The lion-boy does not hear her words, but the intent is obvious as she moves to join the youths in the pit, and his first thought is that she slides about too much, not knowing how to place her hooves on the slick mud. A jolt of fear splits his heart as he worries that she will bring injury to herself as well.
But she recovers, and a gasping breath that was held in his chest is blustered out through already tense lips as she stands before the children.
Having not heard her words, copper eyes scan the walls of the sinkhole, looking for something that could be used to help get them out. He doesn't see as such, but he does see something that can be used to help get another down.
A large tree root sticks out a good 2/5 of the way down near the lion-boy. He fathoms that it must be from an old plant, or at least, one that was felled recently, for he cannot see any trunk that it could have been attached to.
(Perhaps it is from a large bush, those have been seen in the fields before, and with winter, the stem might not be visible at the moment.)
Either way, it still looks relatively healthy. It looks fresh and flexible, not rotted out and prone to splintering or crumbling to dust at the slightest of nudges.
It looks strong enough to hold the weight of a horse, if only for a few moments.
More specifically, it looks strong enough to hold the weight of a chronically underweight, and slightly small as it is, stallion.
"I'm gonna fucking regret this.
Auru's hooves are working before his mind gets far enough along to convince him that this really is a very bad idea. He's close to the root as it is, and it only takes a few steps for him to become level with it. The stallion stands at the top of the sinkhole, squinting at the other side where the children are, before glancing at the floor far below him.
Well, not far enough to be fatal, at least.
He's turning so that his backside faces the hole before he can stop himself, hooves shuffling backwards until the rear end of his hind hooves kisses the lip of the sinkhole.
His voice is a quiet murmur to himself as his heart pounds like the drums of war in his breast.
"Well, just the other day I was wishing I could be a little braver at times."
Three, two, one, go before you can talk yourself out of it.
He hops backwards, feeling gravity's pull as he begins to fall to the bottom. In less than a second, the root gives his hind leg a painful 'thwap' as he hits it, and Auru's jaws open to snag onto it before he falls past. Enormous, predatory canines and wolf teeth actually find themselves of use for once, the large, lion-like fangs sinking deep into the bark; tearing at it but piercing true and holding firm.
His neck jerks painfully as his momentum is suddenly arrested, but he grits his teeth through the pain, and because he needs to in order to hold on.
His hind hooves are a little over half way down from this point, and, knowing that the root can't hold him long, Auru digs his hooves into the sinkhole's wall. Releasing the root, he begins to fall once more, but this time, the fall isn't so far, and he has the added benefit of whatever traction his hooves can manage.
When he hits the bottom, it is not graceful in the slightest, and the man topples onto his side with a grunt. But hooves that have lived in the swamp for nearing on two years are quick to find their hold once more in the watery mud, and Auru wastes no time in scrabbling upright and shaking himself like a dog to banish the water.
He immediately starts rapidly picking his way across the unstable surface, seasons of swamp-life keeping him firm, and he soon comes to the woman and the two children.
Were this any other day, and any other situation, Auru would be easily cowed into following whatever the stranger had to say. Hell, he wouldn't have even come down to begin with (probably). But this was not any other situation.
"What if, you were really old, and really kind and alone... you couldn't just stand there and watch children cry."
The stallion noses at the one who had fallen unconscious, before trying his best to get his head underneath them. He bends his forebody towards the ground, trying to shift the unconscious foal so that he can carry them, trying to get their hooves over his torso.
"Come on, help me get them on my back. The longer they're sprawled out cold and wet like this, the more likely they are to fall ill. At least this way we can keep them out of the water. The cold may have already done damage as is, but at least this way we can prevent more."
In winter, you tried to stay out of the swamp's waters unless you had no other choice. The near-frozen water sapped heat from your bones quicker than a predator at your jugular.
@
OOC: And here comes dumb bitch #2
