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[This roleplay precedes the herd's arrival at Bass'ken Lake by about a week. Please keep that in mind. :3 If you're not part of the herd until they arrive at Bass'ken, your character would be rather out of place here.]

Moonlight bathed the forest northwest of Barton, where a herd of nomadic centaur rested in a round clearing. Tents were set up all around so that they could be sheltered from weather while they slept, but even in the darkness, the youngest children played, running after fireflies and bothering the adults. Resting by the fire was a young kentauride bay, waiting for her finest hunter to return to them with fresh meat.

Ganon cantered through the woods, weaving around trees. His bow was still strung in his left hand, an arrow nocked, and a couple of rabbit carcasses hung limply from a loop attached to the small supplies pack worn on his back. The road was close, he just had to find it in the darkness. He could hear the crunch of hooves nearby, and he slowed down to a trot, cautiously drawing back his bow.

[Blah, we've decided to use the chat log that led to this RP. =P]

He dropped his bow as the kentauride tripped, and it was unfortunately smashed in the ensuing mayhem. "Wh-whoa, hey!" His strong arms wrapped around her and he pushed her up to help her get stable, and without even a glance at his smashed bow, he gave her a once-over. "Hey there, you alright?"

She couldn't help but stare, for she had not seen one of her own kind for a very long time. She blinked again, swallowing, struggling to find the words. "O-Oh dear...I-I'm terribly sorry.." She straightened, but not enough to turn loose of his huge arms. She gulped when she noticed them.

His musk was strong, a centaur in his prime, maybe 25, maybe a bit older. He chuckled softly, glancing back at the game he had caught, and was glad to see it hadn't swung loose of the loop of wire. "Nonsense, it's fine..." In the moonlight illuminating the path, he could see the thin kentauride clearly, and he clucked his tongue. "My my... where is your herd?"

"H-herd?" She slowly backed out of his arms, slightly reluctant to leave the rich warmness of his embrace. "I...er, I don't have a herd." She looked down at the ground, slightly ashamed.

He blinked thoughtfully. "Don't have a herd... oh, dear..." He seemed to deliberate for a moment, then offered her a little smile and shook himself once over. "I am Ganon. Please, come with me, you can stay with our herd as long as you please, and we'll see you fed." It was plain to see the poor kentauride wasn't eating well.

She looked up at him, her blue eyes horrorstruck. "No, no..I uh..." She backed away a little once more. "It really isn't necissary.." She'd always been skiddish, but now she was downright hopeless after what had happened when she'd last had a herd.

He wasn't sticking around for her to refuse, it seemed; off he went, trotting down the path away from her, the fresh game ready to be cooked when he arrived with his herd... so tasty...

She turned, and watched him for a short while, before curiousity got the better of her, and she followed silently.
/Strange,/ She thought. /This one didn't grab at me as if I were a peice of meat,/
He irked her. Most males she'd ever known would've been outraged, and gone down on her in an instant, with no regard for her own decisions. She kept her eyes on him as they moved through the trees.

Ganon sped up to a canter once he was sure she was following, and soon enough they came to a clearing near Bass'ken Lake where a small herd was resting around a fire with tall tents pitched all around. There were calls of celebration as Ganon galloped out of the woods, and he glanced back to wave to Sonya, gesturing to her to approach the fire. He cantered close to Kuma and smiled, slinging the rabbits down. "We eat well tonight... But I'm afraid I need a new hunting bow." He chuckled, passing the rabbits to the cook and settling down by the chieftess.

The lead Centaur got to her feet nimbly before trotting over to Ganon. Her body language was lack luster and her movements forced. It was clear they had been traveling a long time merely by the expression painted in her eyes. A gentle sigh escaped her throat as she stopped in front of her champion, eying the meat with tired grey orbs.

"Of course, you do. You are good in the hunt, but you always seem to break your gear. I'll have one of our lead carpenters carve you a new one," she muttered helping him with the meat.

EDITED

Ganon settled down by the fire to help gut and clean the rabbits, passing them over to the cook one after the other, and it wasn't long before there was a line for meat by the fire. Ganon gave Sonya much of his share, and stayed by her side comfortingly. He was quite aware that she would be nervous in a new place, with a new herd, and his fatherly instincts were to be overprotective, even moreso than he was with the rest of the herd.

Yuritsuki came quietly to the fire, as silent to herself as ever. She stayed behind a bit to commune with the forest and thus had arrived late. Not being able to see anything, sun or moon, or even the stars, her sense of time was tenuous. She is often doing other things with no heed to the time of day or how longs it’s been since she started her activity.

The blind kentauride returned her bow to its place on her back and kneeled next to the fire. She could feel the fire’s heat warm her skin, and she remained as quite as a graveyard while she listened to the crackle of the lively flames.

“Do the stars shine bright?” she asked. It was a simple question, a vague window to Yuritsuki’s true feelings. This land was changing. Wars, rumours of wars, sin, pollution and forces at work she could not see or comprehend, but fully understood that it was changing the world around her. Like some child had taken a story book and doodled on its once clean pages. Things that don’t belong creating variable anomalies that erratically result in things that are so different to her. Whether for the intent towards something better or for something worse, it was all the same.

It was a stressful ordeal, one that left her worried and upset. With so many changes that she can’t see herself, was there still beauty in this world? And so, Yuritsuki just wanted to know: Do the stars shine bright? Is there still a heaven above?

“Is that so?” Yuritsuki said quietly to herself, though it wasn’t left unheard. She bowed her head in serenity, “So there is still a light in the darkness?”

Without any given thought or awareness, Yuritsuki gingerly ran her hand along Kuma’s arm until she found her shoulder. She rested her head upon it, tired and weary. Yuritsuki wasn’t visibly passive to the feelings of the heart, but her heart wasn’t visibly passive to the thoughts of the mind. Displays of affection were always unconscious.