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 Posted: Thu May 17, 2007 6:20 pm
Traveling was his hobby, his passionate days of trotting along a beach or roaming a mysterious forest of lush greens had sent him nowhere. For the past few years Shadow had wandered in all directions of the nequus lands, seeing all he could've possibly seen, and yet there was one spot the stallion hadn't ever stepped hoof into. His birthplace, the birthplace of all nequus, the lands that bore fruit for all no matter their type...the one place he'd never see. Well that's what he had thought until recently. For the first time in quite some while Shadow shyly meandered into the lands. Trees of all shapes and sizes stood around him, some were small and looked weak and dying, others stood tall and proud with a sense of a life to continue forever.
"I wonder..."
Shadow muttered loosely under his breath as his pitch black eyes peered around at all the trees, noticing in the distance one in particular. This tree was different, with leaves of a greyish tone the tree stood there, alone and cold. Chills went down his spine as the male focused on the tree, it looked oddly familiar altough at the time and point he couldn't place a finger on it's similarity. Suddenly it came to him, it looked so much alike the mare he hadn't even crossed his mind...
'This must be Lee's tree. It's got to be, same markings...same odd tones and a sense of cold and strong just like her...'
Walking slowly around the tree itself Shadow admired it's patterns and it's sound. This tree was truely something different for it had a sound so soft it felt like a whisper as it echoed in his ears. He stopped to think for a second while taking another short look around the tree, he thought about why he'd come here now in the first place. Something made him feel as though this place was calling him, and closely looking at his journey here it occured to him the sound to which the bells made had indeed directed him here, to her tree.
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Posted: Sat May 19, 2007 11:53 am
 She never thought she'd be glad to see a stallion. It was odd, though, Libra considered as she trotted over to her tree, that she wasn't surprised to find Shadow the exception.
"Hello, Purple," she said, her tone gently chiding him for something as yet unspoken. "You found my tree, then? Looks like your sense of direction wasn't far off. Follow me: there's something over here you need to see."
Leading the way past some unknown trees, the grey mare considered her position. It was a fair old mess and no mistake, but at least it was Shadow and not some other sod. Shadow she could deal with. Oh, she didn't trust him, but she could work with him. Not that she had much of a choice right now: it was either work with him (read: persuade him to work with her) or die. She wouldn't have the strength to support the fruits and defend herself at the same time.
Her. A mother. What a coup. Somewhere, Murphy was laughing his arse off.
"Well, Shadow," she said with grim amusement as they came into view of the new tree, "you'd better start congratulating yourself. Not only are you going to be a father of four...but you also managed to knock up a lesbian."
Four dark fruits hung from the branches of the tree. They looked, if you turned your head and squinted, distinctly like a mixture of the two Bae standing nearby.   
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Posted: Sat May 19, 2007 2:54 pm
"Hello again Lee, yes...something I need to...what? I am, I did...you're ki-"
The stallion's black eyes widened at the sight of the small fruits hanging securely from the tree branches above them. He must've stuttered at least a few times over before his jaw dropped. His purple coat and tan wings shuddered as his eyes continued to remain glued to the fruits. Indeed there were four, some that looked like Lee, and another with his colors. He didn't even know where to begin or what to say; after all it was still hard to comprehend.
'F-F-Four?'
'You stupid idiot! You weren't supposed to...she's a lesbian? Sweet.'
'F-F-Four? I'm a..a..dad?'
'Ha! You knocked up a lesbian, go you! Lets see if we can wat-...'
Deterring from his inner thoughts the air around him seemed much colder, chills drifted all over his lengthy body. Shadow hadn't ever met his father, or mother for that matter, how then was he supposed to be a father. What was a father? What were parents? He had no idea, and yet something within him urged him to find out. Finally taking his eyes off the fruits the dark stallion turned to look at Lee, her stance and tone seemed rather calm considering the situation they were placed in. Swallowing harder than he had ever in his life Shadow let out a deep sigh,
"So…what do I-, er..We do now?"
Never had he thought this would happen. He wasn't ready to be a father, and why'd it have to be now. He had so many plans, so much things to be done, traveling to be made…and all without foals to tag along.
'Oh god, they're going to be foals. Aren’t they...'
'You're a stupid b*****d aren't you; of course they're going to be foals. Jesus does someone have to explain everything to you? When a mare and a stallion...'
'Alright shut up. I get it, freaking arse.'
Another clash broke out into Shadow's already messed up mind. This time however, and for the first time in his life it wasn't about females. It was about foals, kids, children to which he already couldn't stand. How was one so, uneven as himself expected to care for not only the fruits but also their mother. Lee! That was right, after all she was their mother, what was he supposed to do for her? The stallion paced as a draft of wind whipped his mane out and then let it fall again, repeating this quite a few times. Eyeing the fruits as he came closer to the tree he wondered about so many things. It wasn't like he wasn't strong enough, but he had no knowledge of raising fruits, or of having whatever it was called, a family? No. This was sure to end poorly, what good was a set of four little animals running about after them, there'd be no more hurling himself in front of danger, no more chasing dim-witted woodland creatures smaller than himself, there'd be nothing of the sort.
Blinking back a look of sheer confusion Shadow ambled away from the tree and back to where Lee stood, he still fixed his eyes on the four fruits. They were tiny and looked rather comparable to both nequus, and worst of all, one looked like him.
