Astri wonders if her purpose on this earth is to bring a greater generation to life. It’s a sad thought, really, that she shouldn’t be free to find her own happiness, love or connection. But at the same time it’s a comforting thought. She wasn’t built for those emotions - in fact, they’re lacking and she doubts she could ever really be beneficial in any other way. So she accepts the fact that her offspring will be her greatest testament to fame and she finds a measure of happiness in that. The child within her is quiet, unlike Lupei. His birth had been bold and wonderful, and she hopes that his half-sibling will follow in his footsteps.
Suddenly, it strikes her. A pain so swift and piercing that she hovers mid-stride and curls her back in pain. It’s time, the sun had just begun to peek over the rise of hills and mountains, and Astri is alone. It doesn’t bother her though. She never asked for help and she never really wanted it. She was born alone and more than likely she’d die in much the same way. It’s just the way things were for her. Huffing, the bright green mare makes her way to a low outcropping of brush and gets to work. When she finished, it’s mid-morning and she’s bathed in sweat.
The creature she’s given life to is slender, round, and a mellow, olive green. A filly. A smile tugs gently at the corners of her mouth and she wonders if this little one is hiding something unusual beneath that fur too, just like baby Kraz had hid his secret. She rises slowly, using her tongue to stroke against the pattern of fur in order to urge the newborn to move, or make some sort of noise. But the sound she hears doesn’t come from her little girl.
Instead, it comes from behind her. She whips suddenly about, ears pinning while she bares her incisors as a bold threat. It’s only Lupei, weary, dirty, breast lathered in dried blood. She rescinds her attack and stares at him in disbelief, eyes wide with cold fear. “What have you done?” She whispers, shaking her head with the anguish of a mother. He doesn’t answer, only stares dumbly between her and the bundle of joy. “We’ll talk later.” She hisses, “Keep your distance and keep watch.” The young stallion submits, shifting wholly into a slender black wolf before laying prostrate on the ground.
She turns back to her youngling, and finds that the girl is already on her feet, waiting with an impatient air for her first meal. Astri chuckles, moves forward to hover over the little thing, and is suddenly happy that Lupei is back - even if it’s because of horrible circumstances. “Lupei, this is your sister Dacia.” She comments, and she hears the wolf huff in reply. Her nose trails against the olive-colored hind of her daughter, and where she touches, red splotches begin to grow and fade.
“Another little star to add to our constellation.”
I WILL ALWAYS FIND YOU
Where the hell is everyone? He wonders while stomping with irritation through the Chamber pines. They had all done a damn fine job of making themselves scarce.
The bay snorts as he slips through the maze of trees, his wings brushing against the bark. Spring was normally a happy time for him, normally. Right about now he was welcoming his latest son into the world, not this time, oh-no. This time a night of whispers and secrets had resulted in something quite different. A girl.
Gods, a girl! What the hell was he supposed to do with her? A son, now a son he would have rightfully drug back to the Chamber, Dam or no Dam. A daughter? Well, he was quite inexperienced to the intense cuddle fest that had taken place when he met her. She was so enthusiastically excited to see him, she had never met him! And oh boy, was she clingy. He had spent hours trying to remove himself from the situation, promising to come back to visit, he just needed to get away. He needed to let this sink in, Gods, he needed to think.
That's when the idea had struck him, Astri was a girl, maybe he could talk to her. He didn't really consider her a girl most of the time, no, he had taken to treating her like one of the guys. She was however, a woman, and perhaps she could shed some light on his situation.
He had set about the Chamber to find her, now normally that wasn't hard. She was green and he had a knack to spot her quite efficiently. Today was different, it took him forever! Rounding a cluster of close set trees, he find's a low cropping of bushes, and a splendor of green. He also spots Lupei, the boy covered in filth, but Killdare doesn't really care what has happened there. He glances over the boy, almost through him really, and makes no qualms to any protest he might have with his approach.
"Hey Astri, might I have a..." He stops wide eyed, he hadn't thought about her being so close to giving birth, but he should have. It's apparent by the pieces of mucus that still cling in random spots to the child's coat that this is very recent. He also can't help but take note that this is also a female child. What is this a bloody damn plague?!
KILLDARE Dragon-Winged Tracker Colonel of the Chamber
 What is an ocean but a multitude of drops? If Astri had known how Killdare thought of her, she’d laugh. One of the boys. She couldn’t blame him, of course. What kind of regular, non-gifted mare chose to get herself beaten bloody? The truth was that Astri had fought other wars her entire life - she was just used to it. It was a natural thing for her to fight. From the looks of it, Lupei had inherited that urge too, and she’d be lying if she said she wasn’t proud.
It’s not Killdare himself that interrupts her, rather Lupei’s low whine. She turns to see the winged colonel make his way through the bush, sentence still hanging off his lips. His eyes, once bold, now turn meek as they view the scene. Astri rolls her eyes.
