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 Posted: Fri Apr 01, 2016 5:58 pm
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Posted: Fri Apr 01, 2016 6:30 pm
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 Name: Antony, AKA Tony Relation: Guilian's son Birth order: Third overall Full-blooded siblings: Two Blood: Half Wind, half Kalona
~~In the Great Forest, north of the Great Inland Lake~~
Dawn had never used to be Antony's speed. First as a foal and later as a youth, he had been an avowed night owl; the sort of Soquili who only appreciated a sunrise when it was happening in reverse. But time had slowly worked its magic on the stallion, until mature adulthood saw him rising before the sun and slipping out to enjoy the spectacle.
This particular morning, Tony was alone as he made his way up the mulchy forest path. This wasn't always the case; his lifemate and longtime love Loveless was prone to joining him, moreso than ever in the months that had passed since the devastation of the Kalona War. Time had soothed the physical wounds left by the great war, but Antony was sure it would take more than his lifetime for anyone directly affected to make a full mental recovery. It was almost strange, he reflected as he walked along, that those who had the fewest physical wounds seemed to suffer the most.
Thinking about the Kalona War caused Antony to reach up beneath his mane and stroke the thick leathery skin there. It had become an affectation of his; long after he had ceased to constantly think about his war wound, habit prevented it from truly slipping into memory. Since the War, he had grown his dark mane longer than he'd ever worn it before, and taken to looping it over on the left side. The hair served as a curtain, shielding the thick, dark scar beneath from view. Antony himself had never been bothered by the scar; it was proof that he had survived. But out of respect to his mate, who to this day couldn't bare the sight or his scar, he had adopted his current hairstyle.
Antony couldn't blame Loveless for her aversion. Had the tables been turned, he doubted he could have handled the sight of his beautiful mate collapsing in a cascade of blood, a sizable chunk of her neck in the jaws of a murderous Kalona. Antony's memories of that horrific stretch of time were understandably blurred, but he remembered the pain, and the blood; he remembered the anguish in Loveless' voice when she'd dug in, racing to get between Tony and his assailant but too far away to get there in time...remembered the sight of his son...his laughing, goofy, good-natured Corsant...slamming into the attacking Kalona with murder in his eyes. He remembered more pain...the surrounding mercy of blackness...then more pain, along with warmth as an alicorn poured his heart and soul into saving Tony's life, fighting through exhaustion and despair to save the life of someone he'd never before met.
It had been a stroke of fate that Antony had survived at all, given the size of the wound and the amount of blood he'd lost by the time Corsant had turned up Wyeth, the alicorn. As things stood, Antony would always sport the scar, massive, black and puckered against the whiteness of his hide. It would always remind his mate of how close they had come to losing each other; to be sure, Tony would never be able to forget that fact, either. But to him, ultimately, it was a sign that he had survived.
He just wished it was that easy for everyone.
Today, he was walking along by himself, because Loveless had gone off to see her father. Antony had debated going with; he had always had a great deal of love and admiration for Ariston, who in addition to being Tony's father in law was Tony's own father Guilian's best friend of many years. Ariston had been an important figure in Tony's life since before Loveless had even been born, and the idea of catching up with the 'old' stallion was incredibly appealing. But in the end, the idea of having some quiet time to himself won out, and he saw Loveless off with a smile and a wave. She would have a lovely time with her father, and he himself would enjoy the peace and quiet of the forest.
Well, that was the theory, anyway. Why was it so hard for him to be able to just relax?
Probably because he was a parent, he thought with a wry smile. He used to be able to enjoy himself thinking about nothing, but with seven children, to say nothing of a mate, a father, siblings, friends....there was always something to occupy his thoughts, and even his worries. He was lucky in that he had good relationships with his children; though they'd all struck out on their own long ago, they made sure to keep in touch with their parents, both by visiting and by sending messages. Some were more communicative than others, but he, for the most part, didn't worry about them. For the most part.
Recent circumstances had given him higher hopes for a couple of his children, but there was one he was still anxious about as of late, his 'bonus' child. Guirien was not actually Antony and Loveless' blood child, but Antony's nephew, child of his younger half-sister. Due to circumstances, they had raised Guirien since foalhood as one of their own; he, in turn, had regarded them as his parents. But he had his own demons, and had left the region over a year ago to search out...
Well, Tony wished he knew what it was Guirien was after. Perhaps then he'd have an idea where the young stallion might BE! Unlike his 'siblings,' Guirien played things close to his chest; messages were few and far between, and it had been months since Tony and Loveless had last heard anything about Guirien. Fortunately, the last message had come AFTER the end of the Kalona War, otherwise they'd be out looking for him, adult or no adult. Antony might have trained Guirien himself, and Guirien might have grown up sparring with his Kalona cousins, but he was still a small, fine-boned wind. And parents were allowed to worry.
