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Blind Guests
Am I that, then,
blind?
Blind in your instance,
blind in the fact of your
childish song.
Comrade, contain your fire,
Healer reveal your name,
Child, come into the light,
Spirit, sing a refrain.
ASHAMIN
BEAUTY IS PERCEPTION
Though certainly it was only the storm that drove so many to his warm, spacious, easily found, and obviously firelit cave, Ashamin couldn't help but feel a little popular. The part of him that thrived on social anxiety was quivering like a child, but the new, bolder part of him, the part of him who'd just turned four and the part of him that was a proud member of this herd, couldn't wait to welcome the herdmates into his cave. BEAUTY IS PERCEPTION
The first to arrive was one he knew: Ki'irha. He had seen her first at the meeting, on the occasion of their promotion, and then again near the border when the dark stranger had attempted to land and find her way in for the night. Neither the corporal or the Haruspex had let her get off so easy.
He was pleased to see her again, and his expression suggested as much. She appeared like a sculpture of ice, dripping with frost, her coat entirely obscured, and he could not help but whinny at the sight of her. "Ki'irha!" His lips upturned and tinder dropping from his jaws to the pouch at his breast, he spoke to her even as she surpassed him: "Come in, my frozen friend. "
At his feet, Lochan was endlessly gleeful and energetic. Braver already than before, he bounded after Ki'irha, his head low and the white mark on his fore threatening to collide with her hock as he tumbled forward. But even if he were to hit the mare, he would surely bounce back and look up to see the same thing his bonded did: the tiny mare with the antlers like his own.
Ashamin recognized the mare, from the meeting, as Enna. She too, had been promoted. It appeared there was a theme at the gathering. Ashamin lowered his features and gripped the last of the tinder, the bits Ki'irha had brought as a scattered offering, and placed it in his sarong, including the vine for good measure. He was fairly certain it was Enna, anyhow. He'd noticed the sparks on her then, but she had not been the only one surrounded by them. She noticed how she had seemed to come in with the storm at Ki'irha's side, as if bound to the corporal. Were the two small mares friends, then?
The haruspex offered the smaller of the pair a kind look, and welcomed her in with it's gentility. "Welcome to you as well..." he trailed. He didn't want to risk being wrong about her name, it would have been a terribly awkward circumstance. He could only hope that she would offer it, in time. "The both of you, please, make yourselves comfortable." He ventured deeper into the cave, tossing some of the tinder from his pouch and into the fire, pleased when they caught quickly ablaze and the tendrils of light leapt up. He caught Lochan's little gaze, watching the fire reflect in the white of his 'panion's eyes. Come here, he thought to the creature, hoping, for some reason feeling, that the creature would be able to hear him. And he was right: Lochan turned quickly in his direction with a snap and hobbled forth on wobbly spindles of legs.
He was proud that the creature would come to him. So proud that he had lost track of the spirit's song and not paid enough attention to the new arrival at his back, and the real reason Lochan was so intent on running towards him now.
Ashamin only turned around when Lochan's running past him forced him to. There, at the entrance to his home, stood a twice-horned filly who could barely speak from the cold. He wasted no time, trotting towards the silhouette of her in the entrance and making echoes far louder than Lochan's. He knew in the way that she spoke, in that glimpse of tone between the shivers, and by her unfamiliar countenance that she was not of the Basin. But he did not hesitate. With his tail flung behind him and its coil sparking in his wake, he grew closer to the filly until he could aim to wrap his neck over hers and usher her inside. He let his cheek, warm from the fire, extend around and towards hers. "Hush, child, come in. Join us."
The buck, lit by the fire and backed by the wind, turned to face his company thus far collected. Lochan pranced at his feet, helplessly unknowing. There before him stood Enna (he hoped), a spirit, and the fierce corporal he'd met before. He knew how she took to trespassers from experience, and they both knew this filly was one of them. But Ashamin had a soft spot for the little ones, and the moment he had seen her egg he had understood there were two lives at stake. He searched for Ki'irha's eyes, his gaze pleading but confident all at once. Eyes seeking to lock with her, no longer looking at the filly, he spoke with firmness to the child. "When you are alone and need shelter, you can always stay here." He knew that Ki'irha was tough, but would she try to kick out the child? He hoped she had better judgement.
At his hooves, Lochan called a complaint. He was cold by the entrance, and he, still boundlessly full of energy, moved with speed back to the fireside. "For as long as you need, little one, you can stay here in the Basin. But please, tell us your name."
He broke gaze with Ki'irha, first to comfort the child and then to search for the shifting spirit. For a moment, he thought it took on the blinded shape of himself.
""
[[Ki'irha, Enna, Själ--NPC has decided not to return]]
Table by Jen, with help from Avis
See Ashamin's profile for more information about Lochan, Rakt, and his various items.
All magic and force allowed, barring death and permanent injury.
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