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 Posted: Mon May 12, 2008 9:03 pm
The storm from the last night had come and gone. It had struck in the hours that Caelin usually slept, waking him to lightning and rain. There had been no hope of sleep for him then so instead he began to run. Most of his days were spent running or walking through the endlessly changing scenery but it was rare that he traveled at night, rarer still that he traveled in such conditions. It was in times like this that soquili slipped and broke their legs or fell into steep sided ravines. Caelin hadn't been worried about that. If he broke his leg then it would happen and he would probably die. The chance of death never bothered him. He could die running but he could also die standing in place, victim to a passing kalona or skinwalker. If anything, life was unpredictable. It wasn't worth it to hide away for fear of dying.
His hooves beat a smooth rhythm beneath him. He had run all night and he was running again. The wind whipping through his mane had dried it as well and the sun brought out the red glints within it. He didn't recognize this place that he was but something about it teased in the back of his mind. He had never been here and had no reason to be familiar with it. It was likely just some type of tree he recognized, or that the clouds were similar to another day's.
Still, today he felt something else pushing him onwards... something different from the restlessness that kept him moving on other days. An eagle flew overhead, the one that sometimes he followed and that sometimes followed him. If he was an eagle he might be able to see what lay ahead but he had no wings, only the feathers that hung from his ear and tail. He had no wings so he ran on, blindly into what might be before him.
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Posted: Mon May 12, 2008 9:16 pm
 Mapiya sighed softly as she gazed out into the wet morning. The young filly, Adour, that she had taken to rasing had woken her up terrorfied. The older mare couldn't get back to sleep and instead simply watched the storm race across the sky. It had stirred up memories she would have rather left dormient. Of stormy blue eyes and a laughing spirit....
She shook her head frantic to dismiss the thoughts that had began to fill her mind. Mapiya hadn't though about him in years, not since he had left them alone.
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Posted: Tue May 13, 2008 12:31 pm
The feeling was stronger now and it only pushed him faster. A trot turned into a canter which turned into a gallop. The wet landscape flashed past and the eagle overhead strained to keep up. He caught a glimpse of motion and startled deer ran from his path. He splashed through a brook flooded from rain and kept going. He ran and ran and ran until abruptly he came to a stop.
The eagle shot by him and kept flying, crying out in either triumph or farewell. Caelin watched as it disappeared into the distance. The sweat sheened on his fur and he gave his mane a toss to cool himself. It was quiet this morning. The birds seemed to be waiting for the world to dry before they would emerge. Through that silence he thought he heard a sound, movement. Ears pricked, he began to walk quietly towards the source of the noise. He wouldn't be staying in this area for long but he also wouldn't stay in it without knowing what else was there with him.
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Posted: Tue May 13, 2008 1:07 pm
Mapiya's heart nearly tore her chest as the eagle cried out, startling her from her musing. A weak chuckle slipped from her as she shook her head. She hadn't thought about him in years and now everything was reminding her. Shaking her head again she stubbornly pushed the thoughts away.
She slowly moved away from Adour, careful not to wake the little filly as Mapiya trotted towards the stream, perhaps she could find some berries for their breakfast. As she sun warmed her blue coat she began to sing softly, an old song of her childhood.
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Posted: Tue May 13, 2008 1:33 pm
As he was taking another step forward he heard noises more clearly. This time, they were different. This time...
He was humming along with the tune before he realized just who was the last person he had heard it from was. The song died in his throat and seemed to catch there. It wasn't... it couldn't be... Thoughts and emotions raced through his mind too quickly to catch and he stood stiffly in the grass while they did so.
It was likely no one he knew. He knew so few people that he couldn't possibly have run into one here... especially not her. He stood there until his thoughts and heart settled, only then taking more steps forward. He would see her for himself to calm his mind. She'd be someone he had never seen before in his life.
"Hello?" he said quietly as he approached so he wouldn't startle the unseen mare. "I'm passing by and was-"
He had come out of the brush and could see her clearly. Her gray mane blended into the cloudy sky beyond it and her golden eyes shown through like the sun through those clouds. It was Mapiya.
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Posted: Tue May 13, 2008 2:07 pm
Her heart stopped as the voice reached her ears. It...God no...please no...... He was dead, he had to be dead.... But she could no more have -not- turned to see for herself, than she could have flown. Striken gold eyes met wide stormy blue as his named spilled from her lips "Caelin...."
Memories stormed her; soft noises of the basket beside her own......a long legged colt that gambled about with her and her twin sister......a comforting warmth and soothing voice beside her when she trembled during a thunder storm....Her heart breaking when her father told her that he was gone and it was because of her...
