[FIN] Obsession and Arrogance (Azelle and Fregit)

[mouselet]

It had been a year and more since he'd lost his most precious possession, but time had not dulled the edge of Fregit's hunger to recover what he had lost. The red of rubies, the purple of flowers, the silver of stars - his jewel was the most beautiful treasure in existence!

Now, he had finally found the trail of his stolen prize. It was old, and the scent was buried beneath hundreds as well as several inches of snow, but he had found it.

Unbeknownst to him, though, Fregit looked quite the sight. The purple feathers on his head were covered in the snow his nose was rooting through, chasing after the elusive scent. His long tail lashed out in excitement, creating flashes of purple almost invisible against the sunset shadows of the mountain path. It was his back that was most visible in the twilight, the yellow-green coloration standing out most in the growing gloom.

From any angle, Fregit appeared to be completely engrossed in the task at hand, oblivious to the world around him.  

[Epine de Rose]

She hadn't told her family she would be gone long, instead she had slipped away without much notice at all to explore the lands beyond the safe haven she had been raised within. She hadn't done it deliberately as she wasn't a particularly rebellious mare and enjoyed her home comforts. Instead her actions had been taken out of sheer curiosity at what existed beyond the line of trees. Oh she had heard stories on a regular basis but given the nature of the risks and threats regarding her family (and certain individual's aversions to them) she had never really been permitted to explore up until this point in her life.

Thus over the course of the last few hours she had soared across the open skies, dipping, twirling and performing a variety of aerial tricks to her hearts content. She was in no means intending to provide a show, the pleasure had been on a purely personal level but she would have gladly taken the compliments and admiration from others if there were any. Nevertheless she had landed after a while though, her hooves crushing the soft snow beneath their weight.

It had been a rather quiet day with little to see and few things of interest to note. It had been quiet, empty and she almost suspected that her parents had situated themselves in such a location on purpose. While it was clever this was a tad irritating for the mare who craved at least some chatter. She continued to dwell on this subject for quite some time and tossed the red mane from her eyes as she thrust through the snow and moved towards. She wasn't the largest 'kalona' in the world and took after her grandfather in regards to height but she could certainly lead a trail behind her.

By now she had assumed that it was highly unlikely that the would bump into another - so one wouldn't have be shocked to find that she was startled when the sweeping green form caught her eyes. At first glance he seemed to be a soquili, but the more she observed him the more she doubted this. For a start he had feathers instead of hair and secondly, his tail was very different from a typical Kalonas. So did this make him a mimick of sorts?

Ruffling her wings, the mare continued to muse over such topics as she observed his albeit unusual behaviour...  

[mouselet]

Yes, yes, here was the scent he sought! Still pure after all this time-

Wait. There was a scent that overlaid that of Fregit's precious quite closely! And it was not one he recognized at all. Yellow eyes narrowed and the Soquili slowly withdrew his head from the snow bank, thinking.

SOMETHING had happened to his most prized possession on this very path. Someone whose scent he didn't recognize was involved. Someone who - he flicked his snakelike tongue out to taste the air - was not here at all right now. Anymore, he wagered.

The stallion shook his head violently, revealing more purple feathers to the world and to clear his vision. He had tasted...something...on the breeze. Something or someone unfamiliar, but probably not related to his search.

Keeping a wary eye out, Fregit continued down the path.  

[Epine de Rose]

Not many soquili could claim they could taste a person just by waggling their tongues in the air. However Azelle remained oblivious to such abilities and could do no more than watch in fascination as the creature moved about. It looked almost like a soquili, yet the more it rummaged through the snow and the greater number of feathers that it revealed to the world made her doubt her initial assumptions. She had heard that there were unusual soquili in the world, cursed by spirits and any number of evil or corrupt beings to look quite unlike they were supposed to. That being said, this snake creature didn't make this information any easier to digest...especially with each flick of his tongue.

