It was my day off from patrolling, and it was a glorious morning, the birds were singing, the crickets chirping—and I had been snoring. IF you believed a certain firebird that was keenly pointing out the horrific nasal sounds I’d been making, whilst she bombarded and raped my senses from the ignorant bliss I’d been residing in only moments before. “Ye’s NOISE woke me!” The word woke roared inside my cerebrum, bounced from one lobe and boomeranged back into gray brain matter. Lids silted open, annoyance colored every aspect of my frown and voice, “Could ye be any louder?”

She hissed like a serpent, flicking her beak apart, “I could ask thee the SAME!” I flinched visibly, already feeling the beginning of a headache starting to form; the sun had been up for hardly an hour and already I’d had enough of this shouting. For the love of Earth. Tail jerked sideways, slapping against my flank as one agitated forehoof rose to stamp the ground with a gold shaped print, “Go elsewhere then,” I snapped, clicking yellowish ivories together. Body shifted, angling away from our sleeping spot.

“Gladly!” she screeched and took off for the sky. A deep sigh whelped and I released it, the silence that fell was peaceful. Slowly I edged back under the canopy of our gangly oak, stretching neck toward the ground in an attempt to catch a few more winks of uninterrupted rest. I found after a few tries that the forest wasn’t so nearly quiet and dark as I would have liked.

She could definitely be taking better care of herself. Obviously one should understand and be willing to clean their coat when there was a small layer of dirt on it. But, it was more than just that - the mist from the falls had it sticking to her coat even more. And, to be quite honest, it disgusted me. At least PRETEND you care, huh? I muttered to Seele before settling down in my corner of her cranium, watching as she traversed across the ground and headed towards the oaks. Perhaps she was finally trying to memorize the lands for once, even though it was almost completely done. But, still, Schwere would insist that it was not memorized until she knew where every single hole in the ground was. Nothing was ever enough for that stag.

Her tired eyes seemed to scan the area around her. Schwere, Liebling, Unheil and I's mistrust for most of what was happening was keeping her alert now. Making her take in everything which was around her with far more intensity than they had before. And, I suppose, that as her mother I should be glad about such an increase in her perception skills. Still, it was hard on me to see her constantly on edge - constantly pushed to be alert lest something strange happen.

However, the horse which we gracefully pulled up to was none less than the leader who stood at her side over these lands. A snort escaped her maw as she caught him dozing under an oak tree. "Midas?" she murmured, soft enough that should he actually be sleeping she would not wake him, but loud enough that it would at least hit his ears.

It was time to catch up with the one who I had been hoping would begin to cause emotions to bubble up in her soul - to finally flourish so that I didn't have to send them to her. She needed to learn to feel something. Perhaps he would be the way…

SEELE

We all dealt with bad mornings on occasion, this had thus far been one of those. Fina woke on the wrong side of the branch and I’d been rudely aroused by her teenage irritations—not an enriching way to begin a day. I sighed heavily, swishing my head to the side and clinching lids tighter in a vain effort to block out the humming and buzzing of creatures already busy at work. Normally I’d already been up before the dawn, scouring our territory for mishaps and checking in on clanmates; but like I’d mentioned before, we all had bad mornings.

My ears could hear the soft prodding of feet across spongy turf, I could sense a presence drawing near and even begin to taste whom was coming. Seele. She called my name softly, attentively allowing me room to pretend I was in some artificial world. For a moment the idea to remain motionless, ignorantly in my own personal euphoria, totally appealing. But the notion was fleeting and my reasonable mind shifted into action, lids broke apart and crown rose from its humbled position to meet the curious gaze of my colead.

“Good morning, Seele,” I rippled in return, a gentle smile creasing the corners of my war strained face, the tenors which greeted her were rich and noticeably free of morning husk that often deepened a man during his early hours of wakefulness. “How might I be of service?” It was unlikely that she’d seek my company simply for the sake of it; our last conversations had been fruitful, but strictly business related. I expected this interaction would harbor much the same.

She waited for longer than she would have liked. Of course, she would have preferred to have walked off as soon as she'd said his name, but I was determined to make her speak with him - be around someone who understands emotions and might be willing to show them. It shouldn't be that difficult, then, for her to either become a better manipulator of her façade (if that were to be the least) or to actually get the tinge of a feeling when the strongest emotions were to slide across her synapses.

