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 Posted: Thu Jan 21, 2010 11:10 am
 After leaving Divone, Shylah had wandered off a ways from the rest of the herd which was still clustered in the grove for the most part - chatting and gossiping about the mornings activities. It had been exciting to many of them and was probably one of the mot positive thing that had happened to many of them in a long while and she was glad that they seemed to be in high spirits.
But while the herd was as alway on her mind - even more so now that she was one of their leaders Shylah had wandered off to think of something else entirely. She was to have foals and she had just found out. The chocolate mare was still trying to wrap her mind around this subject - it certainly explained a few things she thought, such as why she was so weary when the others were refreshed. She should go and find Maponus she knew - but she had no dea where the Tawny stallion was or what he was up too. For all she knew he was in the middle of an important meeting with Alanus, She was sure that he would come and find her when he as finished and right now well...she just needed to think.
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Posted: Thu Jan 21, 2010 11:22 am
The search was a slow one as each time he ran into another herd member they stopped him, wanting to formally note their acceptance of him becoming an Astral Walker, and not wanting to be rude on his first day he would stand there and let them talk. Finally he had managed to find a route that would take him away from the rest of the herd. He looked towards the direction in which he had seen Shylah and Divone go off but neither of the mares were there. Above him a tree branch shook and he raised his head to see Herne perched upon it. "Herne do you know where Shy is?"Herne bobbed his head and then stretched out his one wing pointing towards the far side of the grove. "She is in one of the smaller groves in that direction. "Thank you Herne." He said with a nod and trotted off. Arriving at the side of the grove that the owl had pointed to Maponus began searching the smaller groves that encircled the larger one, but there were quite a few of them. After a few minutes of looking he decided to call out to her. She may have wandered a bit further out. "Shylah!" He called softly. "Shylah, my love are you here?"
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Posted: Thu Jan 21, 2010 11:32 am
It wasn't long after she had thought of him that Shylah heard Maponus calling for her, the tawny stallions had a habit of doing this - arriving nearly as soon as she thought about searching for him, not that this was a bad thing - Shylah certainly wasn't going to complain about it today in any case as it meant that she wouldn't have to wander about looking for him when she was already tired. Lifting her head she half turned with pricked ears in the direction she'd heard him. "Over here!" She called out to the stallion knowing that he would hear her and arrive in quick fashion.
"I don't know how I'm going to tell him" She whispered to Breckin who sat near by looking at her with his wise round eyes.
"Just tell him, some news is always better heard straight - there s not point in beating around the bush about it" The owl counciled his chocolate companion.
Shylah smiled slightly - leave it to Breckin to state the obvious she though with a slight shake of her head before she turned her attention back to the direction from which Maponus would arrive.
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Posted: Thu Jan 21, 2010 11:40 am
His head turned to where he had heard Shylah's voice come thought the threes. Turning he wove his way through the thickly grown trees, being careful to not get his newly acquired bear pelt snagged on anything. Just imagine what Duska would say if he lost it or got a hole ripped in it so soon after she gave it to him. That made a small smile come across his maw, she would probably have a fit and give him a long winded speech about how it too a lot of effort to find the bear and then prepare it for him. No he would do everything in his power to avoid that.
Coming through the trees into the small grove that Shylah was in he nodded a hello to Breckin and then turned to Shylah. She looked weary and Maponus could be wrong but it was almost as if she was a bit distracted, perhaps something on her mind. He couldn't blame her for being a bit distracted. So much had happened to them this morning with the Astral Walker ceremony and then immediately being separated so that the Elders could talk to them in private. She was probably just a bit nervous about the whole thing. Maponus knew he was nervous about it. He didn't want to make any mistakes now. Stepping close to her he nuzzled her softly. "Astral Walker Shylah." He said in a soft and loving voice. It had a good ring to it.
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Posted: Thu Jan 21, 2010 12:19 pm
Shylah had to smile inwardly as she watched Maponus come through the tree's - the bear pelt suited him she had to admit and she certainly couldn't complain with the Elders choices, she was just as satisfied with her own Lynx pelt and nuzzled Maponus in return with a soft chuckle "Astral Walker Maponus" She responded in greeting, the formal titles did have a nice ring to them.
"Did you have a nice talk with Alanus?" She asked him after a few moments deciding to find out what his news was before breaking her own - after she told him about the foals to come she was pretty sure he wouldn't have any interest in talking about anything else. Which was understandable - foals would change their lives even more then becoming herd leaders would, more then just about anything she could think of.
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Posted: Thu Jan 21, 2010 12:25 pm
His head bobbed. "Yes, he was telling me about all the duties that we will be expected to preform now. Though I think we might be looking to the Elders for advice quite a bit for the first little while. Then he took me to see the Oak Talker Oisin so that he could hear the story of how we found this grove and our owls. It took quite a bit to escape his constant questions." He let out a chuckle. Good ol' Oisin, always wanting to make sure that no detail was left out. But that was the duty of an Oak Talker, to know all the details about the herds life for one day he would be telling those stories to others. He shook his head, he was getting distracted by his thoughts and right now he wanted to concentrate on Shylah.
