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Time had been very good to Corsant. Time, training, and genetics, rather.

Gone were the gangly legs, the disproportionately enormous wings, and the giant head. In their place was a stallion who had lived up to every promise of his leggy teens. A massively muscle body and neck, strongly built legs and powerful wings now proclaimed to anyone looking that this was a stallion in his prime, not one stumbling around on his way to his prime. Everything about him, even the few small scar lines, proclaimed him to be one to watch. So to, albeit in a slightly different way, did the luxuriantly curling blonde mane and tail, the dark rose at his neck, and the handsome face that usually bore a merry expression.

Today, however, was different.

He stood in their usual meeting place, his wings folded against his back. His back was to a large tree, and he was, unusually for him, completely silent. Even more unusual, his expression was set into a line of grimness, with not so much as a hint of laughter lurking in the depths of his eyes. This Corsant was a different Corsant, a Corsant who had just gotten a harsh reminder that the world was a cruel, cruel place.

In the back of his mind, there had always been an awareness of the dangers he might someday face. The whole reason his father had learned to fight and had devoted so much of his time to training his children had been the fear of what might someday happen to them. Almost without exception, Tony and Loveless' children bore the marks of the half-breed Kalona, in their flat teeth or their haired tails or their solid hooves. At a glance, any could tell that they were what had been scornfully referred to as 'tainted blood'. Tony had feared what might happen due to that blood, and taken great pains to ensure that should that day come, they could defend themselves.

For his part, Corsant had taken to combat like a duck to water. Not only had he spent every possible moment training with his father, he had spent even more time sparring with his siblings, or his cousin before he'd cut out. In spite of having a hairy tail and no fangs, he considered himself one of the best and brightest stars in the family fighting arena. He had glorified in his victories, learned from his defeats, and moved on.

But none of that had been real. None of that had been life and death.

Closing his eyes, Corsant thought back to the early morning hour when Antony had come upon him and asked him to rise. He had stopped 'living' with his parents some time ago, but still kept pretty close quarters because he liked the area company. This had made it easy for Antony to find him, and tell him the news.

All those people, and all those Soquili, dead. A massive herd of pure-blood kalona within spitting distance of their home. Blood, blood, so much blood...

Corsant had been shaken to his core, and it was to his credit that he had asked his father immediately what they should do. Antony had shaken his head at his son, and said simply, "Wait."

~~~

Corsant hated waiting. But he also knew there was nothing they could do at the moment that would be anything short of suicidal. He hated the idea of being driven from his home, though, and he was damned if he was going to wait around and let THAT happen. But for now, the herd seemed to be moving more southerly than westerly, and for now, he would wait and watch.

Besides, he had something he needed to take care of.

~~~

He stood waiting in the usual spot, because he wanted to be there if Mari appeared. It was possible she didn't know, after all. More to the point, it was possible that the massive herd would start splintering off into smaller groups, and he was going to be there if anything decided to trespass into their spot. Especially if Mari didn't know.

He didn't really know if he wanted to see her or not. She was his best friend, and he loved spending time with her; he would miss her greatly if she was gone. But at the same time, he knew from past conversations her home was a very secure one, and she was definitely safer there than here. Who knew what would be happening to anyone in the upcoming weeks.

If this was what serious felt like, he didn't think he liked it.

It was difficult to say whether he was more relieved or upset to see Mariasha when she appeared, but in the end, relief that she looked fine and hearty won out over everything else. His typical inclination would be to give her a bear hug with his wings, but just as his mood was muted, so too were his reactions. He did manage a smile, though, and gestured for her to join him in the shelter of the large tree.

His own voice was quiet as he responded, not letting her finish her own sentence before jumping into his own. "Me too; that is, I need to tell you something. Mari, you shouldn't be out here, it's not safe for you right now. Not you, not anyone." It was to his credit that he managed to keep his voice low throughout the whole speech, rather than escalating in volume as was his normal want. But at the moment, everything was secondary to security. He had chosen this tree because it was large enough to completely hide his bulk from anyone approaching from behind, and even now he was listening for...well, nothing in particular, but listening all the same. How many times had he played "attack' with his siblings and his cousins?

It was unsettling to imagine that there could be enemies hiding behind these very same trees, and he did not like it one iota.

It would be a long time before Cor would be able to block the images from his mind, and longer still before he'd be able to sleep soundly through the night. He hadn't seen the Massacre, but he had accompanied his father north and east on a reconnaissance mission, which had brought then close enough to see the vast size of the herd, and some of the aftermath. All things considered, he thought he had kept his composure really well; he had managed to wait until everything was well out of sight before he vomited.

On the one hand, he was relieved to not have to explain the horrible news to Mariasha, but her owning up to knowing about it at first sparked an incredulous stare. She knew, and yet she had left the safety of the slopes to come down here with no natural defenses, not even wings to allow her to fly away? He had been about to chastise her soundly for being so reckless when her next words caught him completely unawares.

