"But the dream, the echo, slips from him as quickly as he had found it and as consciousness comes to him (a slap and not the gentle waves of oceanic tides), it dissolves entirely. His muscles relax as the cold claims him again, as the numbness sets in, and when his grey eyes open, there’s nothing but the faint after burn of a dream often trod and never remembered." --Brigade, written by Laura
Aten was not a simple-minded horse, but he was quite driven, and had his goals for life set straight. Though it pained him to leave his family behind, the young stallion knew that it had been his time to set out in the world, find a new place for him to live. His instincts were just telling him it was time; time for him to leave his foal hood behind and accept the responsibilities that came with being a stallion, whether it was leading a herd of his own, like his sire had, or joining the ranks of a kingdom and providing his services to all those that lived within.
This desire he experienced was what drove him from his home to begin with. Following his dam's departure from Sylva to, so one could say, figure things out, Aten had made sure she would have at least one other horse with her to care for her should the need arise. Nerius was off doing who knows what, and Sirana, so far as he knew, was still stuck with that stallion that had taken her from Phaedrus. Eiria had been the odd one out, but had willingly volunteered to stay with their dam to care for her. Aten honestly couldn't have asked for a better older sister.
So, with his goal in mind, Aten had gone by the various kingdoms, but for some reason, the Taiga appealed to him the best. After some thinking, he decided he would go to the kingdom and seek out the leader, to see if he could perhaps join the residence. After a while of traveling, he finally arrived at the border, the champagne roan stallion's muscular body quivering as a breeze rushed against his sleek body.
He looked around the line of the border, thick with redwood trees. Somewhat surprised but also pleased at the prospect of this new land to explore, the stallion decided he would call out, see if another decided to answer and hear him out. Rearing up, he let out a call, asking for one who heard to come and see him and hear what he had to say.
Jinju had never considered the Taiga as a kingdom. The Taiga was home, the place where she and her family lived, the forest her parents had pledged to protect. Yes, the Taiga had leaders, but far as the black girl knew neither Reagan or Ruan had crowned themselves as the monarch. Not that she was familiar with kingdoms like the ones Beqanna had had in the past. Back then she simply had been too young to get involved in those politics, having a family and a place to belong was all that had mattered. Soon after the reckoning happened and after losing her adoptive mother Lexa, it had been her parents Reagan and Ruan who had taken her in.
She had met leaders from other lands a couple of times, like Magnus and Nayl, but that didn’t make her understand about the dynamics in a kingdom. Far as she knew all the lands just held another family, like hers lived in the Taiga. Feeling comfortable around the trees of her home she had gotten to know all about the Taiga, and thus she notices the arrival of a stranger before he decides to call out to them. For a moment she studies him from within the forest, before deciding to reveal herself.
He’s young, obviously, with a shiny golden coat like she had never seen before. Curiously her ruby eyes take him in, her black head tilting a little to the side. He might be young, but he’s still older than her. He was a man, where she was in the vague area between being a girl and becoming a woman. Though she did almost rival his height, but her body was still lean as a child. ”Welcome to the Taiga, can I help you?” she asks, stopping a couple of meters away from him. Close enough to properly talk, but not too close to invade personal space. Plus like this she would have enough time to call out her fire in case the stranger’s plans weren’t as peaceful as it looked right now.
Good; someone had heard his call. The champagne roan stallion looked around, curious to see who it was he smelled approaching on the wind. His nostrils flared, inhaling the scent, to see if he could pick up any information about the stranger. For a moment, nothing, so he decided to wait until he saw the horse in person.
Within a few moments, she arrived. Aten carefully observed the mare, taking in her appearance. She was a young creature, maybe a year or so younger than himself. Her streamlined body was gifted with a shiny obsidian coat, a small white star sitting perfectly in the middle of her forehead. Her eyes were a bit more unusual colored, a bright red, but it only added to her unique appearance. She was a bit shorter than him, but Aten could tell she would be tall when she finished growing, if she wasn't already. He also had to admit, she was quite pretty.
