By the Road and Into the Woods
Katna bent over to the ground and bit off a few blades of grass before looking around Ivan to the map he had stretched out in the ditch. On the map the Dnieper river snaked its way South-East through Kiev down to Dnipropetrovs'k, where it then wound South-West until it emptied itself in the Black Sea. From there it was a relative stone's throw to Sevastopol, where she and Ivan could get lost in the crowd once more, or simply retreat to the forests and live in peace amidst the plentiful vegetation in the South.
Those places were however a distant dream compared to the empty one and two-story buildings that loomed around them here. Katna's ears swiveled about to train on anything that might be the noise of a foot falling upon grass, gravel or even broken glass. Her eyes remained still. Her sight—while still very much binocular, colored, and reliant on daylight to let her see—now provided her the very opposite of tunnel vision. It did not blur at the corners as it had before. There had to be something about that in her books.
Katna sighed. Sitting down she reached to her chest with her mouth and unclasped a clip that ran around the bottom of her neck, then another around her belly. She then shrugged her front legs to slide off the backpack. Gripping the zipper in her teeth she pulled the pack open revealing her books, a half-dozen water bottles, a few blankets and paper for kindling. Ducking her head inside the bag for a moment Katna gripped her biology textbook in her teeth and pulled it out. She balanced it out on a foreleg and used her other hoof to turn through the pages.
The bottom of her hoof had a big squishy pad in the middle that let her get enough grip on the pages to turn them. Her lips turned downward as she leafed through a few dozen pages that spoke about human organs, human bones and human cells, but exceedingly little that allowed her to understand... herself.
She closed the book, sniffing in the scent of the glue binding the pages, and nestled it in the crook of her joint between her hoof and the rest of her front leg. It was quite flexible and let her grab a few objects. She tossed the book back into her bag, zipped it up and wiggled it back into place in the small of her back before fastening it into place. She looked over the rest of her body. A dark blue parka covered her torso, and a pair of jeans covered her legs; a horn-made hole to accommodate her tail frayed at the edges. Glancing to Ivan she smiled slightly at the hoodie that he had found sufficiently warm.
Even then Ivan had shirked off the lone article of clothing when there was no wind. Katna had offered that it was probably very cold where pegasi flew and so he was probably better at handling the cold than she was.
On that note, Katna reached over to Ivan and prodded his wing.
"Huh? Did you hear something Katna?" Ivan turned from the map and faced Katna.
"No." Katna shook her head. "I'm just wondering. We've been traveling for three days but I still can’t use magic. Is this normal?"
Turning back to the map Ivan grumbled, "I don't know. Maybe it's just because we're young?"
Curling her tail around her Katna stroked it with a hoof, looking amidst the forlorn grey buildings looming up into the grey sky above. "Ivan, where are we?"
"Outside Cherkasy. We're making good time, but..." Ivan leaned over, folding the map with his mouth. "I'm stuck on whether to try going through or around... We'll probably be seen if we go through... Two foals eating grass out in the front yards of factory workers and former farmers?" He picked up the map in his mouth and tucked it into his own bags.
"Does the town have a transition clinic?" asked Katna, rubbing her forehooves together. Ivan looked at her, and her eyes darted around. "I was hoping they might have some books on how to live as a pony."
Ivan shook his head. "No, the town isn't big enough for transfiguration, and certainly not rich enough for augmentations."
Katna huffed, stamping her hooves into the ground to a small plume of dust. "Around then?"
Nodding Ivan walked down the road, Katna following close behind. Humming to herself Katna would swing her head down at particularly tall tufts of grass, pulling them up and chomping on the grass. It tasted like bread to her, but moister and sweetened if not rather stringy. She swallowed a wad of it and licked her lips, trotting to catch up with Ivan.
"It feels good to be able to travel again," she said, looking between the houses. Her eyes lingered on the shattered glass and press-board in the windows. "Do you think anybody lives in them?"
Ivan lifted his head up, his ears swivelling to point to the nearest home. His nostrils flared as he sniffed. "I don't hear or smell anyone, and we'd be running if I saw anyone."
