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Ghost Flower had nestled herself down on a soft patch of green grass and closed her eyes. She did not budge.

Never Sleeps seemed to be a little annoyed as he stomped his hooves down hard onto the ground. He walked further away grumpily from the doe and deeper into the swamp. "Nothing will come to us if you are just going to stay down there looking helpless!" he shouted back at Ghost. "Maybe one of them will crawl out from beneath the soil and spook you!" With a crooked smile on his face, he imagined a gator-like kin bursting through the soul and bumping into Ghost, scaring her, and decided to go on alone without her. Just in case her constant bombardment of questions would drive the legendary away.

Never Sleeps stopped at a nearby puddle of water and looked at his own reflection. "With these good looks, I'm sure I can attract a legendary." He lowered himself and drank the water before he continued to wander around looking for a legendary. He walked past a few thorny shrubs and realized that he had no clue what he was searching for since it was his first time trying to locate one. How do they look like? I've only heard stories about them. Some have fin-like tails and some have tails of a cheetah. He sniffed the air and got nothing. He just smelled his own scent. "Do I look for glowing eyes? That will be hard to distinguish. I have glowing eyes too." he said out loud to no one in particular. "What do I look for?"

Never Sleeps continued his search for a blessing and would often stop and stare at his own reflections. Mud had covered his hooves and lodged itself between his fur but he didn’t care. It wasn't his first time to step through mud. He only cared about himself, and well, Ghost too, now that she is an expecting doe. Looking down at another puddle not far away from the last, he saw that a tuff of hair was out of place on his shoulder and he went to groom it with his dry cat-like tongue. He thought he saw something near the bushes from out the corner of his eyes, but decided to ignore it. His need to tidy himself was more urgent. And he gave his patch of fur a few more licks before moving on again.

He looked around to see where he was, and noticed that he hasn’t traveled far at all since he could still see the doe in his field of vision. “Urrrr why does it seem like I have walked for ages? I swear I’ve walked further than this distance.” He started to run and tried to ignore the water puddles in his path as he stepped on them, and sent mud flying everywhere as he ran. His tail was held at an angle, where the tip was pointed up toward the sky, perhaps he thought that would keep it dry? It did not occur to him that he could run on grass near the trees since he was too focused on finding a legendary and fighting the urge to look at himself again.

A little further up ahead, he saw the path had split into two smaller paths and still had a strip of grass alongside the trees. One path was dry and covered with thorn bushes and other prickly plants, and the other was full of mud and a few thick tree roots were seen poking out of the ground. “I’m covered with mud already so I might as well go that way.” He ran over toward the path with more mud. Just before he started to run through the muddy path, he stopped himself and looked over at the other path. “Would I find those beings through the mud? Or where the thorny bushes are?” Why do I have so many questions…I’m starting to sound like Ghost here…I've spent too much time around her. He shook his right leg free of mud and dug into the ground with his hoof and got it wet again. There was no point to do that but it gave him some time to think about where to go next. He stood there digging at the mud and occasionally looked around for anything that was moving.

Never Sleeps did not flinch. He knew from that tone of voice that the mare talking to him was indeed a legendary. A grumpy one too. Turning himself around to face her, tail still held in at an odd angle, he bowed down to her and started to speak as he stood back up again.

"Excuse me if i look like a complete idiot to you. I'm Never Sleeps. It's true that this is my first time looking for kin like you. I can also tell you're not very pleased with me. That's fine. I can guess it was the nonsense questions I'd asked myself the whole time." He judged her back by doing a quick scan of her starting from the top of her head to the hooves on her feet. "I don't know how long you've been watching me, but it was rather frustrating to look for something that I have never seen before. My 'friends' weren't too detailed on telling me what I had to look for either. Ghost was no help. If you look yonder, there she lies waiting for me to do all the work."

How unlucky, he thought to himself. This mare is nothing but nice. Why can't she see that some of us are first timers. I might as well test her patience with me...