“It’s still battle Killdare.” She huffs, vibrant tail swinging at her sides. “Just one you’re unfamiliar with.”
She turns away from her daughter with a sigh, feeling the slender, wide-eyed filly press close to her side. With a sideways look she catches Lupei’s attention. “Go on, clean yourself up and come back after you’ve slept.” She orders, and the midnight wolf looks once between the adults before slinking away into the shadows. She waits for a moment, letting the silence surround them before she speaks again. “Boys. Always sniffing out trouble.” A smirk betrays her true feelings as she turns to catch her companion's eye.
“No little child for you this season?” She questions, tilting her head curiously as the smile grows. She’s tired, but it’s good that Killdare is here. After her victory over Chezter she’d been keeping to herself and it was nice to see another familiar face. The circumstances could’ve been better, but Astri chooses to believe that he’s come to her for a reason. She waits patiently now for the flustered stallion to speak his mind.
astri
I WILL ALWAYS FIND YOU
Jade eyes drill into the scene, before he huffs, tossing his head as if to clear his thoughts. The mantis colored mare harps on him, to which he responds with a grunt. Such an eloquent beast isn't he? He observes the filly once again, Astri turning to issue orders to her eldest, the one that often smells of dog. The topic of him washing up brings a grim frown to the Colonel's face. Hopefully he would not still be standing here when the boy returned. There were few god-awful smells in this world, and wet dog was one of them.
"I suppose they do," He offers, though it has been some time since hes seen his own sons. Their names were enough trouble to begin with and likely would only lead to more in the years to come. Wherever they were, whatever they were doing, he hoped that they were looking out for each other. Hoped they were keeping their mother safe.
Her voice revives him from his memories of the past, in the stillness, the quiet he had been left to linger with his thoughts. Which reminds him, "Well yes, actually.." The beginning always the hardest part to get out, the bay paces a few steps before continuing. "This little child is actually why I've come, I need a more," Another pause, searching for words, "conventional viewpoint."
All the while he is looking intently on the young filly at Astri's side. At least this one was clinging to it's Dam and not exhaustingly affectionate. "What- what do you do with the girls? I mean, the new one, it's- it's a girl." He leaned his head to the side as he watched the little olive female go about its business. "Are they all so huggy?" His thoughts falling from his mouth now without discretion, looking at the girl warily.
KILLDARE Dragon-Winged Tracker Colonel of the Chamber
What is an ocean but a multitude of drops? There’s something about the way that Killdare looks at Dacia that makes Astri almost sorry her children didn’t have a strong male influence in their lives. But then she thinks how she can’t even fathom using the word father, and she decides it’s better this way. They were her’s, wholly, of her flesh and blood and born of her pain and agony. She’d be damned if she’d let any regular stallion try to tell her how to rear her offspring. Dacia has taken to padding around, huffing here and there, flicking her bright tail to and fro. She was adorable, really, and Astri concedes that she’d be happy to stop having children now. One perfect son and now one perfect little daughter.
Killdare snaps her out of her haze, and she turns back to peer at him with a soft laugh. “The same thing you’d do with a boy.” She mulls over her own birth - not thinking that it would be an appropriate story to parallel with this situation. She’d been abandoned by her mother in the den, and no one had come to rescue her. Nature had shaped her - not nurture. “Honestly, Killdare, it depends on her personality. I have a feeling Dacia won’t be ‘clingy’ just by looking at her - but not two foals are the same.”
She narrows her gaze, contemplating his situation. It was Killdare, after all, it shouldn’t surprise her that he wouldn’t know the first thing about having a daughter. “If you’re worried about her turning into a soft-bellied sweetheart, then my advice to you is just to encourage her to be strong-willed, strong-minded. Teach her that she doesn’t need anyone to satisfy her - even if that someone is you.” Her head tilts, one ear flicking behind her to listen to her daughter rustle in the brush. “Keep in mind though, she is a child. She’s lucky to have you and her dam. Give her time - maybe she’ll grow out of it. After all, if I know anything about children, it’s that they want to live up to their parents expectations.”
Her daughter returns, brown stick awkwardly held in her mouth. Dacia’s elegant little nose begins to change, slowly becoming the same color of the stick. The brown bleeds all the way up to her ears and she shakes her head. Astri laughs, nose bumping against Dacia’s cheek before she throws her own question back at the stallion. “What do you think? Color-changing or mimicry?”
astri
I WILL ALWAYS FIND YOU
He's stubborn, as men sometimes are, snorting at each response she gives him. Of course they all were fair judgements, she was on to a bit of wisdom in this aspect. Ugh, women. They all had that annoyingly intoxicating way of making him see reason.