Katna nodded. "Right... it's strange being able to smell things like that." She pressed her nose to her jacket, inhaling. A mix of odors, human and equine, filled her mind as she closed her eyes briefly. Salt, fresh soil and antibiotics mixed with the hefty scent of unwashed child, slowly fading to a smell that reminded her of the grass she ate. Katna's ears drooped downward. She hadn't even thought of the small things she had given up when she poured that potion into herself, but she had one thing with her that wouldn't be taken away.
She leaned into Ivan's side, ear twitching against the hair that now covered his shoulder. "Thank you."
"For what?"
"For giving me this chance." Katna removed her head from his side and trotted alongside him. She once again glanced at the houses. "What do you think happened to all the people?"
"Couldn't afford the houses, or maybe they moved to bigger cities to find jobs."
Katna scrunched up her face, glaring at one of the houses.
"I know, it seems a waste to leave them laying around," said Ivan.
They traveled onward, keeping Cherkasy to their left and a sparse hedge of hornbeam and ash trees to their right.
Ivan winced moistening his eyes. He looked up from the ground and stopped. His wings stretched out, and Katna grazed his outstretched feathers. He pointed a hoof ahead, and worked his jaw as he folded his wings. A trail of dust rose out along another road that joined theirs. Focusing on the trail’s leading end Ivan grunted when all he saw was the hillock obstructing the other road.
Ivan and Katna walked fast to the nearest ditch and crouched down. Stealing a glance at his sister Ivan nodded as Katna pressed herself close to the ground, trying to hide her pink body in the stiff grass.
The plume reached the edge of the intersection. Ivan stood stock still, his legs ready to bound towards the trees, or down the road. A pickup truck pulled out of the other road and started down the one away from them. Ivan stood up and trotted in its direction.
"Hey!" he yelled, flapping his wings. "Heeeyyy!" He broke into a gallop as Katna stood up and started trotting after him.
"Stoooop!" shouted Ivan, nostrils flaring as he kicked up a few pebbles in his wake. He squinted his eyes against the wind. "Stop, please!" He jumped up in the air, his wings outstretched, and tumbled back into the road, his bags sliding off of him and skittering along the gravel.
"Ivan!" Katna caught up to him, grabbing a bag's strap in her mouth. "A'e yoo a'ight?" she asked.
"No." Ivan shook his head. "That could have shortened our trip; he was going in our direction." He stomped a hoof into the ground, then looked over to Katna, whose eyes had widened. "What?"
Katna jabbed her head down the road, pointing with her horn. "'ook!"
Ivan turned to see the tell-tale white lights of a vehicle in reverse. His ears perked up and he scrambled to hook all the bags onto his hooves. "Let me talk to whoever it is Katna."
Katna nodded and trotted to the side of the road, the bag still hanging from her mouth, while Ivan dragged the the ones he had picked up to the side of the road and stood waiting as the cream pickup skidded to a halt in front of them. The door opened and slammed shut, and boots crunched against the gravel. A heavy-set man with a few dregs of long black hair hanging off his head came into view. His eyes immediately scanned over the two foals.
His mouth hung open, a puff of fog escaping intermittently as he looked down the road both ways. He blinked and licked his lips. "Ponies? Out here?"
Ivan nodded.
"And..." The man stepped towards the two foals looking them over. "They're... tinier than I thought they'd be." He reached behind his head and scratched. "I wonder how they got all the way out here."
"We were taking a bus to Khersons'ka when my sister had to go pee. When she finished at a pit stop we found the bus had gone on without us. Please, sir, we have to get there in a few days to catch a boat back to Equestria." Ivan widened his eyes and lowered his head.
The man blinked and licked his lips for several seconds before taking a step back to his truck. "Oh... shit, yeah, bus drivers don't much give a shit whether or not their passengers get to where they're going." He pointed to the back of his truck. "I'm going about as far as Kremenchuk. If you don't mind bumps you can ride in the back."
Ivan nodded again. "Thank you very much." Tossing the bags into the back Ivan hopped up as the man got back into the driver seat.
Katna swung her head and let go of the bag, sending it flying into the back of the cab. The man inside flinched, peering back and reaching to the glove compartment. His eyes met Ivan's and he then rolled them as he shook his head. His hand pulled away from the glove compartment.
