Quote:
Humility - No one possesses all knowledge or wisdom. Sometimes the information a leader needs most is hidden in the worst places.
Depict your noulicorn seeking out someone they dislike for aid. This can be an old enemy or rival, someone they’ve injured in the past, a dangerous predator, or even a black horn.
Options for this prompt include: needing to find out an important location, understanding the ecology of some native Vykeli flora or fauna, searching for someone who is lost, trying to piece together an important part of Vykeli’s history, seeking out something left behind by the Others, etc.
Her eyes widen in wonderment as the tree sprouts glowing flowers, she was thoroughly enthralled by Grandfather’s response to her approach. Tempest made herself blink and shook her head but as her eyes reopened, Grandfather was gone and she was once again in the oasis that her and Helios had been calling home. She stood there blinking for a moment, regaining her composure. Sure, she’d been through this twice before but it was still quite the experience. There was a weight to this vision though, a sense of importance.
She was back in the oasis, this means that her vision starts here. Looking around, everything seemed the same right down to the last grain of sand. But there was an emptiness to it now that brought out a slowly growing panic deep within. Tempest turned her attention to the few trees that grew nearby and walked over. Stepping into the cool shade, her eyes started to adjust to the dimmer light and they could see that even here it was as it should be. Her next spot to check was the secret cave, Tempest made her way over to the hidden entry and stepped inside. It was even cooler in here, all the food storage was as she had left it and there was a faint dripping sound from deeper in.
Returning to the pool, Tempest looked about, worry furrowing her brow. Helios wasn’t here but was he supposed to be, in her vision? As she moved around the pool, that’s when she noticed small hoof prints leading away from it and out of the oasis into the barrens. Panic set in full bore then and Tempest hurriedly followed the hoof prints out into the hot desert. So he was here, had been here. Why did he leave the oasis on his own?! Tempest raced along the trail of prints but soon they vanished in a particularly sandy area. The sand shifted with any slight breeze or temor. Even Tempest’s hoof prints vanished. With head raised, she squinted against the bright sunlight and looked around. Where did he go? Did he continue on the same straight path or was he just wandering around?
Looking back the way she’d come, the oasis was already out of sight. A foal who didn’t know how to navigate their way around would get lost out here. Tempest was competent enough to get around out here but looking for a small noulicorn in this place could cost her. She didn’t bring any rations with her, just her abilities. A sudden thought occurred to her, her abilities...rain...Shappa. Shappa the black horn. Shappa said she was a survivor and didn’t carry anything with her. Although she requested rain from Tempest, she knew how to find the oasis and traveled by on a regular basis. If anyone knew how to find someone out here and survive, was Shappa. Tempest wasn’t too fond of the idea, black horns were unpredictable and forsaken by Grandfather. She had kept Helios a secret from her to keep him safe for a reason.
Tempest lowered her head a moment, there really wasn’t any other choice here. She needed to find him before the barrens claimed him for Vykeli. Where would Shappa have gone from the oasis? Tempest really had to dig deep, she had looked at maps of the barrens before and had a general idea of were the oasis was located in reference to a few points made on those maps. There was a small cave system to the north, although it could be much larger than the nouls thought since it wasn’t very far from the oasis. Tempest gaged where the sun was in relation to her and the oasis to pin point the direction to go.
With her general idea of where the caves were, she took off across the burning sands which soon returned to more solid dried earth. It grew rocky as she closed in on the caves. Small black scorpions crawled out from under rocks or hid in the shade as she passed by. Tempest made sure to keep an eye out for the stinging buggers so she didn’t step on one. Tempest could see the entrance to the cave up ahead but had to keep looking down to watch for scorpions. Because of this, she didn’t notice the blood red noul slip out and use the larger rocks for cover. Tempest reached the entrance and could smell that a noul had been here not too long ago. Did she just miss her?
“Looking for me?” a familiar voice called from behind her.
Tempest whipped around and looked upon Shappa. Shappa’s eyes widened in mild surprise.
“Ahh, the atmos doe from the oasis. What brings you out here?” Shappa practically purred.
“I-I’m looking for someone. I need help finding them….” Tempest said. She was both nervous and a bit nervous coming to a black horn for help. It was a risk but she needed to take it.
Shappa raised her brows, “Do tell, who are we looking for?”
Tempest hesitated a moment before speaking, “A foal.”
“A foal…?” Shappa looked surprised indeed. There hadn’t been signs of a foal at the oasis that she could tell. Although she was rather busy messing with the atmos doe, missing something as small as that wouldn’t have been a big surprise. “Well what does this foal look like?”
“Uhh...mostly white with some yellow spots. Male, name is Helios,” Tempest blurted out. She really needed to find him.
“Foals can be so wayward,” Shappa said walking closer. “You can tell them to do something but they like to find creative ways to not listen.” She spoke as if she was knowledgeable in raising foals. Which Shappa was but Tempest didn’t know this. Both had raised three foals prior to meeting the first time, the only difference is Shappa raised her’s in the barrens and with success.
“Do you know where I might be able to find him?” Tempest asked.
Shappa smirked at Tempest and tilted her head before walking right passed her and up into the cave. “This way,” she called back.
Tempest turned on her heel and followed Shappa in the cave. Why were they going inside? Shouldn’t they be looking out in the barrens? They moved deeper into the cave before Tempest finally said anything. “Shouldn’t we be out in the barrens looking for him? We don’t have much time.” Panic laced her words as she spoke.
“Calm down mama,” Shappa finally said. “I was out earlier and came across this foal you described.” They reached a branch in the tunnel, one curved off sharply and Shappa went down it. As Tempest rounded the corner and entered the tunnel, she found it wasn’t a tunnel but a dead end and there on the ground was Helios. He was munching on dried grass but looked up as Shappa approached. “Hey kiddo, you’re mom is here,” Shappa said to him, stepping aside so he could see her.
Helios’ face lit up at the sight of Tempest, “Tempy! You found me!”
Tempest gave him a relieved smile but said, “No, Shappa found you. I came to her for help in finding you. I made the right decision,” she said then she looked up at Shappa and smiled. “Thank you for finding him and taking care of him.” Tempest took the risk of revealing Helios to a black horn. She could have been wandering the barrens looking for the young foal, never finding him while he was here with the black horn all along. It was certainly humbling to know that even the “worst” of their kind could still be helpful. Shappa probably wouldn’t be counted as a friend but she wasn’t without her merits.
Shappa looked away, uncomfortable with the emotions swirling around. “I believe in learning to survive, but I don’t believe in doing it on your own as a foal. Adults should care for and teach the young.”
Tempest nodded, “Thank you, again.”
“You can go now. He’s had food and water so he is able to make the trek back home now.”
With that Shappa vanished deeper into the cave, leaving a relieved Tempest standing with Helios. She nuzzled him, her eyes closed just brief enough for her world view to change. As she reopened her eyes, Grandfather filled her gaze once more.
WC: 1,397 / 1,892
