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 Posted: Thu Mar 13, 2008 1:25 pm
 Akteon lifted his head, the antlers of his helm brushing the lowest of the tree's branches. His dark nostrils flared as he carefuly sniffed the air. It was spring, and with spring came new life. The stallion was stone-still and waiting in the shadows. Only the sparkle of his eyes peering from behind the skull gave away his position.
The trees were budding, but the shrubs that he watched had no leaves to lose in the harsh winter. He was sad to see the snow go, but it was the usual cycle of things. Now his position was going to be more important as he watched those he was meant to Protect - more by his own decision rather than a responsibility put onto his shoulders by another.
Another rustle of the shrub indicated that something was coming out. It might have been an Evil One, for they were becoming a more common sight lately, except that the cover was much to small. The Evil Ones could not successfully hide behind so small a shrug.
Plus, Akteon already knew who was there, who lived in the small den that was hidden so well.
A red fox peeked his nose out and sniffed the air himself. Feeling safe, the head poked out and inspected with sight. Still, seeing no alarm, he jumped gracefully to get past the fickle barrier.
It was then that Akteon shifted.
The fox was alerted, but seeing who it was in the shadows, simply yipped a welcome...and his mate, heavy with child, came out as well - though not nearly as well as the first fox.
Akteon stepped out of the shadow and lowered his head in welcome to the two vixens. The female came forward and curled up by his hooves while her significant other ran off to catch a meal.
Yes, life was good, and the expected arrival of young ones made it all the sweeter.
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Posted: Thu Mar 13, 2008 3:38 pm
She can't say what it is she's doing here, but it looks much the same, judging by what she can see from her current vantage. Old trees like these have a certain timelessness about them, maybe, but Kali herself does not, and much has changed for her. Her frame is no longer the small, lanky form of a growing filly, nor are her wings still short and flightless. She's not just bigger; she carries with her the elegance and grace of experience, acquired through what has probably been years of practice and habit. She doesn't even live with her brother now, as she had then, and there has been much laughter and heartache along the way. She has made friends, has fallen in and out of love, and has foals of her own, all grown and out braving the world themselves. The woods may look unaltered, but Kali looks very little of the child she had been here, save for that spirited look in her bi-colored eyes.
That part is very much unchanged, and it shows perhaps a little more than usual now, as she tears down the side of the hill from which she had been observing. The mare's wings spread as she kicks up her heels in a sprightly buck, then she tucks them tightly at her sides, and tosses her head as she settles back into her galloping stride. She does love flying, but there is a certain joy in running too, and she's certainly enjoying it now, heedless of the short length of her journey to the forest's edge. Well, almost heedless; she doesn't ignore it so entirely she bursts through the trees, and instead slows into a more manageable trot as she nears the end of the plain.
It's been long enough since her time here, Kali's clearly not as comfortable with her footing as she once was; she eyes the ground in addition to her surroundings, unlike her time in the open fields. Roots are not what they were, branches have moved, and obstacles have shifted and weathered with time, forcing her to devote more attention now than she had when she spent every waking moment traversing this forest floor. It's an element she takes to easily though; she's calm where a plains creature would be nervous and flighty, and her history here is at least partially obvious, even as she stops and cautiously tips her nose to the sky.
Mixed with the thick, familiar and harmless forest smells, there is another she does not recognize immediately. It's soquili, she realizes a moment later, and unfamiliar at that... Though this comes as no particular surprise; she knows she has inadvertently isolated herself to Elan and her family for some time by now. Kali does love them all, and her heart is not a lonely one, but she takes the presence as something of an available opportunity... For a possible acquaintance, at least, and paces toward its origin to investigate.
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Posted: Fri Mar 14, 2008 11:02 am
Akteon rested while the heavy vixen dozed at his hooves. His skulled head had his chin resting on his chest, neck arched gracefully with his tangled mane shifting ever so slightly in the barely apparent breeze. Looks were a bit deceiving, for his senses were about. The stallion listened for sounds that didn't quite belong. The chirp of the cardinal, the chittering of the squirrel - they were noticed but not a concern.
