Blazing Storms

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Songhue
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Re: Blazing Storms

Post by Songhue »

Flint snorted out a sigh as the others drank, glaring at the trees in the distance. As he waited he had little to occupy his mind; he couldn't contemplate a lightning light or his bond-mate's stubbornness as neither were currently presented. He was alone, for the moment at least, and could find no proper distraction from that.

It wasn't hard to realize that he was more than angry with Hybrid for pushing himself, perhaps too hard. It wouldn't be hard for him to slow down himself, moving at an easy, ambling pace instead of his usual smart, purposeful one. And it wouldn't be hard to simply ask the stallion, honestly, what he was thinking when forcing his body as he was. But both of those things had been rejected, opting instead for mockery and an outlet to his anger.

He had already been angry. He stayed angry, in general, constantly. Deep down he felt a tickling once again, almost like ashes churning under the cinders of a flame. And again he slapped the sensation from his mind, hiding. Only to find himself angrier than ever.

If there was no shame in asking for help, why was it proving so impossible for him to do that very thing? Something was definitely wrong.

No, he thought, snorting to himself as he turned to glare at the insubordinate trio by the water, There's nothing wrong. It's fine. Fine.

Flint was not the kind of stallion to tolerate namby-pamby soul searching crud.

Hybrid, however, figured things out. He naturally picked apart anything he felt needed it, a habit he had quickly picked up and stuck to with his elemental powers. He had to figure it all out, to understand every last little micro-detail, before he could master his skills. And he was indeed a master of lightning now, proving that this processes worked for him. It was such a deeply ingrained habit that he found himself doing it with almost everything - thinking, understanding, learning, expanding. He could, normally, hold his head high with pride, confident in this fact.

At the moment, he let his head droop down over the stream, his nose barely brushing against the water. He was not feeling very proud; only beaten and ashamed, two sensations that were quite alien to him. This was frankly an unacceptable development, making him close his eyes and allow sizzling sparks to jump from his nose to the water; water was a wonderful conductor of electricity. The electric current was delicate enough for him to easily guide it through the shallow stream, spelling the word "broken." That's what it all came back to, with him. He had been broken, abandoned and picked up again. He couldn't remember too much of that without a terrible blow to his pride, so he didn't. But he couldn't so easily block out the effects of it; he had to bend his pride and accept, without shame, that he had been broken and would need time to get back to his full strength. His 'old self,' as they said, only he didn't know who his old self was.

He could still hold his head high, while he recovered. He was still a master in his talent, still held a strong heart. He had a new home that he loved, a bonded that he played with, and he could mark any progress with this recovery as a success, something else to boost his ego.

Yes, he was weakened. It was a challenge. But he would recover, and he knew this, and he could take pride in it, as opposed to being ashamed of being weakened in the first place.

It was, as his bonded said, all about perspective. For a creature with such an odd name she certainly had some good things to say.

"So this Shamrock knows of my new bonded," he asked, lifting his head with a snort and glancing at the others. "That's rather ironic. Your bonded is Vineda, did I hear that right? Oh yes, I've heard of her, just about everyone in my realm has met her. They all adore her, you're very lucky. Though Path thinks she's too thin and needs to eat more."

He chuckled here, glad that he had the moment to rest and turn things over in his head while he drank. He felt much better, though it was a struggle not to let Flint's action bother him. He did care for the mule-headed creature..

He had to grin at the thought. Every time it crossed his mind he found himself wondering what a mule was, exactly.

"Ready to head West, guys? We found this place after some kind of steep hills, so I'm curious what waits the other way."

Flint snorted and stepped beside them as he heard this, gritting his teeth absently. He was angry, but it wasn't right to take it out on them. The discomfort over these trees that were so very close seemed to add to that anger, though he could at least see the source of it as discomfort in that case.

Flint had one long path ahead of him, a fact that both he and Hybrid knew had nothing at all to do with the length of the forest.

