04-27-2021, 09:04 PM
Reynard’s irritation (if that’s truly what it was) concerning his twin Cheri was secretly harbored by his father Yan, even though the elder stallion might be hard-pressed to admit it. Borderline had rolled her eyes and made light of the situation, and when Amarine had settled back into home for the long recuperation she deserved, the jewel-spotted mare had tried to console him with the notion that it was just what mares did. That hardly made it easier, though.
“I’m not ready for her to grow up so quickly.” He sighed wordlessly, gliding through the bracken of the still-recouping woodlands. He’d just returned home from the flower crowning at Leilan’s midsummer festival up north, a surprise ending to the ceremony that was as unexpected as it was begrudgingly tolerated. Yan was sure Leilan and Nashua would be laughing about the expression on his face for weeks to come. At least the flower “crown” made up for him had sat nicely over his horns. “It tasted even better.” Yan distracted himself, laughing.
Maybe… maybe things were getting better. Despite the horror of the Eclipse and the fear he quietly tried to battle every evening as the sun went down, Yanhua felt optimistic that balance would return. Lilliana was gone and her absence felt like a voidless hole inside of him, but it was manageable with Nashua’s help and open heart. He was lucky to have a twin who made time for him despite the many duties each shared, and together they distributed the weight of losing their dam a second time evenly between them, which Yan appreciated.
He understood how Rey might feel alone, and coming across his sapling-aged son in a piney grove of marked trees Yanhua paused, intent on conversing with the young stallion to make up for lost time between them. “Reynard my boy!” He whinnied deeply, no affection lost in the brassy tenor of his voice. “How goes it?” His father asked of him, stopping alongside the charming, floppy-eared youngster to admire the deep gouges he’d made while sharpening his horns.
YANHUA
@[Reynard]