"Azelle is what?!" He hissed, struggling valiantly to keep his voice down, but his shock and outrage at this new piece of news made it difficult. Strong emotion flashed from his eyes, but it was anger, and fear, not something softer or more merry.

Needing an outlet, he broke away from the tree and began furiously pacing in a small, close formation. Incredulity, horror, anger, and shock all warred with each other for control as he tried to reconcile Mariasha's news with the scope of the Kalona herd and their obvious warlike tendencies. It was enough to make him want to vomit again, but with great restraint he managed to keep everything down. Not that he'd really eaten anything today, but still.

After a few minutes of electrically charged silence, he lashed out in the same (mostly quiet tone), "What on earth was she thinking? Infiltrate a pureblood Kalona herd when she has no cloven hooves, no fangs, no spiked tail? Anyone can tell in a matter of seconds that she's a Kalona b*****d, did it not occur to her what might happen to her when those seconds are up?" Rage was the dominant emotion now, but only because fear was too terrifying. From what Mari was saying, Azelle had gone in before the Massacre, and who knew what had happened since? Was she even still alive? Had she managed to survive even up to the Massacre, or was her murder so much fun it kicked off the whole thing?

He was furious, to put it mildly. Furious with Azelle, for being so reckless. Furious with the Kalona herd, for everything! Furious with Mari's herd, for letting his baby sister do something so incredibly dangerous! It was all he could do to not lash out at Mari as the representative of her family; it would have been a completely Corsant, 'open-mouth-insert-hoof' moment in the classic style. But right now, he was too upset even to lay blame. At the moment, all he wanted to do was rip into someone himself!

Mariasha's use of the word 'we' in reference to her herd was not helping the situation any, and it was a testament to Corsant's control that he still hadn't snapped. But that he was nearing that point would be obvious to anyone looking at him, as his muscled tensed and twitched under his skin and his scowl deepened. Sure, everything she was saying made sense on one level; it was totally like Azelle to act first without thinking about the consequences. That she might have considered the consequences he refused to believe; otherwise, how could she have done this? And more to the point, how could she have done this without telling her family???

He continued to pace, only half-listening to Mariasha as he continued to mull over this surreal state of affairs. It was all ridiculous and wrong. How could she have gone off and committed to something so dangerous without even telling her family the danger existed?

A small, traitorous voice in the back of his mind provided an answer: Because if they'd known what she was planning, they'd never have let her go through with it. He growled at the sentiment, even if he had to acknowledge it was true. It was true because it was the only sensible response to such a crazy scheme..

Mariasha had said a few more things, things he was probably supposed to find soothing about a lack of bodies and others from her herd being present, but he was in no mood to be soothed. As far as he was concerned, the whole situation was abhorrent.

It had only been a matter of time before his control snapped foot-in-mouth Corsant appeared, and her statement, 'We're still looking at them, but I figured you should know,' finally pushed him over the edge. A part of him, the same part that had tried to point out reason earlier, knew that she was sincere, and that she truly trying to help him. He himself knew the danger or her being out here, and he didn't doubt she was being honest when she'd said she wasn't supposed to be out past her herd's borders.

None of that mattered right now, though. Whirling around to face her, his rage was palpable as he snarled out, "You all thought we should know? You thought we should know, now that Azelle is missing, perhaps maimed, perhaps dead, that she's undertaking a dangerous mission? You thought we should know there's a murderous herd of purebloods practically on our doorstep, now that we know they're there after being woken by the echo of screaming in the night? Really, you thought we should know?!"

Later, Corsant would be more ashamed of himself at that moment that he'd ever been in his life. He could only imagine what he must look like, his eyes flashing, his teeth bared, and his body tensed for battle. All semblance of self control was gone and for a few moments, he stood starting at her, quivering.

But after those moments passed, it was as though all the rage and anger had left him, leaving him standing oddly deflated. The fire slowly left his eyes, replaced by grim blankness. In a voice almost eerie in its softness, he said, "You should go home, Mari. It's not safe for you here."

Corsant remained as he was for some time after Mariasha had gone, the grimness remaining in his eyes and stillness remaining in his body. The raging stallion of earlier was gone, once more replaced with the meditative and somber one. He continued to stare into the darkness of the surrounding trees, but he looked without seeing, listened without hearing. There was too much noise in his mind for him to be distracted by anything as mundane as his physical surroundings, at least until he'd sorted a few things out.

At last, though, he lifted his head and closed his eyes for a long moment, exhaling gustily as he did so. When they reopened, yet another expression shone forth: determination.

Looking in the direction Mariasha had headed, he lowered his head in silent apology. Later, he would reflect long and hard on his behavior. Later, he would remember the way she had shrank from him, the fear in her eyes that had been directed at HIM. He'd been larger than her for ages, but never before had she feared him.

Never before had he given her reason to be.

But right now, he had other priorities. Silently, he brought the edge of one wing to his lips, kissed it, and raised it after his friend. "Be safe, Mari. No matter what else...be safe."

He then turned and strode off into the trees. He needed to talk to his father.