Sand. Everywhere in this land there seemed to be nothing but sand. I was naive to think it would be any different, given that I had never been to a desert before, but I still should have known better. The length of my mane and tail constantly left a reminder of where I been, trailing behind me leaving waves much like a snake. My hoofprints would be wiped away from the hair, but anyone could clearly tell the tracks belonged to myself. Lord knows my hair showed it...As I explored, I paused in my tracks to glance down at the bi-colored strands. Sure enough, full of grains that reflected my new home. It was a shame, I never considered myself a particularly vain creature until this moment. Interesting how you never feel vain, never seem to care what you look like or what others must think of your appearance, until something about your appearance suddenly changes. I knew it was something I would just have to get over though, an adjustment for me in order to keep this new home that I was welcomed into.

My auds pricked as someone suddenly shouted, breaking me out of my self-consciousness and into the present. The voice echoed over the sands here, but it didn't seem too far...And there was something familiar about it..."Bucephalus? I muttered curiously, picking up my pace to a lively trot to see what was the matter. 'If anything, I'll get quite the workout here.' I thought to myself as I began to clamber up a dune, my hoof slipping beneath me and pulling me to the earth in a stumble. Catching myself before I could slip back down to the bottom, I dug deeper with every step to brace myself as I tried again. Once I reached the top, I looked back over my shoulder with a proud smile. Sand took some talent to walk and climb on, it's no wonder that it was primarily pegasi here...

Facing ahead once again, my scarlet gaze settled on a black heap with feathers on the ground. As I stepped closer, the heap began to take shape into the familiar form of Bucephalus. 'What the hell is he doing?' I thought to myself, auds pricked and crown tilted to the side as I raised a brow. There, right before my very eyes...Was a full grown stallion...Petting a rock...'And he's...singing to it?' Slowly I crept closer, trying to listen to his song. The melody sounded lovely, though it was strange to me. Quietly I stood behind him as I listened, trying to peer over his shoulder and around his wing to see what he was doing better. Awkwardly, I announced my presence. "Ahem..." The cough was as subtle as I could possibly make it, but there was no doubting the 'what the hell are you doing' tone underlying it. Sure, I was the last person that had any right to judge him. But can you blame me? A full grown stallion, petting and singing to a rock...


Tag: @[Bucephalus]

Bucephalus was so focused on his task that he didn't hear her approaching, still humming and crooning to the stone as he shaped it. But the rather loud 'ahem' made the black jerk and start, banging his knee on the stone, a curse slipping past his lips as he hopped for a few feet, wincing. Ouch. "Uhm... would you believe me if i told you i wasn't crazy, just trying to sing a stone into a different shape?" He asked, giving Morrigan a sheepish grin, like that of a kid caught with his hand in the candy jar. He glanced back at the stone, his expression quickly changing to that of annoyance and sorrow, an odd combination. But he returned his gaze to the new recruit, trotting over, content to leave the stone to rot for now. "What brings you out this far from the rest of the herd?" He asked, tilting his head curiously, still slightly favoring his left leg. That little bump was going to ache like hell tomorrow...or later that day. Depending on how hard he really hit the rock. Damn stone. "And how are you settling in?" He added, ears pricked. As the one who brought her here, he should check in on her, right? Or...not right? Hell he didn't know. He still didn't know who the hell Cera was, and he was supposed to be Buce's superior. That made the stallion anxious, and the faint prance he did as he stood gave off that, although Buce didn't realize that he was doing so. Word Count:000 Tags:000

"Oh, I'm sorry!" I winced as I watched his knee smack against the rock, auds flicking back when he swore and stepping back as he hobbled for a bit. It wasn't my intentions to startle him by any means, and a twinge of guilt hit me. The stallion appeared to be bruised, but he didn't come across as angry with me. Rather, he grinned as he told me he wasn't crazy. "Singing rocks into shapes doesn't constitute as crazy around here?" The sarcastic question slipped past my lips before I could stop them, and I could not help myself but to smirk at him. Never in my life had I heard of such a fallacy, but, I suppose there could be stranger and darker oddities in the world.

