The brush rustled as a buckskin mare stepped into the Field. The surrounding horses lifted their heads in mild curiosity before dropping them again to continue munching on the grass below them. Anamosa cocked her head and let her eyes wander as she took in her surroundings, while remaining on the edges of the Field. There were plenty of beautiful mares around her, some grazing together, some alone and some being spoken to by other horses. She walked cautiously over to a small pocket of shade to graze a bit herself, tired from her long journey to this new land.
She extended her long neck and stretched, closing her eyes in the pure bliss of feeling her spine extend and pop after traveling for so long. She was finally free of all the regulations and expectations that had been implemented over the years, and that sudden realization took her over as she reared as high as she could and whinnied in pure joy, tossing her head and pawing at the ground after she had landed. After calming again, she cracked her pale brown eyes open to survey the new land she had arrived in. Pairs of wondering eyes stared openly at her after her little outburst, and she met them without reservation. Amorous had never been one to back down from anything, and being in a new place didn't change this. She did however nod respectfully to those who did not break eye contact before dropping her head and grazing on the sweet clover before her feet.
Overcome with sudden exhaustion, she allowed her legs to fold beneath her. Her golden head bowed as her dark muzzle touched lightly against the ground, and for the first time in quite a while she slept.
 Demian's words echo in my skull; they feel like bullets shattering every ounce of a wall I have fared to put up. The Valley needs numbers, it needs strength. I spoke of Ants, of squishing and of much more, and perhaps, perhaps the shadows of the Valley had begun to suffocate me a little too soon. For I was returning to the Field. I have no intention of fleeing, what has already started to feed my muscles and my bones with a new warmth, a new purpose.
My chocolate frame shifts through the shadows, the spires of light that pierce through the naked trees, falling across my path like rivulets of burning light. My silvery mane dances against my neck, teal and purple strands strewn across my face as I walk with a purpose, through the shadowy thicket, into the field. My teal eyes find her then, the golden mare. She is like sunrise and sunset, mane and tail like darkness has kisses her a thousand nights and the sun has lain with her a hundred mornings. I watch her for quite some time. My teal eyes, cutting in their observation. My horn glints in the spires of light, the teal and silver sheen, seeming to appear like stained glass, from the trickle of ice that slips from the treetops and fall atop my head, dampening my skin and my tresses.
My quiet observations end, and I decide to traverse the loam, steps quick and smooth. As I sidle out from the comforting darkness,s into the winter sunlight, she is fallen to the earth, eyes shut, mind lost. I grunt then, my tail whipping at my hinds. Oh. Oh, who in their mind sleeps here? Wide, in the open? I shake my head, perhaps I am mistaken and it is an imprudent decision to follow through, but I decide to regardless. A crisp, cold clip in my voice, but a smooth, dark magic upon my lips, a cruel, if not charming smile. 'Do you dream well, out in the open? Things can often turn to nightmares dear.' I pause, parading a few steps forward. 'A rather imprudent choice on your part, I'm afraid. What if I were some predator, a wolf hungry for your flesh? What then?' My teal eyes fix upon her, waiting, waiting, and the smooth smile turns larger than, toothy and a little too predatory. 'Ah, but I still might be. You never know... I am Jynxs, and you, what did your mother call you, sleeping beauty?'
. j y n x s here in the forest dark and deep, i offer you, eternal sleep
In the heavens, things are clearer. There is no confusion like that of the world below. Miniscule creatures, all of them. Filling their days with breathy phrases that had no meaning and wasting their lives on pointless problems. They plot and tinker, hoping to leave an immortal mark in some way, or perhaps even become immortal themselves. Zeik is not so distracted. In his bird form he can see things they cannot, the gentle rustle of life in the grass below. Far away into the distance there is movement. He can sense, hear things they would not even begin to understand. A few, powerful beats of his blue-grey wings and he can escape them all with bursts of quick speed. They are confined to one body. He is the master of two.
With the tilt of his head the falcon-shifter peers down upon two mares. In passing curiosity he listens, and then decides that the gathering is in need of closer investigation. He folds his wings to his body and makes for a secluded spot some some distance away before landing with a queerish bird-like hop in the tall grasses. They cannot see him, so small a creature that he is in this form, but he focuses and shifts back to the body he was born with. Soon, a blue roan is standing knee-deep in the vegetation were once a peregrine falcon was. He gives himself a second to adjust to the body of a prey creature, and then blinks his mahogany eyes before picking up a swift trot.
He joins them with a sullen look, glancing over the resting buckskin before pinpointing the horned mare with a rather unimpressed frown. “Clearly, you’re not. Though I’ll admit the show you put on is the most interesting thing about you.” His head tilts, and he imagines that the kingdom who controls her invisible strings must be one for theatrics. He sighs, and returns his attention back to the buckskin mare. No doubt she would be as confused by this as any newcomer. “But the open meadow isn’t the best napping place, I agree. How’d you come to be on your own?” He asks, curious to hear her reply. ZEIK
Anamosa had awakened the moment she'd heard the low grunt from the horse in front of her. Her long legs snapped into place beneath her and she stumbled to her feet. She pinned her ears lightly and drew herself up to her full height. She decided to ignore the questions the horse in front of her; they seemed rhetorical anyways and she spent the time observing the mare that had spoken. She was stranger looking than any horse Anamosa had ever seen, but to be fair she hadn't seen much in her short life. The golden mare snorted and pawed, unsure of the newcomers intentions towards her, especially when words of bloodthirsty predators fell from her snarling lips. The wide smile raised the hairs on the back of Anamosa's neck and she shifted her weight between her front and back legs, contemplating whether she should listen to her fight or her flight instinct. She decided waiting it out would be best for now, and forced her limbs to settle. After the mares introduction (if one could even call it that), she gave a cautious reply of her own name. "My name is Anamosa."
A sudden flash of movement caught Anamosa's eye as a large roan stallion approached the pair of horses. 'Here we go again,' she thought, and snapped her dusky ears a bit closer to the top of her head. The other horse however brought along more of a quiet, calming energy, therefore prompting her ears to raise from her golden head in an open curiosity. She snickered at his opinion of the strange, horned mare and gave him a slight grin of appreciation. "I'm sorry if I crossed a line by resting here. I have been traveling for quite a while. To answer your question, I left my herd." The mares pale hazel eyes dropped to the ground somewhat sadly, lost for a moment in the memory of all those she had left. "The good things in my old life did not weigh out the bad." She did not know how else to explain without going into her life story, so she left it at that. She relished in the feeling of the icy gust of wind that ruffled through her inky mane and tail, and her questioning eyes traveled between the pair of horses, waiting for a response and hopefully an explanation.
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