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 Posted: Sun Jun 07, 2009 6:43 am
Stamina: 47/100
Struck hard by the blow, it took every ounce of his will not to cry out from the pain. However, he knew he couldn't carry on this battle any longer. Not safely anyway. "Fine, fine... I give," he wheezed, looking away in shame. His wings hung down limply by his side as he fought for breath, a fire in his sides. The Airin glanced over at the dead bird that started this whole mess. "It... was still... an accident... you know." The bird obviously hadn't been paying much more attention to where it was flying then he had been.
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Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2009 9:25 pm
 Creamy ears pricked, Embri loped through the thinning forest. It was an uphill battle, tendons stretched to compensate for the climb. Still, the unmistakable sound of her foster-sib's voice and the clash of horn hitting horn drove her onward. What on Aerithe posessed him to drop so suddenly? By the time the young mare had noticed her flying partner had descended, she had had to loop back and find a safe place to land. Embri was picky about her landings, still unsure of herself after being badly storm tossed that fateful night that had changed everything.
As a consequence, she had chosen a good sized clearing to touch down in, but it also meant a long gallop to meet up with Jiyuu. She hurried forward, the unmistakable sounds of Kirin combat ringing through the forest. Finally, a flash of color. Relief and worry clouded her face as the cream coated Aririn rounded a corpse of trees and stunted bushes, taking in the scene.
Jiyuu, hurt, obviously fighting. Jiyuu does *not* normally fight. Her head swiveled. Strange stallion! The stony coated male with hair much like her own was obviously the winner in this fight. Why were they fighting at all? It didn't matter. Her usual reaction to strange males was instant fear and flight, but Jiyuu was family. Something else filled her mind this time, hot and red and angry. With a light pivot and leap, Embri put herself between Jiyuu and the stranger, meter long golden horn leveled at his chest.
"I don't know who you are, but you will leave my brother alone!" Nostrils flared and muscles tense, Embri fixed Thanatos with her amber eyes in clear challenge.
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Posted: Wed Jun 10, 2009 3:27 am
"E-Embri?!" Jiyuu exclaimed in surprise when the creamy mare jumped in front of him. He had been so distracted by the bird and the sudden battle that he didn't stop to think that his flying partner would probably be looking for him. It had all happened so quickly after all. "No no, everything's fine. It's over anyway," he said reassuringly, trying to get his adopted sister to step aside. It was bad enough that he had lost, but having his family step in only further crushed his pride as a stallion. Today's obviously not my day...
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Posted: Wed Jun 10, 2009 7:05 am
Thanatos drank in the view of the newcomer as he would fresh spring water - though if the mane and reaction were anything to go by, she was more like a forest fire, or perhaps the scorching noonday sun. He looked down at the horn aimed at his chest, then shook his head.
"I have no quarrel with you, lady. All I wanted was to avenge the dead..."
He turned away and stepped towards bloody soil, several places away from the arena. The bird's body lay in a mess of feathers, all the blood having come from its own chest. Next to it was a good-sized twig. It couldn't possibly have come from a tree nearby - the bark on it was a different colour. His next words were aimed at Jiyuu.
"Can't you see that by "accidentally" killing one bird, you may have killed his entire family as well? A nest of hatchlings is going to grow up with one parent missing. What are the chances of them surviving?"
The stone stallion swallowed, knowing full well what living in such a family was like.
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Posted: Wed Jun 10, 2009 7:12 am
Jiyuu cast a glare at the other stallion. "You don't think I know that?" he replied. "You don't think I care? If I didn't care then I wouldn't have bothered flying down after the thing in the first place!" He cast his gaze back off to the side, unable to bare looking at the corpse for very long. "Unfortunately there is nothing that can be done for it or it's family. The outcome of our battle doesn't change that."
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Posted: Wed Jun 10, 2009 12:51 pm
All this, over a bird? Embri shook her head almost imperceptibly, picking her way over to the dead avian. She kept a wary eye and a leveled horn at the strange stallion, not trusting him one bit. Ears laid back, she circled just out of striking distance.
"Sun-addled fluff brains, that's what you two are. Fighting over something that cannot be fixed. In the meantime, look what you've done." The mare gestured at their surroundings. The ground was churned and broken from their hooves, bark and branches scarred where stray kicks had missed their mark, plants and flowers trampled.
