[PRP] The last journey (see inside)

[Revolutionary Roniel]

((This RP includes: Avalokiteshvara, Scythe, Karma, Alyna, Parnasabari, Maitreya, Revyra, Auspicious Adagio, Devastrigarbha, Vivace, Phala, Shrivatsa, Kakumei Tenjou, Nirvana, Bodhisattva, Auva, Hayagriva, Mittrei, and Samsara. ))



The road they walked grew narrower and narrower the further they proceeded. The pass was well known to Avalokiteshvara, though she had not traveled it in many years. She knew that the time had come for such a venture for herself and the Padmapani herd. Though she had only so far discussed her intentions with Scythe, this would be her last journey as the alpha of the herd. She had somehow grown very old in the past six months. Gray hairs now dotted her fur, especially around her eyes and muzzle. She even thought she could hear her bones creaking as she moved, but she admitted that might be a product of her imagination.

She decided on her successor some time ago. Once this journey was over, she would take aside Shrivatsa and tell her of her new responsibility. In many ways the mare was still very young for such a position, but so had Vara once been. She will grow into it. Vara told herself. Shrivatsa, without any confidence as a foal, had blossomed into an intelligent and capable mare. The real task would be opening her eyes to her own potential.

Smiling, Vara glanced over to Scythe who walked beside her. He wasn't as young as he used to be either. Maybe she'd try to convince him to let Haya take over the Protector duty fully so that they could retire together. It could be their own romantic vacation.  

[Dixie]

The proud stallion walked along, his pace much slower than what it had once been. The years, and duties, had taken their toll on the mutant. As he walked along side of his mate, he cast a loving glance at her. Though she was beginning to show her age, he was more in love with her now than he had ever been. He knew this journey would be her last as Alpha to the herd, and as much as it pained his pride, he would be fully stepping down from his post as the herd's protector. His body could no longer handle the demands of the job and Haya was more than willing and ready to take over.

He cast a glance over his shoulder to those following behind. Did they know what today would bring? Probably not. After many discussions, Vara had chosen her replacement. The time had arrived for her to learn what destiny had chosen for her. Shrivatsa had much to learn still, but, Vara would be there to help guide her when she needed it. The herd would accept her without hesitation, as was their way.

Turning his attention back from the group, he once again looked over his mate. Even with the silver beginning to shine through, she was stunning. He too had begun to show outward signs of his own years passing. His blue had begun turning pale, and he was unable to hold up his wings as high as he use to. It would be good to finally get a break and not have to worry about the safety of their herd.  

[Revolutionary Roniel]

Karma walked alongside his mate, Alyna. He wasn't exactly the youthful figure he once was but was still as healthy as he could wish for. All around them strode his grand-children and great-grandchildren. He had once never been quite certain he would even take a mate but now was blessed with an abundance of family beyond compare. He looked with admiration to Nirvana and his brood of singing beauties. They were rarely all in one place as they were now, and it was an impressive sight.

Wonderingly, he looked ahead to where his parents led the herd side by side. He sensed some feeling of significance about them that he didn't believe was just for the trip. He somewhat expected that Vara would declare her successor officially once they arrived, as Scythe had declared Hayagriva to be the next protector several years ago. Still, Karma wondered if that was all. There is nothing to it but to wait, I suppose. He turned his focus back to the road ahead, and to the mare that was the love of his life walking beside him.  

[Revolutionary Roniel]

Maitreya flapped slowly over the herd, making sure not to fly too fast and leave them behind. He didn't know where they were going so had to make certain not to lose sight of his family. He wasn't the adventurous type and shivered at the thought of being lost in the middle of nowhere with no idea how to get back home.

From his vantage point he could see the patterns in the array of soquili beneath him. The resemblance between families was obvious. The blue color of Scythe ran its way through the herd, with some cases of Vara's gold or other colors shining through. Many of them had wings, such as himself, but it was only him who chose to fly at this particular moment. The mountains were truly majestic as well. Looking at them almost took his breath away. He realized that despite all his attempts at capturing the beauty of nature in his sculptures and other artwork that he was a mere amateur when compared to the real thing.

I will never create a work of beauty such as this, he thought, though not in sadness.  

[Revolutionary Roniel]

Adagio squinted and looked up at the soquili flying above the herd. She couldn't quite tell who it was, silhouetted against the bright clouds behind them. She didn't think it was one of her many siblings but couldn't be quite sure. She sighed a breath of envy while still watching skyward. Though her wings had long since grown back their feathers and healed, she still was reluctant to fly. She would do it for short periods of time or at low altitudes but would never be as comfortable in the air as before the skinwalker Samsara attacked her. In the back of her mind she carried the fear that if she strained her wings too far then they would fail her. Though they might seem whole and healthy, she couldn't imagine that they weren't damaged permanently by the mauling.

