KAJ

the aurelight

Kaj wasn't entirely sure why they were using this method for recruitment. Were the Threshold pickings slim? Were they in dire need of new meat, fresh blood to defend their borders? Truly? Desperately? What did this achieve beyond unfairly capturing or coercing those who had not sought the Falls out freely? Would their bitterness turn them against the herd that sought to make them family? 

Kaj had seen the deep pits of anger and hatred that had festered like open wounds in the few prisoners he had held. They, at least, had been captured with good reason. Why would he ever want someone within his borders who was even remotely capable of turning into that? And what if they lied between clenched teeth, pushed past their anger to take revenge by destroying the herd from within?

Archibald may call him a worrier, preferring the brutality of physicality. He forgot that Kaj was a beast in his own right, a creature of large proportions who had chained demons waiting in the expanse of his chest. Archibald himself had once had to keep Kaj from succumbing to those demons. So why did they force him down this ridiculous route? Were they blind to how badly it could turn out? Did they care so little for individuality, free will, and choice that they simply snatched foreigners - frightened and distrustful - from their surroundings to force them into a family? 

It was despicable to the Czar, even with the softness his memories had given him burned from his mind. 

It was emphasized by his target. Young, impressionable, barely out of babehood to a stallion like Kaj. He had trailed her, tracked and pinned her like a bloodhound. No better than a beast. But he approached her gently, shrinking his form with lowered head and kindly smile. 

"Hello, my name is Kaj, I am lead of the Hidden Falls. Don't worry I mean you no harm," he clarified softly, voice deep and rumbling but clearly compassionate. Wings shuffled in a quiet whisper of feathers at his side. How the hell was he supposed to explain this? Even after concocting it for hours in his mind nothing seemed good enough. She had undoubtedly realized he'd been stalking her, and he'd successfully cornered her, so how would she react?

"My herd wants to reach out and bid you to come and join our family. The wilds aren't safe, and we could provide you shelter and support." He wanted to ask what she thought of all of it, but she would likely respond and share those feelings directly after all he'd forced upon her in a few short moments. 

KAJ

the aurelight

Whatever power the child hosts is tempestuous at best, the warble of her vocals the weak link Kaj had anticipated. Though her eloquence is admirable, the fear rings through her lyrics like a tolling bell. Were he the predator she thought him to be, it would have been an obvious and fatal mistake. She had much to learn, and it cemented his desire to bring her into the fold of the family where safety and patronage awaited her. Foal she may not be, but Adria was a child nonetheless. It was plainly evident in her swinging moods and delighted laughter, curling round the tips of his audits along the caress of a wind she seemed to somehow control. 

His smile is strained at the edges at her naive question, imagining how many ways this meeting could have gone wrong if he had not been the one assigned to Adria. For a moment he's grateful to have spared her the fate of a true prisoner, rather than the conversation he poses to her now. He could tell her the truth; that he is here to take her captive, if she resists. That her feelings regarding the situation held no place in his or his herd's plans. A harsh reality that grates along his subconscious, a burden he will have to bear. Instead he allowed her the innocence that cloaked her like a shawl, laughing quietly along with her joyous teasing. He much preferred her playfulness over her fear and projected bravery. He hopes it is a truth she will never come to learn, this ploy he wears upon his skin - the reason why he stands before her with the shield of family blocking the selfishness of his commands.

Instead he focuses on what he can answer, sighs deep in the caverns of his lungs with all the ways he can answer the child's flippant question. The easiest way is to lift his left foreleg to the sunlight, the wicked scar that had been his broken leg a gruesome twisted color that had not faded to the fleshy pink of old scars. 

"I obtained this scar fighting against a God itself that had crept into these lands to try and reign over its denizens and defeat the Gods that protect us currently. Many died in the battles, trying to keep these regions safe. But you must understand dear, the Gods that fought on our behalf, the ones that shaped Helovia," here he gestures to the entire expanse around them, the rolling greenery and the gleaming structure no equine could have made, "they only truly guard their patron lands. Four herds for four Gods. Those who live beneath one of the Gods are given privileges and precautions that those living in the wilds are not afforded." His shoulders, healthy and gleaming with muscle, roll beneath golden skin. 

"Protection against thieves and evil-doers. Company and family. A land that will flourish and provide for you beneath the will of your patron God. Guidance from seers who speak to the Gods about coming danger. Out here it is only about protecting yourself and trying to get by another day. Herd life is far more preferable, for most." Not that she was one of them, he didn't want to assume after all, but she certainly appeared to play the part. In her youth if nothing else. 

"Our Gods asked us to take in and welcome with open arms those who came from the Rift lands. That is what my herd is attempting to do." Kaj could do nothing else to convince her now, he had no words left to try and sway her with, lest she come up with more questions. Instead he fixed a soft smile on his handsome features and awaited her next move, a patient King on an invisible chessboard.