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 Posted: Fri Aug 22, 2008 4:53 pm
 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...
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Posted: Tue Mar 10, 2009 3:05 pm
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.
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Posted: Sat Mar 14, 2009 10:17 pm
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.
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Posted: Sun Mar 15, 2009 5:31 pm
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.
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Posted: Fri Mar 27, 2009 5:53 pm
"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?"
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Posted: Wed Mar 17, 2010 3:58 pm
"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."
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Posted: Sat Mar 27, 2010 6:43 am
Akteon cleared his throat, slowly trying to regain his composure which was so slowly being put back in place - at least externally. Inside, he just could not control that beating heart. "Well, as I have only been seeing you in my dreams of late, I thought this must not be any different..." his voice was low, as if he really didn't want her to hear the response but knowing full well those refined ears could pick up the sound. "Daydreaming is good in moderation," he said more clearly, "as long as the dreamer can return to reality. Living in a dream does no one any good, but being able to glance at those morsels bring some of the greatest soquili into the Lands."
He was stalling, and he knew it. Akteon felt that he could not keep going with words of beauty - not to mention he never practiced, so how would he know what to say and what not to say; he just said what was on his mind at the time. This was all new to him. Instead of responding to her question of flattery, he moved on, "Well, of course something is stuck between my ears - I am a unicorn.... or did the mask hide that fact?" Akteon bowed his head, without mentioning his stunted horn.
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