Breaking his train of thought so he could hear her speak and not stand there looking moronic, Aten gazed at her. He gave a light tip of his head, a sign of his greeting. A light smile spread on his face as he spoke to her, "Hello. I have come here to see if I might be offered a place in this kingdom. I left my old one behind in the hopes of starting over, just as the land had all those moons ago."
A moment of silence, "Pardon my manners. I am called Aten; may I ask what your name is?"
The way he observed her, she observed him. Her ruby eyes wandered over his tall form, which was clad in gold. From the looks of it she guessed he wasn’t that much older than she was, but clearly an adult. Once her quick look over was done, Jinju looked up to meet his gaze. A small smile lied on her lips as she came to stand in front of him, though, never entering his personal space.
”I’m Jinju” she answers his introduction, her own head dipping too. Then she glances back to look at the pine tree forest, a small smile lingering on her lips before she looked back at Aten. She had already welcomed him to the Taiga, but why not take a stroll around. ”The Taiga will a home for whoever wishes it to be. My parents.. they lead the Taiga. Though I never heard them call it a kingdom. We.. are family.” Her head tilted a little to the side before she motioned towards the forest with a small movement of her head. As to invite him to explore the lands with her.
She walks back into the forest just like that, her tail flicking through the air as she breath in the spicy scent of the pine trees deeply. It is only after a few steps that she halts, looking back at the champagne male. ”Coming?”
Aten remained where he was as the young filly took a few steps closer to him, taking note that she still respected his personal space. A gesture like that was one to be appreciated, especially for horses that liked it more even than Aten, like his dam's friend Raxa and that blue roan Neoma who had at one point resided in the Falls long ago.
The filly introduced herself as Jinju, a name Aten found suited her. A unique name, but many horses had those. Still, he could tell she did it justice just by looking at her. She turned her head to look at the pine trees, making the stallion wonder if perhaps she had heard something out of the ordinary. His question would have to wait as Jinju told him the Taiga welcomed all who wished to call it a home, and that her parents were the leaders.
Hearing that suddenly made the stallion nervous; he would have to tread carefully to not offend this filly, whether she took his comment with a grain of salt or not. If her parents found reason to kick him out of Taiga, whether because he offended Jinju or he might be deemed a threat for being a young, healthy, strong stallion, he had little doubt they just might.
Jinju motioned for Aten to follow before disappearing among the tree line, calling back to him and asking if he was coming. Smiling a little, Aten started following after her, his nostrils inhaling sharply at the fresh scent of the trees, a new scent he had never smelled before. He found it rather refreshing, taking in another deep breath and embracing Taiga's wonders.
As the duo walked through the forest, Aten continued looking around, his eyes growing slightly wide with amazement. The trees he'd seen in his passing of Sylva when he left were tall, but nothing like this. They seemed to stretch as high as the sky above them, as if reaching for the heavens and trying to pull it down to the earth below. Their endless branches and leaves were far too many to count, a couple of the needles falling down and landing on Aten's broad back. The stallion ignored them for now, not finding them particularly bothersome.
His hooves crunched against the ground as he stepped over the various layers of needles that littered the ground, obviously having gathered her for many moons. Sometimes, he felt a sharp one poking the sensitive area of his hoof, but it did no serious damage for his hoof did not remain in that spot for long. While it was not morning anymore, a very light layer of fog still covered the ground, Aten only being able to tell as his hooves a couple inches below his knee seemed a different color than his base coat.
The fog came with a slight frigid, wet feeling to it, causing a light shiver to run through Aten's body. Brushing the feeling aside, knowing he would have to get used to it if he lived here, he decided to distract himself by talking some more with Jinju.
Turning his head to look at the filly, once more hesitating as he took in the sleek color of her black coat and her stunning red eyes, the stallion spoke, "So what is the Taiga like? Have you been here since all those moons ago when Beqanna changed?"
She was oblivious to the way he looked at her, how he thought of her. Just as she isn’t aware of the cause of his sudden nervousness. As result, she makes the wrong assumption. ”No worries. My parents wouldn’t turn one looking for a home down, not without reason” she tells him as he is at her side, allowing her to guide him through the Taiga. The smile on her lips is a tad bit amused, though not in a negative way. She just finds it funny how the topic of their leader made a change like this.