Ivan looked to Katna who splayed her ears out. "Sorry." She reared up and placed her hooves on the tailgate. Finding no purchase Katna kicked off the ground. Flailing for a second she smacked her chin on the metal, biting her tongue. A whine escaped her lips as she winced.
The man rolled down the window. "Time's a-wasting!"
Ivan shook his head. Looking around he grunted as he backed up towards the edge of the trunk. He sat down, his tail dangling over the edge. "Grab it," he instructed.
Katna scrunched up her face.
"Grab it!"
Katna closed her eyes and bit down on the hairs of Ivan's tail, who in turn stood up and walked forward, dragging Katna up and over the ledge. He heard spitting and coughing noises, and turned to see Katna leaning against the wheel well, rubbing her tongue on her hooves.
"You know, that's probably even dirtier than my tail." Ivan smirked as he reached a hoof to the back window and knocked against the glass.
Katna's eyes widened, looking at her tongue pressed against hooves that had just spent the past three days trudging through dirt. She pulled away just as the pickup lurched forward, causing her head to smack against the side before she lay down and pouted.
"It's not so bad," Ivan said. "After all, you've been eating grass for the last three days."
"But your tail!" Katna protested.
"I didn't pee all over it when I first tried going to the bathroom." Ivan chuckled.
"Eugh, I had almost forgotten! I stank to high heaven before I was able to soak myself in the river!" Katna's nostrils twitched.
Brows raised Ivan pointed to Katna. "You're lucky I got enough twigs for a fire for you to dry off, and that you didn't come out smelling even worse!"
Katna sneezed. "Ah... that... speaking of worse, this truck smells like pee as well! And rotten eggs!" Katna clamped her hooves over her nostrils, lending a nasal overtone to her following statement. "And window cleaner…allergy medicine... matches... paint thinner?"
Ivan sniffed as well, picking out the smells Katna had mentioned, and even more. His stomach sank at the prospect of riding in a smelly car, but he gritted his teeth and looked to Katna.
"Hey, if you could have kept one thing from being human, what would it be?" asked Ivan.
"My sense of smell!" Katna said, "At least I'd be able to ignore this smell then. I think I'm going to have a headache..."
Ivan lifted up his hooves. "Hands... you're lucky you're a unicorn... I think Kremenchuk has a transition clinic. Maybe I can grab something for you to read, yes?"
Ears perking up Katna lifted her head and smiled. "That would be wonderful! Perhaps you could find some book to teach you how to fly as well!"
Ivan felt warmth spread over his cheeks as he looked out at the passing countryside. "Yeah, flying, it could be useful. But the countryside looks good enough from the ground level."
Katna stared at Ivan as the truck went through a corner, exposing yet more abandoned bungalows on the outskirts of Cherkasy.
"Eh... maybe it will be more so near Sevastopol."
Ivan winced at the intermittent flash of yellow and purple as the truck passed under streetlamps and light streamed through his eyelids. Ivan practiced turning his ears to focus on the nearest car, tracking it as the truck passed it and then moving on to the next vehicle. His activity was interrupted by the sound of a hoof tapping on glass.
The man slid open the back window. "Yeah?" he asked Katna.
"Mister, is your truck damaged?" she asked.
"No, why'd you ask that?" The man glanced down the road.
"Well, it kinda smells funny. Is it leaking gas?"
"No."
"We're getting close to where you'll drop us off, right?" Katna hooked her hooves over the window, dangling them on the passenger headrest.
"You know you speak the language pretty well for being foreign. How long have you been here?" The man used his turn signal and took a right.
Ivan gulped. "Uh, five years."
The man turned in his seat part way, looking over Ivan. "You see, you sound rather young. How old are you?"
Coughing Ivan turned away. "Well, I'm a pony; I suppose I would sound younger to most."
The man turned back to face the road. "Huh-sheet!" he yelled, slamming on the brakes. The pickup skidded to a halt, sending Katna to dangle half-inside the cab and Ivan's head to smack against the rear-cab window.
