Cihiru's Teepee

[Cihiru]

7.01 Lonely Souls: Kourin & Eloran

Here

Talencia

Dappled shadows touched his back as he paced along. Fall's breath was in the wind, turning leaves yellow here and there and bringing a sense of change. Sometimes he reveled in the feel of autumn, but today it merely made him restless, driving him to move, lest he fall into sadness.

With the cycle of short but dramatic death now begun again, he felt much too reminded of his own endings that lacked beginnings following after. His heart had felt all too hollow lately, his life a repetitive rhythm that lacked the company of those he loved. Shaitani had left him without even a kiss goodbye. All he had wanted to know for years was why? Now he simply wished he could forget. But when someone enters your heart so swiftly and so deeply, that same heart betrays you by always remembering. The hole left by her absence would remain.

And then there was his sweet daughter, Zoet. She had grown to be such a lovely, confident young mare, and Eloran was proud of her. But she had left him to lead her own life. Rightly so, for he would never wish to withold the world from her. That didn't lessen his sense of loss at her going, though. Now he was alone, save for the smaller creatures who lived in his section of forest.

Frankly, life was very lonely for the bay stallion. He rather longed for some company, but felt no stirring to leave the quiet sanctuary of his domain. Which left him where he was at this moment, striding slowly along the edges of his forest, eyes turned away from it out over the wider grasslands and meadows.

Cihiru

Kourin's morning routine had ended some time ago, and though there was a time she would have been lingering near the home she shared with Hiabi just about then, the mare was still wandering today. She found herself unable to still her hooves more and more frequently of late, and it unnerved her. The mare wasn't supposed to be like this, and an unknown cause worsened her discontent, prolonging her agitation.

Well, not entirely unknown. Deep down, she knew no matter how much she may have loved the woman Hiabi, she missed the companionship of her kin, as she'd had when she was young. She longed for the company of Kaga, who had disappeared what felt like an eternity ago, and she knew her loneliness was gnawing at her. Maybe she was just trying to ignore it, feeding her reluctance to resolve it. Voluntary isolation didn't make sense, of course, and she would have realized it if only she had thought of it, but her heart refused to be reasoned with, and Kourin was very much stuck in her melancholy.

It was with that motivation she often found herself traveling paths she knew to be deserted, as she was then, lest she stumble across someone and betray her foolish loyalty to her pain. They were always calm, quiet sceneries, and in their peace, Kourin could almost find it in herself to daydream, and imagine all was right in her world. Only almost, though, and some times were more successful than others. This day wasn't one of her more fortunate attempts; she was ambling aimlessly instead, very much aware of the bleak sky overhead, and the brittle crunch beneath her hooves.

Her desolate journey wasn't so desolate today though. Velvety nostrils flared at the scent on the wind... A soquili, she realized, slowly lifting her head to peer across the fields, and inwardly chiding herself for not noticing sooner. It took her a moment to spot him, but when she did, she paused and looked on, her ears perked forward as she considered her options.

Kourin's self was tugged in two directions then, torn between an obsolete, pained desire to be alone, and a longing for company. She certainly couldn't have both, she scoffed to herself, surprised by her own indecisiveness. Something inside the mare snapped - a new-found clarity as to what it was she really wanted. What foolishness she had fallen into, she thought, ashamed of herself. She wanted company, and she had certainly taken her time coming to terms with it.

Better late than never, though. Freshly resolved, but no less pensive, Kourin pushed herself toward the other with a graceful walk, hoping to make a new acquaintance, should he let her.

Talencia

Since he was already turned that way, he caught sight of her, possibly before she saw him. A spot of stormcloud blue against the yellowing grasses of fall. The mare appeared at first to be involved with her own thoughts, so he had continued along his slow patrol. Even so, the thoughtful stallion kept an eye on her as he walked along, not wanting to be rude and miss the opportunity to show his manners towards a visitor near his territory.

However, once she did indeed see him, he wasn't entirely sure he'd get the chance to greet her. He couldn't see her expression really, but her body language spoke of hesitation and indecision. Quietly he kept walking, not wanting to influence her decision at all. If she didn't want company, he felt she had every right to avoid polite company. Heavens knew he had done the same himself many times over the last few years. Granted, company rarely appeared. His section of forest was a ways from the humans' settled area, and seemed secluded from most soquili traffic.

Today, though, he didn't much mind the idea of having company.

When he realized she had begun to move toward him, he stopped where he was and waited quietly beneath the edge of the forest's shade. When she was close enough, he whickered a mellow greeting to her. "It is a fine day for a walk, is it not?" he began amiably. "Would you like to join me on my stroll? I am merely checking to be sure all is well along the edges of my home." He bobbed his head courteously, his neat black mane staying out of his gentle brown eyes.

Cihiru

Kourin understood 'spots of stormcloud blue' were quite conspicuous when strolling through meadows, as she was, and had not been at all surprised to see him pause. He'd probably noticed long ago, really, as she had faith others were far more alert and observant than she. Such was the curse of her foolishness... Oh, it encompassed so many things, and she only seemed to notice more and more.

Chin up, though, she reminded herself. She'd spent far too long moping to sully this too. What could have been a potential friendship, that is, for she'd taken the gesture as a wordless greeting, not having spotted any aggression or standoffishness in his posture. Then too, she could have been mistaken.

The mare was relieved to discover she hadn't been though, and met the inquiry with an agreeable nod. "Moreso than most." For today would be the day she finally put an end to her misery. There would still be pain, of course, but somehow she felt her perspective had changed, and she seemed much more able to contain it. "I would. And whom do I have to thank for his kind offer?" And for the first time in a long while, she wore a soft smile.

Talencia

Eloran chuckled gently, a soft sound that lacked any sort of edge of mockery or haughtiness. "I am Eloran, though no thanks are needed." He smiled then and began to slowly continue along the forest edge, the sunlight dappling his red coat, bright against the shadows which turned his hide brown. "The company is most welcome. Things are often much too quiet out here." And alone, he added mentally, but forebore to mention that. There was no need or merit to sharing that with her. Not that he withhled it distrustfully, but strangers generally didn't want to hear the woes and foibles of their new acquaintance immediately.

"May I inquire who has accepted my invitation?" He smiled in amusement then, a twinkle of mischevious, if muted, teasing. Just a light banter in the face of introduction. There always was a first awkwardness when exchanging names. He preferred to keep it as sedate and relaxed as he could. "And also what has brought you out this way today?" Perhaps he'd learn where it was she had come from, as well.

Meanwhile his ears would occasionally swivel before returning to focus on her. Some noise further into the trees would catch his attention, then resolve itself into whatever normal activity or occurance that it was, alleviating the need for his attention. Pleasant as it was having a companion on his rounds, he still attended to his duty while enjoying her presence.

Cihiru

"Needed?" Maybe thanks weren't needed persay, but Kourin didn't let that dissuade her. "I would like to give them though," she added, genuine. Nevertheless, she didn't press, instead leaving her sentiments at just that. It was almost as good as a proper thank you, she thought, and she didn't wish to overbear.

She looked back to him then, her kind gaze having drifted away at some point, likely in her brief musing. "Well, I'm glad to be able to help relieve the regularity." There was a nod as she pulled up alongside him, her rather dainty hooves treading lightly on the yellowing earth. All too well did she understand what 'too quiet' meant, and though she wouldn't tell him - not yet, at least - she very easily could have said the same.

"Kourin," she replied simply, quite unfazed. "Truthfully?" The roan paused thoughtfully, very aware of the irony in the reality of it. "I came this way hoping to be alone." Something in her tone belied she wasn't at all perturbed by her circumstance though, and that she had indeed been quite honest in thanking him for his company. What had caused the change of heart, however, was left unsaid; her foolishness wasn't fit for troubling a stranger. "It seems there were other plans for me," she added a little jokingly, despite it.

Talencia

He slanted her an amused glance. She'd come to be alone? He wasn't entirely sure whether that was good or bad, though the fact that she had found his company didn't seem to trouble her. It was a good start, at least. The only thing worse than being lonely was being with someone who didn't wish to be with you.

A frown crossed his face as another thought, unbidden, rose to trouble him. Had Shaitani really wanted to be with him? Oh, she'd let him convince her to come live with the humans for a time, but during a time when their joy should have been greatest, she'd left him. Perhaps that was what she had truly wanted? He shook his head, letting his thick mane fall where it would. It was not worth worrying over. The final fact that mattered was that she had left he and Zoet, and nothing could change that. As he had done uncounted time in the past, he resolutely set the pain aside and moved himself on. He was discovering to his dismay that it never really left him, though. Sadly he wished it could be left to the past forever, not exactly forgotten, but no longer in the present either.

A distressed squall interrupted his thoughts. Stopping dead in his tracks, he immediately began to scent the air and twitch his ears this way and that. The demanding and confused squall came again, a distance away from the two soquili. Eloran stayed rooted to the spot, on alert. Very softly, he spoke to his companion. "That is a bear cub. And where there is cub, thee is mother." He glanced at her, warning in his eyes. "I hope you know about the danger of mother bears?" he inquired, his voice still low-pitched, so as not to carry.

Cihiru

She was actually quite attentive when not lost in a world all her own; Eloran's frown did not escape her. It did puzzle her though. Had she said something to upset him? No, surely not... She'd not said anything worth being upset over.

It wasn't any of her business, anyway. As much as she couldn't deny her curiosity, she could ignore it, and ignore it she did.

Kourin politely turned her gaze away so as not to stare, instead occupying herself with the rippling grasses and the way the shadows cast from the tree line danced over them. It wasn't a terribly deep pastime, but she found if she focused on her surroundings strongly enough, she could almost keep her thoughts from drifting. Listening to the chorus of the wilderness was a pleasant distraction from what would have otherwise been troubled thoughts, perhaps not unlike what Eloran himself was experiencing.

The cry didn't allow her a reverie though. She snapped to a halt, her eyes involuntarily widening in alarm as her ears danced atop her head. Despite having mellowed with age, Kourin was still a bit of a skittish creature by nature. "Too well," she replied quietly, her gaze darting to him. She had, in fact, met one once before, when she was but a filly. It wasn't something easily forgotten.

Talencia

The red bay stallion spared a moment for a look of admiration at the curly-maned mare next to him. She was neither ignorant nor terrified and fleeing. He found such cautious courage an admirable and commendable quality in anyone, but particularly in mares. They seemed to sell themselves short in the nerves department all too often. He was glad to see his new companion was no such mare.

But this cub, and his nearby mother, were his concern, as they were denizens of his forest, or apparently were now. "That cub doesn't sound happy at all," he mused softly, "but I don't hear his mother." He puzzled over it for a moment before deciding. "I'm sorry to abandon you, but I must go see what I can do to help." He glanced at her with an inquiring glance. "Though I wouldn't turn your down if you wanted to come along."

Another distressed bawl from the baby made his ears lean forward intently, and he murmured to himself, "Where is your mother, little one?" He looked again at the mare, truthfully hopeful she'd come with him.

Cihiru

He was so... calm. And she was... not. Not at all. It was honestly fairly shameful; she might have flushed and ducked her head in embarrassment if she hadn't been so busy trying to swallow her nerves. But she was, so she only shifted her weight uncomfortably instead, silently alleviating her desire to move, hopefully without making her seem too much a fool.

Not that she didn't have more important things to concern herself with (and concerning herself with them she was). No, it didn't sound pleased, and no, she could hear no signs of its mother, but did she want to come investigate? If she hadn't successfully quelled her uneasiness already, the question would have been outright disconcerting. As it was, it earned a faint shadow of indecision in her dark eyes, and then an agreement for reasons she didn't particularly comprehend. "I'm not certain how much help I would be, but sure I will."

Whether it was for pride, or because she wanted to help, or only because she was a follower at heart, she couldn't have said, but when he looked back to her again, Kourin nodded lightly.

Talencia

He nodded his head silently at her in response, then turned to begin a careful stalk towards the cries of the young animal. He led the way through the forest trees, weaving his way carefully, stepping with caution. Before long they could see movemet through the trees, and the frightened call of the cub was much louder. Bears, Eloran reflected, were not known for their beautiful voices.

He stopped and scanned the area carefully. All he could detect was the movement of one small body, sunlight catching brown fur. Everywhere else around was silent. No birds stirred, no squirrels scurried. But neither was there the sound of breaking brush and heavy thuds of a mother rushing to the rescue. The cub was downwind of them, so he could not scent the air for the larger parent.

With a concerned look at Kourin, he waited in the shadows. Still the baby cried, occasionally snuffling about audibly, small paws scuffing on rock. He murmured in the softest tones to the mare to let her know he intended to wait. He stayed on alert, ears swiveling, nostrils flaring. As the sun turned above them, passing it's zenith, he finally decided it was safe to go see what the trouble was.

The sight that met their eyes was heartbreaking. The cub had finally flung itself down, sprawled across the larger bulk of it's mother, and fallen asleep. The mother bear herself was sprawled in an awkward position, unmoving and not breathing. Immediately Eloran's heart went out to the poor cub, bereft of his mother. Like his own daughter had been, though Zoet had never known her mother. Still, the association was there in the stallion's mind.

It wasn't clear what had happened, though there was traces of blood here and there, and a smeared pawprint in blood against a large boulder that towered over the dead mother and her cub. A rustle of feathers made him look up to see the circling carrion birds. If he was to save the cub, he needed to get it away from the vicious birds. Without warning to either Kourin or the cub, he moved forward quickly and grabbed the cub's neck fur in his teeth.

The cub of course awoke at once, squalling in fear and outrage. Eloran gave the small cub a gentle shake, and the poor youngster subsided slowly, still growling and yowling every so once in a while. Turning, Eloran broke into a swift, swinging walk away from the death scene, heading for his home glen.

Cihiru

Well, there was no turning back now. Not to say she had wanted to; Kourin herself was somewhat surprised by her growing resolve. Being the sort who found her courage in others, it had been what seemed like ages since she last had someone to be strong for, and she had nearly forgotten what it felt like. The reminder was a good one though, jogging both her memory and instincts, and allowing her to turn and follow with little more than an uncomfortable twitch of an ear at each cry. Yes, she could do this... It was still easy to be sensible when she wasn't concerned solely for herself.

She probably wouldn't have looked like the boldest mare though, with the way she was trailing cautiously behind him, treading lightly as she scented the air and listened for anything. The lack of life around them concerned her too; so much so, she halted gladly when he did, and cast an almost worried look about them.

Then there was a brief moment she felt as though time had frozen, leaving behind only themselves, the cub, and its overwhelming despair. It felt worse now, standing there, catching glimpses of its lonely struggle in her dark eyes and tender ears. The cub's plight unnerved her in a way she hardly comprehended, and Kourin found herself fighting to quell it too before she truly realized why it was happening. She couldn't succumb to her emotions; not now.

Willing herself to look away, if only for a moment, the mare turned and peered at Eloran instead, jarring time into moving again. She nodded wordlessly when he shared his intentions, and with a great deal of effort, set aside her unease and fully averted her attention to their surroundings. Without nervous fidgeting this time.

Her composure held only as long as their position though. When he moved again, and she made to follow, the scene her eyes befell crumbled it anew. Kourin felt the cub's despair wash over her like it spilled through a broken dam, washing away the wall she'd built between herself and her discomfort. She held fast there, rooted in place by the sickness which always seemed to overcome her with pain.

Fortunately, Kourin was not a young mare, and understood herself well enough she was quickly able to get a hold on it. Her moment of hindrance was a fairly brief one, and though she had been utterly useless throughout, she recovered in time to see Eloran move to rescue the cub. No matter how prepared she was to hear it, its outcry still wrenched her heart, but she had the presence of mind to turn and follow once again.

... And enough to realize, in their retreat, it was a bear cub. She may have been a very sensitive, emotional creature, and deeply wanted to help it, but it wasn't a Soquili he was trying to save. Bears were omnivores at best, and carnivores at worst. How did he intend to care for it? Was it even old enough to eat things like meat? Kourin absently realized then she was quite a poor judge of bear-age; this cub was the first she'd ever actually seen, and she knew virtually nothing about their needs.

Tentatively, she opted to voice her concerns. "What will you do with it?"

Talencia

Mouth full of cub fur, his ears flickered towards her and he gave a faint snort, which translated into a sort of drawn out, "Weeelll...," For now he needed to get them all away from the dead mother bear. Those vultures wouldn't hold off for long, and they could be vicious, sometimes killing something readily available that lingered too close to the carcass.

It was several minutes later when he finally slowed, ears swiveling to guage safety, and then lowered the exhausted bear cub to the ground. Such were the trials of the young thing's life thus far, it had fallen asleep in the grasp of its savior. Eloran spared a closer look at the rumpled lump of fur. Not it, he. Weary himself, the bay stallion stretched his neck downwards, trying to work out the kinks from the unaccustomed carrying.

"Well," he continued his earlier response to the mare. "I suppose I'll have to look after him." He raised his head and gazed at her thoughtfully, wondering what she would think of him 'adopting' a bear cub. "His mother cannot, and bear fathers do not care for young." He frowned faintly at the thought. "In fact, they are more likely to kill them than raise them."

He cast another look at the not-quite-helpless cub. Already his claws were something to be reckoned with, if you were a smaller animal. And his teeth were nothing to sneeze at either. Though tiny, they would sink in like needles if he got a grip on you. Eloran only hoped the idea wouldn't occur to the small one. "I suppose I need to start thinking of how to feed him. He's sure to be ravenous when he wakes up." He had a few thoughts, but considering he had a mare with him, perhaps she had some ideas on how best to raise the little wild thing. "Any ideas?" he asked her hopefully.

Cihiru

Nodding in understanding, she followed quietly, considerably more at ease now that immediate danger was mostly out of mind, and the poor cub's anguish had subsided. Kourin was very glad for it, too; it let her peace of mind she couldn't grasp while its emotions wracked her. Empathy was something to which she doubted she would ever grow accustomed. Now though, she moved more like a calm, sensible mare, and less like a nervous, flighty filly.

"So it would seem," she agreed at length, pulling to a stop just past the two of them. Leaving the poor thing would have been terribly heartless; how could he not look after it? This much she had already come to terms with, and it reassured her to actually hear it. Acknowledging the orphaned cub's need wasn't the problem though...

The complication came into the picture once they went to act on it. "Yes, he is," Kourin replied thoughtfully, picking up the pronoun with little thought. Ravenous indeed. The question was only what in the world did one feed to a hungry cub? She may have been female, but she was no expert in the intricacies of a growing bear's life. She'd never even had foals of her own to care for. Motherhood was little more than an inkling in her instincts.

Exasperated with her consistent uselessness, the mare huffed a soft, agitated snort. "Ideas?" Kourin had been repeating others and pausing in thought since she was very small; she did it most when something required careful consideration or contemplation. "I really don't know much at all about cubs, but do you think he'd eat fish?" Or when she was grasping for straws, like she was now. Oh, it sounded so terrible to her ears.

Talencia

The suggestion startled him, mostly because it hadn't occured to him. His eyes lit up. "What a wonderful idea! Though I'm not sure he's up to eating a fish on his own yet." He eyed the little snoring lump of brown fur uncertainly. "Plus, I'm not entirely sure how we'd catch one for him." He swung his gaze to her in case she had any thoughts on this, although he didn't expect any.

"I am thinking," he continued slowly, bobbing his head as he spoke, "that perhaps we should go the way of the berry." It was an odd way to put it, but that's how it came into his head, and he'd gone and spoken it aloud without much thought. He shook his head briefly, as if to shake sense into himself. "What I mean is, I think berries would be better for now, until we know more about him."

Cautiously but tenderly the stallion leaned down to the cub and gently nuzzled the darker brown ears. He wasn't so much brown as the color of red clay... red and brown mixed, making a reddish muddy sort of color. Ears, tail, and front paws seemed as if they'd been wet, being noticably darker than the rest of him, but not so much as to appear in stark contrast. Eloran softly sighed, his breath brushing aside the cub's scraggly fur. "So young, to be so alone in the world."

Pulling himself out of his own thoughts, he raised his head again. "It would help if we bothe looked for the fall berries. I think he'll be safe here, if we don't go far." Though the words were a statement, his voice made it a question. After all, she was a random stranger, but here he was roping her into an adventure. Perhaps she didn't care to look for berries or babysit a dangerous predator's babe. His eyes searched hers for some inner indication of her thoughts, while he waited patiently for her response to his not-quite question.

Cihiru

Whatever reassurance Kourin was able to garner from his initial response was dashed quickly, chased away by the less-than-rewarding comment which tailed it. Was the cub really that young? She took a moment to peer completely indiscreetly at him, only to discover she was really no more educated now than she had been a moment ago, and still couldn't tell much of anything. Bear cubs would remain an enigma for now, it seemed.

"I have some ideas," she added, looking up to Eloran somewhat sheepishly. Fishing she understood considerably better than bears. "It's no matter though, if you don't think he could eat it. I'm certainly no judge." The mare flicked an ear uncertainly, the emotion flitting across her features.

Eloran drew her attention though, and it was difficult to be ill at ease in the presence of a notion so kind and gentle. She put aside her discomfort easily. Kourin watched him silently, enraptured by what might have seemed like a simple, brief moment to someone else, but was so meaningful to her. If not for his words, she could have stood and just watched for ages, but at the sound of them, she smiled softly. "Not so alone. What will you call him?"

She was still looking at him, warmth lingering in her expression when he turned back again. "Well, it might." It hadn't been her intention to sound coy, but if it came across that way, the manner in which she nodded slightly and gave an amiable grin belied it. Clearly, she didn't even have to consider the proposal; it was an instinctual agreement, far more certain than the way she had followed when they'd first heard the poor cub's cries.

Talencia

He gave her a speculative look when she said she might have ideas on catching fish for their young charge. It didn't much occur to him that he kept thinking "we" conerning the cub. He knew he had to take care of the wee thing, but for now at least, he had a helper. Apparently she was a willing helper, as well. It reassured him somewhat that perhaps the world hadn't quite turned upside down when Shai left him. There must still be good, caring soquili in the world. Proof was standing right here with him.

He bobbed his head in acknowledgement of her agreement to help him search for fruit for the baby, and it wasn't until he'd taken three strides from his furry charge that her question before that sunk in. A name? He gave Kourin a sudden blank look, then broke into soft laughter, lowered for the benefit of the sleeping cub. "You know, I hadn't thought of naming him." His grin became only mildly self-mocking. "Survival first and all that. But hmm... a name....," he mused aloud.

He continued forward as he thought, nostrils flaring for the scent of sun-warmed sweetness. A name? He'd only named Zoet in his life. He wasn't sure if he was up to naming such an unexpected addition. "I really don't know," he admitted finally, shifting his path as he finally smelled their goal. "I don't suppose you have any suggestions?" He tipped his head to smile at her pleadingly, but still with much humor twinkling in his eyes. "I seem to be at a loss."

Cihiru

She had asked him a direct question, and he had ignored her. Had she been someone else, or perhaps had he been someone else, it might have flustered her. He wasn't though, and she wasn't one to assume Eloran did so purposefully. The thought registered as little more than a realization to her, surfacing in another curious twitch of an ear. After all, it had been terribly sudden of her to ask... Perhaps he hadn't yet thought on it, and had no ideas.

Just as she lifted a hoof to move, he confirmed her suspicions. Resting it softly on the earth, Kourin gave him an amused, but understanding smile. "Yes, survival first. Next come less pressing necessities. Everyone needs a name, after all." She didn't sound concerned though; the remark was offered in a casual, vaguely teasing fashion as she started slowly after him.

"I suppose it's possible he already has a name, but..." She stole a glance over her shoulder at the resting cub's receding form. "Well, we can't exactly ask, can we?" There was a contemplative pause after, which she used to carefully ponder his question. Names were nothing to be taken lightly, and admittedly, she paid it more mind than their goal. "Well," she started, looking to Eloran. "Would you like it to mean something?" The cub was his charge, and in her sincere opinion, he should have been named after Eloran's tastes, not her own.

Talencia

The bay stallion could now see the tumbled pile of berry bushes, still slightly to their left. They thankfully weren't the brambly sort, so he waded in among the further flung and berriless branches. "Actually," he spoke as he stepped carefully, mindful that he recalled a hare family living beneath this pile of brush. "I think it difficult to name a creature before you know them well enough to tell if the name suits."

He shoved his muzzle into the bush, nudging aside the leafy edges, and siezed a small branch heavily laden with berries in his teeth. He probably looked somewhat silly, hock-deep in greenery, his face shoved into the bush practically to his ears, which were laid back so as not to be tickled by the leaves. He worked the branch with his strong front teeth until it finally gave. Gingerly, he pulled his head back, dragging the fruit branch after himself. It was a bit longer than he'd thought. Leaves and random rolling berries scattered, but he did manage to get himself and the branch out reasonably whole.

With his mouth occupied with carrying, he arched his brows, pricked his ears, and tipped his head back the way we came. It was his way of politely saying "shall we?" without actually saying it. Sometimes his manners insisted he use them at the oddest times.

Cihiru

Again, Kourin busied herself with watching, rather than doing, and was at this point becoming keenly aware she was instead doing quite a fine job of making herself a rather useless 'helper'... Something the mare was none to keen on; she didn't fancy herself the delicate flower, incapable of doing everything. She did have an opinion though, and for now, it was perhaps the only thing she could offer. "And here I always wondered if names don't have some impact on how we turn out as individuals."

Still, it was clear she was just musing. And, perhaps, that she felt as if she needed to do something, and this 'anything' was better than nothing at all - especially in the face of his small struggle with the branch. Nothing reminded her of her idleness quite like the efforts of another, and Kourin was not above grasping almost aimlessly to alleviate it.

Some attempts were just more successful than others, and this try left plenty to be desired. As Eloran withdrew, motioning for departure, she found herself eying the charitable shrub, and wondering if maybe she shouldn't bring along another. The mare looked once between it and its former branch, and the berries clinging to its leafy prongs, then tried to determine if there were enough to serve as sufficient sustenance. They wouldn't have lasted if he didn't need them, and to bring more along without cause would have been wasteful...

Relenting, and deciding there were probably enough (and maybe that she could have returned here if there weren't), Kourin looked to him with a nod, and finally set herself into motion.

Talencia

He watched her curiously as they made their way together back towards the cub. His life had become so solitary, it was only just dawning on him now how long it had been since he had kept any sort of company with a mare. Not since Zoet left him, though she hardly counted, as the daughter of his heart. No, the last mare he'd spent any time with at all... had been Shaitani. With eyes lowered back to the ground before him, he heaved a soft sigh.

He had come to realize the hurt that had been inflicted on him was the cause for his hermit-like existence now. The trouble was, he couldn't seem to break himself of the habit of simply living by himself, away from others. It wasn't that he disliked company, nor that he wished to avoid mares. If he was honest, he was a bit wary of new relationships with the opposite sex, but he was old enough to acknowledge that this was a rather ridiculous way of thinking. It was time for change.

They had arrived in the sunny spot where the cub slept still. He paused for a moment to smile softly at the snoring baby. All young ones were so appealing and disarming when they were asleep, no matter the species. But would this one settle down and become friendly once he was awake? Only time could tell that. But that time was yet to arrive, so Eloran quietly laid the berry branch closeby the slumbering infant, and moved a distance from him, to another patch of sunshine.

The feel of the sun's warmth on his red hide was comforting, and gave him a bit more confidence. He regarded his companion again, this time thoughtfully. Logically, the only way to move beyond the hurt that had been inflicted upon him was to change himself. Perhaps it was time for that change.

"Would you mind telling me a little about yourself, Kourin?" He offered her a warm smile that he hoped was encouraging. "That is, if you don't mind waiting with me for him to wake." He glanced again at the bearcub. Yes, a name was going to be a necessity very soon. He'd let that simmer in the back of his mind while he talked with the amiable blue mare.

Cihiru

She's pacing quietly along, for once channeling her effort toward observing, and not thinking; the change of pace is a rather welcome break. Kourin has always been a thoughtful mare, but these last few months have been a bit too thoughtful, even for her. She needs refuge from her mind sometimes, and can't often seem to devote herself entirely to her surroundings, like she is now... Even though she does know this is Eloran's home, and he isn't likely to need her assistance.

Especially when the state of things is as uneventful as it seems now. Her ears twitch attentively now and then, occasionally swiveling toward some distant snap or rustle, but... They are only snaps and rustles. Birds, usually, flitting from tree to tree, or the wind brushing through a leaf-laden branch, but nothing more. Even her exceptional caution isn't overly useful; she's quite the helper indeed.

It doesn't dampen Kourin's demeanor though; she's smiling as Eloran steps near the cub ahead of her, and lingers behind so as not to disturb him. She begins to draw herself nearer when Eloran moves to distance himself from the bear, but his inquiry gives her pause a few steps away.

Kourin has a generous dose of both shyness and modesty within her, and despite the stallion's obvious kindness, her initial reaction is to withdraw; it's thanks only to effort the only sign of it is the uncertain flick of an ear. "Myself?" she repeats, using the pause it creates to bolster her confidence. "I don't mind, but I'm terribly uninteresting..."

She's being rude. The mare chides herself inwardly; she knows better. Kourin straightens herself some, shuffling her weight between her hooves. "Truly, there's not much to tell." There's a pause, but her tone is somehow more sincere now. "I stay with a human, outside the village." And she offers a bemused smile. "I have no grand tales of adventure, nor magnificence. I am afraid, Eloran, I am what you see." There's no grimness in it though; her expression has settled back into gentle kindness, and it reflects in her voice. "What about yourself?"

Talencia

He saw the small signs of self-conciousness, and felt a surge of regret. He hadn't intended on putting her on the spot that way. In retrospect, it was a bit direct. Apparently he'd lost so of his social graces, spending so much time among the forest denizens.

But as she related her contact with humans, his ears flicked forward with interest. Though he didn't much miss masses of soquili-kind being available for meeting and greeting, he did indeed miss the village and the humans that lived there. He hadn't realized just how much he missed them until this moment. For a breath, he let himself recall all those two-leggers he'd spent time with before meeting Talencia. Another important person who had left him in the end. He suppressed a surge of unhappiness, refocusing on Kourin.

For some reason, her honest, "I am what you see." touched him. He beamed warmly at her, unconciously showing his approval of such a sentiment. He was very unpretencious himself, and answered her just as honestly. "Well, unless you call the mare I loved running off with two of our foals an adventure... I'm very much the same." He snorted in dismissal of the past. "All I am now is the guardian of this corner of the world. It isn't much, but it has served me well."

A sound made him turn back to the clearing, where the cub stirred, but did not wake. His dark brown fur was thick and fluffy, but a spot of yellow was visible on his forehead as he wiggled into a more comfortable position. "What do you think of the name Bhanu, Kourin?" he asked softly. "Do you think it suits him?"

Cihiru

Kourin hadn't expected her words to bear any particular impact. She hadn't really even expected Eloran to take more than polite interest, and it surprises her some when it seems he does. Especially in regard to her mention of a human - it hadn't exactly been a detailed recounting. She catches the suggestions of genuine interest though, and her own ears perk curiously forward.

The mare realizes now she hadn't really taken him for the human-loving sort, with the way he dwells so far out here. And if he is, then something must have driven him here. So she thinks, at least, from the perspective of one who is so devoted to her human, she doesn't want to imagine living completely without her. Despite knowing life is not eternal, including Hiabi's.

It's not a pleasant thought, but she finds herself hurting more for Eloran than for her own dread. Kourin can't help but envision what it would take to drive them apart, forever away from her. She dwells on it, and the feeling in knowing forever is unfathomably endless. And the burden of lonliness. And then she applies it to Eloran, and what hardship she imagines he must have been through. She is an emotional creature; sadness flicks through her expression, a fleeting shadow opposing the light of his kind smile.