For a while she doesn’t speak. She’s aware of how he is looking around, how he is taking their environment in. Back when she had first entered the Taiga she had done the same, the only difference was that she had been a child pressed against her mother’s side. Ever since that moment, the Taiga had been her home.
Her ruby eyes alter between looking at him and looking around. She didn’t really have a place in mind and instead just wandered around. They had passed their small stream already and were now on their way towards the little clearing. That was where most meetings were held. Aten’s voice disturbs the silence before they are able though. ”What the Taiga is like?” she repeats the question, her head turning a little to the side to look at him.
Then a smile pulls the corners of her lips up. ”Family. The Taiga is like family, home.” Though Reagan and Ruan weren’t her biological parents, they were the one that raised her and guided her through life. From which most had happened here in the Taiga. ”I was only a couple of months old when my mother brought me here. I wasn’t a part of the horses who petitioned for the lands, but I joined soon after” she continues after a short pause, sideward glancing to see if this was the answer he had been looking for.
Aten felt relieved by the filly's first words; at least he, hopefully, wouldn't have much to worry about in terms of finding a home. Perhaps they would be kind enough to let him stay here, hopefully more so if the king thought Aten might be a threat. Of course, his sire, Archam, hadn't been the ruler of a kingdom, but he had ruled a herd. If the king of Taiga thought that was threatening, well, Aten suspected he might be thrown out.
The sound of running water drew Aten's attention. The stallion's sculpted head turned, seeing a small river a couple yards away. He stopped for a very brief moment, his mind flashing back to the waterfall and river that had pooled through his herd's old home in the Falls kingdom, before Beqanna had changed. It had been a wonderful place to live, the herd his dam watched over grazing peacefully in the meadow atop the falls, enjoying the peace and vantage point they had on enemies. Aten had been old enough to remember much about his old home before Beqanna changed, and sometimes reminisced when he was bored or didn't have any task to take care of at the time.
After some time of silence, Jinju offered to answer Aten's question. She described the Taiga like a family rather than a kingdom, ruled by a just pair of horses that hopefully took good care of this place. Well, from what Aten could see, they surely did; the kingdom was a state of beauty, mesmerizing the stallion the further they journeyed into the kingdom.
Aten was lost in thought for a moment, nearly tripping when he placed his hoof down wrong on some slippery grassy. However, thanks to his sure-footedness, the stallion stayed on his hooves, giving an indignant snort at his near-fall. However, he realized within moments after that he would've been more embarrassed to trip and fall like that in front of the beautiful filly next to him. Hiding his embarrassment, Aten listened as she continued to talk, describing how she'd arrived here.
Aten nodded in understanding, "I ended up with my older sister after everything changed. The stallion in charge of her though kicked me out of his herd, so I kinda just did my own thing afterward. I didn't want to bother my dam anymore. She's got my other older sister watching her though, so at least there's that. I'll go visit her one day. She's nice; if you ever meet her, I think you'd like her a lot."
He turned so that his brown eyes looked into her red, "What's your family like? Any siblings?"
She honestly couldn’t imagine her parents turning someone down. Thus far they had welcomed everyone in, though she had to admit that it seemed like to have caused some disagreement between them. Jinju didn’t know the details of it, but she couldn’t say it left her unaffected. But, it also wasn’t to her place to speak about it. Or to judge.
As he stops at the water side, her own pace slows, allowing him to catch up. Their journey is one without haste and she doesn’t tell him to speed up. He had as much right to explore his possible new home as she had done in the past. Jinju decides to pretend that she didn’t see him slip, though she cannot stop the corners of her mount from curling up. Her red eyes twinkle, but when she looks at him again, though it’s only brief. ”I’m sorry to hear that. Nobody should be cut off from his or her family like that.”
Though she cannot say that her own family is free from such darkness. His question, though well meant, hits a sore spot. Jinju gazes into the distance. ”My family? We have our.. disagreements. But overall it’s loving and welcoming..” her voice is soft now, as she forces herself to remember how she had met Reagan. No, that’s not the right way to put it. The magician had found her in the meadow, and offered her a home.