A mile ahead a police roadblock sat flashing red-and-white lights down the road. The man put the pickup in reverse and started turning the vehicle around. He placed a hand on Katna, pushed her out of the cab and slid the window closed again. The whites of his eyes bulged out as he drove away from the roadblock. He pulled his hand away from the glove compartment to wipe his forehead. Katna patted the front of her jacket and looked back to the roadblock. A set of red-and-white lights parted from the group to follow the pickup down the road. The truck sped up, making the two siblings lurch a bit.
The police cruiser eventually caught up to them forcing the man to pull over.
An officer stepped out of the cruiser and walked towards the driver-side window. His eyes met with Ivan's and he blew out a heavy breath, the fog coalescing and running over his face. The man rolled down the window.
"Good afternoon sir, how are you today?" the officer asked.
"Good, I'm just headed down to Kermenchuk to do some grocery shopping," replied the man. He licked his lips.
The officer looked towards Ivan and Katna. "And them?"
"Wha-the ponies? They were heading in the same direction so I gave them a ride." The man leaned against the center console as his fingers stretched to the glove compartment.
"That true?" the officer asked, nodding to the two foals.
"Yes sir," Ivan answered.
Returning his gaze to the man the officer propped an elbow on the window. "Can I see your license and registration please?"
The man reached into his pocket. "Sure thing." He pulled out a wallet, and in turn plucked out a few cards. His tongue shot out to moisten his lips.
"Thank you," said the officer, taking the cards with him and walking back to his car.
The man leaned towards the glove compartment again, his hand gripping the latch to open it. Katna and Ivan simply turned to stare at the white glow that contrasted the officer's face against the rest of his vehicle in the overcast day.
The officer returned holding the cards out in front of himself. "How long have you owned this vehicle?"
"F-five years, bought it used." The man licked his lips again.
"Registry says the plate's been expired for two years." The officer tucked the license in his back pocket as the man's mouth clamped shut. Looking over to Katna the officer frowned. "How old are both of you?" he asked, nodding to Katna and Ivan in turn.
"She's fifteen and I'm eighteen," answered Ivan, a complete and utter lie. "Yes, we know we're rather small, even for ponies."
The officer nodded to Katna. "Would you care to show me your cutie mark then?"
Flinching Katna looked to her covered flank. Ivan squinted, gritting his teeth as he glared at the officer. What sick perversion was he feasting for this? His wings twitched before something in his head clicked: fifteen was probably too old to not have a cutie mark. A cold knot formed in his throat, bobbing around and jabbing at his neck as he tried to swallow.
Katna reached a forehoof to her pants and slid it down, exposing the blank salmon-colored coat of her flank. Her ears splayed out, and the officer tutted.
"Expired plate, and driving foals around?" The officer turned back to the man, who had stuck a handgun out of the window.
The gunshot rang out to a spurt of blood from the officer's neck, its echo sounding out with Katna’s screaming. Ivan stumbled a bit, his ears ringing, making out only the muffled shouting of the driver and the revving of the engine. The ground slid out from underneath Ivan as he tumbled out of the pickup’s back. A bag fell onto his side making him cough.
The ringing subsided and Katna ran in front of Ivan, holding his face in her hooves.
"Ivan! Get up! Come on!" She tugged at his head, coaxing Ivan to stand up as he looked back down the road. One way, the truck was getting ever smaller amidst the cloud of rocks and dust, leaving only a trace of its acrid chemical odor. The other way revealed the officer with blood pooling around his head, and police cruisers coming up the road.
Ivan shook his head, caught sight of a bag and snaked his head through the straps, looping it around his neck. His eyes settled on the forest by the side of the road and he galloped in its direction. "Katna, grab a bag and follow!"
He broke through the branches feeling them latch onto his ears and mane. Twigs slashed at his eyes as dirt clods flew out in his wake. He skidded to a halt as he looked behind him; Katna caught up to him carrying her own bag and dragging one of his along the dirt.
Ivan grabbed his bag from Katna and helped secure her bag onto her back. "Let's keep moving!"
They ran through the forest brushing against trunks and shrubs, keeping their eyes to the ground and making sure not to trip up. As their fleeing wore on them they settled into a trot, sweat breaking out on their brows. By the time the sun was setting their hooves scraped through the dirt with each step.
