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 Posted: Wed Apr 02, 2008 12:51 pm
Chuckling to himself, the curly maned-stallion stretched out his wide wings and gave them a couple of solid flaps before shaking all over; he hadn’t realized how long he’d been standing here just looking down until the stiffness had registered a moment ago.
It was, Dahak decided, probably all the thinking he was doing.
So much to organize; excursions to find plants that healed certain ailments and would save him using up his magic for every bellyacheie filly sent to him, a nice new slave to find for himself to celebrate his new status... Oh, and basking in the adoration of the masses, that too. Chuckling to himself, Dahak gave a last stretch of his wings before settling them back beside his flanks and peering down again to see if anything interesting was going on.
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Posted: Thu Apr 03, 2008 11:09 am
At first he couldn't bear to go find him out, and then he'd returned home to think. There he'd paced the ground into powder, and had found no solution and nothing but distaste. Perhaps it was the fact that his son was a shaman, and perhaps it was more entitled to the fact that Xla'Lanan's son had grown up and had taken control of his own life. His father could no longer guide him, and it was the last straw to break the Rit's back. Whatever the true reason, the Royal Advisor had left their small home as upset as Xla'Lanan could get.
It took him surprisingly little time to find his son. It wasn't exactly where he'd expected, but when he thought about it, it made complete sense. Of course Dahak would be watching his 'lower-life' companions. Disgusting.
"Basking in your glory, mimilia?" he stressed the final syllable, and it toyed with the prospect of sarcasm. "Have you forgotten your family so soon?"
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Posted: Thu Apr 03, 2008 11:22 am
The tall stallion turned slowly to regard his father and raised his eyebrows, lips pursed. Well, this hadn’t been quite what he’d hoped for... Still, no matter.
“To the first,” he said calmly, “think of it that way if it pleases you, trie, and to the second, of course not. I was planning to come to speak to you, all of you, once I had composed my thoughts rather than rushing in unprepared... I have never liked trying to leap into things before I am prepared.”
Though he had hoped that this would not be one of the reactions he got, he had considered anger a possibility from one or more of his relations. Perhaps he should have told them about his magic when it had first showed itself. Perhaps he should have told them, in passing, that he was receiving some help from Mordre and let the conversation lead itself from there. Perhaps he should have told them before the Queen...
But he had not. What was done was done, and he would just have to hope that his father would forgive him once he’d cooled off a bit. ...Thinking of it, hopefully it wasn’t his magic in itself that had the Advisor riled up. He had never asked his father why he disliked Mordre so, and it could well be the magic that had done it, or started it at least. Fear, jealously or simple dislike of powers he did not possess; could that have been the spark? Maybe. Well, perhaps he would find out soon.
“So,” maybe it was best to just be blunt, “you’re angry with me.”
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Posted: Thu Apr 03, 2008 11:34 am
"At the moment, Dahak, it does not please me," Xla'Lanan told him to the same effective bluntness that the young stallion had offered him. Rushing in before he was prepared? He expected Xla'Lanan to think that he'd been 'prepared' for Shamanism, and not 'rushing'? It seemed like a hyptocritical analysis to make.
"Of course I'm angry, Dahak," Xla'Lanan practically growled. "What other secrets have you bee keeping from us? Yes, there's an us to this family. Not just a you." Perhaps he was being too hard on him, but no, no he didn't want secrets being kept. Nasty, nasty things happened from secrets. His parents had kept them, he loathed secrets. If there was one thing that terrorized the stallions pompous nature, it was the simplicity of a secret. Mordre's name was secret. At leats Dahak was not an illusionist. If he had been, Xla might have gone over the edge.
"I suppose the Queen has accepted you with open wings, then?" He tried to tone it down just a bit. Even if he was infuriated, Dahak was still a Shaman now. He was still a valuable part of society, and he was still his son.
"Just," Xla'Lanan said with a sigh. "Be careful."
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Posted: Thu Apr 03, 2008 11:49 am
Dahak sighed and shook his head. “No, no other secrets... I just wanted to...” The young stallion frowned as he tried to organize his reasons in his mind. “Before I told anyone I wanted to be of some use. I wanted to be something that I could be proud of, that you could be proud of, that ute could be proud of... And yes, the Queen is most pleased, and I shall be most pleased to serve her, and this herd... Perhaps,” the tri-coloured Nequus gave another sigh, “perhaps I... made a mistake in not telling you when I first knew, or before now at any rate.”
It wasn’t easy for the proud young Jala to admit that he might have been wrong, but there, he’d done it. He had done what felt right for him at the time. Maybe he ought to have considered more carefully what would be right for his family but either way it was too late for that now. What was done, was done and he would just have to hope that the rest of his family wouldn’t be as pissed of as his sire was.
“If you believe nothing else I say, riruy,” the blue-eyed stallion went on softly, “believe that I never intended to make you angry by my actions, and that my family is now and always shall be first in my concerns.” Erg, the sincerity wasn’t easy either it was... Oh he didn’t know, it was embarrassing, almost, to say what you really felt and meant with all the word-dancing that usually went on in conversation. Bluntness was one thing, that he could do fine but the flipside of such honesty made him feel all squirmy and uncomfortable until he was sure that he wasn’t going to get laughed at or something over it.