His answer compels it to linger a moment longer though. "I'm sorry," she says, both earnest and soft. It's not an apology, but an expression of empathetic sympathy she doesn't know how else to convey. Pausing for sincerity before she continues, the mare offers a renewed smile. "All you are? You are too modest." Her ears, previously folded, tip forward. "Tending the wellbeing of others is nothing to belittle."

Kourin follows his eyes to the cub though, where they rest on the sleeping form until his words pull them back. "Bhanu?" she repeats, again eying the cub. "I do." She nods; it's a good name.

Talencia

The cub settled down again with a monsterous yawn, going completely limp in utter abandon to dreams, as most young do. Sometimes he envied that trusting sleep-state. It never was so easy for adults to become that deeply relaxed. His own daughter had slept like that, when she had been fresh from her basket. It made him smile, and look back to Kourin.

"Do you have any family?" he inquired. He continued, figuring it best to offer the answer for himself first, as at least a geasture of courtesy. "I have one daughter, grown and gone now. Her name is entirely too long, but she agrees to being called Zoet nowadays." It had used to be Zoey, but that was back when she had been a scampering, gangly-legged filly. It was hard to think of the confident, graceful mare she was now by that name.

He swallowed and told himself he had to share the next part too. "Her mother left us shortly after she'd given birth. Two of our three baskets went with her, though I can't say I know how she managed that." He tried to look complacent and wryly humorous about that, but failed.

It caught him by surprise to realize the last bit of information he had to offer hurt the most. With a twinge of guilt, he realized he'd been allowing Shaitani to dominate his thoughts, and he'd spent very little time dwelling on Talencia, his beloved human. His chest tightened, and he closed his eyes, breathing deep. "It was right after that my human friend took sick and died." His entire world had come crashing down in such a short period of time. He swallowed hard again and opened his eyes, unabashed by the tears in his eyes. "It was a very difficult time. But Zoet brought light and joy back into my life. I could never bring myself to regret the short time of happiness that led to her birth, even though it was followed by such sorrow." He smiled wanly at her, though it was full of sincerity. "So there you have it... Zoet is really the only family I have anymore."

He didn't mention the other soquili Talencia had charmed. They had mostly wandered off into their own lives as well. Who knew where they were now, or if any of them ever thought of him? He had felt for them, distantly, after Talencia had died, but his own grief had been so overwhelming, that he had had no space in his heart to spare thought or energy for what had happened to them. It was a sad truth, but not an especially pressing concern for Eloran.

Cihiru

Her eyes linger a slight moment longer, almost reluctant to abandon the infectious relaxation the cub's sleep seems to offer her. When she does though, her expression is the picture of genuine interest, tinged with concern she doesn't bother trying to hide from him. Kourin hasn't forgotten his words of love lost, and she has no shame in letting it be known.

Even if she had tried to cover her sentiments, it surely would have been a fruitless effort; she only feels them more and more with every word. Kourin is quite certain she can't truly fathom the pain he's been through, but she can imagine, and even that makes her heart ache for him.

It's not that she doesn't know these are courses life often takes; she does. She even understands they are both natural, and sometimes inevitable. She just... can't help wishing they weren't. Tragedies are an unfortunate burden for souls to bear, and seeing it in others pains her all the more.

She's unwilling to succumb to her emotions though, and has just managed to dam her empathy when she first spots his tears. For a split moment, her efforts crumble, and a deep sadness commandeers her features. Kourin breaths an uneasy snort - directed far more at herself than at him - and then wills away her frown. It never quite leaves her, but with effort, she manages something akin to a sad, understanding smile. It lingers in silence; she has no words for him. Everything she thinks she might say seems inadequate to her ears.

Still, she must say something. "I'm glad you have Zoet," she starts, awkwardly. Left unsaid is the very sincere sorrow she feels for him, and her wish she could somehow take away the pain, leaving only the joy behind.

"The stallion I think I loved vanished and left me long ago," she adds, her tone more thoughtful than bitter. "I have no foals - my human companion is as close as I come to family."

Talencia

Eloran shifted slightly so that he stood in a patch of sun, breathing deep, steady breaths to help ease the tightness in his chest. His companion was, for the most part, quiet and unobtrusive. That gave him the space to calm h imself at his own pace, until he again trusted himself to move on with the conversation. Whil the silence had been at an awkward time, he had been quite comfortable in it. Still, he felt the need to offer her some indication that all was well with him.

"Humans are useful and endearing companions," he commented, a touch wistful. "Part of me regrets leaving the village after the death of mine. But at the time, it simply was too painful to remain under those circumstances." He gave a fluid shrug of his shoulders. "I know that they would have looked after myself and my daughter, if I had needed, though. It seems that most two-legged folk tend to be good at heart." He truly did believe this, having met only rough-handed, callous villagers who didn't understand soquili well enough as the worst examples of humankind. It would have shocked him to know what others of the two-legged sort were capable of.

"Thank you for your help, Kourin," he went on. "If nothing else the company has been welcome. I see too few visitors here in this stretch of forest." He smiled gently at her. "You are welcome here anytime." The offer was a genuine extension of affection, lacking the expected dismissive tone the words might imply. He was not urging her to leave, but making her welcome from that point forward.

 

[Cihiru]

7.02 Denizen in the Forest: Kali & Akteon

Here

EchoLimaFoxtrot

Akteon lifted his head, the antlers of his helm brushing the lowest of the tree's branches. His dark nostrils flared as he carefuly sniffed the air. It was spring, and with spring came new life. The stallion was stone-still and waiting in the shadows. Only the sparkle of his eyes peering from behind the skull gave away his position.

The trees were budding, but the shrubs that he watched had no leaves to lose in the harsh winter. He was sad to see the snow go, but it was the usual cycle of things. Now his position was going to be more important as he watched those he was meant to Protect - more by his own decision rather than a responsibility put onto his shoulders by another.

Another rustle of the shrub indicated that something was coming out. It might have been an Evil One, for they were becoming a more common sight lately, except that the cover was much to small. The Evil Ones could not successfully hide behind so small a shrug.

Plus, Akteon already knew who was there, who lived in the small den that was hidden so well.

A red fox peeked his nose out and sniffed the air himself. Feeling safe, the head poked out and inspected with sight. Still, seeing no alarm, he jumped gracefully to get past the fickle barrier.

It was then that Akteon shifted.

The fox was alerted, but seeing who it was in the shadows, simply yipped a welcome...and his mate, heavy with child, came out as well - though not nearly as well as the first fox.

Akteon stepped out of the shadow and lowered his head in welcome to the two vixens. The female came forward and curled up by his hooves while her significant other ran off to catch a meal.

Yes, life was good, and the expected arrival of young ones made it all the sweeter.

Cihiru

So very, very much has changed since Kali's last venture to this particular part of the woods. Certainly, she has traveled more than a little since then; the dark mare has seen a great deal of the countryside, from the plains in the west, to the mountains in the north, and most things in between - including the humble Kawani village, where she often resides with the human Elan. It has been a very long time since her hooves have traveled here though, to the little piece of forest she once shared with her fractured family.

She can't say what it is she's doing here, but it looks much the same, judging by what she can see from her current vantage. Old trees like these have a certain timelessness about them, maybe, but Kali herself does not, and much has changed for her. Her frame is no longer the small, lanky form of a growing filly, nor are her wings still short and flightless. She's not just bigger; she carries with her the elegance and grace of experience, acquired through what has probably been years of practice and habit. She doesn't even live with her brother now, as she had then, and there has been much laughter and heartache along the way. She has made friends, has fallen in and out of love, and has foals of her own, all grown and out braving the world themselves. The woods may look unaltered, but Kali looks very little of the child she had been here, save for that spirited look in her bi-colored eyes.

That part is very much unchanged, and it shows perhaps a little more than usual now, as she tears down the side of the hill from which she had been observing. The mare's wings spread as she kicks up her heels in a sprightly buck, then she tucks them tightly at her sides, and tosses her head as she settles back into her galloping stride. She does love flying, but there is a certain joy in running too, and she's certainly enjoying it now, heedless of the short length of her journey to the forest's edge. Well, almost heedless; she doesn't ignore it so entirely she bursts through the trees, and instead slows into a more manageable trot as she nears the end of the plain.

It's been long enough since her time here, Kali's clearly not as comfortable with her footing as she once was; she eyes the ground in addition to her surroundings, unlike her time in the open fields. Roots are not what they were, branches have moved, and obstacles have shifted and weathered with time, forcing her to devote more attention now than she had when she spent every waking moment traversing this forest floor. It's an element she takes to easily though; she's calm where a plains creature would be nervous and flighty, and her history here is at least partially obvious, even as she stops and cautiously tips her nose to the sky.

Mixed with the thick, familiar and harmless forest smells, there is another she does not recognize immediately. It's soquili, she realizes a moment later, and unfamiliar at that... Though this comes as no particular surprise; she knows she has inadvertently isolated herself to Elan and her family for some time by now. Kali does love them all, and her heart is not a lonely one, but she takes the presence as something of an available opportunity... For a possible acquaintance, at least, and paces toward its origin to investigate.

EchoLimaFoxtrot

Akteon rested while the heavy vixen dozed at his hooves. His skulled head had his chin resting on his chest, neck arched gracefully with his tangled mane shifting ever so slightly in the barely apparent breeze. Looks were a bit deceiving, for his senses were about. The stallion listened for sounds that didn't quite belong. The chirp of the cardinal, the chittering of the squirrel - they were noticed but not a concern.

So when a sound of breaking wood sounded, his dark eyes opened. The only other movement was the shifting of his weight to alert the sleeping canine that he wanted her to wake up.

The unicorn waited, trying to decipher the sound - friend or foe? predator or prey? The scent came to his nostril, but all he could tell was a soquili, and not a unicorn, and definately female.

"Excuse me, miss?" Akteon's voice rumbled cordially. "Are you looking for something - or someone - in particular?"

He still stayed where he was, in the shadow under the tree, with a vixen groggy from her nap.

Cihiru

The thick trees and their heavy scent make the other feel more distant than he really is; it's something she knows already, and yet she still happens across him a little sooner than she really expected. The voice breaks the forest chatter just as its owner's form pulls into view, and Kali pauses, one ear twitching curiously.

He certainly sounds friendly enough. A moment later, she bobs her head in greeting, then pulls herself into the range of comfortable conversation. "No," she replies with an earnest smile once she's near, sounding completely undisturbed. "Just reacquainting with an old friend." If the forest can be considered such... In addition to fond memories, it harbors one of her worst too.

She doesn't let the reality of it taint her features though; Kali is still smiling. "I'm sorry, have I disturbed anything?"

EchoLimaFoxtrot

Akteon lifted his head, just as the fox waddled back to her shrub to give the two soquili their privacy. It was not her place to intrude.

The stallion watched her quietly and patiently, and when the vixen was gone he turned his full attention to the mare. He smiled politely as he bobbed his head in a more proper greeting. "No, milady, you haven't interrupted anything. Just a quiet moment. She deserves the fresh air and with her mate out she can usually not get it herself."

The unicorn stepped out of the shadows and turned a side-eye on the winged soquili as she stood in the dappled light of the forest. "My name's Akteon," again, that polite bob.

His smile broadened into an almost impish smirk, and in his eyes a sparkle came. One that alluded to that almost childish nature he sometimes acquired. "Aw, now, miss, surely you are not old!"

Cihiru

Is that what he had been doing? Kali finds her eyes flicking back to the point where the vixen had disappeared, and has to drag them to him once she realizes it. "Well, I'm sorry to disturb it just the same, kind sir." Milady. Her ears have heard something terribly familiar before...

But, that was then, and this is now. The notion is a kind one, regardless.

Bowing her head at his introduction, she lifts it again to offer her own. "Well met, Akteon. I'm Kali." Exchanging names is so horribly formal and rigid though... She's grateful for the far less awkward distraction, and flashes an amused, and perhaps ornery grin. Clearly, she is not above joking, even at her own expense.

"Just between you and me," the mare starts, eying him as she lowers her tone. "I'm no yearling filly, either." And then she smiles more earnestly. "I should like to thank you for suggesting otherwise though!"

EchoLimaFoxtrot

Akteon flicked his tail in a motion similar to a human shrugging their shoulders. "No harm done, it was probably getting close to the time I left this area anyways. Her mate will be back, and with him a meal I would rather not have to experience."

His head cocked to one side and the other as the stallion shifted the skull helm into a new position. From being dipped so long, it had slid a bit - and unless it was in the right position it tended to chafe his more sensitive face.

He noticed her own amusing gesture, and Akteon's eyebrow - which was hiden under the helm anyways - arched in approval. When Kali lowered her tone, he leaned in as if they were sharing a secret. Throwing his head back, Akteon wore a face of mock disbelief. "Now, miss, I would never question the integrity of your virtue, in no way might I imagine that you were anything but the most honorable of mares." Of course, while the words were serious, the tone matched that of the amused.

"Would you be agreeable to a lowly escort such as myself during your travels, miss Kali?" Akteon winked agreeably - but not one that suggested anything but 'best behavior'.

Cihiru

That she can relate with wholeheartedly. Kali has, over time, grown accustomed to a whole myriad of acrid smells, to include the overwhelming smoke of man's fire... But she's not sure she'll ever grow over the sharp, gut-wrenching scent of blood; the smell of the hunt. "I can't much say I would either." Not at all.

The mare is making an effort not to stare though, and overlooks the very distracting shifting to focus on his following remark, at which she feigns a look of hurt. "Nor did I intend to imply you would! - I mean only to say I am far from young, and am quite qualified to have 'old friends'." Kali lifts her head at the end, and jestingly huffs a haughty little sniff, as if to say she is of course nothing but honorable and virtuous... And that sentiment, at least, is mostly serious.

Little else of her seems to be though; it's not difficult to spot the amusement in her two-toned eyes. "What ever compels you to say 'lowly'?" She is sincerely curious, but there's an edge to her tone that suggests she's quite eager to disagree with him, if only he'll provide her with reason. Kali might even if he doesn't, but doing so would prove at least a little more difficult, and it isn't her first choice.

EchoLimaFoxtrot

The stallion ducked his head down and looked at Kali from behind the helm. "Yes miss, yes," he nodded, cowed by her remarks. "I will not make just a dire mistake again. I do not need the wrath of Ms. Kali upon my head. Might end of breaking through my helm." The last was accentuated by a soft whicker.

Akteon cocked his head to the side inquiriously, "So who is this 'old friend'? Since we've deducted that you are not young, then it is doubtful the animals were childhood pals. So... does that mean....." the stallion pretended to ponder the moment, though he felt he might know the answer, "...the Forest?"

His dimeanor sparkled in his dark eyes. "Maybe humble is a more appropriate term. Raised by the Forest and the Denizen of the deep, though my mother was not irresponsible - simply too carefree to worry over a growing colt with a fascination of a discovered deer skull." Akteon winked and shook his head. The wines and knick-knacks in the antlers shuffled and rattled ever so slightly from the movement.

Cihiru

Kali laughs, a soft, mellow sound that lasts just long enough to convey her amusement. "No mistake is dire. Unless, that is, my impression we are all imperfect is a misconception. I'd say it's terribly unfair to call an eventuality 'dire'." She eyes the skull appraisingly, eventually giving a curt nod and an ornery grin. "Probably."

The mare watches his pondering quietly, and smiles when he offers his conclusion. "It does." Though she does not elaborate, her tone and posture don't discourage inquiry, and it's safe to assume she refrains for politeness. Kali has no desire to bore him.

"Maybe?" Her head cants very slightly, jovially to one side. "Either it is, or it isn't. I'll have no 'lowly' escorts, nor indecisiveness." Despite being an experienced and quite capable mother who is in truth quite practiced at sternness, this crack at it is in jest, and doesn't come across as very stern at all. "I wonder, though - why does he wear it still?" Kali allows her eyes to drift from his again, and peers briefly at the skull itself.

EchoLimaFoxtrot

The stallion chuckled, "Tou-che, madam! Well met!" Akteon laughed some more, though he didn't for a minute think that her wrath wouldn't actually made it through the helm. In fact, she probably could if she tried. For all intents of purposes, the will of no stallion could survive that of a mare. And that, he knew well... wasn't Paul a good example with that little flutter mare that demanded so much of him?

"Well," he looked up at the trees, all the way to the top. The antlers almost brushed his back with his head angles as such. "The Forest has been kind, but it also has a Dark side. Many creatures and fellow Denizens have passed under these branches." Now perhaps Akteon will look back to this day, to this Forest, and have a good memory. Who knows.

Pulling his head back to normal, Akteon smiled at Kali. "Well, then I will do my best to make you a proud escort." His flat teeth flashed white from the gesture, and then he saw that she was staring at the helm.

"Oh, it is nothing frightening. I've been told his hides my misshapen head, but I assure you there is nothing wrong with my face," Akteon winked - all the of the above was quite technically true. "I choose to where it - found it as a colt, and then just became used to it. Now, keeping it off almost feels like.... I dunno, if I let myself be shaved and then walking around without any protection..." Not to mention, ugh! How horrible that would be!

Cihiru

She beams a grin at his remark. "And you." It has indeed been a pleasant start to a chance encounter; Kali couldn't have hoped for much better company after so long apart from it.

"They have," she adds almost somberly, something deeper flitting through her gaze. These are the branches her own mother passed beneath, and when it crosses her mind, she can remember it like it was yesterday... At least time has afforded her some peace of mind though. It will never be anything but a dark, sad memory, but she can recall it now without bringing tears to her eyes.

Her expression had sobered some with the more vivid recollection, but now Kali renews her grin. "I don't doubt you will," she says, jokingly encouragingly, not unlike a parent would bolster the confidence of its foal.

"Oh?" The mare passes him a sideways, skeptical, and entirely teasing stare. "A curious story you have there." She adds a disbelieving snort for emphasis. "Some day I should like to make you prove it. At any rate, I'm sure you could grow over the discomfort." Kali smiles sugary sweet encouragement, still blatantly jesting.

EchoLimaFoxtrot

Akteon walked forward carefully and gracefully. He didn't want to spook her, but he was also confident. When the stallion was next to her, he nudged her tenderly where her neck and shoulder connected. "Come, Kali, maybe we should move off a little? Not all memories are happy, and 'old friends' tend to know our deepest thoughts and feelings." His words were meant to be comforting and while he didn't know if just moving from this spot would help, at least walking could put the mind at ease.

But her grin returned, and he returned it sincerely. "Oh! Is that an invitation of a threat?" Akteon chuckled, his tail swishing side to side, catching the edge of a bush in passing.

Cihiru

Kali stands where she is, watching him move with those bright, two-toned eyes. Whether it's because she is waiting for Akteon to fulfill his role as escort and take the lead, or because she is no stranger to the attentions of stallions and expects his touch is left to one's imagination, but it is in truth a little of both. She's not a flighty, fidgety mare, and allows him to approach, then offers an entirely sincere smile, and a slight nod. "The sad only make the happy that much sweeter." Her life has been built on this foundation; she might have broken long ago without it.

"Both," she says in reply, maintaining that look of teasing thinly veiled in earnest. "How am I to believe you otherwise?" The mare's tone suggests he's anything but trustworthy, with surprising matter-of-factness, but her grin still betrays her true intention. "Besides." Kali finally moves to act on his invitation, pacing one graceful step forward before peering sideways over her shoulder. "How do you mean to keep up if I were to go for a run, Sir Escort?" That's not to suggest she doubts he's capable, despite the cumbersome adornment... But it is meant to say she's more capable, even in jest.

EchoLimaFoxtrot

Akteon cocked his head to the side, "True true." His smile wasn't sad, just accepting of the facts. He knew he was lucky, for his life was not filled with sadness outside of the basic rules of nature. That, and it wasn't often that he let himself get too close to others. He was charming, cordial, polite, and even playful.... but to feel kinship with another, that was another story. The most painful thing that ever happened to him was to wake up one morning with a mother gone and a feather left in her place. Too bad unicorns were sometimes to flighty - his mother was no exception.

"Hmmmm," he hummed and eyed Kali. "Now that, my dear Kali... sounds like a challenge." Akteon's muscles twitched in anticipation. His eyes were bright with excited, and every signal he sent out meant how he could keep up if Kali were to go for a run. Nevermind that he could not fly, but oh... he could get pretty darn close! The previous conversation was all but forgotten. Akteon enjoyed to run, and was a master at avoiding trees, that was for sure.

Cihiru

Kali's life has been a steady course of ups and downs for as long as she can remember. She knows what it means to be an outcast and an orphan, knows well the value of freedom, and knows how whimsical and fleeting love can be. She even knows how to feel so comfortable with her mistakes, she wouldn't trade them for the world. It all has a curious way of weathering one to the bitter harshness of sadness, and shedding a new light on what happiness really is. She's come far from the frustrated filly she once was, and perhaps it shows in the sincere contentment she wears now. "Of course it's true," she quips, more than a little smugly.

"Your dear, am I?" The mare flashes him a challenging grin, and her tail gives a lashing swish. "I wouldn't dream of it!" No sooner than the words leave her mouth, Kali has gathered her limbs beneath her, and pushed off into a tear-away gallop that sends her propelling through the trees, with her wings tucked snugly at her sides.

She'd clearly been honest in calling the forest an old friend; her path is not a haphazard one, and she knows quite obviously where she's going. Her ebony hooves glide over the most prominent roots like she's never left, and the trees are little more than minor inconveniences; she weaves easily around them. Kali isn't running at her limits though; she has one ear tipped backward, listening for pursuit behind her.

EchoLimaFoxtrot

Akteon heard her, but it was far off. He could almost hear the Hunting horns in the back of his mind, pounding, blocking out almost all other sound. The stallion was gathering his strength, concentrating on the muscles of leg and neck. Of, he was sure she'd be off soon, and he was going to be ready.

He didn't have a response to her creature, only the twitching flap of his tail alluded to the fact that he had heard her.

And then... the Hunt was on! She ran, and he wasn't far behind. Akteon knew right away how well she knew this Forest. To be sure, he probably did not know it as well as her, but he had an instinct about forests. Not to mention he was following her, who knew the path so well. Only, he didn't always go around fallen trees. The shortest distance was a straight line, and where he could, he simply... jumped!

Soon, he was right on her heels, actually, closer than that. Akteon was flanking her, his breath reaching the back of her neck. He had to duck quickly, and pivot along his joints to avoid a rather thick, low-haning branch, but the stallion rejoin his place at her side again. The Hunt was over as far as he concerned, the Horns silenced. Now, he was simply her escort, though he was not positive she absolutely needed one. It was obvious that Kali was more than capable to care for herself, but to just leave was not the gentleman-thing to do.

Cihiru

Her pace doesn't quicken as she runs; it slows, despite the nearing sound of his hoofbeats. Kali is as much a fan of a good run as anyone, but it's probably clear by now the escapade was largely for show, and she was truly more interested in teasing than she was racing. When she can hear him at her back, as he moves to her side, Kali glances over her shoulder, turning her head just so. She offers another grin; part teasing, and part coy. And then she turns back to her path, and pushes off with an increasing burst of speed, lasting just long enough as if to say she let him 'win'.

This was no race though, and there are no real winners; her pace drops off quickly, from that heavy gallop, to a smooth canter, and then a trot that lasts only a few steps before she stops. The run was just long enough to make her breaths a little deeper; Kali's velvet nostrils flare as she huffs air.

It was also long enough to bring her to her original destination; she casts her eyes across the line of trees ahead. It's a mostly circular area - a little clearing, situated comfortably amidst a ring of old trunks, with a small thicket off to one side, and the sound of a brook babbling not far off. That much is ordinary though, and it's not why she's here.

This time of year, just after winter and just before spring, the small, beaded tips on the old tree branches betray their shyness, and wear their true form for just a precious few weeks before they wither away. They're large, round blossoms, with smooth petals that start white at their tips and fade to a sky blue at their centers. Kali hasn't seen them since she was a gangling youth, but they look just like she remembers, with the way they wash the deep greens of emerging spring in the last, lingering tastes of winter. In retrospect, it's probably not a choice place to bring a stallion, feminine as it is, but she can admit she came selfishly for herself.

She only hopes present company doesn't take exception. Curiously, but not tentatively, Kali peers over her shoulder, her ears rolled forward with interest. "I do apologize, this probably isn't what you had in mind."

EchoLimaFoxtrot

As Kali's speed picked up and then dropped, Akteon did his best to keep pace. But while subtle cues of the body can inform another of intentions, Akteon wasn't the best of reading such clues. So he did manage to get ahead, only to slow to flank the mare again. As their speeds slowed, he looked around. He had been by here before but to say it was familiar would be dillusional.

They came to the clearing. The stallion's ears were perked to the sounds. Akteon listened, to ensure the safety of the area. There were birds and squirrels going about their daily rounds, so he felt further at ease and allowed his muscles tense from running the opportunity to relax.

He looked all around, and looked to inspect the white-blue buds. They really were beautiful and Akteon was not one to deny them their right. He was cautiously inspecting one with his dark nose when Kali's voice brought him back to the moment.

The unicorn ducked and turned, avoiding the newborn buds. His eyes glinted in the light as his face crinkled into a smiled. "Oh, it is perfectly alright, miss Kali! I offered to be an escort, and it is your heart's desire that we both go." His tone told of his genuine thoughts. He had said he would escort her around and be a likely companion. So, he was perfectly willing to come to such a place, not to mention it gave him the chance to soak up the beauty of the area... and it was still new to the year! He could only imagine at this point how it look during full bloom.

Cihiru

This is a place Kali knows with utmost familiarity, having spent the entirety of her juvenile life dwelling here with her brother. Through their quarrels, their laughter, and their sleep, it had provided unyielding safety to two young foals with no other comfort in the world. They had needed it, and it had been here; that is how she remembers it, and is how she views it now. Her ease shows in her posture, having relaxed some from that alert poise she'd had before.

She's eying Akteon as he investigates, her expression resting somewhere between amusement, and kind sincerity. "May as well enjoy them while you can - they won't survive to see true spring." It does seem sometimes the most beautiful things in life are also the most fleeting. Kali gives a wistful sort of sigh, her thoughts drifting a little.

The unicorn's voice keeps her grounded in reality though, and her enigmatic neutrality gives way to another teasing grin. "Are you always so amiable? I am beginning to wonder if you have an opinion of your own," she remarks, her head canting slightly to one side.

EchoLimaFoxtrot

As Kali paused and spoke some words, Akteon looked back to the buds. How sad, that they did not last very long at all. It reminded him of some other flowers, which bloomed and were gone before the next moon. But you couldn't dwell on those as well. His eyes took in the buds until her next words made him turn around.

He eyed her for a moment, a glint coming in. His tone seemed to disagree with the expression in those dark eyes. "Oh, would you prefer me to be disagreeable? To moan and complain about every little thing? To lie and cheat, and then tell you waht I think you want to here to get whatever I want?" Akteon took a step forward and cocked his head to the side. "But it is hard to not be amiable when there are so many others to Protect from the Evil Ones." A wink accentuated the sentence.

Well, he did get that sometimes, and usually from females...

Cihiru

It's probably obvious by now Kali has it in her to play a bit of a devil's advocate, and can walk a precarious line between being honest, and disagreeing simply for the sake of being controversial. This is one of those times; her grin broadens. "Who says one's opinion must be disagreeable?" The mare's tone suggests she thinks the mere implication is quite objectionable, despite the irony in it. "It's a matter of what you would prefer, not what I would," she says teasingly, drawing her head up a little.

"I'd like to think there is a medium there somewhere, between being entirely amiable, and wholly unpleasant." And his flirting... Yes, she had been referring to that too with her accusation. "Still," the mare adds, feigning disappointment. "My question goes unanswered. Shall I assume you are, then?"

EchoLimaFoxtrot

Akteon's fiscade was slipping. He was really enjoying himself and the company of Kali... and his mind fought with his true personality and the attitude of the 'proper' respect for mares (so, treating them like royalty). It was the slight twitch of his cheek that showed the debating in his mind. "Uh," he smile lightly, "but I would never want to disagree with you. Everyone knows the mare is always correct."

That light smile widened and he took a step away from the pretty buds and towards Kali. "Well, to answer your question....." the stallion chewed it over. "I guess I am!"

"So Kali, what would you like me to do? Braid your hair? Fetch a snack? Nod and agree with your every word?" With each question, he walked a step closer. "I have to fully admit, I am not very good with hair-braiding.... lack of opposable thumbs and all...."

 

[Cihiru]

7.03 Denizen in the Forest Part 2: Kali & Akteon

Here

Cihiru

Conversely, the demeanor she's showing him is genuine. This is who she is, and she maintains it effortlessly. "And what's to say all things are composed of 'correct' and 'incorrect'?" Again, her head tips to one side, her long forelock sweeping near one eye. "What if an opinion is nothing more, and nothing less than an opinion? And to hold another is 'perspective', not folly?" Kali's words are ever-lighthearted, despite her sincerity.

"Truly?" The mare seems to be considering her options as she watches him with a sideways stare. "Neither. I should warn you, I'd hardly allow even a dear companion to cater to my every whim." At times, Elan has tried; she remains fiercely independent. "And I certainly wouldn't allow it from a stranger." It's hard to be certain if she's teasing, or being honest; her expression and tone hold a little of both.

The jesting in her features fades as she continues though. "And in any case, unconditional agreement is unbecoming." And then it returns again; she grins where she stands, watching him near. "A mare likes to know she is being credited for her merits as an individual, and not for her gender." Kali is of course no exception, but there is a touch more to it than that for her. She passes him another teasing, sideways stare, but doesn't say she values backbone and individuality in others.

EchoLimaFoxtrot

Akteon's tail twitched like a cat as he thought about what he was going to say. But protocol decided that he should wait, for although Kali was obviously very outspoken and independent, it would have been very rude to interrupt while she spoke (and that was not gender-bias either).

"Ahh, I think some cases are not so prespective. I will not begrudge a fox his meal and he would be 'correct' - he's just trying to live. But, a Skinwalker, I cannot find anything 'correct'. All they want is death and destruction, and not for survival or need. They just want to hurt and harm others. While there are not smaller corrects and incorrects, there are still Truths." The stallion nodded to himself. Truth was at the very core of his being, and it did not always mean that it was a Truth he agreed with.

"Ahhhh," Akteon purred. "You do not care to be pamper? No ever?" He pretended to think hard on this. "Well, I do not know what to say, you must be the first mare I've ever met that did not wish for a stallion to hover and jump at her call." The stallion actually laughed while he thought of his friend Paul, and the demanding little flutter Zahara.

He relaxed his face, to try and look all serious again, "I cannot imagine anyone might not accredit you merely for your gender..." Akteon choked on his words a little to keep the chuckle from coming from his throat. He jumped back just a little, much like a playful dog might when intitiating a game. "You are the most astounding mare I have ever met!" And then, he quite literally stuck his tongue out at her!

Cihiru

"Some," she agrees at length, still half-teasing. "But not all! Would you not say, despite the existence of truth, some things are only subjective? Not everything in life needs deeper meaning, sir. How am I to discover the opinions of others if my opinion is the only one?" Nevertheless, he has indulged her provocation and shared an opinion of his own; she only hopes to goad more.

"Do I?" she echoes, now grinning sweetly. "I am not entirely convinced it's in my best interest to guide you on the path to a girl's heart, but I'll share with you a secret, sir. Every mare likes to be flattered - at least a little. We do not, however, all desire having someone shadow our every beck and call. I like to think they're not quite the same, even if one does enjoy being 'pampered' now and then." Kali gives a teasing, thoughtful pause before continuing. "Company is really much more enjoyable when it can think for itself," she adds, still with that pleasant smile.

It's an expression that fades rapidly when she feigns offense on hearing his closing statement. "Astounding?" She seems to have glossed over the emphasis on gender, and instead latched onto the adjective with less certain intention. "And what, praytell, do you mean by that, sir?" But she sounds far more amused than irritated; despite her almost-stern expression, there's laughter in her voice she doesn't care to hide.