Her musings were made decidedly worse as he began to 'slither' down the beaten trails that lay beneath the snow. Her leather wings pressed more firmly against her side and with morbid curiosity she could do nothing more than follow him. Whatever the creature was, he seemed to be looking for something with a rather extreme level of interest. His insistance when it came to digging through the snow spoke volumes and left her with no doubt in her mind that he definitely wanted something and wanted it now. In a manner of speaking he almost seemed to be stalking a prey too! A pause here, a pause there, a rummage by his hooves... it really did bode to question what in the name of the gods he was after.

Pursing her lips mildly, she waded through the snow with a sufficient ease and disregarded the occasional quiver of her limbs. She had developed a decent winter coat as of late, had lived in too sheltered an area and while pride steeled her resolve that didn't make her any less uncomfortable when it came to the rather brutal temperatures that existed upon the slopes.

Urgh, she probably should have thought about that when she'd left!  

[mouselet]

The trail was old and faint, but it was still there. It seemed like the scent of his precious had gotten weaker...or had the stranger's scent gotten stronger? Fregit couldn't be certain, but his paranoia insisted on the former. He was trying to figure out what this could have meant for his treasure when he heard a sound behind him.

Whirling around and kicking up snow everywhere, the stallion turned to face the new threat. Dulled by the light and the shadow, he almost thought it was his precious...no. Not with those horns, those wings, those crude yet powerful markings. This mare was not at all his precious.

After Fregit's cold yellow eyes had determined that much, he returned to the scent trail. It was elusive and hard to keep track of...and damnit, he should have known from the smell that the mare wasn't his treasure!  

[Epine de Rose]

It was a good thing that Azelle was not a mind reader, had she known that he had called her markings 'crude' there was a good chance that her temper would have gotten the better of her. He may very well have found her horns latched firmly onto his side with little intention of release. Alas, she possessed no such skill and did nothing more than gawk (in the most lady like fashion) as he turned round to face her. His reaction had been so violent that she had initially braced herself for some form of hostility but this was not to be the case - he had whipped round but it was with a dissatisfied expression that he looked away once again.

It sparked a little bit of irritation in her, resentment that he hadn't even provided a greeting but had instead dismissed her. She was a 'patient' mare and could stand against many of those who lacked in etiquette but this went beyond that. Her cheeks puffed out somewhat in irritation and with a ruffle of her leathered wings she sauntered after the stallion or...whatever it was, with greater insistance than she had previously. In a manner of speaking it was a rather reckless decision but she had decided to give this particular individual the benefit of the doubt.

Surely he had a reason for being so rude!

Thus, it was with a nod of clarification to her own thoughts that the pair continued to wade towards the stallion. Her pace wasn't terribly fast, it was more casual than anything but until she had received a reason behind such behaviour (even if it wasn't verbal) she would continue to pursue until reasons told her to do otherwise. Generally speaking those reasons were related to violence but he had been more rude than violent; and looks could often be deceiving when it came to such creatures... She was deceptive herself, after all.  

[mouselet]

Fregit cast around for the scent once more and, having found it, continued following the old trail. He knew that at the end of it all he would find his precious once more...and he refused to lose that treasure again. There were ways and ways to prevent that from happening ever again, and he would find them all. Just as he would find his beloved gem.

A breeze from behind carried to him the scent of the stranger-mare-who-was-not-his-precious. She still followed him, and he did not know why. Did she know of what he sought? Or had she just happened upon him? If the latter, why continue to follow?

Bah, he couldn't afford to be distracted from his quest! And that was why the stranger-mare was here! To distract him, and to keep him from ever recovering that which he had lost! Well, he wasn't going to play her game. He wouldn't turn and fight and lose the trail. He would go on and ignore her. Eventually she would have to see he could not be deterred and leave! Tail lashing, the stallion kept his nose to the ground and kept going.  

[Epine de Rose]

He was definitely trying her patience, his decision to remain ignorant to her existence was already taking its toll. The vein in her neck seemed to twitch and she had to resist the urge to grind her teeth. Her lower jaw had tightened considerably and that kalona temper (which she preferred to surpress) was sneakily rearing it's ugly hate. Even the most 'evil' of soquili couldn't resist spitting a greeting, so why was it that this one refused to conform to any sense of social etiquette? It simply wasn't right, given that a mare of her beauty and elegance could be so easily ignored in the face of...what? He was starting to resemble a tracker hound with his nose stuffed in the snow to the point that he looked utterly ridiculous. Really, it wasn't as if he needed help with that given that he was already a wierd 'thing', did he really want to make it worse?

