after all is said and done

Claire hasn't shown up or rung the farm in about three months causing Julian to worry and Killian to grow antsy and restless. When contact is made it sounds as if she has been carefully manipulated something very had to do to claire. After that drama she decides that she's giving up on finding someone and decides to throw herself into er horses and her studies

Not really wanting to talk about what she felt, and the fact that there was a chance she was even more different than she already was, Claire kept quiet choosing to answer when he queried about the patched mare “She’s from Ices, she and Jory clicked so we brought her home, she’ll keep him company when I head out again to sea in a couple of weeks” carefully brushing his thick coat, the woman didn’t comment on the fact that he’d lost weight, they all knew what the cause of it was. Glancing up as Killian showed off to the grey mare that he loved, she gave a faint smile and resumed her brushing, “Do you want to come with me? It looks like it’ll be a new moon by the time I get out there” perhaps some of his books would hold the answer to what was going on with Rose. After all she had no idea, and her friend had a book store with an entire section dedicated to creatures, it was a little interesting to her that the shaggy pony had fallen for such a grumpy red mare that he’d never seen as a human before. Then again looks weren’t everything, continuing to brush him thoughts and feelings regarding the sea returned, deciding that she’d discuss them with Angus when she was driving them out if he agreed to come with her. Rose would not be pleased, but there really wasn’t any other choice, anyone could tell that he was pining for the sea, and needed to return to it lest one full moon the call be too loud and he’d vanish for potentially months or years which would truly destroy the complicated red beast.

Taking a break in her brushing of the pony, Claire braided her hair back then moved to have a look at his leg, the hock once again was swollen and hot to the touch. She’d healed it as much as she’d been able to but in reality she wasn’t a good of a healer as she would have liked to be, failing to get the sea out of her head, the green eyed lass sighed returning the conversation to Jory “She seems to like him, probably because he’s a kid, Ice dosent really have evil child goons working for her yet after all” she had just wanted to be normal for so much of her life, to not have everything always happen to her. So much shit had happened and she was sick of it, it was another reason why she’d stopped dating, what was the point? She’d just out live them or Ice would do something to them or take them to lure her into a trap. Honestly she would have thought ice would stop with her traps as they never worked, sour over it all she scowled down at the brush while she firmly pulled it through the sore ponys fur as gently as she could avoiding the leg now she’d had a look at it. She’d hose it off, that sometimes helped, and discuss if he thought going back to sea for a little while might help, the sea would help him heal to the point where he wasn’t as lame theoretically.

Listening silently as Angus announced that he had to go, that it was getting too strong and if he held back much longer he’d never come back, Claire just nodded her agreement leaving the fact that he’d have to persuade rose into it to him. Watching as the pony lifted his leg and only added to her concern for him, Claire sighed softly knowing that he’d want something to do or he’d start getting wound up. About to suggest that she took him to the paddock that had cross country jumps but also a obstacle course she’d come up with after watching some dog trials on the internet a while ago. However he appeared to have noticed the scowl on her face and brought it up, gently scratching his shoulder she sighed not really wanting to talk about it, there was no point. She didn’t really want to admit to herself that she wanted to find someone to share her life with, let alone anyone else, even after everything that had happened to her with Oliver, there was a sense of wanting a best friend that she could talk to about everything. From what had happened with killian to what Ice did on a semi regular basis, it was so stupid. She had her father to talk to, as well as Angus, did they not count? Where they not enough? She didn’t know and so just sighed deciding to avoid talking about it for now“Come on, we’ll go through the obstacle course, you’ll be able to have a good splash in one of the various ponds” setting the brushes down and dusting off her hands the woman took the ponies lead rope and lead him into the correct paddock. Unhooking the rope after closing the gate she looked over the course, there were all sorts of things for the pony to do from walking up over bridges, to jumping through doughnuts. It was a good way to keep him busy and keep him doing new things, and it often worked at distracting her from what she was thinking, setting her thoughts and feelings on the shelf to mope over later when she was on her own. “Ready to go Angus?” she was doing her best to cope with everything, but all she really wanted to do was go back to the sea and dive beneath the cool waves for a while.