EchoLimaFoxtrot

Akteon chewed over her words. "There are not so much the little Truths, for as you said they can be different. I may see a flower and this it smells horrible while you feel it smells good. That would be little Truths, which are affect by personal opinion. But the larger Truth, that there is a flower -though it might be called something else - is still there too. And if you are worried about being opininiated...if there was not the Larger Truths, there wouldn't be the littler Truths that you could argue over." His dark eyes sparkled, as he became more involved in the discussion.

The unicorn tossed his head. "Oh, oh! Not in your best interest? Why, you think I be guided to your heart? And then what would you do?" The smile on his face was perhaps one of the brightest he'd given Kali yet. Granted, he really didn't fully know how to treat mares - he didn't grow up with any around, and stallions tended to be safer friend-wise...for they didn't offend so easily, which was possibly one of the reasons that he tended to be so 'proper' around mares - at least initially.

Akteon cleared his throat. "Yes, astounding. Maybe I should re-word that... if you were to go into battle with a Kalona, I am convinced you would come out on top." He pawed a foot in the ground, "despite some of the... disadvantages." Which admittably there might be some, what with those sharp hooves, horn, fangs... but Kali had the brains, and could outwit the opponent - brains of bronze?

Cihiru

"Argue?" Kali's expression wilts, in truth more for show than for genuine disappointment. "Don't you think that's a rather unfair way of phrasing it? Everyone could use a little friendly discussion, but I'm sincerely not sure arguing does anyone any favors." Her brother and she had argued often as foals; that sentiment is true enough.

At his following inquiries though, she laughs. The mare has been fairly whimsical with her notions so far, and she's not certain there was any genuine intention behind the remark which inspired it. "Because secrets aren't very good at being secrets if one shares them all! And as to what I would do?" She pauses thoughtfully, tossing her forelock from her eye. "Well, I'm not entirely convinced there is a path to my heart, sir." She has half a mind to ask him why he wanted to know, too, but refrained with another grin.

"Oh? Well, in that case, I'm flattered you have so much faith in me." Truthfully, Kali has never had a sour run-in with much of anyone. "I do hope that's a theory that stays untested though," she adds with a distasteful snort.

EchoLimaFoxtrot

Akteon shook his mane and lowered his head, not in submisison or agression but a little of playfulness. "Argue... discussion.... I don't think either are inherently bad. But if you prefer to discuss it, that is acceptable too."

The stallion nickered, "True true, one thing that makes secret so intriguing is the Mystery that surrounds them." Akteon chewed his lip, not very dignified. "Oh, there is a path to every heart... some are just more...." he flinched at the idea, "...painful that others." He was probably setting himself up for that one, but all Akteon could think about was his friend Paul and the pesky flutter mare that demanded so much of him. To be tied down so thuroughly scared him - not that he would ever admit it.

"I've met a kalona here or there.... not much thought process seems to be involved with them," he winked and turned to admire the area once again.

Cihiru

"I would," Kali remarks haughtily, lifting her slender head in a fashion becoming of females far younger, and far more feminine than she. It's almost difficult to believe she's as ornery and tomboyish as she is, with as regal as she's looking now.

The poise is one she doesn't hold long, though; there's still wily teasing in her eyes. "Painful?" The mare slants her head to one side, her features painted purposefully with a mix of genuine curiosity and amusement. "What makes you so certain there are?" she queries, raising one brow.

Several steps draw her nearer his larger form, where she pauses to flash him an impish grin. "Might that be the voice of experience? The words of one so traveled, he can prove it?"

Not to suggest she actually thinks he might be; it doesn't take a particularly skilled eye to judge Akteon's inexperience. She means no discredit to him, but she doubts he's the sort to have traveled even one such path. He doesn't have that feel about him, like he might be one who's hardly even considered trying to capture a girl's affection.

"You ought to be careful with that ego," she chides trailingly, still half teasing. "I hear they can get quite cumbersome."

EchoLimaFoxtrot

Out of the corner of his eye, Akteon saw that very proud and stirring pose. It was gone so fast he almost doubted his sight; for it was replaced by amusement and that teasing manner.

The stallion turned back and shrugged, "Just a few things I have seen - those that do not have such a... pleasant experience." Akteon paused and thought about the fox couple he was by when he first met the mare in front of him. "Others, it seems, don't have a hard time at all." A wry grin broke out on his face. "Guess you just have to find that certain one." Not that he was implying anything or other.

He looked down at the impish mare and returned the expression. "And you, Miss Kali? Are you as experienced?" Akteon did not deny or confirm one way or the other.

Akteon shook his mane in good humor. The little tangled knick-knacks clinked together. "As clumbersome as this helm made of bone, do you think? You learn to deal with such things and how to manage with getting hurt..." he mumbled the last part with a bit of a chuckle, "...too bad."

Cihiru

On hearing his explanation, Kali's expression falters a little too deliberately. "And how do those few justify existence for all others?" she queries, still picking at his claim every heart has a path, and glancing over the rest. It's too easy by now - effortless, even. At this rate, she may soon grow bored of it; it seems he's nearly lost track of what it was he was defending. She's suffering no shortage of entertainment though, and even if it does come to that, she has plenty left awaiting her attention.

Things like recounting her own combat experience, it seems. Fortunately, time has afforded her some peace of mind, and even this unfortunate topic is one she's able to regard with her typical jesting demeanor. "You think a girl my age could escape her life with her heart unscathed?" she counters, her detached, almost-disappointed exterior never leaving her. "Of course I am." This remark is more than a partial truth, but she downplays it with her tone, making it sound more a joke than something of any importance. "But what about yourself?"

Still, like all jokes, she discards it easily, abandoning it with no reservations. "More so. After all, the skull is only temporarily affixed." Kali passes him a sideways, skeptical glance, then sidles a step closer, and regards the 'helm' rather openly, stretching her neck to inspect it in what nears on uncomfortably close quarters. "Isn't it?" the mare jabs again, referring back to her threat to make him prove it, all while struggling to restrain her amusement.

EchoLimaFoxtrot

It was safe to say that Akteon's mind was rolling in circles. The conversation seemed to twist and turn, push and pull. Never before had he been so challenged, or having so difficult to find the words he needed. He usually had many of the answers, sure not all...but many. The experience was both excited and frustrating at the same time. In the end, he was rather enjoying the battle of words - even if he was falling behind with each new breath.

Akteon frowned, for while his mind had wondered a bit, Kali's words sparked something inside him. "Miss Kali, it is my firm belief that everyone has a path to their heart. I do not mean to say that it is always realized. Some will go their whole lives in search for the One who will traverse that path, and some will not. Yet others will search, and never find. And even some will not search, only to have that person in front of them the whole time. It is not to say that anyone can reach someone's heart, only that there is always a path." The stallion blinked, somewhat surprised by the words but also the emotion that was involved as well. It was one of the lessons his mother had told him, before she left. She was one of those that searched in vain. Would he follow her example? Akteon did not know, but he did know he did not wish to be lonely his whole life - but he did enjoy his freedom now. But he was young, he still had time.

He didn't respond her question and answer about her own heart with a confirm or deny. Akteon honestly did not know. If she said she had, then who was he to speak up. He wasn't a truthsayer. "Myself? In what way?" Akteon smiled small. "If you mean have I found a mare who had my heart... then I guess you could say my mother has it in safe keeping, for I have not found such a mare to give it to." The stallion, of course, gave a serious answer - even if her's dipped with teasing and disappointment.

But the discussion of his helm, well, that never failed to amuse himself. Akteon posed, allowing Kali to inspect the skull more fully and effeciently. She was getting close, and he could not resist pulling in a breath and holding it - heaven forbid she smelled his bitter-root breath. But Kali asked a question, and he could not resist the response. "Well of course it is," the stallion chuckled. "I am not a mutant or a freak. I am as I appear to."

Cihiru

That is the sound of fervent sincerity: something her ever-teasing shell has little guard against. It feels wrong, somehow, badgering one so openly defending his beliefs... But then, hadn't that been her goal all along? "Well," she starts, drawing herself three steps away. "How that confirms your cause, I'm still not certain. But, at least you've an opinion now, and that's a start." She's still teasing, but it's much softer now. Kinder. One can almost hear the genuine. gentle heart she has buried somewhere inside.

Only almost, though. Her next breath is as sweetly tart as ever. "Of course you haven't." That much is certainly clear enough, even without his saying so. "If you leave it to her, though, you never will." Kali has the overly stern tone of jesting lecture, but the stare she passes him is as serious as it is ornery. She could assure him, she'll gladly keep her boys' hearts as long as they'll let her. It's not that she doesn't wish them love and happiness, though... She just hopes they won't repeat the same mistakes, and the same heartache she did, even if it is all part of 'living and learning'.

"They say actions speak louder than words," she quips anew, putting on her best look of curiosity as she edges near again.

EchoLimaFoxtrot

Akteon smiled, his brown eyes sparkling in the unfiltered light. He would have nipped a non-essential feather if she hadn't moved away as a consolation prize. But she did, she he meerily rolled his eyes jokingly to the sky and then back onto her face, "Well, I am so glad I have you approval in the matter." The stallion snorted, "even if it did not prove my very non-physical cause." He smirked and tilted his head to the side - had her voice changed a little? Nah, that would be far too easy.

The unicorn chuckled and shook his mane. "Oh, I haven't seen my mother in... years. I would very well not leave the searching to her, it would never get done." Akteon paused and laughed at a thought, "Besides, she would probably just 'give' it to the first mare she saw to be done with it." He shifted, just a little uncomfortably, "She's...not one to really commit for very long."

But Kali moved nearer again, and Akteon nudged her with his shoulder mysteriously, "Oh, are you really that curious?"

The stallion took a step back, and dropped his head to his front hooves. Of course, he had to compensate, and bowed a bit for the balance. As the skull helm rested firmly on the ground along its forehead, Akteon shifted his hoove so that it could hold the skull down in place. Then, he pulled down towards his chest and out. The helm came off without a hitch - of course it would, he takes it off fairly often when he wants to.

Not hindered with the skull helm, Akteon stepped back into place and lifted his head. It was still the natural blue of his coat with darker points. As was with his body, there was no white fur. His eyes glinted with excitement. "There, you see? Is this better proof for a claim?" The stallion winked. It was so much lighter, but at the same time, he felt exposed - a lot more exposed that he usually did.

Cihiru

For a moment, Kali regards him openly, allowing earnestness into her features and tone. "Not all must be physical to be proven, you know. Experience often speaks a great deal of truth." For once, she's not searching for a rebuttal. This remark is honest, and little more.

It's still not something she's prone to falling into for long though, and again she turns to jest, despite the weight of his response. "But you are?" she queries, her ears perked and her expression painted with the most teasing sweetness she can muster. It might even be difficult to tell this is a quality she admires in others, and regrets having neglected for her foals.

"Curious if you will, yes." She can claim nothing more, though - Kali never doubted its lack of attachment, nor the form of his face underneath, and his sincerity. It's plain enough; she watches him with amusement, her head canted a fracture to one side.

When all is said and done, she's grinning rather plainly, and finally offers him a decisive nod. "Yes, it is," Kali adds, her tone oozing deliberate, teasing approval, as if to suggest it would have been easier to resort to this from the start. "Is that so hard?"

EchoLimaFoxtrot

Akteon shook his mane out. The firelock clung to his face stubbornly. It was perhaps the one down-side to wearing the skull - the 'helm-hair' that he is stuck with after it was removed.

The stallion pauses, and takes the question to heart. But when he is ready to actually respond, his grin returns with a sparkle in those dark eyes. "Oh, Milady," Akteon purred, "if I were not one to be so committed, I would have left this Forest long ago and never returned.... no, I have learned from the actions from my mother." The words were serious enough, but there was a glint to them, as if there was another story to tell, or a joke to be said about it. It was mostly true - his mother had left him young, but she took good care of him while she was around. And, he did love her, despite it all. But he would never leave his own offspring - he would be there for them whenever they called (and that did not include spoiling them rotten).

Akteon's grin widened, "Ah, but it is to some degree....." He gave her a sideways grin. "Can you read my mind? Now that there is not another's skull to block the pathway to my own thick one?"

Cihiru

"It's Kali," she clips, pacing away. The mare has allowed him to address her similarly before, but she's reminded of Kestal more and more. That chapter of her life never saw true resolution, and she'd rather not think of it now. Not in the company of this stranger, who risks having her opinion of him tainted by it.

Three steps later, she pauses, glances over her shoulder, and nods approvingly. Committed, he says. It's a good word; he could do much worse. "It is far easier to say something than it is to prove it. Hopefully, you'll do the same when it truly comes time to show it." There's teasing challenge in her tone, but for whatever the opinion of a stranger is worth, she believes him.

"Where was your father through all this?" It is perhaps too personal a question, but Kali can't help wondering. Neither she, nor her foals had one themselves.

"You claim there's something to read?" she queries, giving him a slanted glance. It's a lighthearted jab though; the mare gives her tail a playful flick and pulls herself to the opposite side of the clearing.

EchoLimaFoxtrot

Akteon watched as she paced away, a bit uncertain - should he follow her or not? Nah, she didn't seem to be the kind of person to want that, plus... there was still the helm at his feet. Of which, he should probably put it back on. The stallion bowed down again and slid his head back into the antlered skull.

Standing straight once again, he stretched to loosen muscles and ensure that the helm was secure. Akteon was one to meet a challenge. His eyes sparkled - he would have to be on his 'guard', prove himself worthy of.... the stallion wasn't sure, but it must be good!

His head wove back and forth in a version of a shrug. "My father? I have never met him. If I were to ever see my mother again, I am not confident that she would know him either, or remember his name for that matter." Akteon paused, a bit uncomfortable by that turn of conversation - he was not his father and would never repeat the actions. His blood bubbled at the thought, even, and he would not take such thoughts and take them out on her.

But the other comment was more to his level. Akteon grumbled and he lowered his head to look at Kali longly. "Well, there is sooooomething there," he smirked. "Would you care to check?" The stallion curved his head to look the mare in the eye.

Cihiru

As he shifts and adjusts both his posture, and his 'helm, Kali looks away, taking the allowed space as a moment to let her thoughts drift. She's had much on her mind since she arrived here, in the forest of her youth - some good, some bad, and some entirely irrelevant. All memories, and ghosts of a past she sometimes wishes she could forget. It's not been easy, living here... But every now and then, by some twist of chance or fate, something comes across her to make her change her mind. It lights the darkness, sweetens the bitterness, and brings a much-needed balance to her everyday.

Through her life, Kali has encountered many. Her children were the last, though... Joyous, loving bundles that they were. They're gone now. This mare feels no deep remorse in it, and is far from suffering in her 'empty nest', but she misses them. She misses the light they gave to her, and their company. It's true, she still has the man Elan, and she knows he loves her dearly... but he will never fill the void in her heart. He can't. She craves the companionship of her kin. She wants deep, equine friendship. Compassion, even, and humor.

Akteon reminds her of it. He brings to realization all the things she's been missing without kinship, alone as she's been of late. But she doesn't mind, because she sees in him potential for friendship, and supposes she likes him. He has a good heart.

"She never told you his name?" she asks finally, pulling herself from her thoughts and smiling ruefully over her shoulder at him. She can sense his discomfort, but has little pity for it. The past is as great a part of the present as today, and she values acceptance of it. It's something to treasure, even for all the bad, and she has no shame in asking him to confront it.

Kali won't force him into seriousness though. She meets his claim with a more lighthearted grin, and shifts to face him more fully. "And how would you propose one does that, sir?" The mare gives him another sidelong, teasingly doubtful glance, and raises her head in skeptical poise.

EchoLimaFoxtrot

Having been occupied with the fitting of the skull, Kali's lapse in words went unnoticed. But this place also did not hold the memories for him as they did for her. To him, it was a very pretty area that had meaning to the mare before his eyes.

The next question, all he could do was shake a heavy head, sending the sound of small trinkets caught in his hair hitting each other and twinkling softly. "No name, no face, no story - he is nothing, for he did... Either he risked the lives of others for a single time of simple enjoyment or chose to leave a mare alone. Did he love my mother? Myself? Doubtful." Akteon looked at Kali and tried to peer into her own mind - he didn't have the talent, that was for sure. Her mind was as unattainable as any other's. The stallion cocked his head to the side and smiled gently - he couldn't help but wonder what her story was. Did she know her father? Her mother?

But there was an opening, and his smile grew. "Well, first, you'd have to come closer.... much closer....."

Cihiru

Unlike him, she has heard stories of her father. Her mother had tried hard to paint him with visions of noble honor, and of loyalty when she and Loki were young. She tried to teach them he was gone not because he didn't love them, but because their herd had him duty-bound, and they would be safest if he stayed behind. Even then, Kali had known better. Her mother had bitter sadness in her eyes when she spoke of him, always. It had pained her to recall him, and to recount him as the hero he never was. She had known it, and look now how it all turned out!

But Akteon's story rings tragically close to the story her foals may some day recount to others. To the story they may have told already. Even to this day, she's shared with them almost nothing of their father. Not even with Kalani, who deep down, she knows is desperately seeking him, if only to know him. She wonders, should she have told them more? Despite knowing almost nothing of him herself?

"Bitterness is a plague on the heart," she tells him, unusually solemn. "You wouldn't stand here without him." She's had to remind herself of that more than once or twice. It was a lesson hard-learned through her grief. Kali tells him nothing more, though. Her past is her past, and she has no intention of volunteering it.

Instead, she turns her two-toned eyes on him, offers the most mischievous grin she can muster, and inches closer. One deliberate, graceful step after another, until she stands almost nose-to-nose with him, so close she hardly need budge to touch him. "Close enough?" she asks, cheekily, her ears rolling forward with curious interest.

EchoLimaFoxtrot

Akteon was all for changing a serious situation to his own 'advantage'. He watched carefully as Kali deliberately stepped forward. One... she was only three body-lengths away. Two... now at one and a half. Three... there eyes were so close, her soft velvety nose so close to his own that had bone protecting its sensitive surface.

He snorted in irony, "Oh yes, saving heartache one family at a time." Akteon winked.

The stallion clucked deep in his throat, "Oh... no... not close enough." Akteon rolled his eyes and sighed in mock exasperation. "Here, let me!" He stepped forward and pressed his exposed cheek to her own, staring into a bright green eye. "There, now... do you see anything in this thick skull of mine that alludes to something being in there?"

Cihiru

"Who said anything about heartache?" Her tone teasingly bodes ill omens, alluding to something far darker, and far more dangerous... But she can't be bothered with making it seem any more dramatic. Not with him as close as he is now, not even a breath away.

She's not a claustrophobic mare - having invaded his space once already - but she's watching him carefully, bracing herself for whatever antics he may have in mind.

Still, he catches her part unawares. Surprised, she almost flinches, only just stopping herself before shying away. An ear twitches uncomfortably, but she meters her unease, and covers the rest with a thoughtful frown. "Mmm... No, it's hard to say," she remarks, passing over an opportunity for outright refusal. She pushes away and flashes him an ornery grin instead.

EchoLimaFoxtrot

Akteon's bound tail swung carefully. When Kali didn't outright maul him, he took that as a good sign - but she had wanted to know how one might see if there was anything in that mind of his, and weren't eyes the way to see into one's soul...why not the mind as well.

He sighed sadly, as if her comment really hurt him, "No? Nothing...." Another sigh as she stepped away from their close proximity. "Whatever should I do? Is there any hope?" Akteon bowed his head 'sadly' and looked up at Kali with hopeful eyes.

Cihiru

"I didn't say nothing," she reminds him, casting another sideways stare as the jest fades from her expression. It doesn't feel right, teasing him like this. Kali will admit she has an aggressive sense of humor, but even she can't find appeal in being mean.

She sighs wistfully, soft, and hardly audible. "There is always hope." Always, even in the darkest of times.

"Remember that," Kali says, almost gently, not unlike a mother would coo to her young. She has renewed teasing in her features though, and it betrays her lighthearted intentions. "I won't repeat it next time," she warns with a grin, her wings spreading.

Next time. "Farewell, Sir Akteon." The mare bids him a deep, sincere nod, and with a flick of her gradient tail, hardly waiting for a response, she pushes up toward the lapse in the forest's canopy.

 

[Cihiru]

07.04 A-Wandering: Loki, Ashlan, Ashara & Alyna

Here

Katjive

Alyna raced away from her wolf familiar, savoring the thrill of excitement that came from chasing after her "freedom." Alyna had been gifted at birth with an ample dose of her father's wanderlust, which frequently prompted her to attempt to "escape" from her life for a time. She would always return, usually with the story of meeting some new Soquili, most of them friendly, some of them not, causing her mother immeasurable amounts of worry, and her wolf familiar, Lyka, much grief and anger.

Alyna scampered off to the plains, anxious to feel the soft, prickling tickle of the tall grass against her body. She reached the plains well ahead of her familiar, however, she knew that Lyka was never too far behind. Alyna decided to let Lyka catch her this once, as she was tired from the run, and she had accomplished her goal of reaching the plains.

While waiting for Lyka, Alyna meandered around the plains, nibbling some of the grasses to pass the time.

Cihiru

Loki, it seems, has taken over part of his brood, for the moment at least. Whether or not the decision was a voluntary one is anybody's guess, but he is in truth more than happy to allow his mate at least partial peace and quiet, and looks rather undisturbed... Partial, that is, because he presently has only two foals in-tow, and the third is still lingering with her mother.

With him, he has a boy and a girl - both pintos, and looking far more like their mother than they do him, even if the colt does take after his own lighter color. The two children appear mostly aimless for now, weaving in and out of the grasses nearby their father and twitching their little noses now and then. The little boy is clearly the more adventurous of the two; he's actually doing most of the deciding for their course, wandering until the stallion trails after him, with the filly bouncing between them.

A sneeze splits the previously still air; the little colt shakes his head in disdain, his ears folding, and sending the short fringe down his neck into disarray.

"That," the stallion begins, peering down beside his son. "Is not for eating. Nor smelling," Loki teases, nosing the now-indignant colt. Liking to think he knows everything, even without being told, being proven wrong is something of a blow to his ego. He prances a few offended steps away, his tail flagging... But he secretly files the knowledge away for later. It's a small, wide mushroom, with a flat top covered in a thin, almost invisible powder. It's not deadly, his father assures him, but it will gift him with quite the stomach ache, and he makes note to stay away.

Ashlan does not, however, know he scares Loki half to death every time he pokes his nose into something new. Not to say he'd stop even if he did; he's not even bashful about repeating the experience, and takes off at a gangling trot not moments later, which fades quickly into a wayward gallop. "Ash, stay close." It's Loki, who picks up his ambling pace to trot after his son.

But the colt slides to a rather abrupt stop, digging his small hooves into the grassy earth, with his neck arched in surprise and his ears pricked curiously forward. "Er... Oops," he murmurs, blinking as he eyes the filly he'd nearly plowed over.

Loki can see the source of his brief daze even from back here, and does not quicken his pace. The filly does, however, and follows shortly after the colt to greet this new stranger. "Sorry," Ashara offers first, apologetically.

Katjive

Alyna panicked for a moment, when she thought the colt was going to crash into her, closing her eyes tight, but he managed to stop in time. Nose to nose, they looked at each other. Alyna laughed, smiling brightly. "Don't worry about it. I didn't get hurt, anyway, so you don't have to apologize." She grinned as she looked at the filly. There was such a resemblance, she knew they had to be brother and sister. She thought about her brother, and how he looked nothing like her. She wondered why that was, that some siblings looked almost identical, but others looked nothing alike.

"I'm Alyna. What's your names?" she asked politely, silently thanking her mother for drilling manners into her head.

Meanwhile, Lykaina bounded through the forest, leaping fallen logs and skirting brambles and thorny bushes. Lyka was furious, and more than a little worried about her young charge. Alyna was forever running away from her, and each time she became more frustrated than the time before. Lyka didn't mind her trying to satisfy her wanderlust. She just wanted to come with the little filly, so she wouldn't get hurt. Lyka had nightmares of Alyna being eaten by Kalonas, or ripped apart by Skinwalkers. Lyka, filled with paranoia, sprinted towards the plains, hot on the trail of the filly's scent.

Cihiru

"Still..." Ashara adds trailingly, tentative as she glances between the two of them. The colt is still poised silently, velvet nostrils flaring not inches away from the other. He's torn between feeling foolish, and feeling amused with himself, and is rather at a loss; one ear dips back uncertainly. "He ought to be less clumsy, even so." She has a matter-of-fact tone about her, but there's teasing in her eyes.

It jars Ashlan from his temporary stupor, and he blinks a little too deliberately. "Um," the foal repeats, a little clumsily, as if grasping for something to make up for what he had lacked before, and finding nothing. Set back, but not defeated, he straightens himself and puts some distance between them, holding his little head high. "I'm Ashlan. And that's Ashara." His awkwardness has left him; he sounds self-assured now, and motions to his sister in turn.

She gives him a dissatisfied, childish frown. "Just Shara's fine." But her obstinacy melts quickly, and she grins to the spotted filly. "And that's our dad." Ashara has peered briefly over her shoulder, and tips her nose toward the stallion who's just pausing nearby.

Their father declines his head in a polite bow, then gives a smile that speaks volumes of his kindness even before his gentle voice has left his mouth. "Afternoon," he offers softly, far more brief and far less conversational than he'd typically venture. Loki is standing off to the side though, somewhat removed from their small gathering, as if to leave interactions to the foals.

Katjive

Alyna looked over at their dad. He was very big. Maybe even bigger than her own dad. But, in her mind, her father was the biggest, strongest, fastest, and smartest Soquili ever. She idolized him, looking up to him more than any other Soquili except her mother.

Alyna grinned. "It's a pleasure to meet all of you." Alyna wondered what the two foals were like. She liked Ashlan, he seemed to be a "take charge" kind of person, even though he had his awkward moments. And Shara seemed to be nice, but she really didn't know that much about her yet. Their father seemed very kind, and Alyna was glad of that, because it meant that the foals had a good role model in their lives. She would've been sad if they had a bad sort of home. Although she hadn't met a foal yet that didn't have a good home, Lyka had told her that some foals weren't as lucky as she was, that their parents were irresponsible, or mean. So, Alyna was happy that her new friends had a loving parent.

Snapping out of her reverie, she smiled and asked. "So, what brings you out here today?"

Meanwhile...

Lyka had reached the plains. She stood, panting in the grass, her lupine eyes searching for her young charge.

Cihiru

"You too." It's Ashara who answers, cutting off Ashlan in the process, from the look of things. She sounds sincere though, and the colt follows with a vague nod.

He also seems as if he's about to say something; his muzzle hasn't yet parted, but he just has that look about him. He doesn't though, stopped short by Alyna's second inquiry. He cants his head a fracture to one side, both ears rolling forward. "Exploring," he says, rather oblivious this excursion is quite a controlled one.

It's an illusion Loki is presently content to allow him; he's just standing quietly to the side, statuesque and attentive. The stallion is obviously a creature of the wilderness; his ears are forever swiveling, and his nose twitches as he scents the tender breeze, searching it for anything out of the ordinary. He is, after all, along to guide and protect them, and the safety of his family - and their new-found companion - is something he regards with utmost importance.

The children, however, are likely too young to know better, and aren't even half as cautious. "What about you?" It seems Ashlan's previous answer has satisfied his sister, because this change in topics is hers. She has Alyna trained with a curious gaze, and gives her short tail a flick.

The colt follows with another question, heedless of the concept of moderation. "Isn't anybody around?" He tosses his crystal-hued eyes the length of the horizon, skimming it for signs of someone. Anyone. When Ashlan spots nothing, he looks back to her.

Loki's gaze is still trained in the distance though, perhaps the slightest hint narrowed. He's uneasy now, and his wariness has drawn him near the foals, where he towers protectively, but quietly over them. Ashlan instinctively picks up on his discomfort and passes his father a wary, questioning glance, but the stallion nods, and the colt swallows the feeling for the moment.

Katjive

Although they were quite polite and kind, Alyna felt herself under scrutiny by their questions and curious glances. "I'm out exploring as well." She said carefully, not wanting them to think that she fled her home to do so. Her version of exploring was quite different from theirs. She intended to explore on her own, out of the protection of her family and familiar.

Of course, her parents rather disliked her version of "exploration," and had enlisted the help of a familiar to keep up with their rather rambunctious daughter. Lyka's work was never done, as Alyna insisted on sneaking away on numerous occasions, at all hours of the day.

Looking around in response to their second question, Alyna muttered under her breath, "I sure hope not." Craning her neck to see farther, she saw nothing but an ocean of swaying grass. Alyna wondered if Lyka had turned back, deciding that it wasn't worth it to pursue her farther. She quickly dismissed that thought as folly, knowing that Lyka would find her eventually. The wolf never gave up searching until she found her target. Alyna sighed, realizing this bitterly.

Answering the foals' question in a louder voice, she said, "I...I came alone." Her voice, although wavering a bit, was confident and secure. She clearly thought that she could take care of herself. She didn't realize her frailty, the vulnerability of a young filly without adult protection.

Lyka however, knew very well the frailness of young foals. The wolf slid through the grasses stealthily, knowing that if Alyna heard her approach, she may flee in a desperate attempt to prolong her perceived "freedom." So, the wolf tracked her like she would prey, hiding in the shadows, slinking ever closer to the strong scent that was her constant source of aggravation and headaches.

Lyka was aware of the presence of the foals, and of the stallion guarding them. While she knew that the stallion may perceive her as a threat, Lyka could only hope that she would be able to explain before he tried to harm her. She felt she had no choice. She had to get to Alyna, and if that meant getting bruised or bitten, she would take the injury with dignity.

Cihiru

"By yourself?" Ashlan asks, sounding quite baffled and not the least bit critical. "Why?" He has a look in his eyes that seems to say 'why would you want to?', as though it's an idea that's hardly even crossed his mind. To him, exploration is something meant to be shared, and discovery is best made in the company of others. Certainly, he has independent streaks, and antisocial ones too, but... The colt eyes her briefly, speculating. No, she doesn't seem antisocial at all.

But then, he's never really known anything else. Not yet, at least; he and his sisters are quite young, and their parents scarcely leave them a moment alone. Isilme and Loki have the benefit of experienced parenting too, and are much more learned in their methods. Opportunities Ashara and Ashlan's older brothers may have had a crack at are presently unavailable to them, and they don't yet know the taste of genuine freedom. They're not really rebels either, though. The colt does have quite a defiant side in him, and the filly is rather competitive, but they're good kids, and for now they don't itch to betray the words of the parents. Perhaps they're just too young to want to venture alone.

Regardless, they both give puzzled blinks; Ashlan's head tips to one side. Ashara seems to be searching for something to say, and her mismatched eyes flick downward until she breaks the silence. "Well," she begins, looking up.

But she stops there; her eyes widen some, and flit nervously to Loki, who's close enough now she could duck beside him with just a few strides. He has been on-edge some time by now, but the filly's only just picked up on it, and the emotion is so strong her ears fold uncertainly. The stallion glances down to her and smiles gently, but she knows his attention is elsewhere; his ears are twisting cautiously. Ashlan has bolstered his confidence though, and nudges his sister with his velvet nose. "Anyway," the colt says, trying to avert the direction of things, despite the nagging instinct telling him it's not something he should be ignoring.

Katjive

Alyna looked at Ashlan, caught off guard by his question. No one had ever asked her why she liked exploring alone before. Thinking for a moment, she shyly broke the silence that stretched between the foals, "I just like going off by myself, to look at things I haven't looked at before. It's like I just have to go. But I always come back home, after a while." Alyna didn't know that she had wanderlust, she just knew that she needed to get away for a while.

Alyna's mother was a first-time mom, and she was still learning about parenthood. So, she was too lenient on her daughter, allowing her to run off simply by not knowing the warning signs of an oncoming bout of wanderlust.

