The beautiful midsummer weather did nothing at all to lift her spirits. Soon the outskirts of Kirkwall came into view. The large buildings along the main road marked the spot where they would say goodbye to the emissary.
Solstice had declared that he would rather take the main road home. It was faster than crossing the meadows south of the city and that way he could make it home within the day. He would just have to canter or gallop until he left the city limits again; that would cut the amount of time he could be spotted by dog packs. In any case, he was fast enough to outrun them.
When they finally reached the first of the large one-storey structures, he bade his two escorts stop. He turned around and addressed Buidhe in a formal voice, just as she had taught him was important.
“I thank you and your tribe for the hospitality I enjoyed and will report this and the good outcome to my leader. Buidhe, please translate this for Ruadh.” He bowed a little to her and her brother respectively. She related it to Ruadh who of course already knew what he would hear from her.
This was it then. If only she had time to discuss all the implications with Solstice. If only she had not been so stupid in the first place.
She realized the others were waiting for her to conclude the formalities. Ruadh had an impatient and irritated expression on his face while Solstice had his head cocked and a questioning look in his eyes. “[My apologies,]” she muttered. She was just about to bow when she registered movement somewhere downslope to the west.
Instinctively she snapped her head around.
Ruadh groaned. “[What in Teacher's name is it this time? Can we not just be done with this and go home?]”
“[Down there. It is...,]” she squinted, “[It is a pony.]”
“[So what?]”
Solstice had turned around as well. “Yeah, could be one of ours. I'll go meet up with him or her.” He frowned. “Wait... that doesn't look good.”
She saw the pony sink to its knees and then fall over.
“HEY THERE! YOU OKAY?” her companion cried out.
It tried to rise again at the call but fell over once more. A moment later she was in a fast canter before she even registered what she was doing. So was Solstice and, a length and a curse behind, her brother.
She gasped when she saw the small, stocky pony close up. It resembled Dawn in many ways, but the pale yellow coat was full of dirt and blood. The hooves were chipped and the bright orange mane and tail a was a matted mess full of thorny twigs and more dirt. And the wounds. This pony should be dead already.
“Sun and moon! Buidhe! We need to get her up there! Tell Ruadh to stop being a damn jerk and help!”
Turning away from the whimpering little mare she addressed her brother in an angry voice. “[Will you now stop complaining and help!? There is clean water up there. We only have to get her to her hooves again and support her!]”
“[She is as good as dead already! Why would you want to make her suffer even more? Just stay with her until she fades away! Why not once listen to me instead of your messenger?!]”
“[Because he gives the better advice! Now help us or I swear you will regret it!]”
“[Fine! Have it your way then!]” he snarled, giving in.
Supported between two larger horses, the wounded pony was indeed able to walk. Slow, wobbly, but able to do it, much to her amazement.
“Just a little more! You're safe now girl!” Solstice was encouraging the pony from a little left and behind her. “We'll-” His hoofsteps came to an abrupt halt.
Whatever it was it would have to wait. “Solstice! Do not delay! Lead us!” He had to come to the front and look for obstacles on the ground. They should not force the little mare to use more strength than absolutely necessary.
When he spoke again, seemingly oblivious to her command, his voice was wavering. As if in awe. “Buidhe! She... She has a mark!”
“Yes! Bite marks!” she shot back. “Stare flank later!” She knew she was being unfair, but of all things to concentrate on right then!
“What?!” he spluttered but rallied immediately. “Sorry! Coming.”
Beside the main building was a pond with crystal clear water that welled up close by. They waded into it, the pony still between them. The mare cried out when the cold water washed over her injuries for the first time but soon seemed to relax a little. At least she ceased crying and started drinking greedily instead until they stopped her.
The pond had turned a brownish reddish colour around them when they finally deemed her clean enough. She now at least had a slight chance of not being killed by her wounds starting to rot. They helped her out of the water and over to the arched metal gate where Solstice had disappeared.
He had busied himself with cleaning a spot on the floor. The entrance room of the largest building right behind the gate was full of stands with faded, crumbling pictures. There were glass cases along the walls and behind a long counter, containing glasses, cups and dishes of blackened metal and leather-bound flasks.