My crimson gaze darted to his knee, and for a moment I wish I had any sort of skill set to in my position as a healer in order to help him. Thankfully, he changed the subject. "Just exploring..." I muttered, looking around us as though I was suddenly going to find something interesting. Nope, Bucephalus's pet rock was the most interesting thing for me to see for a while. "Though, it gets pretty monotonous after a while." With a sigh, I returned my gaze to meet his. "It's...an adjustment." I laughed with some embarrassment, doubting that he would understand the difficulties I was having when he could simply fly from one end to another.

Beginning to realize that I wasn't being much of a conversationalist, I tried to think up of a way to break the silence and prevent my short answers. "How about yourself? Trying to hide from the others that you sing to rocks?" The smirk returned at the light teasing, flicking my heavy tail against my webbed flank. A thought came to mind. "When Gaucho came, I never got the chance to ask you what brought you to Helovia either..."

He couldn't help but laugh at her words. What did count as crazy here? He supposed what he had been doing could be considered crazy... but it was just logical that he try to see if the same magic flowed here as it had in his homeland. "There's much to see, Morrigan, provided you try to see." Being downright cryptic, he winked and trotted past her, flicking his tail into her face playfully. "I didn't purposely come here. I've been wandering for a few months, but i have been an exile for far longer. Come, i'll show you why the desert is not 'monotonous'." He called over his shoulder, wings settling on his back comfortably as he walked with ease across the sand. His hooves still retained the broadness of his Arabian descent, and with his desert upbringing the loose sand was no problem for him. In fact he found it wonderful; running on stone hurt one's hooves from the jarring shock of it. But sand... running on sand was almost similar to flying. You hardly felt it when your hooves hit the ground, unless you hit an air pocket. Then you were doomed to get a nice mouthful of sand. He found what he had been looking for, and he stood atop a rather large sand dune, turning his head to look back patiently at Morrigan. He had found this earlier, and it was a welcome sight. "Hurry, you're going to miss it." He called, tail swishing as he turned to face her fully. Word Count:255 Tags:@[Morrigan]

It seemed as though Helovia just called to strangers that wandered aimlessly, at least that was the case for myself and Bucephalus. My nares flared with a snort as he flicked his tail, ears flicking back slightly at the irritation. Playfulness was not something I was used to, nor was social interaction. Even as a youth, 'playing' with other was very rare for me. What friendships and playtimes I did have were cut short due to the parents scolding their children, telling them not to play with the omen girl and instead convincing them to turn against me. It's a pity how innocent children could be until the opinion of an adult altered their minds. Adults could unknowingly be the most cruel beings when they raised their children to do the same...

Letting the tail flick pass, I rotated to follow after him. Occasionally I would stumble or trip, particularly when going up hills or sliding down the dunes. 'Thank the...oh which one is it, Sun? Yes, thank the Sun God for this stallion's patience...' "Wait up..."I thought as once again I followed him up a large sand dune, glad that he was waiting for me. Speedy little bugger...At the last few feet, I placed both of my front hooves on the top of the dune, heaving myself up in a small jump. Once I was standing beside him, I turned my crown to look at the stallion. "What is it? I asked as I took a deep breath to regulate my lungs from the miniature workout. My mane and tail feel down the side of the dune, and temporarily I glanced about trying to see whatever it was that I was supposedly going to miss.

