Gods

by TheTimeSword

Hawkeye - Escape

In the words of the elders, retreating was an action destined to give the life to a mare or stallion whom saw the futility of bravery. It was not cowardly. And although Hawkeye had done much in her few days within the ruins, upon the first ray of the morning sun, she chose to escape. She had rolled up the bitten hide and placed it on her back with the saddlebags, deciding to leave the scavenging of the upstairs to the vermin.

The unseen had vanished. Hawkeye knew it would return. Now that it knew the area had a scent, she wouldn't be safe within the broken walls.

Following the direction of the sun, she continued east. Pushing more south than she had before, she knew mountains ranged along the north. There was nothing up there but snow and gods. In all her scouting days, never had she gone past these ancient ruins. She hoped to find more hallowed ground somewhere more warm. The elders spoke of the ancestors who fled for their lives, finding holes and outlets away from their impractical homes. Once, in her early youth, she had asked if those ponies might have survived, creating other such bands of kin.

She had been spanked for asking such a question, and so she never asked it again.

Yet as she walked, last of the remnants, she wondered how far she could go. If the ancients had the luxury of homes above ground, had they not also explored the world? Had they built tools and gathered forces to hunt curious mysteries? Had they unearthed the gods?

A chill ran down her spine as she pictured the black, haunting tendrils grasping at the bed's frame, shaking it with the god's mighty power. She was thankful to be away from such a terror. The further she traveled, the safer she felt. If she ran into another of the unseen, it would end the same as being discovered beneath that bed. For some reason, that didn't matter to her. Now, Hawkeye was breaking new ground.

She hadn't given it much thought, but the ruins had been close, too close, to the cave of the remnants of kin. It had been an exhausting journey, yet she had done it plenty of times scouting. Her heart leapt with the excitement of pushing beyond, escaping the old confines of the life she was forced to leave behind. As a filly, she had wanted to do such a thing, to journey far, to escape the prison of fear that the kin had wrapped around her. Had she known how things would have ended, she might not have stayed.

She couldn't help but silently laugh to herself, realizing now that the gods had once again kicked her from her home. Stopping, Hawkeye looked up at the sky. The bright sun rained down on her with golden rays, warming the uncovered parts of her face. She wondered where the gods had come from, why they killed ponies, and why they spared her. Was it her survival instincts, or just pure dumb luck?

Escaping the unseen twice. Why does it make me feel so good when every bone in my body wants to give in? To join those in the life after life... they would not want that. Not when I carry the future of the remnants of kin. But why is it my curse to bear alone? What did I do to forsake the spirits the kin had not done before I?

Hawkeye wept as the snow around her melted.

Comments

[Ice Star]

I'm really interested in seeing a wider scope of this world. You've already given the story a good atmosphere, and I like how it feels like it drifts along through this forsaken land you've established. I'm eager to see just how badly the world is faring with the glimpse we have and how it apparently exists 'without taboos' (yikes).

For feedback on your stories, I would suggest adding them to more groups. Seriously, a lot more. Plenty of potential commenters will congregate there more, where they could find stories that match their interests than if you just leave them around the site. It's like throwing a book in the middle of a library floor and expecting an eager reader to pick it up instead of putting the book on its correct shelf. I'd highly recommend browsing the groups pages and find some to frequent and add your stories to, because it's sad to see your stories stagnate when someone didn't know to find them. Group adds can make up for there not being as many front-page lurkers in the fandom, too. Generally, it's just hard to get readers without them.

I hope to see more of this, though.