Watching as the pony made a beeline for the pond, Claire couldn’t help but grin as he waded into the water and knelt down to roll in the cold water, yelping when he got up and shook himself out getting her with the spray of water when he shook himself off. She’d planned to let him do what he wanted obstacle wise, however he had other ideas and instead walked back over to her and rubbed his head on her shirt. Rolling her eyes, the woman pushed the black ponies head off of her “Well theres the poles, or one of the bridges we’ll figure it out” he looked to be distracted blaming it on the fact that the sea was calling to him, Claire met his gaze at his question. “Thereabouts” it’d be a long two weeks, for the pair of them, giving him a thorough wash and groom after they headed out of the paddock she took special attention in rubbing him dry. She couldn’t really remember the last time Angus left to go to the sea, she couldn’t begin to imagine what it must feel like to feel the sea tug at ones soul and spirit. Letting him back into the paddock she watched the pair for a few moments before heading off to busy herself with something else, she had to stay busy had to keep moving and ignore the tug that made her heart ache. Deciding that she’d go work some of the horses that were lazing about in paddocks, she was soon tacked up and riding again, it was only while riding that she was completely distracted that she felt free and confident once more.


She’d lifted her head and watched as her partner had been lead off by the black haired girl, resuming her grazing rose didn’t pay much attention to what was going on far more interested in eating. Hearing steps, the red mare glanced up and nickered softly realizing that Angus was being turned back in with her. He trotted over to her and affectionately scratched at her shoulder, quietly nudging him she flicked her ears not liking the tone of his voice, the feisty thing sighed and affectionately nipped him ‘Alright Angus, what is it?’ She had a faint idea of what it could be, she was an ex hunter after all. The call of the sea was likely getting stronger and he was going to have to leave her, well that’s what she guessed, the idea of him leaving wasn’t something that she was that happy with. What if he left and didn’t come back to her? The self loathing and lack of self esteem had remained low, she despised herself and couldn’t quite understand why Angus seemed so interested in her when he’d never even seen her as a human. She didn’t have anything going for her looks wise, she was scarred all over and had freckles by the thousand, yet she knew if she wished to remain in a relationship with the selkie. ‘You have to leave don’t you’ the chestnut bitzers voice was not its usual hard sharp self, instead it was quieter and unhappy, the fear of him not coming back overshadowing what she knew as logic. How the hunter hated herself over it all, weak, pathetic, useless, Rose hated how emptiness and lonliness filled her when the pony was away form her, and she especially despised the fact that she was so weak as to want him around her. Abruptly shoving the pity party in her head away, she hardened her voice to its usual strength ‘Alright, when are you going? For how long? Kangaroo Jack mentioned work coming up so I probably wont even notice you’re gone’ the mare added the last part with a sniff and a dismissive flick of her tail before resuming her grazing.

Forgoing grazing finally to bring her head around and beginning to groom him back, she listened as the stallion explained that he wouldn’t be leaving for good, but he did need to leave now or risk not coming back for years. He continued to explain adding that he’d go back with Claire when she returned to the sea, that it was right in the middle of a full moon which meant the tug was at its lowest. Deciding that she’d be able to part with some tail hairs for a good cause, the ginger mare sighed and nodded her agreement before resuming her work on his coat.   ‘Alright’ her voice was quiet and tired, not bothering to react when he nipped at her and followed him quietly, although she enjoyed working for Julian she missed having a human shape. The chestnut missed hunting, missed drinking and the variety of food, shaking herself off before starting to eat the hay quietly, flattening her ears warningly when Angus got in her space whilst she was eating. Time after that seemed to go fast and all too soon it was time for him to leave, leaning her head into him once he’d shifted Rose didn’t say anything, instead she took what comfort she could while she could. She’d not kicked out when hair had been cut from her tail to be braided into an intricate braided bracelet that now was around his wrist. Claire was already in the car waiting, gathering what strength she had, the mare lifted her head and tugged on his hair sharply   ‘I’ll miss you, Angus’ she rarely used the mans name often referring to him as curly or any other range of nicknames she could come up with. She wanted to be human and to be able to go with him so she wasn’t left behind, but she couldn’t shift, so here she was stuck,   ‘don’t make any stupid decisions while you’re gone’ rose added nudging him firmly in warning.

Waiting for him patiently in the car Claire kept silent, the past two weeks had been filled with tending to her horse and looking after her brother, convincing him that she’d come back, soon enough Angus was finally in the car, starting it she began the long journey back towards the sea. Concerned about the man as it was clear that resisting the sea for so long had had a profound effect on him, feeling that she couldn’t bother him with her own issues surrounding the sea and so kept her trap shut instead turning up the radio a little and humming along to it. She kept her window half down and enjoyed the cool breeze that came through the window, for once her hair was out and allowed to move around with the breeze, once they were at the beach she found a park and abandoned the car to wander down bare foot onto the sand. Digging her toes in for a brief moment she made her way into the water and waded in up to her knee hight a smile on her features as she splashed the water as it washed past her.

