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 Posted: Wed Sep 19, 2007 4:02 pm
Kal shivered a bit and nosed at a blackberry. Since the frightening kalona had left him, things had been silent under the soft sounds of rain on the forest canopy. When the rain had left, it had just been silent.
The little alicorn had cowered completely hidden in the patch of blackberry brambles since the previous afternoon, with his legs cramping and his white coat wet and plastered to his body, but he still showed no signs of coming out. The kalona had said he would be back, and Kal's ears flattened back at the mere thought of the white stallion lying in wait, ready to rip him apart. At least the scent of blood was mostly gone, the bite on his haunch was untreated but the night's rain had washed most of the blood into the ground. No, he definitely wasn't ready to come out just yet...
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Posted: Wed Sep 19, 2007 4:11 pm
Rain could wash away many scents, blood being one of them, but fear was not so easy to chase away. The wind had carried to him the scent of fear and it had made his brow furrow. It was his job to keep this neck of the woods safe and, as a safe part of the woods, there should be no fear in it.
Snorting softly he followed the scent, stopping just shy of a patch of brambles. His nose wrinkled... The fear was definately here somewhere. "You, wherever you are, you may as well come out now. There is no reason to be hiding. These woods are safe."
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Posted: Wed Sep 19, 2007 4:27 pm
Kal jerked his nose away from the blackberry he had been thinking about eating when his ears picked up the sound of heavy steps approaching. The fear that had been eating at him since the day before rose again, was it the terrifying white stallion back to see if he had moved?
He flinched back a bit at the voice, his movement causing the branches to shake and some thorns to dig themselves into his skin. It was a familiar voice, and it said things were safe, but he was still so afraid and couldn't remember where he had heard that voice before. Instead of following the voice's instructions he just stayed put and trembled.
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Posted: Wed Sep 19, 2007 4:32 pm
His ears flickered towards the sound of branches rustling, eyes narrowing slightly as his gaze shifted towards one particular bush. Somewhere amongst the darkness of leaves, thorns and berries he saw something white. "You really aren't hiding all that well, you know. Come out, lass... I would not say that the woods were safe without meaning it."
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Posted: Wed Sep 19, 2007 4:42 pm
Lass... Whomever it was out there thought he was a girl. It couldn't have been the kalona. The little stallion only hesitated a bit longer before inching out of the thorny bushes, only far enough that he could see gold hooves. Giant gold hooves. Now he remembered who the voice belonged to.
"I-it's gone? The kalona is gone?" Kal asked nervously, just watching Telikos' gold hooves.
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Posted: Wed Sep 19, 2007 4:52 pm
"Oh. It's you." He said flatly upon seeing the small stallion peek out from the bushes. Whatever his name was certainly wasn't a lass. There would be no sort of 'proper thanks' for rescuing 'her'. Horribly disappointing.
"Seeing as though I have yet to see one, I'm assuming that it hasn't been here for quite some time... Now are you going to come out and face me like a stallion should or are you going to continue to cower in that bush like a mare?" Oh, Alysida would have his head if she ever heard him talking like that... It was a good thing he had left her to go in search of Lady Luck who was, to his knowledge, still rather upset with him for the incident with Tapanga.
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Posted: Wed Sep 19, 2007 5:01 pm
It was impossible to miss the disappointment in the larger stallion's voice, and the disapproval in his words. Rather than disgrace himself further, Kal wiggled out from his shelter and rose on stiff, wobbly legs in much the same manner as a foal first struggling from it's basket.
"I-I was afraid he would still be there..." Kal said sheepishly, nearly falling over as he spread his wings and tried to shake the blackberry leaves off his damp coat.
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Posted: Wed Sep 19, 2007 5:18 pm
"Afraid. Afraid." He snorted as he shook his head, eyeing the smaller stallion over once. "It should be rather hard to miss the fact that you are part unicorn, boy. That horn of yours isn't just for decoration. It's for defense just as much as it is for healing."
Healing... Noting that the little one could probably use a bit of that he leaned forward, golden horn glowing with a soft warmth as he leaned forward to touch it to the other stallion's coat. "You can't go your entire life being afraid... Or, rather, you can... But that is not what a stallion should do."
