Obviously what I had said had bristled some of Erthe’s feathers the wrong way. It was easy to tell by the way she responded with her hissing voice and puffed up body. She was on the defensive and beginning to say how I didn’t know anything about her father or her. But she didn’t realize just how much I probably did understand their circumstances. Her father had lost his mate and she her mother. I lost you and our darling daughter Terachi. If there was anybody here that could possibly understand her father, I was probably the closest one. Granted that’s a rather brash conclusion since I still don’t know anybody else’s past in the slightest.

My ears bolted in the direction of Tangere as her voice now overwhelmed the surrounding area. Dual colored eyes hardened as she laughed mockingly and called me soft. And it really struck a nerve. Anger coiled within me tighter and tighter the more she spoke and said how I was no longer welcome to her Basin. Then I reached my limit and the tension in the growing coil of anger snapped within me and tore through my body like a relentless whirlwind until it began to work its way out, “Soft?!” It began with an tension filled voice, “You think I am soft?!” now my voice was churning itself into pure anger, “I’d like to see you fight in a war and then have a comrade fall sick of the mind and torture and kill your mate and daughter and not be changed in the slightest!”

Too much. I felt like I had said too much. They didn’t need to know about you and Terachi. I didn’t need to remind myself that you both were gone, never to come back. I bit my lip as a means to hold myself back. It was hard, but after biting hard enough I could taste blood and I immediately grew disgusted with it all. All the fighting. All the anger. All the hate.

Luckily a newcomer happened to walk in on everything and it gave me time to calm myself the hell down. She seemed to know Tangere, but not only that they were herd mates. I almost began to roll my eyes not ready to deal with two hot headed mares, but then the new mare surprised me by apologizing for Tangere’s behavior and then went on to explain their herd and how they were I the process of growing more open minded and how they were searching for dedication more than anything.

She smiled but I failed to reciprocate the kind gesture, Tangere had made that nearly impossible. So after the mare introduced herself as Sialia I took a deep breath and released before speaking, “I appreciate the information, but I’m afraid your herd mate has already injected enough poison to deter me. My apologies for your wasted time and breathe.”

After this, Tangere spoke some more but towards Sialia so I didn’t pay her any attention and waited for her to leave before addressing Erthe who I had noticed had spoken in regards to my request. She wasn’t happy with me either Cassari. How in the world did I manage to put off nearly everybody here? So before I even spoke I let out a sigh and looked her in the eye, “I’m sorry for how I acted. I spoke from my own personal experience and though I do feel something along those lines, I should not have expressed them the way I did,” I paused as I rethought what I had just said and when I felt that it was sufficient I moved forward though I didn’t completely answer all her questions I did bring up the subject, “There is a similar ritual where I come from for when newcomers did happen to appear, though we only had one herd really so a bunch of people would just go to welcome them and offer to show them around the place. I presumed this was something similar. So…if I am correct...” I paused yet again and lowered my head to Erthe’s ear to whisper into it, “If you’re willing, how about we get away from everybody here?”

My words were a clue to Erthe that she had come out the winner in this ‘battle’. That I would follow her to her home if she so wished to bring me there. All she had to do was realize that she had won and agree. Hopefully she would and we could get out of this toxic situation together.


"speech"

@Sialia @Tangere @Erthë