So, with a huff from my lips I kept her there, waiting for him to either move or stay still for a few more minutes - to prove that he was asleep or didn't want to be bothered. And, when he finally allowed his lids to open and crown to raise I was elated. Just enjoy his company, I instruct Seele who is bobbing her head to his greeting. Gently, she allows her maw to be graced with a smile few rarely see. More of a grimace than a smile, but one would be able to tell that she is at least trying to allow it to be real instead of her perfectly constructed mask she had created years ago. "Morning," she responded, Unheil making a comment about how Midas probably wasn't even asleep to me as Seele shuffles her limbs in a little closer to him. She does not dare cross into his boundaries or get under the shade which he has found himself, but simply places herself in a position which is easier to converse in.

"No real service is necessary. Just wished to have a companion for once since being alone for too long seems to cause more trouble than it is worth…" she says, harsher constants always present in her speech no matter how hard I tried to get rid of them and make her sound more presentable. Alas, it didn't matter for she was at least being cordial. "That is, if you do not mind. I do not wish to intrude," she finished, flicking her tail absently at a fly who dared to land upon her hide.

Please let her stay, I plead to myself.

SEELE

This girl was like all other women, like most men, I’d yet to understand a single one. They seemed keen on playing whatever games they could, using wit and flattery as tools for controlling those of a weaker mindset. Seele was a female and thus had girly tendencies of acting like everything was sunlight and butterflies when it actually wasn’t. But she’d been through so much drama lately, (with mending and eris) I could only assume that the masked colead wanted her space as usual. I’d thought that Eris and her midnight friend had been sisters of sort—they’d ruled the Asylum together in seemingly flawless unity when I’d resided in Dragon’s Throat.

My question was answered, though not with the offer of reports or further orders that needed to be dealt with...but an announcement that Seele was merely seeking a social friend. Truly? By all appearance the smile on this dark muzzle gentled and I dipped skull forward in a light salute, a sign of agreement…all the while I was wondering what had truly stirred her from seclusion. She simply wasn’t the type to venture forth without due cause, and I assumed that it wasn’t my ability to provide riveting conversation which had wooed her to me, “Ye is welcome to linger if it suits ye. Though I’m not the best company…” A personal joke that widened my grin into a soft beam. I was certainly more tolerable than some, (Fina couldn’t disagree) “I’m glad to see your wounds have mended.” It was a conversation starter and it didn't carry much hope of prying loose the real reason this Asylum falls queen had come.

Silence is little offered in this world, even I knew that. I had accepted this in many different ways, but I would also not accept my daughter not learning the idea of friendship - of really having someone to lean on.

It was his words which jarred Seele from the blank mind which I had gotten used to these past few weeks. His smile attempting to be mirrored by the charcoal dame as his words flit into the air. "You are at least some company - one is less likely to attack me should you be present," she whispered before shaking the thoughts away and carefully pulled herself into the shade. Her limbs a good three feet away from his, though definitely within his wingspan should he have the desire to brush his feathers upon her flesh.

At least it's something, I muttered to myself, even though Seele could hear it and was nowhere near pleased with my words. Luckily, though, before she had time to growl at me Midas was speaking again. He says that he is glad to see her wounds healed and Seele manages to bob her head. Her ear was still missing the tip, and some scars had formed across her hide - but she was, for the literal definition of the word, whole.

"Thank you," she whispered, eyes trained upon the ground. She supposed she should have deserved it - considering how she had attacked one who she had considered family. But, no more. She was not to be a part of her family, that was changed. There was a pause, as I pushed her to ask how he was doing - how she knew it wasn't necessarily his first choice to be here. But, it would take a lot of my prodding to actually get the words to fall from her mouth.

"Are you doing okay - I know this couldn't have been your first choice," she said, attempting to show emotion, attempting to have it look like she really cared deep down. Alas, the fact she even dared to ask was something I considered a victory.

Her response is an amusing one, and I find myself grinning wider in spite of previous musings. It seemed that I wasn’t the only soul who thought our kin was one hoofprint away from bursting through the bushes with the look of a rabid animal. I shook my head, good humor jerking the formality from my tone, “Seems ye can handle a fight well enough; though I’d rather stay out of trouble today.” She drew closer, edging beneath the shadows of my hollow. I welcomed the approach and drifted muzzle toward hers in an attempt at offering my acceptance and willingness to form a connection. There was so much about Seele that was a mystery to me, we scarcely talked aside from formalities and council meetings. Gaze softened, allowing the faintest notion of vulnerability to climb above my towering walls.

