06-27-2015, 01:22 PM
We are at war. There will be scars.
He hears them before they ever cross the border. He might be young still, but he's learned how to be vigilant. He's learned how to be a fighter, how to hold his own, how to defend his kingdom. And so it is that he is walking the borders as he hears them, and he stops, cocking his ears in their direction. He hears their voices, his mother and a stranger he does not recognize. The thought of a new member in the Chamber is incredibly exciting to him, but not in the way that things are often exciting to the young. He is too serious for his age, and always has been. He is excited in the way that a soldier is excited, a muted kind of excitement. He decides to approach long before he hears his mother's call.He comes through the trees and into the clearing just moments after she calls for him. He moves through the pines (and the skeleton-pines) as easily as she does. Both of them were born here, and both of them were born to serve here; he perhaps even more so than she. He was born to be the revival, to be the new life, to be the youngster that would grow up and race through the growing pines. More than just the trees were reborn after the fire.
He pauses when he reaches them. He is a handsome thing, more or less fully grown at almost three years old. He is entirely black, no markings whatsoever, but his coat covers strong, defined muscles. His bearing is that of a soldier, never truly relaxed, always holding himself at the ready for whatever may come.
He nods to his mother. "Of course." he answers Straia's question, although she already knows what the answer will be, and then turns his gaze to their new friend. His mother's words leave him no doubt: this is in fact a new Chamber member, and he's very glad to have her. Engelsfors greets him first, and he returns the gesture, dipping his head. "The pleasure is all mine, Engelsfors." his voice is rich and deep, and he does not stumble over the name, no matter how foreign it might sound. His mother leaves them then, and his farewell to her is another nod. They've always been close, in their own way, but theirs is not a touchy-feely relationship.
Neither of them have ever been particularly good at touchy-feely.
Engelsfors speaks again, and Erebor listens. "Yes, I know much of our history and many of our stories. I've lived here my whole life, and am happy to tell you everything I know." he pauses for a moment. "But there's no need to call me sir. I may be a prince here, but you can talk to me – and to my mother – as you would any other horse." They don't stand on ceremony here; Straia would not be so formal, and none of the others would demand it. It just wouldn’t be right.
"Anyway, there's much to tell about the Chamber. But first, listen." He doesn't doubt she'll feel it – the rumble of Atrox's heart, beating beneath the ground of the Chamber. "That is the heart of a stallion named Atrox, one of the great stallions in the Chamber's history. He's been many things for us – General, King, virtually everything that a stallion can be." the boy pauses then, letting that sink in. "Many years ago, the Chamber took Atrox's heart. He continued to live, but his heart quite literally stays here now, always beating."
He does not mention that Atrox is his grandfather, that his heart beats in time with the heart beneath their feet, and always has.
Erebor
Native Prince of the Chamber
warship x straia
I'm literally the worst for taking so long with this. Sorry guys!!