Paintings hung on the walls, the surfaces cracked and the frames distorted. In front of the desk lay what looked like a small book, colourful cards sticking out of it. Their was a strange smell in the air that mixed with dust and the odour of rotting timber.
Judging by the amount of dirt hanging in it, Solstice had used his tail to sweep a part of the old wooden floor. She made him support the mare while she herself lay down on the floor. “[Make her head rest on my legs. Then go and clean yourselves up!]”
Only minutes later, the smaller stallion was also lying beside the stranger and murmuring comforting words into her ears. It seemed to help as she relaxed a little and her breathing went from wheezing to drawing quick breaths interspersed with small gasps.
Then she opened her huge, bloodshot eyes again. She coughed and forced out “Need... stairs somewhere here... down.”
Solstice was on his hooves in an instant and began checking along the walls, kicking away assorted debris to get a look at the floor beneath. “[Ruadh! Help me!]”
[“She will die anyway. These wounds will not heal. Dog bites this big are poison.]” Ruadh was looking on with an irritated frown, standing at the far wall.
“Little one. What is of need?” She asked while keeping her forehooves under the injured pony's head as to cause her as little additional discomfort as possible.
“Bottles...,” a painful cough made her grimace before she added “Metal shelves... many bottles.”
“Found it!” Solstice called out, “Over here under all this rubbish!” He turned to her brother. “[Help...clear!]”
Ruadh just scoffed. “[No point.]”
“[Get... tribe flank... move!]”
“[Ruadh! Do what he says!]” she interjected before her brother could answer, ignoring the general insult.
The two stallions began to pull away large pieces of the first floor that had fallen down into the room, brittle with dry rot. Ruadh was cursing the foul taste while Solstice seemed to have no problem whatsoever with it. The dirt that immediately covered his legs also did not appear to bother him. His words about restoring buildings came to her mind.
The noise of thrown about boards and timber and the splintering of smaller parts of masonry, kicked away hard enough to smash against the stone walls, made the small mare try to look up. It only took a careful nuzzle and a little downward pressure to make her lie down again.
“Thank you... whatever... whoever you are.” She clenched her eyes shut.
“I am Buidhe. Your name is?”
“Brenda.”
“Brenda, what is in bottles?” she inquired. To keep on talking to her was the only way she could think of how to keep the other one conscious. Whatever she was on about, it seemed important and they did not know what to do.
“Whisky.”
She blinked. “What?”
There was a weak laugh, followed by a cough that made her wince. “A... a horse... wouldn't know... sorry.” She took a long and shaky breath. “Alcohol. Disinfect.”
“What do you mean?”
“Kill... kill bacteria.”
She was beginning to feel very stupid. “...what?”
There was a long pause that made her begin to worry again. “Make sure... wounds don't go bad. Can use Whisky. Horses sturdier than... than humans,” she swallowed heavily, “I hope.”
“Humans?” this was getting mystifying. Before the small pony could answer though, there was a loud noise from the other side of the room.
“Ah shit!” There was a skidding sound, together with the clatter and crunching of small bits of wood and masonry and metal. “Ow. Think I found it,” came Solstice's muffled voice. “Damn, it's dark down here.” Clank. “OW! Found the metal shelves alright.” More muffled cursing. “Feels like lots of stuff here.” He sneezed, several times. “Hey! Got it!”
After a series of slow and careful hoofsteps, Solstice's head emerged from the hole in the floor. He was holding a short but somewhat wide glass bottle between his teeth. The remnants of something black with letters on clung to one side.
He came over and held it in front of the wounded pony's eyes. “Yish ish o-ell?”
“That's it! Thank god... it's still here.” The initial smile on her lips died as fast as it had emerged. “Must pour over wounds.” He nodded and began to try and open it. “Wait!” An unsettling look of dread was creeping into her eyes. “Must...,” her voice wavered, “Must rub it in! Es.... especially the,” she took a shaky breath, “The deep ones.”
“What is it Brenda?” she asked. “Will it not help you?”
“It's gonna hurt dammit!” She snapped, then coughed again and gasped for air. “Fucking more than now!” The mare had begun to smell of fear, making her own ears splay back. “Get... Get another bottle! That one alone's not gonna cut it!” Brenda forced out quickly before the next cough.
