|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Sat Jun 13, 2009 1:47 am
Embri hung her head. "I d-don't know. Promise you won't tell anyone... " Her voice was soft, and unmistakably near tears. "I-it started a few days ago. Just a couple of broken feathers... then m-more... " She trailed off into silence, ears flat and wings trailing in the sand, clenched to her flanks.
Why am I losing feathers? Am I sick? What if it doesn't stop? Pretty soon I won't have any left at all ... Unanswered questions and fears chased themselves through Embri's mind.
"You'd better go... go back, Jiyuu, before you're missed." Her flame colored mane fell down over her eyes, stubby spiral horn reflecting the sparse light.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jun 13, 2009 7:25 am
It pained him to see Embri so broken down like this. "Not without you," he answered, stepping forward to give her a comforting nuzzle. "Perhaps you're just molting? Whatever the case, we'll still support you." They were family after all, right? He wasn't about to just leave her on the beach like this when she was clearly in pain.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jun 13, 2009 1:27 pm
"Don't!" The filly pulled back quickly, shaking her head. "What if it spreads? I don't want your f-feathers to fall out too." Bad enough I'm losing mine.
Embri shied away warily, dancing from hoof to hoof. "I should go. You don't deserve all my troubles."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jun 13, 2009 1:37 pm
"If for some reason I lose my feathers then I'll just stick to walking," he said with a light shrug. "Dad seems to get around just fine, and Mom hardly ever leaves the ground anyway. There's no need for you to leave." To further prove his point, Jiyuu stepped up beside her and patted her wings with one of his own. The older filly really had grow to be like family to him, and he didn't want her to go.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jun 15, 2009 12:33 pm
Though meant to be reasssuring, Jiyuu's gesture had quite the opposite effect. With a profoundly unhappy look on her face and a wordless whicker, Embri bolted from the treeline, leaving lazily drifting feathers in her wake. Head bent low as she stretched out her legs into a gallop, the filly counted on her longer reach to keep her at a pace the younger colt could not match.
Running, always running. Isn't this what got you into a mess last time? A sarcastic little mental voice barbed at her thoughts.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jun 15, 2009 12:47 pm
Jiyuu expected her to perhaps withdraw a little bit from his touch, but he certainly did not expect for her to take off running fro him. "Embri!" he cried out, immediately galloping after her. The older filly's long legs and head start made for quite a distance between them. Even so, the colt used his strength to push off of the ground as hard as he could on every step. He even flapped his wings for extra propulsion in his desperate attempt to catch up to her. "Embri, stop!" he pleaded, not slowing down in the least. Running on the sand was much more challenging and tiring than the forest floor.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jun 18, 2009 12:33 am
Fool colt. Doesn't know when to give up. Embri's nostrils widened as her lungs demanded more air, hooves churning the sand as she ran. Her ears pinned back against her skull, the filly turned on a dime and spread her wings, teeth barred in a snarl.
"GO BACK JIYUU!" The bigger filly snapped her teeth threateningly, lips pulled back. Whirling again, she kicked sand out behind her and further down the beach at full speed.
Forgive me, little one... but if something's not right with me, I couldn't bear to have you suffer the same fate. Embri hoped the younger colt would think twice about following her further from his home territory.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jun 22, 2009 8:32 am
Jiyuu was briefly startled by the other's flaring and snarling, but he continued after her again with renewed vigor. "NO!" the colt shouted back stubbornly. "Embri, I'm not just letting you leave like this!" His foster sister was clearly upset and afraid, so why wouldn't she let them help her? Didn't she realize that she was just as much a part of the family now as he and Chione were?
