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 Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2012 7:11 am
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Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2012 7:13 am
 Balrog angled his massive wings as he brought his flight around in a wide arc, looking once more with a nostalgic fondness at the lush
herdgrounds that ages ago he and Stormwild had laid claim to as their own. How their herd had grown from just the pair of them and their two daughters.
The transition that fissured the winged from the nonwinged and how he and other members of their herd had groomed new members and tightly patrolled their
borders and reinforced the trecherous mountain pass to make it even more difficult for unwanted visitors.
He was hardly a spring stallion any more... but he never doubted his strength. If anything, age had tempered the hot-headed stallion, and carved him out
to be a powerful leader and a stoic protector.
He was proud of the herd they had built, and the spirits had smiled upon them. He couldn't ask for a more perfect, safer foaling grounds - the high altitutude meadow shielding them from most predators, but also providing them with the freshest water that came from the peaks themselves, and lush grass that grew unhindered from cloying forests or destructive feeding of boars, deer, and other larger herbivores besides themselves. Of course... things had not always gone untested, and Balrog still harbored regrets - from seeking companionship in the form of the roaming alicorn, and the son that had betrayed him... but every great leader had to be tested.
With a final look of approval over the lands, Balrog nodded to himself, drawing his attention from within back to the land below and calling down a whinny at Thunderbird, signaling that it was time for him to take to the skies and patrol before he came to a soft landing besides his lifemate, Stormwild.
He greeted her with a pleased whicker and a swish of his long tail that had gone untouched by the knives of two-legs and now trailed behind him in a proud train. She had been so quiet lately, it seemed. Did the attack of the stallion that they had both once called Son still trouble her? Was she thinking about the new arrivals to their herd? Was she merely enjoying the first touches of spring and the warming sun? Or, perhaps there was something else?
"What is on your mind, my love?" He spoke, his voice rumbling deeply.
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Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2012 7:13 am
Stormwild was standing at the edge of an overlook, giving her a great vantage of her herdlands. The rustle of the winds swept through her mane and she closed her eyes as she felt the sensations of her long hair and feathers tickle over the rest of her skin. She felt the breeze slips through the long feathers of her wings-one of her favorite feelings in the world. The wind carried just a touch of chill - the last remnants of winter rolling down from the snowy mountain caps - though the sun of spring shone down on her face, warming it.
Her eyes opened as Balrog landed beside her, her mouth turning up in a small smile as he spoke. She leaned over to nuzzle his face gently as he came close, her tail swaying slightly in anticipation. "Spring is coming," she said to him, nodding off over the cliff. The greens of the grass were especially bright, and all the non-evergreen trees who had spend the winter months baron were beginning to spot with new leaves and buds.
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Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2012 7:15 am
Balrog rumbled an ascent. "Our herd has survived another winter." He answered proudly. Despite their numbers, the herdgrounds they had claimed had supported them. All possessed wings and could take to the skies if one member found a spot that bore food in the lean times.
"Our borders have held, and now, we can enjoy the bounty of spring." He returned her nuzzle, gazing over her midnight fur and beautiful contrasting mane.
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Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2012 7:15 am
 The rustle of leaves was easy to disguise as the wind washed through the lands. The small, silver fox slipped further and further into the mountains, keeping her large ears open for potential victims. She was going through her usual rounds: constantly moving and traveling: picking up rumors and intelligence from as many Soquilil as she could. She loved being the little unnoticed fox in the bushes - a fly on the wall in a matter of speaking, unknowingly polishing her arsenal of damaging secrets or blackmail fodder.
Kumiho was not your typical skinwalker. She worked with a malice grace that was unmatched by anyone. She wasn't satisfied by a simple kill - no, the beautiful kitsune reveled in torturing her victims. And not just in body;, her form was slight and fragile compared to many of her ilk. She liked long, slow festering wounds of the heart and mind.
She especially loved to 'check in' on her earlier prey - once was never enough for the vicious beast. She didn't want to be a healed scar over someone's heart: she wanted to be the salt in a constantly reopening wound.
She had been following Stormwild for days now. The grass-eating old mare didn't take much notice or care for a small fox slinking about her lands. She was no threat: no mighty wolf or coyote to chase off. She remained undetected and out of sight...waiting.
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Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2012 7:16 am
The mare chuckled as Balrog spoke, finding his wounds delightfully appropriate. "Somehow, we managed to find ways to stay warm," she said coyly, slightly nudging her mate's shoulder. But speaking of bounties," she started, her voice sounding more serious, "I think the Spirits have plans for us this spring," she said, catching his eye. "As I can feel them working within me now."
