Who would have thought that things would suddenly take a change. The air had been still, the cold water had been soothing around his legs as he stood in it while shielding himself from the sun with his wings. Then strange noises reached his ears, the crackling sound of fire along with the smoke. And the the coolness seeped from the water. Xenos managed to throw himself up on the shore just before the boiling began. He could hear it, along with the fire and his mind raced in confusion. He edged further away from the water and tried to collect himself. Everything had happened so fast. His ears moved and he turned his head in the direction of the fire, on the other side of the pool. Something more was over there, but he was not sure what. It felt strange and he pushed it aside for now. The sudden fire and the boiling water was more pressing matters than some strange feeling and he let out a loud call to everyone and all that might be close enough to hear. Their home was burning!

An alarmed dragon's cry rang out over the Foothills, a wide-spread mental image sent to every receptive mind nearby. Fire! Fire that spread from the passage of the Sun God, eating at grass and trees alike.

The blue dove from the sky to combat the flames with his own, creating warring patches of fire that ate up all the air between and put both his own and the God's fires out where-ever he went.

His bonded was more direct, racing recklessly past smoldering embers and licking flames, legs devouring the intervening ground as she raced fleet-footedly through her herdland toward the pool. An angry squeal erupted from her maw as she spotted the firey deity standing in the water, making it liquid boil and steam. Already she could see dead fish floating belly up in the roiling pool. The grulla slammed to a halt, hind hooves tucking under her body as she slid to a near standstill right at the edge of the pool. Her white-edged ears were laid flat back, and her tail lashed against her haunches. "Foolish, childish! You want to be admired but all you cause is chaos and damage! You work against yourself, God of the Sun!" Her words were sharp, interspersed with angry stamps of her hooves. She wasn't foolish enough to step closer, to attempt to drive him out. Instead she aimed her words to cut to the quick, to reach him and make him stop.

"You throw a tantrum like a little foal when your chosen one is dethroned. He did NOTHING for you, vanished and hid until someone stronger came along. So blind to not see he wasn't worth your upset this Tallsun. So blind to not see that others were more worthy of your cultivation." Then she stood still, staring at him with anger still roiling within her. Distantly she was aware of Zaffre continuing his battle against the flames that strained to eat up all in its path. He'd stopped quite a bit already, but he was only one dragon.

((Figured this would be a great segue into Sun God/Smoke thread later.))

You are the light that's leading me To the place where I find peace again "No..." The mare breathed as she watched black smoke rising in the distance. Where there was smoke there was fire and this was something she had been dreading since she'd heard of the Edge burning. It could have been anything, she supposed, but in her bones she could only think of one thing. One being that would set something ablaze. Without another thought the tall mare pushed herself into a gallop, her long strides eating the ground and quickly closing the distance between herself and the fire. The screeching of a dragon echoed in her ears as did the crackling of the flames as she neared them. Acrid smoke filled her lungs and burned her blue eyes as she drove through it and the fire. Her legs locked as the Sun God came into view and she skidded to a stop just short of Smoke. "What are you doing?!" she screamed wildly at the God who did not look so God-like to her. She stood taller than him by a couple of inches and his body was slender where her's was muscular thanks to her father's lineage. He looked fragile. "This is madness!" she hissed at him, her ears laying flat against her head. They had done nothing to the Sun God so why did his fury have to fall on them? Why did they have to pay the price for his followers' incompetence? She was tired of it. She was so very tired of all the pain and suffering she had endured in her life. And she was tired of feeling oppressed by a God who didn't deserve the title of God. In her anger Soleil reared and lunged her body at the Sun God, intent on knocking him over into the water that he was so intent on boiling.

{I'm assuming this is before the Paladin fight just to avoid annoyances}

Gossamer ran, she ran so hard that her lung burned with the smoke in the air, until she arrived at the source of the wildfires.