Alyna hadn't noticed the tension radiating from the foal's father, mainly because she didn't know him like Ashlan and Shara did, so she remained blissfully oblivious of Loki's watchful stance.

Lyka, now close enough to watch the foals and the stallion, knew that the stallion clearly thought her dangerous, his posture told of his intentions if she should come too close. Her instincts said to sneak around on the other side, downwind of the stallion, but reason said to expose herself now, and explain why she was there. After all, she was not hunting to kill, and she didn't want to alarm the foals.

Standing tall in the grass, the tips of her ears barely visible over the tall grass, she walked slowly towards the stallion. When she was close enough that he would hear her, but the foals would not, as they were talking amongst themselves, she spoke. "I'm not here to hurt the foals," she said, speaking clearly, but softly. "I'm bonded to the brown-spotted one, and her mother sent me to keep her safe, and take her home. She's run off again, you see, she has a strong case of wanderlust..."

Cihiru

Her answer doesn't satisfy him. Not really, anyway. He doesn't so much want to know the sentiment behind it; he wants to know why. Ashlan wants to know what makes the sentiment exist in the first place; what makes exploring alone better than exploring with others. It shows; his expression is bemused as he regards her. "Oh," he says, simply, and sounding maybe just a tiny bit underwhelmed. "You're not alone now..." The colt, it seems, has quite a firm grasp on that jovial knack of stating the very obvious.

"Would you rather be?" the filly interjects, suddenly conscientious. If Alyna had wanted to explore on her own, it'd be awfully rude of them to keep her here, unwillingly in the company of others...

Now, Loki's mind has drifted almost entirely from the exchange between foals. His nostrils are flared with the anxiousness of an equine alarmed; he can smell the predator on the lazy breeze, and quite closely at that. The mustang separates himself from the foals, drawing his muscled form a few steps away before pausing again. He can tell now it's alone; his blue eyes dart the length of the grasses around them, peering for disturbances.

They settle on the furred tips of two ears, close enough to cause him great unease, but far enough to give him pause. His ears dip back uncertainly, every muscle objecting to his stillness, and wanting to lash out and protect his foals. Then its voice breaks the thread of silence, and skepticism darkens his expression.

It's a look entirely unsuited to his kind features, and doesn't last as long as one might expect. While it's quite possible Loki is entirely too trusting, he can't imagine why she would have revealed herself if she wasn't speaking in earnest. He's also almost certain she's alone, lest she's managed to keep comrades downwind despite the shifting breeze - and he remembers the filly's almost wary caution, like a child escaped from its caretakers, afraid of discovery. The stallion's posture hardly relaxes, but he relents; his expression softens, and his ears roll forward again as he nods a silent approval.

Katjive

Alyna knew that her answer was not satisfactory, however she did not have a better answer to give him. She wished she knew why she was so compelled to wander off, she wished she could obey her parents and stay home. But even though she wished it with all her heart, simply wishing did not change the overriding desire to explore that filled her very soul.

"I wouldn't rather be alone! I like going off on my own to explore, but I love meeting new friends on the trip. That's what makes going out alone so interesting, the new faces to meet and get to know!" Alyna said, smiling. Although she liked being alone, she always loved to meet new Soquili. She didn't realize it, but the socialization she often found on her explorations was what truly made her happy.

Lyka, truly grateful that the big stallion was not going to attack her, nodded back gravely. Offering a whispered, "Thank you." to the stallion, she crouched and began circling the foals, obviously slinking towards Alyna, her escaped charge.

After sneaking up behind her, she rose, close enough that she was fully visible to the foals, and said loudly, "Alyna." She frowned at the filly, waiting for her reaction to Lyka's sudden appearance.

Cihiru

Ashlan blinks at her, a little baffled. She should have said so! While he's not sure he understands why one can't meet others while exploring with company, her explanation to Ashara is at least more satisfactory than the one he'd received, and it seems to placate him.

Ashara, on the other hand, seems to be struggling more earnestly with the concept. She glances between Loki and the filly, as if to say 'you're a new face, and we're not exploring alone'... But she doesn't open her mouth to voice it, and is instead busy being quite distracted with the shadow she sees slinking through the grass.

The colt sees it too; both foals have wide, cautious eyes. The darker of the two glances nervously to their father, but Ashlan's gaze is stuck to the figure as it moves. It doesn't occur to him the object of his attention might be trying to remain stealthy, and his rapt observation isn't doing it any favors; he's too absorbed with the smell of a predator tickling his muzzle, the instincts imploring him to run away from it, and the small, boyish voice in the back of his head telling him he can take it.

He can't take it. The moment the form breaks into plain sight, Ashlan starts. He gasps in alarm, his head shooting up as he scrambles several steps backward. Ashara hasn't even had that much reservation, and takes refuge at their father's side, where she buries herself shyly into his foreleg. Loki smiles fondly, but as soon as the filly has gathered her wits enough to realize the reality, she's overcome with embarrassment.

She straightens herself with a disapproving huff, and pulls herself to stand near her brother, who also seems to have grown over his fear and recovered. Where Ashara looks obstinate, Ashlan is wearing skeptical curiosity. His ears roll forward, and again he tips his head. "Who's that?" he asks plainly.

Katjive

Alyna wished she had a more satisfactory answer to give the foals. She knew that she hadn't really explained herself properly, but she had tried. She supposed that was all she could do, really.

Alyna finally noticed the tension between the foals. She knew that something wasn't right, and she started looking around nervously. Even with her on the lookout for something suspicious, Alyna was caught off-guard by the sudden appearance of her familiar.

Lyka stood as tall as she could, attempting to intimidate her young charge. "Alyna, you know you're not supposed to run off on your own. How many times do we have to tell you that?" Lyka gave Alyna a stern glare, frowning at her. Lyka wished that Alyna would just listen to her, and not go off alone. Lyka was always worried about a Kalona or a Skinwalker coming along and injuring Alyna, but Alyna didn't seem to care much about that.

Alyna, aware that she was about to get in trouble, put on her best "puppy" face, as Lyka called it, and pleaded with her big blue eyes. Alyna didn't want to get in trouble, though she knew it was unavoidable at this point. "I just wanted to go exploring by myself...it's no fun being with my brother all of the time. And I'm not going to get hurt! I can take care of myself." She nodded confidently.

Lyka just gave her "the look" that told her that she was in deep trouble.

Cihiru

While Ashlan's inquiry hasn't been directly answered, the exchange which follows gives him at least some idea as to the nature of this stranger's identity. Mind, it's not a particularly pleasant idea, but an idea nevertheless. Never in their short lives have the foals been subjected to scolding; their ears fold with a shy sensitivity most children possess. It fills Ashara in particular with a displaced sort of uneasiness, like this isn't something meant for her eyes, and maybe she shouldn't be here watching. Uncertain, she glances to Loki.

He only smiles, stepping forward to bestow his youngest with a reassuring nuzzle. Later, he will explain to both of them wolves are still something very much worth being wary of, despite this one exception, but for now, comforting his baby is his singular concern. She presses into his touch, for once looking the part of a demure little girl she tries hard to shirk so often, seeming impossibly small standing next to him. The sound of whispered words drift away from them, indiscernible, but with audible gentleness. On hearing them, Ashara lifts her two-toned eyes, peeling them from the ground she'd seemed to suddenly find so interesting.

Finally, she swallows her uneasiness. The filly gives a small, personal nod to summon her confidence, and then distances herself from her father's side. Ashlan has been observing quietly through all of this, looking more curious than uncomfortable, even if the way his ears are still dipped backward, and the nervous flicks of his tail won't let anyone forget he's not truly at ease. Some part of him looks like it almost wants to say something, but has stayed silent for a lack of words. Even at his inexperienced age, the colt has an inherent sense these things are best left private, and he's not quite sure what to say. "Um. Hi, I'm Ashlan," he offers, awkwardly, his eyes shifting between the filly and her newly arrived companion.

Katjive

Lyka sighed, her anger ebbing away. Truth be told, she was more grateful that Alyna was safe than angry about her disobedience. Lyka would let the foal's parents be the disciplinary figures when Alyna returned home. Lyka nuzzled Alyna. "Well, the good thing is that you're alright. But, your parents aren't happy with you, and you've got to face them when we go home." Lyka grinned at Alyna, her big ears tilting up. "But, you know, you really can't take care of yourself just yet. You're lucky that nothing tried to hurt you. I don't believe your parents would be against you exploring, provided you let me tag along. You shouldn't go off on your own like this."

Alyna, waiting for a stern lecture, brightened at Lyka's words. "So, you mean that if I let you come, they won't be mad at me anymore? That's great!!" Alyna smiled, shaking her mane out of her eyes. "Oh, you haven't met everybody. Everybody, this is Lykaina, but I call her Lyka because it's easier to say." Alyna nodded happily. "Lyka, this is Ashlan, Ashara, and their dad." Alyna pointed to each one in turn as she said their name.

Lyka smiled politely at the foals and their father. Lyka didn't have much use for polite entreaties, but she figured it would be best to make a good first impression on them, particularly the stallion. He had faith that her words were true, and allowed her to approach the foals without harm. Lyka didn't want to offend someone who had trusted her so, she would feel guilty the rest of her life.

Cihiru

The three of them are listening quietly; the foals with curiosity, and Loki for simple politeness. Ashlan's head is tilted ever so slightly to one side as he just takes it all in, while Ashara tries to imagine what it must be like to upset one's parents; she looks almost contemplative. Perhaps it wouldn't be terribly unjust to accuse them of being cautiously protective, but to the foals, they seem nothing but mild-mannered, calm, and gentle. The filly can't quite envision either one 'mad', and it seems rather unlikely she ever will.

"Well met," Loki replies, giving his head another bow. Ashlan follows the example with a nod, and Ashara adds a "nice to meet you" afterward, hiding her reservations with a cheerful smile. Neither of the foals have encountered a wolf before; their instincts are still pricked with flighty unease.

The colt seems the sort who grows over his emotions quickly though; he'll likely take after his father in calmness when he's older. For now, he's ignoring the uncomfortable twitch beneath his hide, and gives the pair a more openly curious expression as he regards them with his pale eyes. "Were you going somewhere?" Giving his short tail an idle swish, he looks again between them, and then to Ashara, who has taken another step forward.

The filly's discomfort seems to have left her too; her expression is more neutral now. "Do you have to go now?" she queries, ignoring her brother in favor of what seems more sensible to her.

Katjive

Lyka nods to each of them, and mumbled her "How do you do's" to them in turn. Lyka felt very awkward around so many unfamiliar Soquili. Her fur was beginning to stand on end, and her front paws were shuffling in place. Alyna, ever the social butterfly, loved meeting new faces. Lyka absolutely did not. Yet Alyna was constantly pushing her into these situations.

Lyka sighed wearily and replied to the foal's questions. "We should probably be heading back. Her parents are wondering where she is."

Alyna pouted, stamping her front hoof unhappily. "But I was having fun! Surely we can stay another five minutes? Pleeeeease, Lyka?" Alyna's eyes were pleading, opened to their widest. But Lyka wasn't budging. Alyna should have known better that to even try to beg, because such acts were wasted on the ever practical wolf. "No, Alyna. You parents are expecting you, and you've been playing with them for a while now."

Sullen, Alyna nodded. She swished her tail, grinned, and said, "Well, I guess I've got to go home. It was fun getting to know you guys! Maybe we'll play again sometime!"

 

[Cihiru]

07.05 A Dose of Family: Kalani & Porsche

Here

Tweekend

Her wings wiggled a bit as she moved throughout the darkening land, and Porsche realized that the sunset had crept up on her faster then she had expected! Her day had been rather uneventful, but it was peaceful at the same time. She was busy taking care of her mother and keeping her company, but just moments ago her father had insisted that she go off and relax for the rest of the evening, stating that he would take care of her and such. Porsche knew that her father's words was true, but she was upset to go. Even though she was older now, she enjoyed spending time with her parents, and especially so now since more children were on the way.

Porsche sighed to herself as her thoughts continued to fluster her, since the biggest problem at hand was now not having any task to do! Porsche liked having something to do, whether it was a small job or a heavy job. She would have to fend by herself for the night, but that was sort of lonely now, wasn't it? Her brothers always seemed to be off and busy, and she was probably holding her parents back or something. At least she could be the helpful babysitter soon?

With a noticeable grunt, the young female picked her pace up while glancing up at the sky, since it was the only thing distracting her from her somewhat-crazy lifestyle. Was she stressed because more siblings were on the way? What if they didn't like her? Would she and her brother's blend with them alright?

Both her mother and father were experts at raising children, and its not like they had a mean bone in their bodies. But still.. Porsche had never felt anxiety or worry before in her life, but at the moment, she was truly noticing its effects!

Cihiru

Kalani has just returned to the wilderness, following a sort of obligatory visit to his mother. It's not that he doesn't love Kali, or even that he doesn't enjoy her company - she doesn't even begrudge him for being gone for months at a time, and always wishes him well when he leaves to depart again. It's just... he feels guilty admitting it to himself; he doesn't always want to bother going so far out of his way to check in with her. And yes, that's what it sometimes feels like to him: a bother. He's always had a rather broad independent streak, even as a very young foal, but the older he grows, the more pronounced it seems to become. Where he once would have been overjoyed to share his discoveries with his family, he's now more concerned with simply experiencing them, and moving on to uncover more.

The stallion refuses to let his isolation overcome him though. What family he has is important to him, and it's with that resolution he continues to travel a week or more, with no other purpose than telling his mother he's still doing well. But, he does too enjoy returning to his endless expedition, and it's with a joyful, coltish little buck he tears down a hill bordering the Kawani village, and pushes off to take to the sky in the valley below.

It's a little later than he typically travels, with the way the sun is threatening to sweep below the horizon, but he's too absorbed with eagerness to get moving again to worry much with the time. In any case, the evening is beautiful, and he couldn't have asked for much better weather.

Presently, he's gliding over a vast, open plain, his ebony-tipped wings moving to support his weight only occasionally, when his altitude threatens to falter. As he flies, his thoughts begin to drift, and at some point Kalani comes to think he will probably travel all night, having spent most of the day in idleness. But with this realization comes the reality he is nowhere near prepared to do so. He's eaten only sparsely today, and that is a problem he will need to resolve if he intends to go long without resting.

Thinking he may soon turns to a decision he will, and with that Kalani tucks his wings and descends toward the earth below. When he begins nearing the ground, he spreads them again, slowing his fall until he lands in the grass with a soft thud, and reigns his stride from a canter, down to a trot, until he stops entirely several steps later. Once his feet are planted, the stallion lifts his head to survey the area, casting his pale eyes across the landscape with his ears pricked attentively.

Tweekend

The mare's clustered thoughts were soon interrupted by a large thump in the distance, and naturally she was curious to see what had caused such a noise. Porsche assumed she was alone at this point in time, so maybe she was hearing things? Ah well, it wouldn't hurt to go find the source of the noise. If anything, it would help her get her mind off her worries and thoughts.

She quickly turned herself and headed uphill, since the noise seemed to have occurred on the other side of the land's natural lump. She started panting lightly as she increased her speed, but she was glad when she had finally made it to the top of the hill. Surprisingly, at the top the land was nice and flat, and she quickly found the source of the noise! It took her a moment to glide her eyes throughout the empty landscape, but she quickly noticed the stallion-like figure that stood only a few feet away from her! Jeez, was she really this distracted?

Either way, the stallion looked as though he was busy, and Porsche wasn't sure how to handle such a situation. Should she approach him? Or should she let him do what he needed to do? A part of her felt jealous, he had a task at hand, and she had nothing! Maybe she could copy him or something...

The mare then abruptly shook her head and decided to approach the stallion, since she loved being friendly when possible! There was no reason to avoid making a friend when given an opportunity. "Um, hello there!" she then said, while awkwardly approaching the back of the stallion. She couldn't help but notice similar designs on the stallion's back and legs.. and this detail made her ponder to herself for a moment. Who was this stallion? And what made him familiar? "I hope I am not disturbing you or anything!" Or startling, really!

Cihiru

The evening is as peaceful down here as it had been up there; little more than a pleasant sort of ordinary meets his eye. He can spot hills rolling lazily far in the distance, and what must be a forest's outer wall situated beyond even that, with nothing but rippling wakes of grass between here and there. The crisp yellow of winter has left them, and the blades are turning a warm sort of deep green under the glow of the setting sun.

He lifts his head, turning his nose on the gentle breeze to test it too. There's a humid crispness in it that warns him of future rain, but it's far off yet, and registers more as recognition than concern. He should have plenty of opportunity before wetness sets in; the worry of finding shelter can be dealt with another time. Aside from that, Kalani scents only the freshness of oncoming spring, and the dampness inherent to evening. All is as it should be; he dips his muzzle to graze, pausing just short of the blades to give them a tentative sniff.

And then a voice shatters what he thought had been his solitude; his ears flick nervously backward. Embarrassed, and admittedly a little startled, the stallion chides himself for being so negligent - but it's an inward notion that does not surface on his features. Still, the voice sounds friendly enough, and he can't begrudge one for being friendly; Kalani is rather social himself.

Putting on a welcoming smile before he turns, the alicorn peers casually over his shoulder and offers a welcoming nod. "Not at all," he assures, then shifting himself to face his greeter more fully. "Was something the matter?" He's doesn't intend to be rude with the inquiry, nor even forward or prying, but he couldn't help noticing what had seemed strikingly like discomfort. If there's anything he can do to help alleviate it, he'd certainly like to offer. And if he's mistaken, then... Hopefully, there's no harm done.

Tweekend

The stallion's voice was so kind, and Porsche could only stare in awe for a moment, since her random appearance would have bugged many for sure! "Oh, nothing is the matter!" she then answered, with an innocent pout. "I suppose I was selfishly exploring my curiousness, and that is why I came over to see who you were." Usually the mare was confident and comfortable, but she felt held back at the moment. She hadn't had any new social acquaintances in awhile, so that was probably why she was keeping her words composed and simple.

"Hm." she then said, while staring closely at the bigger stallion, "You look awfully familiar for some reason. Why is that?" Of course, her question was blunt and obvious, but she was completely confused as to why she was not surprised to the stallion's looks in general. He held something completely familiar, and she was astounded by this fact! "I just can't piece it together, but it feels as if I know you or something.. maybe I am just being strange!" And that wouldn't be an oddity, since the mare was, quite often, random like that!

After announcing her question, the mare fixed her footing so that she was more comfortable, and she wisped some of her hair out of her eyes so that she could get a better view of the Soquili that stood in front of her.

"Either way, I suppose I should introduce myself! I am Porsche.. who might you be?" Maybe if she got his name, things would make more sense? Porsche was really doing so out of interest, and out of being polite. Even if she were to find out the stallion's name, she couldn't understand how she might have known him! Did that make her a bad individual? Suddenly, she became very flustered with worry! She just couldn't seem to get a break today!

Cihiru

Content to let the brief silence linger between them, he gives a secretly amused smile in exchange. "There's selfishness in curiosity? I'm certainly glad nobody remembered to inform me!" Goodness knows his lifestyle revolves around the sentiment, and he'd be little more than an embodiment of egotism if it had. Clearly though, he's not bothered by the approach, and is only using jest in hopes of easing her hesitation.

"Hm?" Kalani echos, both making note of her somewhat overt observation, and doing a little casual observing himself. It's nice to be able to put faces with voices, after all, and to be able to recognize them, should he encounter them again. But in all his extensive travels, he's never seen anyone quite like her. Ordinarily, this wouldn't prove especially noteworthy. Individuals are individuals, and he has of course come to expect at least some degree of uniqueness in them. It isn't that which snags his attention though; it's the mark on her chest in particular, the arrow which echoes his own, and those of his siblings.

Someone he met once had commented on his runes. He had been a colt at the time, and had readily reasoned the remark away, thinking them dreadfully ordinary. And here he is years later, much more worldly, and much more aware the markings he bears are almost certainly gifts from his mysterious ghost of a father. Barring his brother and sister, he's never seen anyone else with his arrow 'til now.

Kalani grins knowingly at her inquiry, despite being unable to explain it entirely. "I have an arrow as well," he says nonchalantly, allowing his gaze to drift to her own, sheerly for the sake of indication, and then pulling it back again when she begins offering introductions. "I'm Kalani," he replies, bowing his head until his forelock sweeps over one eye.

Tweekend

"Kalani.." she then said, while putting the name in her own mind to remember, "the arrows.. that's what it is!" Obviously the stallion was much keener then her, and she only grinned with excitement, since he had noticed what brought them together in familiarness as well. "My father has markings all over him, and I seemed to aquire the exact same ones as he. My brothers have some markings on them as well, but they look more like my mother. Though.. I seemed to snag my mother's wings.." she paused slightly, while realizing she was in a ramble. "But I suppose that's what happens when traits get mixed!"

With a cheerful nod, she went back to wondering about Kalani, and decided to pursue asking him about his own life. "And what about you? Do you have any siblings or parents with this marking?" There had to be come of connection.. or was it merely a coincidence? Porsche then realized she had a mystery on her hands, and it was one that she would definitely explain to her father if they both needed some guidance. But, the mare was hopeful that they could figure it out themselves, since she was older now and more able to do such things.

"I've always found my dad's marking to be beautiful, he is dark colored like me, but he carries the same markings on his body in an array of rainbows. I think its cool that my markings are pink, since my mother is bright and pink.." So what did that mean for the stallion? "What about your markings, they are of a beautiful blue color. I don't mean to pry.. but did you inherit them specifically from one of your parents?"

Porsche then quieted herself, since she pondered if she was being childish or annoying. The stallion in front of her looked so composed and poised, and she was definitely the opposite. She was emitting a certain childishness that many could have interpreted as foolish! "Heh, I tend to talk a lot, forgive me!" she then said, with a light bow.

Cihiru

It's certainly clear one can't accuse her of being an introvert. Kalani doesn't mind though, and listens quietly to whatever she feels like sharing, offering a smile or an understanding nod now and then. He can't help feeling a little glad for her, too; it sounds to him like her family is a close one. And yes, those things happen - "Sometimes," he adds brightly.

"Mine?" he starts, purposefully creating a pause. One can gather he either hadn't been expecting the inquiry so suddenly, or he's not entirely sure what he'll say. Regardless, he begins again a moment later. "My brother and sister are black, like our mother, but they both have markings like mine. I don't know my father, like you do, but experience leads me to believe those are gifts from him."

Gifts... Kalani has wondered from time to time what he'll say if he ever meets his sire; some very small part of him doesn't think of the figure too kindly. It's tough, raising three children alone, and whoever it is had left his mother to carry that burden alone. That very small part of him resents it; he dearly loves his mother.

But, now, it's neither here nor there. He's not one to be taken in by unsavory notions, and is still smiling cheerfully. "Your guess is as good as mine." They won't get anywhere this way, though, and Kalani has a suspicion. "Tell me, Porsche, do you know a Hokulani?" The stallion has kept close tabs on his family; he knows Hototo has no children, nor has Kali had more, and he certainly has none himself. Lani, though... She'd disappeared shortly after adulthood, off doing whatever it is young mares do when they're taken with youthful whimsy. If she and he are related, it will be through Lani, or his unknown father.

"And there's no need for apologies!" he adds with a decisive nod.

Tweekend

She listened to the stallion as carefully as she could, and her eyes were telling her reaction since they were even wider then before at this point. The stallion spoke of their markings as gifts, and Porsche found that unbelievable in a sense. He was certainly wise beyond his years, whereas Porsche was still so young and innocent. She had a lot to learn apparently, but she was glad to be learning it from this individual especially. It was also surprising that the stallion did not know his own father, and that made the mare sad for a moment. She couldn't imagine life without her father, so Kalani was certainly strong, wasn't he?

Rather then prying on that subject, she only answered his question politely, since she didn't want to upset him in any way. "Hokulani.. I don't think so." Had her father ever mentioned such a name? The mare took a moment to pout her nose and think, and her wings wiggled naturally as she tried hard to remember. "If my father had mentioned such a name, he probably did it quietly, since that's how he is." She paused slightly, while glancing back up at Kalani. "My dad's name is Hesperos, and his father's name is Aurorealis.." she really did love her grandfather, but when she thought about it, who was her father's mother? Maybe she was on to something here?

But, at the same time, a part of her wondered if it was even her own business to pry! Instead of attaching herself to such an issue, she only smiled back at the stallion before making any accusations, and decided to use the time they had together to continue on with some delightful conversation. "Is Hokulani someone you know, Kalani?" she then asked, with a calm nod. After repeating both names after one another, she realized they sounded very similar. "Such pretty names.." Her brothers and her had random names themselves, so it was another reason why she couldn't make any accusations!

Cihiru

If she doesn't know a Hokulani... But he's reluctant to dismiss the possibility entirely; the resemblance is too uncanny, however small. Porsche offers only two names though, and he responds with a very slightly arched brow. "And your grandmother?"

Lani, a grandmother... Suddenly, the stallion is very aware of his age. He doesn't feel ancient, exactly, but it's an odd sensation, realizing one is old enough for his hypothetical children to have children of their own. He hardly knows where the time has gone, and can only imagine how Kali must feel by now. Perhaps he's only just come to know how precious time really is, and how little there is of it.

Now isn't the time for being introspective though; he gives his mane a toss that both jars his thoughts and sweeps his forelock from his eye. "Lani is my sister," he says, grinning a little. "Our brother, Hototo, has stayed in touch, but it's been a long time since I last heard from her." Kalani doesn't sound particularly concerned, like he's quite certain she's a big girl and very capable of taking care of herself, but there's some curiosity there too. He is perhaps like any other brother wondering about his little sister, in that respect.

"Thank you, though I surely can't take the credit." He seems amused by the thought, and grins anew.

Tweekend

So maybe it was all true! Porsche felt jittery at the thought of discovering family without her father's guidance, and a part of her also felt very mature and intelligent from her mind's gatherings. "You sister, and a grandmother. How awesome!" So, she and Kalani really were related, weren't they? "Hmm.. do you happen to have any children yourself, Kalani?" Her question may have been a bit random, but it was polite enough in sound. She wasn't referring that he was old, of course. "I was just wondering if there was more family out there to meet."

With a bouncy grin, the mare then shifted her hooves so that she wasn't as still in her posture. She could stand and act relaxed now, since Kalani wasn't some random stallion or anything! They had a unique connection, and even if Porsche didn't understand it one hundred percent, she knew it was a cool situation to meet some new family!

"Oh, did your mother name you all?" she then asked, with a comforting innocence to her voice. "And your brother, what is he like? I can probably guess that he is very kind like yourself!" So Kalani came from a family that sounded structurally similar to her own? One sibling he saw, and one he didn't. "Your family sounds just like mine.. I'm very close with one of my brothers, but there is another that I rarely see." Everhart was distant, but Porsche still loved him!

Cihiru

It seems she may have misunderstood his intentions; the stallion's expression shifts to a more embarrassed, apologetic grin. "Well, I'm not certain of that." He had meant to ask if she knew her grandmother, but still... If she doesn't, he doesn't doubt it could be Lani after all.

A moment later, he adds "I'd be curious to know if she is, though." His sister, a grandmother... Kalani is still taken aback by the thought; she hadn't even told their mother.

But Porsche's inquiry catches him even more unawares, and in his surprise, he flashes a more sincere smile. It has contentment in it, like he is perhaps not the sort to ache for companionship, and probably doesn't seek a soul as wayward as his. "Not I," he replies, casually. Some day, he may meet someone to change him, but for now, Kalani is more than content to spend his age with only his own whims to guide him.

Courtesy would typically suggest he return the question, but something in her manner discourages him. She seems young; too young, he decides, abandoning the thought in favor of the next she offers. "She did." After all, Kali had been alone in her burden; there was no one else to name them. "And what about yourself?"

He pauses, presumably collecting his thoughts and contemplating his answer. Kalani never has been very good at this; he tends to be rather forward and rash with his thoughts, but describing another takes sincere consideration. "Hoto's steadfast and quiet; something of a loner, I'd say. He watches over a blind boy near the human village."

"Rarely?" he queries afterward, curiously flicking an ear. "He returns occasionally, then?"

Tweekend

"He.. he is random with his returns. Last time he returned for food, and then fled when he was full!" With a laugh, the mare shook her head before continuing on. "I've been staying by my mother's side recently because there are more children on the way, and Everhart comes and goes I suppose. He is very distant though, and we are always trying to figure out why." It was a pity, really. Porsche and her other brother were quite eccentric in their speech, but that didn't influence Everhart to act any different. She still loved her brother, but it was hard to understand his awkward moments and what not. He was just so.. different! "Awhile ago he asked me for help, since he wanted to regain some social skills and confidence. I hope to help him once the new kids arrive." He probably hated the fact he had to wait for her guidance, and that the new children were the cause of the wait!

"Ah, my parents named me and my siblings for our personalities. It worked out well! Must be a parent-child connection." Something she wouldn't understand for awhile! But that was ok. She enjoyed living through her innocence. When Porsche also considered the possibilities of their siblings being linked in personality nature, that made her smile with a hint of hope. "If only our two brothers could meet, they may be able to understand each other better then us to them!" Or anyone to them, really!

It was hard for her to understand Everhart's pleas and demands, but life was all about the learning experiences she could find. He really was a tough one, but the mare refused to give up.

"Do you have any children of your own?" she then asked, with bright eyes. "Not that I am implying an age difference or anything.. I am just wondering!" A safe giggle then escaped from her mouth, since she refused to come off as rude to the stallion!

Cihiru

Distant, with sparse returns... Her brother certainly sounds familiar. Allowing himself something of an amused, inward grin, Kalani listens with little more than a singular nod. Only once she comes to a pause does he finally add his reply. "Some of us are like that," the stallion says first, offering a knowing smile. "Do you feel there must be a reason?" He's quite certain he hasn't one; it's neither here nor there though.

"Regardless, I'm sure he understands." Her brother must, if he's even half as close as she seems convinced he is - and that's something he takes for what she says. He has no cause to pretend he knows them, and it's hardly his place to shatter her confidence with possibilities. "Maybe some day," he offers instead, smiling anew... Despite it seeming somewhat unlikely.

Kalani likes to think he has a fine grasp on his family, though... Even if his family does seem only his mother and his brother, at times. He's grown to be quite content with it; there are, after all, others with even less. Certainly, there are times he can't comprehend them, and times he wonders if he has grandparents, or nephews out there somewhere. But Kali and Hoto are his family, not his curiosities, and he can't argue with that.

"Me?" he echos, grinning again. If Porsche isn't set on his having foals of his own, she's doing a respectable job of making it seem like she is; he's certain she's asked once before. "I'm sorry to disappoint your wondering, but I don't." Still, there's no emptiness in it. Kalani doesn't sound unhappy to be both mate-less and foal-less.

Tweekend

"I really don't know." she then responded, while lowering her eyes to the ground. Sometimes she really wished she could know, since a reason could mean understanding or even helping her brother! She wanted to hope that he could have a bright future, and even make friends! Porsche knew that the best way to deal with her brother was to at least care, and to just watch him as best as she could. "Everyone is blessed with the ability to have their own personality, so all I can guess is that some just choose to be that way?" As usual, she put a positive damper to her words, and she giggled slightly before continuing on.

At his reaction to her question on children she could only widen her eyes before shaking her head in a frantic motion. "Oh, I'm not disappointed at all! I was just curious... you never know these days." Goodness, she was already impressed with the stallion, hopefully she didn't give off any harsh feelings by her words.

"Why don't we walk while we talk." her proposition was random, but she was starting to get incredibly hot from the sun. "If we could find somewhere with shade, I would truly be thankful with that!" She waited to see what Kalani thought on the idea, but until then remained patient and polite. She was continuously fluttering her wings at this point, since her hair was always a drag in the sun!

