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 Posted: Tue Aug 07, 2012 3:51 pm
((Clarification on title: RP between Stormlight, his two children, and various members of the Sunflare Herd owned by Elfy and Geyser.))  It was that time of darkness that's impossible to define. It was too late to be night still, but too early to be morning. People everywhere have pondered what to call it. Some members of the Sunflare herd referred to it as the "wee hours." The time when all the world seems still. The time when the world is reduced to stars, moon, and shadow. The time when only the thing that crawl in shadows are awake. The time when nothing seems real, and yet everything is more real than it could ever be in the sunlit hours.
Ciaradh was snuggled between his sister on one side of him and his father on the other. Da was a warm mass that gave shape to the night, and his sister was a no less comforting (though smaller) mass that helped define the undefinable. It was peaceful. It was a time like so many others, though neither of them had had many "others." Nothing could change, because in the small time he'd been alive, nothing had changed. All the world were smiling stars and happy relatives who always had time for him, from Grandda and Grandma to his uncle and da. Nothing could break the harmony.
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Posted: Sun Mar 31, 2013 7:01 pm
Odhran was dead asleep. It had been another long and tiring day as an only parent, caring for his little ones. Admittedly, he had no idea who the other parent was, and quite frankly, that didn't matter to him at all as he dozed, curled tightly and protectively around his little Ciaran and his little girl whom he had not yet named. They were safe and sound, for who, even in the Shadow, would think to attack and kidnap foals within the boundaries of the Burning Sun Clan of the Sunflare Herd?
Unfortunately, there was one stallion so dastardly and probably unwise as to try. He was the foals' other father. Quite frankly, Stormlight couldn't really remember the night, either, but he had spied on the stallion, discovered the birth of his children, and decided that, well, since this accident had occurred with a descendant of the great Lughnasadh, even as Queen Blodeuwedd had successfully seduced Lughnasadh's great-granddaughter Solveig, it was probably a worthy course of action to steal his offspring back.
And thus it was that Stormlight had snuck past the border sentries, glad for being so dark and doing it on such a dark night when there was no moon. After all, what better night for an evil father from an evil herd to steal away his children from their good father from a good herd?
As settled in as the little filly was, she wasn't at all sleepy. Sure, she could feel Da and Ciaran snuggled down with her, but she was restless and constantly wondering what her other parent was like. Was it a ma, or da? Probably another da, though Da said he honestly couldn't remember.
Well. She would find her other da, even if she had to run away to do it.
Little did she know that her desire would be fulfilled tonight.
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Posted: Fri Nov 29, 2013 8:13 am
Mintos had been on sentry duty that evening, and he was set to be relieved soon by Nereocystis. His mind, as might be expected, was not on his work--imagine! Him! The once-flirtatious Mintos, known in his younger years as a cad and an unrepentant seducer of mares, not only with a lifemate but with grandchildren of his own! Somehow, the colt had ended up with a name right off the bat--someone had suggested "Ciaradh," meaning "dawn," but no one could quite figure out who'd suggested it. As of yet, however, Odhran hadn't come up with a name for his daughter. The green arcturus's mind was caught up in a miasma of possible names. It wasn't right for one child to have a name while its sibling had none. She needed a name, and he was going to figure one out. After all, what are fathers--grandfathers--for?
It was no wonder he'd not noticed a mottled shape slip past the border under cover of darkness. He'd have been lucky to see anything at all.Ciaradh's sister was restless next to him. Sleepily he lifted his head to nuzzle her shoulder in the hopes it would calm her down enough to sleep. She seemed to be distant, thinking about something. What it was, he wasn't sure. But he wanted to be together in sleep like a family, and he couldn't sleep while she was restless like this.
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Posted: Mon Mar 03, 2014 2:52 pm
Odhran slept on, unaware of the shifting of his little ones beside him. After all, if something went wrong, his Da, Mintos, would call him...right?
Stormlight snorted very softly to himself. That was pathetic. While he was dark and could be unobtrusive, Stormlight still had a dark glow to him, and had passed awfully close to that sentry. What was the Sunflare thinking, letting someone like this take a sentry shift when his mind was clearly on other things.
But Stormlight had noted the Star's close resemblance to his foals' other father. Probably the fling's father and the offsprings' grandfather. Better to take the rest of the mission cautiously. He hadn't yet known the Sunflare to take kindly to kidnappings of their own. Or deaths. He finally rounded a bend and spotted the three of them. A peaceful image, a father, son, and daughter, all curled up asleep together. Stormlight hadn't gotten a great look at the foals beforehand, but he noticed the dark, sleepy one with his Lyra wings and Arcturus horn. And he also noticed the wakeful green-and-purple one without noticeable breed characteristics watching him with alert eyes that looked bored and like they could be darkened in the name of the Shadow. He smiled softly.
