Their children will learn to hope for a Caesar.
 

Duir happily bounded alongside me, our bodies sweeping down the banks of the river and southward; I have to stall my long legged canter, a hesitant, floating grace to the movements that allow the fawn to keep pace with me.  I’d otherwise have dusted him if I was trying, though I did have to admit he as quite a lot faster than he had been a couple of weeks ago.  His muscles are evident through his thick, downy coat, stringy but strong.  I hadn’t looked very different as a child, either, and so I keep pushing him, knowing that he’ll get stronger, and stronger, until maybe he could keep up with me, even if I was trying.
 
The weird canter pulls on muscles along my body that aren’t usually worked so hard at a full tilt, anyway, so maybe it’s beneficial.  Besides, who uses their ultimate speed during a fight?  Those times called for a bit more finesse than hauling ass seemed to require, and I’m sort of out of commission as a fighter until Duir gets older.  I won’t be like the others I’ve seen with very young companions in the midst of battle – friendly spar or not.  We would train in the meantime, each of us gaining strength and skill, until no opponent could defeat us. 
 
Besides, neither of my parents had ever truly fought another in front of me (unless you count the wolves), and so I would return those blessings to the buck alongside me.  It was one of the few things I could be grateful to mother for, other than sharing her stories with me.
 
They call it, “innocence.”  Not that I don’t do other things to corrupt it, but I’m really trying for once to not be the crass, adventurous nitwit I have been before.  Almost dying has nothing to do with it, either.  There is absolutely no reason I’m skirting the desert on the opposite side of the river to the Throat other than that I want to.
 
The remaining marks that the Wildfire had left behind begin itching, as if to twitter in laughter at me for being afraid.
 
My hooves drive harder into the ground, the emotional bond between us immediately translating the intense sense of anger and shame that strikes me; Duir’s compassionate heart draws his little cloven hooves to a still, emerald eyes questioning as he almost bounces in place.  Drawing down on my haunches, I slide and pull about to face him, ears almost back, but not quite, the lightning struck buck’s worried emotional hum conflicting with the hard, bristling ones that course through me.  I snort, golden eyes narrowed, crown lowering as my haunches punch out behind me aggressively.
 
Duir watches it all with quiet patience, a Saint.  He feels the fear more strongly through the resonant chord of my heart, and, having not been present for the events that inspired the twisting, bending turmoil in me, is concerned.  It’s evident in the soft fold of his upper lids, how they are ever so slightly narrowed, as if he could see the thoughts tormenting me on my skin; his heart throbs with worry, confusion, and a faint trace of annoyance.
 
Probably at my petulance as my bucks stall into an uneasy stillness, mane seven kinds of disarray, shining white gold mirror and its chain of metallic loops ensnared in the locks.  It’s been that way a few days now, and all my wildness doesn’t help; before long, it’ll likely be so tangled that getting out will be a hopeless endeavor.  A heavy huff of hot air escapes me as my molten eyes meet with Duir’s forest calm, my left hind driving violently into the ground under me.
 
"What?" I ask him sourly, earning a rise of his eyebrows and a snort that almost says, geez asshole, who pissed in your clover?  The flux of emotion rising from him heightens in the annoyance factor.
 
He’s learned all these foul words from me (though he can't say them yet, the sarcasm drips from the sudden tilt of his ears and the harsh light which rises in his usually gentle gaze).  

Maybe I should be ashamed that I imagine my wild boy's tongue has passed on to my fawn.

Instead, I think I’ll be proud.

[ OOC: My opening threads are always so weird - apologies!  We are en route to the Veins,  southward along the western side of the river running through the Thistle Meadow. :D  I figure we shall start here to get greetings and such out of the way before we go the Veins and ask for Moony face <3 ]