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 Posted: Sat Jul 19, 2008 8:49 pm
She lowered herself down to the rocky floor, taking the time to arrange her mane and tail perfectly so she wouldn't get tangled up in it when she had to get back up. There was nothing worse than stepping on your own locks as you stood, what a tragedy that would be.
"You might be stuck on our lands for awhile until you're able to take full flight, so I'll make the arrangements with my grandfather, he's the protector of our Wind herd. But that will be after you are in the care of the local two-legged." She glanced outside once more and then lowered head to the ground. "It'll be an early start, so try to rest well. Good night."
[-We can just skip to morning if you'd like ^^-]
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Posted: Sat Jul 19, 2008 9:02 pm
Auster watched her, rolling his eyes. Nothing was worse than a conceited mare. With a sigh he lowered his head as well, angry that he would have to lower himself to needing a twoleggers help. "Good night," he muttered, closing his eyes and wishing he was anywhere but here.
<3 Sounds good.
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Posted: Sat Jul 19, 2008 9:26 pm
She could hear the insistent chatter of the birds outside of her haven. She carefully opened up one eye, and then the next to glare at the obnoxious sound. She knew it was time to get up, knew they'd have to be on their way, but first, something to eat would be in order for both of them.
She pushed herself to her hooves and glanced behind her at the still sleeping Auster. He was a strange one, aside from his appearance, but Winds had to stick together, even if he did have more wings than her.
She exited the cave to get her barrings of where they were exactly. She snapped her wings out and felt her hooves leave the ground as she pushed herself upwards to get a layout of the land. She saw the break in the trees just a few yard ahead, which meant they were definitely closer to the herd grounds than she'd first suspected.
Once her hooves were planted firmly on the ground once more, she re-entered the cave and stood a few feet away from him. "Auster. Auster," she called softly.
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Posted: Sat Jul 19, 2008 10:02 pm
The stallion was dreaming, but it was obvious it wasn't a pleasant one. His body was tense as she returned, and he was making low noises. He wasn't deeply asleep however, and as soon as she called his name, his eyes snapped open. Groggy from the dream and just waking, he seemed to have forgotten the events of the night and tried to get quickly to his feet, only to have the unexpected pain shoot him back down again. The flooding pain brought back the memory of the night before as well and he sighed, letting his eyes close again.
"Yes, Windstorm?"
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Posted: Sat Jul 19, 2008 10:15 pm
She wasn't sure if she should ask him how he slept or what it was he was dreaming about, so opted for the simplest route. "We just have to go a few more meters. The river is nearby, so we can get a drink and some food before we start climbing," she said hesitantly.
She moved again from him to stand just outside the mouth of the cave, not daring to look at him. He made her feel unnerved.
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Posted: Sat Jul 19, 2008 10:49 pm
He said nothing more, not in protest or agreement. Instead, he braced himself and struggled to get to his feet, his teeth clenched tight. It took a few moments, but the angeni managed to upright himself. He took a deep breath and moved towards the entrance of the cave and Windstorm, wincing.
"I'm starving," he admitted as he reached her.
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Posted: Sat Jul 19, 2008 11:29 pm
She merely nodded her head, unsure of just what she should do to really help him, or even if he would take any that she gave. Again, this seemed to be a typical dilemma she was facing this this proud Angeni. "We can stop at the river then to prepare for the mountain trail," she said shifting from hoof to hoof with her hesitance.
She gave her tail an idle flick and turned her back to him, leading the way to the boundaries of the herd grounds. The wildlife was fully awake now, moving from their path and singing out to their hearts' content. The forest was probably the most obnoxious bustle of activity she'd ever experienced and was glad when she heard the sound of falling water to drown out most.
The trees and underbrush thinned, becoming more scarce and scattered, which allowed the sun overhead to finally make its presence. A few fruit bearing bushes and trees were closer to the water, making this almost equal the paradise of her home. Her bright purple eyes glanced up the great fall of water. If a foal could scale the mountains, so could an injured, pompous, pig-headed stallion.
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Posted: Sun Jul 20, 2008 9:42 am
He gave a nod which tossed his mane about his head. It was still tangled and had a few twigs left in it, as did his tail. He glared at the offending strands and moved to follow her out. When they reached the river he would wash. He had to get the filth from the fall off him before it annoyed him further.
The walk was hard for him, though he would never admit it. The undergrowth insisted on tugging at his wing, and the rocks insisted to dig into it. He winced more than once, and nearly growled at another point. The wildlife was severely annoying him and he was more than glad to find the goddamn river. Without a moments hesitation, he dove into it, making his way out to the deeper parts where his body could be submerged. Well, save his uninjured wings. They rose out above the water, stretched out to their fullest, a truly impressive length. He paid no attention to them however and dipped his head under the water so that the torrent could wash him clean.