"Alright, look-"

"No, Flint, now it's your turn to listen. I can allow you to be pissy with me, considering how I've seen you act when you're home, but you need to freaking relax here. I'm not sure what's up with you, how your mind works, or why you even invited me to come along, but I do know that until you get yourself straightened out you're in no shape to be bossing or sassing others. Got that, hot shot?"

And with that, he turned away from the stallion, ducked his head as if to give the others a friendly nudge, and started back down the hill at a rather slow and comfortable pace. There was no lightning this time; it had just been a precaution that Flint had demanded, but as they could see well enough not to hit a tree without it, especially at this pace, Hybrid left it alone.

Flint's spikes were tensed into a straight position as Hybrid turned away and dismissed him. It was taking all of his self control not to lose it and simply attack the stallion out right. It would kill one of them if he did, he knew that. There were very few ways that lightning was not deadly, if Hybrid reacted in time, and if not then his body would not survive the blows he would give.

That, however, was not what stopped him. His pride was. He wouldn't lose control, he wouldn't shame himself in that way. And he wouldn't go running home, either.

For the moment, as he fell into step beside the other three as Hybrid walked with their new friends instead of ahead, all he could do was try to keep control of the inferno inside him. And hope that it would burn itself out before he was consumed.

Hybrid glanced sideways as he joined them again. He could see how tense the stallion was and to him it was rather clear that something was seriously wrong. The irony of Flint pushing himself mentally, forcing himself through things instead of dealing with them, wasn't exactly lost to the scaled stallion that had tried to push himself physically and force himself through things instead of dealing with his limitations.

It worried him, though. They were both extremely stubborn.

"If there weren't as many trees I could teach you guys a new game. I can connect lightning bolts in various ways, making images just for fun. I could make some and let you get a quick glimpse before trying to recreate it. We could use sticks or claws or hooves to draw in the dirt, like a guessing game."

Flicking an ear, Hybrid arched his neck and tilted his head curiously as the cool air caressed his hairless body. The mist was beginning to thin out a little bit.

"What do you do in your free time? Play, or something else?"
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Vineda
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Re: Blazing Storms

Post by Vineda »

Flint was unnerving in his anger. Both Oak and Talon had ears flickering constantly as they approached the pool and began to drink, but as with Hybrid the pool seemed to draw their attention. It reminded them of Vineda's reflecting pool, which had its good points as well as drawbacks.

Oak was thinking at the moment about how so many took their friends and loved ones for granted so easily. He was guilty of it himself, but it was awful seeing Flint treat Hybrid in such a manner. He could understand the steely stallion's anger, the whole situation was difficult to deal with. When all else failed his normal reaction was to reach for his roots, but when even those failed him it was tough.

He and Talon both got by through focusing on their current existence, on what they had in the here and now. They took strength in each other, and the memory... though painful, was helpful. They'd not been tossed aside like they mattered not at all, and it helped to remember that. Their previous bonded had had reasons for finding them new bondeds, which was why they'd been split - he, Talon, Flint, Hybrid, and others. There were others who had it worse, much worse.

Neither could very easily relate to the state of the other two. Talon was just getting a tentative grip on his own problems and really had no idea how he would even begin to approach another's. Though he'd chosen to forget, he and Oak had talked a bit on the matter and the only conclusion they could come to was that Talon remembered because Oak did, and he clutched to Oak's support so much in this hard time.

Hybrid broke their musings in a pretty pleasant way. "Yes, Vineda. Though she speaks just as highly of your Songhue and her bondeds."

Oak thought this was a rather skimpy reply, and had to add his two cents. "We've not had the pleasure of meeting any of them as of yet."

Oddly enough it was Talon who was the most amused, to the surprise of both. "I'll be sure to let her know she should eat more." He sniggered a bit at this, especially having heard stories of Path and Songhue's other bondeds.

They could both feel the tension practically rolling off of Flint, and both were slightly nervous. Hybrid put it back into perspective though, with his own fancypants speech. There was really nothing to do but continue on and see how things played out, though both did so in a very tensed state. Luckily that turned out to be pretty well, considering.

The two exchanged glances, both with brows raised. Oak finally broke down and admitted, "I don't really understand... connecting bolts? We've played at drawing games before, though... guessing as well."

