11-07-2019, 03:04 PM
Aten loved Taiga... the family he protected, the residents he'd grown to love as friends if not an extended family, the kingdom he'd called home for years...
But even a calm-tempered stallion couldn't resist the call to journey outside his territory once in a while. It had only been a short time since Lethia returned with little Orion in tow, and Aten had already grown to care for the little filly like his own. Popinjay, Owin, and Kalil had also taken to her, engaging in games and adventures with the filly to help her come out of her shell.
She still seemed a bit untrusting of the marbled cat that often accompanied Kalil, but at least she didn't seem so in shock by the sight of the feline riding on Kalil's back anymore. The sight was still quite funny, at least to Aten, since he knew Kalil found it extremely normal while Orion was just puzzled. The looks she would sometimes give Kalil behind his back, staring at the feline, always left Aten in a good mood.
Something he would've carried with him outside Taiga on this latest adventure, but not this time. His instincts were stirring... he didn't like it, not in this way. He'd calmly explained to Lethia and the foals that he was taking a short trip to the common lands in search of horses who were on their own looking for a new place to call home, something Taiga could offer. But, in reality, he was out looking for something...
Or perhaps... someone...
Aten couldn't explain it, for he didn't have the ties to Beqanna that some other horses out there had, even with his own gifts. But his instincts, his senses... they were trained, sensitive. He could just feel something stirring in the air, something... unnatural. Almost frightening, even, for this sinister sensation chilled the stallion's blood like ice.
He departed Taiga's land a few mornings following the end of, unknown to him, the quest a horse had begun in the mountains for a purpose Aten didn't think was possible. He bid goodbye to his family, instructing Amica in private to watch over the foals and Lethia. Even though they spoke no common language, Aten sincerely hoped the feline's senses, her instincts, helped her to understand. He almost considered asking Turul to inform the feline of his request, but the raptor spoke no common language of the feline either.
It was all up to instincts in this case. Something Aten knew the feline possessed, he just hoped it was in the right sense.
Galloping as fast as he could in the direction of the common lands, the raptor took to the skies and watched from above as the stallion raced on below. The duo kept in close range as they traveled over plains and forests and through a river toward their destination. When they got close to the river, Aten asked Turul to travel off on his own and see what he could spot from above, while Aten did searching of his own.
The sinister feeling was all around the commons, this east side of the land, and Aten's instincts were telling him that he needed to leave before something bad happened. But he couldn't... he had to know. He had to know what was going on, why his gut stirred in this odd fashion when he allowed his senses to listen and hear Beqanna's call.
The River, Plains, and Field yielded no result, at least when Aten himself went there. Some locations, he didn't know how close he had come, if only he'd shown up a bit sooner. But perhaps the Meadow would yield something?
Despite his fatigue, Aten loped over the grass, pushing his body past it's capacity. He'd galloped here from Taiga, and had traveled fast between the three community lands in a short span of time, but the fire inside him still burned. And now just that of the dragon's fire that flowed through his veins and made it possible for him to change how he looked... the spirit of the fighter, the stallion, the bachelor, the once-leader who so wished to again take over the Forest kingdom and keep his promise to the one he still called a friend.
A bird's cry echoed above the stallion, and Aten's eyes went up, spotting Turul circle back before diving and coming to glide in the air next to the stallion. He shared a glance with the raptor, not even needing words to know he'd found something. Picking up speed to a gallop, Aten followed his friend toward the Meadow, seeing the small objects dotting the landscape that he recognized as other horses.
There weren't as many though, he felt, and that unnerved the stallion.
Turul led the way through the Meadow's main ground, weaving above the few horses scattered among the landscape. When Aten was just about to ask what his friend was leading him towards, the falcon let out another cry and dove down again. This time, he circled around and continued to hover above something in the distance, spurring Aten to race on and investigate.
Two horses stood out among the Meadow's barren landscape, the light layer of snow still on the ground helping to make spotting them easier. Aten began to slow as he neared them, the uneasiness in his gut burning like fire. One of those horses... the one with a black object on it's back...
Turul told Aten that the black object sitting on the horse's back was a raven... nasty little bird, according to the larger raptor. Aten withheld a chuckle, too focused on the matter at hoof. The one with the raven had a spotted coat, and the other sported gray coloring, but strangely, not that many shades different from Aten's own.
The stallion did not come up on the two mares in time to hear a majority of their conversation, but he did hear the spotted one ask about what Beqanna was like now.
Aten could almost not stop his snarkiness from coming out, but managed to do so just enough that he sounded civil and not in a joking mood. He looked at the spotted mare, but did not make eye contact.
"I'm clearly crazy enough to say a whole lot different now. Something is stirring in the air, is it not? And dare I say you know what it may be? I may not know every horse in Beqanna, but you are certainly a new face," he inquired, the stallion's nostrils flared and chest heaving as he caught his breath while Turul circled down and landed on his back.