No, no, no, no. This could not be happening. The water was boiling, the land was burning. Even after that Mauja made her go to the Gods Two and ask them for help the Sun God still does this. She can't help but think that if she'd just stayed here everything would have been alright. Narmer could, perhaps, lessen or stop the wildfires, but not for long with this bastard here."Why are you doing this, we have done nothing to you!" Tears of anger filled her eyes as she watched her land slowly begin to burn. Then Soleil, her pride, charged at the god, every emotion filled her at once as she screamed, "Noo!". Lazulli, avoiding the stronger Sun God, goes to help Zaffre with quelling the fires.

NARMER

He hears screams of saddness and pain and fury and, while he normally avoided those particular things, the smoke in the air told him he really had no choice but to investigate. He approaches at a reluctant trot before he stops and sees the damage. It was a god wreaking havoc upon his subject. None of the gods of the Motherland Egypt would do such a thing, they were benevolent gods of happiness. He does not shout or cry, for that is a god standing over there, but closes his eyes for a split second before he opens them. It is with great, monumental effort, that he picks up the ground all around the small, but growing forest fires, and flips everything up so that there is a "firewall" stop point all around them and thus they could not spread much further as there is no vegetation in the area any longer. While he has done this, he is not powerful enough to complete the task and completely put out the fires, so he just dusts them with rock dust to attempt to put down the fire.

Va l i d i n o we'll scorch the earth, set fire to the sky, we stoop so low to reach so high There was no stopping him. Scarlet smoke swept across the blazing sky as parts of sun melded into the earth, screaming on their way down. The Foothills blazed in eternal madness, partly from the breaking point of heat and the broken point of the God. His metallic coat swirled in envious blaze in the teal reflection of Validino's eyes. They both shared anger. Flushed panic seethed across the withered lands as the herd was terrorized by these astounding ashes. His boy was tucked curiously under him as they both caught sight of the heat-stricken blaze, engulfing the meadow in one furious breath. Some fought it, other ran from the avalanche of smoke rolling over the hilltops. As for the red stallion and his colt, they were soon running too. Fear haunted their hearts and hope went out for their loves who soon caught up. The family raced against time and out into the vast ranges of the hills, and they stopped, unaware of how quickly the flames would come. Validino had fought many superpowers, but a God's flame wasn't worth death to a family. ""

I'll never see any side of heaven I'll walk for miles through a blazin' hell The Sun God frowned as one swimmer escaped his boiling river, and he narrowed his eyes at the creature who so closely resembled his godly brother with those two ram's horns. Screw him and the hold he had over this earth. None of it would survive without him, and ironically, none of it would survive with him either. Not now. Not after centuries of being the obedient little brother of the sun. Not after a millennia of being used to keep this fucking place alive. And these selfish little creatures did not even care. A silvery colored mare with a blue dragon was the first to meet him and call him a child. Such insults slid off of his skin like the fire as poured from his mane like a liquid and landed on the now dead grass. He leveled his golden gaze at her and narrowed them. "You think any of this matters to me, little mare? You and your pathetically finite life cannot even begin to see the timeline that lays before and behind me. Speak not when your tongue does your intellect no justice, mare," he spat, turning his attention again to burning the land. They deserved it. This was their punishment. "Ra served me diligently, as others will soon follow in his place. His demise was an irritation and an insult, but my rage is older. So hush." He cast a sideways, stern glance in Smoke's direction before striding towards the base of the mountains, gazing up at their still snowy caps. With a brief, thoughtful look, he exhaled a breath that send heat waves up into the hills. Steam rose from the mountains in torrents, and ancient ice began to tumble down onto the rocks below where it quickly melted. Steam now rose off of most of the ground, and thick smoke from burning wood would irritate the sinuses of the living beings around him. For the Sun God, smoke was a wonderful smell and even more wonderful to inhale. A grey mare ran at him in full force, and he raised a brow as she said that what he was doing was madness. He had to agree. As she barreled his way, the stallion sidestepped and shook his mane, sending waves of fire her way. They landed all across her tender, white back and up into her made, burning as it went. Perhaps that would teach her to not run at a god. Foolish mortals. One of the leaders, Gossamer, arrived next, and he was growing very tired of relating himself to the others. Instead of taking the time to speak words these idiots would not understand anyway, he lunged at both Gossamer and Narmer, fire and smoke leaking from his mouth and nose. Great wings unfurled and rushed wind in their direction, pillars of fire snaking toward them and wrapping around their legs, burning. Like the intelligent soul that unicorn must have been, a bay stallion ran from the Foothills. Wise. The Sun God let him go with his family, only interested in taking on the fools right now.

