Midnight [Seryna, Entei, Jack, Kyalee, Clover]

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Esther sat on the edge of her bed, watching the darkness grow ever-darker through her window. She was hesitant, however she knew what she was about to do was necessary. Essential, she thought as she pulled on her riding boots and coat, sure not to make even the smallest of noises as she did so. Her family rose early, she knew, she if she was going to leave and return by four, she would have to do so now.
Gulping, Esther rose from where she was perched on the end of her bed. She pulled at her jodhpurs, delaying the inevitable. The girl scanned the room with squinting eyes; she had only just opened them and they were still adjusting to the impenetrable darkness. Sighing as silently as possible, the girl slid open her drawer and pulled out a small bad of sugar-cubes and some gloves. It was going to be a long, cold night. The girl padded across her room, taking care not to make dirty marks on the carpet with her riding boots.
Taking one last shaky glance behind her and out of the window, Esther saw, with her quickly-adjusting eyes, that snow had fallen since the darkness had elapsed. Darkness had been coming early for weeks now, with the sun beginning it's slow journey from the sky in late afternoon.
Shaking her head, Esther tiptoed to the door, edged it open and slipped out of the room. The hallway was dimly lit - a candle still flickered on the table. Esther decided that it was best not to blow it out. She would need it, surely.
Plucking the candle from it's stand, the girl made her way along the hallway, her pale face the only thing illuminated in the darkness. She felt like a character from one of the old fables her mother used to tell her, before she grew too old for bedtime stories: a candle held out before her, tiptoeing out in the night. She hoped she would meet none of the horrors the heroes of the stories were forced to face.
As she passed her brothers room, Esther peered inside. In the moonlight streaming in through the window, Esther could just make out her brothers sleeping face. Elos would never have allowed what she was about to do - this was why she was so
Setting foot on the first stair of the staircase, the girl bit her lip and held her breath. If the stairs where to creak...
Fortunately, she was able to move to the ground floor in silence, suddenly feeling the cold. She was glad she had remembered to pick up her coat.
As the front door swung over, fear swept over Esther. She couldn't breathe with the overpowering feeling of wanting to run and jump right back in her bed washing over her. Gritting her teeth and knowing that if she began to run the fear would heighten, Esther pressed on. Snowflakes fell gently about them, giving the farm an icing-sugar dusting of snow. It felt magical, but the shivers running down Esthers spine did not.
Pulling her coat more tightly around herself, Esther headed toward the stables. They smelled warm and comforting, the seven horses kept their heating the place. The smell of hay greeted her and Esther was reminded of the million times she had come down to the stables in the moonlight. Only those times she had been with Elos. Elos had been there to look after her.
But I don't need looking after,thought the determined little girl.I can do it myself. I don't need Elos. I'm almost thirteen, after all.[/color]
With that thought, Esther gently woke her horse and clambered onto the side of the stall. He was so tall that without a boost from Elos or the help of a step she was unable to climb onto his back. Exasperated with herself, yet still determined to be on her way, Esther brushed his sides with her boots and he was off, his ebony black coat almost invisible in the darkness.
A combination of the steady click of Midnight's hooves on the snowy ground and the comforting smell of horse comforted the girl, who was slightly on edge. The cold was getting to her, as it always did, yet there was no brother there to take off his jacket and brave the cold so she could be warm. Defiantly, Esther dug in her heels and began to laugh softly as the wind rushed past her. She could feel her hair whipping at her cheeks and taste the frosty air on her tongue, yet she went on, faster and faster until she was cantering over the hill with her horse, hoping that by the time the snow covered Midnight's footsteps, she would be long gone.
Drifting away into a little world of her own, the girl watched the stars in the sky as she rode. She was a great rider, having been first placed upon a horse before she could walk. It was, of course, Elos who mastered it first, but like almost everything they did, Esther's persistance and determination had won over the boys natural ability and daring after a while.
She had been riding for almost an hour when she finally pulled the horse into a trot and gradually stopped. Sliding from his back, she checked her watch. Half past eleven. She had time to practise a little before the others would appear, at least.
Not bothering to tether the obedient horse to one of the trees that edged the clearing, Esther crossed to the fallen hollow where she had hidden her supplies. Inside she dug out all mannor or objects - spears, axes, knives, horsewhips and even a bow and sheath of arrows. It had taken her weeks to arrange this - stealing or the weapons from here and there, getting together a group.
But she had done it all for a reason.
To come home to her brother if she was reaped. Something Elos would never do, and never allow her to do.
But, as with every other thing Esther had set her mind to, she had done it and done it well.
Settling down on the log to wait to the others, Esther allowed herself to drift away into her daydreams once more. [/color][/size]