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+--- Thread: GF18+ my heart is so full of you i can barely call it my own (/showthread.php?tid=12829)
my heart is so full of you i can barely call it my own - Ochir - 7/20/2026
ranger 1/5
Parting from Batu was not necessarily something he wanted to do. To have been torn from all he cared about only to now wake in this world, and to somehow have been reunited with his blood? He did not know that he deserved it. And to be told that his wife was here - she was here - Ochir's lungs were burning as he ran the plains. He could smell the scent of horses but all that he really was focused on was Maral.
She had been his guiding light for so long. All that he had been before, admittedly a bit of a womanizer who was self-centered, had changed once Maral had come into his life. He had been determined to make himself into a man worthy of her hand. Even now he wasn't sure he was - but he was self aware enough to know he could not stand the thought of anyone else near her. Especially now - they had been hoping for children. Was she well? Had she been feeding enough? Was that damned stallion keeping watch over her since Ochir had not been able to?
Finally he came to a stop when he thought he caught a fresh trail of hers. Suddenly he was nervous, but he made himself not run. He would pace himself. He had to be able to at least catch his breath before she found him.
RE: my heart is so full of you i can barely call it my own - Maral - 7/21/2026
The camp had long since settled into its evening rhythm.
Smoke curled lazily from the cookfires, soft conversations drifted between the gers, and somewhere farther off, a foal protested bedtime with an indignant whinny that earned a chorus of patient nickers from its elders.
Maral yawned.
The day's journey had finally begun to settle into her bones, and the thought of curling beneath warm furs inside her ger sounded more appealing than anything else in the world.
I think,she murmured to herself,
I've earned an early night.
Möngön walked faithfully beside her, his broad hooves thudding softly against the packed earth.
When they reached her Ger, Maral turned toward its entrance.
The stallion did not.
Instead, his nose found her shoulder.
Bump.
Maral blinked.
Möngön?
Another nudge. Gentle. Insistent.
She laughed quietly.
I'm going inside.
The great grey horse huffed through his nostrils and nudged her again, this time turning her just enough that she found herself facing away from the ger instead.
...You are impossible.
Möngön bobbed his head once, then began walking. Maral sighed in exaggerated defeat before falling into step beside him.
I know that look.He flicked an ear.
You're pretending this is my idea.The stallion remained gloriously silent. Maral couldn't help but giggle.
It's late.Another nudge.
Möngön...A third.
...The stars are already coming out.He continued onward with all the confidence of a commander leading an important campaign.
Maral shook her head, smiling despite herself.
I don't know why I keep believing I'll win these arguments.
She brushed lightly against his shoulder as they walked.
You've become terribly spoiled.
The stallion tossed his mane, looking entirely pleased with the accusation.
I feed you...A nudge.
I brush you...Another nudge.
I even defended you when you bred one of the Khan's mares.A particularly smug snort answered her.
And this is the thanks I receive?
He bumped her shoulder once more.
Maral laughed, the sound carried away by the cool evening breeze.
Very well.She looked up at the moon beginning to rise above the endless steppe.
A short walk.Maral smiled warmly at her oldest companion.
But only because you're asking so nicely.
Satisfied with his victory, Möngön continued leading her through the quiet camp, looking for all the world like an innocent horse enjoying an evening stroll.
Only the occasional sideways flick of one ear betrayed that he was, in fact, making absolutely certain that one very determined wolf searching the camp for his bride would never happen upon Maral's trail quite so easily.
Ochir
RE: my heart is so full of you i can barely call it my own - Ochir - 7/23/2026
hunter 2/5
He trailed them.
Through the camp, through the spaces that she'd clearly taken as her own, and even above the scent of the red flowers that tickled his hocks still, he smelled her. The last time her scent had been spiced with the fire - and he had been more than eager to let her burn him alive. Now it was softer, but still her, Maral. His Maral. The only equal of his heart.
What he could smell as well was Möngön and Ochir was no fool. After the second place he had checked, he was more than certain that the damned beast was choosing to keep Maral miserable. What that stallion was doing surely he wasn't wanting to actually harm her - and yet the longer that Ochir trailed them, the more his own tail flicked in irritation. Angrily, he snorted, teeth flashing briefly before he reminded himself. There was no way that he could overpower the beast but all that he could think of was shoulder checking him right out of the way.
Ears perked as he heard the lull of her voice - though it was not so close he could make out what she said.
His tongue traced over his teeth as he considered his options. If he took off in another gallop, would that spurn Möngön into running? Would the horse turn to face him? Ochir could not beat him speed for speed, but Ochir would be able to keep his gait for much longer than the stallion could. Instead he lifted his head and he sang for her - and for her alone. Maral would hear him, and there was nothing that Möngön could do to prevent it.
RE: my heart is so full of you i can barely call it my own - Maral - 7/23/2026
Maral followed where Möngön led without much thought.
The camp slowly disappeared behind them, replaced by the endless whisper of the steppe beneath a rising moon. Before long, the familiar grasses gave way to patches of crimson flowers, their petals brushing softly against her paws as they swayed in the evening breeze.
She slowed.
Möngön...The stallion continued walking. Her brow furrowed.
You've brought me awfully far.His ears flicked back toward her but he refused to answer in the only ways horses ever did. Maral sighed.
I know you think you're clever.Another few paces.
...What are you doing?Something about his behavior had changed. He wasn't wandering. He was leading her somewhere. The realization settled uneasily in her chest.
