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 Posted: Wed Oct 15, 2008 4:31 am
Castor of course hadn't been able to guess why his bodyguard had become so snappish all of a sudden, and so the scaled Reya had explained. Once he was aware of the situation, the crossbreed had been only too pleased to grant him a break from his duties. Ignatius gathered that the Master Tactician would be spending the day with the Herdleader.
The spined Reya grinned sharply to himself at that thought; he had very quickly become aware of the budding relationship between the two stallions, much to Castor's annoyance. He had, the blue stallion had said, been planning to tell Ignatius in his own good time. Much though he liked the lanky creature, Ignatius couldn't help being pleased at managing to put him out a little.
Still, he wasn't out here to think about his charge, or anything else to do with the herd for that matter; he was here to relax, and to find himself a fish for lunch if he could.
The tall stallion's fierce amber eyes alighted on a promising little stream with a patch of dappled sunlight by one bank. Peering in, he spotted a number of very tasty looking silvery scaled treats. Creeping up close to the edge, the horntailed creature lowered his head slowly until it was just above the surface. Then he waited for a fish to swim within range and tried to ignore the growing of his belly that encouraged him to hurry. There was no rushing fishing; patience was called for here...
A fish flitted a little closer to him, and almost before he'd registered this fact Ignatius plunged his head into the water to snatch up his lunch. Fish clamped firmly in his jaws, he snorted water out of his nostrils, backed up a few paces and settled down to much his prize. Holidays, Ignatius decided, were a very good thing indeed.
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Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2009 9:15 pm
 As much as Sanue enjoyed his privacy at the beach, he sometimes got tired of the saltwater smell and taste of the fish. Fresh water happened to be what his craving suddnely demanded, and though he disliked being around the air-headed, passive aggressive, bullshitters that lived further away from the ocean he couldn't rightfully deny his desire. He had been well over a few months since his last encounter with anyone, and well past a year since his first and last meeting with someone he might have considered a friend. He supposed in this time he had grown somewhat, for instead of sulking in the shadows trying to avoid eye contact with everyone, Sanue flew over head with an ill-tempered scowl to his fierce eyes.
The hippogriff figured, if his secluded ocean home could be invaded by a reya b***h that demanded his leave for no reason but his appearance, well then anyone else could just suck it up and leave him alone. That, or he just hadn't had a good fight in for too long. One got cranky when they couldn't beat the hell out of the world that had given them so much crap in the past. With a flick of his short, stubby tail Sanue glanced down at the small river system he had been following for the better part of the hour as soon as he had gotten into Yisi. It took awhile to find the better fishing spots in this area, after all.
Ah, there it was. The bank had a steeper decend, the width of the stream from bank to bank was enough to conclude the depth, and the water as always was clear enough to see through. Of course, his eagle-like vision didn't need any help in that prospect. From high up in the sky, where even his feathers seemed to be chilling over, Sanue gave a characteristic cry that should have belonged to either an eagle or hawk, and dipped downward to dive toward the water's surface. Fierce olive colored eyes locked on the moving figure of silver scales down below.
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Posted: Mon Jan 05, 2009 12:04 pm
The fierce shriek made Ignatius snort and start up from the remains of his lunch. A streak of grey was dropping down towards the river, and after a few moments of tracking its course, the scaled Reya grinned. Well, today was turning out to be even better than expected. He’d always meant to go back to the coast and tell Sanue about the Hellenes, partly just so that his fellow freak would be able to look him up if he wanted to and partly in case the strange Jala fancied joining up himself.
It would be rude to interrupt the beaked creature mid dive, and so Ignatius remained silent as the other stallion swooped skillfully down towards the water.
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Posted: Wed Jan 07, 2009 9:31 am
At this point in his dive Sanue had not the means to glance about him towards the shore or anything; for his fierce avian like eyes were glued onto the swimming figure down below. As he got closer to the crystaline waters and he was better able to track the path of the silver scaled fish, his feathered wings adjusted slightly and brought him straight on to where the fish would likely be in the next second or so. Diving, for Sanue, was no problem and he had no need to slow his decent the closer he got to the water; avian instincts quickly readjusted themselves for the situation. That he was aware of completely.
Calculating at what point he needed to do so, the silver stallion's feathered wings burst open like a flurry of startled birds, angling him off in time to skim the water's surface with a taloned foreleg. As he gave a flap to his feathered wings and rose from the water once more, he pulled two fish out of the water, one wriggling body for each taloned foreleg. Giving a successful snort to himself, the fierce-faced creature dipped his beak mid-glide to grasp the first wriggling fish and free his talon for a landing. The second one would be much more satsifying, as he planned on taking his time to enjoy that particular fresh water treat.