When Solstice returned with the second bottle, he set about to open it but soon had to give up. “I can't get the damn thing open! Buidhe, you have to help me. Hold it so I can pull that top off!”
She nodded but all of a sudden felt nervous. “[How should I do that? Your hooves are better at this.]”
“Well, just bite down on the neck so I can get some some leverage. I'll keep my hooves on it as well.”
With only the slightest bit of hesitation she did as instructed and laid Brenda's head down with great care. She moved over to lie down opposite of Solstice, the bottom of the bottle between her hooves. He in turn put his own hooves on top of hers.
When they both bit down on the bottle she felt his breath on her cheek and swallowed a little nervously. Then he grunted and began to twist the top back and forth, gnawing through the material holding it in place.
When he turned it to the right the third time he pressed his muzzle against her own. She clenched her eyes shut when she felt a little lopsided grin on his lips despite the circumstances. A moment later the top came off with a resounding fump.
A strange smell filled the air that bit into her nostrils and made her eyes water. She released her hold. “[What on earth is that?!]”
“No idea. Pretty intense. [Ruadh! Two bottle!]”
She did not dare look up when her brother came over and put the other bottle between her and the little stallion with a disdainful snort.
A minute later they were done. “Alright Brenda, ready when you are.”
The pony nodded and clenched her eyes shut. She noticed how her muscles went taut. Solstice held the bottle over one of the smaller cuts on her flank and poured a little bit of the light amber liquid over it.
The effect was immediate. The pony gave a sharp gasp and jolted, almost knocking the bottle out of his hooves. “SHIT! Oh god! Stop! Oh god dammit stop!” She lay her head back down and whimpered a little.
“Uhm... you sure about this? There's a lot of cuts on that side. And those bites on the other side, and those, uhm, wounds on your chest,” he said with a lot of doubt in his voice.
“Better than to die of blood poisoning you... you stupid...you stupid quadruped!”
“Hey! I'm trying to help you!”
“Sorry... sorry...,” she bit out with tears in her eyes. “I know... it's just... that's going to hurt so fucking much!” She took a deep and shaky breath and continued in a small and fearful voice, “Guess that's...,” she gulped, “That's where you do like in those stupid old westerns. Hold the hero down, light the gunpowder and all that.”
Her voice was beginning to teeter on the hysterical. “Look! I'm starring in my own stupid trippy fantasy-action film! Get the fuck on with it!! And don't you fucking stop!!!” her shout petered out and she began to cry.
She looked down at the crying mare and up again at Solstice who was looking extremely uncomfortable. “You do... 'Whisky'. And rub in,” she said, avoiding eye contact, “[I am strongest. I hold down hindlegs and Ruadh forelegs. Ruadh! No I do not care if you are too weak for this! So you are not? Then come here before I make you!]”
They got on with it.
The room filled with the stench of sweat and blood dissolved in smoky alcohol.
Never in her life had she heard any creature scream like this.
She was shaken. She realized she was trembling a little with exhaustion. And crying. Looking up, she found that the stallions were not faring any better. At one point she had started sobbing while holding the ludicrously strong pony down with all her might.
Ruadh had been yelling at the mare to stop fighting and screaming and at Solstice to work faster and at herself to pull herself together. And also because he had to use every ounce of strength he possessed. Now he was staring blankly into the air before him, wet streaks under his eyes.
Solstice had gone completely quiet in the process, with a blank look on his face and working as fast as possible with jerky yet somehow still accurate movements. He was lying on the floor with his hooves over his eyes and sobbing.
Brenda was utterly drenched in sweat and was wheezing in quiet gasps and trembling all over.
It took them more than half an hour to collect themselves enough to talk more or less normally to each other again. They avoided looking at each other though. She looked up when she heard a quiet groan from their patient and bent down her head to try and make out if she was actually trying to say something.
The little mare had hardly any of her voice left after the ordeal, but she still managed to croak out “Please... some for me.”
She blinked. “Solstice?” She pointed at the almost empty second bottle. “She wants... that?”
“Just... a little... please,” the battered pony rasped.
