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 Posted: Thu Jun 20, 2013 1:40 pm
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Posted: Thu Jun 20, 2013 1:42 pm
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 Firestorm was completely in his own head as he returned to the heart of his small territory. What had begun as another day of feeling impotent and frustrated, angry at the herd above him, and continued to annoyance with the little familiar that had needed his help had ended up... inspiring the stallion.
He didn't think he had ever had a chance of trying again to reclaim his territory. He had been so badly beaten before. Conqured not only physically but also was a decimating blow to his spirit. Two of his own children, for whom he wanted to reclaim the grand territory had left him. Yamika never had the heart for it to begin with... but Vesuvius even - named for a fiery mountain of legend had been disgusted with him and his failings. They both had left him - looking for better lands... better opportunities that he had failed to provide. But it wasn't over. It didn't have to be over. Firestarter had stuck by him, though even he could see the change in her eyes. He had been the center of her world before - her father who could do no wrong. Now, she saw him as mortal, flawed, like any other soquili. If he could reclaim his territory, maybe he could rekindle the adoration in her eyes... maybe Vesuvius would come home.
And of course there were their newest arrivals... three new young soquili that still had growing to do. That had not seen his failure.
If what the fox said was true then the herd in the shadows was very powerful. He had heard whispers before. He did not live far from their territory, after all. But, stupidly perhaps, he had never considered seeking allies in his quest. In a way, it was like admitting weakness in and of itself. But, ultimately, he didn't have the numbers to launch another attack. Even IF he might be strong enough on his own to defeat one or more of the herdmembers.
Shinoma might very well be the key - his beautiful, dangerous bride. She had a link to them. He had found himself curious about her family before, and now he had the perfect excuse.
As he arrived back home, he did not wait to begin to set the idea into motion, "Shinoma? Shinoma!" He called for her, his tail held higher than it had been in months. |
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Posted: Sat Jun 22, 2013 9:40 am
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Shinoma was dozing in the sun when Firestorm's calls reached her ears. She blinked sleepily, wiggling her jaw and hearing it crack, the smell of dried blood filling her nostrils. She licked at her mouth, tasting the coppery flakes that she hadn't wiped away before she'd taken a siesta, and glanced over at the gutted deer corpse, giving a discreet burp and looked at the cheeky crow that was pecking at the remnants.
Standing, she stomped over to the carcass, scaring the scavenging bird away with a snort and a grin, and then wandered in a slow meandering way towards where she thought Firestorm was calling from.
'Where are ya?' she called, a full belly and the summer sun was making for rather a lazy Kalona mare, and she didn't want to have to search for longer than necessary.
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Posted: Sun Jun 23, 2013 8:31 am
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Firestorm's ears pricked as the volt of vultures, startled from their dinner, exploded with much fussing and quabbling into the air.
His tail swished and he trotted over to Shinoma. Inwardly, he sighed. She deserved better than this.
"There you are." He smiled, his eyes burning with rekindled passion and drive. "Shinoma, I know that I've been.." He swallowed with a bitter look, "... difficult lately. Since... the last attack went so poorly. But I went about it wrong. I underestimated them. But there are other options - another way. I yet can reclaim that territory... give you the land that you deserve, that we all do.
He stamped his hoof, tossing his head.
"But... I request your assistance, Shinoma... The herd deep in the woods... your father dwells in there, does he not? Would... would you be willing to take me to meet him?" |
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Posted: Thu Jun 27, 2013 8:45 am
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Firestorm nibbled affectionately at a wing that passed close by. He was brimming with potential and ideas. Things weren't over yet. There was a plan brewing, and he could just TASTE the success that it promised. The rich herdgrounds... the space... the sparkling waters high in the mountains not polluted by their long course down into the wooded valley in which they currently resided.
He smirked. "Nothing could bring you down, Mist bat." He joked, calling on the nickname he'd called her as a foal.
An ear flicked back. He had not met either of her parents before, and knew little more than whas she had told him about her mother.
"Well... it is your father and his herd that I would be inclined to meet. Does she live with him?" His ears canted forward.
From a few yards away, a slender young mare, not all that different from the small Kalona Shinoma lifted her head from where she had been drinking and pricked her ears. Her father had returned, quicker than usual, from one of his walks. But unlike most days since they had been embarrassingly beaten but the heard on the mountain, he sounded... upbeat. Positive.
She narrowed her eyes suspiciously and drifted quietly closer. SHe wasn't usually much for eavesdropping, preferring action over passive reconasance. But she WAS curious. What was going on? What were they talking about? Her grandparents on her mother's side? THat got the mare's attention. She had been wanting to meet them for years. She was ashamed of... no... no that wasn't the right word. She HATED her father's relatives. She had grown up hearing stories of how they had cast him out- how they had been frightened of her mother's strength and his intermingling with Kalona blood. An intermingling that she was the PROUD Product of. They should have been FRIGHTENED of her, instead, they had fought back. And like her father, she wasn't happy leaving well enough alone.
