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 Posted: Sat Jul 19, 2008 4:37 pm
Auster had gotten caught in a thunderstorm. The large stallion had been returning home to his forest when the storm popped up from seemingly no where, attacking him on all sides. The rain was forceful, frantic, and had a sour intent to knock him from the sky. "Just a little further," he muttered under his breath, pumping his great wings harder as he tried to escape the torrential downpour. "Just a little further.."
But today was not the stallion's lucky day. With a rather large lap of thunder, the already needle like rain intensified, and along with a impossibly forceful blast of wind, he was batted from the sky much like an annoying fly. It was all the Angeni could do to keep himself from crashing bone breakingly to the ground. Throwing his wings back, he tried to catch a draft to slow his decent, working furiously to keep this from being his very last landing.
His efforts weren't entirely in vain, and he did manage to slow enough so that he was no longer on a course to certain death. His nostrils flared as he crashed into the tree line, knowing for certain that while he would survive, injury was unavoidable.
Tree branches scratched at him from all sides, and wind continued to throw his long mane about his head, blocking his vision. It was no surprise when he landed hard on the forest floor with a sickening thud and a jerk. He lay there dazed for a moment, then being the stubborn creature he was, forced himself to his feet and surveyed the damage.
One of his wings had been twisted and he had deep scratches from the trees that he had crashed into. He wasn't really badly wounded, but it was far more than enough to annoy him. Cursing under his breath, he moved through the forest, his twisted wing dragging in the mud. He was looking for a cave, a rock out cropping, an unrooted tree, anything that could provide some shelter from the storm and where he could nurse his damaged wing.
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Posted: Sat Jul 19, 2008 5:14 pm
 Stupid, stupid, stupid, the lightly painted mare thought as she stayed hidden from the rain inside a mountainous cavern. She'd gone off to explore for a little while, saw that the storm was coming, but hadn't calculated the speed of it. And so she was stuck. At the bottom of the mountain beneath where the rest of family was huddle safely in the herd lands above her. She hadn't even thought of flying back home and now, it was a tsunami outside. Her main and tail would be a wreck if she tried to climb up the mountainside in that!
And then she saw someone in the distance as she peered out the mouth of the cave. It looked like a wind, but the outline was strange different. Well, she wouldn't want to be stuck in this horrible rain for very long if she was that Wind, so she let out a very loud and long nicker in helping the other Soquili find their way to a dry spot. "Hey!" She closed her eyes and stuck her head out briefly, feeling the pelts of raindrops crash on the face. "Come over here out of the rain!"
She pulled her head back in quickly, her ears flicking back and forth in an attempt to remove the rain. It would be very unladylike for her to shake her head about. And think of all the time it would take her to set each strand back in place and removing them from her wings. She sighed heavily at the thought. Beauty always came with a price.
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Posted: Sat Jul 19, 2008 5:36 pm
It was hard to see anything in that rain, and the storm had made the sky so dark. Auster was certain it wasn't that late past noon, but the thick black clouds effectively blocked out the sun and it seemed more like midnight. Muttering darkly, he trudged on, gritting his teeth as every jerk and bump to his wing sent a stabbing pain up the limb and into his back. This was not pleasant, not pleasant at all.
He didn't hear her at first. The storm was as deafening as it was blinding. He had taken a few more steps, his course slightly different from the one to the cave, before he heard her, a faint voice over the wind. The Angeni froze, turning his icy eyes in the direction he thought the voice had come. It had.. sounded female. He snorted, more than a little tempted to ignore it and continue on to find his own haven from the storm. He probably would have done just that, if not for his wing and the force of the gale. With a resigned sigh, he changed course and headed for the voice he had heard.
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Posted: Sat Jul 19, 2008 5:51 pm
She stepped back, careful not to tread on her own pure white tail. And her eyes slowly got bigger when she saw he was not only a stallion, but one of the greater winds, the Angeni. Her eyes were a darker shade of purple in the lighting and she secretly hopped he wouldn't have noticed her gaping stare as she took in all of him.
