Tembovu

“Blast these trees,” a deep rumble rolls through the forest. The low voice was plainly irritated, but in a lighthearted way.

The gigantic stud moves slowly though the Threshold, seemingly finding himself among the thickest parts of the woods. The tightly packed conifers left little room for his large mass to navigate between. Indeed, his wiry coat and thick hide rub a few trunks as he ambles through.

His massive black ivory hooves leave a wide berth of broken shrubs and crushed leaves- a few even tangle in his thick tail, bright points of color against the black strands. In fact, his markings and coat appear rather drab amid the bright oranges, yellows, and reds that painted the season change. Even the deep emeralds of the evergreens made him seem washed out- he was clearly not of these lands.

Rather abruptly, his slow progress stopped. He was stuck. Between two pines. His colossal shoulders had wedged tight as he attempted to squeeze through a space not quite large enough. “Damn it all,” again the bass grumbles through the thick forest, this time less lightheartedly.

Blowing out an exasperated breath from his thick lips, dark blue eyes scan the forest around him. He wasn’t sure if he was looking for help, or ensuring that no one saw his ridiculous predicament. Abandoning his search, Tembovu awkwardly cranks his thick neck up, to assess the size of the trees entrapping him. One was a colossal old pine, but the other wasn't too large- less than two feet in diameter and under forty feet tall.

Slowly, the immense muscles in his neck and shoulder begin to flex, pushing against the trunk. At first, nothing happens. But then, a high-pitched creaking filled the air with warning as the tall pine makes it’s displeasure known. A low grunt escapes his thick throat, and then-
crack
A loud snap and the trunk bends and breaks where it met the solidity of his withers. It’s height crashes through the many branches near it, before getting hung up, never fully falling to the ground.

He snorts and stomps a hoof (the ground shuddering beneath it), in approval at the tree for yielding and freeing him. But his eyes are quickly caught by a gods-blessed clearing- the path to it revealed by the fallen tree. Just what the elephantine stallion needed.

With purpose, his heavy footfalls bring him to the clearing, and his silvered-tan hide erupts in the light. An abrasion on his left shoulder from grinding against the rough bark left his hide hairless, but did not break the skin. Though the naked silver-black hide reveals a network of thick and thin raised scars. They must cross his entire hide- beneath the thick, wiry, gleaming coat. (Thankfully, for the sun in his home is unforgiving, they are the same color as his hide, not pigmentless).

Navy eyes turn upwards once more, just as the sun dips behind a cloud with a bellyful of water. The flecks of light blue glow momentarily, but go dark once they lose the illumination of the sun. He sighs, blowing the long, loud breath out his thick nostrils. What now? He certainly didn’t want to tackle the thick woods just yet.

But he could eat. He could always eat. There wasn’t enough greenery in this forsaken forest to fill him up. Lowering his mammoth head, he rips a large chunk of grass. It was beginning to dry from the season change- but it was still so much more luscious than the dry savannah grasses of home. “Delicious,” the word comes out muffled around the mouthful of grass. His monstrous black ivory horn glints blue in the dimmed light.


ooc| Open to anyone! So this was awkward to write, I need to get used to my big guy again.