Without the knowledge to lead, so you just follow the sheep.

Making sure your lame swag is all polished and clean.

The sky was rolling with thick gray clouds as a storm slowly moved its way over Beqanna. It was when the thunder finally sounded off it's first big boom that the birds took to the sky, fleeing from the oncoming storms rage, their cries of sudden surprise filling the silent evening air. It wasn't soon after that the wind began to pick up speed and the first pitter patters of rain began to touch down on the soft earth.

It was then the small creatures that were out and about began to make their way back to their nests and little hide aways. The owls made their ways into the trees, the foxes into the brush and rabbits into their earth made homes. The storm was quieting the typically active lands, and following it was a quite ominous feeling. It was as though the storm was carrying a secret, or simply bringing something along with it...

Suddenly the sky seemed to crack open and with it came a torrential downpour of rain. Within seconds thunder followed and then came the lightning. Over and over it cracked above the soaked earth, it's light seeping into even the smallest of crevices. Only when it stopped was when a stallion the color of the midnight sky could be seen, curled in the grass among the tall trees of the forest.

Tannorrrr...

Taaaannorrrr...

It's only you that can hear and see me, nobody else can travel into our little bubble of privacy. It's just you and me in the darkness and hear I come, swirling my way into your mind.

Tannor, wake up.

I'm here now. I'm here to bring you home, set you free. You've been our little puppet for far too long. You hated us at first, for dragging you back not once, but twice. But oh, it was needed. So needed. You weren't ready to follow your fate and oh how we knew that to be true. So we took you back, time and time again and we molded you to our perfection.

Now you are here. Returned to your birth place. And you are ready. Oh! How you are ready! My clawed hands are reaching now for your skull, my gnarled and bone thin fingers twisted grotesquely as they wrap around the finely carved lines. My mouth is anchored open in a silent scream, sharp pointed teeth dripping with saliva as my red eyes shine in the dark against pale white skin. Suddenly I tighten my grasp and my claws sink into that soft warm flesh and as your eyes fly open wide in fright I lean in close and suddenly the scream that was silent makes it's way into the air, deafening you.

I can see the human side of you in your mind falling to it's knees it's hands flying up to it's ears and pressing down against them as you squeeze your eyes shut tight and your mouth opens wide in a scream in return and smirking I allow my lips to pull together before rubbing a thumb across the equine form of your forehead.

"Wakey, wakey little prince," I whisper.

And then I'm gone and you're alone with your fully awoken conscious as you stare up at the trees that tower so high above you and allow yourself to feel the rain fall against your coat and skin in sheets. For a while I slink behind you in the shadows, watching you stand and shake yourself and when you look back towards me and your eyes glow red for a moment, I snicker softly before finally disappearing entirely into the earth.

It's time for you to shine and make a place in this world.

You are ready, more than you ever were before.

_____________

His bones ached as he stood there staring into the dark and it was only when the red faded from his eyes that he turned his head back towards the forest and allowed a sigh to escape through his dry, cracked lips. It had only been a few years since he had been in Beqanna, but it had felt like generations had passed where he had been taken. He could feel the way the rain hit and fell over his body like a hundred tiny lovers caressing his skin and coat as he stepped forward confidently and moved into a slow walk.

The feathers fell from his wings with each step, and when they hit the ground they curled up and blew away in the wind. Slowly his wings began to become barren, pale in the moonlight as time passed and as he moved out from under the trees cover the flashes of lightning revealed the sickly state he had come to be in while living in the minds of his demons...

His ribs were finely carved through his flesh, apparent as day even without taking a breath and his eyes were sunken and hollow. The occasional cough wracked through his lungs and up his throat, escaping with raspy vengeance. If he were struggling, the stallion refused to let it show despite the physical state he was in... He forced himself to keep walking and moving with confidence.

"Find the man, find him." He whispered it over and over to himself as he pushed forward with unusual determination. "Find, find, find. Find the man." His eyes shook wildly, tracing over the ground as though there was something in the grass that only he could see before he finally came to a stop and looked up to see the painted stallion he knew he would need. "Find, find, find the man. Find him and you shall be." The demon's riddle echoed through his lips as they trembled slightly.

"You. I'm supposed to find you. You, yes you."

Without the knowledge to lead, so you just follow the sheep.

Making sure your lame swag is all polished and clean.

The rain had stopped by the time he had come across the painted stallion. Unlike Clark, Tannor so far had only one act of selflessly helping one or more around him and that is when he healed the Gat'es precious entity from the damage that had been inflicted upon it during the war prior to his birth. It had been the only thing he had done for the kingdom he was intended to rule before he had been dragged back to hell to live within the minds of his demons. It was strange how things happened wasn't it? How we were always intended by the rest of the world to do the things that are expected of us. Yet somehow there was always another road we must first travel down before we are ready.

Tannor wasn't aware of how strange he may have looked to the stranger as he stood there, breaths ragged yet soft as he stared at his face. Unlike Clark, the traits were what were normal to him, and the plain were what was unusual. His dark eyes slowly traveled over the magician's slender frame, the lack of apparent traits catching his eyes. "I..." want to be like you. He finishes the thought in his mind as his lips press back together firmly. Quietly he waits, waits for what he knows is coming...

It is when Clark speaks that the smallest of smirks tugs gently at the corners of his lips. It was strange this kindness that the other stallion so easily brought forward to a stranger such as himself and it was truly the first time Tannor had experienced such a thing. "I wasn't aware we were playing hide and seek," Clark's words rang through his mind and coughing out a haggard laugh he shrugs his shoulders slightly. "I think you went a little easy on me though," it's his first attempt at humor and he's not quite so sure if he passed or not. (Or maybe he did cheat. Though he'd never admit it if so.)

Yet he wasn't ready to care just yet. The fact he was even trying said more than could ever be explained. "Well, that is a first if so. I can't remember a time I've won something. I have not been on this earth long enough to do so." His words are blunt and honest as he had never been one to flit around the truth or spice up his words. Not yet anyway. It is when Clark mentions a prize that he tilts his head slightly in curiosity. "A prize?" His words are a quiet murmur under his breath as his eyes fall towards the ground.

"What I ask for I feel would be too much... Though if one were able to give me what I wanted... No, needed, I would sacrifice most of myself to make it happen." It is the genetic parts of him he's talking about now. He wants to look normal, but he wants the part of himself that had become him in all entirety and truth since the day Potion had forced him to grow. He knew it was missing. He could feel the hole it was creating as it spread throughout his mind and soul. "But I feel the prize I seek might be too great for winning a simple game of hide in seek."

He tries to smile then, awkwardly so as he shifts his weight slightly. To get what he wanted, he would indebt himself to whomever could give him what he wanted, but with a strike of moral compass he realizes momentarily he still yet doesn't deserve what he wants. "Even if you were able to give me what I needed... Would there be something I could do for you in return?"