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Posted: Thu Apr 03, 2008 12:13 pm
Well, he didn't know if he could believe that. He could try, but he probably wouldn't. Sometimes Xla'Lanan felt no use in trying. In fact, this was how he felt most of the time. Their Queen was pleased, but, from what he found, the Queen was particularly easy to please. In fact, as a Queen, she seemed rather slack in her ability to rule with authority. Easy to impress, easy to change. She had her moments of ferocity, but she seemed a coward. Granted, she was his elder and he would not speak such thoughts to anyone around him, but he would bless the day when Savit stepped down. The Katilenuck had grown lazy and gluttonous.
"I just wish you had told your family first," Xla'Lanan finally relaxed. The fact his son was not raising his voice in return helped mellow the situation. "At the moment if feels as though you don't trust us, either." They had not given any reason to keep secrets, yet he knew all his children had them. Perhaps it was unavoidable, but it did leave a void in his parenthood ego. What had he done wrong?
Xla'Lanan gave no movement at the last statement, though he felt a bit of relief reach his heavily weighted shoulders. Someone else, however, gave full record that they had heard the final.
"You better, because there's two very demanding sisters that require our attention." They, too, had gotten wind of their Shamanistic brother, and probably because Zara had told them. She did love throwing the rumors about. She was only disappointed she couldn't tell Xla'Lanan first.
"Daughter Zara," Xla'Lanan answered her shortly, "how long have you been standing there?"
"Eh, long enough," Zara answered, watching the tip of her feathered wing as she stretched it.
"It's rude to listen in on conversations not your own." His children were just darling. Secret keepers and eavesdroppers.
Zara, for the most part, ignored him. "So, Dahak-waru, Shaman, eh? Is this the grandiose thing you've been plotting?"
Plotting? The words wrung a little to harshly in Xla'Lanan's ears.
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Posted: Thu Apr 03, 2008 12:37 pm
Well, it was practically a bloody party now, wasn’t it? He turned to Zara with a raised eyebrow; little sneak. “And don’t I know it,” he said with a nod, wondering if he’d ever been quite as young as Xerris and Xu were right now. Perhaps, in some ways, he had not been.
Privately, he agreed with his father; the words he had spoken hadn’t been meant for anyone but the Advisor... but still, no matter. Zara, very... Zaraish though she was, was family and he had nothing to hide from her, not anymore at any rate.
“Yes,” the slender Jala went on after a moment, “this is what I’ve been working on.” The correction of her use of the word ‘plotting’ was subtle, but there all the same. He did not like having his life’s work thus far referred to as a mere plot; nothing so small and petty. Ha, he’d been working at this ‘plot’ since before they’d come to the herdlands for Jala’s sake. Plotting indeed.
Still, though it had been a long time coming but, his father’s anger not withstanding, it had been worth the wait. Now, at last, Zara was not the only member of his sibship to have done something useful with their life. For Xerris and Xu there was plenty of time for potential to show itself and bloom but for his brothers... Dahak sighed internally; they were his brothers and he loved them, especially Urien, but they weren’t very ambitious or promising at anything in particular, which was a pity.
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Posted: Mon Apr 07, 2008 11:00 am
Xla'Lanan, for his part, did not find his daughter particularily enlightening. Maybe it was because she was a female, but it was more likely because she followed after her mother and didn't do it for the right reasons. She'd been a spoiled child even if neither of them at realized it. Being an only child could very well do that to you. So she'd grown up with a selfish mindset. No loyalty at all. In fact, the only thing Xla thought that kept her tied to the Katilenuck was her upringing. She was an avid religious mare.
If Zara noticed the correction there was no comment on it. "Interesting," she responded instead. Her eyes gave him a steady look over. "You look like the same old boring Dahak to me." For the most part it was true. However, despite that, there was a bit of respect towards him weaving its way through her muscles. Perhaps, if one knew her well, they'd catch the slip in emotion.
"Demanding or no, Zara, they are your sisters." Xla'Lanan looked as though he was ready to smack his head against a rock. Softly, of course, as he couldn't risk losing his head.
"And don't I know it," she mimiced Dahak with a fake wrinkle in her nose.
It was Xla'Lanan's turn to ignore the out of place mare. "I suspect you'll have a fair amount of work after our force comes back from the outer lands."
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Posted: Mon Apr 07, 2008 11:16 am
Dahak snorted at his sister with a slight smile. He did not know her as well as perhaps some brothers did their sisters but he did get the inkling that her words were not entirely meant. “Thank you Zara, how kind of you to notice,” he commented, slight smile still hanging on his lips. Much as she could be very, very annoying at times he did still care for the blue mare, and indeed cared at least a little about her opinion of him. “I’m sure between the four of us,” he went on with a nod, “we’ll be able to keep our young siblings entertained.” He hoped so at any rate, last thing he needed was them somehow spoiling the family name out of boredom or stupidity.
