clenched and so did his fists. "It's all my fault."

[[deleted user]]

((Thanks! I did have a good vacation. Happy new year even if I'm a little late!))

[Lynn]

Dasha made her way over to Mattie as well- though she paused her approach for a moment once she was only a few feet away, trying to guage the situation. She did not have much experience with trying to comfort someone. It wasn't really a skill she had needed, nor was it a kindness that had been extended to her very often. She would try though, and trust Jarin to help and fill in what her attempt lacked.

She took the last few steps towards the boy, coming to a stop beside him much in the same way Jarin had- just at the opposite side. "I don't believe it is . . . and I don't think you should either." She eased herself to the ground and took a seat there, knowing this likely wouldn't be a quick affair and that Mattie would most likely feel more comfortable if they both weren't standing over him. "Your hands aren't the ones that sought to cause harm." She plucked one of the longer strands of prarie grass that hadn't shifted it's self out of her space, idly spinning the sun brittled stalk between her thumb and forefinger. "You do not need to bear the weight of responsibility for anyone else's actions or reactions. Only your own. That is all you can truly control. Nothing less, nothing more."

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Mattie shook his head stiffly at Jarin's comment. His young face scrunched up and so did his fists once more. He let out a huff and turned to look over at Jarin and Dasha. "Sure, but if I hadn't gotten all mad then I wouldn't have run off and he wouldn't have followed. What if he's...what if he's dead? Then that means I killed him." His eyes welled up, but wanting to be a tough young man, he turned away from them and swallowed hard.

Jarin sank down beside Dasha. "Dasha's right, you know. Sometimes the things we do makes other people, or animals, do things in response to that for one reason or another. There used to be a stallion I rode all the time back at the stables where I grew up. Everyone else called him violent and dangerous but I was the only one who could handle him. He never tried to bite, never kicked, or threw me off. In fact, he'd even walk up to stand near me. Anyone else, he'd react completely the opposite. Once when I was heading to the stables, I heard some men shouting and realized they were trying to get the stallion out of his stall. They nearly had him at that point, but I'd seen him and he had seen me and he bolted out of his stall towards me and ended up injuring one of the stable hands pretty seriously." He sighed a little to himself. "In the end, my beautiful stallion was sold off and I've never seen him since. I-I'm not sure if he's still alive. I thought it was my fault that he was taken away because I never should have walked into the stable then. That stallion trusted me. However, it is not because of what I did that caused the stallion to be sold off like that. It was long time coming for they didn't want potentially dangerous animals in their care."

"Rudy loves you and he followed you because he wanted to protect you. He's an animal, but it was his choice to make and you were not the one who chose to hurt him. Just like I didn't choose to sell my stallion like that."

[Lynn]

((Oof, I didn't realize it had been THAT long. I've had terrible writers block for this and kept procrastinating actually writing out my reply. Sorry about that.))

Dasha was thankful Jarin was there to fill in the gaps she left in her attempt to comfort the boy. She had very little experience of her own to draw on for this sort of thing. The closest thing she had ever had to a pet was the frog that had lived out in the window box for one whole summer. Not having anything relatable to offer up in way of comfort she went with an apology instead. "I'm sorry it ended up like this, Mattie . . ."
It was no secret that she had never been overly fond of the dog. At first she had viewed the creature as little more than a nuisance- a scraggly mutt that had a penchant to hang around and steal precious food scraps - but she could never fault it for simply trying to survive, not when she was all too familiar with that struggle herself. Once Jarin had begun actively feeding it she had known it wasn't going to go anywhere- a fact that was further solidified when Mattie showed up and near immediately took to the dog.
Over time nuisance shifted into inconvenience, inconvenience into tolerance, and tolerance into acceptance that the dog- by that point known as Rudy- was just another fixture in life here. Even then she did not have a bond with the animal- not like Jarin, and certainly not like Mattie. She had never even so much as stopped to scratch Rudy behind the ears. Instead there seemed to be an understanding between the two- they had developed a common goal to keep a certain little boy safe and therefore could peacefully coexist without need of any form of bond between themselves. Even so, she would feel his absence in the days ahead if it proved that loyal little Rudy had indeed met his end. At least the dog had accomplished his goal, even if he hadn't gotten to know it- Mattie was once again out of danger for the time being. "but I am glad that you are safe."