"So now that summer is approaching, do you have any big plans for yourself?" she grinned as she asked her question, and wiggled her body as she thought about her own summer. "My mother is having more children, so I will be incredibly busy with that!" And she liked that kind of busy, but her body was tense with worry at the same time. "I feel like there is so much pressure, to want to be a good sibling and such. I just hope I can do the part." Yes.. she would have to of course!

Cihiru

"I don't think I'd say they choose it." He glances thoughtfully skyward, but flicks an ear toward her. "I wonder if there aren't parts of ourselves we are powerless to change," he muses, sounding almost pensive a moment. "Anyway." Refreshing his smile, Kalani pulls his eyes back to her. "Variety is the mark of excitement; it keeps things interesting." This is perhaps his way of saying she probably shouldn't concern herself with things which can't be explained, and that he thinks this a case of it. After all, wondering is one thing, and worrying is another entirely - she strikes him like she may be the sort for the latter.

Maybe that's just his recklessness showing through, though. He's always been this way - Kalani can't remember a time he wasn't thinking 'it'll be fine', regardless of circumstance. It's a mindset his relaxed confidence affords him, and he presently has no real desire to change it.

Instead of contemplating it, the stallion gives a delayed nod at her suggestion. He had actually come here in preparation for his impending journey, expecting to steal a while and graze, but supposes now no harm will come from parting already. That's something he decides he will attend later, allowing him to invest the present in finding her someplace to rest.

He puts one hoof forward, pausing mid-step to glance toward her. "I never did get the hang of that planning thing." Kalani extends a wing, and gives it a dismissive, flapping flex. "Souls like mine don't have much use for it." He means to say he is wayward, never really coming, and always going. Where, he never knows, and often, that is just the way he likes it.

"Why worry over a part you've done already?" He gives her a lofty, teasing huff before resuming his stride.

Tweekend

Kalani was so relaxed as he spoke, and Porsche was truly learning quite a bit about confidence and pride. He was an interesting stallion, and he was also very wise! She found herself silent when he would speak, since she was afraid she would miss a word of advice or truth! Her commitment to the conversation was probably entertaining for him, since she was probably taking it way too seriously. But having fun was her thing, and she was truly having a good time now. She would enjoy the conversation as it continued to last, for sure!

"Ah, so you just go?" she giggled a bit, while totally seeing that trait in the male. "If you just leave though, who will you say bye to?" Porsche was rather organized whenever she went to do a task of some sort that required an absence, but Kalani seemed the opposite! "Next time you leave make sure you give me a fair warning, because when you return I will make sure I give you a good greeting!" To come back and have no greeting at all would be.. sad. She didn't want any sadness at all, so she would most definitely fill the part! Plus, she wanted to by the cheerleader as usual!

At his last words, Porsche could only smile with closed eyes, while then shaking her head. "I appreciate that, and it may be that I have been a good sibling in the past. But I am older now, and they will be younger. I like to think of myself as somewhat childlike, but hm." she paused, while wondering why she was considering it anyways. "It makes me wonder if I can be a good mother one day, but I don't find the same enjoyment in children as my mother does. So I suppose that worries me." There, she was honest, and although embarrassed with her words, she figure Kalani would most definitely have some advice.

"I love family, so so much. But training to be a mother or whatever.. I am much too young for those sorts of things! You didn't have to train to be a father ever, did you?" She glanced at him, while returning a calm smile to her face. "You probably don't need training, you've got a good handle on everything it seems!"

Cihiru

Well, that is indeed an interesting question. "I suppose I don't say goodbyes to anyone," he answers, glancing thoughtfully skyward.

It hasn't always been this way. Once, as a foal, Kalani would have insisted he'd have friends everywhere he went. If there were none, he would have made some... rabbits, if he had to! He had been very close to his family, and never would have fathomed leaving them for as long as he does now. If asked, he would have said he'd give farewells to everyone, and make rounds to visit them all now and again.

But then, that had been then, and this is now. He's not the young foal with lofty dreams he once was. He never made those friends across the countryside. Kalani can't name any rabbits, and would be hard-pressed to say how long it's been since he visited his mother the time before last. He's not sure when, nor why it happened, but he is more distant now, even if he never stopped loving his family. It's funny how things work out that way, but he can't complain; the stallion is quite content with the lot he's forged in life.

Truthfully, he hardly minds returning to solitude. "Oh? I will... Supposing I can find you," Kalani teases casually, veiling its several facets as he pulls his eyes back to her.

The jesting tone is something he doesn't press; it sounds now like she has relatively serious concerns for him. "You're over-thinking it." He nods resolutely, glancing once over their surroundings. "Young or old, it doesn't matter. You'll know what to do when it comes to it." This is perhaps not something he would say to everyone, but he does have faith she can handle it.

Parenting, however, is another matter entirely. When Kalani looks back to her, his expression might be a shade more serious than before. "I suspect there's more to being a mother than enjoyment," he starts, still pacing forward. A pause follows; it's neither uncomfortable, nor long, but this is not his forte, and it seems it's showing. "I also suspect love, patience, and a desire to raise foals right may be more important."

But then, he wouldn't know much about that; it's little better than secondhand experience he's using now. Lightheartedness is something which comes much more easily; he can't help a gentle chuckle as she continues. "There's no rush! Besides, I have the impression parenting isn't really something one can practice for." Her endeavors in sibling adventures might come close, but Kalani has no younger brothers and sisters to judge from.

Instead, he only laughs good-naturedly as she finishes. "I can't say I've concerned myself with bothering. I don't think I'm ready for a family of my own just yet. Thank you, though - I certainly hope so!"

Tweekend

Porsche liked to pride herself on effort; she was always concerned with other's issues and circumstances, and she was committed to everyone even more then herself! "Well, I would somehow make it easy for you to say goodbye! Its what I do, trust me." she nodded reassuringly before flicking her tail in delight. "You may not be used to someone as energetic about family as me, but I really am happy to search around until I give you a proper goodbye or greeting. Call me crazy, but I enjoy every second of it."

After giving her plea, she only sighed contently before listening to his words about parenting. She had to admit, she was jealous of Kalani! He was so laid back and cool, and he didn't seem bothered by much! "Ah see, this is exactly why you'd be fine in whatever you do. You are much more relaxed then I am, its the same trait my father posses. Or maybe its a stallion thing.." she then blinked slightly, before wiggling her nose with a laugh. "Either way, its something I may work on, even if to save some mind-energy!"

Love and patience wouldn't be a problem for Porsche, but everything Kalani described sounded much easier in words. "Heh, there is an enjoyment that comes from raising children, and I guess no one really knows what its like until it happens. That's the real beauty to everything though, I suppose!" She liked to think that, at least. It made life simplistic, and happier as well!

"So far you have given me amazing advice, and maybe you haven't even realized it! I just wish there was some kind of advice or words that I could give you. I'm not very talented really, I'm just bouncy and loud. Not that I am complaining though, I am very good at keeping myself entertained." And everything was much more exciting her way, and through her eyes. "But still.. you've helped me discover a family mystery, and also help me discover some other life lessons. How can I ever repay that?"

Cihiru

Somehow, she says... Kalani hasn't heard words as unabashedly enthusiastic as those since... Well, since he was a foal himself, he notes a little dryly. "You're crazy," the stallion quips, nonchalant. It's a good, admirable sort of crazy though - there's far worse in the world she could be passionate about. Or, like him, she could be passionate about nothing at all. That may be worse yet.

"Don't get the wrong idea," he adds, pausing with a chuckle. "Saying and doing are two different things entirely." At least, that's what he tells her. Honestly, he'd like to believe she's right. That he'll be fine, regardless of his endeavor. He doesn't though. Kalani has a shred of doubt, born of inexperience and uncertainty he suspects will never really go away. It's part of living, learning, and making mistakes - and he wouldn't want it any different.

"I bet life is more exciting your way." He offers an amiable grin, declining to make further remark. It may be true that's the 'real beauty' in everything, but Kalani doubts he has much experience with it one way or the other, and doesn't hazard a guess.

"There's nothing to repay." The stallion gives his head a dismissive shake, but he's still smiling. "And if you insist, I'll say you've done plenty in humoring a rogue like me. I do have one request, though. If your family say they do know Lani, I'd like to know." His mother would too, no doubt. He's not sure he'll tell her while it's still a 'maybe'.

Tweekend

"Well, my life isn't THAT amazing." she then added, while twirling on her hoof in a playful manner. "I am just always full of energy for some reason, so everything is a big deal you know!" Like meeting Kalani for example, she would definitely remember such an experience! Even if they weren't actually related, she would still be thrilled to have some sort of connection to him. He was a new friend, and a new memory to keep hold of.

At his request, she only nodded her head eagerly, since it was one she could fulfill for both their benefits. If there really was more family our there for her to meet, she would definitely find them so the truth could come out. Plus, that meant more soquili to meet! "I will ask them as soon as I see them." she then said, with a promising expression. "And I will tell them of you, and your kindness. I'm sure my siblings will be jealous." A pouted expression met her lips, and she puffed her shoulders out a bit, since she was feeling proud about that. Her siblings weren't as social as her, so she had the advantage to always meeting others.

"I once again want to thank you, since I think I will take my leave for now. You've gotten me all excited about this family ordeal, so I want to see if its true." she then paused, since she was feeling a bit sad at the idea of leaving her new friend. "But leaving give me a reason to come find you again, so I won't give up on that!" With a confident flick of her hair, the mare the jumped a bit to show her usual enthusiasm. "Again, it has been awesome meeting you, Kalani. And I will definitely fulfill your request and find out what I can about Lani."

And with that, she backed up a bit, but still watched the stallion so that she could remember what he looked like exactly. She refused to forget him, even if she was sort of spastic in her mind! "Again, thank you so much, Kalani." she then said, while slowly making a leave of the area.

Cihiru

"That's just modesty, you know." He eyes her with suspicious disbelief, but looks too kindly and too neutral to seem truly accusing. "Besides," he says, giving his mane an idle toss. "Nobody said big deals were a bad thing. So long as they're not the unfortunate sort, of course." Even if he doesn't cross one like the sort to make a 'big deal' of much of anything. He's far too laid-back and impassive for that, even if he had been an excitable foal.

"I'm sure you will," he agrees. But Kalani is ever quick to refuse compliments, and makes it clear very shortly he'd meant only her initial remark. "Don't boast too highly of me." Gustily, he huffs a dismissive snort. "I haven't done much to deserve it."

Allowing his slight discomfort to surface for the first time, he flicks his tail, sending it into an agitated sway. These compliments sincerely are a bit excessive for the likes of him. "You still have too much flattery," he reprimands, settling into something more closely resembling sternness. Kalani doesn't have it in him to be angry, though - especially not over something as kindhearted as that - and it isn't particularly sharp on his features. "Sincerely though, I'm glad to have met you, and look forward to your finding me again." His seriousness fades in a soft chuckle.

"Farewell, Porsche." Allowing her what he thinks is a considerate length of observation, the stallion turns, gathers his limbs beneath himself, and tears across the meadow at a gallop. Not even halfway to what she'd see as the horizon, he pushes up, taking wing and fading into the distance.

 

[Cihiru]

07.06 Fishing for a Solution: Ti'ran, A'ier & Vieno

Here

Dovaxy

Vieno had been wandering around the ocean, enjoying the thick, salty air and the call of the seagulls overhead. She'd always enjoyed the ocean, ever since the first day she'd come to explore with a friend. The thought of horses living underwater intrigued her and she hoped someday she'd meet another. Sadly, the whole trip wasn't bright and enjoyable, for before long Vieno ventured upon a small pool of water surrounded by rocks and strange green growth. Just as she was about to carry on, something caught her eye... it was dull brown and silvery, but it sparkled beneath the surface of the water and it was... moving! Quickly moving over to the side of the pool, Vieno cocked her head to the side and peered at the water. It seemed there was a fish in this small pool! How it'd gotten there she really didn't know...

At first the mare examined the fish, staring down at its dorsal fin, it's long pointy jaw and its sad looking eyes. It wasn't a small fish, looked to be about 20 lbs and it certainly looked trapped in the small pool. The thought of eating the thing never crossed her mind because she was a horse... of course. What did cross her mind was the fact that the fish must have been lonely, it was probably missing its family and it didn't have room to even swim around anymore. The question of how the fish had gotten in this predicament crossed her mind once again but she eventually decided it didn't really matter. It was then she decided she wanted to help the poor fish, get it back in the water but... there was one question left unanswered... how...?

If she didn't want to scare it she couldn't just scoop it up out of the water and toss it in the ocean... not to mention it had sharp, spike-like objects on its back that she didn't really want to get involved with. Not only that but its fins themselves looked sharp and the mare didn't really want to start a bloody battle. Leaving it there was not an option, if she was trapped she would have wanted help! It was so unfair, sometimes things happened for no obvious reason and it seemed there was nothing one could do. Well, Vieno wasn't going to be defeated so easily! She'd find a way to help the fish and she'd do it quickly... well, at least she hoped she would...

So, the mare stood there and tried to think... but her mind kept drawing blanks. What a lovely start to a beautiful spring day this was...

Cihiru

It's been a rather long time since this unlikely duo has made it here, out into the plains on the ocean's border. They can hear waves washing up against the shore from their current vantage, courtesy of the breeze carrying its soothing rhythm. There's the tangy smell of salt and water on it, and what the wolf suspects are hints of a distant rain. He's unconcerned though, and neither does his companion seem bothered. The scene is too calm and peaceful to be disturbed by such an interruption, and it seems almost a shame they've stayed away so long.

Still, neither have forgotten why, and it's not likely they will any day soon. Even if the unicorn has shrouded himself in isolation for months now, holed away in his forest abode. For once, A'ier has not denied him the notion. And yet here they are, meandering through the grasses, with A'ier pausing now and then to tip his muzzle and scent whatever has caught his interest. Ti'ran is drifting between leading the way, and following at the canid's side, looking far less broody, and far more stoic than he had when his hooves last touched the open fields.

Their travels today have been almost entirely quiet until now, but the wolf seems heedless of precedent, and peers over his shoulder with a glance Ti'ran knows he means to break the silence. There's a disinterested stare; A'ier ignores it quite pointedly, and then a grin curls his maw. "Ran," he starts conversationally.

"No." It's a cold, blunt reply to which A'ier is far too accustomed... But it's too late now, and they both know it; Ti'ran's neutrality creases with a frown, and the wolf's amusement only broadens. Anyone could see why; the source is situated on the beaches just below, looking quite like a Soquili standing in what has become their invisible path. Ti'ran is decidedly less amused. He's too used to the antics to do much more than sigh though, even as A'ier pulls slightly ahead, weaving toward her. This isn't the first occasion, and he's quite certain it won't be the last.

The canine's approach is rather lackadaisical, and is anything but silent for it; he shuffles deliberately through the sand, forging stealth in an attempt to convey his attentions. He may be a predator, but he's not hunting; his tail gives a lazy, sweeping wag as he pulls near, and calls a greeting. "Good afternoon," he says at first, stopping a comfortable distance off while Ti'ran pulls up the rear.

Dovaxy

Yep... blanks were about the only thing she was drawing and it was sad because the poor fish seemed to suffer as she stood there. Vieno felt horrible, she wanted to help and she didn't know how, it was one of those times where thought didn't really count. Thinking wouldn't transport the fish to the ocean and thinking wouldn't get its family back. Sighing, the mare looked down at the water the fish seemed stuck in, enjoying the feeling of the warm sun on her back. Oh no, at that moment she had another horrible thought, what if the sun dried up the pool of water! She couldn't let that happen, she couldn't let the fish slowly lose its only means of survival. Think, think, think, she told herself as she raked her brain for anything.

Now, Vieno had been wrapped up in her own little problem so she failed to notice the two strangers creeping up on her. What she did notice was the sound of somebody's voice, it snapped her out of her thoughts and caused her to jump backwards. Nearly tripping over a rock caused her to yelp and question as to why she was always so incredibly clumsy. Lifting her head slowly to smile at the newcomer, Vieno sighed, "I'm sorry, I'm terribly clumsy and I was... well, I didn't notice you were coming!" The mare flushed, knowing she was a little blockheaded at times and must have looked pretty bad to anyone who didn't know her well. Not that she really knew anyone all that well around here...

Suddenly a thought occurred to her, perhaps these newcomers could help her save the fish! Trotting back to her original place she peered down at the water and blinked, "I found a fish..." she said, still smiling. It was obvious she was a very optimistic and happy sort of mare. "I know we just met but... do you think you could help me save it? It looks unhappy," she pouted, knowing she wouldn't have wanted to be separated from the world she knew and loved. If she lived in the ocean she would have wanted to be there all the time! Thinking about it was a bit strange considering she didn't live there and never would... but empathy was key, was it not?

Suddenly it dawned on her, she'd just asked two complete strangers to help her save... a fish. Chances were, they were going to think she was a complete and utter idiot who had nothing better to do. Well... they could think what they wanted, so long as the fish lived to see tomorrow!

Cihiru

Openly dubious and amused, A'ier gives a deliberate blink, and then his head cants a fracture to one side. She certainly isn't very cautious; it's a good thing he hasn't a taste for Soquilis, and Ran is of the kind-natured, unicorn persuasion, despite his detached demeanor.

"No need for apologies," the wolf replies, his expression giving way to a renewed grin. "I can't help thinking you're probably fortunate nothing worse found you first, though." His tone is jesting; it should be obvious he means nothing cruel by it.

Ti'ran is only just coming up behind him, pausing eventually a few lengths off. His ears are rolled forward with alert attentiveness, but he has a stand-offish posture about him, only accented by those steeled, ice-blue eyes he turns to rest on her. The way he stands off to one side, situated beside the wolf makes it only more obvious they are as opposite as night and day; the wolf is clearly the social half of this unlikely duo.

He is apparently less guarded too; the unicorn remains impassively silent at her inquiry, but A'ier's amusement fades to something more neutral as he traces her gaze. "What's the problem?" he queries as his paws pull him several steps nearer.

It's a mostly rhetorical question; 'the problem' is plain enough now that he can see it. He just has difficulty feeling moved by it. As a carnivore, on occasion, A'ier consumes fish. He's compelled only by courtesy now, and that, at least, is not something Ti'ran is entirely out of touch with. One can see the unicorn eying the pool with what may be assumed is contemplation.

His first thought is to dig it out; the pool is not so far it would be impossible to make a trench between it and the ocean. Only one between them is even remotely suited to digging though, and this is not his idea of an ideal choice, despite it currently being his only choice. He pushes past it, allowing his eyes to trace the tree line in the distance as his mind drifts through considerations.

Something seems to occur between the two; they meet gazes, and then the wolf looks to her while the unicorn makes to step away. "I will find something to remove it," a new voice remarks. It's smooth, low, and entirely unemotional - a tone suited to the dark equine to which it belongs. A'ier contrasts him again in the way he lingers behind, offering Vieno a warm smile. "Will you come?" the wolf queries with an idle flick of his tail.

Dovaxy

Vieno didn't mind that the stallion behind the wolf was silent and didn't seem to want to attract much attention. She'd met many a Soquili by now and she had found that everybody was different and some just didn't like to speak. There was nothing wrong with that really, other than the fact that Vieno was the peanut gallery herself and her mouth never stopped talking. Well, that wasn't entirely true considering she liked to let others get their words in before she tried to go off and add her input.

The wolf had been the one that approached first and the mare only smiled, she'd met a wolf before and although a bit cranky... she had been fairly nice. What had startled her though was the wolf's comment about her finding somebody, it seemed he wanted her to fear something most likely wolves. She often tried to give everyone and everything the benefit of the doubt but the mare didn't quite understand... weren't wolves normally a friendly sort? Vieno was naive and she didn't really know it, she thought the world was made of rainbows and beautiful flowers. Luckly, she could accept that some of the world wasn't as nice as she liked to think it was. So, still grinning she nodded her head, "I suppose you're right, would have been a nasty situation if somebody with no intention of helping appeared!" Now she was telling him the only reason she should have been unfortunate was if somebody who didn't want to help left her there to fend for the fish herself.

"The poor fish is stuck," Vieno sighed and answered, not realizing there was no real need to answer. She stared down at the pool of water, studying the fish for a long moment before speaking once again. "I want to help it... it might miss its family," she sighed again, keeping her head down. She seemed to miss the glance between the two and jumped slightly upon hearing the new voice. The surprise didn't last long, in no time she was once again smiling and thanking the two.

The wolf's question stumped her, was she to go with them and leave the fish? It felt a bit like abandoning it but she wasn't entirely sure. "Do you think it'll be okay if I... if I go with you..?" the mare asked quietly. The fish would be safe for a few more moments... wouldn't it?

Cihiru

The mare's reply is something A'ier openly affords disgruntled amusement; a flicker of indigence flits across his typically jesting features. "You must live in quite the fairy tale, if that's your gravest concern," he remarks, teasingly. Nevermind it's ironic of him to be saying so, with this world he lives in. He has things more pressing than irony to worry himself with. Things like how... obvious she is, and how she probably isn't the best in cahoot for his favorite pastime. For now, it seems he'll be forced to put his teasing 'Ran on hold. For the fish, of course - her statement reminded him.

"It was okay before you found it, wasn't it?" Of course it was; he nods at her, grinning. "It'll be fine now, too." There's a pause, and a sideways glance he directs toward her, then he adds "Not to say you have to if you'd rather not, though." Even if she isn't likely to save it just by watching and hoping.

The unicorn is obviously unconcerned with the lot of it. He still has his back turned toward them and is pacing away, albeit slowly. It gives one the impression he may be waiting, but for which of them is left to the imagination; he says nothing still.

A'ier stares at his back a moment, frowning very faintly. The stallion has always been unsocial. Chilly, even, but this... This is most certainly a step in the wrong direction; Ris'hin hasn't been doing his efforts any favors, and this first venture back into social interaction isn't transpiring quite the way he might have hoped. Briefly, he glances between the two equines. "I'm A'ier, by the way." Had the darker been looking at the wolf, he would have seen a very pointed stare.

He wasn't, though, and isn't still. "Ti'ran," he says anyway, not bothering to turn around, but pausing nevertheless.

Dovaxy

She lived in a fairy tale? Why were so many insults thrown her way nowadays? When she'd first arrived here she'd met many friends and now she was some strange mare deserving of insults. Had she changed that much in the short time it had been? Her face seemed to fall for a moment, the comment making her cheery personality fade if only for a moment. Quickly returning to her optimistic attitude the mare grinned, "I'd rather be in a fairy tale than a living nightmare!"

The wolf was right though, the fish would be fine for a few more minutes while they went off to find something. Although, it would have been nice if one had stayed to keep the poor thing company. Fair was fair, they offered to help her, so she'd help them find something to help her with. Then again... she could have left the wolf with the fish to watch it.... No, she quickly dismissed that thought, a wolf and a fish together didn't seem like such a good idea. For one thing, Vieno wanted to get the fish home to its family, not a nice new home in the pit of a wolf's stomach. Decisions, decisions... this one didn't take her too long, for after a moment of silence, the mare nodded, okay, she'd go!

She quickly trotted to catch up with the silent stallion, she didn't want him to feel left out. After peering at him silently she realized they'd both given up their names, so smiling she replied, "You both have lovely names! I'm called Vieno, but if you can make a nickname out of that feel free to use it." She giggled and looked up to the sky, it was bright, sunny, a beautiful day, she just hoped her new fish friend felt the same way about the sunshine...

Cihiru

The wolf's traveling so long alone with the thick-skinned Ti'ran is perhaps showing badly now; he hadn't intended insult with his remark, and sincerely hadn't expected she'd take any. He's accustomed to spotting subtle shifts in expression though, having practiced on the unicorn's stoic visage, and catches hers with an experienced eye. Surprising him some, it sobers his inclination to tease; he offers a genuine smile instead. "So would I. Maybe some day you'd be willing to share your secret?" A'ier has a casual nonchalantness about him; he leaves the suggestion to dangle aimlessly, abandoning it as he turns to pace along behind them.

Ti'ran resumes his pace, seemingly indifferent to the discomfort he can feel flit between them. It would probably be awkward if he weren't; the wolf has come to expect it, having learned long ago his social plights are solo endeavors.

He could do worse, anyway - the occasion is so rare, he's probably lucky the unicorn has no fondness for teasing. Not that he'd ever say as much; in A'ier's opinion, his wit and good-humored nature are unparalleled. He doesn't mention it though, and Ti'ran is too quiet and too apathetic to remark of his own accord.

Instead, nodding vaguely, the unicorn turns a courteous eye on her as she nears. "Thank you," he says simply, somehow earnest, polite, and chilly simultaneously. But A'ier is as unconcerned with the sentiment as Ti'ran is with being conversational; he's already interjecting his thoughts on the matter. "Vieno... Vieno... Vieno..." he repeats, part to himself, and part aloud, unabashedly musing. "Vi... Can I call you Vi?" He tosses her a questioning glance. "Feel free to call him 'Ran, he doesn't mind."

Dovaxy

The stallion was silent, almost too silent, was there a reason for his silence or did he just have nothing to say? She'd once met a mare who refused to talk, she was an interesting little thing, used body language to portray what she wanted for the most part. Something seemed different here, the stallion didn't seem to have a problem with speech but rather didn't feel the need to talk. Then again she could have been over analyzing the situation and she could have been wrong about everything. Either way, she felt uncomfortable so she fell back into the company of the... wolf.

How a wolf and a horse were supposed to be best friends still confused her considerably but she just accepted it by now. Who was she to say where one could make friends? Friends were precious things and if you made some, good for you!

She laughed when the wolf finally came up with Vi and she nodded, "That's a wonderful nickname!" As he mentioned calling the stallion 'Ran, she tilted her head and peered at him curiously, only for a moment so that she wasn't starring! Vieno doubted she'd have to address him with any name so she just nodded in agreement. It seemed her company for the day was going to come in the form of this wolf, not that she truly minded, if they liked her she liked them. Well, even when they didn't like her she liked them at times. Company was never to be taken for granted!

 

[Cihiru]

07.07 A Matter of Perspective: Wind Gypsy & Vytali

AIM

Cihiru

The heat of midday is long past, and the sun has already begun to dip below the horizon. Before long, it will disappear entirely, but for now the sweeping plains are bathed in the otherworldly glow of its receding light. Grassy stalks, green with a spring freshness that hasn't quite left them, sway lazily in the fading breeze, and one can hear the evening's last chirps drifting along with it. Soon, the avians will hole up for the night to come, and the chorus will die, with what wind there is following not long after, but for now, the evening is pleasantly welcoming.

The thunderous pound of galloping hooves breaks the calm stillness. Startled, a flock of birds takes wing and pushes through the forest canopy, and the woods fall into silence, save for that quick and unrelenting rhythm. The equine's breaths come heavily, with an almost tired raggedness; it must have been running for quite some time before now. One must wonder why, though - it has wings, tucked snugly against its sides, and quite obviously not in use... but the alarm in its aqua eyes suggests it's not running for pleasure.

It stops, finally, settling along the edge of a babbling stream with great breaths of air. Lifting its horned head - or her head, one can see now, despite her surprisingly great size - she surveys the area, testing the increasingly still air for signs of her pursuer. When she finds none, she lowers it, extends a wing, and turns her muzzle to inspect it.

A splotch of blood dampens her side where the wing had been pressed against it, left behind by what seems to be a tear in the muscle. It's deep enough to look quite painful - this must be the reason she had been running, and not flying - but she does not wince or cower. She just dips her head, tipping her golden horn toward the wound amidst her tattered feathers, her eyes closing in concentration. A warm glow emits from it, faintly at first, with increasing intensity.

Vashtya

Vytali was enjoying a rare quiet moment, munching idly on some sweet grasses. He might be a quarter kalona, but he'd never had the urge to eat meat. He did, however, have a particularly strong sense of smell, especially in regards to things like blood. Nostrils quivering, he made his way towards the sharp, metallic scent, pace unhurried. If the creature was mortally wounded, his presence wouldn't change its passing, one way or the other.

Coming up out've a small dip in the otherwise flat landscape, Vyt stopped, completely taken aback by what he saw--he'd found where the smell of blood was coming from, but he'd never seen anything like the mare's own glowing horn. In fact, he didn't think he'd ever even heard of such a thing! He didn't like to think of himself as easily impressed, but that was downright amazing.

Making his way closer, he couldn't help but notice the light get brighter, and as it did so, the smell of fresh blood grew a little bit weaker. Very interesting.

"How do you do that?" It wasn't his most clever of questions, but he really wasn't overly concerned with how clever she thought she was--and besides, unless she'd noticed his approach, she'd probably jump at the sound of his voice.

Cihiru

This mare is no unicorn, and for her, the task is not a simple one. A great deal of her depleted energy must be dedicated to it, and she knows she cannot afford to be caught by danger in a state of such delicacy. Despite her precise focus, she is alert, and her ears are quivering with the nervousness of an equine recently alarmed.

Moments pass. The wound has begun to mend at its base, repairing bloody tears as the glow brightens. Her breaths have finally started resembling normalcy, but her eyes are still closed, and her brows knit in what one may assume to be increasing effort. Even as steps near what is temporarily her clearing by the river, they do not open. Those are not the footfalls of a predator, and she can't spare their owner her attention.

An ear twists toward the voice as it breaks her solitude. "Excuse me a moment," she replies, her expression unchanging, but her voice as smooth and politely cordial as one would expect from a creature so young and kind-looking as she.

The mare persists with her task, tending to it until the muscle has healed, and skin once again closes over it. Her feathers are still ragged, and no doubt she will be land-bound for a while, but she could have been worse for wear. All things considered, it really ended rather well.

She's left her new company in silence far longer than properness allows, though. Embarrassed, she finally turns her eyes on him, her expression full of apologetic sincerity. "I hope you'll forgive me if I'm not quite certain how to answer your question. I'm afraid it would be akin to describing flight to one without wings," she answers, dipping her head in apology.

Vashtya

Shutting his mouth, Vytali watched her finish, eyes narrowed with concentration as he tried to figure it out--he wasn't used to being unable to do something. While he'd never be so easily won over as to be awed by it, he had to confess, even if only to himself, that it was a skill that was...rather impressive.

"That makes sense, I suppose." Shaking his head, he studied her a bit more closely. She was winged, and had what appeared to be patches of scales covering parts of her body--he'd never seen a soquili with scales before, and her wings were feathered, like his mother's.

After waiting for a moment for her to explain what had caused the injury to begin with, he cocked his head to the side, eyes glinting with mischief, anticipating an awkward response. "Lose a fight?"

Cihiru

Healing is a sensation beyond words, and truthfully, she doubts she could have managed it. But he doesn't press for explanation, and that is a realization she can take with sincere relief.

Having determined as much, she turns to regard him, her eyes curious, and her head tucked with the faintest hint of reservation. "My name is Wind Gypsy, by the way," she says after a moment's pause, offering it before she recounts her tale.

"And no, I wouldn't say as much." Shifting elegantly, the mare tucks her wing to her side, brushing it - and the tattered feathers - out of sight. "A few wolves thought to make a meal of a foal," she adds, frowning in distaste. Clearly, Windy is no believer in survival of the fittest. She is a mare of considerable size and build, paying tribute to her draft heritage, and it seems she has no qualms with using it to protect her own.

"As for you, sir?" She gives him a kind, but shy smile. It's the warm sort of smile one knows is hiding something more. "What brings you to this humble stream?"

Vashtya

"Vytali." He replies, eyeing her curiously. She seems unperturbed--an unusual reaction, and not quite what he was expecting. However, aside from a quick, almost unnoticeable blink, his expression remains open, and somewhat amused.

However, as she describes the scene, his eyes narrow slightly. It would be hard to notice, unless one knew him well. "What possessed you to do that?" He struggled to keep his tone light, and unaffected--after all, it's not like he has any personal stake in the well-being of some youngster. He just wondered why someone would stop to risk their life for someone they didn't even know, that was all.