Looking up at him when he asked if she was alright, Claire shrugged her green eyes meeting his for a moment before flicking back out towards the water, he was after these many years definitely an uncle to her now. Her tongue felt like it was lead until he splashed over and touched his hand to her shoulder “I… don’t know Uncle gus” closing her eyes and letting out a long sigh “the water its been whispering and pulling at me ever since I went on that trip, it wont go away” Claire admitted quietly wandering a little deeper and considering diving underneath the water the fact that she was expected back on the boat again soon prevented her from doing so. She had no idea why she felt this tug all of a sudden, it didn’t make sense to her, her gaze briefly flicked up towards the docks, and not seeing anyone returned to the sea. Spotting a shell, she reached down and picked it up out of the water, brushing her fingers over the ridges on it, deciding that it’d make a good addition to her collection of shells, Claire tucked it away into her pocket now keeping an eye out for any other unusual stones or shells that’d be worth keeping.

Visiting Ireland sounded pleasant, it was near the sea and she hadn’t been there for quite some time, looking up at the voice as well and recognizing the man on the phone as Alex she had enough time to farewell Angus before the selkie was shifted and had vanished under the waves. Wading out of the water to greet Alex, his open smile drawing one from her in return despite herself. “Born ready” a little surprised that the other two weren’t joining them she wasn’t exactly upset by it. Time out on the sea away from as many people as possible sounded good, “how long can we stay out there?” she began walking towards her car again to grab her things. Swinging the strap of the duffel bag over her shoulder and locking the car, heading after Alex onto the boat she set her things down in her room and soon enough was standing on deck again leaning against the rails staring out towards the horizon, River was already out at sea hunting fish and exploring the sea.

Briefly leaving him on deck to deposit her things where they belonged, Claire returned and listened as he announced that his plan was to swim with whale sharks, the idea sounded like fun she admittedly didn't know much about whale sharks and so was keen to learn everything Alex had to teach her. "Yeah I did, thought it'd be wise to do so" he threw her a cheerful grin which drew a friendly smile from her in return. She'd warmed up to him quickly enough, so didn't clam up when he asked more about her "he's stubborn but doing okay" she didn't go into details disbelieving that he'd be interested in it after all she was aware that he didn't know much if anything about horses and so she wouldn't bother him with it. She was more than used to other people being less than interested, the black haired woman glanced over towards the horizon in the direction that her uncle had gone, wanting to follow him out to sea already. With less people on the boat her shadows were more restless, wanting to interact with the smiley man, keeping them in line as best as possible Claire gave a quiet sigh and reached out to River. The water dragon was already far out, diving down deep beneath the surface of the ocean and finding various snacks along the way, satisfied that the independent often times impatient creature was safe and sound the green eyed woman returned her attention to the ship and to alex.

Glancing at Alex as the questions spilled out of him, a proper smile returned to her lips after it'd slipped away whilst watching the horizon "He's a friesian crossed with something else, in layman terms he's big and black with long hair over his hooves called feathers, he was badly abused so dads helping me retrain him to accept things, we've done saddle and halters the last part is the bit of metal that goes in their mouths to aid steering. He had really harsh ones that cut up his mouth, so its been the hardest thing to reteach him" the information spilled out of Claire, green eyes lit up while talking about the big black horse "he's intelligent and cheeky, determined and he tries really hard, and shows off for his mare" opting to leave it there before it sounded like she was infatuated with the cheeky bastard Claire just nodded in acceptance as Alex explained that he was waiting for the tide to turn, it made sense however waiting for such a thing hadn't been possible for the two creatures already at sea. They loved it and hated being away from it, it was part of them no matter how far away they were, becoming a little wary at the questions about River, the rather powerful shadow master studied him seriously a few moments unable to help the fierce protectiveness that she felt when it came to her soul shadow. "Yes she did, thanks again for your help, she's already out there waiting" it was easier to talk to him about River without having to be careful that the others might hear. Sure they were okay if they were on the boat, but she'd long learned to be extremely secretive when it came to those that she cared about, getting annoyed with the wind as it pulled whisps of her hair out of its loose plait, Claire huffed and dug around in her pockets for a few of the bobby pins she kept on her person. Finding one or two and using them to manage the black strands that had been pulled free she leaned against the railing again, most of the time she didn't mind but if there was a wind or she was riding the wind used the strands of hair to tickle her, which she was particularly sensitive too.