Last time he had seen her, she was barely more than a yearling. Her mane was short and bushy, her colors muted and dull and she had been all long legs and stumbles but her piercing gold eyes were still the same.
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Posted: Wed May 14, 2008 11:03 am
It had been so long since he had seen her face but it hadn't been long since he had thought of it. Caelin remembered the home he used to have and the home he had lost when apparently he wasn't good enough for her. The emotions still left from that experience had always fueled his desire to run and wander... and had also fueled the coldness that he could feel seeping back into him at the sight of her.
What could he possibly say to her after all this time? What did he want to? He tried to calm himself but the tension was still there, working it's way through him in a stomp of the hoof, a flick of the mane. He looked back at Mapiya who he had once thought his closest friend. Instead of that broken friendship, his eyes were distant and his voice was tinged with bitterness.
"Mapiya. I would have thought you'd have stayed with the herd."
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Posted: Wed May 14, 2008 3:35 pm
Golden eyes widened then narrowed as she tossed her head, her mane flying. He had left her...and now he showed up again and dared to question her.
"I'm sorry Piya pet, he is gone... He said that he wanted to be free and was tired of everyone clinging to him." Her father's eyes had been sad as those cruel words broke the young filly's heart. But...Cae loved her...he had said so....
"You do not know me Caelin, so do not presume to know my mind and habits." Her voice was cold but under that was the pain. He had broken her heart and almost single handedly taught her that stallions were not to be trusted.
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Posted: Wed May 14, 2008 7:32 pm
He had imagined all the things he would say to Mapiya when he saw her again but had lost them over the many miles he had traveled. Now that he saw her again... all he wished was that she was someone else, somewhere else. He didn't want to say anything to her and didn't want to be here. Already the wind tugged at his mane, calling him. Soon it would pull him away, away from her again.
But never far enough.
"You're right." He spoke with a quiet edged voice. "Thinking I know you is a mistake I've made far too many times. I'll try not to make it again."
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Posted: Wed May 14, 2008 7:41 pm
This was not suppose to hurt damnit all!! How dare he make her hurt again. Her blue stripped ears disappeared flat against her skull as she narrowed her eyes. She tried to ignore the tears that threatened her eyes.
"And just what is that suppose to mean?"
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Posted: Wed May 14, 2008 8:24 pm
Seeing the act she was putting on, Caelin almost turned and walked away right then. Seeing her act again... disgusted him. He had already fallen prey to it once before and had been paying the consequences ever since. His own ears sank back with the anger he was trying to repress.
"It means that-" He stopped when his words came out sharp and hot and when he started again they were once more distant and cool. "It means that I know now not to assume anything about you. That is all."
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Posted: Wed May 14, 2008 8:34 pm
Mapiya shook her head again her gold eyes torn between rage and hurt. She finally sighed closing her eyes "what are you doing here Caelin?"
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Posted: Wed May 14, 2008 8:46 pm
Caelin snorted brusquely at the sudden change. What was she playing at by accusing him then backing off? Was she trying to catch him off guard? His ears unflattened and he made efforts to make his stance less aggressive but he wasn't any happier than he had been. He was still confronted by someone he had thought and hoped to have left far behind long ago.
"I'm not here intentionally. I'm just passing through." It sounded like an excuse but it was the truth and he had said it. She could take what she would from the words.
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Posted: Wed May 14, 2008 8:59 pm
Of course...he wouldn't be here to see her.... She sighed suddenly tired. " Well I am sorry to have disturbed your journey then. Feel free to go, you were always so good at it." Bitterness filled her tone as she turned and quickly trotted back the way she came wanting to be well away from the pain and memories.
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Posted: Wed May 14, 2008 9:13 pm
After all that... she was the one who left first. Caelin had still been mentally and emotionally staggering from seeing her again and now she was gone just as quickly. It was better that way. The more he talked to her the more chances old scars had to tear. Now he could turn his back on her and forget all about this, forget again and get lost in the wind... the wind that even now stirred his mane.
The eagle circled overhead. It had come back sometime while they had been talking but he hadn't noticed until now. Caelin watched as it turned in the sky, angling itself away from him and letting the wind carry it towards... towards her again.
Why? Why would it fly in that direction?It was just a bird. He knew that. It was just a bird but it had always symbolized something more to him. Caelin watched it fly and listened to the retreating hoofbeats of the one he had known and loved so long ago. In that moment old emotions woke with a pained passion that left his breath hissing through clenched teeth.
It had been so long and he had gone this far. He would not let her just walk away from him. From standing he burst into a gallop and tore after her to make up for lost distance. "I'm not finished talking with you!" he yelled when he caught sight of her. "Stop running away and face me!"
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