Individually, we are one drop Together, we are the ocean. - Ryunosuke Satoro Paladin was trying to put together what he was wanting to say to Smoke. She had angered him and insulted him in front of the herd, and he was not going to allow that behavior to run rampant. However, beneath her pissy attitude was a nugget of truth that he very much wanted to address. Why had she not just spoken to him one on one? Why had she not just asked him openly about the confusion she had over her position? Either one of those was a course of action that he could respect, but threatening to leave the herd, even after he apologized and wanted to talk? The warrior could not respect that foolishness. So, with raw burns, he moved to the tree that they had all spoken under before, and he grunted softly, crimson eyes scanning the horizon for Smoke. The sun was barely beginning to rise, casting a beautiful golden light over the grasses and settling in the trees. He took a deep breath and tried to calm himself and his conflicted emotions. The stallion was still exhausted, and after the debacle with the dun-child, he was not at all in the mood for haughty, egotistical attitudes. Respect was earned. And he had fought Gossamer for that respect and had the burns to prove it. Smoke had earned and now burned his respect for her, and the dun-child had not even begun to earn it. What a complete disaster. Also, what was with the words about Soleil? She was his second mate, only, and she ruled beside him on the Tides and kept the peace. The mare was highly qualified, but she had obviously done something to these rowdy bunch of ego-inflated equines to piss them off before they had met. The black dun thought he caught a glimpse of the silver mare in the distance, and he lifted his neck just a little, hearing the scabs crack on his crest. "Smoke, I am here to speak if you still want to." His voice was not hard, but it was authoritative. She would not run over him with her pissy attitude anymore. |
Frustration [Smoke]
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09-05-2012, 05:25 PM
09-05-2012, 09:45 PM
It was an odd feeling, traveling up into the Foothills after a night spent outside of them. Knowing she'd left with turmoil in her wake, obligations left unfulfilled but doing her best to delegate some tasks. Quietly she wondered how they were doing, Ricochet and Kimber. Gunslinger's children, so alike to him and yet so different. For a moment she mulled over them, their similarities and their differences, and then blinked when the voice of Paladin reached her ears, speaking her name.
Her dark eyes focused on him in the early dawn's light, ears tilting forward. There was authority in his voice, as there ever had been. Even when he claimed to be no more than a warrior, willing to serve and uninterested in leading. False claims, evidently. Her tail swished against her haunches, barely brushing the gentle swell of her belly. She'd distantly heard Indy's cutting words the day before, words that had wounded her where Paladin's had not. Indy had been her friend, once upon a time. And if he thought less of her for doing what she'd been forced into? It had been just a few degrees away from rape, and she'd been obliging because she'd seen no other way to save her herd. A herd who did not appreciate the gesture. She did not bother to hurry her pace, but neither did she slow it. It was a steady clip, an easy fast walk. Paladin could wait those moments more. "Paladin," she acknowled as she drew closer, only to halt a few strides away. "You were the one to ask to talk originally, before Ricochet complicated matters. It is easier to speak when there are not others to constantly chime in with their thoughts on the matter." Her voice was calm and even, much as it always was.
09-14-2012, 11:11 PM
09-15-2012, 05:25 PM
However brief, his moment of irritation did not go unnoticed. One white-edged ear tilted slightly outward at the observation as she contemplated how very different she and he were in their approach toward this. He seemed to lack a grasp of tact, which made sense considering his preference for military leadership over diplomatic.
