[private] Your Flaws Are Perfect To The Heart That Is Meant To Love You [Noah]

[Aten]

The refreshing spring breeze blew through Aten's mane as the lone stallion calmly walked through the meadow grass in the direction of a few of the creeks that crossed the landscape, his eyes wandering every so often to look at the scattered groups of mares and foals that lived here. There were not an incredible amount of them, some others most likely still off with their new little ones or back home in their kingdoms, but the ones that were here amused him.

The mares kept a watchful eye on their little ones, but the foals were allowed to play with one another, running around and testing their new legs. A couple would stumble and trip over their limbs in an effort to keep up with their friends, but otherwise didn't seem to be having any trouble.

Aten made it to one of the creeks and lowered his head for a drink, sipping at the frigid water. A series of loud splashes made him look up, watching as a group of three foals came racing by through the shallow creek, kicking up some of the water onto the golden stallion. Shaking his head to get rid of the water, ignoring how some of it soaked his forelock and made it stick to his forehead, the stallion just watched them keep running before banking and leaving the creek behind to head back to their dams.

Shaking his head fondly at the display, Aten lowered his head again for another drink of water. He glanced over when he heard one of the mares call out to the foals, the trio quickly galloping back as the mares drifted away from the creek to anither grazing spot.

Aten's eyes softened at seeing the display, fondly reminded of his younger years. One of the mares sported a chestnut coat that, in the right light, glistened where it could've resembled that of Aten's dam, Anahi. The stallion himself was reminded of her every day, knowing that he also sported a coat like hers, where it wasn't tinged darker in color thanks to his sire.

His appearance was also marred by the scars from fires and battles he'd been in, but that knowledge no longer bothered the stallion. It also helped that the burn scars troubled him very little nowadays, only flaring up when he exerted himself by running for a long period of time. Otherwise, he could almost forget they were there.

Almost.

The stallion, once he was done at the creek, made his way towards a further end of the Meadow where the grass was shallower. Lowering his head to graze, his healthy, shed out golden coat glistening in the sun, his toned muscles relaxed due to his calm state, Aten settled in to spend some time here before he would head back to his kingdom.


@[Noah] I went ahead and settled for a common land since Aten hasn't paid a formal visit to Loess yet.

[Noah]

that's all there is

Noah was going to go to the Field, ever searching for those in need to share her home, but though she lands near there, she cannot bring herself to stay, to wander down amongst the noise and the bustle. She tucks her darker red wings in against her body and meanders instead along the border, and away towards the relative peace of the Meadow. Here there are quieter pockets, areas of peace, rather than the chaos and uncertainty of the field. It’s a more peaceful place, and the trees at the edge cast dappled shade over her passage.

She’s looking for someone who looks safe to talk to – mothers and children, mares alone, the young and plain. Easy. Unthreatening. But for some reason her eyes are drawn across the Meadow, to a stallion moving alone. He’s not at all the category she was searching out – a man, even alone, is more threat than the quiet little mare will usual choose in this mood – and he certainly doesn’t look at all safe, marked as he is by the signs of major burns. Still, he’s caught her gaze and her attention and she steps lightly in his direction.

The little red mare can’t quite bring herself to approach until he lowers his head to the sweet long grasses, and even then she takes a round-about approach, coming at him from a diffident and oblique angle, quiet green eyes and a shy smile. “Hello,” she offers the word as she comes to a halt a few paces from him. “I’m Noah.”

noah

@[Aten]

[Aten]

The stallion did not seem to be bothered by the myriad of activity occuring in the Meadow from the mares and their foals frolicking in the grass. For a minute, his eyes went up when he heard a couple of them squeal, but when he noticed one of them seemed to have tripped over something and had taken a harmless tumble, he returned to his grazing, not bothered enough for the matter to concern him.

Besides, the mares had it handled anyways.

Aten's thoughts, however, drifted into space, wondering how the other stallions, first time sires or not, were adjusting to this spring season. How were the new ones handling having a foal out in the world that shared their blood, that they should help take responsibility in raising? Aten had been lucky enough to have a sire who was around often enough in his early months to teach him what he had before the stallion had disappeared prior to the Reckoning. Other than that, he'd had to learn a lot himself, since he was separated from his dam and siblings within the same year.

The golden stallion often thought what it would be like for a foal to call him father, but at the same time, he was hesitant to even think of it. He didn't know what sort of a sire he'd be, since he'd had very little time with his own. How would he know what to do? What to teach the foal? How to treat the mare afterwards? What if she'd had other foals before the one they shared?

Before Aten knew it, his mind was racing, and he snorted loudly and shook his head to clear it. This was exactly the reason he didn't think about stuff like that; it eventually drove him crazy.

He settled back into his grazing again, enjoying the peace for a short while before a new voice, a mare's, cut into the silence. He was momentarily surprised that one had come this far to the Meadow's edge, since he was pretty far out himself, but he would not complain.

Aten lifted his head after swallowing his mouthful of grass to see who had come to visit him. The mare was a pretty young creature, with a strawberry roan coat darkened by a mane and tail several shades deeper than her hair. She had a pair of bird-like wings on her back that matched the color of her mane and tail, tall white hind stockings, white socks that went to about her pasterns, and a small white star placed perfectly in the center of her forehead.

She was shorter than Aten was by a decent amount, though the wings added to her profile. She also had a light shimmer to her coat, something Aten had seen in a couple of other horses before. She was just close enough that he could see her eyes, the stallion momentarily struck by their beautiful greenish hazel shading.

The mare began her greeting with a shy smile, and a hello before introducing herself by the name of Noah. Aten offered a sincere smile of his own before speaking in a calm tone, his baritone voice low and deep, rumbling in his chest.

"Pleasure to meet you Noah," he said with a dip of his head, "My name is Aten. Are you out here in the meadow enjoying the refreshing spring breeze as well?"

He would've asked if she called this place home, but the shifting wind brought a scent to his nostrils. It had a similar smell to Loess, a kingdom Aten had passed by a number of times, but different, telling him that she hailed from one of it's sublands, such as how the stallion himself hailed from a 'subterritory' to Nerine, a sister kingdom.

@[Noah]