She nuzzled at her ferret familiar to console herself. Coda was a warm presence wrapped around her neck. He didn't have long enough legs to keep up with them for long treks, he had told her. She smiled fondly at him upon seeing his slow blink and yawn. She had woken him up but couldn't bring herself to feel poorly for it with how cute he was.

"Are we there yet?" groaned Coda, shifting to a comfier position.

"Not yet, little dear one," she murmured to him. "I'll tell you when we are." Mollified, he went back to sleep and Adagio resolved not to wake him again until they had arrived.  

[Celestial Requiem]

Deva knew exactly who the one flying overhead was. Hidden by the sun as the other may be, he could tell by the shape that it was Maitreya. What kind of brother would he be if he couldn't tell his sibling from everyone else? He could have been up there with Maitreya, but he felt better being close to the herd. It was easier to sense how they were feeling, and to ease the minds of any who may be worried. Thankfully, everyone seemed rather calm for now, relatively speaking. Of course, in the back of everyone's mind was Samsara but he had learned over time that there was no way of completely exercising that demon from their thoughts. There was only one way to be free from her terror, though he wished there was another, less violent option.

Looking ahead, he watched the alphas of the herd with reverence. They may have thought themselves old, but all Deva saw were two astounding leaders. He held the utmost respect for them, though he may not have known them as well as the rest of the herd. They were strong, and because of that the herd was strong. He was confident that they would be able to overcome the trails that lay ahead of them. But for all his empathy with the herd, he couldn't tell what the two of them had in store. As far as he could tell, those two would continue to lead the herd for years to come.  

[Katjive]

Alyna was never happier than when she was surrounded by her family. Her children and their children, and all the rest of their large extended family; they were all here. This herd, at its core, was about the family ties that bound them all together.

Seeing her children filled her with so much pride she felt like she could burst. Her children were wonderful in their own ways, and now most of them had families of their own. Looking at all the younger ones made Alyna realize her own age. But she was not so old yet, she decided. She didn't feel old, so she must not be old. Besides, she had a lot more living yet to do.

She had begun to live, to really live, after she met the colt who was to grow up to be her love. Fate had taken them both down separate paths for a long time, but ultimately had bound them together. And so the earth fell in love with the sky, and Alyna couldn't think of anywhere she'd rather be than by Karma's' side.

She knew that there must be something important about this trip--such a journey never was unimportant, she knew that from her own travels in her youth. But she didn't mind so much what the importance was. She loved traveling and seeing new places--and old places, too--and she loved Karma, and so her heart was perfectly content.  

[Nisshou H]

Vivace followed close behind his sister Adagio with his braid wrapped around his neck like a scarf and his wings tucked up to his side. He could see how much she wanted to be in the air or at least he suspected that was what he was seeing. Still, for all intents and purposes he was glad she was on the ground with him. He could fly it was just an interesting and often times hazardous experience. One second he'd be looking at the scenery and the next there would be a wall of hair. Besides, this way he had someone to talk to if the desire struck him.

Rather, someone easy to talk to.

He glanced toward the rear of the herd where he could just make out the dark green head of his sour puss of a cousin. Phala was about the only company he'd had for the better part of a week. Vivace was glad he didn't have to walk next to him for this whole trip. He would have arrived emotionally drained and dead to the world if he'd been forced into that.

Now he'd just arrive after having stared at a constant reminder of what had happened. Maybe this hadn't been the best choice after all?  

[Nisshou H]

Phala's first thought upon hearing about the journey had been 'do I have to go?' Trekking across mountains for an undetermined amount of time with the herd was probably the last thing he wanted to do. What had convinced him? Shri was going. And so he found himself at the very back of the herd glowering at their backs. He wished that Shrivatsa hadn't gone. Then he could have stayed in his own little corner and continued training. That seemed to make up the bulk of his days, wake up, train, have some food and drink, train some more, sleep.

He preferred that over this and would take it any day. Actually there was a chance that he could turn around and no one would even notice he was missing. They'd be talking about the trip to him like he had been there the whole time. Phala sighed and muttered to himself, "Why'd you have to go with them Shri?"  

[Nisshou H]

Revyra found this entire trip to be a bad idea in light of recent circumstances. While they had increased the amount of training in self-defense that went on she didn't feel that was enough. Wandering out of familiar territory left them at a disadvantage and it was a big enough one that she had been on edge ever since they departed.

She found herself moving back and forth down the edges of the herd. Her eyes kept to the trees looking for things that seemed out of place. She trained her ears to listen for anything outside of the herd. Every time a wind blew her way she would stop and breathe deep hoping to catch any unusual scents. So far there had been nothing and she imagined she was probably making a few of the more sensitive members nervous but she didn't care.

Another wind picked up and she stopped in her tracks and turned to face it inhaling as much as she could. Her eyes narrowed. Something wasn't right. There was something on the wind that hadn't been there the last time. What was it?  

