08-31-2019, 06:19 PM
Fear could be both a powerful ally... and one's worst enemy... in the case of a prey animal like the horses that inhabited Beqanna, it served one purpose more than the other on many occasions. Instincts developed over years of survival had fine-tuned the hoofed mammals to sense when danger was nearby, even if they couldn't immediately see it. Were they lucky enough to get a head start, it was easy to outrun the predator.
There were those who, at times, weren't so lucky... whether it was a foal that had wandered too far from it's dam's side... or a grown adult out wandering among Beqanna's lands. On this day, the familiar golden stallion traversing through the Field couldn't help but remember one time when he was here, how he had been attacked by a big cat. The memory had returned to him when he passed by a pile of animal waste, which, by the smell, identified it as a big cat. The scars on the stallion's left flank seemed to burn at the memory, and he moved on while trying to push that dark cloud from his thoughts.
He had still been young when it happened... the first one anyways. The second had been much later in life, when he was more capable of defending himself after nearing his full height and gaining a good bit of muscle mass. Unfortunately, it did little good, since he'd gained new scars in the process. At least he'd come out of that incident without another dark cloud.
On this day, the stallion was on a quest to conquer another demon. The scars on his belly and legs only seemed to burn when he was near the ocean, and though he had made significant strides in conquering his fear, there were other days when he questioned if he would ever go in the ocean past his chest again.
He was thankful that his raptor companion was here again as well; he'd have an eye in the sky to watch for those slippery devils so he could have time to get away.
Aten looked up, seeing his friend soaring ahead of him in the direction of the ocean. He would eventually become nothing more than a speck when he got too far away, but Aten still knew where he was. The link they shared would serve help as well, for if Aten needed to find out where Turul was, he could reach out and ask. Their link mostly felt like a tingle in the back of their brains if they didn't say anything to each other. In fact, when they had first developed it, the tingle had felt like an itch and Turul ended up scratching the back of his head every time it happened.
Aten would've done the same, if he could reach his poll. Sadly, he was left to ask Turul, but that only made the problem worse in the long run.
A short while passed before the ocean came into view shortly before Aten would have to crest a small ground dune to reach it. As he was in the process of doing so, Turul reached out through their link and instructed the stallion to hurry. Not wasting time to ask questions, Aten broke into a gallop and headed over the dune, looking to see if he could spot the raptor.
Since Turul wasn't high in the sky, Aten didn't see him immediately, but did when the falcon told him where to look. Aten turned his head to the left, seeing the raptor circling above a prone object on the ground. It was when he got closer that Aten realized it was a horse, something that surprised him for this gave him the impression that the stranger wasn't in good health.
Aten raced to the spot on the grass where the mare lay not far from the beach. Her coat appeared very dark in color, and she smelled of salt water, indicating she'd been for a swim. Not knowing that, perhaps, she'd done so with an intention other than exercise, Aten looked her over for any other injuries. He didn't see anything external, beyond muscles that seemed tired; her breathing was labored, so the effort to swim through the ocean had taken a toll on her.
Aten instructed Turul to go and find a plant he had found out was good for pain relief, a green common plant that, in some other place where strange two-legged creatures existed, was called wild lettuce. Aten himself had started calling it viroso, differing it in one letter from virosa, a term his dam had used to describe a poisonous plant that looked similar to the one Turul was going to find.
While the raptor went in search of the plant, Aten stayed by the mare's side. He was careful when he lowered his head and gently nudged her shoulder, to see if he could wake her, and help her move out of the cold since the chilled autumn night would not do well for her after a swim in the ocean.
@[Urd]
There were those who, at times, weren't so lucky... whether it was a foal that had wandered too far from it's dam's side... or a grown adult out wandering among Beqanna's lands. On this day, the familiar golden stallion traversing through the Field couldn't help but remember one time when he was here, how he had been attacked by a big cat. The memory had returned to him when he passed by a pile of animal waste, which, by the smell, identified it as a big cat. The scars on the stallion's left flank seemed to burn at the memory, and he moved on while trying to push that dark cloud from his thoughts.
He had still been young when it happened... the first one anyways. The second had been much later in life, when he was more capable of defending himself after nearing his full height and gaining a good bit of muscle mass. Unfortunately, it did little good, since he'd gained new scars in the process. At least he'd come out of that incident without another dark cloud.
On this day, the stallion was on a quest to conquer another demon. The scars on his belly and legs only seemed to burn when he was near the ocean, and though he had made significant strides in conquering his fear, there were other days when he questioned if he would ever go in the ocean past his chest again.
He was thankful that his raptor companion was here again as well; he'd have an eye in the sky to watch for those slippery devils so he could have time to get away.
Aten looked up, seeing his friend soaring ahead of him in the direction of the ocean. He would eventually become nothing more than a speck when he got too far away, but Aten still knew where he was. The link they shared would serve help as well, for if Aten needed to find out where Turul was, he could reach out and ask. Their link mostly felt like a tingle in the back of their brains if they didn't say anything to each other. In fact, when they had first developed it, the tingle had felt like an itch and Turul ended up scratching the back of his head every time it happened.
Aten would've done the same, if he could reach his poll. Sadly, he was left to ask Turul, but that only made the problem worse in the long run.
A short while passed before the ocean came into view shortly before Aten would have to crest a small ground dune to reach it. As he was in the process of doing so, Turul reached out through their link and instructed the stallion to hurry. Not wasting time to ask questions, Aten broke into a gallop and headed over the dune, looking to see if he could spot the raptor.
Since Turul wasn't high in the sky, Aten didn't see him immediately, but did when the falcon told him where to look. Aten turned his head to the left, seeing the raptor circling above a prone object on the ground. It was when he got closer that Aten realized it was a horse, something that surprised him for this gave him the impression that the stranger wasn't in good health.
Aten raced to the spot on the grass where the mare lay not far from the beach. Her coat appeared very dark in color, and she smelled of salt water, indicating she'd been for a swim. Not knowing that, perhaps, she'd done so with an intention other than exercise, Aten looked her over for any other injuries. He didn't see anything external, beyond muscles that seemed tired; her breathing was labored, so the effort to swim through the ocean had taken a toll on her.
Aten instructed Turul to go and find a plant he had found out was good for pain relief, a green common plant that, in some other place where strange two-legged creatures existed, was called wild lettuce. Aten himself had started calling it viroso, differing it in one letter from virosa, a term his dam had used to describe a poisonous plant that looked similar to the one Turul was going to find.
While the raptor went in search of the plant, Aten stayed by the mare's side. He was careful when he lowered his head and gently nudged her shoulder, to see if he could wake her, and help her move out of the cold since the chilled autumn night would not do well for her after a swim in the ocean.
@[Urd]