09-07-2016, 08:10 PM
Few come, but they gather around the big black stallion - he has always been their leader, and they all look to him now, even Spear and Spark do.
They do not recognize the black mare, but then they were never all that familiar with all the Tundrans in the first place. Too much time was spent in each other’s company, playing in the snow and the ice, chasing foxes and staring up at the clouds - things that foals do, and they rarely involved themselves in the goings-on of the kingdom itself and its populace.
But they do recognize the two stallions entwined in one another like Spear & Spark are sometimes entwined in one another. Only love makes you do that, they think, smiling at the pair of stallions who clearly love one another.
More come, mares and stallions alike.
They go too, in search of others - family, friends, lovers.
Spear & Spark remain;
Their father nods to them, solemn and serious. They know his heart is heavy; he longs to be just a stallion at times, in search of his lover and family like the rest do, but he does not - cannot, and they know this, he is a leader first and foremost. It is perhaps the single most quality that Scalped looked for in a stallion before she bred with them, to ensure that her foals were made of the strongest stuff - blood, bone, and muscle, and an undeniable strength of will. The twins might be like him, they are still fresh and moldable as they peer up at him then away.
(Spear & Spark are more than aware of the fact that they are not Offspring and Isle’s children, but they are Scalped’s and that is enough for them. Their father has transgressed against his mate, but they are horses above all else and horses are not monogamous, not wholly so anyway.)
Offspring talks, leaves them, petitions the Mountain and secures a land for all of them --
It seems to happen in the blink of an eye, at least for the twins who come and go, serving no real purpose.
They are children, purpose has yet to reveal itself to them.
A way opens, and the mists start to clear before a path all of them can traverse. They are eager to go, ramping and snorting at the air and the possibility of adventure. It sings in their hearts, loud and clear, and darts through their blood, making their feet dance on the earth. Spear and Spark are eager to see this new land, their bodies shake excitedly beneath their still-shaggy pelts. They can just barely make out the bristling peak of a volcano above the mists that still remain, clouded close about the base of that grand hot thing that juts up from the center of the land. And they can smell water, long before they catch sight of it!
They are quick to break from the herd that tromps through virgin grass, flattening it;
They run, at breakneck speeds amidst peals of laughter, towards the river. Once there, they cool their legs in it, breathing in the sulfur-stink of the air. Small eddies of horsehair twirl away on the currents; it is too humid here for the thickness of their winter pelts to remain and clumps of fur begin to fall away.
Their fur thinned, each of them feels lighter - freer, somehow.
They go back to them, to where their father stands and talks of this day and going forward. Each of them listens, ears upright and attentive to every word that is said. For now, it means little to them - they are here, they are growing up, and they will find a place amongst the rest of them.
ooc: They are all for a council, time to do something a little different than the typical monarchy. Let's shake things up a bit! Also all for the code of acceptance thing. Castes are good too, but maybe be a little more creative there too? Like a caste for battle, a caste for diplomats, a caste for only those that steal and gather information, and maybe a caste for residents who do things of use in the land like recruit, teach the foals, etc? Let's broaden our horizons more and break away from BQ tradition. <3