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Posted: Wed Sep 19, 2007 5:26 pm
Kal ducked his head and almost skittered away when Telikos leaned towards him. He could still feel the fear that had kept him hiding in the bushes, and he had forgotten about his injury by the time his legs had gotten stiff lying there.
"H-he wanted to kill me," Kal stammered, trembling a bit as he spoke. "H-he was bigger and faster, a-and I-I kicked him once, a-and cut him, b-but he really wanted to kill me..." Surely Telikos wasn't suggesting he could have stood and fought, the little alicorn was convinced he would have been ripped to pieces.
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Posted: Wed Sep 19, 2007 5:44 pm
"Of course he wanted to kill you. He, as you said, is a kalona. Were you expecting him to do something pleasant like invite you out for a spot of fresh, spring water?" He snorted softly, eyes narrowing as he gave his head a light toss. "I have seen mares with better senses of self preservation than you. Hiding in a bush." He snorted once more, having little tolerance for such a display of weakness. "What makes you think he wouldn't have torn that bush to shreds had he wanted to do more than play with you? What if there had been another with you? Would you have left them as you ran or would you have stood your ground like the stallion you are supposed to be?"
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Posted: Wed Sep 19, 2007 5:53 pm
The little stallion seemed to wilt further under the accusing questions. "H-he tried... Th-the thorns... I-I... I would have..." Kal's voice just weakened as he attempted to protest. He wanted to say he had done the only thing he could, and that he would have been brave and stood his ground if there was someone who needed him to be brave for them, but it seemed so hard to actually believe as Telikos lectured him. It was probably easy for such a big stallion to be brave, but Kal was small, and still young.
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Posted: Wed Sep 19, 2007 6:05 pm
He snorted once more, shaking his head as he stepped back away from the other stallion... No. The foal. That's what this timid, quivering creature was proving himself to be; no more than a foal.
"I could accept something like this from a bird brained featherhead but you, boy are part unicorn and, as such, you have things to live up to. Moreso because you are a male unicorn... Even if you have those fluffy wings." Maybe that was it... Maybe it was the wings that had done this poor boy in.
"Aren't you even going to stand up for yourself?"
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Posted: Wed Sep 19, 2007 6:23 pm
Kal's damp feathers ruffled a bit. He had been told so firmly that his behavior was pathetic for his breed, and now Telikos wanted him to stand up for himself? What had he done that was even worth defending?
Finally he lifted his head a bit, almost glaring at the larger stallion with the same spark of anger he had the first time Telikos had commented on his size. "I had no choice! I'm not strong enough to just pretend I'm confident and can take on someone as bloodthirsty as that stallion was! All I could do was keep him from killing me, even if it meant running until I could find a place where I could keep myself safe! All I could do was survive!" Kal all but yelled at the other stallion, his voice breaking in the end, and he turned away to hide how distraught he had become.
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Posted: Thu Sep 20, 2007 4:51 pm
At that outburst he couldn't help but chuckle, giving his head another light toss. "Well, well... So you do have a spine somewhere beneath all of that fluff. It certainly took you long enough to show it."
That said he began to move, walking a slow circle around Kal. After a moment he leaned in, meaning to nose at the smaller stallion's wings with his nose. "Do those things work or are they just for decoration?" His brow lofted slightly as he stepped back. "They look rather useless to me... But if you're not going to act like a unicorn maybe you should start acting like a wind. I've heard they're good at taking to the air when dangered. With how small you are certainly you'd be better at manuevering than some big, clumsy, stupid kalona."
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Posted: Thu Sep 20, 2007 5:07 pm
Kal skittered sideways as the larger unicorn poked at his wings, which were still damp from the night spent huddled in the bushes. He didn't know whether to take the comment about his spine as a compliment or another insult so he just let it be.
"They are not useless, I can fly with them," he replied defensively, and then backed down slightly and lowered his tone. "I-I'm not very strong though, I wouldn't be able to outfly a kalona, and there was too much wind last night..." Kal's head started to tip back to a more self-depreciating angle. He couldn't act like a unicorn, and he couldn't act like a wind, so what was he good for?
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