the vows of ruin - star

[avocet]

He had no more luck than the day before in finding Popinjay. Why any horse would want to leave the Pampas is beyond him. The fields thrive with wildflowers for most of the year and even when winter draws a frigid wind across Beqanna, the Brilliant Pampas is one of the few places that seems (at least to Avocet) to not feel the full brunt of that chill. There is plenty to eat, for grass-eaters and those like his sister that prefer a meal that gives chase. A small colony of shifters had taken up residence there as well but Avo hadn't minded.

It was a curious thing, to watch a horse shed his skin for another. It had often made him wonder if the changes were voluntary or not. Did they prefer one form over the other?

(Avocet was the son of a shifter but such abilities had evaded him and his sister. The adolescent was as plain as his coat was bay.)

His searching for Popinjay had taken most of his day, as it took most of his days. Avocet had hunted through every flower field in the Pampas. He had gone beyond the borders and after finding no sign of his mother beneath the brightly-hued leaves of Sylva or the re-blooming Loess, the almost two-year-old turned to the Common Lands. Lacking the skills of a tracker or the benefit of a gift like wings (or a second skin), his search was turning out to be a pointless one. It had occurred him to that his mother hadn't wanted to be found. Manikin reminded him often enough that their dam was prone to erratic mood shifts and that they had often been the target of her irritation. They were better off without her, she had said.

The bay colt believed her... for the most part.
There were just some parts - some pieces of his memories - that didn't quite add up. He had come to stop at the edge of a pristine lake and staring down at his sullen reflection, he sighed.

Ahead of him, a rather majestic had tucked its head beneath its wing for a rest. The bird most likely wouldn't listen to him either but Avocet sighed again, despondent sounding and lamented with the feathered creature: "It must be nice to just fly away from your problems."

@[Nerve] bare with me, lol. this is his first interaction with somebody who is not his sister