[private] I Need Information

[Aten]

Since his return to the Taiga following the gladiator fight in Nerine, Aten had sensed a change in the winds. He didn't quite know what exactly it was, only that something had happened while he was away. And apparently Ruan too, since the stallions had met up recently, one of them with a completely new coat color. Since Circinae and Jinju were often involved in important matters of the Taiga, and had hopefully been around recently, they should be able to explain what was going on.

Following Ruan and Aten's meeting, the gray stallion tasked Aten with finding Circinae, one of Jinju's friends and, if Aten remembered correctly, the new mother of twin foals. He knew the mare was capable and could handle herself just fine, even with the newborns in tow. Still, considering Aten sensed something was amiss right now, he did worry for her safety. The two were no more than friends if not acquaintances, but Aten cared for all those he had come to form a relationship with.

The golden stallion began his journey with traversing Taiga's forest, keeping to the shadows to conceal his coat. If there was danger here, he wanted to be able to spot it before it caught sight of him, especially if that something, whatever it was, had a vendetta against stallions. For all Aten knew, it could be some mythical creature on the hunt, or perhaps a tyrant that had moved in on Taiga. All he knew was that he needed to help Ruan in any way he could, to help their kingdom. And the first step was finding Circinae.

Aten didn't make it a point to remember exactly where every horse in the Taiga spent time regularly; he did, however, make a note of one place at least, so that if he ever needed to reach some horse in a hurry, or in secret, he could head there and hope to find them. In Circinae's case, it was near the upper reaches of Taiga, where the forested land faded away and met with the ivory sands that made up the coastline, with the distant land of Ischia visible in the distance.

Aten's hooves thundered over the ground as he galloped through the forest, the pine needles snapping like twigs as they fell victim to his powerful stride. His nostrils flared with each breath he took, his limbs a blur of movement as he navigated his way through the thick pines of his home. Any other horse not native to this land might have a difficult time making their way through the trees this easily, but not Aten, even if he hadn't been born here. Since the day he joined, he felt at home here, making it a point to know every nook and cranny he could find and use to his advantage to help protect this land. And right now, he was using his knowledge of the forest to speed his way to Circinae's hideaway, his heart beating with the hope that the mare would be there.

As the pine-needled ground gave way to small sparsely grassy covered hills and slopes, Aten knew he was drawing near. He crested one small hill and stopped at the top, the bright blue ocean glittering like diamonds beneath his viewpoint. The stallion's head was down as he sucked in breath after breath to replenish his lungs with oxygen, but such a feat was put to the side as he knew he couldn't stop. Glancing both ways to determine where exactly he was, Aten quickly figured it out and headed in the direction of Circinae's den.

He rounded a small outcropping of rocks and spotted it just past the corner, coming to a sliding stop at the entrance. Despite the urgent business at hoof, Aten wouldn't just go barging in just for the sake of information. His dam's lessons on polite behavior had rubbed off on him too well.

So, instead, the stallion called into the small cave, his voice out of breath and wheezing from the long run but still holding the strength and power befitting its owner, "Circinae? Are... you there? I... need... to talk... to you..."

@[Circinae]

[Circinae]

-Oh my love, don't forsake me; Take what the water gave me-

In the silence of these woods, his approach had been anything but quiet. Though never having actually met the apricot stallion, Aten’s scent was nothing new to the little brown wolf so when he arrives (peering curiously into the dark warmth of her den) she doesn’t meet him with teeth bared, scruff risen. Instead, it’s with a mixture of her own curiosity and apprehension that she glides free from the musty shadows; slipping quietly on dainty paws out into the clearing of trodden leaves and beaten earth where he waits with gasping breaths. Whatever it was that had pressed the urgency into his tone and stolen serenity from his eyes must have been important, Circy peers over him now and allows for confusion to settle on the planes of her face.

“Aten?” She questions softly, part prompt and part checking herself that memory served her correct. Briefly, she wags her curled tail and the action is quickly, smoothly, followed by her shift. Upwards, outwards, her limbs re-shape and settle into the form she’d been born into: a striking emerald mare, framed with navy locks. Blinking, tipping her ears forward, the pony-wolf feels a prick of wariness at his coming. She’d seen neither hide nor hair of Jinju or Ruan since Gryffen’s rise to power and though she’d been expecting at least a goodbye, she had hoped it might be in person.

Perhaps Aten’s presence meant no goodbye was necessary, or needed. “Breath easy, friend.” She commands now, knowing that pressing the poor envoy for information might overwhelm him in his present state. “How did you get into Taiga?” The shifter starts, her sense of dread rising with every word.

Circinae

[Aten]

Aten did not need to wait long to speak to the emerald green mare; within minutes of his arrival at the coastal den she'd claimed as hers, Circinae emerged from its dark cover, taking on the form of her brown-furred wolf self. For a moment, he became uneasy, but remembered that the mare was still herself underneath the fur and ivory teeth predators were known for. So, when she came from the cave, wagging her tail and already beginning to shift to her normal self.

Aten patiently waited for her to finish, watching with calm eyes as the wolf's brown fur slowly faded away, lightening several shades from the earth's color to the beautiful emerald green she was so well known for. The fur on her neck and tail grew longer until they were flowing locks of dark navy blue, her paws expanding in size until they were hooves of rock hard bone. When her shifting was finished, her attention seemed to be focused on the golden stallion, her ears pricked forward as she picked up on Aten's uneasiness regarding the situation.

Circinae gently told him to calm his breathing so that he could speak clearly, which Aten tried to do. His nostrils continued to flare as his lungs expanded and deflated, his chest heaving with the effort to catch his breath. Ignoring the sweat lining his chest and neck, the golden stallion turned his eyes to look at the emerald green mare.

As she questioned him on his return, Aten ignored his own feeling of surprise when she questioned how he had gotten back into the Taiga. Why would she ask a question like that? Had there been more changes to Taiga the stallion was not aware of? Taking one last breath to get the words out, Aten peered down at the mare, given she was a few feet shorter than him.

"My... apologies... but... I had... to find you..." he breathed out. "Ruan... he requested that I find you. The both of us sensed changes in the Taiga's wind; something happened while I was at the gladiator fight in Nerine. I am not sure what Ruan was doing at the time, but he is working to find Jinju.

"As for... how I got back... I really just walked in. I sensed there was something strange here, something trying to stop me from getting in. I managed though, and ran into Ruan soon after. Circinae, what has happened while we were away? Have you been hurt, or Jinju, or anyone else?"

@[Circinae]