Tiberios
Tiberios leaves the Falls because he doesn’t know how much longer he can stand to be within them. That incessant crashing of water only serves as a reminder of how far he’s come from what he envisioned to begin with. He thought he could do great things, he thought he could change the Falls. He’d been wrong. He was just a horse, in the end, just a horse with half his body burnt to a crisp and a golden blaze to remind him of his true origins. A stallion, born of a shape-shifting mare and an Angel. Who was he to be king?
Well they could have it back - the kingdom, the crown, the Falls. They could take their ancient traditions and keep them in some glass case until they dissolved into dust. He was through with trying to be the best he could be for no reason at all. In the end, all that had really mattered to him was Talulah. Her presence in his life has been a guiding light - the one small matter of truth and reality that he could grasp to when all else seemed to fade away.
The silver mare who was now pregnant with his child.
A smile causes his lips to turn upwards, and the infectious thought sends a chill through his body. Talulah - finally his to claim. All the time they had wasted trying to tiptoe around their feelings and now it was open for him to explore and appreciate. Of course, he’d always held the hope that they’d be together eventually, the timing had just been wrong on all accounts. This was, happily, not the case anymore. The sand that causes his hooves to sink is relaxing on his joints, and Tiberios enjoys the calming effect of the ocean. It’s been awhile since he’s seen the vast expanse of water, in fact the last time he was here had been his birth. Miraposa had died to bring him to life and her bones had lain to rest beneath the waves somewhere, where countless others also rested.
His eyes dance curiously over the rounded waves, mind filtering slowly through his life. He’s come a long way, still there’s more to experience. He’s learned, he’s loved, and he’s given everything to see others succeed. He could even say that in some fashion, he’s happy with how things have turned out. Tiberios wasn’t meant to rule. He was meant to live and love Talulah, and that was what the painted man was deciding to do from here on out. The gulls above him offer a poignant cry and he inhales the saline breeze. In the solitude of the moment another sound catches his attention - a guttoral, unholy snarl that sends his eyes away from the peaceful scene of the ocean and back to the shore, where a curious-looking horse is standing.
Perhaps, if Tiberios could have seen into the future, he would’ve still made the choice to see what was going on. Maybe, just maybe, he would’ve turned away and left his imminent death behind him. There’s no way to know. The only thing that is certain, is that the sabino turned and walked away from the lull of the sea to investigate just what was occurring farther up the shore and inevitably walked right into his own demise.
The horse, as it turned out, was another stallion. Young, a rival of even Tiphon’s ethereal beauty, and boasting a coat of pale green that bled into teal. He was bent, it seemed, doubled over with his long neck stretched to the sand. His mouth was open, and he was … hacking? up some sort of black mass. Tiberios was less eager now to approach, and his forehead wrinkled in the manner that only someone who is equally bereft of knowledge and still terrified could manage. He perceived then just exactly what the blue-green stallion was hacking over - a rotted corpse of some horse long gone. Usually, Tiberios would have considered a more optimistic approach, but these days anger clouded his judgement, and instead of making himself known, he lunged forward, teeth bared to nip the coltish horse on the rump for his desecration of the body.
“Stop that!” He commanded, amber eyes wide with fury that such a disgusting thing could occur right out in the open.
And in the moment before his death, Tiberios still thought he was just doing the right thing.
Tiberios
king of the falls