Shaking his head, as if to clear his mind, he recovered his equilibrium, shifting his wings in what could be interpreted as an equine shrug. "I spend a good deal of time wandering, and just happened to be passing by, as it happened."

Cihiru

"Vytali," she repeats with an acknowledging nod, but nothing more. There is no 'well met'. No bows. Not even words of polite, often false sincerity. She is a mare of her word, and of careful consideration - and far be it from her to offer judgment so lightly.

But she is also patient, and understanding, and affords his inquiry with an earnestness she feels it deserves. "Nothing possesses me, Vytali." Again, that soft, mysterious smile. "I did it because I feel it is right. As the wolves deserve to eat, so does a foal deserve to live." Briefly, she glances away from him, her eyes flicking toward the fish drifting in the stream. They seem so heedless... She wonders, do they feel compassion for each other, as she does for her kin?

No, likely not. Whether a lack of such 'foolishness' is above or below her, she doesn't know, but neither does she care. She knows it is right, and just, and she knows she should protect it whenever she's able.

"Would you not have wanted the same when you were young and helpless?" she queries at last, turning her eyes on him with the faintest hint of mischief.

Vashtya

Vytali paused, sharp riposte lost. It wasn't that he didn't understand compassion--but it wasn't an emotion he extended to any and all of his kind--there were very few he'd consider risking himself for. Aside from that, he tended to believe that nature had its own course...but, he supposed there might be an exception to that, too--he'd just had yet to find himself in such a situation.

However, he'd be lying if he said he didn't find her viewpoint a little on the strange side, to say the least. "Perhaps. But if the rescue hadn't gone smoothly, then there'd be two victims, rather than one." His tone was matter-of-fact, but his expression was faintly challenging--what would her response be?

Cihiru

She had expected as much from him. It's a caution she understands, and can even empathize with sometimes, but... "If, you say." Windy dips her head, casting him an ornery glance. "I will take my chances over living in fear of 'if's." Her tone is sincere enough though; there's no doubt of her earnestness.

"Besides," she says, snorting softly. "I won't speak for yours, but my conscience isn't so heedless I can watch calamity and choose to do nothing about it." She doesn't mean to challenge his morals, though - her tone is rather airy. Teasing, almost.

Vashtya

Vytali grinned, not at all offended--he was difficult to rebuke...and something about her tone made him uncertain it even had really been one. "Touche." He wasn't quite sure if she was youthfully foolish, or just incredibly noble...and to be honest, whichever it was, it amused him (and perhaps, just a little bit, he respected her for it.).

"But then," he started, a gleam of mischief appearing in his own eyes. "if one lives their life looking out for everyone suffering from a 'calamity', one would hardly have time to spare to live their own life...there's always going to be someone in trouble."

Cihiru

A draw is, of course, a mark in her favor. The mare returns his grin with a smile, belying her amusement in it. She's careful to measure it though, maintaining evenness in her expression, lest her humor cast doubt on her honesty.

"And what is it you propose one does to define her time as being 'lived for her own life'?" Whether this is jest, or curiosity is left to his imagination - her tone is surprisingly unhelpful.

Vashtya

Vytali simply grinned more widely. "You know," he began "things like finding a lifemate, raising foals...even, sometimes, just taking time to revel in the life you've been given--if you're always watching out for the well-being of anyone you come across, you'd never find time for those things." He looked at her sideways, expression almost coy as he waited to hear her response.

Cihiru

Truth be told, Windy does indeed have little opportunity for such affairs. She's never taken any real interest in them either, though, and that may be more fair an accusation. "Is that all?" she returns, feigning disappointment.

And yet, neither does she have any particular objection. She can admit, her family isn't so perfect as that; but she isn't so unromantic the idea doesn't appeal to her, should she actually take the time to consider it. "Vytali, what ever gave you the impression one can't do both?" The mare pauses briefly, but continues. "I must confess, though, I've yet to feel the desire to 'live my own life', judging by your suggestions." Not to say she's never enjoyed a moment, or done something just because she could - but reveling counts for only one of his points, and it sounds more fitting this way. "Do you take your own advice?"

Vashtya

Raising an eyebrow, Vyt stared at her a moment. Hadn't she been listening to him? "You were the one who stated that you couldn't watch calamity and choose to do nothing about it--the point I was making," He was looking just a little smug, at this point, "is that there's always going to be someone suffering 'calamity'..so no, it's not really possible to live your life in that fashion and still balance a full one of your own." he shrugged. For someone who was so impassive about a lot of things, he was surprisingly full of opinions, on this particular subject.

"And yes, I do--while I've not settled down yet, or found someone I could bear alongside me the rest of my life, I most assuredly live the life I please." This said with an almost rueful grin--he realized, even acknowledged that he was somewhat self-centered...but then, there was no one at that time, aside from perhaps his family, who he had any desire to assign importance to.

Cihiru

She smiles at him, unperturbed - a curiously patient, amused, and mischievous expression. "And if that is the way one desires to live her life? If she considers it 'full'?" The mare cants her head ever so slightly, her thick forelock sweeping across one eye.

"But yes, I did. I did not, however, say I go looking for it... I'm not so selflessly noble." This is perhaps not a point she's especially proud to admit, lover of justice that she is, but she doesn't look regretful either. Like it's something she sees as inevitable, and understands it well enough to take comfort in it. Seeming like the sort to enjoy who she is - though not without striving for betterment - it isn't particularly surprising.

"You're no picture of your suggestions either," she teases, grinning more openly. "Only bear, though? You don't make your expectations sound like much. And I'm curious," the draft adds, settling back into sincere serenity. "What is it you consider qualifying as 'living the life you please'?"

Vashtya

Vytali laughed outright, shaking his head. "Perhaps. But while I'd agree that everyone has different interests, and even values, I'd still argue that there's a degree of selflessness that becomes unhealthy." This said with a shrug, his usual nonchalance showing through.

He did, however, incline his head as she continued, acknowledging that she'd made her point, as well.

When she switched, teasingly bringing up his own description, he chuckled. "Well, I mean, as long as she provides me with healthy foals..." he trailed off mischieviously, turquoise eyes glinting with a healthy sense of mischief.

Cihiru

"I suspect self interest - and health - aren't particularly the intention in selflessness," she reminds, her tone unabashedly humored. The mare does comprehend his sentiments, and doesn't really even disagree with him, but she does feel pushing too far in the opposite direction can be unhealthy too, if not even more damaging. Still, she can respect other values, including his.

She returns the gesture with a subtle, elegant nod, moving amicably onto the remark which follows.

"You will tolerate her if she bears you healthy foals?" Windy reiterates the statement with a generous dose of amusement, and the faintest hint of teasing disbelief; her ears flick backward to accentuate it. "Either your aims aren't as low as you enjoy letting on, or you're looking in all the wrong places."

Vashtya

Vytali concedes defeat, his easy, arrogantly amused expression giving way to genuine amusement as he laughs uproariously-a rarity, for a stallion who usually deigns only to chuckle, or snicker.

"Indeed, I'd imagine you're right." Still chortling, he shook his head. As she continues, his expression slides easily into one of sly amusement. "What's so unreasonable about that? Healthy foals are an important part of life!" His expression was hard to read, a convincing look of fervent belief ruined only by the barest hint of amusement in his gaze.

Really, if that were all that he was looking for in a mare, he'd have foals underfoot all over the place.

"And what about you? Don't you have any desire to eventually have foals of your own?"

Cihiru

Laughter is infectious, even to her reined composure; she doesn't bother trying to bury her bright, genuine smile. It'd almost be a shame to, anyway - it's the serene sort of smile that could lighten even a dreary day.

"Nothing at all! They are." The mare's expression sobers to something more closely resembling seriousness, but really, it's a line quite near to jesting she walks. "I take more exception to your insistence you will 'bear a mare alongside you' in exchange," she adds, erring nearer toward teasing. "You must admit, it's quite a difficult claim to believe - surely you've made numerous acquaintances suitable to such humble expectations." Like his, her sentiments would prove difficult to interpret. She sounds quite genuine, but there's an impish shadow in her grin.

"To be entirely honest with you," she starts, putting gentle, subtle emphasis on the point, if only to tease him. "Foals of my own are not a prospect I've spent much time considering. I'd like to say I'm much too young, but really, I suppose I've just been more concerned with taking life as it comes, one step at a time. Eventually, though?" For a moment, she almost seems sincerely contemplative. Whether or not she really is... Well, his guess is as good as any. "Of course I have some desire."

Vashtya

Quirking an eyebrow, Vytali feigned a look of thoughtfulness, before leaning close, so that he was almost whispering in her ear. "Well, you know, any stallion worth his salt doesn't kiss and tell, so to speak~" he grinned, his expression both open, and oddly unforthcoming.

Raising his head, so that he wasn't leaning in quite so close, his expression shifted into a slightly more serious cast, as she continued. "That's fair enough, I suppose." As she finished, however, his eyes gleamed once again. "However, if that was an invitation..." He waggled his eyebrows mischieviously, his tone vaguely suggestive.

Cihiru

"Of course not," she tells him, unflinching in the face of his near vicinity. She's not a shy, nor a skittish mare, and her still-comfortable posture shows it. "But neither would I hope he's so ashamed of her, he'd lie about it." Windy seems rather amused to have to say it; she's making no effort to act as if she's actually taking him seriously... Even though her words are true enough.

His, however... She's tempted by an outright laugh, but buries it behind another grin. "If it were," the paint starts, settling into genuine honesty. "There would be no 'if'. You would know." But she still has teasing in her tone.

Vashtya

Shaking his head, Vytali just grinned. "I suppose that's fair enough," he finally said, after a moment. "But in defense, everyone makes mistakes~" he continued, making little effort to hide the teasing note.

At her final remark, he raises an eyebrow, expression showing a hint of surprise, although it's quickly buried in a broadening grin. "Oh really? Should I take that as an indication that my wooing needs work?" His visage was schooled into a carefully innocent expression, as he looked at her with a mock look of concern.

Cihiru

"They do," the mare concedes, passing him a mildly questioning glance, but says nothing further. There is perhaps an edge to her tone, teasingly suggesting 'I don't,' but she doesn't press it. Truly, she's no picture of perfection either - even in jest!

Windy allows herself a hint of surprise, her ears perking forward. "If you're trying to woo me..." she starts, gently, but earnestly. "Then yes." No longer does she bother holding the amusement from her tone; she finishes with a quite amused grin. "I really had no idea... Though, admittedly, that may be more a fault against me than it is against you. I have little experience with it, you know." She smiles politely, suggesting, of course, he does.

Vashtya

Had Vytali been a more demonstrative sort, he'd have been howling with laughter. As it was, his mock-innocent expression melted seamlessly into a mischievious grin, winking impishly in Windy's direction.

"Well, that puts me firmly in my place," he said, laughing to indicate his lack of offense. "However, for one who's unused to being wooed, you seem remarkably at ease." he continued, his own tone teasing, now.

Cihiru

His first remark is one she mildly overlooks - wink included - not because she means any harm in ignoring him, but because... Well, she worries her response would do worse.

Instead, she settles into genuine honesty, reimbursing her cordial expression. "Is there a reason I shouldn't be?" She seems rather unfamiliar with, but open to the prospect; and that, at least, is probably safe to take at face value. "I did say I try to deal with things as they come... Wooing included." Again, she smiles. "Though, I had been unaware I was being wooed."

Vashtya

Somewhat surprised, even refreshed by her straightforwardness, Vytali stops, blinking for a moment. "No, but it's certainly not the typical response," he paused, hesitating slightly--after all, he was obnoxious at times, but not necessarily malicious.

Finally, he grinned, his expression rueful as he shook his head. She made it difficult to simply flirt without intent--something that came as naturally to him as breathing.

"Then I wouldn't worry about it," he finally said, an amused undercurrent to the words. It felt somewhat strange, to decide what to say without continuing to flirt outrageously.

"So what else do you do, when not rescuing foals in distress?" he asked, his tone actually expressing a genuine interest--something a bit unusual, for him.

Cihiru

While it wouldn't be entirely fair to say spontaneity is her goal in life, she does find a certain enjoyment in being unpredictable, and in bringing a pleasant sort of surprise to others. It's... endearing; his unsuspecting pause is no exception. "I never claimed to be typical," she tells him, smiling pleasantly. "Although, if there's no reason not to be at ease, one must wonder why it isn't."

Nevertheless, she takes just as easily to his change in tone. "I worry about very little," Windy says, her reply sounding part confession, part assurance, and entirely honest. She is a mare of the moment, concerning herself with little more than integrity and honor.

"Really, I'd like to know the answer to that myself." Spreading her great wings, ignoring their tattered feathers for a moment, the alicorn smiles wistfully. "I suppose I do what the wind wills of me," she answers finally. It seems now she might be a fleeting spirit - difficult to tie down, but compassionate and loving - with her heart tugged in two directions.

"What about yourself, Vytali? What is it you do to pass the time?" When spending it other than chasing mares, her tone seems to tease.

Vashtya

Vyt grinned, inclining his head to acknowledge her point. Her stance really doesn't differ all that much from his own--except for his strong attachment to 'home'...it's the place he always returns to, despite his many wanderings.

Snapping out of his musings at her next question, he gives her a coy grin, tossing his head before answering. "Oh, you know...this and that..." he begins, smirking again before continuing, a little more seriously.

"I wander a fair bit--there's a lot out there to see, and while I'm still quite attached to my family," this said with a wry grin, "I still enjoy getting out, and wandering to places I've not yet been." It was more of a restlessness, on his part, like there was something missing, but he'd yet to figure out what it was.
Cihiru
In honesty, the mare has never much had a 'home'. Certainly, she has family; two siblings her own age, and both parents, too! It's not that she doesn't love them - they say home is where the heart is - but her relationship with them is... unique, to say the least. Her mother always had been something of a sprite; mysterious, and impossible to capture. And her father... Well, his relationship with Mother was something she's long ago come to recognize as abnormal, and he was always something of an on again, off again presence. She's learned not to attach herself too closely to others, and perhaps, to places too.

"Is that so?" she asks him, ever smiling. "And what is it you've seen on your wanderings?" This is, perhaps, part challenge, and part curiosity. Windy's done a fair bit of traveling herself, having lived her life largely on the move, but she has no doubt she's yet to see everything, even in their small corner of the world.

Vashtya

Vyt raised an eyebrow at her. Just what sort of an answer was she looking for? After all, given how much one saw on any given day, there was no way that she expected him to sum up everything he'd ever seen.

With a vaguely mischievious grin, he shrugged. "Enough to know there's more out there, but also enough to know that there's too much to ever even come close to seeing in a lifetime," he said it cryptically, looking somewhat smug--he knew his response was vague, but given that he didn't really wander in response to curiosity as to what the world had to offer, so much as because there was something intangible lacking, that he couldn't quite place, he thought it was fitting enough.

"And what," he continued "of you? Do you have anywhere that you call home, or are you constantly moving, always looking for good deeds to perform?" he said this lightly, obviously unable to resist poking at least a little fun.

Cihiru

Still she smiles, unperturbed. An open-ended question is never posed without first anticipating an open-ended response, and she had expected no exception. "You make it sound as though you've been hardly anywhere at all," she starts, thoughtfully. "But then, I suppose that may be true of all of us - I wonder, what little we must see in a lifetime..." There's a faraway look in her eyes, typical of dreamers, and for a moment it looks as though she may drift into a world all her own.

It's short-lived, though. An ear twitches at his question, and she cants her head to regard him with another grin. "No... You would say I am indeed always moving, looking for good deeds needing to be done. The world is never lacking them." She has a seriousness in her tone now; one may gather she sees it as her purpose in life, but it's also true doing good is not all she lives for.

 

[Cihiru]

07.08 Expanding Horizons: Apollo & Hakumei

Here

Cihiru

Today, the sky is wide, crystal blue, and speckled with large, fluffy, cotton-white clouds, with nary a storm brewing in sight. The sun is low, the breeze is cool, and it drifts just enough to soothe the land it blesses. For a day, this is a mighty fine one. For a summer day, it is perfection. A soul on Earth could hardly ask for more, and this colt - presently barreling across a rippling plain - is no exception.

His legs are so awkward and gangling he scarcely seems to know what to do with them, but he manages, clumsily, to propel himself into a gallop. It's a long, loping stride, with his tufted little tail flagging behind him, and his head raised with a contented pride only a foal his age could manage. He's terribly young yet, and to him, the world is still a mystery, hiding adventure in every cranny. Adventure he belatedly realizes may be difficult to take in at his current pace.

Giving his nose a joyous toss, wind whipping through his little fluff of a mane, he reigns his gait, ambling into a walk yards later. Here he is then, he supposes - the start of his soon-to-be-discovered journey. The colt lifts his head to better observe the land he's found himself in, his bi-colored eyes sweeping across it as he ignores the fatigued heave of his sides.

If he must be honest with himself, here is very much like there had been. Green grass sweeps over numerous rolling hills - most quite like the one he's just crested - and the horizon is still exactly where he left it. A line of trees strings lazily in the distance, but looks so much like the forest near his home, he has no desire to investigate it. He gives a dissatisfied snort, turning his attention on his immediate vicinity instead.

Here, the stalks brush his knees; his adventure has plenty of places for hiding. This is, of course, a challenge, and not a dissuasion. For the moment, Apollo is a colt of indomitable spirit, and takes on his new found obstacle... by plunging his horned head into the grasses.

His first few attempts reward him with bugs, crawling heedlessly along, doing whatever it is bugs do in their daily lives. One is interesting enough to warrant a curious sniff - it's colorful, and intricately patterned - but it flies off when he nears, and he can't be bothered with chasing it. He presses onward instead, burrowing a path through the plains, until the blades turn so short, they hardly brush over his ankles.

He finds a hole here, nestled amidst a small clump of flora. It's bigger than he first imagined, he's coming to realize as he nears, one slow step after another. Bigger than his skull, in fact... Or just as big, at least. It smells strongly of earth and moisture, and.... definitely something else; something he can't quite place. Ever curious, the colt plunges his nose inside for investigation.

The hole awards him with a quite furious-sounding growl, and a scraping, rustling sort of noise. He decides in very short order he doesn't want to stick around and find out what that means, and jerks his head out of what he now knows is a burrow, giving a disgruntled snort. When the noise (and the growling) persist, Apollo comes to understand this is probably not the best place to linger. He scrambles backward, shuffling gracelessly before finally managing to turn and again barrel across the fields. Haphazardly, this time.

Kaisanti

Hakumei giggled to herself as she trotted along. She had successfully escaped from under her parents watchful, and she knew, loving gaze to start her own adventure. Her parents were napping along with her two siblings, but for the young filly, the last thing she wanted to do was sleep. After all, she had done nothing but sleep in her basket for weeks and now, after finally escaping the safety of her old wicker home, she had no intention of wasting any more time with it.

Cresting the small hilltop she glanced back at the large tree her family were resting beneath, next to the small thirst-quenching river. There was no way she would be able to get lost. All she had to do was follow the scent of water, and once at the river, she would see the tree that marked her families' current home. Giggling she flicked her fluffy little tail and with a kick of her heals, she fell into an easy canter. Long twig-like limbs had proved to be surprisingly graceful and obedient at this speed and it had become the filly’s preferred method of moving about. Even if the occasional tumble she took hurt all the more because of it.

Moving through the long grass that almost brushed her belly, she threaded her way around tall robust weeds and the occasional flower as she cantered down the hillside. It was one of the most glorious days she had ever experienced, the warmth on her twilight-coloured coat was wondrous, and the fresh summer air almost looked like a liquid gold she should drink, rather than breathe. Tiny slender ears pricked forwards as she ran, head turning this way and that to take in everything around her. A brightly coloured butterfly whizzed past her muzzle, making her shy away to one side in surprise before letting out a high sweet peal of laughter. A bird of prey screamed high above, causing the little filly to toss her head back, muzzle pointed skywards as she watched it, unusual eyes alight with the sense of adventure and wonderment all youths should feel.

Suddenly her headlong, unguided canter was interrupted by something rather large and furry. Tumbling head over heals through the grass she collapsed in a heap, long limbs tangled hopelessly. Blinking wide, surprised eyes she lifted her head and peered back at what ever it was that she had collided with, even as she worked at untangling her disobedient limbs.

Cihiru

The colt plummets through the short grasses, his tender ears honed on the growling as it fades behind him. Ten, eleven, twelve strides... He can hardly hear it now. Tentatively, he steals a glance over his shoulder, at the burrow in the distance.

A stout, broad creature stands guard over it. Its fur is short, dense, and mostly grey, with black and white markings - not unlike his own coloring, he realizes. Apollo can tell it's bristling, angrily, and wagers it's no spring pixie even without the additional bulk. He's glad it's over there, and he's over here, and resolves not to stick his nose down strange holes... for now, at least.

Heaving a sigh of relief, the foal straightens himself, turning his attention more fully on the invisible path before him.

And on whatever that is in his way. He blinks, surprised. It wasn't there a moment ago... Having established as much, and that it is, in fact, there now, he gathers his limbs and attempts veering around it. With limited success. On one hand, he hadn't crashed directly into it. On the other, he will crash anyway, to which his failing limbs can attest. Try as he might to steady them, he can still feel his legs buckle beneath him.

The dun hits the grassy earth with a muffled "oof!", skidding more than he'd care to admit. That hurt, but it isn't his first fall, and surely won't be the last either... He rubs his nose on a folded foreleg, and attempts standing once he's determined he is in fact still in one piece. With little more than a few bruises to show for it, hopefully he won't have much explaining to do...

"Er, sorry. Are you okay?" he asks suddenly, straightening himself as he peers at the untangling lump behind him.

Kaisanti

The sudden tumble had been a total surprise, as golden gaze had been fixed on the hawk hovering high over head, the filly entranced by the easy way the creature stayed suspended in the air with only an occasional lazy flap of its wings. Now laying sprawled out on her side, slender rib cage heaving as she sucked in much needed air she blinked wide eyed at the stranger whom she had almost flattened.

Gasping to get her winded breath back she nodded at the sudden, slightly startled sounding question. "Yes, I’m fine, are you? I’m really sorry about that, I was watching the bird up above and didn't see you. I didn't hurt you did I?" She snapped her rambling jaw shut with a blush but grinned at the other foal.

With a snort she shifted then sprang to her feet, forelegs crossed and hind-legs played wide to keep her balance. Gingerly she carefully stepped forwards and corrected her legs before straightening as her balance was restored along with her confidence.

Trotting over she circled round the colt to stand in front of him, fuzzy tail wagging, ears pricked. Excited she smiled brightly at him, he was the first one like her (that was to say, short) other than her siblings, she had met. "Oh, I’m Hakumei. What's your name?" She asked hopefully, her unusual eyes of amber on pitch friendly.

Cihiru

"Oh, I'm alright," the colt tells her, nodding soberly over his shoulder. Truthfully, he's hardier than his small, thin frame would suggest, and it will take more than a tumble to keep him down. But it's also true he is an independent sort, averse to sharing his flaws and to depending on others, despite his young age, and probably wouldn't admit it even if he wasn't fine.

"Anyway, it was nothin'." He shakes his head dismissively, smoothing over his own fault as much as he is hers. After all, he'd been doing everything except watching where he was going, as he should have been, and he'd rather not remind himself - it's no matter now.

The unicorn falls silent, standing steadfast and watching as she paces 'round him, following her with his bicolored eyes. "It's Apollo," he offers softly, lifting his head with some measure of jovial pride. His mother told him it's a strong name, once; when he says it, he can't help hoping it suits him.

"Were you goin' somewhere?" He hates to hold her up if she had been...

Kaisanti

The filly didn't seem to have come to any harm either, other than her fluffy mane having picked up a few bits of grass. Though she didn't seem to notice, or if she had, to care.

"That’s good. I do have a habit of bumping into things.. Mom says I’m too adventure for my own good." She grins, evidently pleased with that fact. Pausing her ears p***k forwards again as she studies the colt before her, her own gaze drawn to his.

Blinking she smiles as he offers his name in return. "Apollo? That’s a very grown-up sounding name. It suits you." She confirmed with a dip of her head before her gaze caught on the dark horn adorning his brow.

His question distracted her from it and she blinks again. "Oh, not really. I’m on an adventure!" Beaming she grins at him a moment before looking back up at his horn. Her tail flicks, ears twitching with curiosity. But her mom had told her asking too many questions was rude.. and she had already asked a lot. But..... she really wanted to know!

"What’s that?!" She finally burst out, amber eyes wide as she stared at his horn with a mix of awe and curiosity.

Cihiru

A habit of bumping into things, she says. That is surely not something Apollo makes routine, and admittedly, he is a little baffled she'd so openly confess she does. If being 'too adventurous' comes along with it, though... Well, maybe it might not be so bad after all. His own mother has certainly never accused him of being too adventurous, and he's at least willing to concede it almost sounds decent. After all, adventure can't be bad; unexpected mishaps are half the point!... He realizes it might be something to remind himself of, next time he feels compelled to investigate... unfamiliar territory.

But her remark - no, her compliment - toward his name catches him unaware. He blinks, and after a moment, finally manages a "thanks." His surprise surfaces as slight hesitation, but it's a pleasant sort of surprise; the kind he's experiencing because he hadn't been even half prepared to hear what he actually wanted. Even if, truthfully, he doesn't consider himself at all 'grown-up', and doesn't yet want to be, anyway. He'll just be ready for it when he does! "Yours is nice too," he adds, sincerely, recalling his manners only a little belatedly.

"Oh, I am too." Apollo's dark ears tip forward as he regards her, his formerly neutral expression cracking into something of a lopsided grin. It almost seems like he's ready to say something else, too, but she stops him short. Now, he can't help noticing the filly's not really looking at him, but... Yes, he decides, she's staring. He's never seen someone stare before, much less experienced it, but his mother has warned him against it, and he supposes he'd know.

His ears fold, and briefly, bafflement overtakes the dun's features. "What's what?" Does he have something on him he shouldn't? Or, worse yet, could something be wrong? But he feels normal enough... And he supposes he looks normal enough too, from what he last remembers. Forced to conclude it may not be that after all, he reevaluates their circumstance, and attempts following her gaze with his two-toned eyes. "You mean my horn?..."

Kaisanti

The pause almost made her wonder if she had said something wrong, she wasn't used to meeting others around her age, having only being with her family and siblings, and really.. you can't compare how you act with siblings to how you treat others, especially strangers.

Finally he spoke, and he didn't seem upset! She felt relief sweep through her at that, having worried he would turn and leave. Like any youngster she wanted to make friends and with this colt being the first she had met, that thought was high in her mind, even if it was still a subconscious one. Smiling brightly as he returned the compliment she dropped her amber gaze briefly, a faint blush touching her cheeks though it blended fairly well with her markings.

She recovered swiftly though, with that resilience that all children possess. Her grin was returned with a bright smile, delicate blue ears pricking forwards again. A light giggle slips free as the colt seeks to see his own horn, though his expression draws her attention to his eyes momentarily. So many tings about him were different! She was fairly bursting with questions and curiosity, but she forced them down, quite certain she would go from possible friend to the irritating pest her siblings sometimes called her.

His question, after he finally located the source of her fascination, was answered with a fast nod. "Yes!" She chirped, fuzzy tail wiggling. "I haven't seen anyone with one before..."

Cihiru

So, 'that' is his horn after all. Having been born with it, and with two brothers (and a father!) who were also born with one, horns hardly seem like an object of fascination to him. If she's never seen one before, though... This must be what his mother had meant by 'different sorts'. His own family is fairly diverse, he thinks - he and his brothers are very different! - but there must be an awful lot out there he has yet to learn.

"My dad's a unicorn... I guess I am too," he offers, thinking it an adequate explanation. "But Mom is a wind, so I'm really only half..." Aiakos and Kalani have wings and a horn, but he must not consider it relevant; he doesn't mention either one. "Well, you have now," he adds, supportively, trying distract his sense of awkwardness.

... Anyway, he's being silly. She hasn't called him anything mean, and he has no reason at all to feel as uncomfortable as he does. He scoffs inwardly at himself, attempting to bolster his confidence. "Are your parents both... like you, then?" he asks, tentatively, almost stumbling over his words, but recovering soon enough he hopes it doesn't sound too unnatural. It's plain he hadn't meant any harm by it, regardless.

Kaisanti

She tilted her head, listing to Apollo attentively. "A.. Unicorn?" She copies carefully. Never having met one before she could only assume Apollo was telling her the truth, and that all 'unicorns' looked like him. After a moment she blinked and giggled, head bobbing. "I guess I have." She agreed with a smile.

Bobbing her head at his question she seems not to notice his reserved manner. Clearly outgoing she was happy to have someone new to chat to and question. There were still so many questions floating around in her head.

"Yup.. at least, mostly. Dad is all blue, and he smells like the sea.. so I’m told. I've not scented the sea myself so I can't really tell.. but its cool and salty. Mum is all warm and bright, like the sunset. My brother is more like mom, and my sister is almost exactly like dad. But none of us have horns.. or tails like you.. Though, dad's is all.. wavy.. and .. floaty.." She frowns, struggling to describe what the water stallion, her father, was like. It was hard to someone who didn't just.. know.

Cihiru

"Yup," he repeats, grinning lopsidedly. Not to say he's met one either - his own family doesn't really count - but his parents told him so, and he has no reason yet to question them. There may come a time he will, deciding he needs to see and learn things for himself, but for now he is content to take their word, and to set off discovering everything they don't tell him.

It's beginning to sound like it will take longer than he first expected.

"Oh," he replies, inadequately. "My tail's like Dad's." He gives it a deliberate flick, swaying its tufted tip. But she says her father's is floaty... like the clouds are floaty, he wonders? It's a brief wondering, though; his thoughts drift quickly back to her talk of the sea. "What's a sea?" He knows lots about his forest home; things like what's good to eat, what makes one itchy when touched, and which flowers smell good!... But he's never heard of a sea before, and he's quite sure he's never seen it himself, if it's supposed to be salty and cool.

Kaisanti

Hakumei, distracted by the flicking tail, dipped her head and peered unceremoniously underneath the colt to stare at it as it moved. "Oooh... " She gasped softly in awe-struck wonder. ".. can you like.. use it for stuff?" She peeked up at Apollo without lifting her head, slightly surprised when she sees only his chest, and at rather close quarters too... Stepping back she stands upright again. "I think that would be really cool.. if you could! Like, you could pick things up with it, or hit my brother when he is being a brat.." She giggled, wishing she had a tail like his just for that purpose. Her own fluffy appendage really wasn't much good for anything other than vague annoyance.

"The sea?" She copied, looking momentarily lost. "Uhh... Mum says its big, and blue. Like the sky, only it stretches across the land, and as far as you can see.. its all blue. Though its also dangerous.. when it leaps up with white tops." She frowned faintly, trying to remember anything else that her parents had told her about it. "We are travailing there.. it's where Dad came from."

Cihiru

Apollo blinks, dumbstruck. At a loss as to what he should do as she ducks to watch his tail, he... stands there, and does nothing. "Um..." the colt starts, deciding quickly this is more awkward than he'd care to experience. "I don't think so... I never tried though." He wouldn't want to hit anybody with it, anyway; he likes his brothers.

"... It's water?" Well, the sea certainly sounds like water, though that's not at all what he had been expecting. It seems like a really, really big... lake. No, that's not as exciting as he'd hoped at all. His expression almost wilts, but catches himself just in time. "The sea leaps?" Actually leaps, like the frogs he's seen on the riverbanks? Apollo doesn't understand what white tops have to do anything, but that, at least, sounds interesting.

Some day, he supposes he'd like to see that. Maybe he can convince Mother and Father to let him go!... But no, that wouldn't work. Not yet, when he's still so young. It's a wonder he's able even to sneak out as long as he does. Or so he thinks - little does he know. "Will you stay once you get there?" he asks instead, seemingly oblivious to his barrage of questions.

