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Post by th1rt3nroses on Sept 4, 2012 0:21:12 GMT -5
Artemis snorted lightly, watching White Eye. He was the only stallion, and now responsible for the well-being of these two mares. "I agree.. There are many predators here and we don't want to risk a run-in with any." He turned his head, looking at the trees around him. "Shall we just head off in a direction of does either of you know a path to follow?" THe young stallion was designed to travel long distances without tiring, but his sense of direction lacked quite noticeably.
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Post by Kagome Higurashi on Sept 4, 2012 4:06:52 GMT -5
For a moment, Miasma was shaken by what had just happened with White Eye, but she shook it off quickly, "She said east, so we'll go east I guess, right?" She moved to the side of the others so that the wind would blow her vapors away from them, but she faced east, ready to head that way, for she had been wandering without direction anyway.
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Post by th1rt3nroses on Sept 4, 2012 10:47:35 GMT -5
Artemis nodded and looked to White Eye. "I suppose you can be our navigator then? I'm only good at finding water and food, but not necessarily finding a good direction to head off in." He swished his tail gently.
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lemuria
Foal
In Somnis Veritas
Posts: 78
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Post by lemuria on Sept 5, 2012 13:43:26 GMT -5
She nodded and turned to face east "Of course" she as used to leading, she had been the leader for many years and knew just what to do.
"East it is" a small shiver ran down her spine, spirits often spoke to her but it was hard to tell what their true intentions where. She walked forwards and took the lead "We'll move at a quick pace at first, we need to leave our scent behind as fast as we can, once we are clear of that we can slow down a bit"
She sighed and closed her eyes for a moment "all right, get ready, let me know if you can't keep up" she began walking fast and kept quickening her pace until she broke into a steady canter, her ears where held backwards to make sure her new companions where following.
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Post by Kagome Higurashi on Sept 5, 2012 14:03:50 GMT -5
Miasma had no problem with speed, but she made sure she was the one furthest to the rear, especially as they picked up speed and the pink vapors wafted out behind her more and more dramaticly.
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Post by th1rt3nroses on Sept 5, 2012 22:08:37 GMT -5
Artemis nodded and followed behind White Eye. He knew merciless creatures lurked in the woods, and the scent of the small band would surely have them coming out to hunt. He cantered along behind White Eye. Looking back a couple times to ensure Miasma was following. In the distance, a wolf howl rang out, followed by the calls of other, less typical carnivores.
"How far do you think we need to go before we will be relatively safe?" The young stallion had never lead, and was not used to being the only male responsible for two females, although they seemed capable of caring for themselves, he still felt some need to protect them.
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lemuria
Foal
In Somnis Veritas
Posts: 78
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Post by lemuria on Sept 6, 2012 14:02:20 GMT -5
"We can't slow down until we are past those hills over there" the cries of predators spurred her to go even faster but she made sure to increase her speed slowly to allow her new partners to keep up.
The hills where still a bit far away, their silhouettes stood out against the sky so she could easily see them despite her poor eyesight. "Miasma, try not to get too far behind..." she flinched at the sound of a howl "our best bet right now is to stay in the open, if something comes after us we should be able to see it before it surprises us" she tossed her head to get her mane out of the way "if that happens we will need to hold our ground... running away will only make things worse... let me know if you see anything"
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Post by Kagome Higurashi on Sept 6, 2012 14:09:08 GMT -5
The increasing speed wasn't taxing her any, "I won't fall behind. I'm used to running fast." But upon that last request, she payed more attention to their surroundings, "Alright." She could be lookout, that was not a problem at all.
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Post by th1rt3nroses on Sept 6, 2012 15:57:36 GMT -5
Artemis continued his canter behind White Eye. He kept his eyes open for possible danger, as well as his ears. "So White Eye.. If you don't mind me asking, why did you get your name?" He had noticed the mare's clouded white eyes, but attempted to sound as if he hadn't noticed anything unusual about her. He knew how it felt to be treated as if you were different from others.
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lemuria
Foal
In Somnis Veritas
Posts: 78
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Post by lemuria on Sept 7, 2012 13:45:25 GMT -5
White Eye gave a small laugh..." that is actually a good question and the answer is not as obvious as it may seem, it's the name the two legged tribe gave us, not after our eyes but after the moon" Back home, she often stayed awake for a long time just listening to the sounds of the night, the night sky was easier to read than the unpredictable clouds and winds, the moon spoke of change trough her face, color and size and it had led the herd to safer places, both in a spiritual and physical sense "The two legs claim the heavens speaks to us and only a few can understand it's words, the burning sun speaks to warriors, the moon speaks to healers"
the hills where getting closer but it would still be a while before they reached them " We wandered off searching for rain, there is a drought at home, we left another mare in charge while we where away"
She then spoke to both of them, keeping an ear poined towards them "so what is your story? how did you come to this place?"