"And what of your talk with Divone?" He asked, though he was sure it would have been similar to what Alaunus had told him. Of the specific duties that she would need to attend to. They may both be Astral Walkers but some duties were meant for stallions only, some for mares only.
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Posted: Thu Jan 21, 2010 12:48 pm
Shylah nodded as Maponus spoke, it seemed his conversation had gone much as she'd expected and she chuckled slightly as she imagined Maponus trying to disentangle himself from Oisin and his endless questions - no doubt the paint would eventually seek her out as well for her take on the adventure. She'd deal with that when it came up. Divone had probably meant to go over Shylahs new duties to the herd as well - but Shy had left before they had gotten to that part of the conversation, she would just have to go back later Shy decided. Later...once this had been dealt with properly of course.
Speaking of dealing with things Shylah knew that it was her turn to speak and gave her mate a small sile "Oh she wanted to talk about herb" She told him - which had been true, although it was a bit of an edited version she mused...but she didn't want to just blurt it out to him, that didn't seem right, of course she didn't want to beat around the bush about it either as Breckin had counciled her not to do, Shy decided she'd compromise and do something a bit in the middle. "What would you think of becoming a father Maponus?" she asked the tawny stallion.
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Posted: Thu Jan 21, 2010 12:57 pm
"Herbs huh?" He stated, though really talk of herbs was quite a regular occurrence within the herd. They were used for many things, like healing, allowing one to speak clearly with the Spirits and an important part of most ceremonies. Herb lore was important and perhaps Divone had wanted to make sure Shylah kept up with her knowledge on the properties of herbs now that she held such an important rank.
Her question threw him off for a moment. They were still quite young, though certainly old enough to consider starting a family. "Well I suppose that when the time comes for that I will be ready." He knew from their dream walk during the pairing ceremony that Shylah wanted foals, it was what every mare wanted at some point in their lives. And perhaps now that things were settling down for the herd and they had a new home she was thinking about this more. He didn't tell her that a part of him thought he wasn't ready for them. Foals were a huge responsibility and they had a lot on their plate now that they were the herds new leaders.
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Posted: Thu Jan 21, 2010 1:12 pm
Well...his answer wasn't completely negative she thought to herself silently for a few moments - she had been half hoping he would put two and two together and draw the conclusion himself, but alas it was not to be so and so she was still stuck with the task of telling him herself, she glanced up at Breckin but he merely looked back at her in silence as look upon his face which could probably be interpreted as 'get on with it girl'.
"Well thats good" Shylah started out slowly a nervous flip of her head taking her forelock out of her eyes, she wasn't sure why she was so nervous about telling him - she ought to be excited - and she was...he just wasn't sure exactly how Maponus would feel. "Because Divone was explaining the herbs I would need to take now that I am pregnant" She finally managed to say in a soft voice as she cast a look to her mate n order to see his reaction.
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Posted: Thu Jan 21, 2010 1:24 pm
Mapons' eyes moved to Breckin for a moment when Shylah glanced at the owl wondering if he was saying something to her or not. The owls did often offer advice to the horses and since only Shylah could understand Breckin he would always have to wait for her to tell him what the owl had said. Only Breckin didn't make any noise at all, just stood there staring at Shylah. Now that I'm pregnant. Those words suddenly hit him. He turned to look at Shylah, his face a mix of awe, surprise and fear. Now that she was pregnant. Could the Spirits throw any more surprises into the mix? First becoming Astral Walkers and now to find out they were going to have foals.
His mind raced as he stared at Shylah for the longest time. No words came from him, not because he was mad or upset at this news, no not at all, he just needed a moment to let everything sink in and then settle down before he could speak. "You're....you're..." He shook his head, trying to make himself less of a bumbling idiot. "You're pregnant?" His expression changed slightly to one of confusion. How long had she known? When were the foals going to arrive. His eyes moved to her stomach for a moment, well she didn't look very pregnant but then again they had been traveling hard for over two full moon cycles. Then it hit him, had she been pregnant that whole time? "How...how far along are you?"
He stepped closer to her now, nuzzling her softly, his confusion was subsiding but he still felt a bit of fear and surprise. "We are going to be parents." He said softly, the more he thought about it, the more accepting of this news he became. His head shot up for a moment. "I'm going to be a father." His voice proud and then he looked over at Breckin sitting on a nearby branch. "I'm gonna be a father!" A wide smile crossed his maw as he looked back at Shylah.
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Posted: Thu Jan 21, 2010 2:51 pm
Shylah was worried for a few moments as Maponus turned to look at her and his face held such a vast array of emotions, awe - well that as alright and the surprise was to be expected. It was the fear that worried her but only for a moment, hadn't she been afraid herself for a little while? All perfectly natural responses she told herself as she stayed silent to let her tawny mate work through the thoughts that were no doubt swirling through his mind, shifting her weight slightly as his gaze shifted to her stomach. Shylah wasn't a self conscious horse but she could only wonder at what he was thinking.