The way she spoke now, softly, almost alluringly was driving my curiosity into higher levels that couldn’t be tamed for long. It was then that my fellow colead asked something that surprised the core of my being. I recovered quickly, hardly allowing time for the question to register, “Aye,” I heard myself reply automatically and without much feeling, “I am well.” A lie.

My own flesh hadn’t taken the time to ask upon my conflict in this whole upsetting business; and here was a woman who hadn’t shown me any other side but the formal mask of duty—asking me if I was alright. A heavy chuckle flitted past my lips, finding amusement not in her question but in the regard that she was showing me when my own family had seemingly forgotten that I was also a fleshy creature, “Nay actually…I cry ye’s pardon. I’m…coping, tis still the sand which calls my soul even now.” It was a shameful admission that I hadn't yet grown strong enough to recover from moving homes, trading loyalty and the cries of warriors for the forked tongues of liars and traitors. Why was I telling her this truth?

She shifted her weight, turning in a little to watch him closer. He says that it seems she can hold her own, and a weak smile manages to grace her lips. And, as she asked how he was doing that caused a quick, chopped off response. Her orbs peered toward him, disbelief in her orbs.

There was a chuckle that escaped his maw and I could only twist a little in her cranium, awaiting the true story that would perhaps fall from his lips now. Finally, though, he allowed words to fall from his lips. Apologizing for lying before saying that the sand was still his home. "Every bird must fly from the coop," she offered, yellow eyes softening a little even though she couldn't understand the pain which had to be messing with him. "I'm trying my best to make it comfortable. Most are loyal - they simply want a place to fit in, to stop being treated as broken," she tried to explain, something I had taught her. I had made her take in Liebling - I had made her help the innocents, put the training Schwere had put on her to good use. There is a gentle snort as she turns her maw in towards him and allows her voice to fall again, "Can I… help at all?" The offer was true, even if the sentiments behind them were unable to be felt. I liked him there beside her, and she had grown used to him, almost safe near him. It was perfect for my vision, and my daughter would soon realize that.

“Ye speaks true, I say thank ye,” the response was managed lightly and without even a single scowl toward her mismatched jest upon a ‘bird’ reference. The meaning of such statement was true enough. Every youth fled the home of their fathers to visit other territories and eventually leave a mark upon this world. I knew it, but understanding the context and living by it were two different beasts entirely.

In all honesty I’d grown used to living beneath the shadows of pines, the thundering water. But this beautiful paradise couldn’t mend distance between my son and daughter. I craved their presence, for my eldest children to draw near me and aid in the rearing of this (my) new family. But nay, seemed this body was cursed to be surrounded by yearning eyes and loving friends, but lack the ability to uphold a true blood tie.

Seele mentioned that she’d been trying to ease use into the transition. I nodded and said nothing at first, “There are scarce few physical discomforts.” This place was easier to reside, than a desert had ever been, “I’ve grown to care for this family and its many souls,” tone is delicate, as if I’m brushing a fine layer of dust from a leaf, “There is little ye can do. Though I am grateful for thee and honored by the patience that’s been shown.”

There was no cure. Only distraction, for I had chosen the lonely path—one of honor and leadership. “What of ye?” Gaze shifts to lock eyes with her, narrowing gently as they peer past the restrictive mask she usually wore, “How fairs thee in all this?”

He thanks her for the words, though she didn’t quite know why. It didn't matter, I supposed. All that really mattered was that she was trying and wasn't about to… screw things over on accident. And, as she explained how she was trying because the Earth God had called upon her to do so, she watched his frame.

There was little sustenance to his words even though I could tell he cared. He wanted to protect this family as much as he could, and for that I was thankful. Seele shifted her weight as he pried into her life. Perhaps she should be more willing to allow others in - but even I wasn't sure if that was one of the best ideas. A gentle sigh before she peers up a little bit to meet his gaze, yellow eyes locking with his golden ones. Now is as good of a time to be as open as ever. At least allow your co-lead to know something - it cannot hurt too much. I offered to her before she allowed herself t speak up a little bit. "Not as well as I should, considering we were given a home when we had nothing. I have few who are willing to be around me," there is a pause as she shakes her head, "I may know every artery - every quick way to kill, but I'm not meant to fight… to really fight. I've been trying to train more, slowly get used to situations where I can't just stab them and let them bleed out. I should feel safe… but now I'm uncertain if something is going to jump out from behind a tree and attack me in my own home…"

She shudders, she shouldn't have explained. She disagreed with allowing that much to fall from her lips. After all, she liked to gain information, not give it. There is a weak form of a grimace upon her maw as she stands there, eyes trained on the ground. And, for some reason, deep in the recesses of her mind, Liebling was telling her that crying would ease the paranoia which blurred around in her skull - would take away some of the stress which had caused it. But she couldn't cry, it was weak and she was not weak.


