Down by the river side

[PRIVATE] Down by the river side

Kelec Posts: 18

Aurora Basin Crafter

Stallion :: Other :: 18 hh :: 24 Buff: NOVICE

Adoptable

11-20-2013, 01:37 PM

_{Do not pray for easy lives. Pray to be stronger men.}

Summer was slowly coming to an end. It was still hot, the days still filled with endless sunshine and the nights a buzz of swarming mosquitoes, but ever so gradually the colors of the landscape was beginning to shift. The greens of the trees and the wild plants had become matte and faded, a tired hue with a dusty tinge that whispered that the season was well past its peak. Most flowers had blossomed and died away, leaving only the later varieties like yarrow, tansy and a vast sea of purple thistles that gave the meadow its name. The water of the river was brown and dirty, its contents little more than a trickle in a layer of mud and debris; sediments torn loose as more and more creatures struggled down the banks to slake their thirst had transformed the riverside into a mudslide waiting to happen, and the centaur kept a good distance between himself and the tepid water as he meandered across the open field.

It had been a calm summer, for the most part. He'd had plenty of time to settle in and make himself comfortable in the hidden vale up in the north, plenty of opportunities to engage in conversation with the unicorns that made up the overwhelming majority of inhabitants. Kelec had to admit that it became slightly tedious after a while. In the beginning he'd have thought that living with these magical, graceful creatures would turn out to be both intriguing and exciting, but so far he felt more like a pariah, a fantastic monster up for display for the spear-wielders to stare at. It had been a relief to get away from it, from the loneliness that persistently haunted him, that felt even greater now despite the company of intelligent, verbal creatures.

Lips pressed tightly together at the gloomy thoughts, the half-horse broke off from the muddy brown scar that was the river and headed south for a while, blue eyes scouring the ground in search for the markings he had made when setting the traps. Deeply tanned skin gleamed from sweat as he knelt down and freed a struggling body from its constraints, lips mumbling a soft prayer for the spirit of the rabbit as strong hands grasped the base of its neck lightly - then pulled and twisted in a quick, well practiced motion. A faint, sickly snap was heard and the hare grew limp, the chestnut centaur reached back and placed it in a makeshift bag of woven baskets that lay slung across the whithers, to join with the small assortment of other wild meat he had collected from traps during the day.

Straightening up once more the man pushed long strands of crimson hair away from the face, leaving a hand lingering above the brow to shade the vivid blue of the eyes. He gazed out across the open expanse, somehow feeling tired despite the successful hunt and the slow pace kept. It was not an exhaustion of the body, but rather a deeply set weariness of the soul - it persisted despite his attempts at chasing it away, and caused a deep, heavy sigh to slip from the strange beast.

This calm was beginning to grow tedious...

@[Midas]