Strangers Among the Horses (Caelum)

[Laria]

46th Day of Summer, 511 AV. The Amethyst Clan’s part of Endrykas was buzzing with movement. People and horses alike wandered between various Pavilions, some hurrying while others meandered along at their own pace. Whinnies rang out over the noise of the people, the horses own form of communication carrying on a light morning breeze. From the Sunstorm Pavilion, a young woman emerged, heading over to speak with one of the men. Her father, Denar, the Ankal of the Pavilion, was giving out jobs for the day. After a few chimes of conversation, the girl finally nodded and wandered off with a smile. It was a rare day, when everything was exactly as it should be, and the work was simple. A good number of horses were allowed to wander freely amongst the Pavilions. They never went far, always within sight and a quick sprint. Laria checked horses as she went, identifying which belonged to her family. The ones that were Sunstorm she would stop and examine. She carefully checked them over for any injuries, examined their eyes, ears and teeth and generally assessed their temperaments. She knew each horse well, and was quickly able to tell if anything was off about them. The morning wore on, and she had slowly made her way closer to the outskirts of the Amethyst Pavilions. She was standing with a brown pinto stallion, running her hands along its back. The horse would occasionally nudge her head, making an attempt to nibble on her golden hair. She would laugh and bat him away before resuming her checks. She ran her hands down each of its legs in turn, encouraging the horse to raise its hooves for checking. Her examination complete, she stood and patted the stallions shoulder. In response, he nickered quietly and gently nudged his nose into her shoulder. She smiled and absently laid her arm around his neck, looking out over the empty expanse of grass before her. She thought it was rather surreal. A huge stretch of nothingness before her, when life bustled nosily behind. In any case, it seemed like it was going to be a peaceful day in the Pavilions.

[Caelum]

It was and was not a Drykas who milled among the horses, trudging, loose hipped strides weaving him through the scattered beasts with the half-awareness of a man who had spent many horses amid the four legged. A particular Windrunner, dapple gray and a good sixteen hands high, swatted his tail at Caelum before curveting around in a light, playful motion. The end result was a horse head burrowing itself directly into the exile's chest to knock him staggering backwards. "You crush me, twit, I'll leave you here," Caelum warned the horse he had stolen -- fair and square! -- well over a year ago now. This horse had represented a robbed liberty and had maintained that symbolism ever since. Vega may not have been a Strider, but then Caelum could only claim himself Drykas between sunsets and rises. Vega could fly (or come at least far closer than Caelum himself could), and that was all that mattered. "Sorry," Caelum muttered in the direction of the woman whose privacy he seemed to have intruded upon by accident. He gently slapped a hand against the Windrunner's neck, pushing himself backwards more than managing to actually budge the horse. Humor lurked in the crinkles fanning out from the edges of sunstruck eyes, however. He made an odd sight in the tent city from the glittering curve of elegant horns arching back against ember colored hair down to the broken heeled riding boots that looked as old as the rest of his clothes. Every article he wore was clean but incredibly weathered and aimed toward travel, toward riding. Due to the unforgiving beat of Syna's sun, his jacket hung open and he collar of his shirt was untied beneath that. He wore no arms but a dagger hilt poking out from the height of a boot. Nary a windmark was on him to be seen, but there did glow like gold dust a swirling design across the back of his right hand to vanish into a frayed sleeve. "Yours?" He inclined his chin at the pinto.

[Laria]

The stallion she was standing with raised his head and whinnied in the direction of something she couldn't see. Laria turned her head to see a man and horse a close by. Her eyes naturally fell on the horse first. It was a stunning creature, dapple grey and well built. She flicked her eyes to the man and immediately paused. Are they...horns? She gazed curiously at them before she realized she was staring. She blinked and met his eyes as he spoke. "Oh, um no it's fine." The pinto behind her exhaled loudly and nudged her shoulder. The strange man was rather captivating, from the horns, to the weathered clothing to his strange golden eyes. She reached behind her and patted the pinto. "No, no he's one of my father's stallions." She motioned to the other horse. "I guess that one belongs to you?"

[Caelum]

The young woman’s stare was suffered with a bland smile. Years walking this world with the haze of the heavens still thick upon him ought to have desensitized him to the startled regard most often delivered him. He was patient, however, and sagged a rangy shoulder against the Windrunner’s broad neck, thumbs hooking on the pockets of his trousers. “Mm,” he agreed, turning his head to squint almost comically at his horse’s profile. “Much as the wind belongs to anyone,” he decided. “This bit of it is called Vega. He’s developed somewhat of a self esteem complex since arriving in Strider-full Endrykas.” That was probably joke. It was difficult to discern what with the arid evenness of his tone and an accent that had little to do with part of the world or, indeed, any part of this world at all. “Caelum,” he introduced himself with the curt sketch of a head and shoulders bow that dumped him right back into his slump once it was finished. “You’re one of the horse breeders?”

