Adelric,


While the half-child ponders the plants that he is in front of, as happy alone as he was with others, he does not notice the white stallion approach. Rather, so deep in his ruminations, Adelric only notices the way the wind plays over the leaves and makes them shimmer. Each shape seems to take a unique path after being touched by the breeze- another mystery he does not understand. What makes one rise while the other falls? What makes one shift to the left when another is pressed downward? He wishes to know the answers to all of these questions and more. Indeed, it seems even a lifetime of study will not answer all of his questions. Still, he wants to try.

Finally, the half-child turns his head and is surprised to see Fraub standing there beside him. Starting softly, he backs up just in time for his sister to arrive beside him. Happily, he takes an awkward side-step with all of the foal grace he can manage, hoping to end up alongside of her so that he might reach out and touch her neck. And while he does that, he is happy that she takes the reins and introduces them to Fraub. He has not yet had time to think of how to approach the stallion and this makes him nervous. After all, Fraub is not his father and he has not met many stallions in person. Are there different rules for interacting with them? Zünden seems to think not.

“I was thinking,” he responds to his sister, but suddenly remembers that she is not very fond of his favorite pastime. “I wanted to play... Do you...” he hesitates. A favorite game of his might be cataloging rocks or seeing who can find the most differences between a rabbit and a squirrel but Zünden is not amused by such games, he is certain. Instead, he tries to think of what game she might enjoy and only comes up with one answer- a fight. Still, he would rather have his sister love him and be his friend than have her think he is silly. If it will make her happy, he can play a game with her. “We could fight? Maybe Mr...” He hesitates, not sure if he is imposing, but in the grand scheme of things he is more interested in having his sister like him than Fraub. If he is imposing, he supposes he will have to count it as the lesser of two evils. “Could help us. Do you know anything about fighting?”

He looks to the stallion with half-eager eyes, although secretly hoping that the answer is no so that he might be forgiven this brutal game. Still, once he has waited for an answer, he turns back to Zünden and shakes his head back and forth, letting his tiny bump of a horn glide through the air in a display of what he hopes is childish aggression. Erebos had taught him the move. If it works, he will have to find the Night Phoenix and thank him for the lesson.

@[Zünden] @[Fraub]

Adelric,


Surprised by the glare that his response has garnered, the half-child debates what could have caused this interesting reaction. He had been about to answer his sisters question- what was he thinking about- but he became distracted, his mind wandering to a new curiosty to be discovered, the answer to what he had been thinking gone with the winds that brushed against the trees. He has seen a glare before, is familiar with the look, but has never stopped to ponder what exactly makes a horse glare instead of smile, furrow their brow when they could smile instead. He has never felt the need to glare himself, and so he has never known the emotion that causes it... until now.

As the white stallion asks if he would rather take a bath as he is dirty, the half-child feels himself become offended and hurt. Dirty? He looks back. Yes, perhaps he is slightly dirty, not entirely and perfectly clean, but he does not think that it is an offensive amount of filth. So he turns back to the stallion and glares at the same time that his sister poses her question. “Yes!” he responds defiantly, instantly caught up in her aggression, eager to belong with her- to be wanted. His eager head bobs fantastically as Zunden carries on and, truthfully, her words make sense to his logical mind. Cleanliness may be next to godliness, but when it came time to live or die, it seemed that fighting would be a much more useful quality.

It is only the calm voice of his mother, his beloved, that stops his head from its affirmative motion. He turns suddenly to see her, eyes wide but mouth smiling in a confusing look of both surprise and excitement. He loves her to his very core, is pleased every time he looks upon her, be he cannot help but continually feel like he has failed her. His mother does not want them to fight, does not approve of it, and he has stood here (almost) arguing like the incapable child that he is for the opposite viewpoint. “Kei,” he says then, lovingly, as the panther rubs against him, lowering his nose to brush against the cat's head, perhaps. He thinks of him as an uncle, despite her differences, in addition to a babysitter and friend. “We were just gonna play, Mother,” he adds then, trying to cover for both him and his sister, hoping to save them from any trouble. But, if they were to get into trouble, Adie knows that he would take the fall for his sister. After all, if he can shield her from harm, she will like him more. At least, he hopes...

@[Zünden] @[Fraub] @[Kiara]

Adelric,


Curious words from the curious stallion; Adelric also notes the stallion’s strange hair, like his mother has. He has no retort for the white stud, and in fact he feels rather bad for having been rude at all, but he has been forced to make a choice between stranger and family. Family will always win for the half-child. Besides, it seems like he has pleased Zunden. Her happiness made him happy. Still, he cannot help but notice the anger in her eyes as the panther finishes winding about his legs. He frowns. How can he fix this?

The half-child decides the best course of action is to be good to his sister, to reach over, to press against her neck if she does not move away. He does not fear her lowered head, or the horns upon it. He trusts her to be gentle with him, though she is not gentle with anyone else. They are twins, after all, and it is a special bond to be one in the same. Indeed, he is not whole without her and he knows it. Together, their opposite eyes make two complete sets and they both share the same barbed wire marking that sometimes dances in his dreams. A barbed wire marking that flits just out of reach each time he tries to remember who had worn it for him to know it. It is a stallion, his father perhaps, but he knows nothing else. Only a strange sense of longing, of emptiness, and not knowing… He could ask his mother, maybe, but she would speak of it if she wanted to, he is certain. He is young, but he has an intuitive heart.

As the panther swats at his sister’s tail and his mother comments about a game of chase, the boy nods obediently. “Running will help you grow stronger,” he says to his sister, smiling, butting his nose out again, trying to cajole her into a game. “Come on!” He laughs gaily, moves not-so-gracefully, but chances after the panther nevertheless, looking back for his sister. He is sure to move slow enough to let her pass him, to let her take the lead and control, to let her win. He tried this trick once before with Erebos and he moved too slow, too obviously trying to let his friend win, but now… He has learned, and so his act might almost seem real. Perhaps not totally real, not yet, he still has much to learn, but every day he learns more about lying to make others like him, lying so that they will not see the real him and recoil in terror.

@[Zünden] @[Fraub] @[Kiara]