"Oh dear."
His voice looped with sincerity and astonishment the stallion just stood, allowing all the world to pass him by for in this moment, he knew that his life, their life...would never be the same again.
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Posted: Tue May 22, 2007 9:02 am
At the stallion's words, Libra snorted and shook her head. "We? Hah. I can't tell you what we're going to do, Shadow. I can tell you what I'm going to do, though, and I'm going to make the best of it. They're my children, totally unexpected and highly inconvenient though they are, and I'm not about to just up and walk away. Besides, I can't. I'd die if I left here now. I might well die anyway, given I'm so small. But you have a choice. You can still walk away from this. You can still escape."
It wasn't like her to be so altruistic, especially not for the benefit of a stallion. Something told her she'd rather not cage him, though, even if it meant risking her life. If he wasn't willing to help her, better he just left now. She would raise the children alone if she had to. That was how it had always been, her for herself and with no ties to anyone.
Not that she could help being somewhat tied to Shadow now.
"If you don't want to be a part of this," she said, her voice uncharacteristically gentle despite the undertones of bitterness, "you can leave. I won't try to stop you. But the fact is I could...really do with your help, and so I'll ask you just once to stay and help me deal with this." She sighed, touching the nearest fruit with her nose. "I won't lie and say I wouldn't hold it against you if you left. I'm good at holding things against people, and no good at forgiveness. But you don't need to care what happens to me or what I think of you, do you? Chances are we'd never see one another again, and even if we did you could probably make meat of me without breaking a sweat. ...So the choice is yours, Purple, whether you like it or not. Are you with me?"
It would make her life easier if he said yes, but it was odd to realise that she didn't just want him to stay for convenience's sake. She was actually starting to like him, in a strange and twisted way, and she wanted to explore that a little further while she still had the chance.
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Posted: Tue May 22, 2007 3:09 pm
"You're right, I could leave."
His head lowered looking at the grass for a brief moment before raising his head again to look back at Lee and the fruits. He knew in all honesty that the mare was very well aware he hadn't planned nor taken to the idea of raising any sort of family. However it was not only his duty to stay by her side considering she was now the mother to his first born foals, but also she was a rather insteresting animal all in herself. The mare was far from ordinary which made Shadow wonder just how much he could learn of her, and even more importantly, how much he could learn from her. Listening to her finish up he looked somewhat stunned that she had asked something of him,
"The thing is, I will be here for you and for our foals. I don't want to escape, if I plan to take more adventures...maybe I could take them on adventures with me, and..."
Stopping for a short breath Shadow felt like he was getting too far ahead of himself, afterall they were but fruits and he barely knew Lee. Giving a time to collect his own thoughts the dark stallion's left ear twitched twice and he continued talking, a soft and honest tone driped from each word he spoke.
"I'm not going anywhere. I will be right here."
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Posted: Sat Jun 09, 2007 4:01 pm
Her nose was still resting on the fruit as Shadow finished speaking, and as he had made his intentions clear her eyes had fallen closed with relief. With his help, she might just make it.
"...Thank you," she said softly. "Truly. I don't often find cause to thank people for things, but...well, this doesn't exactly happen to me every day." Understatement of the century. "...Well, I suppose all we can do now is wait. And hope. And, in my case, eat."
Turning from her unborn children, she offered their father an encouraging look. "Best thing you can do for now is scout out the area. I've done what I can, but I can only go so far from the tree - see what the food and water supplies are like, check for neighbouring trees, dangers, all that. You're a traveller; you know your stuff. And if you can find any apples or anything that'd be a bonus." She had a feeling it was important to help him feel useful. "...Oh, and...given the situation, I suppose it's appropriate to tell you my name. Lee - it's short for Libra. ...Just so you know."
She doubted he would realise that, in revealing her gentle, feminine full name, she had expressed a great degree of trust in him. It felt good to have done it, though.
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Posted: Thu Jun 14, 2007 6:56 am
The stallion's dark eyes stared out beyond the tree, over a few blades of grass and around a few different trees. The place appeared safe, and yet he knew all too well the dangers of the world, this of course made him a little hesitant about setting out to scout. It was somewhat tempting to stay around the odd tree and admire the beautiful fruits that lay from it, but Shadow understood that babies would take a lot from the mother, and considering how far she could go from this tree, it was better for him to find food.
'Apples, apples and anything else I can find...that won't rot in a day would be good...'
Pondering what to get first he turned his head back to Lee. He smiled, attempting to show his appreciation for her allowing him to know her just a little better, although he hadn't much to say to it.
"Libra is a very nice name. Well then, I think I've decided on a excellent tree I saw a little ways back...full of apples. I'll get some and bring them back for you first, then see if I can't do a bit of scouting....."
With another, softer smile the dark purple stallion turned to take one last gaze at the tree, and the fruits before taking off slowly but steadily in the direction he came. As he wandered off in search of some food his ears and eyes were wide, making sure there were no dangers closing in on Libra or their fruits as he left. With no apparent dangers in sight, and with no unusual scents in range Shadow felt a little better about leaving for the time being, trotting off his mind thought about how the mare had thanked him, it had certainly been a while since someone did that.
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