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Sauron had grown tired of Jauhar which wasn’t really that surprising considering that he spent 95% of his time wandering through the forests in and around Ast, his children were drifting about some more then others and he really enjoyed his life there but sometimes there was no substitute for a change of scenery. Thus his current trip to Tale, it was almost shocking to be in an area not overshadowed with the big trees of Jauhar, the open plains made him feel exposed and a little nervous to be honest. To him being as old and as experienced as he was nervousness had become a novelty once his offspring had outgrown their childhood. He had become much more relaxed, they would soon be showing their own colors in battle and selecting their paths for the future, Sauron held out the hope that at least one of the five would become a rider like himself, but if not he considered beast tamer close enough, he wouldn’t impress upon them that tradition it was after all a choice just one that his family had chosen more often than not throughout the generations, perhaps some would follow Kelina too. He sighed happily, thoughts about his family always brought him such joy. Maybe soon he would be a grandfather, to that he had decidedly mixed feelings, they were too young yet, but then he hadn’t been much older when he had found his wife here in Jauhar. He was pretty sure that Sezarra had found her mate or he who would so be so. Vallen was complicated but Sauron thought that he two had found his in Isaris. Kres, Vuka and little Vepkia seemed to be very far from choosing which was good, it was not a decision to take lightly.
Sauron waved a hand over the grass letting it tickle his palms, maybe next time he would travel a little further then Tale, maybe see Zena, Oba or Matori.. and check out the state of political affairs. He was not politically inclined but as recent times had shown him ignorance couldn’t be afforded anymore. There was too much unrest in this world to stay stable for any great length of time. Which nation would it be this time? Jauhar, Sauti and Oba had had their fill, Matori too, who was left? Zena, Matori and that new island thing Yaeli. If he had to place bets he would say it would be Yaeli, he couldn’t really blame them either after all those extremist alks had been dumped in their heartland, he would have freaked out too. He had freaked out enough when they were here causing trouble.
A twig snapped and Sauron raised his head listening for all he was worth, what was going on? Was there something out there? He raised his spear in preparedness, what would it be? He bent a few blades of grass obstructing his view to reveal a flock of Kinfa. Sauron paled, the blood draining from his face. Kinfa were not easy beasts to fight, tame or do anything else with, but he had heard of their loyalty, then again wild kinfa would be loyal only to themselves not to others. He swallowed and backed away only to find that three more were watching him from behind..six kinfa, he would be lucky to make it back to Jauhar in one piece. Hopefully he was just a passing curiousity to them and not a threat or snack. He was too pretty to croak right now, Kelina would never forgive him.
Sauron tried to duck out to the side but the kinfa noose tightened around him, and now he was well and truly enclosed, he didn’t want to hurt them but they had given him no choice in the matter. Alright then battle it was. Sauron stabbed out trying to pierce an opening that would allow him to escape, but to no avail, the closest kinfa dodged and hissed and soon they all pounced him, the only thing that saved him was their wingspans got in their way and all six couldn’t maul him at once. He slithered out and tried to run for it but this was much worse as they could now harry him from the air. He yelled and flailed and finally resigned turned to fight for real. He shoved the purple one away which made room for the yellow one to rake his scalp and mess up his hair. Ugh, it would take forever to get the blood out, he would be pink for a while. When it came around again Sauron swung his spear in a side arc and knocked the bird out of the air, take that! Teach you for picking on an innocent shifter. He leaped onto that bird and launched himself in the air to swipe at a blue one who had been hovering far too close, he landed a grazing hit which instead of making the bird angry like he thought made it flee to the south instead, well good two down ..far too many to go. A pink kinfa snuck up behind him and prodded him with a sharp beak he whirled but the bird flew up out of reach until he could reach her only by throwing his spear and he wasn’t about to do that. It was his only weapon and therefore essential to survival in this battle.
As the pink kinfa wheeled about the purple one crawled off to nurse its wounds, at least he hadn’t killed it for that he was grateful. A navy bird hissed at him from the ground flaring and flapping its wings until the pink one came down and pecked him again. This was so unfair, Sauron grabbed the pink ones leg as it came around and flung it around using his weight and its own weight against it. The bird didn’t like feeling helpless and it left as well. Leaving three angry kinfa that looked about ready to eat his puny insignificant self. Sauron tucked tail and ran like a scorra for the trees. He leaped and bounded and dove into a little copse of trees. The three kinfa surrounded it and stomped around until finally they grew bored. Sauron thinking logically stayed in that copse until night time hit, where he was at an advantage besides his glowing skin then he snuck out to find a better campsite, perhaps in a much more civilized town yes that would be good.
The rest of his walk was mostly uneventful which was a good thing for the exhausted shifter, he hardly had enough energy left to stumble into a small village and rent a tent. The ground never felt so good with that thin blanket draped over his shoulders. He had survived..somewhat an attack by six kinfa, that had to count for something in the morning, but right now all he wanted was the dark, soothing blackness of sleep. He groaned and was answered by a snore from a neighboring tent. He hoped they would not do that all night he needed his sleep. Perhaps he would sleep in tomorrow and then pick up his Tale quest in the afternoon in order to give himself more time to heal. That sounded like a good idea, and with that Sauron’s eyelids drifted shut.

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