“Uhm... looks like it?” he said while slowly scratching his mane with a still shaky hoof. “She's the one who knows the stuff.” He hesitated. “Ah well, if it's good...,” he swallowed, “Good on the outside, maybe it's also good on the inside?”
Before she could react, her companion had gingerly picked up the bottle, held it close to the other pony's muzzle and tipped it very carefully. A thin trickle of 'whisky' splashed onto her lips and into her mouth. He jumped back as not to be hit by the sudden jerk that she expected as well.
A second later Brenda gasped, then coughed violently, tears flooding her eyes once more as the hacking movement put a lot of strain on all her injuries.
She jumped forward to snatch the bottle away from Solstice so he would not go on to hurt the poor thing even more in his stupidity. Before she could do so however, the mare spoke again. She noticed that the intensely pained expression from seconds ago had been replaced by the slightest of smiles.
“More...,” the voice emerged as barely more than a whisper, yet its dry, rasping quality had diminished considerably. That made no sense at all.
“[Solstice, that is not a good idea I think!]”
“What? She's the one who asks for it. She knows what she's doing, she's got a mark,” he stated matter of factly.”
“[What has that got to do with anything?!]” she inquired, deeply irritated, and shook her head at the stallion's behaviour. Was that girl his new chieftain?! She stomped a hoof and glared at her brother when she heard him snicker.
Completely ignoring her, Solstice was already pouring more of the amber fluid into the mare's mouth when she looked back. It was enough that some of it trickled out the other side again, yet to her surprise and extreme relief the pony did not cough this time, but swallowed after a few seconds, followed by a little sigh.
She put the hoof she had intended to smack Solstice with down again.
The stranger's face relaxed in what could only be called an expression of bliss. Moments later the pony's head dropped the last half inch to the ground and her body went entirely still, except for the slow and steady breathing of the deep sleep of utter exhaustion.
When she looked up from the finally and mercifully unconscious mare and turned her head towards Solstice, the words she had intended to say died on her lips. He was sniffing the bottle with an entirely too curious expression to her liking. “Solstice! What are you doing?!”
“Hey, this stuff actually smells real nice when you don't mix it with all kinds of dirt and nasties first. Like... kinda like heather actually. Really sweet heather.” He took another sniff. “And grain! And like a baking fire!”
He sniffed again. “You think they figured out a way to make heather and peat palatable? What? Don't look at me like that. That'd be seriously great!”
“[You want to drink this? After what it did to her? It burned her and knocked her out! Drink it?!]” she exclaimed incredulously and commanded “I will not have you do this!”
She stared at Solstice in disbelief when he took the bottle between his teeth anyway and tilted his head backwards. A second later he coughed violently but still managed to catch it before it would have shattered on the floor. “Wow.”
“[Did you tell him no? Your little pony does not seem to listen to you,]” came the sarcastic comment from the back wall. Ruadh seemed to have recovered enough to be back to his usual self.
“[He is not 'my little pony',]” she replied tersely while turning to face her brother. She really did not need this right now. Not after what she just had been through. Especially not from her obnoxious sibling, even if it just might be his way of trying to cope with what he had just been part of.
“[Oh?]” He grinned smugly. “[Is he your stallion then, dearest sister? Did you perform a special offer with short notice? You sure seemed flustered when he nuzzled you.]”
She felt her ears splay back against her head when he snickered again, grinding her teeth as to not bare them at her own kin. She did not say a word. She just glared at him. She could not find a fitting retort, apart from a blatant lie that she would surely choke on.
Finally she broke eye contact and her hard gaze came to rest somewhere above his right shoulder. A second later his pleased expression turned into one of nervousness and she could almost hear him swallow.
“[You did not,]” he stated flatly.
Solstice was having something of a coughing fit in the background, accompanied by the faint sound of glass clinking on wood. She dimly registered him slinking away a moment later. She continued to stare at the point of the wall behind Ruadh, but in the end she could not help but to finally bare her teeth.
“[You did.]” Her brother looked stunned.
Why now? Why on earth now? Why like this? “[This does not concern you!]” she bit out, barely keeping her voice under control.