An ash tree surrounded by a number of leafless saplings stretched up into the sky before them. Bare branches snaked and curled around each other to form a cracked, wrinkled and vein-riddled fist as the roots ran along the ground and formed a series of deep hollows. Ivan collapsed into one hollow leaving the bags on the cusp of it. Katna sat down and leaned against a root.
"Why do I still smell the..." Katna looked to Ivan "Blood?" She stared at him, her ears perked as her pants shifted with the tensing muscles of her legs.
Ivan reach up with his right foreleg and rubbed it along his cheek. Something tacky and crusty rubbed against him, strengthening the odor. "Ugh," he said.
Katna's tail curled around her leg and she stood up, walking in a tight circle. "We shouldn't have run, they'll be looking for us now. Ivan, why did that man shoot the officer?"
Ivan shook his head, snorting into the dirt as he tried to find some sanctuary from the gory scent billowing off of his cheek and into his nostrils. "I don't know, maybe his truck was stolen? The officer said the plates were expired."
Katna stopped pacing and sat down again, unclipping her bag and letting it slide off to land on her tail. She winced for a moment then sighed. "Do you think things would have been different if I had my cutie mark?" She closed her eyes, leaning her head against the root.
Ivan reached out with a hoof, grazing her cheek. "Katna, he would have figured out what we really are eventually." He scooted over and put his other forehoof under her chin. "He would have found out we were human, that I broke into a transition clinic to steal potion, and then arrested me, and separated us."
Katna gasped.
"We've got to be even more careful with where and when we travel now." Ivan removed his hooves and lay his neck along Katna's. "We got lucky, and I'm not letting luck decide if we stay together or not."
Recoiling from her brother Katna stared at Ivan, her pink eyes filling with tears. "Ivan? You're not saying what happened is good? Are you?"
Ivan looked down at the ground then backed away from Katna, lowering himself into the hollow a second time.
Katna walked to another hollow and lay down in it, tears dripping down her muzzle.
An icy spike of wind drove its way down Katna's parka collar, stabbing her to wakefulness. Her eyes watered at the cold night air, and the sound of wind whipping above her made her press deeper into the ground. Her head spun over the images and apocryphal statements made over the day by her brother. Her mind reeled at what he said, and her stomach flopped around at the idea of being separated from him. A chill erupted from within her chest as she looked over to him.
The exposure, the tut of disapproval, the bang, the spurt of blood, the remainder of the day spent running in the trees like a hunted beast. Tucking her head against the howl of the wind Katna listened to her racing heart as another sensation pushed in her belly. She had to pee.
Katna stood up and the wind blew her mane back, its sickly teal strands fluttering wildly under gusts of air while twigs and leaves stuck out of it. Her ears stung from the cold lances that licked at her ears and robbed them of heat. She took a few steps away from her hollow and reached her hooves back. She bit her lip as she pulled down her pants and wiggled for a moment, wresting her tail from the pant hole and lifting it up and to the side.
She rolled her eyes and bounced in place a bit while the wind contented itself with accosting her rump. At last she relieved herself and waddled forward. Sitting back down she dragged her pants back up as best as she could in the night and walked towards her hollow.
Katna shivered as she reached the edge of her sleeping space hoofing the dirt and grass. Finding it cold and hard from her absence she looked at her brother and walked over to him. She nuzzled his side and he flinched. The whites of his eyes shined against the moonlit night. He nodded and stretched out a wing, and Katna tucked herself underneath, letting his wing fall over her shoulders, warming her.
Ivan's ears twitched to the scraping of leaves nearby and his eyes snapped open as his head rose above the edges of his hollow. He panned the area focusing his ears wherever he looked, and saw the culprit. A grouse stood twenty feet away stark still and staring at him. Vibrant red streaked over its eyebrows as it bobbed its head and continued walking, pecking at the ground.
Looking to his sister Ivan lifted up his wing and crawled out of the hollow. Katna curled up tighter and frowned, but it soon faded to a smile again as Ivan picked up his bags and retrieved his map while examining what else he still had of his own supplies.