...Those words had probably been meant for him hadn’t they? Of course. There would be injured soldiers a plenty if this herd of Reya was as big and bad as he’d heard muttered. Still, hopefully by the time they made it back he’d have got in a bit more practice, and improved a bit. After all, it would sully his reputation of too many of those hurt died or were crippled despite his intervention... And then there was the fact that he did actually care a bit about what happened to individual members of the herd, even ones he didn’t know. Just because they were peons didn’t mean they deserved to die.
“...Yes,” the tall stallion said eventually with a slow nod of his head, “I imagine I will... I’m getting an area of good soil prepared for healing plants that I’ve identified around and about. Even if I can’t heal all who need it by magic, I can pick out the herbs that could help them and work with the doctors the normal way as it were.” Hopefully, that would be enough. If not, he would just have to satisfy himself with having done his best... Ha, as if anything less than success, whatever he defined that as at the time, would ever satisfy him.
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Posted: Tue Apr 08, 2008 10:08 am
Zara's faced contained a light smirk at Dahak's retort. He thought he was so witty, and it was probably moderately true. "Well you certainly will," Zara mused, completely serious. "You could jump off a cliff or to and heal yourself. I'm sure they'll be enthralled by that prospect." Well, maybe Xu not so much. She was a bit of a lighthearted mare. Zara may have feared for her own safety more than necessary, but Xu took that fear and applied it to everyone. Soft hearted little twit, was what she was.
Xla'Lanan sighed at his son's hesitation. So his pride and his comfort at the prospect of being a shaman was a fallacy after all. He had guessed as much, and he knew that going into these situations without help left you feeling down and overwhelmed. Still, children these days seemed to want to do everything themselves. It was as if they were trying to prove something to the world, but they were going about it in all the wrong ways.
"You see, Dahak?" Xla'Lanan tried to press a point, which was not particularly the brightest of ideas. "As well as a plan is thought out, it is never set in stone. Your mother, for her part, probably taught you that. What was your backup plan?"
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Posted: Tue Apr 08, 2008 10:54 am
Dahak smiled politely at his sister, privately thinking that if anyone was going off a cliff it was her. “Something like that,” he said dryly before turning his attention away from her. Sometimes there was no point trying with that mare, there really wasn’t.
As his father began to speak again, the tri-coloured stallion frowned, confused. “My back-up plan?” he quizzed, somewhat bemused. Why would he have made a back-up plan? ...Well of course it had been possible that he might have failed but... But he’d never really considered it. “I didn’t really have one,” he admitted with a shrug, seeing no point in lying. “If things hadn’t worked out, I have no doubt that I could have found somewhere to put myself to good use.”
Bah, if only there wasn’t the prejudice against young males becoming tacticians he would have made that his back-up plan. As it was, however, none of the posts open to stallions had really appealed to him... save perhaps that of Advisor. Still, he and his father had never talked about that; by the time they’d headed back to the herdlands his course had already been set in his eyes, and he doubted very much that a failed magic user would have been Xla’Lanan’s heir of choice in any case.
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Posted: Tue Apr 08, 2008 11:07 am
Xla'Lanan probably would have much preferred his son failed and asked than his current position. He might have thought there was some lesson to be taught in it. Now, however, there was no failure and Dahak had made it through. Xla'Lanan could not curse him for being so certain in himself, because he had become a Shaman, and successfully as well.
He could, however, snap at Zara. "Speaking of your two siblings, Zara, you better get back before mother has your head. She's a busy woman. Do not keep her waiting."
Zara, for her part, did not even pause to frown. In a heartbeat she had stretched her wings and left Dahak's high point with a direction that may or may not have been home. It all depended on who she was stopping to talk to.
"Your mother's footsteps or no, Zara has too little to occupy her," Xla'Lanan decided with a frown after his daughter. This was why he wanted a son, and a decent one at that.
He returned very shortly to his son's question. "They say in any Jala's heart there lies only one job that will please him. I hope you have found yours." He shook his head, "And don't do anything stupid."
It was enough that he'd given Dahak that final warning, and that his son knew he was still very much upset with him. However, as much as he despised the prospect of Dahak cavorting around like or even with Mordre, he had to relent in this matter for the sanity of himself and his family. Displaying his full wing span, Xla'Lanan took a much more powerful leave of the facility. He didn't take a graceful launch like Zara had, but simply took off from his position much like a helicopter. It took a lot of consecutive wing-beats to do it, but the disgusted look that would no down fall over his son's face was probably worth it.
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Posted: Tue Apr 08, 2008 11:40 am
Dahak watched his family depart, raising his brows slightly at his father’s parting words. They were, the Shaman decided as the gusts Xla’Lanan’s wings beats stirred up ruffled his mane, bloody rich coming from him.
Still, Advisor and tactician were both gone now leaving him to himself.
The tall Jala peered over the precipice for a moment or two but, deciding that he’d had enough of watching for now, stepped off and spread out his wings. Given the conversation he’d just had, Dahak felt it was high time he hunted down the rest of his family and gave them the news. Assuming they hadn’t already heard it, of course.
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