He looked like a wind tossed yearling, his mane and tail a complete disaster, but his wing! Oh his poor wing! She felt slightly ill at the bottom of her gut that he would allow himself to get injured so he might not ride the wings for a few months. Her nose wrinkled slightly as she saw pieces of twigs and leaves sticking from his fur and feathers. Now she was thinking that inviting him to her present shelter hadn't been such a good idea.
"What a mess," she said softly, though it echoed around the chamber. She tsked a few times with a shake of her head, ruffling the purple and red tips wings at her side. "Would you like any help, Sir?" She'd been raised to give better respect to those with wings, even if they were a complete mess in appearance.
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Posted: Sat Jul 19, 2008 6:07 pm
He frowned as he entered the cave. It was a mare after all. Today really was not his day. At the very least.. At least she was a Wind horse, and not a ground mare. If she had been, he probably would have left. As it were, he heaved a great sigh and made his way to the back and far out of the reach of the rain, briefly wondering if he might get lucky enough that she wouldn't speak. Doubtful.
He had been about to shake some of the water out of his fur and mane and tail when she spoke. Looking up at her, his blue eyes narrowed. Did she have the nerve to insult him? Of course he was a mess, he had just been tossed around in a galestorm! "No, thank you," he said coldly, moving to preen some of the leaves from his mane. "I would like to see how you and your trivial wings would have fared if you had been caught midflight in that storm." He shot her a glare before resuming what he had been doing, his long black tail flicking and sending water droplets flying.
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Posted: Sat Jul 19, 2008 6:18 pm
So much for her being respectful, she stomped her hoof with a very indignant snort. "It was just an offer," she said turning to give him her profile, the light from the entrance casting the half he saw in complete shadow.
Windstorm gave her head a slight toss, moving the dampened forelock from her sight. "I wouldn't have been fool enough to have stayed in the air for so long. You should have seen there was a storm coming from your vantage point." And then she felt offending water land on her feathers and took a few side steps away so as not to get her wings doused if he did decide to shake himself. Nothing was worse than wet wings.
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Posted: Sat Jul 19, 2008 6:38 pm
"And it was an offer I do not need," he replied, wrenching a rather well embedded twig out of his mane and spitting it on the ground. He stomped on it contemptuously. Auster was a proud stallion, and he was annoyed enough that his appearance was less to be desired, he didn't need this mare reminding him of that. "As for foolishness, the storm snuck up on me. I thought I could make it, but the force was far greater than I anticipated. Unlike you, a regular storm wouldn't pluck me from the sky."
Shaking his head, he thrust his great wings out, intending to shake the water and leaves out of them. He stopped, however, at the wrench he felt from the injured one. With a hiss, he turned to look at it, glaring darkly. This was ridiculous. He couldn't even lift it to his back.
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Posted: Sat Jul 19, 2008 6:54 pm
"Just because you've got more wings than me doesn't mean you're any better," she spat venomously. "Once the wings are drenched, they become heavy and encumbering. Pretty useless no matter how many you have." She let out another huff in annoyance. It seemed she was going to be stuck with this pig-head until the storm had cleared. How she wish she'd just let him go on his way.
At the sound of silent pain he made, her head whipped back to gaze at him. It was never a good thing to see a fellow winged Soquili with a break, but there wasn't much she could do for him if he didn't want it. "From the looks of your wing, you've broken it. You'd have to see if a two-legged can wrap it for you. You won't be flying for awhile with that mess."
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Posted: Sat Jul 19, 2008 7:06 pm
"No? Then why can I fly higher than you?" He looked up from his wing, pale eyes studying her. She was a beautiful mare, if you cared about such things. As it were, he did not. At the very least, she wasn't dripping like he was.