He had his target.
The little filly felt Ciaradh rest his head on her shoulder, trying to calm her down. But she couldn't calm down. She wasn't sleepy, and there was the serious matter of finding out about the other half of her parentage. Who could possibly have time or energy or will to sleep at a time like this? Peering around into the darkness, she caught a flicker of movement and a soft, dark, purplish glow.
She cocked her head, peering more intensely at the mottled shape. The purple was akin to the purple she bore...could it be her mysterious other parent?! Excited by the proposition of unraveling the mystery that was helping keep the already wakeful foal awake long past her bedtime, she started to wriggle out of the tight snugglehold Da and Ciaradh had on her. As she did so, an excuse for going to the bathroom and maybe a little exploration to burn off excess energy formed in her mind. Whatever happened, the little one had no intention of going back to bed until the mystery was solved.
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Posted: Sun Jun 01, 2014 1:22 pm
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity of thrashing, Ciaradh's sister got up, mumbling some excuse about needing to relieve herself. The colt huffed in disbelief--they were supposed to do that before laying down to sleep, so that they didn't get lost in the night coming back to their father's side--but he let her go. "Come back safe," he whispered, then tucked his head under his wing and tried to go back to sleep. It wasn't long before he concluded that he could not. He was too nervous, too restless. His sister had left a warm spot on his side that now turned cold and he was getting worried. She hadn't been gone long, but it felt like ages. She should'v e been back by now! He tilted his ears, trying hard to listen for the sound of her approach.Way to drop the ball, Mintos. But while he missed the flashes of purple that slipped behind him on his patrol, the next time he stopped to scent the air, he got lucky. The breeze was blowing back from the main Burning Sun encampment, and from that direction he caught a passing whiff of decaying leaves and old, dry pine dust. Shadow herd smells. Coming from within the herd's inner sanctum... Sepaia had been very clear on the rules when training her champions: if you are even the slightest bit suspicious, make a shout. Loud enough for all to hear even from within their nighttime slumber.
"INTRUDER!" Mintos bellowed. "RISE, SUN, THE SHADOW IS WITHIN!"
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Posted: Tue Jun 17, 2014 11:13 am
Stormlight almost swore a blue streak. Greeeaaat. The sentry wasn't that braindead. At least the little filly had started moving toward him, a delicate Arcturus tail flowing behind her. Interesting. He nodded toward her, half-turned, and gestured for her to come with. Time to get out before the entire Burning Sun Clan came down on his head with a vengeance. Curse that Sunflare, for putting their most formidable warriors on the side of the territory adjacent to the Shadow. It meant extraction would need to be based on as much stealth and speed as possible. The last thing he could afford was the Burning Sun to attack him all at once while escaping with a foal in tow, though it might get her to see her first battle....The filly had started trotting as she started to get far enough away from Ciaradh and Da. Now, the stranger turned and gestured for her to come with him as her Grandda Mintos started shouting at the top of his lungs about something. The filly broke out into a run, doing her best to keep pace with the mysterious other parent. Wherever she was going with the Other Parent, it was probably interesting if they came in the night for her. And interesting was something that very deeply intrigued the filly as she moved as fast as possible under the broad, concealing wings of the Other Parent, who swept her onto their back and kicked off the ground into flight.
For the umpteenth time since seeing her brother Ciaradh's wings, she wished she had something incredible, too, instead of just an Arcturus tail.Odhran blinked his sleepy eyes open as he heard his Da sounding an alarm. The first thing he was aware of was the possibility of the foals being in danger in what could be a skirmish zone. The second thing he was aware of was that his daughter was missing. But he'd have to find her after he got Ciaradh to safety. "Ciaradh, get up! Come with me. Where's your sister?" he asked as he nudged his son to his young feet.
"An alarm's been raised, and you two could be in danger," he added, hoping she hadn't gone far.
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Posted: Mon Jun 23, 2014 7:50 am
Ciaradh's worrying was interrupted by the sound of his grandfather's screams. His head popped up, and his ears flicked up, then back. Shadow was here...Shadow was here, and his sister was gone! "I-I d-don't know! She said she had to go relieve herself, and she's been gone for such a long time--" Fear and guilt filled the colt like a flash flood and he began to tremble. His sister was gone, and it was all his fault, she was gone somewhere, she was in danger, he had to get her out of there-- "I'll go get her!" he gasped. He rushed to his feet and galloped off in the direction of the shouts on trembling legs. "Sister!" he wailed. "Sister, where are you?!" He scented the air, but all he could smell was panic and the familiar smells of his clan. "Sister!!"At the sound of the call, Sepaia was on her feet in an instant. Quick shouts relayed the message, and she was rewarded with her champions leaping to their feet and racing towards the disturbance. At their tail ran the two bards. "Garmionnt, Llewelyn!" she barked. "Find the foals and get them back to Royal Sun!" The stallions nodded their agreement and increased their pace.
