Unbeknownst to the young stallion, he has taken to standing along the cliffs in a similar fashion to his sire; an equally brooding (though perhaps darker) black-lined face stared out over the blue-grey waves that churned incessantly against the starkly white limestone rocks. His own sharply blue gaze was a quiet storm of deep thoughts as he watched the horizon.

But the horizon was not still—no, movement caught his eye. A plunging, sleek, obsidian and cream from; black-rimmed ears swept forward as his strongly featured face rose. Interest swept away the darkness to his features, instead lightening them with curiosity—what was that? Too large to be a bird, too small to be a dragon or griffin. A pegasus? Was it still alive, after that salty smash into the sea?

Keusi yipped dejectedly beside him; whatever it was was too far away to be eaten by the hyena. So the striped predator gloomily plopped onto the ground, paw-tips hanging over the edge of the cliffs as she rested her head on them, staring at the foaming water where the creature had disappeared.

Time—what seemed like too much time—passed without any sign of life. And the darkly gilded man tilted his head slightly, had he just witnessed the taking of a life? Thick, dark lips pressed together slightly—

But any further thoughts were dashed by the sudden emergence of a thin, shapely black crest, plastered with cream locks darkened by the sea. This was followed by great movements of massive, black wings fringed in cream (or was that ocean foam?) that struggled to rise out of the sea that seemed to suck her in.

And the prince was intrigued—sharply blue eyes not leaving the woman as she shed her watery grave and gracefully relighted on the Edge’s cliffs. His gaze followed a few rivulets of water that ran over her thin, salt-slicked coat. She was tall, though height was normalcy in Kianzo’s family. And she was slender, elegantly built, with an effeminate face highlighted by her bone-colored markings.

A quick, short breath pulled the scent of briny, equine skin into his flared, pale nostrils, before his deep voice rolled, “Quite a show,” and his long, sharply gilded horn motioned towards the sea, “Is that a habit of yours?” And his sharp stare never blinked or left her all the while—though a small, lopsided smile did curve up one corner of his thick lips.

kianzo&keusi

You must know darkness
before you can know light

The dark prince was used to being noticed when he wanted to be (and used to being missed when he didn’t want to be noticed)—so it was unusual (to him) for the mare to jerk around, surprised by his words. Because, he was quickly realizing, he wanted to be noticed by this unusual, elegantly fashioned young mare.

“I don’t bite,” his low voice offered in what would be an calming apologetic tone if not for the amused gleam in his dark blue eyes. And it was true; at least, he hadn’t bitten anyone yet—although he wasn't entirely certain he wanted to offer this information to the seemingly skittish winged woman. He wanted her to stay around for at least a few moments longer—which was odd, for he usually reserved his interest for his twin sister.

His brows knitted slightly at the cracked, stumbled answer to his question (”It's uh...it reminds me that I'm alive”), chiseled head tilting slightly at its refined height. “Do you often forget?” Though his low voice was mildly puzzled, the lopsided grin on his thick lips had begun to grow across his features. Something about this pegasus equally intrigued and pleased the young stallion.

“I am Kianzo, and this,” his long, thinly spiraled, and sharply bladed horn motioned towards the striped hyena who had slowly risen to her paws, predatory stare sizing up both mare and bird, “Is Keusi.” His own gaze narrowed at his hyena, ’Behave,’ he sent viciously through their bond, eliciting a suppressed yelp from her.

Begrudgingly, Keusi licked her lips in greeting, tail-tip wagging slightly as she shuffled forward and looked at the zephyr expectantly as if to say, I’m behaving, come say ‘hi’ while it lasts.

kianzo&keusi

You must know darkness
before you can know light