Chapter Text
Kayla was back at the archery range, and Austin was wandering.
He didn't know where he was supposed to fit in.
Maybe this was a mistake.
A dream.
There was a part of him that wanted to live in this dream forever. Kayla was probably one of his closest friends, and he had only known her for less than 24 hours. Kayla probably didn't feel the same way though. She would meet new people here, people who were more interesting than Austin.
He found himself back at the pasture with the black pegasus in it.
The black horse looked dead. Lying in the corner of the pasture, a pile of bones and skin. A heap of nothing.
Maybe he died.
Austin glanced back to the barn where that girl, Silena was, taking care of the pegasi. Austin clicks his tongue, suddenly angry. The black horse is dead, and Silena was clueless.
Austin inched closer and stops. he watches the space right above the horse's chest, to see if it will rise.
It's what he used to do with his mom. After all the screaming and yelling was done and Slade had slammed out the door. Austin would still be scared to move, but he'd peek out and check if his mother was still alive.
The last time, the very last time, Austin couldn't tell. Couldn't tell if she was breathing or not. And blood was coming out of his mom's head. A lot of blood. And he's panicked.
Like a dumb baby. Panicked and called 911.
He would never panic like that again. Ever.
Austin doesn't care if the black pegasus lives or dies. Not really. He's just curious.
"Hey, you," He whispers so that no one could possibly hear her. "Hey, you." The black pegasus seems to vibrate. His legs jerk forward and his body rises up, straight up, from the ground.
Austin freezes in his tracks. Scared, but ready.
If the black horse rushes at him the way, he rushes at Silena, if the pegasus screams at him, Austin would scream right back.
But the black horse doesn't move, he doesn't scream. He just stands there. Watching him.
"I thought you were dead."
The words pop out; the pegasus doesn't move.
"You sure looked dead."
The horse's ears are moving like he's listening.
"What's wrong with you anyway?"
Austin waits, although he's not sure what he's waiting for.
"Are you sick?"
Forward back. Just the ears. Nothing else.
"You don't look right."
The big head dips down. The pegasus lets out a snort. Austins startles back.
He wants to leave. But for some reason, he just stands there.
"I hate it here," Austin says finally. "Just like you."
The horses head bobs up. His eyes are pure black. No red. No white.
"I'm going to run away. My mom is waiting for me. And I have a baby sister. I've never seen her before. I don't even know her name. My mom forgot to tell me. But they're waiting for me. My mom and my sister. So I'm going to run away."
The black pegasus turns now. His whole body. Away from Austin.
And all at once, Austin realizes what he's doing. Talking to a horse. Just like Silena.
Crazy. This camp is crazy.
Austin whirls around and marches into the stables.
Austin stormed into the stables, there were two people in there, Silena was feeding one of the pegasi, and another boy who was checking something off a chart. He had black hair and sea-green eyes.
Austin didn't even introduce himself. He went straight up to the green-eyed boy and asked, "What's the black pegasi's name?"
He looked up. "Oh Blackjack," He gestured to another pegasus behind him. The horse whinnied.
Silena walked over. "Hi, oh you're Austin right, Kayla's friend."
"Yeah, whats the black horses name, the one outside?"
Percy and Silena looked at each other.
"You should stay away from that one, there are plenty of other pegasi to ride." The green-eyed boy said.
"No," Austin said. His hands clenched into fists. "What's his name?"
"Dream of Night," Silena said. "But, I've been calling him Night. He used to be a race pegasi you know. But Austin you really should stay away from Night, he's dangerous, even
Percy is having a hard time with him, and he can talk to horses."
"He hates you doesn't he," Austin said to Percy.
"Well he's real angry, that's for sure." Percy answers.
"He won't let you near him," Austin said turning to Silena.
"He's scared to let anyone near him," Silena said to him softly.
"He's no scared of anything." He's not scared of me. Austin thought to himself.
Night wasn't scared of anything.
Night wasn't scared of him.