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 Posted: Tue Apr 08, 2014 9:43 am
 Breath in. Hold it. Breathe out. Hold it. This was the moment.
Darkstorm had been born for this moment, almost literally. She had been swayed by her father's description of the herdgrounds that he had promised her, her siblings, and her mother. She had grown up knowing that some dya, they were going to take it back. She just had hoped beyond hope that she was old enough to help when the day came.
That day was today, and she stood proudly with her mother, Shinoma. She knew she would have to wait separately from her father. He had an important job to do - leading the way through a secret path. Soon, she couldn't wait till he could see her again - fighting for their family's cause. She'd make him proud.
She had been oblivious to just how frayed his personality had grown in the past few weeks. She always knew how intense Firestorm was. And her elder sister's departure had left Darkstorm a little... confused, but from what snippets she had heard, she was more under the impressino that she had left to help unify her herd with her grandfather's herd... to help bring about this grand union and terrifying force. Though... she was confused when she didn't show up for the attack.
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Posted: Tue Apr 08, 2014 9:52 am
Giggling to herself, Pooka skipped and danced down the narrow forest trail.
"We're going on a raid - araid - araid araid!" She hummed and sung, despite the glares she got from her herdmates. She didn't care. She was practically - no... not practically - literally cackling with glee. This was going to be the greatest game of all. A game of life and death. A game that was the world as a whole - with the greatest stakes and the greatest fun.
She trailed after her brother from a different mother's tail, watching its shadowy leonine shape flick, timing her steps and jumps and hops to its beat.
They had so many eyes on their side... they were sure to win. Oh, but what would they find up there, up the great big mountain? She thought to herself as she continued the climb up the trail. What great birds lived up there?
This was a fascinating path, though, Pooka thought disjointedly to herself. She would have to remember this. Oh yes. IF she liked the game enough, maybe she could play again!
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Posted: Tue Apr 08, 2014 10:02 am
Xibalba hummed to himself as well as they walked up the pathway, though it had a very diffent tune than his herdmate, Pooka. It was more somber, more chilling, though there was almost as big of a smile on the odd stallion's face.
Colorful miasmic energy swirled around his hooves as he hiked ever upwards, following the hidden trail revealed to them by the alicorn, Firestorm. He was filled with so much hate, that one, that Xibalba could almost see it radiating off of him in waves. The spirits could see it, they whispered to him as he walked, and he hummed along with them, easing them and asking for support in his own, odd way.
They were always there, after all. Watching, speaking... if you just knew how to listen.
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Posted: Tue Apr 08, 2014 11:46 am
"Hello Wynter," he said with a friendly smile and encouraging nod. So far she had shown absolutely no behavior that would cause him to be worry. After all, he trusted Stormwild with his life, and he knew that her judgement was sound. No way she would have let Wynter stick around if she thought she may be a treat.
"Nice to meet you, officially," Canaan said to Dupstep. "Euphrates is my older sister."
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Posted: Tue Apr 08, 2014 11:50 am
Vortex watched Canaan and Wynter from above, circling over the territory in long, lazy circles. She was bored, and while she was glad Wynter had given them no reason to be concerned; she couldn't deny the fact that she bored. Certainly something exciting needed to happen soon...
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Posted: Tue Apr 08, 2014 12:07 pm
His wings sliced through the air softly, silently... like that of an owl. Perhaps, as would be more appropriate for his name, like a ghost. His job as a patrol of the herd made it easy for him to sneak away for large swaths of time; not that he considered it slacking on his duties; he still kept his eyes open, even when he was sneaking away - flying down to the valley. Meeting in secret.
He was conflicted. He knew what he was doing was wrong, that his mother would be furious and his grandfather would banish him. But he at the same time, he felt like he needed to be true to his nature; to his heart. He was a ghost, and once cannot simply put a ghost into a box and be done with it.
So how did he reconcile it? How could he justify sneaking away, visiting that quiet, kindred soul in secret? Nuzzles hidden away in the shadows; their love was not like one of the great stories. No, instead of burning with a raging passion their mutual love smoldered and smoked like a coal that could not be put out.
Only she understood them. Only she really knew what it was like to have shadows and ghosts in your soul.