Thoughts flew through Sepaia's mind and flowed to the back where they wouldn't get in the way. Shadow had gotten in. Did it have anything to do with the foals? Of course it did. It always did. The murder of Lughnasadh's kin might still be strong in the minds of the Royal Sun, but for Sepaia at least, her bitterness for the Shadow was based mostly on their constant seduction of Sunflare stars and kidnapping of their foals. If it was within her power, she would not allow Ciaradh and his little sister to join those ranks.No, no, nonononono! Visions flashed through the unfortunately quite imaginative mind of the starborn bard, visions of his little niece and nephew trampled under the hooves of the champions. He had to get out ahead. He had to find his brother, find the foals, and get them out of there. He wasn't sure if it was a comfort or not that the entirety of the force rushing towards the disturbance was just a handful of mares. He wove in between them, adrenaline pumping him in a straight line towards his brother. "The foals!"
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Posted: Fri Oct 24, 2014 6:47 pm
Stormlight inserted himself behind his little filly and snaked his horned head along the ground, rushing her as fast as her delicate, gangly legs would allow. "Move, move, move," he murmured quietly to the filly. It took him a few minutes to remember that he had wings, by which time he could have kicked himself upside the head. Hard.
The Sunflare's flyers were mostly Arions, and the Burning Sun Clan was mostly Arcturai, Starborns, and crosses. Very few flyers at all. Stormlight ducked his head under the filly, nearly painfully tucking his head into range of his flying hooves as he tossed her onto his back sideways, caught in front of his powerful Lyra wings. It took him a little longer to kick off from the ground and go sailing into the air.
Oh, yes. An ideal escape route, when one could fly, and one's pursuers could not.The filly pumped her legs harder with the Other Parent's head close at her heels. The shouting from Grandda Mintos and the rest of the Burning Sun filled the night as she ran, almost eclipsing the sound of her pounding heart. Then she was tossed onto the Other Parent's broad shoulders, flailing, and lifted into the sky. She gave a half-whicker of surprise.
The Other Parent could fly! Well, that made sense. Ciaradh could fly, too, or would, once they were older. Shame that she didn't have wings, but she could still enjoy the impromptu sensation of flight as she got herself settled down, body wrapping itself as close to the Other Parent's body as possible. Whatever the future was going to bring with the Other Parent, the filly could already tell it wouldn't be boring."CIARADH!" Odhran screamed as the colt went pounding after his sister. The last thing they needed was to lose both foals tonight. He pounded after his son, moon-pale hooves kicking up clods of dirt as he gave chase. "Ciaradh, get back here! You've got to get to safety. Ciaradh!" he shouted. Odhran was glad Ciaradh couldn't fly yet. But, given Ciaradh's wings, Odhran had a sneaking suspicion that the other parent of the foals had Lyra wings, and, thus, would be able to fly away with the unnamed filly. Even if Odhran was wrong, there was too much of a lead. Ciaradh would never catch him. But that wouldn't stop him from getting seriously hurt or kidnapped.
"CIARADH!"Geyser Eelborn I think we can wrap this one up, too.
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Posted: Fri Mar 24, 2017 2:39 pm
Ciaradh ignored his family's cries, focusing only on the dark and purple shapes in front of him. There was an adult, one with feathered wings, picking up his sister and flying away. She was being kidnapped! He kicked hard at the ground under his hooves, flapping his own wings hard. He could get her back. He could make it up to her for not taking care of her, not watching out for her. But his wings couldn't pick him up, and he couldn't lift himself into the air. He just wasn't strong enough.
No. He just wasn't trying hard enough. "Sister! Wait for me, I'll come get you!" he screamed, trying desperately to push himself off the ground.The fiend was gone. He had picked up the foal and carried her into the air. No one in the Burning Sun could fly--when he grew up, Ciaradh would be their first flier.
Ciaradh's sister, Gar's niece, was gone.
Gar finally caught up to the colt, who was trembling with exhaustion, and nudged him with his nose. "Ciaradh, I'm sorry," he said. "There's nothing we can do."
The colt hiccuped, then collapsed against Garmionnt. "She's gone..." he gasped. "She's gone..."elfstar89 aaaaaaaaaand done, I think!
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