Others came in her wake, pale figures she barely noticed for all the attention she paid to the firey deity. Somewhere in her mind she was aware that she knew them, could put names to each of them without a second thought. But her primary focus was the Sun God and the havoc he was wreaking upon her land.

At least he paused in his rampage to speak to her with harsh words and clipped explanations. But nothing more than that and a stern glance, which was surprising for her. She'd heard about his rampage through the Edge, punishing any who stood up to him. But all he gave her was a telling to? It took her aback somewhat to realize that he must obviously see her differently than the unicorns. Startled her enough that she faltered mentally to adjust that thought into her knowns, faltered long enough to merely watch as he stalked off to blast his fire at the snow-capped mountains. Ice groaned and cracked before tumbling apart up there, becoming a threat that would need to be addressed before it either flooded or crushed the lands.

But she was quick behind him, a dark shadow behind his brilliance, a stalking roil of smoke behind his fire. Quite literately smoke, for her anger had sparked her magic as it had once before, and plumes of the stuff rolled off of her. Her mind was working rapidly, trying to fit together the pieces that she knew and fill in the blank spots. It kept her from acting quick enough to do something about the fire he flung at one of the others, but the sight of skin burning cut through her bemusement and sharpened her anger.

This time, when he lunged at the others, she flung herself forward. Powerful hindquarters allowed her to accelerate more rapidly than the god, and she dove between him and his living targets. Veils of smoke extended rapidly behind her as she turned to face him with a warning snap of her teeth at his face, blocking the others from his immediately view and he from theirs. That she had put herself in this seemingly enclosed space was entirely intentional. She could not stop his fire, but she could stop him. At least for a little while.

"Enough! I spoke truly when I told you that you won none over with these senseless attacks against all but those who hold your land. The Tuuli don't even care about you and your kin and yet you ignore the chance to convince them otherwise to put even more souls against you." That was something he hadn't touched from her earlier tirade, so she pressed home on that subject. "I do not care what your heavenly kin have supposedly done to you, or what you might have done to them in return. But I know they would not behave as you have done in return for these rampages through their lands. Instead we rebuild, and fewer and fewer come to worship you in light of all you have done."

Anger thrummed in her, but she forced herself to soften. To try to turn the tide of emotion. "Surely there is a more sensible, less destructive way of going about all this"

[permission from Raven to skip Xenos]

Solstice & Aaron No bond is ever stronger, than that of a Mother and Child The smoke, the cries of the dragons, the sound of burning grasses and trees... No.. No... Not here.. Hazel eyes of the golden and ivory mare searched the land they called home. The huge plumes of black smoke could been seen for miles. Instantly the mare shot off. It wasn't long until she was joined by her son with the same markings. His body tense in the pure anger as they ran to help. Aaron's eyes had turned dark... almost black. How dare the God of the Sun hurt his home. How dare he!? The foothills had done nothing to his presious land. In his mind he could see it, using his magic against the God who had given it to him in the first place. Solstice however had a direct attack in store. As they drew near she stopped and Aaron drew up beside her. He turned and raced for where the fires were being fought by the dragons. Using his magic he attempted to make a fire wall, to help hold off the fire. She focused on the Sun God.... Some God he was. Suddenly a flame burst forward aimmed at the raging God's eyes. As the light hopefully blinded the God... She ran. Solstice knew that attacking the God was a risk.... and she needed to put as much ground between herself and him as possible. "Solstice speaks" "Aaron speaks"