However, as his gaze traveled for a landing spot along the shore he came upon the brown and tan figure of a reya. And not just any reya. This one had scales, spines, and Sanue's hawk eyes couldn't miss the long tail he had so admired on their first meeting. "Well noooaarroow!" the stallion exclaimed, the loud voice bringing out the screaching of his nature. Normally the hippogriff spoke in a low tone to prevent that from happening, but this had certainly startled him. Pleasantly so. A flap of his feathered wings, a turn of his body and an angle to his tilt, and he was heading in the direction of Ignatius, checking the room on the shore for his landing and whether or not he needed to find another place.
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Posted: Fri Jan 09, 2009 1:06 pm
Ignatius gave a sharp toothed grin and roared a greeting in return before backing up into the tree line to give Sanue more space to land. How long had it been? He honestly wasn’t sure. It felt like both a very long time and only a sun or two, and so much had happened. He’d met lots of people, nearly eaten several of them for being stupid and or annoying too. Then there had been that gold-dappled Ichsa with the fire powers, and the wingless girl with the disgusting pink name and tail. Then the Hellenes. Ha, he’d even managed to subvert the rank and file of the warrior herd, kept his autonomy; technically speaking he answered to the herd leader and the captain of the stone force but in practice neither had any impact on his life. He was going to have a lot of things to tell Sanue. He hoped the freak-of-a Jala’s life had been as interesting as his had.
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Posted: Fri Jan 09, 2009 1:20 pm
Okay, no matter how comfortable he was with the scaled Reya, that roar still managed to raise his feathers along his neck. However, that was more of a reason to be interested in Ignatius than it was for the hippogriff to turn tail and bolt out of there. Ha, only idiots couldn't appreciate the voices of monsters; a term Sanue applied to himself as well. It didn't look like his friend had changed very much, but most changes happened on the inside now didn't they? He supposed he'd find out one way or another if such a thing had gone on, but either way it was still a pleasant surprise to spot the sharp toothed nequus on such a journey.
Coming in more slowly than he had for the dive, the feathered stallion flexed both his powerful wings into calculated beats that on one side brushed against the branches of a particular tree he didn't bother to glance at before. Bothersome trees, he didn't have to worry about them back at the beach. Still holding himself partly up with with widely outstretched wings, Sanue allowed his hind legs to touch the ground first, before easing his wings back into a fold against his back and allowing his free frontal talon to catch the rest of him. His other talon was pulled close to his chest, a fish still wriggling within his grasp. Greetings first, lunch later.
"I must say it's been awhile!" the hippogriff chuckled, eyeing the draconic tail he had taken an interest in at their first meeting. "Though admitedly I have not seen you around the beach in quite some time, how have things been away from it?" Just because he prefered his own seclusion, didn't mean he wouldn't enjoy hearing the tales of places other than Quirne.
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Posted: Fri Jan 09, 2009 1:40 pm
Ah, looked like he wasn’t the only one out for a nice scaly treat. Ignatius grinned at the other stallion, inspecting him more carefully now that he’d landed. The Jala looked well. “They’ve been excellent thank you,” the tall Reya said with nod. “I intended to return to the ocean after a brief trip away to make me appreciate it a bit more, but I ended up getting a bit... Distracted. I found a herd to join actually; the Hellenes. They’re a crowd of noble, well mostly noble, warriors and there’s nothing they like more than somebody who’ good in combat.” The scaled Reya gave a sharp toothed grin. “As I’m sure you can guess, I fitted right in. How’ve you been since we last met?”
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Posted: Fri Jan 09, 2009 2:06 pm
Sanue didn't exactly have ears to p***k to show he was interested in something, so instead the feather crest on top of his head rose; much like a cockatoos would have. This was interesting, he knew the reya had shared his opinions on non-freak nequus, so what sort of encounters had the draconic fellow before him have? He didn't have to wait long, however, as the mention of a herd came up. "Really now?" he couldn't help but be somewhat overtaken by surprise at that. He himself had a bad experiance with herd life, but more power to Ignatius if he found some place to accept him as is. From the explanation of its members he supposed he could see that, after all he imagined his friend was quite capable when it came to battle. Sanue's beaked muzzle clacked together slightly, in thought, but his olive colored eyes remained transfixed on the reya. Perhaps he was a little suspicious, maybe even jealous, but it was certainly interesting news.
