|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Sun Oct 30, 2016 9:01 pm
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Oct 30, 2016 9:23 pm
Isiyah tossed his head, snorting, as he walked, his legs skimming through the tall green grass effortlessly. Boredom emanated every movement of his, to the stretch of his legs and the roll of his eyes. The heat was oppressive to the stallion, this wet humid dank heat. His eyes narrowed in disdain at the thought. Despite the many years had he lived in these lands, he could never quite get over how wet it was. Often he longed for his homeland in these times, longed for the vast sand covered dunes and the dry air that Isiyah had long called home. Many a times he had wondered whether he should return, but the journey was perilous on the first crossing and may well be fatal on its return.
Isiyah tossed his head again, moving his free flowing mane out from his eyes and gave another derisive hmph. He couldn't go home but he could make the best of what pitiful place he had here.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Oct 30, 2016 9:31 pm
Silhouette was trying not to worry. He was trying very very hard and failing quite miserably. His mother had nudged him out of their clearing, which was her way of telling him to go run his energy off to take him mind off how much he was worrying. Silhouette had separated himself from his mother reluctantly, taking the long trek down the mountainside and imagining her indulgent smile as he left. It was hard for him to leave those he loved alone, despite knowing that his mother wasn't alone. Far from it in fact, because she was surrounded by the remaining members of the herd, a number that was increasing rather rapidly day by day.
Silhouette paced regardless, back and forth, his anxiousness being able to be read in every tense muscle and step. His normally precise steps were starting to shuffle together, kicking up dirt and grass in his wake. He knew he should stay, should wait at home with his mother and the rest of the heard. She was a grown mare and could take care of herself.
Still...
Where in the world could his sister be?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Oct 30, 2016 9:39 pm
Fall was coming.
It was an absent, idle though. Or perhaps Fall was already here. The grass was still green though and the birds still chirped and sang ever morning. But Cypress could feel the shift in the air, the slight cooling and breezes and accompanied along with the sweet scent of the end. The trees were still brightly fresh, brilliant green but the edges could be seen tinged with the array of colors. Of orange and yellows and browns that signal that it was the time for the old to fall and pass and the world to go into the deep sleep for the winter.
Cypress simply hummed to himself as he walked, stepping through the brush and bramble without a care. His braids trailed behind him, collecting more and more debris that caught and tangled in the folds. One day he might cut it short, to something more practical but he found that he liked its length and the heady weight of it on his neck and flank. It was a curious thought, illogical to the extreme but then again, most vanities were.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Oct 30, 2016 9:51 pm
Isiyah wandered, aimless as it usually was. He had been a wanderer, a vagabond, most of his life in the desert. Here though, in the weird land that was much too green for his tastes, he had taken to staying close by the other members. He wrinkled his nose at the term 'herd' but he could not thing of a more apt description of the straggly and usual group of misfits that had formed around the elder stallion known as Orchu. There were benefits, he presumed, not only safety in numbers but ease of resources and food. Not that food was ever much of an issue in these lush lands, nor was water. It had been a change in pace from his old home, where he would have to hoard water or risk dying from thirst.
His eyes perked up and he paused as he heard a noise, one hoof still in the air as he listened, his body tense and still. Footsteps, perhaps? It would not be uncommon given that this was a well worn road but their lands were a far one from the bulk of many of their kind.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Oct 30, 2016 9:56 pm
Shiranai had been, well, not missing per say, but gone for weeks now. Weeks. Weeks! The phrase echoed in Silhouette's mind and his pacing became more frantic. He was quickly wearing a path down in the grass from his movements, the hasty back and forth taking a toll on the ground with ever new cycle.
Shiranai had never been gone for so long. Actually, his little sister had never left the herd for this long on her own--she had always been accompanied by Silhouette himself or his mother. And while Silhouette did sometimes leave the herd for scavenging for weeks at a time, he only did so because he knew his mother and sister were safe, tucked away up in the mountainside where visitors, kind and not-so-kind, rarely ventured unless looking for someone specifically.
But this time, when Silhouette returned from his normal scavenging trip, Shiranai had been gone. Gone! His mother had only given Silhouette her normal smile, sweet and unworried, and assured her son that his sister had only gone for a small adventure and there was nothing to worry about dear, really.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Oct 30, 2016 10:01 pm
The brush was thinning. Slowly to where Cypress hadn't noticed when it had started to stop and when it had started to start. The thick, dense underbrush which had pulled so incessantly on his mane had thinned to barely a few inches or soft, dense green bushings. Cypress tromped over them without a care, not bothering to wander out of their path despite the occasional p***k as it scratched him. A few steps to the left would have given him a clearer, easier path, but that was quite a bit of trouble to move. Though, he supposed to himself with a contemplative hum, perhaps that was the point after all. Road less traveled, indeed.
He shrugged though, abandoning the fanciful thought as easily as it had come to him. Thoughts and emotions moved easily through the stallion, perhaps too easily. Emotions was tiresome. It was easier just to discard those that seemed much to wearisome for something much easier to digest, in a manner of speaking. It gave Cypress of airy, flighty nature that most others took offense too. But that was okay, offense was so tiresome as well.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2016 8:03 pm
Silhouette had fretted and fretted upon hearing the news, much to his mother's and Cera's amusement. Neither of them seemed to have understood the seriousness of the situation. What if something happened to his little sister? She wasn't used to being alone, let alone out in the open. While much of the world was full of friends, it was easy to picture her stumbling upon those not so friendly. There was even rumors of a skinwalker that wandered near their herd's land, though none of the herd had seen this for themselves.
