ORIGIN

Ashtoreth was a child in a dark vehicle, hours after her bedtime, beaten and broken from a stranger. It was a miracle that she had even escaped the room of stars, and quiet in her ears the song on the radio waves of a memory played even if she was too weak to sing them herself. Bleary eyes hardly noticed when the shadows of the tunnel's blackness melted around her into the harsh, dry warmth of her home.

... Her home... Was she home? Part of her was sure it was a dream, as she felt a stallion under paws, blurry and faded grey... Wheezing more than groaning, the child stared around, breath thin and hallow, as she tried to understand... For a minute, she had fallen into unconsciousness, and now the hybrid was having an impossible time trying to understand where she was.

A flash of orange.

Daddy...? The thought crawled to the forefront of her mind, a flash of blood, white fur, a gemstone skull-- sick, sick, sick, she nearly retched on the equine that was carrying her, but there was nothing in her gut. Instead, she reached out to absorb the lamp light, only to have her vision swim. She nearly slipped off of the horse's mane, but her claws grasped at hairs, wincing as she felt a tug against her wrapped wing.

Staring at the dusty, pale floor, the child began to realize. We made it? We made it... Who had made it though? Who had brought her? Hadn't she stopped having this dream a cycle ago, after her wing was broken? She pressed her nose into the smooth neck of her best friend, still lost in a world of hazy starvation and agony.

The pair themselves were a mess. Eosphoros, a grey gelding with a front half entirely seared like a roast, thin and starved, barely alive himself. Gigatsuhali had been lagging behind, though compared to all of them, though no doubt meeting the harsh end of Hasira's whims would impact her forever. Ashtoreth herself, however, looked hardly like the bright child she had been when she had gone missing.

Her fur was matted and marred with wounds that Giga had done her best to clean, but her ribs were as visible as Eos', and her skin was tinted a strangely unhealthy shade of green. The rusty orange of her feathers had been worn away in the cycles of absence, leaving her feathers pale, faded grey, with frayed edges. Her wing was tied to her flank, the worst of her damage, but she barely could feel the pain now. It all just sort of melded together.

On the bright side, they were a hard bunch to miss.

Listen to me + Hear my thoughts

The wing beats hit her ears and she perked, grabbing at her friend's battered, tattered mane, summoning her strength. Wind picked up at the horse's hooves as she worked her way down his neck. Ashtoreth slipped down, as carefully as a half dead, starved child could, and held up her good wing at Eosphoros, casting a week smile at the horse as she watched her father swoop over and approach. Her body ached as he wrapped around her, and she relaxed, knowing that Eos would understand her silent words-- even if he couldn't hear Aza'zel's thanks. She licked at her father's cheeks, nuzzling in to him with exhaustion.

I'm okay now... We're okay now. She thought tiredly, pulling away from her father to press her flank to the gelding's heel, leaning back on to her haunches, stretching up to gently hug at his injured leg. Eosphoros had done so much for her... She was so glad he was here with her now. It was going to be okay now, she was sure, and she snuggled into the grey horse, unaware that her friend would not be able to stay.

Right now, she was simply, tentatively, hoping that it all had finally hit a moment of peace. That she was safe. She was too exhausted to let anything else come to mind-- her worries were washed away as her eyes closed softly, tiredness hitting her hard. The magic had pushed her past her limit, and she barely hung on to consciousness as she held on to her best friend.

Listen to me + Hear my thoughts