"Yes..yes you are" She told him when he finally seemed to accept what was going to happen - their small family of two was going to grow a bit larger - though how large she of course couldn't know. No one did - unless the Spirits choose to share it with them and thus far the spirits had decided to keep that fact well hidden. For the moment at least. Shy let a smile cross her face as Maponus seemed so happy with this new - that was good, Shy wasn't sure what she would have done if he had been upset - would have told her that they weren't ready for a family. There were ways to deal with that if it here the case but doing so was somewhat frowned upon and well...Shy wouldn't have done it anyways. The Spirits wouldn't give them foals if it wasn't right for them to them would they?
"Divone says I must have conceived before the sickness" she told Maponus turning back to the question he had asked beforehand "But I didn't know until she told me - I would have known soon I imagine, there would have been signs shortly even to a more unpracticed eye like mine."
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Posted: Thu Jan 21, 2010 3:16 pm
"Oh Shy, this is great news." He told her, while he still felt like he was in shock over this he certainly was excited...scared but excited. And while a part of him thought that he wasn't ready for this, ready for the responsibility it would take, well how good of a leader would he be if he couldn't handle small innocent foals. Her next words broke her out of his current thoughts. This had happened before the sickness. That meant she had endured not only the sickness but two hard months of traveling with little sleep and little to eat. He had pushed her so hard during those travels, and neither of them knew.
"Shylah I'm so sorry. I pushed you so hard during these last two months. Had I known...I would have...." He trailed off, what could he say, that he wouldn't have allowed her to go with him? That he would have made sure to take their time, rest more, eat more...that wasn't a option then and he knew it. Time had been precious then and even if he had have known he would have been forced to push her anyways. "We will have to make sure you rest and eat enough now." He looked into her eyes. "And no pushing yourself anymore. We have others that can do things for you. I can do things for you."
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Posted: Fri Jan 22, 2010 9:42 am
Shylah decided not to tell Maponus that Divone had thought them doubly blessed because her pregnancy had lasted throughout the sickness and the travels - it would just make poor Maponus feel worse then he did already and Shy never wished for him to feel badly. Neither of them had known and even if they had it wasn't as thought they could have changed anything. The Spirits had called them for a task, a task which had ramifications for the entire herd and nether of them could have done anything but follow through with this journey.
"Don't be silly" he told him affectionately as he apologized for pushing her so hard, she had pushed herself and suddenly a thought crossed her mind "Perhaps the spirits choose to bless us with foals in reward for meeting the trials they have placed before us" The gods were cruel yes - and they had certainly taken much from the two horses in the last few months when it came to family and friends, but they could be kind too and sometimes they rewarded those who followed through with their pledges of loyalty. "Divone will be bringing me some herbs to shore up my strength but of course you are right - I will take it easy from now until the foals arrive" She assured him in an effort to waylay some of his nerves about things.
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Posted: Tue Jan 26, 2010 8:36 am
Maponus smiled and nuzzled her softly again. "You're right. They are a gift from the Spirits. What better way to reward our efforts than with new life." He took a half step back to look at her, his smile widening. Though Shylah looked exhausted, he could still see the feisty and beautiful little mare he had grown to love after such a short time together. The Spirits had done right by pairing the two of them.
"Now, you need to get some rest." He told her sternly, though he honestly doubted she would fight him on this. "And when you are feeling up to it we will tell the others. I'm sure they will all be excited about this." He would have taken her back to the spot they had claimed the night before, but it was quite open to the cold and elements. Here in this little grove she would be able to rest without the interruption of others, and he knew Breckin would keep an eye on her should he be needed within the herd. Maponus lowered himself to the ground and motioned for Shylah to do the same. "Come, I will stay with you a while, but then I must go and ensure that no one comes to wake you. Don't worry Breckin will be here with you and he can let me know if you need me."
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Posted: Tue Jan 26, 2010 11:55 am
Shylah was ever so glad that Maponus - despite his excitement - hadn't decided to drag her off to tell everyone tonight. She would have if he'd wanted too...because Shy always wished to make him happy, but she was pleased that he was empathetic enough to see how very weary she still felt. A bit of rest she told herself, just a little bit of rest and she would feel far better, she was sure of it.
"I will be fine" She told him when he said he would only be able to stay a short time - they were Astral Walkers now, of course she couldn't expect him to ignore the herd on her account, that would be highly irresponsible and would likely anger the spirits whom had seen fit to give them this job to begin with "Breckin will keep me company, I shall likely sleep for a quite a while anyways and you can't ignore the herd on my behalf" She told him softly while she lay down beside him, nuzzling his shoulder softly before settling completely "But I am glad you are staying for a little while" She concluded before letting her eyes drift shut with a content sigh.
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