To say he was lost would be an understatement. The once proud stallion was reduced to an arthritic wraith of his former, glorious self. A once, sleek, black coat was dull and thick to protect his fragile form from the perils of winter, and his muscular, proud figure was thinner, gaunt, even. Paladin had tumbled down the ranks as if he had jumped from a cliff, once a leader and now less than nothing. The ache in his bones kept him from being useful, and he would rather waste away, a ghost in the forest, than have to face the judgmental glares of Lace and Aaron again.
Paladin knew he was right. He have lived long enough, been across the map, lead herds. Living with your kind was natural. Living with your people was the most natural, deep instinct you could feel. That he had raged so thoroughly against Mauja and his kind for living in their forest was wrong, though at the time, it felt so right. The entirety of his life had been plagued with decisions that later ended up being foolish.
He had wanted to right the wrongs of his past, redeem himself of his sins. He forged a family in love and they burned in the flames of his heritage. He had wanted to lead, to bring the world justice, and instead, he had displaced a band based on false notions and paranoia. Everything he tried so hard to set right now laughed in his face, and he was resigned to the fact that this was his fate. Karma was just, and this was recompense for his crimes since birth.
So, he stood against a tree in the forest, the bitter cold reminding him that he was still living and breathing, much to his chagrin. A mare moved through the trees, and he was only able to pick her out against the landscape because of the curled, red ram's horns. He didn't recognize her, but he could assume from the shape of her body and the colors that she could hold his bloodline. Ah, Riekahn, ever producing heirs of destruction. Two, deeply wizened, bloody eyes peered curiously from their dark sockets, tracking her movement.
"The winged ones don't live in the trees here," he offered simply.
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