12-26-2020, 06:52 PM
* * * * * * * * * * *
He turns his nose into the cool wind that brings with it the scent of imminent winter. With the warmer days behind them, most of Beqanna retreats and tucks away into their respective homes until spring finds them once again. Barrow himself thinks about turning towards Tephra and its billowing, volcanic landmark on the horizon. He should go home, should stop in and see his mother (lest she worry away all the red from her hair), but he wants to check in somewhere first. He wants to check in on someone first, that is.
It has been a few months since he last saw his friend by the riverside.
The young stallion had made her an ice tree – a rather unimpressive one, but a tree nonetheless – and he is keen to show her how much his skill has improved since then. She told him that she called Hyaline home. All that he knows about the place is that it is comprised of a lake ringed by forests and mountains. Cooler than Tephra at least, he imagines, already picturing the snow-capped peaks he intends to see for himself. He imagines, too, how much he could build and sculpt with snow and ice already on the ground, ripe for the taking! As excited he is to see snow in its natural form in one of their kingdoms, Barrow is far more excited to visit Mazikeen.
It takes quite a while to reach the kingdom, but he does not mind the long journey. There is much to see and catalogue away in his brain while he goes. He knows his grandfather could have pointed out and named every creature and bit of foliage he came across, but he can only marvel at it all himself. Perhaps he should have paid better attention to his mother’s lessons instead of conjuring snow in his youth.
When the ground finally begins to slope upwards into the smaller foothills just outside of Hyaline, Barrow breathes a sigh of relief. So this is it. What a beauty, he muses, staring up at the craggy faces of the mountains. He lifts one hoof over the invisible border and puts it back down. But he notices, with growing alarm, that his hoof has become a paw! The red roan leaps forward and finds himself falling down instead. Or not falling down, exactly, but sinking into a shorter frame. Completely bewildered, the now fully shifted Bernese Mountain dog high tails it through the forest.
His nose – his NOSE smells EVERYTHING! As Barrow races in a panic through trees he does not recognize, his overlarge paws spring him over both leaf litter and logs. He follows only the faintest scent of the mare he knows, a scent that grows stronger and stronger the further into the kingdom he goes. While the smell grows stronger, his panic wanes. The shaggy, furry beast is so HAPPY to be running full-tilt. He doesn’t care where he is going as long as there are smells to be smelled. And oh, there are plenty! Barrow feels his tail start shaking to and fro behind him. He is having so much fun that he forgets where he is heading and why. He zigs and zags through the woods without a care in the world, chasing the next scent that his nose finds.
It has been a few months since he last saw his friend by the riverside.
The young stallion had made her an ice tree – a rather unimpressive one, but a tree nonetheless – and he is keen to show her how much his skill has improved since then. She told him that she called Hyaline home. All that he knows about the place is that it is comprised of a lake ringed by forests and mountains. Cooler than Tephra at least, he imagines, already picturing the snow-capped peaks he intends to see for himself. He imagines, too, how much he could build and sculpt with snow and ice already on the ground, ripe for the taking! As excited he is to see snow in its natural form in one of their kingdoms, Barrow is far more excited to visit Mazikeen.
It takes quite a while to reach the kingdom, but he does not mind the long journey. There is much to see and catalogue away in his brain while he goes. He knows his grandfather could have pointed out and named every creature and bit of foliage he came across, but he can only marvel at it all himself. Perhaps he should have paid better attention to his mother’s lessons instead of conjuring snow in his youth.
When the ground finally begins to slope upwards into the smaller foothills just outside of Hyaline, Barrow breathes a sigh of relief. So this is it. What a beauty, he muses, staring up at the craggy faces of the mountains. He lifts one hoof over the invisible border and puts it back down. But he notices, with growing alarm, that his hoof has become a paw! The red roan leaps forward and finds himself falling down instead. Or not falling down, exactly, but sinking into a shorter frame. Completely bewildered, the now fully shifted Bernese Mountain dog high tails it through the forest.
His nose – his NOSE smells EVERYTHING! As Barrow races in a panic through trees he does not recognize, his overlarge paws spring him over both leaf litter and logs. He follows only the faintest scent of the mare he knows, a scent that grows stronger and stronger the further into the kingdom he goes. While the smell grows stronger, his panic wanes. The shaggy, furry beast is so HAPPY to be running full-tilt. He doesn’t care where he is going as long as there are smells to be smelled. And oh, there are plenty! Barrow feels his tail start shaking to and fro behind him. He is having so much fun that he forgets where he is heading and why. He zigs and zags through the woods without a care in the world, chasing the next scent that his nose finds.
Barrow
@[Mazikeen]