Shaking his head, Tony turned at a fork in the path and made his way up to the 'Sparring ground," a clearing in the forest where he had trained himself and his kids since he and Loveless had come here. He had meant to put himself through his paces; strenuous exercise had a habit of driving over-zealous thoughts from his mind. But as he drew close to the circle, he heard the tell-tale signs that it was already in use; grunts and snarls, thuds and thumps. Drawing to a stop, Antony stood and listened for a few minutes to the sounds of focused personal combat. The longer he listened, the wider his smile became. He knew who was fighting, and he couldn't be happier.
Stepping through the ring of trees that marked the outer edge of the sparring ground, Antony reflected on "the way things are." As long as you kept moving forward, it was progress; it didn't matter how slowly you moved. |
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Posted: Mon Apr 11, 2016 7:16 pm
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 Name: Amarantine, AKA Amary Relation: Guilian's daughter Birth order: Fifth overall Full-blooded siblings: Three Blood: Half Wind, half Regular ~~~~
Amary felt...tired. Yes, tired was the word for it; tired in body and tired in mind and tired in just about everything that mattered. It had been so long since she'd been through this, she'd forgotten how unpleasant the whole process could be! But at the same time, there was a major perk to the whole experience; through her act of self-sacrifice and her subsequent handling of that sacrifice, she would find redemption. She would be restored to the place of love and honor that had always been hers, and her life would once more be the satisfying thing it used to be.
Yawning, she looked up from the little hollow where she lay, resting and recovering from another exhausting day of everything and nothing. Occasional shrill calls and high-pitched giggles kept catching her attention, causing a wince to spread across her elegant features. Even her current state did nothing to hide her attractiveness; whatever else she was, Amary was an extremely attractive mare. She always had been, and, if she had anything to say about it, she always would be. It would take a lot more than tiredness, a lot more than personal upset, a lot more than physical trauma...
A lot more than...shudder...childbirth.
~~~
When she was younger, Amary had never given half a thought to the idea of procreating. She loved her parents, and she loved her twin brother, but beyond that, beyond THEM, she loved herself. Nothing was as important to Amary as herself, though her father and brother were admittedly very high up there. She had been raised fully aware of her beauty; paired with her naturally flirtatious nature and her understanding of her parents' loose approach to morality, it was no shock to anyone that she quickly took to the amorous path herself. But she had somewhat naively thought that love was all there was to it; she enjoyed her time with her paramours, left when she got bored, and then didn't have to think about them any longer. It was simple, it was pleasant, it meant she was able to flit along through her life with no responsibility...it was perfect! Then, disaster.
In retrospect, she should have known sooner what the problem was. Amary had always considered herself reasonably intelligent, and she was well aware of certain pertinent biological facts. But the idea of she herself ever having to deal with something as banal as consequences was beyond her; it wasn't until she was fully puffed out and stressed to the nines about her weight gain that she finally put two and two together. At first, she was horrified; she had no room in her life for kids, and no desire to deal with the pain, discomfort, and blow to her looks they would inevitably bring. But after a long period of freaking out, she had her light bulb moment.
Her parents LOVED kids. Hadn't they already welcomed nearly a dozen between them, both shared and separate? Didn't they both say that family was all-encompassing and something to be cherished? Well. That was the answer! She would have the baby, but then she would bring it to her parents and let THEM raise it; a perfect solution, and one that would make her father delighted with her to boot. How pleased he would be to see his (obviously) favorite daughter adding on to the family! It was a brilliant plan, and would be the perfect surprise. Thus having decided on her course of action, she settled in to wait for the birth.
However, she wasn't expecting it to be so rough. Never had her mother suggested that having children was so painful, so uncomfortable, so HARD! And worse, she didn't have one child, she had three. Three knobby, gangly little colts, even, without much grace or beauty between them. She was physically drained and completely overwhelmed from the beginning, gamely trying to do her best but at the same time feeling positively miserable with everything to do with parenthood. The only bright spot was the fact she could take them to her parents' as soon as they were big enough to travel...
That had been the plan, and Amary had meant to follow it. She had every intention of following it when she'd gone off one morning to forage, leaving the week-old colts alone to look after themselves until she returned. She'd had no idea that a stallion was come across her during that forage, a stallion who had spoken to her as she hadn't been addressed in months, who reminded her just how beautiful and desirable she was, she'd always been. Without a thought for the boys, she'd gone off with the stallion to enjoy a leisurely tryst. Days later, she returned to discover her colts were gone.