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Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2012 7:17 am
Balrog's words fell silent as he processed the information Stormwild had just given him. He blinked, and the proud stallion that rarely missed a beat and was almost always in command of his situation went silent as he looked her over, eyes moving to her stomach. "You.... are with foal?" He finally asked, his thunderous voice barely a whisper. It was almost as if he were afraid to hope. He had been worried that after.... after the last time that perhaps Stormwild would not even be able to bear foals again. She had been so badly hurt, and the baskets... the poor baskets. It was a miracle that the spirits had saved one of them.
Then, his wings flared and one lay over her back protectively. "My love... this news... it is fantastic!" He elated. "Children! OUR children! Is it true?!"
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Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2012 7:18 am
Stormwild couldn't help but laugh in elation at Balrog's reaction. There wasn't much in the world that could elicit such a reaction from him. She tossed her long mane and leaning into his touch. "It's true," she said with a happy smile, "As far as a mare can tell. They are young... its just a feeling I have. I just know... but I am confident in it as I am about anything." She her smile fade, just slightly. "You don't think I am too old for this, do you?"
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Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2012 7:18 am
Balrog let loose a booming laugh. "Too old? My love you are stronger now than you have ever been. You take the breath from any - stallion or mare - that lays eyes upon you for the first time... or second... or even countless times. You steal the air from my lungs every time I see you, Stormwild."
Balrog knew a mother's connection to her unborn children was a sacred one - and he trusted her words, even though he could not perceive any change in his mate. And yet, there was a warmth to her, a happiness and she, too, seemed to be brimming with a life not unlike their herdgrounds in the coming spring. "This is a good sign, Stormwild. This will be a bounteous year for us, and ... perhaps even a new begining as our herd grows, and OUR family grows with it. The spirits smile upon us again."
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Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2012 7:19 am
The mare felt a blush sting the pink of her ears as Balrog spoke: she knew what he said was true and Balrog was not the type of stallion to flatter or sugar his words. She leaned even heavily into him, running her muzzle happily over the thick black coat on his neck and netting herself get tangled in his long, beautiful fiery red mane. "We are blessed indeed," she said with a determined nod of her head. "I have a good feeling about this as well. And we have our family here to make sure - to make sure everything happens as it should," she said, her eyes darkening ever so slightly as she remembered the tragedy of her last pregnancy.
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Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2012 7:21 am
"You will stay on the herdgrounds this time." It wasn't a request. He wasn't about to risk their foals again. "If there is a problem, someone else will see to it." He continued firmly.
"After all, you should take it easy. There is no reason with the arrival of spring and all of us here to see to your needs that you should leave the foaling grounds."
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Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2012 7:22 am
Kumiho was nearly shaking with unbridled glee at overhearing the conversation. The spirits - Kalona himself perhaps - could not have blessed her with better timing. She had been wanting to spread her influence again - to use Cerberus to create more perfect wickedlings like had done before. But motherhood was strange and unnatural for skinwalkers... it didn't come easy to her to make such a decision.
But this... this was gift she could not pass up. She would become pregnant again - and just like last time use this powerful mare's baskets and children to help nurse her foals. She would have to work fast - to make the timing work. But it would be perfect - she would wrench the wind mares baskets away from her... kill the developing foals inside and place her own perfect progeny in them with plenty of fresh meat to grow and develop on.
She chocked back a foxy hiss of delight as her tails swayed behind her like a mass of unruly snakes. She had things to do! She slipped quietly into the woods and quickly made her way back to were she had left Cerberus. She must set things into motions with a moment to loose...
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Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2012 7:22 am
"I'm not going anywhere," she said with a hint of exasperation as she wasn't being asked she was being told. "And no more being unprepared. I will be prepared for anything that comes my way this time."
She puffed her chest a bit and held her head up. "After all, I'm strong even when heavy with foals...but even stronger with my family here with me" she admitted, happily surveying the herdlands. "Congratulations, Balrog," she said after a moment. "You get to be a great father once again."
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Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2012 7:23 am
Swelling with pride, Balrog chewed at some of the hair behind Stormwild's ear. "I am glad to hear of this, Storm." He barely contained his enthusiasm. It would be perfect this time. He would see to it.
"If there is anything you need, please, do not hesitate to ask. Make sure that you have chosen a foaling ground before you become too heavy to fly." He added playfully, already the wheels in his head turning at what he needed to do, and the new life that they would bring into the world.
"I shall tell the others!" He finally boased without segue, his mind racing. He barely heeded the rustling in the bushes as he took to wing and called out to his twin daughters Cataclysm and Maelstrom and his unusual son, Thunderbird, to tell them the news.
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