@[Aquaria] @[Straia]
But even a calm-tempered stallion couldn't resist the call to journey outside his territory once in a while. It had only been a short time since Lethia returned with little Orion in tow, and Aten had already grown to care for the little filly like his own. Popinjay, Owin, and Kalil had also taken to her, engaging in games and adventures with the filly to help her come out of her shell.
She still seemed a bit untrusting of the marbled cat that often accompanied Kalil, but at least she didn't seem so in shock by the sight of the feline riding on Kalil's back anymore. The sight was still quite funny, at least to Aten, since he knew Kalil found it extremely normal while Orion was just puzzled. The looks she would sometimes give Kalil behind his back, staring at the feline, always left Aten in a good mood.
Something he would've carried with him outside Taiga on this latest adventure, but not this time. His instincts were stirring... he didn't like it, not in this way. He'd calmly explained to Lethia and the foals that he was taking a short trip to the common lands in search of horses who were on their own looking for a new place to call home, something Taiga could offer. But, in reality, he was out looking for something...
Or perhaps... someone...
Aten couldn't explain it, for he didn't have the ties to Beqanna that some other horses out there had, even with his own gifts. But his instincts, his senses... they were trained, sensitive. He could just feel something stirring in the air, something... unnatural. Almost frightening, even, for this sinister sensation chilled the stallion's blood like ice.
He departed Taiga's land a few mornings following the end of, unknown to him, the quest a horse had begun in the mountains for a purpose Aten didn't think was possible. He bid goodbye to his family, instructing Amica in private to watch over the foals and Lethia. Even though they spoke no common language, Aten sincerely hoped the feline's senses, her instincts, helped her to understand. He almost considered asking Turul to inform the feline of his request, but the raptor spoke no common language of the feline either.
It was all up to instincts in this case. Something Aten knew the feline possessed, he just hoped it was in the right sense.
Galloping as fast as he could in the direction of the common lands, the raptor took to the skies and watched from above as the stallion raced on below. The duo kept in close range as they traveled over plains and forests and through a river toward their destination. When they got close to the river, Aten asked Turul to travel off on his own and see what he could spot from above, while Aten did searching of his own.
The sinister feeling was all around the commons, this east side of the land, and Aten's instincts were telling him that he needed to leave before something bad happened. But he couldn't... he had to know. He had to know what was going on, why his gut stirred in this odd fashion when he allowed his senses to listen and hear Beqanna's call.
The River, Plains, and Field yielded no result, at least when Aten himself went there. Some locations, he didn't know how close he had come, if only he'd shown up a bit sooner. But perhaps the Meadow would yield something?
Despite his fatigue, Aten loped over the grass, pushing his body past it's capacity. He'd galloped here from Taiga, and had traveled fast between the three community lands in a short span of time, but the fire inside him still burned. And now just that of the dragon's fire that flowed through his veins and made it possible for him to change how he looked... the spirit of the fighter, the stallion, the bachelor, the once-leader who so wished to again take over the Forest kingdom and keep his promise to the one he still called a friend.
A bird's cry echoed above the stallion, and Aten's eyes went up, spotting Turul circle back before diving and coming to glide in the air next to the stallion. He shared a glance with the raptor, not even needing words to know he'd found something. Picking up speed to a gallop, Aten followed his friend toward the Meadow, seeing the small objects dotting the landscape that he recognized as other horses.
There weren't as many though, he felt, and that unnerved the stallion.
Turul led the way through the Meadow's main ground, weaving above the few horses scattered among the landscape. When Aten was just about to ask what his friend was leading him towards, the falcon let out another cry and dove down again. This time, he circled around and continued to hover above something in the distance, spurring Aten to race on and investigate.
Two horses stood out among the Meadow's barren landscape, the light layer of snow still on the ground helping to make spotting them easier. Aten began to slow as he neared them, the uneasiness in his gut burning like fire. One of those horses... the one with a black object on it's back...
Turul told Aten that the black object sitting on the horse's back was a raven... nasty little bird, according to the larger raptor. Aten withheld a chuckle, too focused on the matter at hoof. The one with the raven had a spotted coat, and the other sported gray coloring, but strangely, not that many shades different from Aten's own.
The stallion did not come up on the two mares in time to hear a majority of their conversation, but he did hear the spotted one ask about what Beqanna was like now.
Aten could almost not stop his snarkiness from coming out, but managed to do so just enough that he sounded civil and not in a joking mood. He looked at the spotted mare, but did not make eye contact.
"I'm clearly crazy enough to say a whole lot different now. Something is stirring in the air, is it not? And dare I say you know what it may be? I may not know every horse in Beqanna, but you are certainly a new face," he inquired, the stallion's nostrils flared and chest heaving as he caught his breath while Turul circled down and landed on his back.
@[Aquaria] @[Straia]