Furrowing her brow the mare opted for a more direct approach in order to calm her nerves and control her temper. Unfurling her wings, she gave them a few beats and thrust herself into the air, soaring over his head and coming to land neatly in front of him. She had deliberately chosen to land in the snow that he had been snuffling of course, eventually he would have to snuffle near her by the look of his current trail. If he was capable of ignoring her when he reached that point then...she'd just clout him, and she'd clout him in a manner that would make Lessia damn proud of her!

Folding her wings to her side once more, the mare tilted her head to the side and arched a brow expectantly...  

[mouselet]

The stallion ignored the sounds around him, focusing on the scent trail when there was a soft whumph right in front of him. Right where the trail went. Fregit lifted his feathered head to examine the stranger mare in front of him for a moment. She definitely had Kalona blood, but obviously not enough to be a threat, or she would have done more by this point.

She was not a threat and she was in the way. If he wasn't so concerned about recovering his precious, he would show her the folly of standing in his way. As it was, he walked around her and cast around to pick up the trail. She would not delay him. He burned with the need to reclaim his treasure, and he could not afford to tarry any more than he already had.

Besides, what was the stranger mare going to do, attack him? She didn't have the fangs for it.  

[Epine de Rose]

Oh Azelle had fangs they simply weren't as large as her mother's. In fact, she had quite a number of weapons at her disposal but she had better breeding than that and as such, was inclined towards acting in more diplomatic ways. So he had deliberately walked round her, snorted in her direction and pretended she didn't exist but she would prevail. Unfortunately this did nothing to silence her desire to clout him though, particularly as he gave a flick of his tail and began to snuffle with much more vigor than before. Whatever he was looking for must have been very valuable and her curiosity was piqued alongside her irritation at his lack of regard for her or the basics of etiquette.

Puffing out her hceeks, the mare unfurled her wings and began to gather the snow into compact little balls. One by one she stacked them at her side and when she was satisfied she had enough she gathered one into her wing and threw it forward. The ball careened through the air and without warning, slapped against his rump was a dull 'crack' as the now iced snow fell apart and slithered down his flanks. Her eyes narrowed at this, spurred on my the successful hit she prepared herself to fire another and growled.

"Didn't your mother ever tell you it was rude to ignore people?" she demanded haughtily.  

[mouselet]

Fregit's head jerked up as the snowball hit him squarely on the butt. Okay, that was it. Finding the trail would have to wait until he'd dealt with this annoyance. Now the stallion brought his full attention to bear on the mare, noting all sorts of weapons she possessed, from the horns on her head to her wings and the pile of snowballs next to her. He nodded to himself. The most she could do was bruise him with weapons like that. Whereas he...he would rip and tear her apart. A bloodthirsty grin lit his eyes, and Fregit hissed with pleasure at the thought, baring his snakelike fangs.

Somewhere in all this, he had almost forgotten about the stranger-mare's words. It would only be fair to respond before he attacked.

"I didn't have a mother!" he hissed, the words almost vanishing on the winter wind, so soft was his voice. If one thought about it, Fregit's voice sounded like he hadn't used it in a long, long time.

With that exclamation, the stallion lunged at Azelle, aiming for the flank that had no snowballs piled up, fangs out to rake her side.  

[Epine de Rose]

Over confidence was often another's downfall and while she didn't have huge fangs she did have them. Similarly, her kalona blood was thick and to assume she would cause nothing more than bruises would be an insult. There was something to be said for males that automatically assumed females were the weaker sex - afterall, kalona mares were decidedly more brutal and dangerous than their male counterparts. That being said, Azelle had inherited both her parents' battle prowess but it was as of yet untrained. She knew the basics and had used it every now and then while play fighting with her brothers, but when it came to actual fighting it was a different matter.

Lessia and Loveless weren't here to keep her safe.