Silhouette had taken off at first light the next day to track down his sister and escort her home. His mother had been unhelpful, not remembering or perhaps not even asking, where Shiranai had hoped to travel to see. She had simply nuzzled her son affectionately and told him to make sure he packed his warm bracers in case he was going north for too long. Arctica had at least been more helpful and while his sister had not shared her plans with the bolder mare, Arctica had spotted her heading west from the mountain.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2016 8:07 pm
Cypress wondered if he should turn back and return to the comfortable mountaintop for the night. It was still daylight, but the days were rapidly growing shorter and shorter, and Cypress had learned quickly how easy it was to get lost up on the narrow and steep trail. Of course, Cypress could just spread his wings and fly up but flying was so bothersome a thing to do for such a short trip.
Perhaps he could just keep walking for the day and find a good spot to sleep in the open for the night. It wasn't uncommon for him to go missing for days and days, so he knew no one would fret. Not that he particularly cared if they did, but he did expect some social niceties had to be maintained. He had no close companions up at the herd, but he had found that the company made some things in life easier. Food, for instance, was always plentiful as a small group always left for short scavenging expedition. Warmth, in addition, was abound as another group often brought in fresh fallen food from the nearby forest. And on night when it wasn't enough, the plethora of warm bodies was a luxury Cypress had gone many years without.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2016 8:11 pm
Now though, Scion was left on his own. His siblings had, like him, scattered within a few weeks of another and his mother took up her old, wandering ways. He presumed he would likely meet up with them again someday, but he was in no rush. He was enjoying the freedom at the moment to do what he wished and what he liked. And part of him, maybe, was hoping he could find well--
Scion stopped the foolish thought and snorted, tossing his hair back in annoyance.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2016 8:15 pm
West was where Silhouette was now, but now there was a dilemma. West was a very broad range of directions after all. He had taken the single southern path down that was most frequently used by the herd. He doubted his sister had taken the must less used path that went immediately northeast. At the bottom he had dutifully headed to the west, following the most used path that many travelers had worn into the forest ground over the years, Grass and brush grew abundant around him, but the path was hard-packed dirt, scattered with the occasional jagged rock that had been kicked along the path by some long-forgotten wandered.
The path before him, however, was the problem. He had traveled no more than half a day before the well-worn path forked into two, both heading as western as any. Which one could his sister have gone down?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2016 8:20 pm
Cypress paused as he reached the edge of a line of bushes that reached up to his chest and considered. It was not quite worth the effort to make his way through them, as they were thick evergreen brushes, with short twigs that dragged and scratched. Usually he did not care about what happened to his physical body, did not care about his grooming beyond the basics of hygiene. His mane and tail were long not out of vanity but out of simple laziness to get it cut. They were braided into a single plait simply because of ease, and even then it had to be done by another who had grown so tired of seeing his mane and tail disheveled and covered in twigs, leaves, and dirt to do so. Even now, his mane, which had been brushed out by the selfsame individual not but a few days ago, had been dragging next to him, the tip liberally covered in dirt and a few twigs caught into the folds of the braid.
What was the best way around? Cypress considered, looking briefly left and then right. Or, perhaps... Cypress looked briefly over his shoulder. Back around then?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2016 8:32 pm
Scion wasn't walking anywhere specific. He had pretty much chosen the direction that his siblings hadn't walked in and decided that this way was as good as any. He had found a rough path and had followed it aimlessly, following the slow flowing stream that he kept to his right and within earshot. He wasn't stupid and knew that he had better keep a source of clean water nearby him at all times. He knew his youth put him at a disadvantage and while he had inherited the stocky, strong build of his mother, he was still unused to being on his own. His mother had armed him with most of the knowledge that he would need to survive, but he would be a fool if he became too cocky. Cockiness killed, and Scion preferred to stay among the living if he could do anything about it.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Dec 31, 2016 7:28 am
Silhouette took his time, carefully examining each fork in an attempt to discover which way his dearest sister may have traveled down. He swiveled his head left and then right, back and forth as he tried to discern some sort of difference between the two. The left path might, logically, head south while the right path may, using the same logic, head north. Up close, however, neither showed any signs of more or less use from travelers. Silhouette assumed Shiranai likely took the more worn path, following the advice of other first-time travelers, but he could not be sure of that.
Both paths were lined with green brush and the trees loomed over them both providing shade that was only broken up by the occasional sunbeam that would light the way. Silhouette sighed, unsure and weary, the worry and anxiety catching up to him at once now that he had stopped moving.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Dec 31, 2016 8:05 am
Cypress chose to go right. He had been half tilted that way and really it hadn't been worth the effort to turn to go the other direction. Not that it really truly mattered in the end. When one did not have a destination, why did it matter what direction they chose to walk. Cypress had been in a wandering mood and while he could have easily taken wing any of the days prior, it was tiresome to fly in the daytime. Or the nighttime, really, but at least in the nighttime Cypress almost felt like he was flying up in the stars.
His braid caught in the heavy brush as he turned, jerky his head to the side as he tried to walk forward and his hair forbade him the movement. Bothersome. Cypress took a step back reluctantly, giving himself space to check out the problem. So bothersome.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