He grimaced, prodding in one bag at a lone candy bar, a few water bottles and a lighter. The other had kindling and numerous pill bottles. The pan he had used to boil water was no more, ditto for a bit of soap, a knife and an extra scarf.
Ivan spread out the map and looked around him. Finding the tell-tale flash of the sun to his right to mark the East, he looked at the map. "We were in that truck for about an hour, and I had seen a few towns. We're in some consistent forest so..." He pointed to the map. "South of Kremenchuk. We head straight East to follow the sun, we'll cross the highway, get back to the river... and then we can keep heading to Dnipropetrovs'k..."
Folding the map back up Ivan tucked it away and put it in his bag while taking out the candy bar and a bottle of water. He lay them to the side as he walked around the tree grazing counterclockwise, chomping on the grass and enjoying the taste. His wings flapped pantomiming a bird as he did so and a smile stretched on his face. What was so wrong with this that his country thought he had to wait? Cleanliness? He had gone through dumpsters before. Decency? His tail and legs hid everything his clothes had.
His lips locked around a few pieces of grass and his nostrils filled with an ammonia-rich scent. He pulled back, sneezing as he looked over to Katna, brows arched. So that's what she was doing before snuggling against him in the dead of night... the cold night. Ivan's eyes softened as he walked over to Katna's bag. Grabbing it in his mouth he brought it over to her and set it down.
Her ears twitched and her eyes opened as her long neck unfolded. Her eyes met Ivan's and she smiled. "Good morning," she said.
Ivan nodded. Turning back he walked over to his bags, grabbed the candy bar in his mouth and tucked the water bottle in the crook of his hoof. He carried them to Katna and nodded. "Eat up. I'll graze a bit more and then we can head out.
Katna grasped the candy bar in her two hooves and tore off the wrapper with her sharp incisors. "Pthah!" She looked back up at Ivan. "Thank you."
"No problem, you need that. We really pushed ourselves yesterday..." Ivan looked back behind him, to the North where they had come from. "I'm... sorry if I scared you with what I said last night... What happened back there. You're right, it wasn't good."
He lowered his gaze to the ground, listening to the wind whistling through the trees...
“So, Khersons’ka, then Equestria, huh?” asked Katna.
“Huh?” Ivan turned back to Katna, confused.
“What you said to that man who gave us a ride. That we were going to Khersons’ka, then Equestria,” replied Katna.
“Oh, that. Just a story so he wouldn’t ask too many questions,” said Ivan. “We’ll probably head to Kherson, then move along the coast until we’re in Crimea. There we’ll find plenty of grass to eat and be able to live safe in the woods.” Ivan leaned forward to Katna. “I can find some solid logs, build us a shelter once I get tools from Sevastopol, maybe even a hearth...”
Ivan felt two warm moist lips press against his cheek, the one without the officer’s blood on it. He looked back over to Katna. He grinned at her and chuckled. "Thanks."
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Ivan, Katna, good luck my dears...
3957453 I think I'll be releasing another chapter by Wednesday or Thursday.
Awesome! I don't run across pacing like this every day. It's like, the perfect balance between tense and glad. The story progression genuinely surprised me! I can't believe Ivan made that heist! I can't believe they're O.K.! The sheer indomitable spirit! Katna's precious love of learning, perfectly matches with Ivan's practicality cunning and fierce protectiveness. Sweet story! I wish you the best of success in writing it!
Fascinating reconstruction. Also quite engaging! I agree with ferret, the pacing is remarkable. I also really dig the aura of mystery. Rather than encapsulating everything, it feels like we're visiting a living, breathing world.
this is shaping up to be quite an adventure:
But I don't' understand?
Are these kids wanting to go to Equestria or
they just want to live in the woods for the rest of their days.
3970574 They don't know yet. Right now they're focused on merely surviving. And even then, they aren't sure what that will entail. They are children, they can't quite plan things out in excruciating detail. At present, they just have a monolithic concern of getting south before the winter gets really bad.
Ivan felt two warm moist lips press against his cheek, the one without the officer’s blood on it.
So they couldn't wipe that off?