But I'd bet you, that if someone so much as touched her right now that the rest of this wall she'd built up would crumble down oh so very quickly…

SEELE

Ears swivel round, catching the faint whisper of an invisible meadow buck slipping through the undergrowth and into some hidden barrow. They rolled forward again when Seele starts to speak; I listen in quiet appreciation and curiosity as syllables fell in the form of an honest answer. We all had our secrets and personal conflicts; some just revealed theirs more easily than others. In truth she answered my return of concern with more meat than expected—the reward for such omission was my unwavering attention and consideration.

I thought out of the two of us, Seele would have more friends in this valley then me (considering she’d come from their ranks.) If anything I’d taken for granted the loyalty of my previous family; we’d all had differences, but they’d never dared disobey the call of tradition and the rule of Sultan’s.

Seele voiced to have the pose of a silent killer, one that used darkness as her shield and surprise as a potent weapon. The shadows had no appeal to me, I’d been trained as a youth to fight with honor and dignity in the light of day. To make my power and purpose known without a single thread of doubt. Trickery and lies were for the weak of heart…or those who actually had the talent to use a silver tongue.

Thus why the Basin held little appeal. They whisper dangerous and tempting promises, like a woman in the throes of heat often did to lure in her weak minded prey. Their words always seemed to be nothing more than empty vocals—offering little sustenance.

She appeared fragile, instinctively my gaze softened, the tips of brows narrowed into tiny furrows. I remained motionless a moment longer, even as her gaze trailed away to some previously unnoticed ant crawling across our feet. Nostrils tremble, blowing free a small sigh of warm air. Slowly I pushed my muzzle toward her shoulder, drawing in that strong feminine essence with the next quiet inhale. Tickling whiskers make first contact, threading along the soft sleek fur that outlined every muscle; dry velvet shifted forward to solidify the connection.“We shall weed out the traitors; they will either come to accept this home and it's guardians or not,” compassion came easy to me, nobody wanted to be the object of a hunt in their own land, “Ye has won my loyalty, measure its worth and may it do ye fine.”

Tone is low, just one notch above murmur and meant for her alone, “Eris and her companion have been removed from this family; does the wound caused by their actions give ye grief?” They’d betrayed her trust. No wonder my dear sister was on a fine edge.

I hadn’t realized the stress my mysterious colead found herself dealing with on a day to day basis, and she’d obviously been dealing alone. The crimson mare answers, low and without noticeable hesitation; though, it can’t ever be an easy thing to admit weakness. Seele then pleads for my silence, as if I’d break code on our private palaver. I meet those blond eyes without misgiving (their color not unlike the liquid amber of my own), and with an understanding sensitivity that is so true to my very nature, “Aye, chase worry from heart. The secret is safe.” Dishonor was a thing far worse than death itself.

In a moment of quiet, I glanced down the line of her curvy frame; absently drawing my gaze until it falls upon a single golden plume that is just barely visible between the gentle curve of hip bone and rump. “Ye still carries that feather…” Words spoken aloud, yet more of a soft musing that was given life beyond the recesses of my mind. Said plume had once been used as rough form of communication between myself and our alliance during an invasion to Dragon’s Throat. I’d noticed it before, but never thought to ask why she’d keep a silly trinket. Some horses favored collecting various objects of worth, others sought trophies. Often decorating their manes and tails with teeth, horns and feathers from their victims. A gruesome thing.

Lips are still curved with gentle pitch, but my gaze is thoughtful when the pools draw to her again,“Why has ye carried it for this long?” It was of little importance, bore no magical properties that would obviously gain her advantage in anything other than flattering her banner with its color. Why bother with it?

He meets her gaze, saying that the secret is safe, and I can feel her heart fall back into place instead of being stuck in her throat. She nods her head, gulping down the air quickly and allowing her orbs to close and just... rest for a moment. I can honestly say she'd yet to do that in the presence of others, and as she cocks her right hind to rest her weight it is surprise which courses through my mind and into hers. She barely recognizes it, eyes only opening when words begin to fall from his lips again.