He smirked and walked closer to her, stepping into her comfort zone. "Some kin prefer the seashore, some prefer the wetlands, some the lush green moss, and some... well someone like you must like mud. or else you wouldn't be out here." He stomped his right hoof and splashed a bit of mud at the grumpy doe. "Don't let my dumb actions fool you. Hearing that doubtful tone in your voice, you probably lost all hopes in me didn't you? Why do you think I have my tail held at such an angle? It's painful to twist it that way and holding that pose for hours." Slowly, he moved his tail to his side to show the mare what he'd been carrying with him this entire time. Embedded between the fur on his tail laid a painted hollow acha horn. A thick silk-like string was strung through it and connected at the ends forming a complete circle. "I paid a heavy price to get that annoying mongoose to cooperate with me. I sacrificed my beautiful hide walking through thorn bushes to pick enough berries enough to feed a family for him. If I had digits i'd do it myself." he grunted in anger and circled his way around the mare.

"You think I would just waltz into the middle of nowhere without a peace offering? Only a mad man would do such a thing. I didn't come out here through the rain and mud to have a chit chat. I'm here to find a blessing for my children." He glared at her as he stood face to face with the legendary. He was not afraid of her. If he had to chase after her and fight her to get a blessing, he'll do it. It doesn't matter how dangerous it will be. Not for Ghost or himself. He's doing it for his children. It's a risk he'll take.

The buck was furious. Not only has she stepped on his ego, but she had put him on a trial instead of accepting his offering and bless him. Never Sleeps snarled. "Why you are nothing but --- OOMPFH!" The mare had headbutted him right into his chest. At first it was nothing, then he felt the pain start to spread from the centre of his chest. He tried to stay up right but his legs grew weak from the sudden hard blow. He staggered a bit, lost his balance, and fell over into the mud. With great effort he scrambled back to his feet. Ugh this isn't a weak old one at all. How unlucky again! He looked like a mess: Eyes squinting, mouth wide open, and his face caked with mud. "UGHH!" He groaned and shook his head to clear mud off of his face. He had to shut his eyes first to stop himself from going dizzy. "A trial?" he questioned with a wheeze, and opened his eyes again trying to locate the swift moving mare. "What do you mean I need to find you again? I found you now haven't I? Shouldn't you bless me already?!" He looked at his tail to check on the horn. It was still in one piece.

It angered him that the legendary didn't give him any slack at all. Even the gift he brought didn't seem to please her one bit. Never Sleeps doesn't want to listen anymore. Her judging eyes made his blood boil and he could feel his heart beat loudly in his ears. "Now is not the time to be grinning!" He flared his nostrils and gave chase as he saw the mare turn into owlcat form and ran. "Where do you think you're going?!" The blow she gave him earlier had damaged his ability to keep up with her. "Wait!" His chest ached and he was short of breath. "Damnit!" He kept on running but knew it was useless. "We're not done yet!" The owlcat had ran way ahead of him and with each blink of an eye, she seemed to gain more and more distance between them. Come back. I don't even know your name..

Never Sleeps followed the mare's trail and avoided the same thorny plant she had, but did not notice the twisted root and tripped over it. He stumbled a few steps forward and regained his balance. When he looked back up, the legendary had vanished from his sight. He had followed her tracks the entire time that he was running, but found himself staring at a dead end when her tracks had lead him to a bog and a few saplings. "I can't believe it... I'll never find her in this place."

Head drooped low, he turned around and sighed. He had to go back to Ghost and let her know that the legendary had ran away from him. And that she never accepted his offering. Taking one last glance around the area, hoping to see her figure somehow, but he saw no one, and started his long gloomy walk back to where the expecting doe had laid down.

He passed by the dirty water puddles and saw his own reflection in it. His face was caked with dry mud and sweat trickled down his face. He let out another sigh and kept on walking. The temptation to stare into the puddle to check himself out again just was not in him anymore. There was only distress and discomfort.

A lot of time had gone by and the doe seemed like she could give birth any moment now. With a heavy sigh, Never Sleeps decided to go face the legendary one more time.

He left Ghost's side and wandered off deep into the swamp again. His tail was held high like before and kept close to his body, making sure that the necklace did not get a scratch on it. She never said she didn't like it. Since it is quite a pretty little thing. Trudging through the bog, he ignored his reflection in the water in case that she may be watching, and came upon a familiar path. He had been here before...

"Grumpy mare? Do you have a name? Grumpy mare? Should I call you Leader instead?" he called out to her with decency. Only that grumpy didn't quite cut it but he didn't know how else to get her attention.

He paced back and forth, nervously, waiting for a response.