When he was satisfied that his coat was no longer caked with mud, he made his way back to the riverside. He started to climb out of the water, then stopped, turning his head to look at his wing. The edge of the river was nothing but mud. If he were to drag his wing through that, what would have been the point of the bath? With a sigh, he turned his head to Windstorm. "Will you lift my wing until I am past the mud?" he asked slowly as if regretting it as he did. He was a proud stallion, that was for sure. It wasn't often, if at all, that he would willingly ask for help.
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Posted: Sun Jul 20, 2008 9:55 am
She lifted her head from the cool drink she had been taking after her revelry to look at him like he had two heads. He was actually asking for help? "Uh--sure," she said. She'd thought about trying to save her mane and tail from getting wet, but either way, it would be soaked, either from his wing or the water. Oh the struggle of beauty!
She walked into the water with a sweeping curve to come up behind him. Carefully, she slipped under the injured wing and instantly apologized for any pain it was going to cause him as they slowly walked out of the water in step until they were well passed the mud and the bright grass was under hoof.
She wasn't sure if she should step out and away from him or not, so remained for the time being. She could feel her heart fluttering almost as fast as her wing beats to lift her off the ground. It was that internal feeling, that fear that started to build up, that caused her to step quickly from his outstretched, injured wing. What in the heavens was that?
Windstorm took a few steps further from him to stretch her own wings and allow the water to dry. She had her back turned to him, displaying the span of her white, gray, purple, and red wings in all their glory. She wasn't aware of what emotions she might stir in the Angeni behind her, but she was more concerned with keeping her wings from getting waterlogged.
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Posted: Sun Jul 20, 2008 10:25 am
At her stare, he gave her a Well? Hurry up! look, his ears flicking irritably. He was as impatient as he was stubborn.
When she finally decided to mosey over to him and help, he braced himself against the pain, snorting at her dismissively as she apologized. It wasn't like it was her fault that it hurt, and as much of an a** as he could be, he couldn't blame his own injury on her.
As they passed the mud and made it to the grass, he grunted his thanks, looking down at her, icy eyes impassive as she stood there. He didn't tell her to move, just watched her, wondering what the hell she was doing, why she was looking at him like that. He had been about to finally speak when she darted out from under his wing, causing it to fall to the ground. The pain from the jerk was great, and Auster hissed.
"What the hell did you do that for?!" he demanded, glaring at her and paying no attention to her outstretched wings. He had asked her to help not to injure him more!
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Posted: Sun Jul 20, 2008 10:43 am
She kept her gaze forward, not daring to look over her wings at him. Sometimes, she could be an open book. "S-sorry," she said sheepishly. "I just didn't want my wings to get waterlogged from your dripping." It was a good cover, a good cover, which hopefully wouldn't be seen through.
She snorted softly to herself and shook her mane causing small water droplets to fly through the air like sparkling gems. She stood there and list all the negative aspects about his personality as if that would help her with whatever was going on. This was so ridiculous! Arrogant, stubborn, impatient, dumb-dumb-dumb-stupid Angeni.
She stretched the wingtips as far as she could so she could get them dried faster. She leaned down and took a mouthful of grass to chew on instead of chewing him out like she felt doing for no particular reason.
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Posted: Sun Jul 20, 2008 10:54 am
He snorted at her, then moved to some distance away where he could shake the water off his coat and not strike her with the water. Once that was done, he turned his attention away from Windstorm and gave himself a onceover, making sure that the river had done its job and had ridden him of any caked mud and debris. Once he was satisfied it had, he moved to preen his wings. Auster, concerned with his appearance? No way.
He pulled out a feather that would not lay right and let it flutter to the forest floor. Unconcerned with it, he lowered his head to clip a mouthful of grass, chewing it idly as the white feather was picked up by the wind and danced across the field.
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Posted: Sun Jul 20, 2008 11:04 am
The white feather stopped just at her black hooves just as she was about to take another bite. She merely started at the obnoxious thing, unsure of what to do with it. She glanced over at him before picking it up in her maw and tucking the white feather inside her mane, her usual hidey-hole for things she liked to keep.
She knew they needed to get a move on before the noon hour struck, so used her movement to look more like she was watching the sky and note where the sun was. It was still early morning, thankfully, but it was time for them to make the hike. "Are you ready, Auster?"
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Posted: Sun Jul 20, 2008 11:25 am
He hadn't noticed. Which, admittedly, was probably a good thing. He looked up as she spoke and swallowed. "Yes," he replied. "If you think it is time to go, then I suppose I have no other choice, do I?"
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Posted: Sun Jul 20, 2008 11:44 am
Windstorm made a face at him. He made her sound like some sort of slave driver! She huffed and started walking towards the familiar path. "If you'd rather be a Broken Wind, by all means, stay here." She knew he'd probably follow at her words, but it seemed goading him made him move faster and be a bit more gracious for her suggestion.
The path was rather easy, but half way up the mountain-side, it became must more dangerous and required very nimble hooves to hop from rock to rocky outcrop. But she'd made it along this path when she was a little filly, surely he'd be able to make it too, so long as his bullheadedness kept him going and didn't leave room for doubt. And so she lead the way, looking over her shoulder every now and then to make sure he was getting along.
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