[[deleted user]]

But Rudy was not, and it was all his fault, Mattie thought glumly. He just shrugged to the two of them, snatching a piece of prairie grass between his fingers and twirling it.

Jarin sat silently beside him and Dasha, and the moments passed. Eventually, Jarin got into a crouch, ready to rise up. "Well, we should probably keep going. It's getting late and it's been a long day. We'll need to find some sort of shelter before long if we can help it. Come on, you can ride the horse if you'd like," he said, extending a hand to the little boy. His shoulder was still bleeding, soaking the shirt pretty well at this point. Mattie took his hand and stood up, giving a nod before moving to climb up onto the horse's back.

[Lynn]

   When Dasha stood she abandoned the piece of prarie grass she had been mutilating, letting the pieces drop to the dusty ground. She didn't bother trying to brush off the dust that had undoubtedly clung to her clothing- she had long since given that idea up. It was everywhere in this place, more would just replace it.
   It didn't escape her notice that the bloodstain on Jarin's shirt had grown quite a bit- the fabric damp enough to cling to his skin. The sight was more than enough to alight a new wave of worry in her, but there was little she could do about it right now. Once they found a better place to settle for a while she would take a look at it, evaluate what would need to be done. For now she just had to hope that the fabric clinging to the wound would help it start to clot- even if that complicated things later.
   "We should try heading for the trees to the east of this clearing." She suggested once Mattie was on their borrowed horse. "The leaves are less shrivelled and yellowed- that could indicate a safe water source somewhere close by. We're going to need one of those." She watched Jarin carefully, making sure he was still steady. She wouldn't venture very far from him.

[[deleted user]]

"At the very least, it'll provide some sort of shade from this heat out here," Jarin nodded, agreeing with Dasha. He was feeling a little lightheaded now, but he told himself it was just the hot sun beating down on top of them, not the metallic scent of blood leaking from his shoulder or the loss of blood. He felt fine enough to keep walking, and if needed, he'd run. There wasn't time to be weak or pass out.

They headed out across the clearing, Mattie holding onto the horse and Jarin walking alongside to make sure the boy was fine. Occasionally he found himself scanning the ground in hopes to find Rudy scurrying up to them like he sometimes did.

Eventually, they managed to duck beneath the gathering of trees and were met with a faint breeze of cooler air.

[Lynn]

   Dasha followed behind; close enough to quickly step in and duck under Jarin's good arm to provide support if need be, but far enough to also keep a good eye on their backs. She didn't think anyone would venture out this far in search of them, but it was better safe than sorry. She didn't want any surprises. There had been enough of those for today.
   On the walk across the clearing she started planning. Once they found a good place to stop she would look through the saddle bags and see if there was anything of use hidden within. She didn't have high hopes for that- she doubted they would of been left on the horse if there was anything inside. More than likely she would find them empty. At least there was the saddle blanket. If nothing else she could rip off part of it to serve as a temporary bandage for Jarin's shoulder. It wouldn't be ideal, but it would help staunch the bleeding until she could get her hands on something better.
   The promise of shade came as a great relief after being out under direct sunlight for so long. Even so Dasha paused and spared one last look back across the clearing, searching for any movement. Finding none she followed the boys into the trees, satisfied that there was no one coming to follow. They continued on for a little longer- now far enough in to be completely out of sight of the clearing. Though they had yet to stumble upon any direct sign of a good water source, Dasha was certain there had to be one around here somewhere. She could search for it on her own later. Right now she just wanted to get Jarin settled.
"This looks as good a place as any, let's stop here." The tree canopy was thick enough to provide a fair amount of cover from the sun and there were enough trees around that they would be able to light a small fire later without it acting as too much of a beacon.

[[deleted user]]

Jarin looked around, concern crossing his weary face. He'd come a long way from being a pompous prince who was used to getting what he wanted if he was arrogant about it enough. Now he had learned to go along with whatever the plan was and that the best was for everyone, most especially his friends and not himself.

"We need water," Jarin said slowly. "The horse is exhausted and so are you and Mattie. If you both wait here, I'll go look on ahead to see if there is anything around here. There has to be with all this greenery. But if we don't get water soon, we'll all get sick." He turned, starting to walk off deeper into the trees.