It should have been of no surprise then to see the mare make use of her agility and as the stallion lunged towards her she darted to the side and thrust herself into the air with an almighty beat of her wings. Granted his fangs did nick on her side, scouring down along her flank and tail as she leapt into the air but her movements had been quick enough to avoid any major catastrophes. That being said it didn't stop her wincing as she moved out of his range and came to rest upon the overhanging ledge above him.

Suffice to say, she didn't have enough of an air current to take flight for an extended period of time without a run up and as such, was in for quite an awkward encounter.

"Well that's not my problem, if you learnt to talk then you should at least know the basics of etiquette!" She pointed out coolly.  

[mouselet]

Fregit hissed in annoyance as the stranger-mare finally put those wings of hers to good (tactical) use. Even so...he had tasted her blood, and it was sweet, even if she was not his precious.

On the side he entertained a brief fantasy where, having regained his treasure, he would add to it. Perhaps with this stranger-mare for one. He'd have to break her wings of course, to do it, but flawed gems were gems all the same, and those imperfections could be hidden by a skilled collector.

But, back to the battle. Now she stood upon her little ledge, taunting him. It seemed they both apparently had things to learn, though he neither knew nor cared what "etiquette" was.

"And who's to say I care?" he hissed softly, tail lashing behind him as he slowly backed up. Then, in a burst of speed and fury, he launched himself towards the mountainside, front hooves landing on two small ledges he'd noted earlier. He used the force to lever himself up high enough to snap at the stranger-mare before gravity pulled him back to the ground. The stallion twisted and landed on his side, but quickly stood up, shaking himself to get the snow off.  

[Epine de Rose]

If there was one thing that Azelle wasn't, it was another creatures toy. She was a proud mare, brought up by the finest parents in the world. Well, some might have called that an exageration but she was proud of her heritage and proud of what she stood for. She had been brought up to be strong, confident and content in her own form. She bowed to no one and as such the concept of becoming a prisoner or a collectable was laughable - he wouldn't be breaking her wings anytime soon and even if he got close to it she'd rip off his tail in return. Ah, as 'harmless' as she might have been in his eyes she still had bite to her and she would make him regret underestimating her. She had no honed skills but she sure as hell had instinct and wit on her side.

...He was just a beast.

"You may not care but the world does," she pointed out darkly, resisting the urge to squeak as he leapt up and snapped at her hooves. Needless to say she backed further against the cliff face to avoid his next lunge and furrowed her brow. This was definitely not one of the most comfortable position to find herself in. She could now fully respect why mother and sister were so intent on learning the art of combat and staying good at it. Really, their intervention in any form (even if it was a lecture) would probably have been received with gratitude. Her only foreseeable option at this moment in time was to make a run for it when the time arose.

Unfortunately that time remained to be seen and she couldn't help but grimace further at just how close his teeth were to her hooves. She hadn't really thought the distance through very well, had she? Ah, it was with a sigh that she braced herself for his second lunge and opted to wait. She could stay here for a little while but she was going to have to move - it was time she watched, waited and figured out a plan.

...Oi, all this work because of a beast, how unfair!  

[mouselet]

Ah, so close! He had almost been able to lick the snow from her hooves that time. He needed to get higher up, so that he could bite her firmly and drag her down with him. A remote part of Fregit's mind was aware that doing so would most likely result in broken bones for the both of them. The majority however giggled gleefully at the idea of incapacitating the stranger-mare in such an undignified way. Broken bones were irrelevant to the stallion.

The words being thrown at him from above were mere noise, and had no meaning or bearing on him and his actions. Already Fregit's throat felt sore from all the talking he had done. Clearly the stranger-mare thought so little of her words that she cast them away carelessly. For the stallion, words were tools and weapons that, once tossed out into the world, could never be retrieved. He believed in using them sparingly and with care. Already this mare had made him say more than he'd thought to.

Fregit backed up farther this time and, lowering his head like a bull, charged at the ledge once more. It was harder this time, and he barely got his head up soon enough to plant his hooves on the same little ledges as before. He was, however, able to propel himself even higher than last time, and he snapped at the stranger-mare once more, trying to get a firm grip on her.