Turning back to his wing, he sighed. "It isn't broken," he murmured, lifting it a little as if to prove that fact. It took all he had not to wince though. "I think it's just sprained." He snorted, looking out towards the cave entrance. The rain wasn't about to stop anytime, it was evident. With a sigh, he settled himself down onto the cave floor, nosing his wing in by his side. Broken or not, he would not let a two-legger touch his wings.
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Posted: Sat Jul 19, 2008 7:15 pm
She gave another unladylike snort and rolled her eyes at him. Carefully, she stepped closer to him and lightly touched her dark muzzle to the injured wing. She knew she was treading very dangerous water by invading his space without his approval, but the risks of a useless wing was a higher concern than his pride.
"Thinking and knowing are two different things. I'm going to check it myself and if it is, then you'll have to see a two-legged. We have one in my herd grounds that handles such matters should they happen. Wouldn't want you to become a feathered horse," she said quietly, her breath causing the feathers to move. She touched her muzzle firmly along his wing, feeling the bone under the muscles.
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Posted: Sat Jul 19, 2008 7:25 pm
His eyes watched her as she stepped closer, giving her a warning look. For now though, he didn't rise to attack or move away, he stayed put, his eyes never leaving her.
He snorted at her, but surprisingly, he let her check his wing. If he couldn't fly, he would be useless indeed. What was the point of wings if they couldn't lift you to the skies? Closing his eyes, he hissed as she pressed her nose along his wing, resisting the urge to kick her.
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Posted: Sat Jul 19, 2008 7:43 pm
And then she felt a slight bump where the bone should have continued to be smooth. It seemed to be a pretty clean cut, but her features instantly furrowed in worry and sympathy. She lifted her head just enough to look him in the eyes, had they always been that blue fire? "It's broken all right. Good thing the herd isn't that far away."
She turned her head enough for her mane to fall over her face, hiding for his next reaction to her words. "It's just up." Which meant he'd have to climb to get to their herd grounds. At least it would be the safest place for him, but wasn't the healing grounds also the expecting mother's? She couldn't recall since she'd been blessed with good health.
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Posted: Sat Jul 19, 2008 7:58 pm
His eyes snapped open at her hesitation. She had found a break. Gods be damned.. He'd have to find a twolegger to wrap it.
Glaring at her, he found the worry and sympathy in her eyes to be the most irritating thing he'd seen in his many years. He didn't want her pity, he didn't need her pity.
He started to rise. "No, it's fine, it'll heal on its own--" With a cry, he looked down to realize that as he had gotten up, he had twisted his wing backwards. His eyes widened. He hadn't noticed, and probably would not if the pain had not shot up the limb. With a gasp, he let himself fall back to the floor, grimacing. "How.. am I going to go up?"
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Posted: Sat Jul 19, 2008 8:19 pm
The pity was wiped clean into a scowl. He was behaving worse than a mule, but she was forced to take several steps back when he tried to get up. Her ears were still pinned back in anger. At least he wasn't a complete idiot.
"My grandmother had a grounded son that once lived near the herd, so there's a path we can take once the rain stops and the sun dries the rocks enough so we won't slip." She wasn't exactly amused that she'd have to show him the way on hoof. She detested walking.
Her gaze wandered over to the opening, listening to the light patter that could be heard instead of the intense patter is had been earlier. The storm was letting up, but there was no way the rocks would be dry enough yet. "We might as well stay here for the night and make the journey once the sun comes up tomorrow. That will ensure good footing." She looked back to him with a hesitant smile. "My name is Windstorm, by the way, since it seems we're going to be stuck together for awhile."
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Posted: Sat Jul 19, 2008 8:35 pm
The scowl suited their predicament more. He certainly wasn't smiling. He nosed his wing back in beside his body, gritting his teeth at the pangs of pain. With a sigh, he looked up as she spoke and nodded. He'd go, but only because he had to. And he would be sure to let her know that.
"Unfortunately, it seems so." He closed his eyes, settling in for the night. "I am called Auster."
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