Möngön...Then—
A voice. A song.
It drifted across the sea of grass, carried effortlessly upon the evening wind.
Her heart stopped.
No…
Every muscle in her body froze. The flowers around her blurred. She knew that voice. She had heard it in dreams. In lonely nights when grief became too heavy to bear. She had imagined it so many times that she no longer trusted herself.
...Ochir...The name escaped her as little more than a breath. Her ears strained desperately toward the melody.
No...
This couldn't be real.
She stood perfectly still. Afraid. Afraid that if she moved, the illusion would shatter. Afraid that if she answered, only silence would answer back. Tears welled almost instantly.
...I'm hearing things again.Her voice trembled.
I've finally gone mad...She lowered her head.
I miss you too much...
A warm pressure pressed gently beneath her jaw.
Möngön.
The stallion stepped quietly into her path. Before Maral could speak another word, Möngön lowered his great head, pressing the broad bridge of his muzzle gently beneath her chin. His touch was impossibly careful for a creature of his size, lifting her face until she was no longer staring helplessly at the ground.
Toward the voice.
Toward him.
Maral blinked through tear-filled eyes.
Möngön...?The stallion answered with another gentle push. Not enough to shove. Just enough to ask. She didn't move. Fear rooted her where she stood.
If she walked forward and no one was there...
If this was only another cruel trick her grieving heart had played...
She couldn't survive losing him twice.
Sensing her hesitation, Möngön huffed softly through his nostrils. Then, with all the patience in the world, he nudged her again.
Forward.
It was the same careful encouragement an old horse would give a newborn foal taking its very first steps—never forcing, only reassuring. Every nudge seemed to say the same thing. Because for Möngön, Maral IS his foal.
Go on. I'm here. You won't fall.
Her forepaw finally lifted. It landed clumsily. Another followed, uncertain and trembling. Maral stumbled, her balance falting beneath the weight of hope she scarcely dared to feel. Before she could lose it completely, Möngön was already there, his shoulder slipping gently against his foal's side to steady her. He kept pace with her hesitant movements, nudging her whenever she faltered, supporting her as he did the same days she learned how to stand. Gangly and awkward, but refusing to allow it to temper her spirit.
One shaky step. After another.
The song drifted across the crimson flowers once more. Closer, clearer. Her breath caught painfully in her throat.
...No...Another step, then another.
The flowers parted. Moonlight spilled across familiar fur. A familiar silhouette. Broad shoulders she had leaned against beneath countless stars. A face she had memorized so completely that even time had failed to blur it. Her amber eyes widened. The world disappeared. Everything else—the wind, the flowers, the steppe itself—ceased to exist.
Only he remained.
Ochir...
This time it wasn't a whisper. It escaped her like a prayer answered. Disbelief cracked. Hope rushed through the fractures.
Then certainty flooded every corner of her heart.
He was real. He was alive.
Maral lurched forward, nearly tripping over her own paws as she broke into an uneven run. Once... twice... and then something inside her gave way.
Her legs remembered how to fly.
She tore across the sea of red flowers as though every lonely night, every tear she'd shed, every prayer she'd whispered beneath the endless sky had finally been answered.
OCHIR!
Behind her, Möngön remained exactly where he stood. The great grey stallion did not follow. He watched. Motionless. His ears pointed forward. His body squared. His dark eyes never left Ochir. There was no mistaking the look. No challenge, no greeting. Only a promise. A silent warning written so clearly that words were unnecessary. That he would be the reason for his second death if he hurt her again. Only after holding Ochir's gaze for one long, unblinking moment did Möngön snort quietly through his nostrils.
The stallion never looked away as he watched his foal learn how to run again.
Ochir
RE: my heart is so full of you i can barely call it my own - Ochir - 7/28/2026
![[Image: RUxh8S.png]](https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img921/4310/RUxh8S.png)
His heart was pounding faster than the sound of the herd's hooves. It was so loud it pounded in his ears, even then, they stayed poised and cupped towards the figures in the distance in the hopes that he might hear her responding to him. The song of his wife was the only thing he wanted to hear, and the longer it takes the more his heart sinks. What could he even say to bridge the chasm her pain has created in her?
For Ochir, it had been mere moments. But this was a new world, a new place, a new life - and Maral had already mourned his. There was no part of him that was good enough to deserve this second life and second chance with her, but he knew that whether he was good enough or not, his Maral was. She deserved the life that they wanted to give their children, the ones he wanted so badly and the ones that he hoped looked just like her.
The moments crept on and he whined not unlike a pup might who had been left alone for too long or had gotten misplaced in it's explorations. Her figure grew closer until he realized that she had heard and she flew to him, faster than the silver giant behind her with his clear-as-day message. Ochir would never give Möngön the satisfaction of killing him. Ochir would rather take his own life than bring pain to Maral again. Ochir immediately was in motion as well, and though he took effort not to collide with her he still embraced the feeling of her weight against his, allowing his limbs to become a tangle with hers as they both tumbled across the earth.
It was a wonder he didn't break anything, but even if he had how could he notice when all his effort went into feeling each of the kisses he peppered across her face.
Maral, my love - my life, my Erdene,He ended up hovering over her, eyes wet with tears. His tail whipped behind them, dusting the flowers that dotted the plains.
Maral, it's real, we're here together!But he wasn't sure which of them he was trying to convince more, her or himself.