But her mother's family... the source of that strength, the strength that had gotten her father outcast from her herd... that she wanted to see.
"You better not think of going without me." The mare interrupted as she emerged from her hiding spot. |
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Posted: Mon Jul 01, 2013 10:09 am
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Firestorm snorted, and there was a smile on his muzzle. "I'm not even sure about that sometimes," He entertained her joke. Firestorm got her sense of humor - like the mare herself, a little dark, but when you saw it for what it was, for what she meant, it just made him all the more attracted to her. Her irreverence. Thrilled with her energy and edge.
He frowned at her description of her dam, however. "I understand how that goes." He grumbled. It was a little unsettling, however, to have his capabilities questioned. His parents diapproved of Shinoma because of her power, that same darkness that drew him to her. But he wasnt like his parents - his breed at all. If anything, he wanted to be more like Shinoma. He wanted that recognized by her family. But maybe that was a "battle" for a different day. What better way to prove his mettle than by taking on his own sire. Besides, hypocritical was right by Shinoma's history that she had told him. Her sire wasn't a kalona, either. And certainly she herself was glorious.
Firestarter cantered over. "I'm not scared." SHe blustered. "Even IF she is there." Why should she be? Firestarter was a proud young mare. She didn't doubt her capabilities. Besides, unlike the Thunderbird herd, it was just one of her. But why would a mare as awesome of her mother have a problem with her?
She nuzzled at Shinoma's neck briefly, a friendly greeting, but not lingering too long as to seem needy. She felt like there were springs in her legs. She had been doing nothing more exciting than hunting lately, and the thought of going to meet this elusive family she had heard about but never met had more than piqued her attention.
"So then," the impulsive mare pressed, "what are we doing standing around here yammering?"Firestarter said wryly with a flick of her wings. "Let's GO already!" |
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Posted: Sun Jul 07, 2013 11:21 am
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'She's a b***h..' Shinoma said, stepping over to her mate and snagging a length of his long mane with her mouth, she gave it a soft tug, whilst staring intently into his eyes.
Firestorm was hers. Her passion and, yes, her love. And she wouldn't change their being together for anything. With him she'd produced more strength, guile and power than her mother, Izusa, had. She looked at him a few seconds longer, and then gave him a wink that promised a fun time when they had a quiet moment alone together.
Turning from Firestorm she looked at her daughter again, and chuckled, reaching and tugging on Firestarter's ear, giving it a little tweak.
'I would never say you were.' she said, smiling with pride at her daughter's attitude.
'Be mindful. But I do not know if she will be there for sure. And I am ready whenever your father is.'
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Posted: Sun Jul 07, 2013 3:21 pm
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Firestorm smirked, meeting her eyes. Firestorm presumed that there was more than a little of her mother in Shinoma. But... he liked it. Loved how she challenged him.
He hoped this meeting went well. It promised to be even better when they got back if so. One more reason to motivate him.
"Mo~om!" Firestarter exasperated with a scowl, flicking her ear before rubbing it with a wing. "I'm not a filly any more." She huffed.
"And Yeah yeah, I'll watch myself." Firestarter grinned, opening her wings with a snap, heart pumping and ready to set off on this challenge. Even if she wasn't there, it should prove interesting regardless.
She kicked off the ground, batling wings flapping and gaining purchase in the air. She circled once, before looking sheepishly down back at her parents, shouting, "So... uh... where exactly IS it that we're going?"
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Posted: Wed Jul 17, 2013 10:59 am
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Shinoma flicked the tip of her tongue out at Firestorm; it really was amusing how silly she was around him. She opened her wings, giving them a good stretch before she turned to her daughter again, looking up to where she was hovvering.
'Yes you are. Even when you make me a grandmother, you'll be my little girl.' she said, snickering as she teased her daughter. She too eventually kicked off the ground, a little slower as the food she'd had was still digesting but she was good and she waited until Firestorm had joined them, before she turned in the air and took off in the direction of her birthplace...
After a few wrong turns (which she blamed on her reluctance to see her mother), she finally spied the beginning of what looked like a shadow on the land, but was woods, twisted and tangled, and thick so that barely any light got through, an imposing mountain behind them. Spiralling towards the ground, she landed in an open area not far from where the trees thickened.
'Well..here we are. In there. Somewhere.' she said, sniffing at the air, her tail tendrils twitching.
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Posted: Wed Jul 17, 2013 12:18 pm
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Firestorm had spent much of his formative years pushing himself hard and fast to be the best flier he could manage, and had no trouble keeping up with his mate, especially heavy with a recent meal. He occasionally would soar higher, keeping an eye out and making a mental map to the herdgrounds that he had only heard of before. But, when she finally set down before the darkened forest, Firestorm was surprised with how close it actually was. The dense trees had never enticed the airborne stallion, and he never particularly liked how the place smelled, or the unsettling air that seemed to eminate from it.