Talon was starting to relax very slightly as he got more used to the company, even if Flint did worry him a lot still. "We've both just been settling in. Shamrock goes adventuring with Vineda, it would be fun to see what that was like. We've visited her cabin and played games in the dusk fairly often, danced, told stories about the stars, silly games like the drawing ones..." There was always something to do.

"A game would be great!" The brown stallion felt like he looked a bit silly, prancing around and getting excited. But this nervous energy and tension needed some sort of release.
And I don't know how To slow it down Oh, my mind's racing From chasing pirates.

Songhue
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Re: Blazing Storms

Post by Songhue »

Hybrid was more than happy to elaborate, grinning impishly as he paused and lifted his head, pulling sparks from the air with a twitch of his chin. Within moments tiny shards of lightning had webbed out into a net, shifting about in the air to create an image - of Talon resting his head upon Oak's back, to be exact. It was a small image due to such a little space, no larger than a wombat, and harder for him to control as he insisted on keeping all the minute details.

He waited almost a full minute before allowing the jumping bolts to fade away, purposely overlooking the fact that he had had to stop to perform the small trick as he stepped forward again.

"You see, each bit of lightning connects to another to create the image, but you only get a very quick glimpse of it. Considering that not everyone's eyes are as attuned to lightning as my own that can be a little difficult, especially when trying to recall the image to draw it again yourselves."

Flint twitched an ear, slowly and methodically forcing every muscle in his body to relax into a more natural state as Hybrid explained his game. He was angry - furious, actually - but he knew it was not linked directly to any of the stallions around him. Indeed, the trio were helping to distract him, to link him more firmly into the present moment, though he still felt the lava of rage churning in his chest. It frightened him in a way, and this only made the anger worse, which frightened him more.

Since when did every unpleasant turn in life generate an angry reaction from him? Ah, but that was the thing - he didn't know the answer to that. He didn't know anything. Hybrid knew more than he did, and that wasn't helping matters. The scaled stallion could at least remember growing weaker, even if he blocked out any reasoning as a poor excuse for his current state.

"You play this game with Songhue from time to time, if I heard correctly," he commented rather idly, attempting to grasp at his demotion as a tool to use for his own means.

"Oh, definitely," Hybrid nickered, shaking himself off as the trees began to thin once again, allowing sunlight to warm his back in the chill air. "Only she's just as good as I am - well no, just a little bit better, but she won't be for long! So when we play we only get a blink to see, and then we have to re-create the image with lightning. It's great fun, to me any way."

"She acts so different with me," Flint murmured as if to himself. "Mostly when she comes she just sits and reads to me..." He trailed off, as if going through the tales once again, and Hybrid visibly relaxed.

"It may just be an oddity of our bonded, who knows," he said absently, offering the other two a dazzlingly bold smile. "But do you like my little game? Or what would you play, if it was the two of you on your own?"

"You don't ever do low-key or subtle, do you," Flint commented, his tone carrying a slight hint of a condescending sneer.

"You don't ever do cool or languid, do you," Hybrid commented off hand, smirking as Flint's eyes flashed dangerously. The silver stallion wasn't as big and bad as he thought, no matter what issues he had to go through still.

He hated that Hybrid reminded him of that. There were times where he was almost convinced that the elemental stallion was secretly hoping for a fight, for his anger to boil over to such an extreme, just to get it done with. And there were other times where it seemed that Hybrid was all too willing to try to listen and understand - but Flint refused to admit that he needed anyone, even if they were trying to be there for him. He saw it as a sign of weakness and he would not be weak.

He also knew that Hybrid had apparently come to terms with his own weakness already - the stallion was making absolutely no attempt to hide his physical inadequacies any longer. Envy gripped him, quickly mutating into rage like everything else, and he started going through the motions of forcing his body to relax from battle-mode once again.