Ruadh was suddenly highly agitated, a mix of disbelief, concern and anger on his features. His voice was still hoarse. “[What?! You must be aware of what this means for you! For all of us! When uncle receives word-]”
“[You would not dare!]”
“[And lie to uncle because of your stupidity?!]” he shouted back. “[Have you lost your mind?! Did his ridiculous colours do something to your head?! Since when does my sister do her thinking with her lifted tail?!]”
She gaped at him for a few seconds before the fuse reached the keg.
“[HOW DARE YOU?! A FINE BROTHER YOU ARE!]” There was only so much her frayed nerves could take anymore today. “[GO RUT A EWE RUADH!!!]”
Blood boiling and chest heaving, she began to advance on him with slow hoofsteps that sent small tremors through the floorboards. He simultaneously looked furious, shocked and intimidated, his tail between his legs where it was trying to swish all on its own.
Never before had she yelled at him like this. Or with words like these. He began to back up, looking ready to bolt but having nowhere to run. “[Sister! This is... How can you-]”
Solstice chose that moment to emerge from the staircase he had disappeared into again when she was having the stand-off with Ruadh, cautiously looking over the edge to gauge the situation.
She stopped up sharply and glared at him. “[And where did you run off to?! This is about you! You will be part of this!]”
He was holding another bottle in his mouth but hurriedly set it down, looking abashed. “Uhm... you two sounded kinda busy, so I thought, uhm... might as well, ah, like, heh …?”
“[Just look at him sister! How-]”
Spittle flew from her mouth. “[BE QUIET! BOTH OF YOU!]” She clenched her eyes shut, reared up and slammed her hooves down on the floor. Both Solstice and Ruadh flinched away and even the unconscious pony stirred for a moment when the floor reverberated under the impact.
“[You!]” she pointed a shaking hoof at her companion. “[Do not make me regret my choice! My choice that I will stand by!]” She glowered at him until he gulped, looked away and shrank down the stairs again.
“[And you,]” she said to Ruadh in a suddenly very cold voice, “[You will stay here and help my mate watch over that pony over there while I go and get help in Stromness.]”
“My mate?” an incredulous whisper came from Solstice's hiding place.
“[You cannot just order me to do something!]” Ruadh blurted out in disbelief, “[We are of the same standing! This pony is not our concern! I will return home now!]” He made for the exit, but she blocked his way.
“[I can give you orders. I still am the chieftain's scout.]” She took a step towards him. “[Here I can order you around as much as I please, dearest brother. Outside our lands I outrank you!]”
She took a deep breath and growled “[You. Stay. Here,]” before adding in a more normal voice, “[And maybe our chieftain will not receive word of your insults and your ignorance.]” Another step brought her forehead to forehead with him. “[Depends.]”
“Ooohh... that had to hurt,” the staircase commented with an audible grin. She pointedly ignored it.
Rarely had she been so relieved to step out into the cool air of a summer night. Insufferable. Both of them. There was a task to perform and if she was the only one capable of doing so, she would do it alone. All on her own. As she was wont to do.
She leaned heavily against the wall and tried to collect herself. From here on out it was uncharted territory and having a nervous breakdown would not be helpful right then. All she needed to do right then was to take slow, deep breaths and calm down.
For a minute or so it was quiet back in the distillery. Then Solstice's muffled voice carried out to her. “[Try drink?]” Quiet. “[Is good! Warm! Sweet! Smoke!]”
A pause.“[I do not need to try this poison. Leave me be.]” Her brother, sounding both sullen and angry.
Solstice spoke again in a mocking tone. “Heh, yeah, sure. [You fear? Filly drink.]”
She could almost hear her brother's ears splay back.
“[Watch your tongue! Were you not my sister's...,]” Ruadh was clearly trying to keep a hold on himself.
“[Mate,]” Solstice helpfully supplied in a smooth voice.
“[Then I would make you eat dust this very moment!!!]”
A snerk. “[Coward.]”
A snarl. “[Give me this. I will have more of this foul liquid than you could ever hope to take!]”
A chuckle. “[Is on!]”
She took a deep breath. Then another one. Then she cursed the two of them, her life and the world in general and galloped off towards Stromness, as fast as she deemed safe and doable for herself in the late evening twilight and her current state of mind.
In other words, she flew west.