How has he meen? "I've been well for the most part. Seldom ran into few nequus, but I've had some memberable experiances. Upon the same night I met a foe and ally, though regretablly I hadn't the means to maime the foe before she ran off on her own. Imagine! Trying to push me away from my own stretch of beach. I swear if I see her again she may not be so lucky," he paused shortly to recall his little service for Aitumn. "Then there was the other guy, didn't say anything about the way I looked just asked for help in keeping a look out for this green fellow. I'm not sure how that went when they met, but I haven't seen either of them on the beach since and its been months." Man, Quirne was pretty much deserted.
Briefly Sanue dipped his avian head to snatch up the rest of his lunch, flipping his head back again to swallow the wriggling creature whole. Scales and all. "I'm curious though, what sort of herd is this?" Curious, and somewhat jealous he supposed, but he was genuely interested in how Ignatius came about joing them.
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Posted: Fri Jan 09, 2009 2:29 pm
Ignatius snorted and flicked an ear. “Always annoying when you don’t get to main those who thoroughly deserve it... Now... The Hellenes...” Well, he might as well start at the beginning he supposed; it wasn’t an epic tale or anything, he probably wouldn’t bore Sanue to death.
“They were founded fairly recently; within my lifetime,” the scaled Reya began. “It happened when a herd made up mainly of Ichsa tried to push another herd out of their territory. The bonds within the herd had never been strong, it hard started from a few smaller ones I gather, so they nearly managed it. Then a Reya mare called Helen took command of the herd being attacked and got them to fight back more strongly, to band together. During the renewed fighting they all made lots of strong bonds and unusual couples; stallions with mares, Aeri with Jala and all that. Anyway, eventually the Ichsa were driven off, and Helen passed on leadership to a young warrior named Meleager before dying.”
Well, that had com out longer than expected but nevermind. “So, that’s the history of the herd and at present... Well they’ll let in anyone who they feel is worthy; powerful warriors, powerful minds; the biggest requirement is courage though. Their laws state that nobody is better than anyone else because of their blood, so crossbreeds and freaks like us are readily accepted into the ranks... Weirdly enough, they seem to be superstitious about black-coated Nequus; I believe that comes from a pair of black Bae that went around killing fruits and foals some time back, not sure if they’re still around or not but the Hellenes hate the colour. That said though, I’ve seen a good number of mainly black Nequus living there, and one of them’s a captain in their army so I don’t know what their issue is with it really... Hum, so, that’s the basics of it. The army is split up into six forces who all specialize in different things. Technically I’m in the sigma force; the last line of defence in the event of invasion but I don’t work with the main mark, my job is to look after their chief tactician. It’s nice,” Ignatius grinned, “means I don’t have to take orders from anyone, which was a bit of a grind when I first joined up.”
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Posted: Fri Jan 09, 2009 2:49 pm
"Indeed." He had committed the image of the offender to memory, and doubtless next time he saw her she'd get a good knock to the head for pulling something like that. Black coat, green membrane, orange markings on her hide. Yup. committed to memory.
He didn't get to hear many histories, much less any of particular herds, so it was quite interesting to listen to. However the most interesting of it all was the current situation that Ignatius had gotten himself into. "That sounds like a pretty nice setup actually. Although i must admit I'm quite like yourself, I don't think I'd appreciate being ordered around by a 'superior'. I have enough of that going on from random passer-bys demanding I leave their sights", he snorted and clacked his beak once more. Though before he went on he considered the other things Ignatius said about the Hellenes, his feathered wings rustling against his back as he did so. It could be worth a shot at least, if not a simple look into. "I suppose it has caught my interest though. And if it were to be any herd that I happened to consider joining this one sounds like a pretty decent choice. Perhaps I shall look into it- if they're accepting that is. Nothing more bothersome than be turned down due to such a thing." For all he knew they had all the members they needed, but he may eventually want to look into it anyway. It would be nice to be with nequus that accepted him.
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Posted: Fri Jan 09, 2009 3:00 pm
The tall stallion nodded his scaled head in response to this. “Yes, they’re always accepting new members, and I suspect if you tried you could find yourself a sweet spot like I have. After all,” Ignatius grinned, “we’re hardly just your average stallions. The Hellenes recognize and reward the talented, those who can do things others can’t. If you could find a relatively important tactician or ambassador you got on with you could probably get yourself a position watching their back; having a bodyguard seems to be catching on among those of the warrior herd that aren’t warriors themselves.”
It would be good to have Sanue around. Much as he was accepted and respected by his fellows he was still different to them; it would be nice to have somebody to go hunting with, and indeed even if Sanue were a normal Jala he would want the grey creature around. He was a friend, and Ignatius didn’t have all that many friends.
“I have to head back to the herdlands at sundown,” the spined Reya went on after a moment, “if you like you could come along and see what you think of the place.”