Ne never really felt like he belonged to this stormy herd; he never felt as 'part' of the world like they did; they worshiped the air and storms and rain and wind; all things you can sing and smell and hear.
But a ghost, like he?
For now, however, there was a part of him that understood duty. Family. Loyalty. He would sneak away for the night, but during the day he was on the Watch; protecting his family like he knew it was his charge to do.
This day, he circled, silently, along the edges of the territory. He was a sentential, a hawk, a soldier. His long mane whipped around his face, the way it moved, otherwordly, around his nead and neck. His little imps clutched to him, unable to keep up him in dead flight. His mother's blood was as strong in him as his father's specterness; he could fly high, fast, and agile. He was stronger than he looked, through stealth was his strong suit.
It seemed the herd was very active today. He watched as many of his family and herd mates wandered about the grounds. He could read the body language; some seemed distinctly on edge; while others seemed blithely oblivious. Perhaps he should circle even higher, to get a better vantage.
He beat his four Angeni wings, catching a wind and spiraling higher and higher. He felt it, too. Something was coming, something was happening... his feathered seemed to tingle with the energy in the wind. The air was dry, and there were clouds gathering in the distance that crackled with electricity.
Would their a storm in there for them? Something to break this drought? Had Thunderbird finally heard their prayers and was bringing int he rain that would finally bring the rebirth of spring?
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Posted: Tue Apr 08, 2014 4:22 pm
Chaser was also on patrol, though in a different location from Onibi Storm. His partner this day was Jericho, one of Belle and Zhuri's ilk. He had grown up around these Soquili, and they always seemed to gentle to him. Perhaps that why most of them seemed to be patrols rather than guards, though he didn't doubt they would throw themselves in front of a skinwalker to protect those they cared about.
Chaser wasn't exactly a fighter himself, through his official position was guard. It was his duty to protect his herd; with his life it it called for it. He hoped it never would; but he did carry a sense of pride in the fact that he would be willing to.
He looked below him, watching Jericho glide over the wind. "Look at that," Chaser said, motioning to the dark clouds gathering in the distance.
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Posted: Tue Apr 08, 2014 4:25 pm
Jericho herd his consort's voice and looked up. The enthusiastic guard looked so effortless when he flew, and always flew so much faster and higher than he did. He followed his gaze the clouds and felt his spirit lift a bit. "Hopefully there's a lot of rain in that storm," he said, feeling the dry wind blew through the pink feathers in his wings. "By the spirits, we need it. I'm looking forward to spring wildflowers and summer berries."
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Posted: Tue Apr 08, 2014 4:29 pm
"Let's hope so," he called back below him. He felt a gust of wind and he unfurled his wings, letting the updraft carry him even further up in the air. The cloud was still several miles away; but it had been far too long since a tumultuous storm had come through. The winter had been rough, harsh, and dry. Not even a lot of snow to saturate the ground to the level the mountains really needed to fully recover form the drought. The needed rain, and soon!
"Won't that be nice!" he said, spiraling down on the wing. "I love flying in the rain!" He dipped below his buddy, enjoying the sensation of controlled free-falling.
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Posted: Tue Apr 08, 2014 4:34 pm
"Yes, flying in the rain is very refreshing," he said, watching his partner's ariel acrobatics. Though the drought had been a horrible one, and Jericho, not anyone in the herd, fully understood how dangerous and destructive they could be. Especially living up in the mountains, they seemed to have it all; big, tall evergreen trees and waterfalls full of cold, clear water form the icy mountain peaks. But the ground was dry, and the evergreen trees dry as kindling. The mountain rivers were a heavenly respite, but they didn't saturate the ground with the kind of rainfall that would be needed throughout spring and summer to support the new growth.
Not every drought ended with sand and bones and tumbleweeds, something that was hard to see in there lovely little heaven.
But Jericho did know that the bark on the tree was dry, and the wildflowers were very spare for the time of year, and he reckoned it had everything to do with the lack of rain. He was excited at the prospect of the spring thunderstorms - they were so invigorating!