 

[Cihiru]

07.09 The End is Only the Beginning: Sirian, Kaiya & Shyam

Here

Cihiru

"Do I have to?" the colt protests, looking to his mother with youthful hope and obstinacy. It's growing late; the blistering heat of midday has finally faded, washing the land in a calm coolness. It's mild, and as far as he's concerned, it couldn't be more perfect a time for play, adventure, and discovery.

"Yes, dear," she disagrees, softly. The mare has a slim, kind face, and gentle eyes that shine with pride and adoration when she smiles at him.

Sirian frowns at her, his features full of disappointment, but says nothing. The foal only steals a glance over his shoulder, at the distant, rolling hills, and the billowing clouds. They've turned orange with sunset, bathing the lands in the day's afterglow; he lets his eyes trace over them and along the horizon, across the rugged mountain slopes beyond it. His dad is out there, somewhere, he thinks to himself, doing whatever it is he does when he insists he's never really gone. It's a hard thing, growing up with a father as dutiful - and as absent - as his, but he's quite strong for a colt so terribly young, and has a remarkable sense of understanding.

"Night," he says at last, glancing back to her as he steps toward his thicket home.

"Dream sweet. I love you." She gives her son an affectionate nuzzle, lips at the fluff of mane behind his ear, and nudges him off to bed.

"I love you too."

Trudging toward the underbrush, the colt noses through a large, thick-looking bush, and tucks himself into its alcove inside. There's a hollow in its dusty floor, where he curls and folds his limbs beneath himself, pulling his wings close. A body's habits aren't easily broken; tiredness seems to claim him once he's settled in. He gives a great, wide yawn, and lays down his head to close his eyes.

The next thing he remembers is something he thought was a fitful dream. He ignores it at first, twitching in his sleep, but doesn't stir until a sound causes his eyes to dart open. The foal's head shoots up, narrowly missing a branch, and his tender ears strain with attentiveness. He could have sworn he heard someone shout... He blinks, blearily, and frowns in bemusement.

Someone lets out a pained yell; his ears pin instinctively. "Mother?" he calls, something close to panic taking hold on him.

Nothing answers him. He waits, and waits more. Still, silence is his only response.

Something is terribly wrong; he can feel it, deep and unsettling to his very core.

Driven by an inexplicable sense of instinctive urgency, the foal scrambles from his nighttime hideaway. Outside, he tips his small nose to the wind, scenting it as an equine alarmed often will. Sirian is too young to understand the thick, metallic smell causing the pit in his stomach, but he does know his mother, and takes off in a jovially clumsy gallop when he thinks he's finally found her.

Uta

Shyam savored the taste of the mare. There was something delicious about her, something pure and great. He had fast broken her wings and had ripped the feathers to shreds, blanketing her corpse. Her blood pooled around the pair, soaking in to the earth and staining his hooves and fetlocks.

Oh, she made for a delicious feast and Shyam couldn't be more content.

For a few moments he had fallen in love with the pale angeni mare; for a few moments he had loved her with all his heart and being. He had adored the way she looked, admired the fight that she had offered, the dance they had danced. Oh, never would the nameless mare know how much he had loved her. . .

But such love was fleeting. His adoration had peaked with her dying breath and the taste of her warmth against his tongue and lips. Her flesh was now his and he would keep a part of her with him forever. She was his energy now, his spirit, and oh how he would adore her for it. . . .

Even if she would just as soon be replaced.

At least, Shyam mused, she couldn't think she wasn't wanted or adored in her last moments of life. She made for an absolutely fantastic meal. It wasn't everyday he found the pure. . . . Truly she was a treat.

Stomach bulging from his indulgence, the mare's body exposed for the carrion eaters that would clear her remains, Shyam had gorged. He was a fast eater and despite his size couldn't clear a whole soquili in one sitting. He was too lazy to drag off her corpse and too generous to horde it for himself. No, the feast he was finishing was too delicious not to share. . . let others cherish the taste of the pure. Let others be victorious in his murder.

Ripping off another piece of stringy intestine, the soquili's ears twitched as he heard a most peculiar sound. The thick scent of blood was sure to attract predators but right now he could only hear the pitter-patter of hooves. Odd, he could sense no kalona or darker spirit drifting closer; so what on earth could it be?

Was his luck truly golden? Licking his lips, fangs baring in a sadistic grin, the stallion flipped back his wings and turned to face the source. Foolishness soon presented itself with that of a white winged foal, and one that had very quickly slammed on its breaks.

Shyam was no fool. . . obviously the winged colt was searching for the one he had just slain! "Well, well, well," he mused, tossing his disheveled bangs out of his eyes so his crimson gaze might light and linger upon the foal before him. "Looking for some one, foal?" He quirked a brow, glancing from Sirian to the corpse underneath his hooves. "Or would you much rather have a bite to eat?" His grin grew more feral, fangs bared in amusement. "I'm more than willing to share."

Cihiru

Sirian has never run so hard in his life. He is scrambling, moving as fast as his spindly legs will possibly carry him, like his very life depends on it, even though he hasn't yet come to understand why.

He will, soon... Far too soon.

The colt breaks into a clearing. Moonlight spills across it, illuminating the forest floor, and the equine figures within it; including a pale, once opalescent mare. His mother - he's found her! - but the scene he finds with her stops him abruptly in his tracks.

His small, translucent wings flare as he skids to a halt, hooves firmly planted, steadying his balance. "Mother?" he ventures, quietly, his bright eyes going wider than he'd care to realize... But he doesn't expect a response. Not really, anyway. His youthful hopefulness would like to insist he does, but dread has overtaken him. The unfortunate pit in his gut has grown so strong, no measure of hope could overpower his instincts.

He stares at the battered mare for what seems like a very long while, entranced and horrified and disgusted and immeasurably sad all at once. And alone. Suddenly, he feels very, very alone, and very small in a very big, threatening world. His wings fold, tucking close to his sides, mirroring his shift from alarmed, but hopeful, to singularly distraught.

For the first time, he looks to the dark stallion, his brows furrowing as deep melancholy takes hold of his expression. "Why?" he starts, sounding soft, tentative, and terribly lost. It's a question more for himself than it is for the blood-stained shadow before him. "How could you?"

How could he, a creature born of the heavens - Sirian recognizes one of his own - strike down and consume one of his kin? Despite his young age, he does understand some must die so others may survive, but this... This is wrong! The raven stallion can't take Mother from him. He just can't.

The colt blinks hard, fighting against the tears he can feel striving for freedom. He can't cry now; not in front of this horrible stranger. Some part of him wants to run away... To put as much space between them as his little legs will possibly let him. Should he, though? He doesn't know what to do... He doesn't know what his father would want from him, and now, he has no one else to ask... Not even his mother, who had always been there for him.

He can feel his gaze flit to her corpse, involuntarily. Seeing her - it - again, out of more than the corner of his eye, shatters the barriers he had built inside himself. He throws away the semblance of logic he'd been attempting, abandoning it for his confused, panicked sadness.

Unsure of himself, and at a loss as to what he should do, he does the only thing he can - or can't - think of: he closes the distance between them, ignoring the gluttonous angeni standing over her. Folding his limbs, the colt buries himself beside her head, crossing his neck over hers. The smell of blood is so strong here, it churns his stomach, but he doesn't care. His tears are flowing freely; he clamps his eyes shut against them, ignoring everything else. If the stranger will take him too... Let him. Right now, Sirian wants only to be with her.

Uta

"Why?"

The little foal that ran out before him was a most peculiar creature. Crimson eyes lit with amusement as he stared down at the winged colt, watching him try to wrap the scenario in to a simple definition and reason. The shaking creature before him was weak, tiny and incredibly entertaining to the well-fed Shyam. . . .

A low chuckle escaped his throat, a mocking sort of sound that was filled with great humor. Yes, he was laughing at Sirian and he made no attempt to cover up his humor. What a great day this had been...

Not only had he feasted upon one of the most holy but he was no face to face with his meal's son! Oh, what trauma he could cause within moments; what soul-shattering experience could he choose to lay out before the little colt, to make him squirm, to make him suffer, to make him break.

Oh, certainly he could chomp down upon the little foal and feast upon his flesh too! But where was the fun in that? He was full and saw this as an opportunity to truly stir up some long-term hell and pain. This memory might very well stand as one of the most acute memories in the foal's life and he wanted to make sure he might haunt Sirian all his life.

Even if they never crossed paths again. . . . Even if they never met up and if vengeance was never found, Shyam could only hope that he might walk within the darkest recesses of the angeni. He was a killer, a murderer and he wanted to let Sirian know just how thankful he was for being in the right place at the right time.

"Because," he finally responded as his chuckles subsided, "I can so I did. I was hungry and your mother proved to be a most succulent choice. Truly, son, you can't even begin to believe how sweet she tastes. Perhaps you might like a nibble while you're here?" He quirked a brow, reaching forward to paw at the corpse before him. "While the meat's still warm, that is, it truly is the best. She'll taste like s**t when she cools."

He couldn't help himself but he was being honest. In case the little foal took a nibble upon his mother after her heat and warmth had left he might not be so fond of her. At least now he understood the time limit of what made great meat and what made something only so-so. Angeni flesh was the most tender and sweetest. . . .

The least Sirian could do was take a little sip.

Glancing down at the sobbing colt, Shyam hesitate just a moment. The poor thing looked rather wretched. Reaching down, he nudged at Sirian who was cuddled close to the corpse, further staining him red with blood. "Move on over, would'ja kid? A lot of good you crying on her is going to do... " Reaching down he sank in his fangs near her neck and ripped out a new chunk of meat. It didn't take long for him to ingest it, to slurp it up. . . Delicious but oh so filling.

"I am surprised though; where were you when she cried out for help and in pain? Where were you when she needed you the most?" Reaching out with his hoof he lightly nudged the colt again, his words genuinely curious. Was he hiding or had he just been that heavy of a sleeper? "For being so upset over her death you weren't exactly prompt in your arrival."

Cihiru

The colt's ears pin as laughter breaks out above him; he doesn't want to hear it. Sirian doesn't want to be reminded of the stallion's presence. Especially not of his amusement. It's wrong! There is no humor in this. It isn't just 'not funny'; it's both tragic and cruel, and his young heart is breaking for it. It isn't fair. He's not yet ready to see her go... no more than he's ready to face the world alone.

Words aren't so easily ignored, though. He can't shut them out. Can't pretend they're just not there. They're very real, and very persistent, pressing through every ounce of will he has to not hear them. They make him want to bury his head in her mane, at first... but as they continue, he can't. Something inside the colt breaks. He jumps to his hooves, eyes snapping open, still filled with tears, and stands protectively over her. Looking as intimidating as his small form possibly can, his head lowers, expression accusing, and his ethereal wings flare threateningly.

"Eat something else!" he insists, unthinkingly, as sternly as his juvenile voice will allow. No, he realizes it won't bring her back. Nothing will, but... It seems right, somehow, and bolsters his courage, even though he's still not sure what else to do.

There's nothing he can do. Nothing... He realizes it, finally, soaking through to his very core. He can't see her again; not ever. Reality draws a choked sniffle from him; he swallows hard, trying to look and feel more composed than he really is.

It isn't fair.

It's not his fault she'd tried so hard to hide this monster from him... To hide him from this monster. He was never supposed to hear her. She never intended him to know she'd cried - especially not that she'd stayed silent for him; wordless til' the very end. Her dear, beloved child... She didn't want him to know.

The colt's sharp expression wilts at the implication, only just stopping short of tears. "I..." he starts, pausing uncertainly, his ears folded as his wings pull close to his sides. He... He had been sleeping, on the fringes of a nightmare, tucked away in the safe hold she'd chosen especially for him. In her final moments, when she had no one else in the wold but him... he had been sleeping. Time stops, and Sirian can feel his heart catch in his throat, heavy with guilt.

Moments pass. Long, painful moments, so laden with sadness they feel like seasons to him.

Finally, he chokes a sniffle, and when he looks up again, it's with renewed - foolish - courage in his eyes. "Just go away," he tells the stranger, with all the confidence he can muster.

Uta

The stallion was bemused by the predicament at hand. Who would have thought that today would have turned out so fortunate? A good fight had transformed in to a delicious meal, and then pranced in the entertainment! Oooh, the entire scene was just too rich to slaughter. Besides, he was full and though the gluttonous part of him insisted he slay the foal and put him out of his misery, another half hoped to plant the seed of guilt, sorrow and hate. Perhaps this angeni in minature would grow to seek vengeance; perhaps this angeni would sin out of his pain. . . .

Shyam could only think of the fun it might bring to his future. Someday, years from the now, the two enemies would once again meet and only then would Shyam take him out. Let the foal grow and become twisted, broken, and drink from the river of bitterness; Shyam would truly win if Sirian grew in to a life tainted with hate.

So it was that the need for more blood drawn was ignored. There were other things to eat, other creatures to torment, and perhaps even a scheduled nap. Stepping over the carcass and Sirian, the chained stallion gave another laugh. "I will eat something else, foal, just be glad that isn't you. Not yet at least." Tossing him a wink the stallion continued, "I wouldn't weap so loud, you know; there are other hunters out there that won't be so kind as I to spare you." Deciding now was the best time to take his leave, the male paused only once to look back and say, "See you around, boy." A bona fide promise and guarantee that he would indeed return.

Chains clinking with every step, the murderer took his leave, more content than he'd been in days. He'd leave Sirian to his own devices - with luck the little fool wouldn't get himself killed before he grew. With luck, they would indeed well and truly meet up once again.

Cihiru

He's in no humor for threats; Sirian ignores his laughter, meeting the inference with juvenile obstinacy, his expression not unlike the stubborn frown he'd shown his mother. The stallion is right, though - he hasn't yet come to realize it, but he can't afford to die here; he can't let her sacrifice have been for naught. She wants him to grow. To turn strong, wise, and noble. To be the protector she had raised him as, and a creature his father can take pride in.

But right now, he hardly feels it. He's small, weak, and ignorant. A coward. The courage he'd bolstered, and brandish against this intruder is leaving him, and despite his struggles, he's failing to find it. The colt is made aware of himself, and the powerless, pitiful creature he really is. His expression falls, and it's all he can do to keep his head high, as his father taught him; never mind the dampness in his eyes.

He doesn't have it in himself to say something. It doesn't matter any more. Bleakly, wordlessly, Sirian watches the stallion's departure, his focus never leaving the bloody form, until it fades from sight entirely.

When it does, he feels his fragile thread of control leave with it. His dammed emotions crash down around him, heavy and solemn; far too grievous for his young heart to bear. The colt collapses, burying himself against his mother's broken corpse, tears streaking his cheeks. Heedless of the elder's warning, and, perhaps, his instinct's better sense, hours pass with him curled against what's left of her, until he has neither the strength, nor the will to sob, and his quiet cries fade to silence... And, eventually, fitful sleep.

Uta

Kaiya moved through the woods, brow knit with concern and caution. There was a heavy scent which lingered throughout the woods, a noxious scent that drove her half mad with grief and anger. The smell was something she always felt nauseous over, but was also accustomed to dealing with on a seemingly daily basis, and it was the sight of blood that reminded her of her duties. They weren't finished or complete for as long as soquili still killed and hunted mercilessly than she still had a job. Closer and closer, ears pricked, the mare searched the area. She just had to be near to the source. . . .

Rounding a corner and pushing her way out of the underbrush, Kaiya bit back a cry and stared. Oh gods. . . . . Oh gods, there she was. . . and it was far too late. Eyes wide with horror, the mare almost took an involuntary step back at the scene; a shredded and half devoured corpse, feathers strewn about like confetti, and blood everywhere. The poor mare had indeed been feasted upon and left. . . but what was even more amazing was the fact she wasn't just a mare, she was of angeni descent. How often were angeni murdered so brazenly. . . biased she might be Kaiya had always understood they were made to be hardy spirits; they were even gifted with spells to repel creatures whom might cause them and others harm.

So what had happened?

Kaiya did notice feathers that weren't of the dead mares origin; feathers that were black as night and blood stained. Feathers, she assumed, of the killer . . . .

Ah, but her dual toned eyes rested upon something that wasn't carved indeath. Blood stained the pale form was, it still breathed and it still lived. A small form, a small creature curled up tight against the corpse of its. . . . . mother. Oh merciless heavens, why did this fate have to torment such a foal? Once again, the mare was resolved to make sure that this sort of pain never happened. . . . but it was also such scenes that made her weep not just for the creatures that killed but for the victims they left in their wake.

Now . . . . what did she do? Glancing around, Kaiya hoped to seek out a father figure or some sort of fellow guardian. Was this mare the only thing the colt had? Were there no others, no siblings, no herd in which they walked? Hesitantly, Kaiya lowered herself to the ground. She didn't want to traumatize the colt, or wake him up for that mattered. . . Once again, she was walking on fragile ground. She would not abandon a foal, especially one that was found upon such a scene. She would wait until he woke . . .

And then try to go from there. Oh, but part of Kaiya wished that the spirits might let him sleep forever. He didn't hae to wake and see his mother in such a state. He didn't have to remember all the hurt and pain that this was going to cause. . . A shame life wasn't so kind.

Cihiru

It comes as no surprise Sirian's sleep is restless, riddled with monsters and hurt and nightmares no child his age should dream. He stirs countless times, always seeming on the verge of waking, and always finding shelter against his lifeless mother. It cycles for hours, until his fatigue in sleeping almost mirrors his exhaustion in waking, and even his subconsciousness can't bear it any more. Jolting awake, the colt's head shoots upward, his ears flicking back.

He feels stiff, blood smudged, crusted, and clinging to his fur, and its stench engulfs him once he's alert enough to realize it. For a moment, his melancholy expression twists in a discomforted grimace. And then he notices he has company.

Sirian takes an uncertain step back, away from the stranger, and away from the broken corpse, his features openly wary and distrusting. He could run; get away, survive... For a moment, the idea commands his thoughts. But he remembers himself. He doesn't want to run.

The colt's ethereal wings lift, all four stretching wide, almost doubling his apparent, still-small size. "What do you want?" he ventures, accusingly. It's not like him; he's a kind, gentle soul, not at all like the coarseness he's showing now, but he can't seem to help himself. He's hurting, still obvious in his grieving, young visage, even as he stands protectively over his butchered mother.

Uta

Oh dear. . . Kaiya took no offense to the small angeni's words. He wreaked of fear and blood and the mare was almost brought to tears while observing him. The young one had to be traumatized and the fact that he hadn't left the hour old corpse proved a great loyalty to the mare. It truly was a shame that there were hunters so cruel that walked the planet. . . .

Keeping her wings folded tightly and her ears slightly pushed back in more of a submissive show, she studied the little one and contemplated her words carefully. If she said the wrong thing he might flee and she would so terribly hate to give chase. If he ran she would let him run, but that wouldn't mean she'd leave him be. He was too young to be out and about on his own especially in a world so cruel. And if something had killed a grown angeni, it only made sense that said beast might still be in the neighborhood.

Ah, but his question. . . . "I want nothing more than to see you come to no harm, young one. I . . . I'm sorry I came too late to heal and help." She murmured softly, averting her gaze from the colt and the remains of his mother. If only she'd known or been given some sort of sign; if only she had woken up earlier and left hours sooner perhaps she could have assisted to drive off the beast. Perhaps she could have offered healing to the mares wounds, at least enough to keep her alive. . . .

But she didn't, couldn't. "I promise I mean you no harm." She understood that there was a good chance her words would fall upon deaf ears. How could he possibly understand trust so soon after the fall of his mother? Once again, she was going to have to invest some time with the young foal. She could only hope that he had relatives or additional family near, but with the fact none were present and grieving or had taken the boy in their comfort left Kaiya to assume the worst.

Cihiru

Too late.

Her words resound in him with tremulous force, shattering his fragile heart all over again. He'd been too late...

He's not so ignorant he doesn't know it wouldn't have mattered, even if he hadn't been, but still it upsets him. He resents his powerlessness; his helplessness. He hates his forceful deference to fate and purpose - even if she had taught him of it - if only because they took her from him. They should have left her. She should be here with him!... As more than this broken husk.

His guilt swells, so powerful he think he might burst. "It doesn't matter," Sirian tells her, darkly, heedless of her kind words. She can't hurt him more than he hurts already; no one can. It doesn't matter what she says, nor what she promises. She can't undo it either. "Just leave us alone." He glowers briefly, passing her a sullen, still-mistrustful glance; one so grievous, it's hardly befitting of his young features.

Some small, timid part of him realizes he doesn't know what he'll do, even if she does. He feels... empty now, like the sun may never come up again, and there's no tomorrow, if she's not there waiting with it. There are no adventures, no mysteries, and no discoveries waiting for him, biding time until they're found and experienced. No nothing. He's only his pitiful self, alone, and ultimately aimless, with nothing to tie him to reality but a nagging inkling he needs to stay alive, and a strong desire to stay and protect the only small thread of dignity he feels she has left. As though he's able. Really, he knows he lacks the strength and stature to do even that.

The colt's posture shrinks, his wingspan faltering and threatening to pull close before he manages to catch himself. Certainly, he's small, weak, and helpless, but... He's very proud of his parents, too. What, he wonders, would Father have him do? Uncertainty edges into his visage; he doesn't know.

Uta

The mare's heart broke as the little face, full of woe and regret, glared up at her. The expression that seemed to cover his blood splattered self wasn't fitting; she knew within her heart of hearts that he was far too gentle to be so bitter, so cold. But who could blame him? With this tragedy befallen him, with no other soquili around to offer comfort or guide him through the labyrinth of grief, there was a chance his bitterness could overwhelm him for always.

Kaiya refused to let that happen.

Still settled before the colt and his mother, she gave no response to his words. She was not going to leave him, for all he wished she would. No, there would be no abandonment, not this time; she too would protect the dead mare and her son from any nearby predators. The stench of blood had to attract something; a few ravens sat in the tall tree tops, and various nips looked to have already been taken out of her while the colt slept.

Insects, maggots, wouldn't take long to discover the flesh either. Though the pale colt wasn't ready to be rid of his mother, Kaiya didn't want him to witness the act of 'the world' disposing of her remains. Half-rising, the mare reached up and snagged hold of a thin branch. Some leaves were still attached, making it a useful sort of cover. With a snap she broke it the twig before setting it gently over a particularly picked at and nibbled part of her hide.

". . . so the animals won't get her," she murmured softly, waiting for the little colt to object. She wasn't trying to dirty or stain the fallen; but a miniature burial would keep the colt from seeing his mother digested before him.

Cihiru

His father's frequent, dutiful absences have afforded Sirian an odd sort of acceptance of them; he has a healthy respect for responsibility and obligation, and is happy to share his father with those more in need than he is. Unfortunately, now, he's the one in need, and he's feeling so lost and hopeless, he doesn't even realize it.

The colt knows only he wants to do right by him. Having him gone now, when Sirian feels he has no one else to turn to is a crushing weight on his already brittle emotions. He's beside himself with grief, unable to do anything but stand still as a statue and watch, wary in her silence. What does she want, if not to further degrade him or his mother? She surely couldn't have meant... No. Sirian shakes his head, trying to clear his thoughts. She had been lying. A front to lull him into security. He can't... He can't trust anyone. Not even her, who acts so very kind, and so very much like his fallen mother.

And then she moves. His ears pin as his muscles tense, aching to lunge forward, ready to try and stop her from... whatever it is she plans on doing. It never comes. She only shifts slowly, so he never once feels threatened, and is instead left observing with suspicious intensity.

"..." He thinks to open his maw for objection, but nothing comes. Sirian can't argue with that; not even with his erratic, illogical emotions. He wants very much to protect her, even in her death, and this stranger's done nothing more than abide by him. He relents, grudgingly, and watches in silence a moment longer, until the branch rests atop her, shielding her from both sight and nature.

A distrustful frown overtakes his features, pushing aside his sadness as he wrestles within himself; against his unnatural independence and his childish need to feel cherished and praised, as he knows his parents would do if he were doing the right thing... The right thing... Sirian knows there is no right. He can't win here. But ultimately, this is perhaps the closest he may come, even if it does come at the aid of a stranger.

The colt steps forward, over the corpse, his brows furrowing. There is a brief moment he eyes the angeni, wordlessly, almost daring her to move while he leaves her unattended. Then his wings fold against his sides, and he turns, averting his crystal-blue gaze to the canopy overhead. Most are far too tall for his small stature, but one... Sirian shifts to the edge of the clearing, beneath a particularly low-hanging branch, and rares up on his hind legs to clasp it between his teeth. It resists, bending and clinging stubbornly when he stands down again, even as he steps back and tugs against it. He frowns at it, giving it a persistent snort and twisting his head, making it quite clear he does not require help.

Finally, it snaps, granting him a few feet of twig laden with leafy foliage. The foal drags it across the clearing, where he pulls it over his mother, and lays it as gently as if he were weaving a wreathe of flowers.

 

[Cihiru]

07.10 We Meet Again: Kali & Akteon

Here

EchoLimaFoxtrot

Akteon was not one to think so exclusively on a mare, or stallion, or situation, or anything of the like. In fact, it was quite common for him to experience and not quite forget but he did not dwell. But after meeting the mare Kali, his thoughts quite oftenly returned to her.

His nature was not to stay in the same place, but if one knew of the stallion's usual travelling, it would be interesting for one to note how he did not stray too far from that clearing which seemed to be so important to her. Akteon did not know consciously what he was doing, but deep down it was as if he hoped he would see her again.

A bush shuffled. Instead of taking a step back and maybe lowering his horned head defensively, Akteon looked at and perked his ears towards the bush. Oh yes, things had changed, and when a young bear came out of the greenery... the stallion took an alarmed step back.

Where the youngin' was, the mother was not far behind... and Akteon did not want to fight. Without looking back, only having his eyes plastered on the young bear and ears swiveling to catch any sound of the undoubtable mother bear. One step, two, three...

Cihiru

Kali's lifestyle has always been a relatively grounded one, tightly bound to a singular place. For seasons now, that place has been the quiet Kawani village, her sanctuary and her home. Drawn first by the human refugee, Elan, and cemented by the birth of her foals, each turn she spends there seems somehow faster than the last. At times, it's almost difficult to believe her children are all grown and gone now, off living their own lives, as she's always known they would.

But then, she's gone her own way now, too, and though her heart has never truly left the village and her bipedal companion, she finds their bond stretched more and more often.

She had told herself it wouldn't. That she would always be there for Elan, no matter what. That nothing could keep her away; not even the pull she feels tugging at her soul. But her meeting with Akteon in the solace of her once-home had only been the first of her extended departures. Once brief, occasional excursions grow ever more frequent, drawing her closer yet to her old, peaceful grove.

This is one of those times - the longest yet. She's wandered the forest floor for several days now, at ease and in her element, as though she'd never left it. It's a soothing place; a world of its own, and her spirit's refuge. The realization is an odd one - she was unaware she needed, let alone wanted a haven. That is what Elan is to her, and she can't... won't leave or replace him.

And still, here she is, drifting over brittle and dense underbrush like a weightless shadow, smiling with the serenity of a glass pond for no reason other than being alive. Kali feels almost like a filly again, with a free spirit, unhindered by the burdens of the world.

But an aberrant rustle brings her back to her senses. The world is very much here, and she is in it, sharing it with all its unwitting inhabitants. Ears swiveling, she stops abruptly, her muscles tense and wings beginning to unfurl when she spots a silhouette through the uneven trees. A soquili's silhouette, with striking familiarity she has little time to pay heed.

EchoLimaFoxtrot

A twig snapped. Akteon froze, his eyes wide. But it was just his hoof... and he let out a breath. A thick muzzle appeared from the shrubs, followed by the bulk of the cub's mother; but she didn't bother to offer him any attention as she joined her cub for some wrestling in the mulch. Another held breath was released as the stallion slowly turned, and came face to face with the one thing that surrounded his thoughts and being for months now. Ever since their first occasion to meet, Akteon had a hard time forgetting about her.

Kali was so unlike any mare he ever knew, not that he knew that many. But his mother was a horrible example. But not this one, not Kali.

For months, he went over and over how he would act and what he would say the next time they met. For, there was bound to be a next time. Akteon had moved the area of which he was going to protect to include the forest around Kali's Grove (as he was calling it to himself). Many times, he caught her scent - one he would never forget- but always managed to miss her. Not even a glance or sound, just that intoxicating aroma.

Even as he stared, blinking slowly, Akteon was not convinced she truly stood before him. However, after more than a few heartbeats, the vision did not leave. Kali was really in front of him and it was not a figment of his imagination.

But with that realization, so too did his mind freeze. All that practicing and rehearsing with the songbirds was for naught. He couldn't remember a single thing and felt foolish as he stood there shell-shocked. Not only that, but he was horribly distracted as his eyes soaked up her beauty (did she grow more beautiful over the past few months?) and his memory re-registered every feauture so he would not forget her features if there so happened to be another extended period of silence.

Cihiru

Kali's distraction lies in a different element, with the bears, which her two-toned eyes remained locked on even as her kin turns around. She never has been flighty, but it doesn't take a seasoned warrior to know a threat when she sees one, and a large, motherly omnivore certainly qualifies.

But taking her by some surprise, it seems far less interested in her than she is in it. She watches it a moment, staring attentively as it lumbers to its cub, suspicious. Moments pass, but it never does turn on her. Finally, deciding it may want nothing at all, she turns her attention on her erstwhile companion.

Only to find him quite blatantly staring at her. And not just any him: Akteon, the excessively duty-bound stallion she met some months ago, not far from here. She recalls having badgered him quite a lot; it's almost a wonder he has no words for her now.

So, taking it upon herself to turn that around, she is the first to break the heavy silence. "Afternoon to you, Sir Akteon." Canting her head a fraction to one side, she draws her wings closer. "Is something the matter?" she asks, cheeky as ever.

EchoLimaFoxtrot

"Kali?" the star-struck stallion whispered under a breath. "Is this a dream?" Akteon blinked many times, but with every movement she still stood there. He could taste that enchanting smell as it tickled his tongue and his heart battled with the beating of his heart. Never did he feel that a mare would send him so far. It was only months ago he and Paul had joked about such a concept and here he was, completely smitten by a pair of two-toned eyes.

He realized that the very solid apparition was saying something. Shaking his head, careful to brush the tender leaves from the lower branches, Akteon cleared and head. "Um, what?" He paused, realized he had heard what she said and not processed the words. Finally, the stallion's eyes cleared and were replaced with his typical sincerity.

Smiling, Akteon bowed his head, "It is quite the afternoon, especially when it is graced with your beauty." Oh, he thought that sounded disgusting, even to his own ears. He would have winced it wouldn't have sealed his fate in nowing how bad that sounded. "Nothing's the matter, why? Do I have something stuck in my teeth?"

Cihiru

"Why would it be?" she quips softly, head still faintly slanted. "Do you daydream often?" Kali makes it sound more earnest a question than it really is. As she warned him when they last met, she's no spring filly, and she knows what that faraway look really is. She may have even worn it herself, once or twice, what feels like so long ago.

Impossibly long ago. Matters of the heart - be they love, or flights of fancy - are for girls younger, and far more whimsical than she. Twice was more than enough; she thinks those days long behind her.

Sobered by the recollection, the mare responds with less mischief than she had originally expected. "Flattery, already?" Delicately, the wind lifts her head, fixing him with a surprisingly even look. "The afternoon doesn't need me to be beautiful." Finally, she smiles, but only slightly. "In your teeth? No. I had more wondered if there's something stuck between your ears."

 

[Cihiru]

07.11 Freedom and Consequence: Wind Gypsy & Nocturne

Here

Cihiru

Spring and summer have finally left the quiet, diverse Kawani lands. She's watched them depart for some time now, first as a fading of the fresh, newborn green, then, slowly, as an absence of warmth. It's gone now; fall is upon them, bringing with it a crisp beauty all its own. The leaves are turning, rich golds and bright reds painting the treetops. A cool breeze licks through the valleys now and then, and with it, wildlife rejoices the relenting of the scorching heat. Birds sing as loudly as their small lungs will allow, and a careful eye may spot squirrels scurrying through fallen leaves. Even the Soquili have fallen prey to this infectious celebration, and foals frolic and play while their parents will let them.