At first, she was concerned, but after some light searching, she realized it was likely for the best. Hadn't she heard of children striking out on their own before? Perhaps her sons were simply of more independent stock, and if that was the case there was no point spending any more time looking for them. They were obviously fine, so she left it at that. However, she still had to deal with the aftereffects of pregnancy on herself, even if she no longer had the boys to show for it. Her encounter with the stallion had been wonderful, but she knew she was still fat and fatigued and just...not herself. And she wasn't about to go home and be among her family looking less than her best!
A journey was in order, and she threw herself into her trip whole-heartedly. It was so exciting to see new places and meet new Soquili that it was much, MUCH longer than she intended, years, in fact, before she once again found herself back in the Kawani lands. However, once back she was quick to seek out her parents' home, hoping to find her father and catch up on all the adoration she'd been missing.
To call her homecoming a disappointment would, however, be an understatement. Her parents were nowhere to be found in the home clearing, but another stallion was. She'd never met him before, but he introduced himself as her younger brother Laureat and then proceeded to rip into her with a rudeness and aggression she'd never before encountered. Amary was horrified, mostly at his manner, and amazed at what he was telling her.
According to Laureat, her sons had NOT gone off to live an independent, mother-free life. No, apparently they had waited vainly for her return, slowly getting hungrier and hungrier, until they couldn't take it any more before striking out to look for her. Laureat knew this because one of the boys, Guirien, had managed to find his and Amary's older half brother, Antony, and been taken in by Antony's family. Unfortunately, Guirien had been so distressed and so emotionally overwhelmed by his experience that he had initially pretended he was simply visiting his uncle, keeping the horrible truth of the abandonment to himself for some weeks. By the time Antony learned the truth, over a month had passed; Antony had set out to look for the other boys, but failed to find them; bringing in additional family members to help search, including their father Guilian, had failed.
Amary was shocked and distressed to learn that as a result of her actions, her beloved father had fallen into a deep depression, apparently believing she had abandoned the boys intentionally and maliciously. He had felt guilty because of his fondness for Amary, and felt accountable. Oh, and beyond that, the rest of the family apparently held Amary in deep contempt, and as for their brother Tony...best not to mention that.
Laureat had been brutal during their conversation, and told Amary in no certain terms that HE didn't feel she was welcome in their home. Guilian had managed to overcome his depression, but it was a recent thing and he was worried Amary's return would be bad for their father's emotions. Beyond that, she just had a lot to answer for.
Amary was miserable at first following the conversation with Laureat, and went away feeling she had been badly used. Laureat's behavior to her had been beyond mean, and the things he had accused her of were simply not true! How was she supposed to have known the boys were looking for her, or that they were too young to take care of themselves? Why was she to blame for anything, other than making a mistake? Was that any reason to yell at her????
Well, she definitely didn't like brother Laureat, that was certain. But she had the uncomfortable feeling that part of what he was saying, the part about her being in the family's bad graces, might be true. If it was, then what was the point of trying to see her father, or mother, or NICE brother Leon any time soon? She would have to make amends somehow, and after a deep period of consideration, she struck on the perfect solution. If she had blackened herself over children, she would REDEEM herself with children!
Yes, the more she thought about it, the better the idea seemed. She would simply conceive another child, take model care of it, and bring it with her as she made amends to her family. She would go visit brother Antony and show him how good a mother she was and surely he would see that she had been as much a victim as her sons. Though of course, she would apologize to her son Guirien; still. she was confident he would understand. And then...she would find and sort things out with her father. And maybe rub Laureat's nose in her success, to boot.
It had been a perfect plan, and she had thoroughly enjoyed her 'preparation'. Being absolutely determined to have a child as soon as possible, she had been rapid in her turnover of lovers; when she finally became pregnant, she wasn't even sure who the father WAS! But that wasn't really important; he wasn't going to be part of the picture.
Well, he HADN'T been part of the picture.
~~~
Yawning again, Amary rose gracefully to her feet and looked in the direction of the shrill calls and laughter. The sound could be traced easily to the not one, not two, but THREE foals who were playing a game of some sorts a short distance away, fully in Amary's line of sight. She would have preferred they play farther away and let her sleep longer, but she couldn't afford to lose them and have to start over again. With her luck, she'd end up with three MORE children!
Three seemed to be her lucky number, Amary thought as she surveyed the animated little foals. There was no way she was up to dealing with three any longer than she had to; three was too many, and far too much work. She had been appalled to end up with three yet again, but the advantage of those three was that from their collected looks, she had been able to sort out with reasonable surety who their father was. And now that the kids were big enough, they were all on their way to meet that father. What the kids (and their father!) had yet to realize was that two of them would be staying with him.
And then, Amary thought with a self-satisfied smile, she'd really get this redemption process underway. |
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