Welcome to Gaia! ::

Elara:
Elara was tired, it had been an overlong pregnancy and had resulted in three baskets, She'd stressed over them, with her experiences back in her family's herd worrying her overly. When the foals had finally emerged from their baskets, after the normal length of time, her worries were eased a little especially as the two Colts were large, much larger than their sister. She had loved them all since finding out she was expecting but she was secretly pleased there was a colt that looked like her beloved Amuru, she'd been hoping for as much and their daughter was a lovely mix of them both. However it was the almost copy of herself that currently held her attention, he was the only one of her children without wings but he was also the one that looked the most like herself and she was secretly very pleased that there was a pure unicorn among her firstborn children, she could teach him much more in the ways of healing than she could his siblings. Of course she'd teach them all equally but his training was likely to go on longer. They'd decided on short names for their children, Noah, Muna and Luke. It was Luke that was around her now, Amuru having taken the other two off to stretch their wings. She hoped Luke would never be overly jealous of his siblings because of their flight.

Luke:
For the most part, it didn't seem that his siblings' abilities of flight had really crossed his mind. The mind of a foal was a simple thing. The spring morning was a nice one. Warm, but not overly so, and the occassional soft breeze carried away any of the accessive heat on his back. The grass was fresh, sweet, and bountiful. His father had his two other siblings out and he was by his mother's side. In his world, nothing was wrong.

The foal lifted his head, chewing on another mouthful of grass and flicked his ears upwards. He'd eaten his fill and now wanted more than anything to get his legs moving. They were long, akward, and he strumbled often but he took it in stride.

Elara:
Elara was attuned to everything around her, they were perhaps a day or so away from their old herdlands and she was still concerned, one of the reasons she'd left in the first place was because she'd never felt safe or comfortable since the attack on the Herd.

When Luke lifted his head she looked around for a second, sensing nothing she smiled. "Anything wrong sweetie?" she asked him, her heart swelling as she looked at him, full of pride for him, his siblings, her Amuru. Life was good.

Luke:
The foal flicked his tail and turned his head back to face his mother. Smiling, he shook his head. "No, mum. Just looking around. Staying a....alert." He struggled with some of the newer words, still not understanding all of them, but he'd heard them often enough that it seemed like the right context.

"Can we go to the stream? Please? I'm thirsty, and I wanna run." He lifted one of his long legs and kicked his hoof.

Elara:
Elara was happier than she ever thought she could have been, "That's good to be alert honey, i'm glad you're watching out for me" she said, her voice light and only holding a mild amused tone,

"Of course we can" she pranced a little on the spot, then trotted over to him, "I'm sure you do after so long cramped in your basket, let's race" she said, her long tail flicking against him playfully.

Luke:
"Race!?" The colt tilted his head, unfamilar with the word. He knew what running was, what trotting was, and what games were now. But racing was a new concept to him.

"What's that? How do you do it?" He danced a little closer to his mother, his long neck bobbing slightly as he made his approach. He was an akward thing, all legs, neck and tail. Obviously he had a lot to grow into.

Elara:
Elara forgot sometimes that despite their seeming knowledge of the world, there were a lot of things she still needed to teach her children.

"A race is where two or more of us run as fast as we can, both have to try and get there first, the one that does is teh winner" she chuckled ever so lightly. "I'll give you a head start" she said, bending her neck to nibble on her son's mane a little, enjoying him even in his awkwardness, it endeared him to her even more.

Luke:
"As fast as we can!?" The colt took a few steps back, dancing on his delicate cloven hooves as his head tossed between his mother and the direction of the river. He'd never been running as fast as he could! He always tripped and tumbled about, it was a dangerous affair apparently, but having his mother's permission and encouragement was exciting.

Giving a playful whinny, the colt turned tail and loped forward, galloping on too-long legs with his short mane tossing behind him and his long, fluffy tail whipping like a banner behind him.

Elara:
Elara laughed "yes as fast as we can" Her own tail wriggled a little bit. "Just be careful ok?" she asked before he took off.

She could easily have caught him up but she let him stay ahead of her for a while before drawing alongside him, revelling in the pure.. fun-ness of racing with another, soemthing she'd not been able to enjoy in a while.

Luke:
He was running as fast as his long legs could carry him but it wasn't enough. His mother soon gained and then caught up to him, running pace for pace beside him. He laughed and stretched his neck out, trying to get some more force behind each stride. He wasn't exactly sure how to pace himself, he hadn't settled into a good stride either. Perhaps in time, but Colts were hardly professional runners. He was far too distracted by keeping an eye out for dips, rocks, and snags on the ground to put a full effort into his run.

He looked over to his mother, flashing a proud smile before looking ahead once more. The river wasn't too far off, just past an old oak and down a shallow hill.

"I'm...I'm gonna....w...win mum."

Elara:
Elara smiled widely, pleased he was looking out for his footing, the worst thing that could happen now was him getting hurt while he was developing.

When he flashed that pleased smile at her, her heart grew a little more (figurativley speaking) She was glad he was having fun, his coltish innocence glowing through.

"Oh yeah?" she laughed, pulling ahead just by a neck, urging him to see if he could go a little faster but keeping an eye on him while she was at it, she'd let him pass her and win of course, but she didn't have to let him know that.

Luke:
The colt whimpered and threw his neck forward and back, panting hard as his long legs stretched to grab the earth and tossed back to kick it behind him. It was no good, he couldn't go any faster if he tried.

He slowed his pace from a gallop to a trot and eventually a slow canter. He'd pushed himself hard and there was really no reason to hurt himself just to win. "Yo...you win mum."

Elara:
Elara slowed as soon as Luke did, drawing to a stop beside him but having to trot a circle around him before coming to a complete stop "Don't worry Luke, you'll get stronger, i'm sorry i pushed you, are you alright?" she asked, checking him for any limps or over-exertions. "Next time i'll let you win" she smiled as she nuzzled him and nipped his ear gently.

Luke:
"Don't let me win, I want to win for real if I do." He took a deep breath and started to walk again. His legs were going to be sore and stiff in the morning but he'd not hurt himself. If he was anything, it was careful. He knew that a moment of victory wasn't worth a few days of pain so he had stopped when his body began ordering him to do so.

"That was fun... you're so fast."
Elara:
Elara grinned "Tough, you're my baby, i'm going to let you win sometimes" she giggled as she carried on checking him over for any nics or cuts but he was fine. She was so proud of him, of all of them. "Only because i've had longer to strengthen my muscles, i had fun too" she smiled and stepped forwards towards the stream, knowing Amuru would bring Muna and Noah towards the stream if she and Luke weren't in the clearing they'd made their home for the moment.

Luke:
"Mooom!" She bumped his shoulder against hers playfully. "I don't want to know someone 'let' me do anything. I wanna do it for real, then I can be proud about it."

He picked his way down the small hill and across the damp rocks of the riverbed. The colt's ears flew back as he approached the water. He'd been warned not to go in too deep, it could easily sweep a colt away.