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Any other day, he would have welcomed the sun, the feel of its warmth on his back, the bright sky. Today, he did not. It was hot, the side of the mountain was steep, and he was only just regaining his breath after the dash to join Castor. It was quite a way from Shrilal to Casa Tiner, and although he had made good time, the journey was still an exhausting one, and the desire to return to the tree and to his future children was great.

But still... this was Castor, and he could deny him nothing. Even if he didn't entirely understand. He had not heard the rumours himself, though he assumed being passed through one more mind had not twisted them too much - Ignatius was an honest sort, after all. He just wondered how much such things could be trusted. Castor seemed to believe them: must do, to have called him all the way out here, away from the herd and from Jocasta. He seemed to have his mind set on this working, on it being true, and Meleager... could not quite bring himself to voice his doubts. Not now.

He halted, breath still coming a little harder than he would have liked - damn, he hated getting older - and turned to his lover. "Castor - tell me again why we're here. What we're supposed to be doing. I got the explanation from Ignatius, but I want you to tell me."

There, that would give him a chance to rest as well as a chance to understand what exactly was going on. Well, hopefully he would understand.

Meleager listened intently as Castor explained, trying to read him; that was always a hard task with the Master Tactician. This time he thought he understood. If it was just because of the 'prevalance' of same-sex relationships amongst the Hellenes, it would not require two of the most senior members of the herd to go off on such a reconnaissance mission. He was rather glad it wasn't about just that. Now he was here, and had heard Castor's thoughts on the matter, he was beginning to feel a slight, hopeful excitement.

"It's alright," he reassured the pale crossbreed with a smile, stepping closer to nuzzle his neck briefly. "Ignatius will cover for me, and stay with Jocasta. I just wish you'd not rushed off on your own - your sister might still be around."

That sounded a little accusatory, the muscled stallion reflected, and added hurriedly, "But you're not hurt, so never mind. I can... I can see why you were so eager to get here." I think.

So he wanted proof? He wanted both to find this mare, to prove that she existed, and to see if she could do what was claimed of her? Meleager was not entirely sure what that meant; in their previous discussions, Castor has dismissed the idea of foals as a nice one, but not for him. Perhaps that had been more by necessity than by choice, Meleager considered. He himself was certainly not averse to the idea of having more children with the slim Ichsa cross, but he was doubtful: were such things truly possible? That was why the rumours had spread with such rapidity, he supposed, because they were so wild. No doubt exaggeration had entered into the process as well.

The dappled herdleader frowned. He was thinking about this too much. It seemed he really could see why Castor needed to find out the truth.

Meleager grinned a little. "Castor, I would love to have children with you. And I don't think you'd be bad at all..." His face grew more serious, then, and he added, "but I think that these rumours are the wildest thing I've heard in a long time. I don't see how they could be true, really. But... as you said, it's worth trying to find this mare and find the truth for ourselves, I suppose. It can't hurt, and Jocasta will be fine in the meantime."

The rumours were probably the wildest thing he'd heard since... since the black Bae foal-killers, he realised. But that had turned out to be true. At least this was nothing so sinister. It might turn out to be wonderful; it might be a little time lost with the growing tree and an expedition up a mountain. He didn't even mind that much being away from Jocasta; mares could get snappy while their tree was growing, and this time he didn't have the love to put up with that even when she was being completely unreasonable. And it was a good chance to spend some time with Castor, too.

The grey stallion smiled, then gave his legs and wings a stretch. Those muscles would start to stiffen if he let them cool down too much. "Shall we carry on?" he suggested, glancing away in the direction they were headed.

Yes, there was that, Meleager considered as he picked his way up the slope. If she was as powerful as the stories said, if she really could do what was claimed, she would likely be unwilling to answer requests from just any strange couple who came to her. He wasn't scared of that sort of power, exactly, but it certainly made him a little apprehensive. What if she refused to co-operate at all, chased them off her territory? She was unlikely to be able to harm either of them, but it would be a great disappointment if she could, but wouldn't, grant their desire... What would be the best way to deal with that?

The bulky stallion frowned, wondering if it would just come down to luck. If she was generous, or if she was cold. If Castor would be able to persuade her, silver-tongued, or if he himself would be able to reward or threaten her enough to...

Absorbed in thought, Meleager didn't notice the knarled root sticking up from the ground. One forehoof caught on it, and he stumbled, cursing and shaking himself back to awareness. In that moment, he caught sight of a flash of blue-white ahead of them. A flash of blue-white that had the vague shape of a Nequus... He nudged Castor with one wing, gesturing at the figure. "Castor. We might not have to go much further..."

It might not be the mare they were looking for; but really, how many other Nequus would they find up here?

Well, they did take their sweet time, didn't they?

Yawning, the mare settled herself onto the ground. The long, muscular tail that extended behind her thumped aimlessly on the earth beneath her; it picked up and shredded grass thereby tossing clods of dirt here and there.

The little blue - cyan? ocean sky on a bright day? And maybe he wasn't so little - the medium sized ocean sky on a bright day male was addressing her. The mare had to poke an eye open in order to transfer visual to mental.

My goodness, he was polite. "Eh, I know, I know," she muttered. With a heavy sigh she got to her feet.

Her eyes went looking the two creatures over. One was handsome. Clearly full of himself. The other? Clearly full of too much respect for his own good. It was like walking into an anarchy party. . .

"So. . . you must be the dom," she said with a grin towards Meleager. "Which one of you wants to take care of the children?"

Castor gave a slight smile to the mare. "I am capable of taking on that role." He had tossed the idea around in his head and come up with no logical argument one way or the other. In the end, he had decided to go with his gut instinct. He could not imagine Meleager standing under a tree waiting for him to fetch food. The warrior would grow restless for action, and probably wouldn't like having to depend so completely on anyone else. He didn't mind relying on Meleager, and had no doubt he could keep himself occupied with mental exercises without a problem.

Now that was decided, how would they persuade her to do it? She seemed assured that she could... This was not his area of expertise. Interpersonal interaction. Should he be bribed, he wondered? Meleager could offer her all sorts of favors that most seeking her out would not be able to. What motivated her? What did she want? He hoped she would be plain and tell them, but was not too hopeful on that score. Castor was not much of a cynic, but he was aware that life seldom turned out nice and neat like that.

Ah. Well, that solved the problem of what to do about persuading her. She wanted a flower. A flower from a poisonous, prickly, likely rare plant, that they had to find in a place neither had been before. Well, how hard could it be? He was sure there must be a trick to it - or maybe she would disappear as soon as they were gone. Maybe she was laughing at them secretly, sending them on foolish errands while pretending to be more powerful than she was...

She was certainly physically powerful. Meleager had noticed her tail crack and strike out at the insects that had been bothering her, and he certainly wouldn't want to face it as a weapon. That was not relevant though - or he hoped so, anyway. Now, this flower... Did they need any more information on it? He thought not. There was no point in questioning her further. They were here already; looking for this flower was no real inconvenience. And it would give him some time to speak with Castor about what he had just agreed to.

"Alright, the flower." The bulky stallion dipped his head in a gesture of respect. "We will bring it to you as soon as we find it." He looked over at Castor, hoping the crossbreed stallion would have a better idea of how to start looking than he did.