”We were quite a big family. A few of us adopted, me myself too, and some of blood. Siblings nonetheless. Though I am not sure how much of them will stay.” Ruan had been quite clear. Those who wanted to stay loyal to her mother, were free to leave and join Reagan at the forest. Jinju’s heart clenched. The gray mare was her mother after all, the one who had learned her magic, one of the two who had raised her. It was like she was caught between two fire’s.
Aten silently agreed with Jinju's words, as he still felt pain to this day of being separated from his older sister. Though the farthest apart in age as Aten was the youngest of his siblings (as far as he knew), which meant he hadn't had as much time with Sirana as Eiria and Nerius had, he still felt a bond with the now-grown mare who shared his blood. Every day he was apart from any member of his family, he felt the twisting ache in his heart, his instincts telling him to return and be with those he loved.
But, at the same time, it was not the way of the wild. Aten knew that, some day, he would have to leave and form a life of his own. Whether Beqanna had changed or not, or whether or not his sire had stayed around, the older stallion would've kicked both his colts through Anahi out of the herd eventually, so they could go off and form their own herds. Aten looked forward to that day, when he could have his own herd whether he had residence in a kingdom or somewhere out on the plains. The one thing that would be different was he would allow the mares of his herd to go visit their families, unlike that stallion who still kept Sirana so firmly in his grasp.
Aten's brooding allowed him to catch up to Jinju, who had stopped to wait for him. The stallion hurried along so as not to irritate her, thinking she might grow impatient if he kept dawdling much longer.
After Aten had asked about Jinju's family, he could see the darkness swimming in her beautiful red eyes. Immediately, he regretted asking the question; he needed to learn to keep his muzzle shut. What if it had led to a worse result just now, rather than the words currently spilling from her mouth? The stallion watched her silently as she described her family, and though vague, Aten understood.
Aten honestly didn't think taking in an orphan was that bad of a decision for anyone either, and was pleased that the horses who raised Jinju had taken on that responsibility. He'd been told by his dam, many moons ago, that she herself and the brindled mare Raxa had both found an orphan foal each and attempted to take it in, but said foals had chosen to go off to different homes. Not that the place of the home mattered, as long as they had one.
Aten suddenly wondered if his dam had taken in any orphan foals since she gave birth to him. He was now a fully grown stallion, a bit brash for his age but a good head on his shoulders and a fiery spirit burning in him. He desired to run free and help others in need, to lead a herd and protect those he would come to care for.
And that started with this filly, for Aten already found himself thinking of Jinju as a friend. "Time eventually divides us, but the bonds will always remain. And whether you think of me as a friend or not, I already consider you one myself, and I hope that bond stays strong for a long while.
"If it is not much trouble, I would like to meet the leaders and ask if I may call this place home. Would you be willing to help me find them?"
03-22-2017, 09:53 AM (This post was last modified: 03-22-2017, 09:55 AM by Jinju.)
Jinju
It isn’t his fault from brining the topic on. They would’ve gotten there anyway. Nor was it a secret that the Taiga’s alpha pair had separated their ways. But that didn’t make it any less hard on her. Even though she still lived in the Taiga, stuck to her father’s side, that didn’t mean she had chosen him over her mother. But, thankfully, Jinju was still very much able to go out and find the gray mare. Unlike Aten.
They were on their way towards the open spot in the woods, the place they gathered if they were called together. His words push the sadness a bit away and her lips twitched slightly. ”It’s always nice to make new friends. Thank you, Aten” she answers him, her head swaying slightly to the side so she can look at him. Sadness and pain still lingers in her eyes, but the new friendship makes the little flames dance too.
His question lingers in the air, this time, making her grin. Jinju doesn’t answer though, moving to the middle of the little clearing. There, she stops and turns to look at him. Her thick tail flicks through the air and she lifts her dark head, ruby eyes shimmering. ”Do you really think we need to find them?” she asks him, smiling widely. Not a wicked or bad smile, but an amused one. ”My father is here already.” The wolves of the Taiga always protected their forest.
@[Toli]
@Aten:
Toli is sick and busy, but she'll post Ruan once she feels good enough and has time!