He waited for her to be settled on the dune, having watched her shaky progress across the sand with amusement. She'd get used to it. "Just watch." He said, turning his head to look at the desert scene below. He had seen the familiar dust cloud of a runner-bird, and from the hilltop he could see the creature approach a bush. Seemingly empty, it wasn't until the bird came close that a chick ran out chirping furiously. "The creatures of the desert are wiser than we; they conceal themselves during the day, and frolic at night. In my homeland, my birth herd was much the same. We slept the day away and did our duties at night. The sun was just too hot otherwise." He said, looking to her. "Never think a desert is 'monotonous' or lifeless. You just have to know where to look...and be in the right place at the right time." He said the last part with a faint laugh, glancing at the sun. Shadows were growing long. "If you'd like, we can wait until night and i can show you the desert's life? Or we can return home to the Throat and pretend you never saw me singing and petting a rock." He offered, looking down at her with a grin. He returned his gaze to the runnerbirds, watching in amusement as the chick stumbled over it's own long legs, the feathery crest atop it's head flaring in alarm as it fell to the ground. The mother nudged her chick up, having spotted the two equines, and the pair went shooting off, naught but a cloud of dust and sand showing signs that they had been there. Word Count:282 Tags:@[Morrigan II]

I followed the stallion's gaze to the land beneath us, orbs narrowing to better see the trail of a species of bird that I had never seen before. Quietly I watched the strange creature approach the bush, greeted excitedly by it's chick. A single aud flicked towards Bucephalus to listen to him speak as I watched the baby bird with a smile, slowly beginning to understand what he meant. I knew that many creatures were nocturnal, it only made sense that the majority of the desert creatures were the same. It certainly explained why I felt as though I never was able to see much around here but the same old piles of sand.

Glancing to the stallion, I smirked as he gave me two options of what we should do next. My curiosity begged me to stay and see the world through his eyes, learn from what he knew of these types of lands and hopefully take in a new sense of appreciation for the desert. But I would be lying if another part of me warned me to do no such thing. Mistakes of my past taught me lessons that mares should never be forced to learn, and the slow drop of my face as I tried to forget those lessons showed my concern. This stallion was still but a stranger to me, regardless of how friendly he was. A few days of acquaintanceship was hardly something for me to base trust off of, yet I had already put so much more trust into him than I was usually comfortable with.

I kept my attention to the birds as they speed away, watching the trail of dust disperse behind them as I thought. To be alone with Bucephalus in broad daylight was one thing, the sun's light brought a source of comfort and bravery to me. After dusk, while so far away from the safety of the herd, was something completely different. Dragon's Throat members were supposed to be family, right? They were supposed to put their trust in each other before all others, but how could such a thing be asked of those new to these customs? Would they really defend and protect each other to the death? Trust each other with their lives and spirits? It was a difficult concept that I could barely even fathom, and my gut instincts told me to go against them until trustworthiness was proven to me.

Once again, the wall that had protected me for years began to regenerate itself and block out the pegasus next to me. The inner battle was won by my lack of trust for stallions in general, having met my 'I'm comfortable with you' quota for the day. "I would like that, but perhaps we should save that for another night..." I said quietly, beginning to turn away from him and slowly stepping over the side of the dune. Hind legs tucked beneath me, forelegs stretching out in front of me to maintain my balance as I slid down the slope and allowed the sands to carry me to the bottom. I didn't want to be rude to the stallion, but I needed just a moment away from him to feel the release of anxiety. The small rush of adrenaline I felt while sliding down the slope helped, and by the time I reached the bottom a smile returned to my muzzle. Readjusting my posture to stand comfortably, a chuckle escaped my lips. That was fun! Glancing back over my shoulder, I looked back up to the top of the dune to look flash an apologetic smile towards Bucephalus. He was more than welcome to follow me, who was I to stop him? But I just needed to show him that I wasn't ready to place any more trust into him yet.