So when a sound of breaking wood sounded, his dark eyes opened. The only other movement was the shifting of his weight to alert the sleeping canine that he wanted her to wake up.
The unicorn waited, trying to decipher the sound - friend or foe? predator or prey? The scent came to his nostril, but all he could tell was a soquili, and not a unicorn, and definately female.
"Excuse me, miss?" Akteon's voice rumbled cordially. "Are you looking for something - or someone - in particular?"
He still stayed where he was, in the shadow under the tree, with a vixen groggy from her nap.
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Posted: Fri Mar 14, 2008 11:52 am
The thick trees and their heavy scent make the other feel more distant than he really is; it's something she knows already, and yet she still happens across him a little sooner than she really expected. The voice breaks the forest chatter just as its owner's form pulls into view, and Kali pauses, one ear twitching curiously.
He certainly sounds friendly enough. A moment later, she bobs her head in greeting, then pulls herself into the range of comfortable conversation. "No," she replies with an earnest smile once she's near, sounding completely undisturbed. "Just reacquainting with an old friend." If the forest can be considered such... In addition to fond memories, it harbors one of her worst too.
She doesn't let the reality of it taint her features though; Kali is still smiling. "I'm sorry, have I disturbed anything?"
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Posted: Fri Mar 14, 2008 12:05 pm
Akteon lifted his head, just as the fox waddled back to her shrub to give the two soquili their privacy. It was not her place to intrude.
The stallion watched her quietly and patiently, and when the vixen was gone he turned his full attention to the mare. He smiled politely as he bobbed his head in a more proper greeting. "No, milady, you haven't interrupted anything. Just a quiet moment. She deserves the fresh air and with her mate out she can usually not get it herself."
The unicorn stepped out of the shadows and turned a side-eye on the winged soquili as she stood in the dappled light of the forest. "My name's Akteon," again, that polite bob.
His smile broadened into an almost impish smirk, and in his eyes a sparkle came. One that alluded to that almost childish nature he sometimes acquired. "Aw, now, miss, surely you are not old!"
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Posted: Fri Mar 14, 2008 12:54 pm
Is that what he had been doing? Kali finds her eyes flicking back to the point where the vixen had disappeared, and has to drag them to him once she realizes it. "Well, I'm sorry to disturb it just the same, kind sir." Milady. Her ears have heard something terribly familiar before...
But, that was then, and this is now. The notion is a kind one, regardless.
Bowing her head at his introduction, she lifts it again to offer her own. "Well met, Akteon. I'm Kali." Exchanging names is so horribly formal and rigid though... She's grateful for the far less awkward distraction, and flashes an amused, and perhaps ornery grin. Clearly, she is not above joking, even at her own expense.
"Just between you and me," the mare starts, eying him as she lowers her tone. "I'm no yearling filly, either." And then she smiles more earnestly. "I should like to thank you for suggesting otherwise though!"
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Posted: Fri Mar 14, 2008 2:40 pm
Akteon flicked his tail in a motion similar to a human shrugging their shoulders. "No harm done, it was probably getting close to the time I left this area anyways. Her mate will be back, and with him a meal I would rather not have to experience."
His head cocked to one side and the other as the stallion shifted the skull helm into a new position. From being dipped so long, it had slid a bit - and unless it was in the right position it tended to chafe his more sensitive face.
He noticed her own amusing gesture, and Akteon's eyebrow - which was hiden under the helm anyways - arched in approval. When Kali lowered her tone, he leaned in as if they were sharing a secret. Throwing his head back, Akteon wore a face of mock disbelief. "Now, miss, I would never question the integrity of your virtue, in no way might I imagine that you were anything but the most honorable of mares." Of course, while the words were serious, the tone matched that of the amused.
"Would you be agreeable to a lowly escort such as myself during your travels, miss Kali?" Akteon winked agreeably - but not one that suggested anything but 'best behavior'.