"How have you made this any better? You haven't. What's done is done, All that remains is to make the best of what's left." With a shake of her fiery mane, the young mare stretches her neck down to pick up the body.
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Posted: Thu Jun 11, 2009 6:03 am
"Plants are hardy things," replied Thanatos with a shrug. "They'll grow back, or provide food for new ones to grow in their place. Dead bird, on the other hand, is dead. Bird's family, on the other hand, needs to be fed by parents and cannot thrive on sun and rain alone."
Suddenly he felt very, very tired. He didn't need to justify himself to this stranger, who apparently could not or would not register that he meant her no harm. He was sore in places and hadn't found what he was looking for - a truly good-hearted, noble Kirin who he could journey with and learn from. And if these two winged cousins were any indicator of the general race... he'd be looking for a long time.
"I'll do what I think is right, and stand up for the fallen. Like I said - I have no quarrel with you.
Maybe I didn't make things better, but I sure feel better about it. You are entirely welcome to disagree, but I'd rather not be berated for having my own views and taking action based on them.
I walk alone."
With an abrupt goodbye, Thanatos turned and began to leave, not particularly interested in having a horn levelled at him again.
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Posted: Thu Jun 11, 2009 6:37 am
"Well, so long as you feel better," Jiyuu muttered under his breath, thoroughly annoyed at the other male. If he never laid eyes on the self-righteous stallion again it would be too soon.
With his opponent finally gone, the Airin paused to check himself over. Other than the gash in his side he didn't look worse for wear, but he knew otherwise. By the next sun up his whole body would basically be a bruise. Moving around was going be a lovely sensation too. With a heavy sigh, Jiyuu turned his attention back to the cream-coated mare. "Sorry," he said sheepishly. "I didn't mean to worry you. Shall we continue on our way?" At least his wings remained undamaged, if but a little ruffled.
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Posted: Thu Jun 11, 2009 1:46 pm
Embri shook her head, watching the stranger depart. Such a waste... to mourn over what is simply a fact of life. All things die, sooner or later. The cream coated mare turned towards her foster-sib and shook her head again, this time with a sigh.
"Well, aren't you a mess. Kindle and Toshiro are going to have kits over you, if we go home looking like this. Better stop in the river to wash up at least. Can you still fly, Jiyuu?" Embri gently picked up the dead bird in her teeth, long plumes trailing down from its tail.
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Posted: Thu Jun 11, 2009 2:28 pm
Jiyuu gave a small nod. "Yeah, I can still fly. Probably better than walking actually," he remarked, the last part added on as more of an after thought. Explaining this to his parents was going to be interesting...
He looked at his foster sister curiously as she picked up the dead bird. "What are you planning on doing with that exactly?" he asked. Were they going to bury it? Or was it to be used for something else?
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Posted: Thu Jun 11, 2009 3:02 pm
Embri gave her sibling a curious look before putting the bird down to speak. "We're going to eat it, silly. You killed it - maybe not intentionally, but it's dead. You don't waste food. Even if it's not your preferred kind. Otherwise, it truly is a waste." Picking up the bird again, Embri trotted for the clearing so she could take flight.
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Posted: Thu Jun 11, 2009 6:40 pm
Eat... it? Lovely. Jiyuu wasn't normally one for eating meat, but that was also cause he didn't like to hunt. However, since this one was already dead as Embri pointed out, they might as well put it to good use. "Good point. Meet you up in the air." With a large leap the stallion beat his wings and took to the skies through the small opening in the trees from whence he landed. Certainly, it would have been easier to manage if he went to the clearing with Embri, but right now he didn't want to walk around more than he had to. Well, at least the cool water of the river was certain to feel good. And he'd be paying a lot more attention to his surroundings on the flight there. No repeats.
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Posted: Thu Jun 11, 2009 8:21 pm
Embri cast an eye down to the forest below as she took wing, brightly colored avian dangling from her jaws. Was that a flash of red below? She shook her head slightly and concentrated on following her sibling. Whatever you think, we're not insensitive to the lives of others... just practical. Maybe you'll understand, someday.
~~End~~
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