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Posted: Fri Jan 09, 2009 3:14 pm
Always accepting. Indeed that was much more inviting than 'you gotta come at the right time' or something of the sort. The hippogriff pulled the tips of his lips upward the best his could, for most of his muzzle was stiff; however the only truely hard part was the actual beak at the tip. He very much liked the way ignatius thought of the situation, they weren't just freaks, they were unique and not your average stallion. "Quite useful", he mused, flexing his talons into the soft soil. "Bodyguard or not, I see your point. There probably is a good deal laying around for me over there."
Of course he was still hesitant to actually believe something like that could just fall into his lap, but it was a very tempting offer. And he supposed he could try it out first before actually having to commit to something. If this so called herd turned out to be something he had expected from others, then he could simply up and leave. Simple as that. Yes, he could scope it out, and plus he already knew one its members. Agreeably he would prefer to be an a herd with his draconic friend, as Sanue had very little a nequus he could rely on for friendship.
Finally he gave a dip of his beak in indication to his decision. "I think I shall do that. I have nowhere else I need to be, and the seclusion of the ocean will always be waiting for me if ever I decide to go back." No need to go rushing back to it anytime soon, and who knows, if he found the herd of warriors agreeable he just may stick around.
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Posted: Fri Jan 09, 2009 3:32 pm
Good; Sanue would at least give the place a look over then. “Indeed it is,” Ignatius said with a nod, “and you don’t join the moment you show up. You hang around the place for awhile first, a sort of a trial period to see if you’ll fit in. If you decide you like it - I think I can safely say that there would be no issues at all about whether or not the people in charge of admittance decided you were suitable or not - you get formally inducted and then you can show off your stuff in the sparring arenas. The captains of the different marks watch out for newcomers and you’ll either get a straight offer from one or more or you’ll be recommended for further training. Again,” the draconic creature smirked, “I don’t see you having any issue in that area.” What force would Sanue do well in?... Oh, he’d be good for the alpha; Sanue’s flight skills were incredible to behold.
“We can head back that way any time you like actually,” Ignatius said thoughtfully. “Seen as I have the whole of this day off, if we get there a while before dark I can show you around a bit and introduce you to a few good folk I’ve met.” That way Sanue wouldn’t just be dumped in on his own; he remembered that hadn’t been fun. It hadn’t been frightening or anything, but not knowing how anything went or where anything was or who the important people were for the first several suns had been damned annoying.
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Posted: Fri Jan 09, 2009 3:47 pm
Oh that was much more up to pace. His wingblades visablly relaxed as the actual wing settled comfortably against his sides. He wasn't exactly too comfortable around large groups of unknown nequus, especially when they were known to be warriors. "I would hope not, and it has been awhile since I've gotten my claws into anything worth fighting, if anything I can look forward to the sparring arena," the hippogriff chuckled before quirking his beaked muzzle in the reya's general direction. "At some point it might even be fun to challenge each other to a little dual." Watching was all fine and dandy, but there was nothing like experiancing another skills first hand. Most assuredly Ignatius was an opponent he could look forward to sparring with.
There was very little considering involved before he made up his mind on the next part. "Yeah, I think that'd be like a good idea, I'd prefer to get my bearings first before wandering around." Though since this was his friend's day off, he didn't want to drag him back right away. "How about a little hunting first? I'm certain with the two of us we could probably catch larger, more worthwhile prey." Fish were fine, but he always did want to try something that would really fill his belly.
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Posted: Sat Jan 10, 2009 6:30 am
Ignatius grinned at that; his fish had been very tasty, but it would take more than one fish to make up for so many days of rodent and nothing else. “That sounds good to me,” he said with a nod, “we can head back in the general direction of the herdlands and keep our eyes open for some tasty flesh on the way.” He did hope Sanue joined up; it seemed more exiting the more he thought about it. Much as he liked most of his fellow Hellenes, there was something depressing about watching the poor saps munch grass all day. A friend who knew what real food was what he needed, and the Rits and Carris of the herd didn’t count.
“Well then, let’s be off,” the scaled stallion said with another grin. “The territories are a little way north of here; they run from the north-eastern edge of D’ob right up to the edge of the forests of Casa Tiner, so there’s plenty of space to roam around even within the borders. I can usually find a place to be by myself if I want to; the areas close to the Casa Tiner forests is less populated in particular.”
He thought the beaked-Jala would appreciate that bit of information; it wasn’t easy going from being a loner to being part of a herd, he knew. In his opinion, however, it was worth the effort to be a Hellene. Not because he considered them the most amazing and incredible herd ever as many people seemed to, no, it was to be around people who seemed to have half a brain and a decent drop of courage that made the place worth the bother of adjusting.
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