The desert practically sang to the stallion. Even in the heat of day life could be found; the runnerbirds were evidence, and the faint gnats and other insects that hovered near shrubs or across the sand solidified it. Even if it was minuscule in sunlight, he didn't believe the desert was ever repetitive or dull. A faint shift of movement made the black turn his head to look at Morrigan, ears pricked. Bucephalus watched, puzzled slightly as the mare's smile fell, and her demeanor changed. As she spoke, then turned and slid down the slope, he turned his head to gaze out at the desert, pondering her words. Had he done something to upset her? He focused on the dust fading in the distance. He had just wanted her to see the beauty he did; the desert throbbed with life that refused to be put out even under the harshest of conditions. Pulling himself from his thoughts, he turned to face her, returning her apologetic smile with one of his own. "Whatever you see fit." He hummed with a dip of his head, then sprang down the slope, careful to angle himself so he did not spray her with sand as he slid. Once he hit the bottom he looked to her. "I apologize if i did anything to offend you." He said, then turned and trotted towards his rock. Her sudden change of demeanor puzzled him. She had been friendly enough few minutes ago. He stopped before the stone, tapping it idly with a hoof before he turned and looked at her, head tilted. Would she remain and keep him company, or leave? Once more he wondered what he had done, pouring over their conversation in his mind. Was it because he corrected her that the desert was not so plain? Word Count:302 Tags:@[Morrigan II]

I stepped back to give him room as he slid down the slope, my lips tugging back into the most miniscule of grimaces as I realized that I must have upset him in some way. My auds flicked back ever so slightly as he walked back towards his pet rock, crimson gaze softening at his unnecessary apology. Gently I shook my head, wishing I could explain to him why I felt the need to distance myself. "You've not offended me in the slightest, Bucephalus." With my words, I took only a step or two closer to him to show that I would keep him company, yet still held a distance. "It's just...Difficult for me to explain. I don't mean to offend you, nor do I mean this in a personal sense. I just..."

I didn't want to offend or anger him, and I looked down at my hooves while I shuffled back a bit, lowering my crown just enough to let my forelock hide my face. Looking back up with half of my gaze on him, I took a deep breath and sighed. "I'm sorry, I just don't trust you yet." There, as blunt as I could ever be. Would he demand an explanation? Would my words turn him against me into a petty retort? I certainly hoped not... To date (although it was indeed a short amount of time) Bucephalus had not given me any reason to distrust him. He had been friendly, kind and patient, and that alone terrified me. I had grown used to negative remarks, comfortable with being ignored, and suspicious of any that treated me any differently. Especially the males..."I don't really trust anyone."

Well, now that I was completely uncomfortable, I dropped my gaze to look anywhere but at Bucephalus, settling for his pet rock. Why was he even trying to change that thing? And by singing, no less? I let these rambling questions distract me, to give me a false sense of courage and comfort as I waited for the stallion's response.

Once again her words made Bucephalus laugh. But he wasn't laughing at her. No. He was laughing at the fact that she seemed to think he'd be angry at her for not trusting him. "And what makes you think i trust you? I trust no one." He said, looking at her with a grin. His wildness stirred, yearning to give her a reason to not trust him. But he held it at bay; the stallion yearned for company, and didn't want to chase her off. "It's safer to trust no one...but that doesn't mean you can't befriend someone." It seemed like horrid logic, but for the stallion it worked. You could be surrounded by friends and not trust a single damn one of them. Winds knew he'd done it. "But regardless of trust...i'm surprised you haven't asked about this yet." He said, tapping the stone with his hoof, his amused gaze focused on her. "You must think me quite mad for it." He pondered that, head tilted to the side slightly. Maybe...he shouldn't do things like this in the open; work on his stone in the dark of night. He didn't exactly wish to give anyone any inkling that he wasn't right in the head, or that he was different. Being different was bad. Very very bad As he waited for a response, he studied Morrigan. The mare seemed like him; she knew what it was like to be different. The colt in him spoke up, urging him to relax his mask and allow himself to be...well himself. But as per usual he shoved the little twat away. He learned that lesson too well, his hide bore the scars of what 'opening up' lead to. Never again. Word Count:291 Tags:@[Morrigan II]

My auds flicked back at his unexpected response, crimson eyes darting back up to him with surprise. My initial reaction was to be insulted by his laughter, had I said something funny? No, I don't recall admitting my fear of trust as coming off as something to laugh at. I buried my ears into my mane, lips tugging down into a scowl as my gaze changed from soft to stern before he had a chance to explain. Naturally, I was embarrassed now. Here I am admitting something that was difficult in itself for me, and he turns around and responds as though 'duh, of course you shouldn't trust.' A brow raised as he agreed that it was safer not to trust anyone, contradicting himself when he said that didn't mean you couldn't befriend someone. Oh yes, it was official. Bucephalus came from a very strange world where nothing made sense and people sang to rocks like it was nothing. His words made me narrow my gaze suspiciously, it was as though he was confirming that I shouldn't trust him. 'At least this one came with a warning...' I thought to myself, remembering to keep my guard up as I always had.