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Post by th1rt3nroses on Sept 7, 2012 16:17:58 GMT -5
Artemis listened to the mare's story. "That's interesting. My story is nothing of that caliber unfortunately." THe young stallion glanced behind him to make sure Miasma was still there. "There is a large group of my kind. We live off far in a desert, about a four or five day run from here. In our herd, when the foals are born, the females are raised by the other females, and the males are raised by the other males. My mother was very caring and gentle, but as a young colt, I was forced to travel with my father and the other herd stallions. THey taught all of us colts to forage and how to fight. Once we grew large enough to begin breeding, we were kicked out of the herd." Artemis snorted. "No matter who you were, or who you had been born to, any young stallion in the herd was seen as a threat to the mares. So to ensure we did not create breeding competition, we were driven out.. There were about seven of us that banded together, but that didn't last long. THe others started coming across horse herds or does to mate with, which created competition and rivalry. So the band split up... WHich is why I was traveling alone." He snorted again, blowing the pollen from the trees out of his nostrils. "As I said, members of my kind are half-gemsbok, half-horse. So when looking for mates, We can cover either a mare, or a doe.. We are able to breed between both deer and horses. Although I imagine no mare would desire to give birth to a foal with my body type.." Artemis was lean, but muscular and large. Surely the sheer idea of a horse mare giving birth to a large foal with horns would drive her away.
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Post by Kagome Higurashi on Sept 7, 2012 20:31:17 GMT -5
The story White Eye told was mysterious and enchanting, and Artemis' story was intriguing, "Your stories are both fascinating, especially to someone like me who has never been part of a herd for more than a few minutes, or had any interaction with the two legged ones. However, Artemis, I think you are wrong in your assumption that no mare would breed with you. You say you are half, so were you to breed with a mare, the offspring would be mostly horse, and there would be a chance that it would not have horns at all, correct?" In fact, since he was half, even if he were to breed with his own kind, she was sure there would be three possibilities for what the offspring might be: the halfling creature he was, sure, but also full horse or full gemsbok. Regardless, it seemed it was her turn to tell her story, and she sighed, "...As for me... I was born to a normal mare in a normal herd, but I was not normal, as is obvious. My poison killed her within a few moments of my birth... and the rest of the herd was frightened and kept their distance. I heard them whispering about the miasma that was coming off of me, so I decided that would be my name... After they had finished talking to each other, they all took off. I had barely managed to stand for the first time, so there was no way I could follow... I flopped back down and cried out for help, and I kept at it, not intending to stop until someone came either to kill me, as the herd I'm sure figured was one of the possibilities, or someone actually came to help. I suppose I was lucky... A unicorn who had recently lost her own baby found me. She raised me as she would have raised her own, but my poison was still affecting her... she would constantly use her magic to protect herself, but it wasn't enough... four years with me killed her despite her attempts to protect herself. That was two years ago, and until today, I had been wandering on my own ever since, watching plants and animals die around me..."
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Post by th1rt3nroses on Sept 8, 2012 2:04:27 GMT -5
Artemis thought about what Miasma said regarding his ability to produce offspring who were potentially normal. SHe was right, although he had never seen the offspring of one of his kind who's dam wasn't a half-breed herself. He then listened to her history and sighed gently. "Im sorry you've had a rough life. But if it does mean anything to you, your herd was awful for leaving you. Deadly or not.." He thought about her situation, feeling unwanted was enough to drive any animal mad. "At least your with us now. And clearly, we aren't normal either." He hoped his slight humor would make the mare feel better.
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Post by Kagome Higurashi on Sept 8, 2012 2:19:55 GMT -5
"I don't look at it that way... Survival of the many over survival of one is a common and understandable thought process... and a rough life is not an uncommon thing either... It would seem that I am a survivor though, however I am indeed glad that I am no longer alone, and will do what I can to be sure the both of you do not end up as my surrogate mother did. ...I did not fully understand things until her death, but now I think I know how to be careful enough to avoid a repeat..."
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lemuria
Foal
In Somnis Veritas
Posts: 78
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Post by lemuria on Sept 9, 2012 14:58:30 GMT -5
"It sounds like both of you have had a rough life" she couldn't help but feel a bit of pity for both of them "but those experiences will make you stronger... Artemis, I agree with Miasma, and if it works the same way as with deer, then foals may be born without horns, only with small buttons, the horns begin to grow from those buttons as the foal ages" she slowed to a canter and then to a trot, the hills where very close now "and Miasma, your herd was very selfish..." the though of leaving someone so young behind angered her, she snorted loudly "no one should have to be alone for so long, even if they kept their distance they should have been there for you.... but it's no use dwelling in the past, we are together now, and we'll stick together"
She though of her herd, she would have loved to welcome them to it but the lead stallion would be a problem... he was a good leader but he didn't like outsiders "We have been driven away before, sometimes a new stallion would want to replace us with a younger, prettier mare, one capable of breeding, he would drive us away but we never leave... we swore to protect the herd and we'll do so even if it must be done from afar"
She turned to smile at both of them "Just as Artemis said, we aren't normal, freaks should stick together, right? as for us... we won't kick you away or run from you" her own herd could wait, the mare she left in charge was capable of caring for them for a while and the lead stallion was strong enough to keep danger at bay, they could do without her for a while, her instinct was now focused on leading her new companions.
She slowed down to a walk as they reached the base of the hill, she looked upwards and tested the ground with one hoof, the ground was firm and didn't seem like a difficult climb "it should be easy to see your surroundings from that height, we'll continue eastward from up there, it may feel unprotected but if something approaches it should be easy to spot it before it gets too close"
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