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Posted: Fri Mar 14, 2008 3:05 pm
That she can relate with whole-heartedly. Kali has, over time, grown accustomed to a whole myriad of acrid smells, to include the overwhelming smoke of man's fire... But she's not sure she'll ever grow over the sharp, gut-wrenching scent of blood; the smell of the hunt. "I can't much say I would either." Not at all.
The mare is making an effort not to stare though, and overlooks the very distracting shifting to focus on his following remark, at which she feigns a look of hurt. "Nor did I intend to imply you would! - I mean only to say I am far from young, and am quite qualified to have 'old friends'." Kali lifts her head at the end, and jestingly huffs a haughty little sniff, as if to say she is of course nothing but honorable and virtuous... And that sentiment, at least, is mostly serious.
Little else of her seems to be though; it's not difficult to spot the amusement in her two-toned eyes. "What ever compels you to say 'lowly'?" She is sincerely curious, but there's an edge to her tone that suggests she's quite eager to disagree with him, if only he'll provide her with reason. Kali might even if he doesn't, but doing so would prove at least a little more difficult, and it isn't her first choice.
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Posted: Fri Mar 21, 2008 10:31 am
The stallion ducked his head down and looked at Kali from behind the helm. "Yes miss, yes," he nodded, cowed by her remarks. "I will not make just a dire mistake again. I do not need the wrath of Ms. Kali upon my head. Might end of breaking through my helm." The last was accentuated by a soft whicker.
Akteon cocked his head to the side inquiriously, "So who is this 'old friend'? Since we've deducted that you are not young, then it is doubtful the animals were childhood pals. So... does that mean....." the stallion pretended to ponder the moment, though he felt he might know the answer, "...the Forest?"
His dimeanor sparkled in his dark eyes. "Maybe humble is a more appropriate term. Raised by the Forest and the Denizen of the deep, though my mother was not irresponsible - simply too carefree to worry over a growing colt with a fascination of a discovered deer skull." Akteon winked and shook his head. The wines and knick-knacks in the antlers shuffled and rattled ever so slightly from the movement.
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Posted: Fri Mar 21, 2008 11:52 am
Kali laughs, a soft, mellow sound that lasts just long enough to convey her amusement. "No mistake is dire. Unless, that is, my impression we are all imperfect is a misconception. I'd say it's terribly unfair to call an eventuality 'dire'." She eyes the skull appraisingly, eventually giving a curt nod and an ornery grin. "Probably."
The mare watches his pondering quietly, and smiles when he offers his conclusion. "It does." Though she does not elaborate, her tone and posture don't discourage inquiry, and it's safe to assume she refrains for politeness. Kali has no desire to bore him.
"Maybe?" Her head cants very slightly, jovially to one side. "Either it is, or it isn't. I'll have no 'lowly' escorts, nor indecisiveness." Despite being an experienced and quite capable mother who is in truth quite practiced at sternness, this crack at it is in jest, and doesn't come across as very stern at all. "I wonder, though - why does he wear it still?" Kali allows her eyes to drift from his again, and peers briefly at the skull itself.
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Posted: Fri Mar 21, 2008 9:22 pm
The stallion chuckled, "Tou-che, madam! Well met!" Akteon laughed some more, though he didn't for a minute think that her wrath wouldn't actually made it through the helm. In fact, she probably could if she tried. For all intents of purposes, the will of no stallion could survive that of a mare. And that, he knew well... wasn't Paul a good example with that little flutter mare that demanded so much of him?
"Well," he looked up at the trees, all the way to the top. The antlers almost brushed his back with his head angles as such. "The Forest has been kind, but it also has a Dark side. Many creatures and fellow Denizens have passed under these branches." Now perhaps Akteon will look back to this day, to this Forest, and have a good memory. Who knows.
Pulling his head back to normal, Akteon smiled at Kali. "Well, then I will do my best to make you a proud escort." His flat teeth flashed white from the gesture, and then he saw that she was staring at the helm.