My garnet gaze dropped to the stone once again, allowing my expression to shift into a smirk once again. "I suppose I've seen worse things in this world than someone singing to a rock." At least that didn't cause any harm, not that I knew of at least. "Not mad, a little weird...But not mad. Alright, I'll bite. Why were you trying to shape the rock by singing?" I remained where I was, half-hiding beneath my mane and welcoming the added warmth my hair added like a cozy blanket. Now that the sun was starting to lower, the temperature was quickly dropping. Remarkable how cold the night's could be in this place.

He watched her reactions, the various expressions just amusing him more. He snorted when she finally spoke, and he turned his head to look at the stone. "Where i come from, magic is song. One can manipulate the world merely by singing. The things my people created... palaces of glass, jewelry and cloth of finest make and colors so vibrant it's surreal." His tone grew wistful. "The earth itself sang, the air, the fire, everything had a song to sing. Even the pegasi. It was a world where no lie could be told, where there was no war, no violence...." "I hated it." He shook his head with an irritated snort, ears flicking back. He'd never forget Sehrau. Part of him wished to make the place burn. It would be easy; there were no fighters within the herd. Not a single one. Like cattle he could easily break them. But... there were dangers lurking there. Dangers of the mind. Letting out a deep breath, the stallion looked at her. "I was trying a simple task; stone is the easiest to shape." He said, then looked back at the stone. Why was he trying to shape it? He knew it wouldn't work, and in the end all he would have was a sore wing. But... he wanted to. It was something that calmed him as much as dancing did. Dancing... he missed that as well. Horses here were too still, too quiet. It made him chomp, he wanted to stir them into moving, into doing something other than just standing there and talking! They were beings of motion! He tossed his head, ears flattening before he turned and looked at Morrigan, as if just recalling that she was there. "You're like everyone else. So still...so quiet. But when you do make noise, it's just noise." He frowned, turning to face her, his head tilted. "Was your homeland like Helovia? Songless?" There couldn't be only one place where the world sang... There had to be other places. He couldn't be the only one here in this land that knew what the world could truly be like if one just listened...could he? Word Count:361 Tags:@[Morrigan II]

Auds pricked to listen to the stallion describe the ways of his old home, truly fascinated by the description and trying to visualize how grand it must have been. It sounded truly wonderful, a world without war and violence with magnificent creations created by melodies. What could be more beautiful? I pulled my head back slightly at his own sudden change in demeanor, claiming that he hated his homelands. That was certainly unexpected...My crown tilted to the side as I watched him, noting his body language that began to put me at unease once more. What could possibly cause him to hate such a place, when just moments before he spoke of it as though it was heaven on earth?

I followed his gaze to the stone, wondering what sorts of things he could have made out of the stone. What a pity that Helovia had stolen that ability from him, I would have liked to see that. His sudden toss of his head and pinned ears made me jump, my own ears burying themselves into my mane at his sudden snappiness. I was like everyone else? Never in my life had I heard of such a comparison. While in my past I would have yearned to hear such words, something about them didn't sound right. Whether it was his tone, or the fact that they were coming from him, the words hit me just like any other insult that had ever been cast upon me. When he looked at me with a frown, my brows furrowed bitterly. I had done nothing to deserve such treatment, even when I retreated away from him just minutes before. I was kind and apologetic, I had taken steps forward that I had been too fearful to do before. By no means did I deserve this, this sudden resentment of sorts.

