[PRP] The Wanderer and the Warrior (Caelin and Nariko)

[Revolutionary Roniel]

Troubled, Caelin walked.

Though he had more recently given up on long range wandering he still found walking comforting when there was something on his mind. Something in the reassuring repetition of hoofbeats helped sooth him. This time, however, his problems were a little too weighty to be lost that easily.

Kalona blood. It used to be so black and white for him, comfortingly so. Kalonas were evil and those infected with their bloodline would inevitably succumb. Once he had met Mapiya's ward, Adour, that assumption had been challenged. She had the kalona's webbed wings, yes... but other than that she was no less demanding than a regular foal might be. He had gotten used to her, even gotten fond of her. Now, though...

She had been eating flesh. Mapiya herself had trained her so. That was a problem... that and her father, Hayagriva. The last encounter with him had almost come to violence and Caelin was all too aware of the potential danger that the large half-kalona represented. If it came down to a fight he didn't know if he'd be able to defend Mapiya. That troubled him too.

A sigh slipped past his lips as he continued to walk down the path. If only there was some easy solution to this...  

[Dixie]

Her steps fell quietly on the ground beneath her, her wings folded tightly into her body as she made her own path through the wood. She headed in no particular direction, she had no place to go, no business to tend to. At least, not at present.

She listened as the wind blew through the leaves and the birds in the branches sang to one another. Her face solemn and expressionless.

The wind picked up, just a bit. Carrying with it the scent of a stranger, not far from her location by the amount the wind carried. She stopped, her eyes peering out into the surrounding trees and bushes. A calm set over her, her body preparing if she happened upon a Kalona, or worse. Nariko rarely set out with the intention of battle, but she would not back down if the time arose that she would need her training to defend her life and honor. Her eyes caught a flash of brown and white in the distance, silently she stood and watched.  

[Revolutionary Roniel]

For the moment, Caelin was unaware of the angeni hidden nearby. His ordinary state of awareness might have given him a better chance at detecting her but his distraction did not allow for it. He had to think. He had to think of what was more important, the physical wellbeing of a foal or the moral wellbeing. If Adour would sicken without meat did they have any right in denying it to her? Bears and wolves too ate meat but that didn't make them evil...

But Adour wasn't a bear and had more choices than that. She had the choice of living sick or becoming what some people would consider monstrous. Did he consider it monstrous as well?

With a sudden frustration he lashed out. He stopped in his tracks and gave a sharp kick to the tree behind him. The sound of his hooves knocking on wood rang through the forest and his breath hissed out of him in tense gasps. There was no answer to this. None at all.  

[Dixie]

Ears flickering as the sound of his kick resounded through the woods around her. Nariko watched as the stallioned seemed to be quite irritated by something unseen.

Without moving, she called out to him. Best to make her presence known she thought. If it was a fight he was after, he'd have his hooves full with her. "I'm sure that tree deserved that." her voice almost taunting and cold.

Still, she did not move, awaiting his answer whether it be verbal or physical.  

[Revolutionary Roniel]

Caelin turned around slowly after hearing the voice. The last thing he wanted presently was some random and nosy mare.... but the sight that met his gray eyes was one that surprised him.

An angeni?

He blinked and looked at her four wings again. There was no mistaking them. Even though he had never seen an angeni before there was nothing else she could possibly be. The surprise drove some of his frustration away but his voice was still a little less than friendly when he replied.

"If the tree complains, I'll apologize." Caelin wasn't normally a sarcastic person but his current mood prompted it. He took a deep breath and managed his second comment with less ire but still a restrained irritation. "Is there something I can help you with?"  

[Dixie]

"One should never appologize," She shrugged and took a few slow steps forward. "Always be aware of your actions and the possible reactions. Never act without thought." She rambled a bit, it was just her teachings coming out. She often found herself repeating her lessons to others in situations, it was the only way she knew to 'communicate'.

She could care less that he was irritable, she didn't want to know why or try to offer any advice. Her answer was as cold and non chalant as his own reply. "I need no help from a stallion. Do I look weak?" Her wings all shifted quickly, a ruffling noise coming from the jolted feathers. She hadn't learn to play very nicely with others yet.  

[Revolutionary Roniel]

Caelin had to bite back several responses to the outspoken angeni before one that he decided to allow came to mind. "It was a pleasantry. I was trying to be polite." That was what he was trying to do now too... though his voice was still too clipped to be entirely sociable. "You don't look weak."

She looked... interesting. From her long and thick hair to the strangely human-like clothing she wore. Caelin wore decorations himself but nothing so drastic as hers. He found himself looking her over with less coldness and more curiosity. Did all angenis dress this way? He left his curiosity and his question unvoiced for now. He wasn't certain that she would respond well to questions.  

[Dixie]

"Pleasantries," she miffed at the thought of such. She looked over the stallion, his colorations were bold and unique, she hadnt' seen such on another soquili.

"You ought not pick on the defense-less, you know." she offered only a coy smile. More of a mocking statement than words of advice.  

[Revolutionary Roniel]

"I know. I don't." This one was hardly what he imagined an angeni would act like. He had always heard them described as paragons of kindness and virtue. What was virtuous about harping on him when he was in this foul mood? One of his forelegs raised and then stomped downwards again, a more physical manifestation of his aggravation.

He didn't want to bother with this right now but there was not much of a way to get out of it. He took a breath and tried to think of a way to make the situation less tense. "Are you new to this area?" It was a harmless enough question even if some of his dark mood still edged the words and he hoped she would respond pleasantly. If she didn't he wasn't sure he could keep from snapping out his irritation right back.