Watching Alex's response, it was surprisingly pleasant that he was so interested, and the way his interest was clearly displayed on his features, she was admittedly privately proud of how well her father was known and respected for his work with horses. Herself she was happy to just learn as much as she could when it came to vet medicine, chiropractor work, bodywork, acupuncture and more, Claire had always wanted to learn everything that could be learnt about horses to help them. All of her study and work had proven useful when it'd come to helping Killian recover, it had been a long hard road for them all and she was thrilled with the progress with the big black stallion. Alex still seemed interested in asked a few more questions pertaining to how one would go about retraining an abused horse "It depends on the horse, in alot of ways a wild horse is easier to train because its had no negative life experiences. I was lucky enough to already had a bond with him, i've owned him before and he was stolen from me, so that made it easier to do things because he remembered me and had trust for me still. Its a lot of pushing his challenge line and rewarding him when he does the right thing with something tasty, he's a good boy" it was sort of strange, it felt good to be able to talk to someone who wasn't family, who was willing to listen and ask questions. Almost like it was a way of venting, even if she wasn't telling the complete truth, a way of pretending to be normal, to not have shadows or have all the issues that came with having them and her family dramas.

Glancing away briefly when she was told that the black horse was lucky to have her, Claire looked back at him when he asked another couple of questions "In time I believe he will, he wont ever be completely comfortable with a bit but im aiming for at least tolerating it at this stage" nodding in understanding when he told her the tide was turning, her brows jerked up a little skeptically when he called her sunshine. Not arguing however she set about completing the few tasks she'd been given to do by him, finishing them just before he called out to her, Claire wandered over too him and shook her head "Nope" not completely true, she'd had a pirate ship a while ago but she was fairly certain that a sailing ship and the boat she was currently on handled very differently. It was easier just to say she hadn't and play dumb, she was dressed in her usual breeches and polo shirt, fair skinned she burned instead of tanned, so her hat as usual was comfortably protecting her from the sun as much as she could get out here. Tucking her hands into the back pockets of her breeches, Claire's gaze flicked from Alex out towards where she could guess her dragon was.

Stepping into his spot and taking the wheel an amused smile curled her lips, the last time she'd sailed you didn't need a license to sail or in this case drive. In all honesty it was a little disappointing, there was so much missing from this moment, the snap of canvas sails and the feeling of the ship being pulled through the water of it feeling alive. Keeping eyes on where she was going, Claire supposed that it'd be a good idea to do so, even if she disliked the feeling of this... boat to the feeling of her ship it'd make her more useful and that was something important. Listening closely as he explained how the various controls worked and ignored the urge to smirk as he advised her how to navigate the rough patch of ocean. The question about sharks was one she considered "I'm afraid my knowledge is fairly out dated, I know where they can be found, they're fairly edible, they're tough and hardy, and have keen senses of smell. I know a little of bull, hammerhead and greatwhite's but its not much" not quite as animated she was more sheepish at her lack of knowledge, as pirates they'd hunted them as a last option when there was nothing left and they were desperate. Because of this she was eager to learn more about them and let Alex teach her what he knew, she already knew from their previous trip that he got just as excited about the sea as she did about her horses, it was his passion and it was pleasant to watch him go into detail.

Listening as Alex burst into a ramble, her smile remained on her face while she listened closely to him chattering away. It was all very fascinating, she'd had no interaction with whale sharks so all of the information was new and interesting. Once he'd finished she began to ask questions, "Why has no one found where they have their pups? What parts of the world do they like to frequent? Do they raise their young or are they on their own" pausing to take a breath more questions continued to billow to the surface "how big do they get? Are they prey for anything themselves? How long do they live?" eager to hear Alex's responses to her questions, Claire briefly glanced over at him again "Ramble away, its all interesting" the idea of diving with the whale sharks was exciting, the most she'd dived before now were old wrecks which occasionally had meant avoiding big sharks that seemed to think she'd potentially be an easy meal. She'd always had a healthy respect for them, still a little snobbish at the fact that this boat was nothing like her sailing ship she decided at some point she'd have to go visit her hidden away vessel.