He speaks of the feather still braided tightly into her tail, and then asks why it was that she had carried it for so long. Yellow orbs flicker towards his for a few moments before she allows her hoarse voice to pull forward. "Originally, it was to show I was not the enemy... Now..." she pauses, as if struggling to find the right words to explain it. Perhaps it was like a sign of family. It could be the right word - he was a herd mate after all. But, the gold feather was an accessory she enjoyed as well - reminded her that she could still fight and that someone, hopefully would still be on her side. She mulls over each of the options before finally just resting upon family. "... It's a sign of family,"

A sign of the family she'd never really had. But, the family which she had always fought for regardless of the situation. Would he even understand? She wasn't sure that he could...

SEELE

There wasn’t hesitation when she answered, I smiled just a little at the word family. A tired smile that drew the corners of my face higher but accented the lines of a pained warrior whom had lost much and seen the world offer only cruelty as payment. For a soul to treasure something so simple, a memory. She and I weren’t far apart in the sense that we both clung to an ideal of the impossible. That this world could be tethered with light and a kinsmanship that couldn’t be easily severed – I’d not lost all hope of this ideology, but nor was this mind a fool to think that all would share a kindred emotion toward it.

“Family…” I murmured, turning eyes to gaze off in some other direction. A tree in the distance, a place to land gaze so that she couldn’t see how such a word drew up heartstrings, pinching the very soul. I’d abandoned my family, time and time again. Ktulu, when she called for us to bond as one – my first instinct was to reject. Cling instead to a scrap of land that had been a first love since before being weaned from ma’s milk.

Cera. How often had my job? My title? Taken time and effort from the task of raising him correctly? Now, I had a daughter, a little golden child whom had grown in the blink of an eye. Stepped into adulthood with me gazing in from the outside. “A subject that evades my knowledge,” words are soft, but they betray the truth that is crying, mourning. It is a wound that could never be mended, unless I moved to a point in life where failures could be forgiven. Where I could forgive myself. I shamed this collar around neck by grieving. But a mortal heart was weak, vulnerable to all manner of assault.

“See,” light attempts to mask the darkening of our topics, “I’m poor company to keep – ye shouldn’t be subject to lend ear to a man hardly known,” my grin is false now, covering the scab that she unknowing flicked open.

He speaks of family as if he does not know it. But he had a family at the Throat. He had the whole herd there at his side. It was something she sought - to have a place she felt… normal in. Somewhere where she wasn't considered wrong or unnecessary. Where the ties were thick and tight - and she'd yet to feel that. Her orbs drift towards him as he looks away and she only shakes her head, ears falling back a little. "I don't have knowledge of it either - can't say I've ever had it," she whispers, knowing that he'd had a family. She saw how the Throat had fought for their land, for him. The way everyone interacted with him and it pulled at what little care she had. She was tired of not being worthy - of not having anyone who cared (and she must mean alive and caring, because we definitely cared) whether she lived or not. Tired of feeling as though everyone was using her for their own benefits. And really, regardless of the paranoia consistently plaguing her she didn't doubt it to be true. Not after the way some of her 'family' had attacked her when she would have been willing to die for them not but minutes earlier.

But he changes subjects, and she's somewhat relieved he did, for the images flashing through her skull were leaving flashes of white rage across her cranium from the voices In her head and she didn't wish to snap at anything. "When one has never been gifted company, they cannot call it poor," she muses at last, having been quite for a good while after he finished talking. Eyes trained on the distance away from him - mind reeling over the different ways anyone and everyone could rip her apart, kill her on the spot, ruin her for eternity.

Because didn't everyone turn? She didn't know what was truth and lies anymore.

She’d never known the care of a family? Though our definitions of such were vaguely different, we both strove for the same purpose. True, I’d known the love of followers – love grew obedience, but obedience would never harvest the fruit of devotion. Aye, such took years to develop. A thing easier brought about by times of strife verses an era of good fortune.

“Ye has one to call brother, and I one to call sister. We are kin, brought together by the gods, or fate, or perhaps lady luck herself,” a coy grin slipped the corners of lips higher (as if this soul could believe in such a thing as luck), and I considered a moment before adding, “Perhaps I am to brash to brush aside the definition of family – my mind is plagued with painful thoughts of the past, lingering on those I’ve disappointed or failed.”

Deliberately I reach out, not moving to touch or even brush by, but simply to bring my presence near, “Does ye have no blood kin still living?” I asked, unsure if it was even appropriate to ask such an intimate question. Surely though this woman, in all her allure and attraction had been courted by men of stature and title; and if no man then perhaps a sibling to rely upon or a parent. If she’d been alone all this time, among the mentally challenged – no wonder my co-lead feared traitorous wolves in our den, their smiles laced only with the sheen of fang.