Politely she listened to him, hiding her emotions behind a still facade. Not even the twitch of an ear or the sway of her tail gave away what lay beneath. A solemn sadness, quiet flutters of amusement, and a growing sense of determination. "You never asked me if I was content in my position, Paladin. Never thought to ask what I would rather do, given the opportunity. Military things do not suit me, but I stood as warrior lead because Gossamer asked. And because I was better suited to it than Indy or her." Her voice was quiet as she studied him. "Nor did I appreciate being placed in a position where I could so easily be replaced, and a target painted on my side by you. There is no love lost between myself and Archibald, and he seems the ambitious sort." A small, wry smile worked her features then. The first expression she'd offered since he'd begun speaking. "Given the opportunity, I would have gladly stepped down entirely, to serve as diplomat and helper to Poppy. But you never asked, merely presumed I would rather stay in the line of work I had before." Then she gave a small sigh as the conversation inevitably led to Ricochet. A source of more trouble she'd never found, but she had responsibilities toward him beyond bringing him to the Foothills. "Ricochet has been forever brash and foolish, but he is young yet. He is fragile still, having lost sire and sister to the shades. The latter without knowing it. But he seems to accept Kimber's influence, and she is my daughter as much as Gunslinger's." So much meaning to be found in that, she thought. "He is racist, I'll admit, but knew that the Foothills was a mixed race herd before coming here. And agreed to behave." It was the simple, honest truth, so far as she saw it. After a moment she decided to approach the subject of Soleil. "All three of my children have had different fathers." She admitted quietly, without any hint of shame. "I cannot claim any influence on Ricochet's beliefs growing up, for he was Gunslinger's to raise. While I loved the Unbroken, I never agreed with him entirely. So I am relatively unsurprised that Ricochet has strong beliefs on more than just race. Perhaps you should ask him why he thinks as he does, instead of declaring his thoughts wrong. I am just as aware of Soleil's relations with Terrador, and his relations with half the young mares he encountered, or so it seemed." She paused, deliberating. "It is better to understand than to argue, and to find information in sources beyond what you'd think to find it in. Solstice is of an age with Soleil, and both grew up in Isilme, perhaps she knows something of why Soleil's reputation is not as you'd wish it to be. Or perhaps not. I cannot stop Ricochet's thoughts on Soleil no more than I can stop him being wary of me. I think it is only because of Kimber that he tolerates me." After he had been burned by Zaffre... she almost didn't blame the dunskin of being cautious. What followed surprised her somewhat, and she blinked at Paladin. Allow the herd to nominate new herd leaders by vote? It was a new concept, and she mulled it over as he suggested she volunteer. "Perhaps," she murmured quietly. "If they wish me to be such, I will not decline in something so many would want." Quietly she shook her head, body relaxing slowly. "I still do not understand why you did not speak to me or to Gossamer, or both, about your concerns. Not everything has to be resolved by war and bloodshed, and many hurts could have been avoided." Her gaze drifted to his burns and then away, as it occurred to her that she'd argued something quiet similar to Gunslinger in the past. But he had been unwilling to listen and consider a path not lined by conquest. Mildly she wondered how different the Valiant was from the Unbroken, or if Paladin would truly have more in common with Ricochet than he realized.
09-15-2012, 10:34 PM
10-05-2012, 07:32 PM
Dry humor lit her eyes as she watched him. The conversation was not going the way he'd expected, this much she suspected. "When I took leadership from Ricochet at the Oasis, I spoke to Aera and sorted things out before addressing the herd." It was not quite an accusatory comment, but nor was it anywhere close to innocent. A reminder that he was not the only one to have gained leadership from within the herd by battle. An unspoken commentary that she saw his way as less than successful. As if the meeting hadn't been plenty sign of that.
But she was pleased that her words had defused a potentially disasterous revelation into a moment of thought and realization. She remained silent as she let Paladin process her revealed knowledge on Ricochet, though her ears twitched at the information he dropped in turn. Interesting. At least he was willing to allow Ricochet another chance. Which the dunskin surely needed. Being introduced to a herd in which you expected one sort of leadership only to have everything turned on its head had not helped the situation. A soft laugh escaped her then, at his admissions. "Pick a mate? The Unbroken has fallen and took my heart with him. Only as I raised his and my daughter that I began to gather its pieces back together and contemplate lending it to another. But I lost that one as well when the shades drove us all out, and I know not if he lives. Had you merely asked me, I would have been content to lead with you as partners in military things." Her eyes had softened with an old sadness, whose pain had only blunted over the passage of time. They closed then, as she shook her head. "Paladin, I wish you only the best. But I must be selfish for once, and go in a direction in which lies my best interest. The Foothills no longer is that." There was a small smile on her features as she gazed at him. "Always before I have gone where another led or where my responsibilities have driven me." Truth, though it had taken time for her to realize as much. "Stay safe, lead well." And then she was bowing her head to him in return, before turning away. Home... she would have to find her own again. | ||||||||||||||||||||
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