Until now, the watchful mare has observed from beneath the billowing clouds, wings tucked firmly against her sides. It's not that she thinks herself a land-bound sort, forever forsaking the blessing of flight, but... Circumstances of late have been beyond her mortal control, and she's only just regained the ability to utilize it.

Experimentally, she extends a pinion, stretching and testing it with short, brisk flaps. A moment later, the other joins it, outstretched, and then she takes wing, ignoring for now the storm she knows is brewing in the distance. It's a ways off yet, and she has much to appreciate here, in the present.

She flies, and flies, and flies, over plains and forests, hills and valleys, reveling in the simple joy of the wind coursing through her mane. Windy would never say it, but flight is truly a tragic blessing to miss out on. She'd share it with every soul, if only she were able. Alas, she's not.

And now, the environment seems set on making certain she's not able to enjoy it either. She can hear thunder rolling in the distance, ever-nearer, and the cotton clouds are darkening on the horizon, so near she can smell their dampness. A crack of lightning splits the air, and then, she decides it's no longer time to ride the skies. The mare tucks her wings, setting down, elegantly, into a rippling plain.

Uta

Thunder rolled over head, causing the stallion to look up from his grazing. He had anticipated a storm, as many creatures had witnessed the gloomy and gathering clouds that passed over head and heard the rumbles of thunder. Of course, while part of Nocturne had hoped the storm might blow over before breaking, when the first thick droplets of rain had pelted his coat, he knew they were in for it.

The dark coated stallion wasn't often found amidst the plains, but he had decided to take it upon himself to 'get out there', as his grandmother put it. Unfortunately for Nocturne, the few he met gazed upon him with mistrust or judgment, and so the shadowed stallion had decided to stick off to one side of the plains. He avoided the most populated areas, and after grazing for an afternoon, the stallion had found himself mostly secluded.

It was good. . .

Even the ominous storm that darkened the skies and painted the world in shadow wasn't enough to draw him to the shelter of a small woods nearby. No, the woods would be the first place almost any creature would travel to seek out shelter. Some might fear the storm but he didn't want to add terror on the plain dwellers. . . .he knew what he looked like and, while he could understand their fear, he didn't want to add to it.

So he continued his grazing, ignoring the gusting winds and the cracks of lightning overhead. The two orbs he wore flickered in mild curiosity when a figure dropped from the skies not far. A wind - - no, alicorn - - from the looks of it. He didn't blame her for landing . . . not even a large soquili like he wished to battle the rough weather ahead.

Cihiru

Ever-vigilant, the mare notices quickly she is not alone. Not only is her company Soquli, and seemingly male (assuming its size is anything to judge by), but he has great, leathery wings too. And, if her eyes don't deceive her in the receding light, a horn. A horn?... Unikalona? She has encountered few in her time, but has known them often to be unstable, and sometimes volatile creatures. Only newly recovered from injury, she's not yet sure she's ready to risk another run-in. Especially not with a storm looming nearer, promising raging winds the alicorn is almost certain she'd be unable to conquer. She needs more time to heal. More time to strengthen disused muscles.

Still. Passing judgment on appearance alone ill-suits her; the paint chides herself for the fleeting consideration. She expects, and demands better of herself, and he deserves it, as all creatures do. Lifting her head, her ears pricked forward, Wind studies her company more closely.

This stranger... she sees no warning or aggression in his posture. Granted, he doesn't seem to welcome her either, but were she always to leave it upon others to initiate acquaintances, she'd have made half as many as she has. For now, his passiveness is welcome enough for her.

Resolved, and determined to bury her prior apprehension, Wind Gypsy sets herself into motion, one graceful step after the other. Clearly, she's in no hurry, unconcerned about the foreboding clouds now that all four feet are planted firmly on the ground. The mare is, however, seasoned, obvious in the way she moves with the confidence and crisp efficiency of a warrior, while maintaining the elegance of a lady refined. She nickers as she nears, low and soft; just loud enough to serve as an inoffensively audible alert of her approach - though she's quite certain he's noticed already. It's only polite.

"Greetings," she says at last, close enough now to be within comfortable conversational earshot.

Uta

The stallion didn't expect the female to approach. In fact, while he had acknowledged her descent from the dark and blustering clouds above, he had made sure he stayed firmly put. Approaching strangers, especially of the plains-dwelling kind, often threw them in to some sort of defensive posture or fit. Long ago had the winged stallion given up approaching first. . . unless, of course, it was absolutely necessary!

Thankfully, such times were few and far between.

So it was with great surprise his crimson gaze looked up to find the wind-blown alicorn stepping forward. In fact, unless his ears deceived him, she was actually speaking to him in greeting! Strange really. . . was she not frightened? Was she not judging him based solely on his 'frightening' appearance?

. . . what a breath of fresh air!

Nocturne's stance relaxes some, giving his wings a good stretch before snapping them back in to position. He wasn't shy, but sometimes he secretly felt a little anxious when it came to socializing with strangers. He'd experienced many reactions to his appearance, and while he didn't like to assume they would all respond the same way, he was in foreign territory and was unclear how welcome mutants were. Still, giving Wind Gypsy a better look, it occurred to him that she seemed calm and composed. She wasn't nervous or skiddish and the fact that she actually greeted him was rather amazing.

His tail tip wagged lightly in his inward pleasure, and he allowed himself to smile at the mare. It was a slightly foreign expression to Nocturne, not because he wasn't friendly, but he was so often serious that grins were reserved for rare and special occasions.

Like now.

He was on vacation (technically) . . . why shouldn't he try to enjoy himself?

Dipping his head in a bit of a gentleman's bow, the stallion remembered his manners. It wasn't polite to stare, nor was it to keep a lady waiting. "Salutations," he responded, voice naturally quiet but not at all unkind or hostile. A gust of wind caused the orbs he wore to dance lightly on the loose strips of fabric they hung to, and his hair was quick to tangle in objection to such gusty treatment.

Thankfully Nocturne wasn't a vain creature so he hardly took notice. Attempting to toss his mane over one side of his neck, hoping it might stay there for a few minutes, he regarded the mare before him. . . .

Unfortunately, he wasn't the best at conversation, at least until he better warmed up to another. Still, he kept his expression light and with a glance above, stated, "Nice weather we're having." Sarcasm, certainly, but Nocturne possessed such a dry sense of humor that sometimes it was difficult to tell.

Cihiru

She too is taken by surprise, albeit for an entirely different reason. He had seemed so serious before. Contemplative. Stoic, even. And now... Now he is smiling. Actually smiling! And she's hardly had opportunity to say a word. That... Well, that never happens. She's typically lucky to break stern facades before her company tires of her. Or worse, her companions smile because they enjoy teasing her, poking and prodding at her seemingly imperturbable demeanor. Not that she can't enjoy a playful, teasing verbal joust. And it isn't that she minds the more aggressive, one-sided exchange of blows. On the contrary, she's more than happy to bring smiles and happiness to anyone she can reach... even if it does sometimes come at her expense.

It's just that, as she now finds things may not pan out that way, she finds herself... relieved? Yes, relieved, allowing her an easy, natural, and relaxed calmness she's been unable to find in the company of others for longer than she'd care to realize. She appreciates it deeply, though she is quite adept at maintaining her placid visage regardless of her actual sentiments. Wind Gypsy is grateful for the times it comes more easily than others; she is a creature of her word, always, and occasionally it strains her to walk that precarious line between politeness, lightheartedness and truth.

Hopefully - and circumstance seems promising - this will be one of her less trying encounters.

She smiles genuinely; a warm, but only slight and mysterious expression. "Very," the mare says, with sincerity, her tone smooth and characteristically genial, despite what she knows is a sarcastic instigator. "What's not to love, knowing the crispness and life it leaves behind?" Ah, but there's teasing in her eyes, barely discernible, even to the particularly observant.

As if to punctuate the list of what there is not to love, a flash of lightning tears across the sky, followed closely by a loud, reverberating crack of thunder. And then, on cue, the rain starts, pouring right out of the gate. It falls in heavy sheets, slanted by the increasing winds.

Her skin twitching at the sudden boom, Wind flicks an ear at the storm. "Though I confess, I had hoped we'd have a dry moment at least long enough to make introductions." She pauses purposefully, but doesn't sound regretful. "May I ask what to call you by? I am Wind Gypsy." And as though it's only just occurred to her, "And I am sorry if I've interrupted. Would you care to take shelter?" Perhaps because she's assumed if he had wanted to find refuge, he would have done so before now.

Uta

Wind's reply had been a bit surprising to Nocturne whom slowly lifted a brow in consideration to her words. "Crispness isn't often a word I hear associated with storms," he mused, though a faint smile painted on his expression proved his good humor. "But I suppose you are right. Even after the worst of bad weather, there is always life renewed that follows." Where would they be without the rains to water away drought or dry times? To cool the world from summers heat, to refill ponds and lakes and create puddles from which to drink.

Even the most dire of stoms helped cleanse the world; weak limbs were ripped away from strong winds and dead grasses and weeds washed away from flash floods. After the storm passed and sun shone once more, everything really did look alive.

Nocturne's ears twitched at the crack of lightening and the boom of thunder. As the heaven's opened and the rain fell, the stallion hardly regarded the change in conditions; personally, he found it refreshing and much warmer than the rains found up in the mountains of his home. Still, he wasn't so thoughtless as to completely disregard the mare before him. She might not care to get soaked.

But first things first, right? Introductions had to be passed and shelter found if the lady wished it. "A pleasure to meet you, Miss Gypsy, even amidst this weather. I'm Nocturne." Shaking his head, the stallion gave another small smile, this time more reassuring. "You've no reason to apologize as you've interrupted nothing. I had no intention of seeking shelter at this time, but if you'd prefer to find somewhere dry and away from the weather, I would be happy to accompany you or at least point you in the right direction." Though he could be incredibly formal, Nocturne had been ingrained with manners. He treated all with respect but those of the female persuasion often saw his softer and more amicable side.

Wind Gypsy was no exception. Though he didn't expect her to take him up on the offer of escorting her (she certainly seemed quite capable of finding shelter on her own) it wouldn't have been right NOT to offer. Just in case.

Still, with the frequent flashes of light and the gusts of wind, Nocturne himself knew if the storm grew any worse he might be forced to retreat. He was as strong stallion, but mother nature was not someone you disregarded.

Cihiru

"Not many take time to appreciate it, I think." Though it's difficult to tell, she sounds almost quietly remorseful. "You might hear it more if they did." He might hear a lot more, were others to take the time and realize there's more to life than their immediate interests. Few do, though, and most who do seem to seldom.

Wind's happy to be the exception. The one who can always see the bright side. The one with the fresh perspective, able to help enlighten others to things they may not have realized before... Though her company is not always so accepting of it. His easygoing demeanor coaxes a slightly more open smile, even as the rain starts pouring down.

Almost immediately, it falls thick and heavy, so loud she must raise her voice to answer him over its drumming in the fields. "And you, Nocturne," she says - a rarity, for she grants such pleasantries only if they're profoundly true. Few exchanges deserve them so soon. She's pleasantly surprised, though, and so too does she give credit where credit is due. "I'm relieved, then. And I take no exception to the weather."

Still, her mane plasters to her face, and that she does mind. Attempting to dislodge it (and only partially succeeding; it's thick and more than a little disobedient), she continues. But not before another crack of thunder assails her ears. "Though I sometimes wonder if it takes exception to us. There's no need for shelter."

Not yet, anyway; the alicorn would swear she can feel the wind picking up, pressing against her like a spoiled child wailing for its way. And if push comes to shove, she will reconsider. "For now, at least," she adds, glancing momentarily skyward.

Uta

The stallion listened to the alicorn quietly as she spoke. He gave a slight nod in agreement to her words, noting full well that many were so self-absorbed they could hardly see past the ends of their noses. What often came with foul weather were complaints of various degrees and how inconvenient nature was making their lives. Honestly, to take on a slightly more cynical view, Nocturne couldn't help but figure the majority within the Kawani were whiners and complainers. . . .

The fact that Windy was not all that obsessed with her looks or comfort was amazing to the stallion. Not to stereotype, but outside of Kaliska and Nita, many mares took great pains to look 'gorgeous' and would have been appalled at the idea that they were getting drenched in the storm.

Kudos to the mare before him, most certainly. Especially because she was rather pretty, and from what he'd come to discover the prettier the mare the more lousy or ridiculous a personality. (His mother, sister and grandma excluded, of course.) Overall, Nocturne was pleased to have met such friendly company and he couldn't help but wonder what the spirits were up to.

They had a fancy way of meddling, or so his family often told him. . . Though Nocturne had been immune to such affairs (or so he believed) he had to wonder what the 'catch' was with meeting a pleasant stranger. Either he'd come down violently ill after they parted ways or something strange would happen. . . . But until she transformed in to something regrettable, Nocturne was more than content to bide his time. Besides, who knew, she might continue to surprise him in which case he'd be in for a treat!

"The weather is its own entity. . . It does what it pleases with little regard to the inconveniences it might bring. Who are we to argue with nature, after all?" He stated, giving his tail a hypnotic wag behind him as lightning lit up the sky once more. Grinning he gave a little shake of his head, the orbs around him flickering in response as he glanced at the heavens. "I know I certainly wouldn't want to argue with that."

Ignoring the weather for now, his crimson gaze focused on the mare before him, Nocturne gave another small nod. He was more than content to ride out the storm but should hail become an issue, especially large hail, he would have to give in to nature's fury. Some storms could be deadly after all. Especially to the foolish.

Cihiru

While Nocturne busies himself with spirits and thoughts of what-might-be, Wind finds her mind rests with more... mundane, and terrestrial fares. Things like the wind, ever-growing, taking on a fierce relentlessness that sends her heavy mane and tail whipping against her neck and legs. Experimentally, she stretches one wing, trying to get a better sense of its strength. Then, folding it again, she regards him.

"No one," the mare answers, evenly, not missing a beat. Her small, mysterious smile and gentle tone lend surprisingly little to certainty; it's unclear if she's teasing. "But I find 'inconvenience' is often a matter of perspective." After all, how inconvenient would it be if it didn't rain?! She has seen those dry, desolate northern deserts, and the brown-tinged fauna of less fortunate regions in the summer. "They could do worse."

Worse than a generous rain, that is. As yet another flash of lightning, booming thunder, and what sounds suspiciously like a thud assail her, the alicorn decides this storm is becoming a little too generous for the likes of her. She has a suspicion she knows what that heralds, and doesn't want to be out when it decides to come in force.

"We are in agreement, then?" she asks suddenly, lifting her head ever-so-slightly. "You mentioned you are familiar with shelter in the area?" This is perhaps more a statement than a question, but is posed with the tone of asking for verification. Her posture nevertheless holds a readiness now, poised and waiting to move. "Would you lead the way? Admittedly, I do not know this area."

Uta

Nocturne listened to the mare, his small smile unwavering as she speaks her mind. "What you speak is true," he agrees with a small nod. Inconvenience was indeed fully a matter of perspective. . . but there were also individuals whom could never be pleased. If it rained they wished for sun; if it were warm they wanted it to be cooler; if it snowed, it was too cold and why couldn't it warm up? Rinse and repeat. Thankfully Nocturne wasn't much for or against the weather of the world that surrounded him. He took it all in stride with little complaint or compliment either way.

His crimson gaze did take note of her test of wind versus wing. He caught sight of the tough pull upon feathers, as well as how quick she was to return her wing tucked against her side. The way his own hair whipped his face and the way he had to coil his tail around his back leg was proof enough this storm was only going to get worse before it got better. Windy, it seemed, came to such a conclusion herself as she finally agreed to seek shelter.

"I know of a place, yes," he agreed. "It's not terribly far." Though it would make them walk against the wind, unfortunately. Still, with luck his good size might make it a touch easier for the mare as he could be used a slight wind block. At least it meant he was good for something, right? "I am not from these parts myself but have visited a time or two. . . Come along then, Miss. This way." Bracing himself, the stallion turned and began to push onward away from the open plains and closer to the security of a small nearby woodland and hills.

Pushing and fighting against he wind, Nocturne stayed silent for a small while. There wasn't much to say at least until he got her to the woodlands. Though the trees and whipping foliage wasn't much protection, it helped keep the worst of the wind and rain away. All they had to be careful from was snapping branches as he continued to draw her further in. "Are you far from your homelands then?"

Cihiru

Were she a less modest creature, she might have made some 'of course it is!' jest. She isn't, though, and his confirmation goes with only a small nod as acknowledgment. Wind is relieved to hear it; she'd so hate to see such sensibility ruined with an impractical, fickle view of circumstance. Things will be as they need to be, and she finds no sense in objecting.

Except, that is, when matters involve life and death. To the end, she will defend her kin. Perhaps that is where the irony lies...

But that is a rumination for another time. Now, she has more important things to attend - good company not the least among them. The mare gives him another nod; more definite, and resolute. "As you see fit," she agrees, putting her faith in his judgment, while making note of his comment about calling elsewhere home. Later, she may ask where, if only as a point of curiosity.

For now, though, she turns with him, wordlessly pulling alongside his larger form. Her chin tucked, and thick tail whipping in the wind, the alicorn forges forward, braced against the storm. If she notices the times the wind changes direction, clipping around Nocturne's obstruction and hitting her full-force, she fails to remark on them, and travels as a silent companion, even as they transition into forest.

She seems reasonably at ease here; not the twitchy, nervous figure of an equine disused to the woods. It's with the same calm, even tone she answers him. "It... is hard to say." Briefly, she pauses, perhaps searching for the right words. "I move often. I'm not entirely certain I have a place to call home, these days." Still, she doesn't sound regretful. Her ever-moving lifestyle affords her the opportunity to reach many, and she's glad for that. "What of you?"

She's less glad for the lightning that strikes above her, ending in a loud crack from something other than thunder. The mare dances backward, narrowly avoiding a branch to come crashing down beside her. Wind's ears flick back in surprise and fleeting uneasiness, but she leaps over it and presses on with only brief hesitation.

Uta

Part of Nocturne is incredibly relieved by the fact that Wind isn't some damsel easily distressed. Though he could never turn away from someone in need, some mares he found could be overly dramatic in their need for aid. He tried hard not to judge, but even Nocturne could get exasperated by the overly dramatic. Wind Gypsy, he noticed, was holding up incredibly well and for this he is pleased. Like his mother and grandmother, she seemed to be a solid female, and Nocturne couldn't help but wish more were of such stock.

The spirits favored him this afternoon and for that he was thankful.

At the sound of a snap and crack, Nocturne himself starts, wings flaring automatically in his surprise. Unfortunately there was nothing to be done with a falling branch, and he was pleased Wind made no complaint or judgment on his course. War with the local foliage wouldn't be a long battle and he had every faith they'd make it just fine. Clearing his throat lightly, the stallion gives a soft snort at the branch, as if it had purposely insulted Miss Wind, before carrying on. "There is something to be said in roaming, and while I haven't roamed for long myself, other members of my herd and family have delighted in such a lifestyle." Perhaps if he didn't feel a sense of duty to both Islagiatt as well as his immediate family. Though the Grove was well protected thanks to his baby brother Sylph and his 'army', other Islagiatt warriors, and of course his grandfather Azumoth himself (of whom Nocturne could never compare), the spike-tailed stallion refused to retire his dilligant territory guarding. Oh, now and then he took flight and roamed. . .but he always returned.

The nearby woodlands had taken on a more hilly approach. There were smaller valleys and wooded dunes to cross, but Nocturne followed a particular path while the storm continued to strengthen. "I'm from the high peaks of the mountains myself," he replied coolly. "I reside in a small family within the herd called Islagiatt." He doubted anyone knew of them outside of their immediate neighbors, but was proud enough to give them name. "It's a few day flight north of here." And, while he enjoyed the quiet, they didn't often get visitors. Not that he minded, of course, but every now and then other company outside of his immediate family and herd was a blessing.

Like now. Wind Gypsy was a seemingly gem amidst some of the rubble he'd run into on previous trips away from home. Good company was something to be cherished and wasn't something he was going to so swiftly deny. "Here we go," Nocturne finally instructs. Pausing in his walk, he looks down a small drop off from the side of the hill in which they walked. The small, almost hidden path takes itself further down the base of the earthy hill they currently walk, and juts inward in a sort of wallow. It isn't large enough to be called a cave, persay, but erosion, time, and other creatures have dug it out enough for them to settle comfortably. It would at least keep the worst of the wind and rain away, as well as offer protection from whipping or fallen foliage.

"This should suffice." He adds with a nod, continuing forth and taking the small drop to lead her to the wallow. He didn't doubt the leap would bother Wind. . . she could fly, after all, and while more grounded soquili might spook slightly, he somehow doubted that was a concern she'd have. Perhaps he assumed too much, but until she objected or made voice to such a thing, Nocturne could only assume not.

Cihiru

The mare would confess it had given her a start, but she has been through worse than a brief assault with a falling branch. Her posture seems to say as much, despite her still recovering, and she returns to conversation with relative ease.

"It does have its benefits... and, as with most things, its drawbacks too." Including ever-changing faces, as well as scenery. There are times that is her one regret. While she is not a creature to crave constant companionship, she does enjoy the company of others, and sometimes it pains her to have no lasting kinship. Only fresh faces on an endless journey. A short, if genuine bond cannot quench her thirst for true friendship. Wind would change that, if she could... But she's not ready to give up her wandering lifestyle. Not yet, if only for a lack of proper motivation.

He says he's from the mountains, though? "I seldom head that way." But she does know of the harsher northern weather. "Do you mind the warmer seasons you find down here?" Ironic question though it may be, storming as fiercely as it is. Another crack of thunder seems intent on reminding her it is still there. As though she's forgotten. The mare finds herself glancing cautiously skyward, lest it decide to drop another tree bit on her for emphasis. "And if you'll forgive my asking, roughly what does Islagiatt number?" Living a largely solitary lifestyle, she harbors a small curiosity toward herds; particularly large ones. What would it be like, living near so many others?

A few days flight... Fleetingly, her whims entertain the thought of visiting. But she swiftly wills it away. That is a consideration for a later time, and only if he would allow it. Curiosity can wait.

Fortunately, circumstance provides her ample distraction. It's as she's thinking it Nocturne draws their trek to a halt. The alicorn pulls her eyes downward, following his gaze, then nods her agreement. Under different conditions, she would probably simply glide down the minor drop, but raging winds discourage the notion. She steps after him instead, mindful of the incline and muddy landing, and careful to keep her footing. Familiar though she is with injury, she would prefer to have her less graceful moments privately.

Fate is kind to her, though - she lands soundly, finding her balance in the soft earth without much difficulty. Wind then turns her head to regard him, offering a final nod. "It will." She does not press ahead to enter, though, lending the impression she would prefer to move forward as equals. The mare suspects he may be a 'ladies first' sort, and would rather n** it before it arises.

 

[Cihiru]

07.12 One Life to Live: Ama & Kyer

Here

Cihiru

"You can't beat me!" a voice calls into the wind, obviously feminine, and maybe a little young.

It's not at first apparent who, or what she's talking to, but when a shrill, avian cry answers, attention is drawn skyward, where a large bird drifts haphazardly overhead. It squawks again, clicking its beak at the mare as it swoops down, content enough to humor her games as she challenges it recklessly.

She is a creature who knows no limits; when it pushes, she pushes harder, until perhaps it's only the bird's amusement with her that keeps it there. The two of them tear across the rolling plains, her kicking up her heels in youthful jubilance now and then, and it flying so near, at times, she could touch it. They twist and weave and play until she finds their adventure has brought them to a jagged forest's edge, and she slows, pausing. Ama feels compelled to press on, but her new found companion - an eagle - is too big to follow. So she bids it a fond farewell with a cheerful whinny, and a brief, spiraling dance on her rear legs. It circles once around her, giving another cry as if in parting, and then it flies away.

Ama doubts they'll ever meet again, but her life is often this way, and there's no sadness in it. She finds it's but one long string of small, fleeting journeys, which she enjoys, cherishes, and ultimately leaves. Perhaps that's just her way of things, too whimsical a soul to attach to much of anything. But she likes it! Life has so very much to offer, and she's more than happy to share it with strangers, never really feeling the pang of lasting companionship. Her mother has always warned her some day she'll feel different, but for now, she's as wild and free as anyone could be.

And so, deciding she has not a moment longer to waste lingering here, she turns, breaking through the treeline and forging a path further into the great unknown. When her breathing has slowed, and she's feeling a little less fatigued, maybe she'll even run again...

Mila Farrell

The young stallion was, frankly, bored. The monotony of this month - get up, explore more forests and plains, but not too far from home, eat a lot, and try to run off his excess energy, then settle down somewhere for the evening - was beginning to take its toll on Kyer. He had, perhaps for better or worse, inherited his mother's temperament, at least that temperament that had been present when she was younger. Nowadays Isilme stayed fairly close to Loki and the home range, preferring to raise her next brood in relative ease and comfort. Not that she would ever be satisfied staying in one place for long, but ... she was more content. He chafed at the invisible restraints that tied him here, and that pent-up energy was slowly becoming destructive.

Kyer was an interesting mesh of his parents: a soft gray coat with darker, muddy points - with more tiger splotches than stripes - and a medium-brown mane and tail which darker to almost black at the tips. There is a single streak in his mane, as well, of white; an offshoot from his mother's coloring. His eyes - a honest, speedwell blue - watch the world with the utmost confidence of the young that has never been tested, and never thinks it can't overcome that test when it occurs.

He is cantering along the forest ridge, occasionally allowing an ill-tempered buck to puncture his gait, flinging up his hind hooves with easy precision. If he had known anything about humans, he perhaps would have called it a sort of dance; but this was something much wilder, much less defined. Little snorts and angry squeals - although he looks quite pleased with himself as his head rises after - drop from his muzzle, and his mane goes flying as he shakes his head, hard.

But when a shrill cry echoes over the wilderness, he comes to an abrupt, snorting halt, nostrils flaring, the whites of his eyes showing as he throws up his head. Was that Alta? He never knew; couldn't tell the bird calls from one another, unless of course it was a chickadee compared to, say, a hawk. That did not exactly require any advanced knowledge. Part wary, part eager, the male scans the skies, only to be disappointed as he spots the eagle not far off; even at this distance he can tell it's not his family's companion. She's been gone for several moons now, off to find a mate of her own, and chicks, but Isilme had hoped she'd visit. This, however, wasn't her.

As his gaze lowers from the sky, it drops to the area beneath the large avian, only to find, with some surprise, that the area's already been occupied: it's a mare, who turns abruptly about and into the trees before he can do anything more than stare.

"Hey - wait!" He says, annoyed and belated, and surges off after her. It's not like she could hear him at this distance ... but it was an automatic reaction. Feeling like showing off a little, provided she actually looks in his direction, he runs flat out, powerful haunches propelling him down the hill and into the trees, nimbly dodging stumps and downed branches with relative ease.

Cihiru

If the mare is unaccustomed to forest closeness and bramble, she does a convincing job of making it seem like she isn't. Quite the opposite - she looks a rather steady creature, despite the way her ears twist at even the faintest rustle of twigs and leaves. Her striking, pale eyes have a watchful curiosity to them, as though she's far more interested in the intrigue the woods have to offer than she is in the danger that intrigue might pose to her. Either her youth has afforded her nothing but the luxury of complete safety, or her ego allows her the confidence to believe, without doubt, whatever threat she may dredge up would prove nothing she can't weasel out of again.

Not even the heavy pound of hoofbeats behind her concerns her, judging by the way she peers calmly over her shoulder. She grants little more than a vaguely impish grin as their cause pulls into view, placid features remaining undisturbed. Admittedly, his show falls short of impressing, but her suddenly piqued interest compels her to pursue her amusement just the same.

Pausing, deliberately waiting for her supposed pursuer to near, she gives him a nod as he pulls into more comfortable earshot. "Afternoon to you!" Ama calls, tossing her disheveled mane. "What's the hurry?" As though she hadn't been racing the wind but a moment ago herself.

 

[Cihiru]

07.13 Breath of Ghosts: Wind Gypsy & Nocturne

Here

Uta

The stallion had decided to take a little time away from the Grove and his father's territory deep in the heart of Islagiatt. Though winter was loosening its embrace in the hills, the snows had yet to melt and the stallion had decided to seek out a spot of warmer weather. So down the mountains he had flown, managing to spend a few days in the foothills before continuing further south. The change in weather and climate was apparent and obvious. There was little snow and the grasses were greener and much tastier than in his familiar hills. Furthermore, there was a warmth on the breeze that spoke of better days to come and the ebony stallion could appreciate the warm touch of sunlight on his back.

Today though was a bit of an odd day. He hadn't quite made it the flat plains, and instead had lingered in a small valley between the hills. A fog had rolled in and was rather 'stuck' between the hills. It was thick and made seeing clearly rather difficult. . . . but with luck, the later the day became most of it would be burned away by the sun. Everything looked rather eerie in the mid-day fog, and the soft blue-glow of his orbs seemed to radiated around the black stallion.

Treading quietly through the small valley, he heard the water before he actually found it. A small stream snaked its way before him, the waters thick and rushing due to snow melt from the higher hills and mountains. Giving his wings a good stretch, in no rush to continue on his journey away from Islagiatt, the stallion lowered his head and began to drink.

 

[Cihiru]

07.14 Never-Ending Story - The Intro: Ra'd & Tsis'Newadi

Here

Lady Evelyn Nyht

She never thought she'd be doing something so girly, but her "uncle" had mentioned a flower that seemed to glow in the right light. So that's what she was doing now, looking for a glowing flower. Her uncle wouldn't tell her where, or even the time, but that she needed to see it for herself. "It wouldn't be any fun if I told you everything, Miss Adventurer."

Her uncle Nacio did know her well though. It was a challenge she would meet. But why flowers? The knights of the round table didn't go off picking flowers*, they faced monsters and saved damsels—though it'd be weird to save a girl. And there was no way any boy would be saving her, thank you very much.

But once again, no matter the story, she was off to discover it herself.

Cihiru

Black Wolf has always wanted - and expected - the absolute best for, and from his sons. Ra'd, on the other hand, has always had more interest in his own expectations. His desire for adventure, and for adrenaline. He is a foal with a strong will and an unquenchable thirst for freedom, and Wolf has never approved of his aspirations. Ra'd has seldom cared.

The colt is relatively certain today was supposed to be for training. The recollection rattles somewhere in the back of his mind. He's not concerned, though. He's busy; singularly focused on.. on.... Well, he's not sure what it is, but he swears the thing had been stalking him, and now he's determined to find out.

Ignoring the faint stream of blood trickling down one white shoulder, Ra'd barrels through the underbrush, hot in pursuit and heedless of the scrape of twigs against his hide. The creature - small, fast, and very agile - is difficult to follow, but he's swift for his age, and is very determined. But so is it, it seems; it banks hard, almost losing him in a turn he has to slide around to keep up. His injured foreleg stings in protest, but he presses forward, panting hard.

... And then it disappears, dipping down into a hole he doesn't notice until he almost steps in it on his way back to figure out what happened. The paint dips his head to inspect it, paws at it with one hoof, decides it seems impossibly small, then determines the animal isn't coming out again (and he can't go in after it). Losing interest, he gives his short, juvenile mane a shake and lifts his head to look around.

He sees nothing particularly interesting. With a dissatisfied snort and the flick of his slender tail, he heads back into the underbrush, eventually breaking into a clearing. An occupied clearing. Ra'd chides himself inwardly for not noticing sooner, narrows his eyes skeptically, then finally announces a greeting. "'Lo," he says, simply.