"What do I do?"

The question came unbidden in the form of a childish groan from dark lips as Apollo lay upon the cool, damp earth, legs sprawled out lazily from the stallion's large body. He lay upon his side, head nestled in the soft, sweet spring grasses that were blossoming from every crevice of the World's Edge. Birdsong was in full swing, and normally the Merciful stallion would be out greeting the blooming trees, welcoming them from their deep winter slumber, but his mind was wrought with conflict of unimaginable severity.

"Zola... What in the heavens do I do?"

Settled over the stallion's throatlatch, paws splayed out from front to back, the said young kitten sucked in a tiny breath to fill her equally tiny lungs and purred. She could feel the conflicting emotions within the form of her larger bond-mate, and honestly, the feline runt had no idea what to do to help. So, she remained where she was, black body blending in with Apollo's ebony pelt, and purred.

Since settling within the World's Edge, Apollo had become aware of something that just wasn't right, some terrible realization that was both terrifying and exilerating all at once. On one hand this new discovery was exciting and caused his heart to beat fast within his ebony breast... But on the other hand, it was terrifying, and caused a wave of guilt to raise up and consume the stallion until he was a wallowing puddle of confusion and self-loathing upon the Edge ground.

Hence, where he was now.

Honey-brown oculars slid closed beneath black eyelids, and in the darkness of his not-vision, Apollo saw them. Two lovely maidens, both cunning, sharp, deadly, and oh so beautiful. Lakota and Ktulu. Like sirens they beckoned him, each of them, and he was powerless but to be captivated by the two warrior-vixens who he had once called 'sister'. Ktulu the Constrictor. Lakota the Poisoner. They were both everything that he hadn't known he had wanted... And yet, loving them both had come as such a startling revelation that Apollo honestly didn't know how to handle it.

His love for Ktulu had been a sudden, strange thing, and for a long time Apollo had been terrified to delve deeper in an attempt to understand these strange, foreign feelings... But then understanding had dawned upon him beneath a full moon, when he and the Constrictor, his dark mistress, had danced together beneath the moonlight upon the Fields of Heaven. It had been an exciting affair, exotic and pleasurable and so utterly intoxicating that Apollo could scarce breathe... But it had been there that the horned overo understood that he truly loved Ktulu.

His love for Lakota, now... That was also a strange, sudden thing, born of the darkness of his dreams and the alluring sights of the sapphiric beauty. He and Lakota's history was a long one, and few had shown Apollo such loyalty like the Poisoner had. She had aided in saving his life upon the Endless Blue. They had served and fought beside one another within the Grey. She had served him when he had been promoted to Chief of the Foothills, serving loyally and placing her complete faith in him when he had doubted himself... And then, for albeit a short time, they had served beside one another as equals, as Chief and Chieftess. Through the entirety of his Helovia life, Lakota had been just as large a part of it as Ktulu had... And somehow, somewhere along the way, Apollo had fallen in love with Lakota as well.

"I'm... Such an idiot. Zola, I'm so screwed." Gone was the normal, self-assured eloquence that Apollo had developed since his rise to Chief, and it had left behind nothing but a frightened, confused young stallion who knew nothing about love and its ways. "I love them both... I can't tell them. They'll hate me, I know they will."

He had confessed his love for Ktulu... But they hadn't spoken of it since the day it had happened. Did she return his affection? Would Lakota, if he manned up and admitted his love? Immediately a snort burst from the overo's nostrils, disturbing his pillow of spring grass. Honey-brown eyes opened slowly, eyes rolling upwards to stare at the moon in the night sky. Surely not. Lakota and Ktulu were two powerful, amazing individuals... And surely they had no place for him in their midst. They were self-assured, confident, powerful... And Apollo was simply, well... Apollo. Boyish, awkward, and oblivious to the ways of the heart.

"... Damnit..."

Upon his throatlatch, Zola continued to purr, hoping to reassure the stallion in the only way that she knew how.

@[Lakota]