Part of me wanted to tell him to piss off for speaking to me like that, but as I stared at him for a second in silence, I decided against it. As the tension grew heavier, I thought back to my homeland. No, my homeland was nothing like Helovia. True, it was nothing like his homeland either. Certainly song did not have such powers. But the customs were still as different as night and day. Though I had never even attempted singing a note before, as the thought never seemed to cross my mind, I would not say that my homeland was songless. Not all of it at least. There was my mother..."My "homelands" were not like yours, nor were they like Helovia...But my mother used to sing to me, they brought me comfort in my youth." My tone drifted off as I thought back to my mother, feeling a pang in my chest that pulled at my heartstrings. How I missed her so...

Shaking my head as though to shove the memories back into my head, I eyed the stallion wearily. "If you hated your homeland, why do you miss it so?" I questioned him boldly, taking the flying leap of assumptions and with it a wild guess that he missed his home. "Those that hate their homelands do not carry on the traditions into their new homes...They do not speak of the magic or the desert with such a passion as you just have." I tried to explain why I believed that he missed his home, all the while trying to understand why he could have possibly hated it to begin with. My crown tilted to the side as I pushed away the feelings of irritation I felt towards him for insulting me, instead trying to change the tone of the conversation completely.

At her words his ears went straight back, pinned flat against his head, and his gold eyes seemed to burn. There was a war inside the stallion. Part screamed at him to lay into the mare with hooves and words. How dare she ask that? What did she know? None of them knew! NONE! His legs trembled, and for a heartbeat of a second it looked as if the stallion would loose it and hurl himself at her. But he ducked his head and stepped back, wings half-open and feathers fluffed in agitation. He snorted, then shook himself, his gaze focusing on Morrigan like burning gold. "What do you know?" His tone was icy, and he turned to face her, head low. He was in control once more, the wildness inside tamed for now. But it was obvious the mare was on thin ice, treading a line between what would set the black off. "You do not know. You have not danced with the sand, nor sang with a hurricane. This world, this Helovia," his wings snapped open in a jagged gesture to the land around them, "is soundless! No one sings! No one dances! They speak but do not speak with body! Just voice!" To the constantly moving stallion, it was something that was unnatural. For to him, one spoke with the body and voice. But the folk here barely spoke with their bodies past the instinctual signs. All at once, Bucephalus seemed to deflate, the anger and passion gone from his eyes, replaced with mourning. His wings hung limp at his side, gold-edged feathers trailing in the sands and his head low. "I almost fell to my death crossing into this land from Sehrau... the wind sang to me her usual tune, the mountains humming their thoughts... then it was like i went deaf. Silence. The wind, she would not speak to me nor would the stone." How could he make her see? See that this silence... it was driving him mad. He had to rein himself in so much; to break out in dance or speak too much with the body would warrant stares from others. To speak in a singing tone would be so...strange. Silent now, he watched Morrigan. Why had he said all this? Maybe because it needed to be said. Because she too was an outsider, new to this land. Or maybe because no one else had even bothered to ask why he hated but loved his old home. Word Count:416 Tags:@[Morrigan II]

Something I had said struck a nerve it the stallion, and as he backed away to let himself try to cool off, I matched his gaze. My crown lifted and chin tucked close to my body defensively, had one seen us it would look like quite the stand off. Nares flared with an impatient snort, still waiting for him to answer my question. 'What do you know?' Orbs narrowed slightly, sensing that his reaction meant that I was at least close to assuming correctly. While he began his snippy little rant, I stood stock still, muscles tensed and prepared for any signal to flee. I flinched slightly when his wings popped open as he yelled about his distaste for Helovians. "No, I don't know. That is why I ask." I hissed back, something I had not done in...Moving on. My head shook from side to side as claimed no one 'spoke with body.' "Then sing for yourself, dance for yourself, to hell with the rest of the world if that is what upsets you. Teach this world how to dance and sing, show them how important it is to you. If they don't listen, then do it for yourself."