[Revolutionary Roniel]

Shrivatsa followed behind Vara and Scythe. She was there both because she felt close to her great-grandmother and wanted to be near her, and because she was avoiding her mother. Bari had always been a little off for all the time Shrivatsa had known her, but she was only getting worse. Shrivatsa couldn't exactly determine what it was about her mother that made her so uncomfortable now, maybe the way that when she smiled her eyes looked feral.

Troubled, Shrivatsa tried to think back to her training to distract herself. Her weeks spent with Regulus were some of her fondest. She had been her own person then without family and a potential duty hanging over her head. She was proud of all she had learned under his mentoring and had even started to treat some of the injured soquili of the herd when they needed it. Yes, that was a much more comfortable topic to think about rather than her mother, or rather than the skinwalker that she had just narrowly avoided being killed by.

Shrivatsa frowned nervously. What had brought thoughts of the skinwalker into mind? Probably just a passing thought, she told herself. It was probably nothing... it had to be nothing...  

[Revolutionary Roniel]

Parnasabari neurotically tugged at the strings that bound her special treasure to her, making sure it was tied on securely. She didn't want to lose it. It was her most precious item and she couldn't bear to lose it. One bit of white fur showed through the wrappings, betraying the contents of her mysterious package. People knew what it was. It wasn't like it was a secret. It just wasn't something Samsara wanted everyone's eyes upon.

Inside the package was the pelt of her dead familiar.

Sukha the fox had died protecting Bari from Samsara and in that moment some last vestige of lucidity had cracked in Bari. She laughed at the jokes said by the soquili next to her, but then she nuzzled at her package, possessive. This pelt, it gave her power. She thought of those that had terrified her, Hisoka and Samsara had both almost murdered her. The pelt connected her to them. They both had pelts and now so did she. She no longer had to fear them, she had become like them. She was a kindred spirit now to murderers. For the first time in years, she felt safe.  

[Revolutionary Roniel]

Kakumei Tenjou scuffed boredly along the outskirts of the herd. He was simultaneously tired from walking all day and frustrated with the slow pace that the herd was setting. He had been running around and jumping on rocks until one of his mommas had told him to stop. He sighed and squinted through the herd at his siblings. Maybe they'd give him something to do. He was considering this when he spotted Grandpa Glissando.

Grinning, he began to bound over, only to stop suddenly. What was that? He peered closely at the ground and noticed something interesting in the mud. "A paw print!" he exclaimed to Aunt Padmasambhava. It was such a big paw print it had to come from a mountain lion. Aunt Padma didn't seem to care, so he left it behind. He'd talk to Grandpa Glissando instead. That was bound to be fun!  

[Revolutionary Roniel]

Nirvana barely managed to avoid being run into by one of the foals of the herd. "Don't run off a cliff!" he chuckled after the wayward foal. There were no cliffs in view but one never could be too careful where sudden drops were concerned. Nirvana smiled peacefully. It was a wonderful day and he felt truly blessed to be in the midst of such lovely company. Symphony was there, his lifemate and more beautiful every time he saw her. A warm smile came to his face while looking at her and it grew stronger when he glanced over his children.

He knew he must have been practically a Bodhisattva in his past life to merit such joy in this one. He was practically grinning by now and he knew he must seem inane to those not privy to his thoughts, but Nirvana wasn't one overly encumbered by dignity. In fact, he was so unconcerned with appearances that he decided it would be a fine time for a song. Unlike Symphony and his beloved children, Nirvana's voice was nothing to be amazed at. That didn't stop him, and he cheerily began to sing.

"Be kind to all your friends and family
Be kind to cats and butterflies and trees
Don't hurt the fishes swimming in the sea
Here is what the Buddha says to me"  

[Revolutionary Roniel]

Bodhisattva stared at her legs in dismay. She was utterly covered in dust. Summer was the dusty season, and yet in the middle of winter she found herself covered in it. That was the penalty for too much travel by ground. She had done some flying throughout the day but was resting her wings for the time being. Not even she could stay aloft endlessly.

Hearing her father sing, she gave a wince and a grin. Even though he could barely carry a tune it never stopped him. She thought about singing along but her throat was too dry for it. If she took to the air she might be able to find a drink of water. There was a thought. She inhaled deeply but couldn't smell any close water sources, at least.

From across the backs of her herdmates, she caught her brother Glissando's eye. They shared a conspiratorial wink then went back to pretending as if nothing had happened. She had grown a lot closer to Gliss since they both joined the Padmapani defenders. He was a bit of a jerk, but she couldn't help liking him after all the time they had spent together. She lifted her head proudly, lifting up her legs a little with each step. She wasn't just Bodhisattva the beautiful, now she was strong and a little dangerous too!