[Laria]

She glanced at the mans horns again. They shimmered with the colours of grass and sunlight, and were completely captivating. She had no idea what he could be... aside from them he seemed so human. A strangely ethereal one, but human nonetheless. She recalled briefly her mother speaking of a woman she had once met. A tall woman with beautiful horns that vanished with the sunset. The name escaped her, though perhaps this stranger was one of the same? Laria blinked and smiled. "Oh, the Striders are beautiful that much is true. But your horse there is wonderful too." He had a strange quality to his voice - it was hard to find variance in the tones, which in turn gave no clues as to any emotion. The woman smiled again and nodded in a slight imitation of the bow he had given to her. "Laria." She shook her head gently, long golden hair falling over her shoulder. "No. My father is a breeder of riding horses. I'm merely a helping hand." The pinto exhaled loudly again and moved away, passing the strange man and horse with a swish of the tail. "One day though." Her smile turned wistful for a moment, before she refocused on him. "Did you travel far to get here?"

[Caelum]

OOCSorry for the delay! Life’s been very busy. A hand rose to scrub at the side of his face while he squinted against the sunlight. It was not too bright for the average being, but it was occasionally too bright for him at any degree. He and the sun had been out of sync for too many years. There in the day spill of Laria’s hair, however, there was a soft and sad reminder, a vague, mortal resemblance to She who had beleaguered him. “Truth is I’ve been traveling the better part of the last two years,” he confessed, reeling himself back into the flow of conversation. It was a bad habit of his to grow lost in the distraction of a too layered mind, an aged soul that pricked and poked at him over the oddest things at the worst moments. “Came here from Syliras, though, so not too far all things considered. Vega here’s used to my roaming,” and he gently knocked an elbow into said horse’s side. The Windrunner stood stalwart, blatantly ignoring his rider in favor of lipping at the grass sprouted up about Laria’s feet. “My relative’s,” he hesitated, considering, “Sick,” he decided upon at last. “I’m trying to look after his pavilion in the interim.”

[Laria]

OOCThis post sucks, I'm so sorry >_< Also, apologies for the late reply. Next post I'll make something interesting happen. Or you can go ahead and signal the loose horse xD

Laria paused. She couldn’t imagine travelling for so long. Migrating with Endrykas did not count; she was surrounded by a city all the time, surrounded by her family and friends. And this man had been travelling alone? In the Sea of Grass?! She resisted the urge to ask him if he was crazy. Syliras… the girl knew it though she had never been there. Laria had heard it was always crowded, the “hub” of the land, whatever people meant by that. She had no idea how far away it was though. Not 2 years, she knew that much. She wondered where else he had been. She looked down at his horse, smiling as it ate; completely ignoring the man. Though she glanced back up sharply at his next words. “You have family here?” That was unexpected. This man certainly did not look like a Drykas. “Which Clan?” Perhaps she knew them She hadn’t heard of anyone being horribly sick recently, but then again her Pavilion had been very focused on the years new foals.

[Caelum]

OOCIt does not suck. And I am slow of late it would seem, so my apologies. Woo, loose horses! An amazing thing happened: Caelum laughed. It was due to the sharp, startled look delivered him by Laria at his declaration of family amid the horse clans. The sound was tarnished as aged brass or silver left too long in the open air. One might wonder if given enough care, the stains on his good humor might fade away to leave something glittering and gorgeous, something of actual value behind. "Yes, I've family here," he attempted to sober, having surprised himself with that outburst. It settled to a chuckle in his chest, a hand spreading there as if to hold in the lungs that contained it. The whole of it had chased shadows from him, allowing more of his lost Syna's light in. "Sapphire Clan. Sam'ael," he explained, or rather tried to. It was a rather tangled knot, the telling of his history and Sam's.

[Laria]

Laria blinked in surprise as the man started to laugh. It was an odd laugh too. It almost sounded strained, put on, but the expression on his face was genuine. Sapphire Clan? That was where Bolden had gone. She vaguely recognised the name Sam’ael, though she had never met the person before. Perhaps her father had mentioned him once. “Well, I am sorry to hear that your uh, relative is sick. I hope he gets well soon.” Laria still couldn’t fathom what exactly this man was. She supposed that without the horns he could easily blend in, but with them… She was about to ask another question, when a loud shout rang out behind them. Turning, she could see a shape moving at an alarming speed, with some smaller ones chasing it. On closer inspection it appeared that one of the stallions had been spooked by something and was now taking flight. One of the smaller tents appeared to have been half-trampled, and the horse was now pointing its nose toward the Sea of Grass. Laria paled. The stallion was one of her father’s favourites. If anything happened to him, she had no idea what he would do. She turned back to the man – Caelum – with a wide-eyed expression. “I uh, I think I need to…” She gestured in the direction of the loose horse. The first thing she would have to do is locate the pinto that had wandered away. There was no chance of catching the stallion on foot.

[Caelum]

Caelum startled when the shout rang out on the heels of thunder, the sort that pulsed the earth beneath their feet due to the sudden storm of hooves. Those beasts around them shifted, restless, and the healer watched as his lovely new acquaintance paled. While it had been easy to doubt he was Drykas before, it suddenly became incredibly difficult when within heartbeats he was latching onto Vega's mane with his left hand and hauled himself up to the Windrunner's bare back. The motion was graceful, a thing he could be possessed of in physical format if not often in verbal. Beneath him, the stallion shifted with a mixture of uneasy and eager, ears perking forward. It was contagious, that eager quiver that ran through Vega, rocketing right up until it crinkled the corners of amber eyes with a smile for Laria that someone, somewhere might have once considered reassuring. All of this in a wink and Caelum was rocking forward, far, far forward, sliding his legs into the indentations behind Vega's front legs. The Windrunner was off like a comet, tearing through the daylight after the loose stallion that had caused Laria to go so pale.