"Oh, it is nothing frightening. I've been told his hides my misshapen head, but I assure you there is nothing wrong with my face," Akteon winked - all the of the above was quite technically true. "I choose to where it - found it as a colt, and then just became used to it. Now, keeping it off almost feels like.... I dunno, if I let myself be shaved and then walking around without any protection..." Not to mention, ugh! How horrible that would be!
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Posted: Sat Mar 22, 2008 11:47 pm
She beams a grin at his remark. "And you." It has indeed been a pleasant start to a chance encounter; Kali couldn't have hoped for much better company after so long apart from it.
"They have," she adds almost somberly, something deeper flitting through her gaze. These are the branches her own mother passed beneath, and when it crosses her mind, she can remember it like it was yesterday... At least time has afforded her some peace of mind though. It will never be anything but a dark, sad memory, but she can recall it now without bringing tears to her eyes.
Her expression had sobered some with the more vivid recollection, but now Kali renews her grin. "I don't doubt you will," she says, jokingly encouragingly, not unlike a parent would bolster the confidence of its foal.
"Oh?" The mare passes him a sideways, skeptical, and entirely teasing stare. "A curious story you have there." She adds a disbelieving snort for emphasis. "Some day I should like to make you prove it. At any rate, I'm sure you could grow over the discomfort." Kali smiles sugary sweet encouragement, still blatantly jesting.
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Posted: Mon Mar 24, 2008 8:25 pm
Akteon walked forward carefully and gracefully. He didn't want to spook her, but he was also confident. When the stallion was next to her, he nudged her tenderly where her neck and shoulder connected. "Come, Kali, maybe we should move off a little? Not all memories are happy, and 'old friends' tend to know our deepest thoughts and feelings." His words were meant to be comforting and while he didn't know if just moving from this spot would help, at least walking could put the mind at ease.
But her grin returned, and he returned it sincerely. "Oh! Is that an invitation of a threat?" Akteon chuckled, his tail swishing side to side, catching the edge of a bush in passing.
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Posted: Mon Mar 24, 2008 8:48 pm
Kali stands where she is, watching him move with those bright, two-toned eyes. Whether it's because she is waiting for Akteon to fulfill his role as escort and take the lead, or because she is no stranger to the attentions of stallions and expects his touch is left to one's imagination, but it is in truth a little of both. She's not a flighty, fidgety mare, and allows him to approach, then offers an entirely sincere smile, and a slight nod. "The sad only make the happy that much sweeter." Her life has been built on this foundation; she might have broken long ago without it.
"Both," she says in reply, maintaining that look of teasing thinly veiled in earnest. "How am I to believe you otherwise?" The mare's tone suggests he's anything but trustworthy, with surprising matter-of-factness, but her grin still betrays her true intention. "Besides." Kali finally moves to act on his invitation, pacing one graceful step forward before peering sideways over her shoulder. "How do you mean to keep up if I were to go for a run, Sir Escort?" That's not to suggest she doubts he's capable, despite the cumbersome adornment... But it is meant to say she's more capable, even in jest.
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Posted: Mon Mar 24, 2008 9:08 pm
Akteon cocked his head to the side, "True true." His smile wasn't sad, just accepting of the facts. He knew he was lucky, for his life was not filled with sadness outside of the basic rules of nature. That, and it wasn't often that he let himself get too close to others. He was charming, cordial, polite, and even playful.... but to feel kinship with another, that was another story. The most painful thing that ever happened to him was to wake up one morning with a mother gone and a feather left in her place. Too bad unicorns were sometimes to flighty - his mother was no exception.
"Hmmmm," he hummed and eyed Kali. "Now that, my dear Kali... sounds like a challenge." Akteon's muscles twitched in anticipation. His eyes were bright with excited, and every signal he sent out meant how he could keep up if Kali were to go for a run. Nevermind that he could not fly, but oh... he could get pretty darn close! The previous conversation was all but forgotten. Akteon enjoyed to run, and was a master at avoiding trees, that was for sure.
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