The little filly pokes about the brush, incredibly independent in comparison to the one he had just visited. Already she was working over her surroundings, "Of course," He answers, looking thoughtful, contemplating his course. Still he wasn't sure exactly how to do that, to just be there for the child. Would his hardness rub off? If it did, would she resent him later for it? Should he just let her be and hope for a good outcome? It was entirely too complicated and now he wished he had thought the whole thing through.
His own childhood held no healthy examples for raising a girl, most of his female siblings had been pawned off for land, for soldiers. Very few had enough fight in them to stay, especially when such behavior was not nurtured or encouraged. Be big, be brave, hit hard. Those were choice sentiments from his father, when they were not being subjected to some cruel form of training.
His earthy head tilts, Dacia stepping forward from her explorations, treasure in tow. First her muzzle takes on the dirt colors of the stick, then slowly it trails up her head. Killdare snorts, pulling his head back, and Astri punctuates his actions with a laugh. With a squint of inspection, a gruff mumble, he responds. "Not sure, give her something else." His thick neck twisting to try and locate an object for the experiment.
There's not much in the muted tones of the forest but he does spot the bones of some long forgotten small mammal. His charcoal nose roots in the dirt and lichen to free a few pieces, kicking them over. "There we go, try that." His glassy-green eyes look on expectantly.
KILLDARE Dragon-Winged Tracker Colonel of the Chamber
What is an ocean but a multitude of drops? She thinks that despite his rough exterior, Killdare would make a great father to any foal, regardless of gender. He’s thoughtful (in a resentful sort of way that only causes her cheeks to tug into a brittle smile) but he takes her advice and peers back at Dacia with a curious glance. Astri watches them interact, sees the way his head draws back from her little party trick. It’s enjoyable, and she cements this moment in her heart for later days when her world will be lonely again. How lucky he should consider himself now - to be part of her few happy memories. He noses about, finding some remains that will serve as a test, and he nudges them towards her daughter.
"See Killdare?” She says, pushing her offspring forward in encouragement. “That wasn’t so hard, was it?” A teasing laugh escapes her, mis-matching eyes roaming the face of the stoic male. Killdare was easy to be around in a way that Astri couldn’t quite understand yet, but she tries not to think too much on the subject. Her olive green girl is sniffing the bones mildly, plush little lips feathering the surface of them with foal nips. Her reaction this time is quicker, with her skin fading almost instantaneously to the same ivory color. This time though, the change makes it all the way across her body - right to the point of her hooves. Astri grins, praising the girl softly before gathering herself to look back at her colonel.
“The trick is to not worry yourself to death over it. Parent how you see fit, and what happens, happens. My advice is to spend a little bit of time with her.” She breaths, suddenly feeling the exhaustion of the day weigh upon her. Her eyes flicker over his proud set of wings, and she smirks. “She could surprise you, you never know.” She wants to offer him a reason to come around her more - maybe entice him with a mock battle, something, anything. But Astri is stagnant in the arts of true friendship, so she says nothing and hopes that what she has said is enough to make him think more of her.
astri
I WILL ALWAYS FIND YOU
Women tend to find amusements in his spooks, his reactions of surprise. He can't blame them really, he'd probably find it funny too if the tables were turned. That doesn't stop him from shooting her a huffy, narrowed gaze, but the hostility in it is half-assed. She seems to care little for his menace, and only ushers her child towards him- towards the remains of bone that he dug up. The little girl inspects the fragments, touching them lightly with her tiny velvet lips.
Killdare is hushed into anticipation, because though the traits always struck him as odd- he was still fascintated by some of them deep down.
This time the little filly is quick, the color spreading across her like fresh milk. He laughs, a short, gruff sound, and it ends just as quick as it began. With a snort of composure he nods, "It would seem color changing. At the very least she'll make a good hider, if they can't sniff you out." He breathes a stream of hot air on the girls forelock gently. The only one she need ever worry sniffing her out, was probably him, and if it came to the girl needing to hide, he would not be quick to give up her position. She was a part of the Chamber, just like they all were, and it was his duty to help protect them.
"Mhh..I don't know, this one isn't crazed by the sight of me. Perhaps, perhaps I should visit her more." He did say he would come back, and he did not go back on his word lightly. That was the least he could offer his own girl, his presence, his affection. The last part, they would need to work on the moderation of that, surely. He blinks, ears pulling forward as the green mare tires. He had been lingering an awful long time now, surely she would want to get some sleep.
"You're tired, of course." He nods, watchful green eyes taking a last lingering glimpse of the two. "I'll see my way out," he turns to head out of the brush, though he does not go far. He stands in the next clearing, watching the silence of the forest with intent. Without a word more, he guards the Chambers newest generation, his own newest friends.
KILLDARE Dragon-Winged Tracker Colonel of the Chamber
|