Bucephalus had met many more than I had in Helovia, and perhaps he was right about his opinion of the lands and it's people. But it was not the only way to view the world. "No one here can possibly understand your story if you won't tell it. Don't assume that the rest of the world is ignorant and motionless just because others have never known what is familiar to you." I was not expecting the reaction I received, and for a moment I stared at the stallion blankly. Indeed, I had struck a cord with him. He took on a rather pathetic stance as he let his wings drop loosely, head hung low and peering up at me. Crimson eyes softened while tense muscles began to relax, beginning to see just how seriously this affected the stallion.

My sides heaved with a large sigh, shaking my head softly as I lowered my crown towards his. "I am sorry...While I wish I could do something to let you hear the songs again, I cannot. You have already accepted Dragon's Throat as your home, therefor Helovia is your home now as well. You told me that I could always change my path if I felt like it was not the right direction for me, that option still lies true for you as well. " Yes, if he was so unhappy with the 'silence' of this place, there was always the option he had of...Well, leaving. Nothing forced him to stay here.

My crown raised to a normal height and I turned away from the stallion to look out at the desert around us. Throughout our argument, the sun had continued to lower without me even realizing. The golden orb now lingered just touched the horizon, the last few minutes of daylight kissing the sands goodnight. Looks like I had unintentionally stayed until the night after all..."Just as I have much to see of the desert, there is much for you to hear if you try. Show me the desert, show me what you see...And I will try and help you to hear the music of nature as I always have. It won't be the same," I whispered softly, turning my crown to look at him again. "But maybe it will help."


Tag: @[Bucephalus]

His gold eyes widened a bit when she hissed back. Well then. Amusement faintly flickered in his eyes, and he tilted his head, listening to her words as she spoke. As far as he knew, only once place was like Sehrau...and that was Sehrau itself. But he didn't speak, allowing her to continue to talk, and he listened, his ears pricked towards her. Even when she was done talking, he was silent, his head tilted to the side, watching her. The silence dragged on, until he lifted his head, finally speaking. "You say that as if it is so easy as that." He looked at the setting sun, lighting the sky with the same gold that dappled his side and wings. His ears flicked back once more, and he looked to her. "You help me and i help you?" He asked, amused now. He considered this, his gaze flickering over her. "I say none understand because they have not experienced it. But... you speak the truth. Forgive me for my outburst, Morrigan." He said, dipping his head low and spreading his wings out full extent, before folding his wings and lifting his head back up. "Well...shall we begin tonight, or in a few days time? Gaucho may call on me at any time, however." He said, his tone polite, expression friendly once more, as it had been when this encounter first began. He was in control of himself once more, and once more the mask slid into place over his white-blazed features. She would see no more of him. It went against almost every fiber of his being to let the mask drop; and the second it did, he had riled another to anger. No... It would be safer for the mask to remain. For her...and himself. Word Count:300 Tags:@[Morrigan II]

There, his ruffled feathers had been smoothed over, both the physical and emotional ones. I was pleased that his tone had changed, his voice gentle and calming. I was even more pleased when he admitted that I spoke the truth, a genuine smile gracing my lips. Of course I spoke the truth, it was all I ever tried to say. With his apology and graceful bow, I dipped my muzzle in acceptance. "You needn't worry, we all have them." I returned my gaze to the setting sun, muscles twitching as I shivered in the cold evening air.

I was faced with the same dilemma that I had been met with earlier, but instead of facing inner turmoil, I smirked. This time, I was sure of my words and confident in what I had to say. "Another time, I promise. For now, I should like to go back to the warmth of the herd..." Perhaps Gaucho would be nearby with the herd, posing as a space heater for the rest of us. The image of the stallion standing within the middle of the clan, surrounded by all the members of the herd like the planets to the sun, made me laugh. The Sultan was fascinating and strange, but his burly and painted exterior being used by the clan for warmth was something I doubted he appreciated, if he did such a thing at all. Glancing at Bucephalus, I bobbed my head towards him once last time to bid the stallion goodnight before turning to make my way back to the heart of the Throat.


OOC: Thread complete!