Desperate to catch up to her, Jiyuu vigorously flapped his wings as he ran, trying to take flight. If he could become airborne then he might just stand a chance at catching her. "Please stop!"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jun 25, 2009 11:17 pm
(( Anyone want to throw in one of the adults? I'd rather not have Embri actually try to injure Jiyuu, I don't think she could anyways, it's all bluff. I'd imagine all this shouting and running about would attract them. ))
Fluff-brained colt. Embri pounded onwards, making a quick turn into the forest. Wings tucked tightly against her sides she galloped, even though her sides ached like fire and passing branches whipped her flanks and face. Leaves and brush snapped beneath her hooves as she broke out onto the worn river path, then quickly back into the thick forest.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Jun 26, 2009 4:05 pm
(( Yep 3nodding Meant to toss Kindle in here but continuing net problems sap my immediate attention stare ))
Yelling? It was faint, far off in the distance, and it seemed more a sense of it somehow. Eyebrows knit, Kindle's eyes cracked to slits. Raising her head, she glanced around the den. Toshiro slept quietly, yet. But the others-... Chione stood silouhetted against the moonlight in their doorway. Embri and Jiyuu were gone? Groaning softly, she pushed herself up. "Chione...? Where's your brother?"
Wincing, the filly turned, eyes wide. "I- umm..." Her mother didn't look entirely amused. "I dunno. When I woke up, he was going after Embri, I think." Her attention turned forward.
Heaving a long suffering sigh, the mare moved carefully passed her daughter. "Chi, stay here with your father. I'll be back soon." Moving out into the cool night, the mare almost immediately picked out the delicate white feathers set against darker foliage. No other sign of the pair. She moved parallel to the treeline, then set out at a run. Extending her wings, she leapt and caught the wind. With a few powerful strokes, she was up and wheeling toward the forest, holding a few feet above the tops of the trees. Ears pricked, she listened for the sounds of the pair below.
A flash of cream against the stream. Embri! Without a word, she altered her course. There was a clearing just ahead of the filly. That should do. Angling toward the lush earth, the mare landed softly in high grass, tucking her wings against her back. Any moment now...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Jun 26, 2009 6:20 pm
Jiyuu had just started to gain lift from the ground when Embri suddenly made a sharp turn into the forest. Damn it! Jiyuu thought to himself, tripping up just a bit on the landing before her continued after her. Can't fly in the forest. His sides heaved painfully as he continued after her, but he still wasn't going to give up. The question now was which of them would run out of steam first.
------------------------------------------
Having stayed up a bit later than usual with patrol earlier in the evening, the stallion slept on despite the shouts in the distance. In wasn't until his mate moved away from his side that Toshiro started to come to. Looking around in groggy confusion, he noticed that everyone seemed to be absent beside his daughter. "Chione, where is everyone?" he asked, standing to his feet and shaking out his mane. Something was definitely up.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Jun 26, 2009 6:57 pm
Chione huffed quietly, never turning her gaze from the sand. "Why does everybody keep asking me that?!" She stomped a hoof, intent on showing him her irritation. Then she sighed. Right. The threat of those eyes. Head bowed, she snuffled quietly and jerked her head toward the feather-trail. "Jiyuu went that way. Mom went- uh... well... over."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Jun 26, 2009 7:16 pm
Toshiro waited patiently for his daughter to explain, ignoring her momentary outburst. "I see," he replied, stepping up beside her at the entrance. "Well, let's go then. Who knows what kind of trouble those two are getting themselves into." He assumed Embri and Jiyuu were together at least. They shouldn't be too difficult to locate, even with as dark out as it was; their thundering footfall could be heard for quite a distance.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Jun 26, 2009 9:53 pm
Huff huff. Embri tore through the forest, physically forcing her way past the bushes, branches and vines that seemed to reach out and grab her. Labored breaths heaved in and out through her flared nostrils, eyes wide in full panic. Blind to all but what was directly in front of her, the filly brust out of the forest again and into a clearing with tall grass... and straight into white trees. Trees? No. Not trees. The filly shook her head and looked up at Kindle, sprawled out like a starfish on the ground.
"K-kindle?" Embri's ears drooped, incriminating feathers fluttering around her to settle on the ground like out of season snow.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jun 27, 2009 7:18 pm
Head bowed, the mare nuzzled Embri gently, then gave her an affectionate lick on the cheek. "Oh, Embri." A mess of feathers. Kindle sighed. "It must be horribly uncomfortable." She picked the stray offenders off her adopted daughter carefully. The filly must have had no idea what was happening to her, must still be in the dark. "Running around like this in the dark. Really, you might have been hurt. Even Toshiro and I don't come out here alone at night." She continued her fussing, grooming the small filly gingerly. With a wistful sigh, she smiled. "Your first molt..."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