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Posted: Tue Apr 08, 2014 4:57 pm
It was spring. Shouldn't finding flowers be easy? The ground was so rough and dry due to the long, rough, dry winter. But there were a few places that were thriving. His herd was lucky enough to live in an area with many mountain streams that offered a respite from the drought - the ice of the mountain tops were still melting with the warmer weather and gave them a steady supply of water.
Chandler landed on the banks of one of the smaller streams, rooting out some flowers that were peaking out from the patches of rich spring grass. Taking a few moments to munch on some of the new growth grass, he began to collect the prettiest and most colorful of the flowers he could find.
Finally, he had a small bouquet of flowers in his mouth, leaving him feeling a bit foolish. Did it look okay? No, it just looked like a sloppy handful of flowers. All different colors and lengths and just... kind of there.
He would need a ribbon or something...
He look back to the air, hoping too many others didn't notice his sloppy attempt at flower-picking. He had to find one of the trinket-weavers to help him with this...
He flew around the herdlands until he found one of the trinket-makers - a purple and silver alicorn named Kamiki. She had been part of the herd for a while and certainly had a sense of flair around her. Maybe she could help.
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Posted: Wed Apr 09, 2014 6:21 am
Kamiki was sitting in one of the thickets of the herdlands, a pile of flowers, feathers, twine, and horsehair spread out in front of her on a blanket. She tilted her head, deep in concentration as she designed the jewelry she wanted to make in her head. She arranged the tools on her blanket in one way and would stare at it for a while, before changing her mind and re-arranging everything.
She used her horn to do her fine ministrations. It had been a while since she had taken any of her wares out of the herdlands and she was feeling a bit restless. Perhaps a sales trip would do her good.
Her mate, Azure, fluttered about in the thicket near her. He was anxious, she could tell. She threw an encouraging smile his way, before another stallion landed hear her; one of Belle and Zhuri's children. He looked a bit distraught, with a pile of unpruned, scraggly flowers in his mouth in what looked like a very feeble attempt at a bouquet.
"Oh my," she giggled. "Need some help with those?"
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Posted: Wed Apr 09, 2014 6:27 am
Azure paced nervously around the thicket, offhandedly watching his mate fiddle her with jewelry. Recently he had gotten word that his family was requesting a reunion. Not his whole family of course... but his father and his bother, and his sister. He didn't know quite how he felt about that....
...he didn't exactly get along with his family. They weren't enemies by any means, but growing up with them with a constant competition. Ulysses was always so much more flashy and confident - a lifestyle he just couldn't gel with; no matter how hard he tried. His best friend, Narcissus, had tried to help him with his 'game' but it never worked.
According to his best friend and nearly his whole family he had "sold out" and "Settled down."
He looked over to his lovely mate, and he just couldn't bring himself to regret that decision. But he still didn't know if he was ready to face his family again and their endless judegment. At least his sister was a respite...
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Posted: Wed Apr 09, 2014 6:38 am
"Uhm, yes please...." Chandler said awkwardly around the flowers in his mouth. He set them down near her and gave her a sheepish look. "If you could, you know, uhm, make those look presentable that would be fantastic?"
Spirits, why was he blushing?? He felt the sting in his face under his fur and he knew his ears and nose would be turning bright red. He suddenly felt very, very young... a foolish little colt with a crush. Why was he even doing this? Certainly a mare as strong and powerful as Witseidutsei wouldn't be impressed by a little handful of dying plants?
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Posted: Wed Apr 09, 2014 6:58 am
"Of course!" she said happily, always willing to give one of her herdmates a hand in the romance department. She smiled and carefully packed up her jewelry making supplies by folding them into the blanket and tucking it awaty,
She pulled the flowers over and began their transformation from a unruly pile of weeds to a proper bouquet. First, she stripped many of the straggly looking leaves from the steam, to give them a cleaner appearance. She fussed over the order the flowers were arranged - forming a more pleasing shape, and allowing one or two of the bigger flowers to shine. Finally, she found a ribbon in her bag of craft goodies, and tied the bouquet, wrapping the stem with the ribbon so all the flowers would hold their shape and position.
It took her several minutes of intense concentration, and lots of futzing, but eventually she seemed proud of the result, and puffed up a bit with pride, looking to Chandler for approval. "How's this?"
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