Now, it seemed to make sense. It grew at the base of the far side of the Thunderbird herdgrounds, around the side of the mountains from his own territory - if he could even really call it that. (More like the best place in the area he could lay claim to). From the air, he could see that the tangled woods grew partially up the foothills like an infection. It was an omen that brought a dark smile to the stallion's face.
he touched down, eager to see what creatures called this place their home.
Firestarter huffed indignantly, but knew better than to put up much of a fight against the rare saccharine moments of her mother. Still, she was eager to prove her worth beyond foalhood.
When she saw the territory that they were led to, she swallowed a lump in her throat. She landed, and fought past an instinct to turn around and leave that clawed at her when she saw the dense, dead trees and thorny vines. She couldn't seem a coward. She wouldn't show fear. She deliberately angled her ears forward and set off into the woods while her father was still sniffing at the edges of the trees.
"What's taking you so long?" She called back to her father.
Firestorm frowned - intent on learning what he could befor barging forward, but was easily spurred to action, following quickly shortly after.
But he did not like this forest. Not one bit. He didn't like the fact that he couldn't spread his wings in here, that the trees pulled and caught at his feathers and mane. Here, his wings were more a burden than a boon, and he felt like he was at a severe disadvantage. Especially if those that lived here were not friendly, and did not recognise him.
It was this shrewdness, he told himself, not anxiety that he hung back with Shinoma, and called Firestarter back to him. "We are going, 'Starter, but we are going together. we need the assistance from this herd, not to start a fight."
He looked to his mate, giving her a smile. It was a plae like this that her 'mistiness' made sense. He doubted that the trees could claw and pull at her like it did him. |
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Posted: Fri Jul 19, 2013 11:14 pm
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Shinoma couldn't remember the last time she'd been back here, it had seemed as if she'd gotten old enough to strike out on her own and that had been it, no turning back and very little looking back. She'd forged her own path, made her own family, and could only hope that her father would appreciate her independance and what she'd made of herself.
'Agreed.' she glanced from her mate to where her daughter stood.
'It's easy to lose your bearings in there as well.' she set off forwards without another word, her wings tight against her sides as she pushed through the tangles and branches, feeling the woods push back, and sometimes through where the mare was more intangible.
She paused at one point, stomping down on a pricklysucker that was trying to trip her, checking to see how Firestorm and Firestarter were faring.
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Posted: Sat Jul 20, 2013 12:22 pm
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Firestorm was determined, despite the cloying, clawing brambles, he pressed forward. His ears were pressed against his head, and he really...really did not like these woods. What kind of soquili would choose to live in woods like these? He huffed to himself, following close after Shinoma, following the path she picked through the woods. Even if it had been a long time since she had been here, surely she knew the woods better than he did. And it would probably be a good thing that she would be the first soquili that this herd saw.
Firestarter sighed dramatically, not wanting to have to be babysat, but the woods... were denser than anything she was used to. She didn't have quite the long mane and feathered wings that were holding her father back, but this was no easy terrain to navigate.
The trio proceeded deeper into the heart of the woods. And as they walked, the chirping of birds and insects began to fall away, leaving their hoofbeats over dry twigs and brush the only noise disturbing the eerie silence. Shadows seemed to grow deeper around them as more and more light was blocked out by the twisted canopy.
And then... suddely their hoofbeats weren't the only noise in the woods.
Nocturne had always been a sentry, even in her old life across the sea. And thus, even though she felt alien and alone even amidst this herd of monsters, she at least felt BETTER doing something familiar to her, providing a service. Besides... despite the fact that as soon as most soquili saw her they would turn tail and run, she felt better being the ones to meet newcomers than some of the more ... violent members of the herd.
At first, glimpses of a red glow were all that was visible through slats in the trees, her dark, stony pelt almost invisible otherwise in the deep shadows.
But then, unabashed, the figure strode toward them. It was difficult to tell if the stony look was color or actual stone on the mare's flesh, but there appeared to be cracks through which an eerie red was seeping. Her eyes shone with the same eerie glow.
This certainly wasn't a member of the herd from when Shinoma had been around.
Her voice was soft and husky, sounding like she wasn't usually one for many words. "A warning..." she spoke, "These woods are full of much danger for strangers..." her eyes lit over Shinoma, her brows creasing as she saw the obvious kalona heritage, and the distinctive wispiness. "But... perhaps you are not unfamiliar with such dangers. What brings you to the shadows...?"
From deeper in the woods, there ebbed the sound of a tittering laugh. |
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Posted: Sat Jul 20, 2013 12:38 pm
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'It's not too much further..' Shinoma said, and then murmured to herself, she wasn't entirely sure of that, but the woods certainly weren't endless. They just felt that way sometimes
She tensed as the approach of another was sensed, her tail tendrils lashing like a nettled feline, muscles tensing. The mare that eventually came into view was highly unusual, even to Shinoma's eyes but whilst she cam across as imposing, her appearance was striking but not frightful to Shinoma.
'Dangerous to those who blunder in unknowingly, but I don't. I seek my father, Taraxippus.' her head turned slightly at the sound of the distant laughing, but not all the way, keeping this mare in her sight at all time.
'You know of him, are of his herd?'
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