Chaos would soon turn into more chaos. Other arrived, shouting and moving around while Xenos remained next to the boiling water. He tried to separate all the sounds from each other and tried to smell the different herd members though the smoke, but as soon as he took a too deep breath, the sharpness in the air seemed to cut him in the nose. He snorted and felt for a second to hide his nose in the soothing water, only to remember that the water was far from soothing now. He could feel the hot steam rising from it. Sound of earth breaking. Ice and stone soon followed from somewhere above and instincts of flight kicked him into motion and sent Xenos forward and away from the water in a few long strides and he only stopped when someone (Solstice) soared past in front of him. Not knowing or caring who it was, he tried to focus on the scent and sound of hooves, and did his best to trot after. Running was terrifying, but everything around was even more terrifying. He could run and get away, or he could run and fall on his head. Or he could stand still and die. Running seemed to hold the highest chance of surviving. "What is going on?" He shouted after the horse he did his best to follow. Xenos hoped she would hear and stop a bit, maybe just give him a short update and hopefully lead him to a safer spot. As long as he got away before the fear sent him fleeing right into something deadly...

You are the light that's leading me To the place where I find peace again The Sun God may have sidestepped out of the way, but Soleil was determined to land at least one hit on him. She twisted her body and planted her front hooves sending her hind legs shooting out at him. It wasn't until her hooves were planted firmly on the ground again and the adrenaline was beginning to slack just a little that she could feel the searing across her back and smell the burning hair. Panic raced through Soleil as she began shaking her mane to try and douse the flames that the Sun God had sent at her when she'd tried to ram him into the water. She bit back a scream as the flames that the God set across her back made her skin bubble and blister. She turned her head and looked at the Sun God, watching as he sent flames at her mother and another stallion. What had they done to him? The answer was simple. They had done nothing to him and yet the faced his wrath. What could they do? Attacking him obviously wasn't going to help him and neither was talking to him. He was too hard headed and violent. ooc:// sorry for the wait and bad post >.>

I'll never see any side of heaven I'll walk for miles through a blazin' hell The Sun God continued upon his path of destruction as Smoke continued to harp on him from a distance. He caught a few words here and there, but for the most part, he had to ignore her. She was fast growing on his nerves. A fireball was flung at his face, and he collided with his body, bathing him in bright, golden flames. The Sun God began to laugh loudly. "I am the God of the SUN, you idiot. What did you think that would do, burn me?" he snorted. Suddenly, a pair of hooves flashed at him, hitting him squarely in the chest. "Ow." he grunted in irritation before bellowing out a large gust of flames on the back of the silver mare. He watched as she ran for the water. He rolled his eyes. Foolish creature deserved what she got. Finally, he paused as if an invisible creature was speaking in his ear. He hummed thoughtfully, flames rolling off of his mane and back in large, curling waves. Ah, so that is what they are doing. The Sun God cut off the harping mare halfway through a sentence he was not listening to anyway. "You, bear my child," he said sharply. "I will leave if you bear my child. You can raise it how to want, and one day, I will come back to claim this gift I will give you. Keep in mind that this is not exactly optional..." he trailed, leveling his golden stare at her pointedly.

It pained her to watch her fellow horses burned and hurt, knowing her magic could do little but veil them from sight... when they did not charge in, inviting hurt upon themselves. Ears were swept back in agitation, sensing how little her words were getting across. What else could she do but try to distract him, when he never cast his wrath upon her?

But then he stopped, pausing with an attentive, listening pose. She watched him warily, refusing to step back from the fires that cascaded from his body like smoke rolled from hers. What he proposed next... no, demanded next took her off guard.

Her ears flicked forward and then back again, and she snorted softly at the prospect. Bear the child of a god? It was an idea that carried thoughts of three other children of near-gods, and the destruction they had wrought. But he claimed he would leave if she did, allow her to raise the child as she would... it made her thoughts churn with half-formed ideas. Made her emotions roil. It was her duty to defend the herd and lead the other defends of the herd. Talk and action had done nothing to stop what had happened. What choice did she have, really, if she was to fulfil her duty.

"Fine." She said sharply, stamping a hoof. He'd be disappointed if he thought to find a malleable youngster at her side when he did return to claim his 'gift'. While her children did seem to take after their sires in most things, stallions did not understand how much could be made of a child's foundations in those first seasons. She doubted even Gunslinger could have warped Kimber into a blind racist now, doubted her second child could be so dramatically influenced even by her half-brother. And this stallion, god though he might be, thought to emulate every other sire of her children in that regard? Very well then. He'd have another thing coming to him.