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 Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2007 9:24 am
Early morning... The sun was just begining to rise into the sky and a light fog was still rolling through the forest. It was quiet, but a good quiet; the peaceful sort of quiet that seemed to linger in the early mornings just before the birds started to awaken in their nests.
He enjoyed these peaceful moments. They were good for thought and reflection. He often found himself trying to talk with the spirits in these moments... One spirit particularly. He would tell her of the previous day, letting her know that he still thought of her often; still missed her and regretted that he hadn't been able to protect her.
In the end she always forgave him... At least, he knew she would and that was how he started out every day; with the knowledge that he was forgiven and it was now time to protect the herd again.
Taking a deep breath he turned away from the foggy clearing, picking his way back through the woods towards the small cave where he and Nostalgia had raised her foals. They were growing so quickly and learning so fast. Soon they would be adults, ready to face the world with everything they knew. Too soon, perhaps...
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Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2007 9:42 am
Altair had emerged from his basket a week ago - alone, without parents nearby, and damn lucky to be alive at all. Silver eyes had blinked into the darkness that he'd awoken into and he'd watched his first sunrise. Since that day, the young one had steeled himself not to need anyone! If his parents couldn't be there to protect him from the night of his arrival he wouldn't need anyone.
He'd found food himself, taught himself how to keep safe by watching how other Soquili moved, and had even managed to find a home in the forest. A small piling of wood and branches that sheltered him and was a good hiding spot for anything creeping around.
This morning, the celestial foal was hopping up and down on his little legs and trying to get a low hanging apple. Low, but not low enough for his reach. Sure, he had wings, but there was no way the little thing could fly with them yet. They were too small, too fragile. But that apple - that apple was his breakfast, darn it! "Unf. Come on. You stupid apple!" he called, moving his forelegs up onto the tree and hitting at it, standing on only his back ones.
Nope, gravity was not helping him this morning - but he was stubborn.
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Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2007 9:49 am
His nose wrinkled slightly as a soft breeze moved through the woods, carrying with it a strange scent followed by an unfamiliar voice. His ears swiveled towards the sound. Threatening? No... A child's voice. What was a child doing out this early in the morning?
He picked his way through the plantlife, stepping over a fallen log only to find himself in a small gathering of fruit trees. Apples, specifically. He couldn't remember the last time he'd had an apple... But that was a distraction he did not need. He had promised to 'be careful' and careful he would be, even if it was a foal that he was seeking.
When pale eyes fell upon the young one he found himself chuckling softly. "That is no way to go about finding breakfast, you know."
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Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2007 9:52 am
"An' who're you to be tellin' me how to get my breakfast?" Altair asked, turning his head toward the stallion. A threat? Huh, seemed like they had the same line of thinking. Silver eyes narrowed as he scrutinized the new comer and he hit at the tree again, hissing low, "The king o' breakfast? Oh mighty king, get me some breakfast with yer magic powers!"
Again, his hooves did nothing to make the tree budge or the apple drop and he was starting to get annoyed. The rumbling in his stomach was getting far louder, too. He may just have to settle for nasty grass again.
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Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2007 9:57 am
His brow lofted at the foal. Mouthy little one... He snorted softly as he shook his head, slowly moving closer to the tree. "There are more polite ways to ask an adult for help than that." He stretched his neck out, lips parting inches from the apple as if he were going to pluck it down from the tree himself. He pulled back last minute, turning his gaze towards the foal for a moment. "Now... Exactly why should I get this for you? Should you be eating sweets for breakfast?"
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Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2007 10:03 am
"I eat what I want fer breakfast 'n' it's none of yer concern if I eat grass or apples," Altair muttered, watching him lift to get the apple. He blinked, though, seeming to get it for himself. "Hey, that's my apple! Go find yer own breakfast! Thief!" Feisty little one, as well, as he looked like he'd fly at the stallion for DARING take his precious fruit.
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Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2007 10:07 am
"You only answered one of my questions." He couldn't help but laugh, partially amused by this foal's spirit. His parents would have a tough time with him. "Now... I don't see any names on this apple anywhere..."
He knew from both his own experience and the experience of seeing foals raised in a herd that their legs weren't always that sturdy. He was betting that he could easily sidestep this foal if it came at him and that would be a lesson well learned, even if its parents never thought to teach it such a thing. That in mind, he gently grabbed at the apple, plucking it from the branch it had been growing from.
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Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2007 10:13 am
"Because I'm damned hungry, that's why!" Oh, what a mouth on him! One picked up a lot of things when listening and observing those around him carefully enough. Without parents to teach him he had relied on strangers and not all of them had the best of mouths on them. "Gimme my damned apple!"
He huffed and stamped his feet unhappily, not quite sure attacking the larger stallion was a good idea. He was feisty, yes, but not stupid. He didn't want to end up dead. Worked too hard for him to die now!
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Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2007 10:17 am
His brow lofted as he listened to the mouth on the foal, leaning his head down so that he could drop the apple between his front hooves to guard it. "Words like that should not fall from a foal's lips. To imagine that someone would have taught you such things at such a young age... Where is your mother?"
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Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2007 10:20 am
"None of yer business where my mother is!" No, he really didn't want to admit that he had no idea where either of his parents were. It wasn't something you went shouting from the rooftops - abandonment, that was. "None of yer concern what comes out of my mouth, either." His eyes dropped down to the apple, debating if he was fast enough to snatch it away. Considering the size of the apple and the not-so-large mouth, he doubted it. And thus he just stared at it, a hungry look on his face.
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Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2007 10:24 am
"That would be where you are incorrect, little one. As the words that come from your mouth are things that reach my ears they are my concern." He nodded slowly, eyes never leaving the foal. "As is the whereabout of your mother, or father... Whoever it is that keeps watch over you."
He nudged the apple lightly with the side of his hoof. "If you answer my questions I may give you this apple."
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Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2007 10:26 am
The offer was tempting. Oh so tempting - and he didn't want to eat grass and stale twigs again. But his pride...Ah, screw pride! He was hungry. "Dun know where they are, dun care. Now gimme the apple!" And, as an afterthought, "Please."
There, maybe that would satisfy the stallion into giving him the stupid apple. It was the only one he'd likely be able to get on his own.
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Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2007 10:33 am
"Getting better." He smirked as he leaned down, nosing the apple towards the foal. "Eat that and we'll see about finding you something better for breakfast while you tell me how it is that you don't seem to know where your mother is. Are you lost?" With his herd mentality the thought that the foal had been abandoned didn't even cross his mind. He couldn't imagine anyone, mare or stallion, doing such a thing.
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Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2007 10:48 am
Altair leaned his head down and chomped into the apple hungrily, closing his silver eyes and momentarily letting his guard down before he remembered that the older stallion held all the cards and he opened his eyes, watching him with a hawk's gaze while he chewed at the delicious fruit. "No," he said between bites, "Not lost."
Simple answer!
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Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2007 10:50 am
His gaze was no longer on the foal. While the young one's own defenses were down as it ate he remained alert, ears slowly turning as he listened to the forest slowly wake up around them. "If you aren't lost... Then are your parents lost?"
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