Hybrid pretended not to notice as he snatched some leaves off a passing tree and munched contentedly.
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Vineda
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Re: Blazing Storms

Post by Vineda »

Talon eyed the other gray stallion warily. He could see the near constant tensing and relaxing that seemed to be Flint's way of relaxing his body, but he didn't trust it at all. Automatically he began drifting closer in Oak's direction before realization kicked in. He half-kicked, half-stomped a back hoof and tensed both sets of front talons, reminding himself that he was fine here.

It was strange for both watching the spat between these two other bond brothers. Oak and Talon hardly ever fought... it was always little things, like Oak's sigh earlier, or a comment here and there, that hurt the other's feelings. But they read each other so well it was hard to miss when you did such a thing. Oak flicked his ears, knowing Talon's dilemma. The oaken stallion was always the protective older brother, providing shelter for a smaller sapling when a storm hit. But he could tell Talon didn't like being so dependent.

Alright then, he thought, if not protection, distraction. Ears perked forward at this new game that was being explained. "So we can re-create the image in the earth instead of with lightning..." He left his tone musing, waiting for Talon to jump in.

Eventually it worked. He caught interest, listening to the snide remarks from Flint and mentally smiling to himself when Hybrid gave him snide comments right back. He was growing... not fond exactly, not yet. But his about this scaled green stallion was growing rapidly. He seemed a bit eccentric, different, and it made all the difference. "I can do so pretty easily with my claws!" He bit his lip as his excitement shone through in his words. He almost always tried to tone down the expression in his voice a bit. He worried a bit over how Oak would be able to draw... his horns did face backwards, after all... and he had no claws or pointy hooves... Too bad he didn't have a beak of some sort.

Bah! He couldn't help himself. "Your bonded plays with lightning?" His bonded never did that stuff...

Oak chuckled softly. He's skirted the woods before as Vineda has visited his bond brother. She always brought something to do, working with Talon's natural curiosity. He'd seen the feathered fellow attempting to do similar things after she left... If she brought weaving, he would use his claws to move some spare strands around. And there were always spare strands, somehow. "And how do you know our bonded does not? Have you ever asked her?" He really read his brother all too well.

"Well, no not exactly..." He trailed off a bit, knowing what was coming and hoping instead that Oak would just drop it. He saw Oak look at him and knew he'd have no such luck. He didn't even try to hide his own scowl as he listened, waiting it out. "If you'd but try talking to her more, you might find her interesting. She always brings things you'll enjoy, and she never does much magic because she doesn't want to scare you." Oak stopped, knowing before long Talon wouldn't even bother listening. It wasn't ideal timing, but he couldn't pass up that window Tal's left open.

Talon avoided the subject; for all one could tell he hadn't heard a word of what was just said. Except for maybe the scowl still lingering on his face... Changing the subject, that was the best way to go. "We've never played this game before but I think.. I think I'd like to try. Oak'll figure out some way to make a picture..." He said this past part as dismissively as he could as a dig at the overgrown know-it-all.

Oak bore this with a half-grimace, half-knowing look on his face. At least Talon was using the game to avoid the subject. Normally the feathered birdbrain would have refused to play... he mulled this over, using the terms playfully in his head.
Last edited by Vineda on Tue Mar 16, 2010 2:28 pm, edited 1 time in total.
And I don't know how To slow it down Oh, my mind's racing From chasing pirates.

Songhue
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Re: Blazing Storms

Post by Songhue »

Hybrid shook himself off as the trees finally thinned enough to see more than bark ahead of them, visibly relieved. The forest was nice, yes, yet it had been so dense as to act as a hazard with him in it - one wrong move, one accidental bit of lightning, and the whole thing would have gone up.

Broad rivers could be seen beyond, making him toss his head and stop in the thinning outer edge of the forest. The open river would have soft banks, perfect for drawing in.

"It's a memory game, and trickier than it sounds. I'm sure you'd love it, once we started, though! Could you use the edge of a hoof to draw, Oak? That's what I'd have to do, and Flint as well, is use a hoof, or bite a twig and draw with that. I have to write that way, biting it and moving it with my mouth."

"Why not ask," Flint nickered, glancing between the two bond-brothers as some subtle undercurrent passed with the mention of their bonded. His voice was surprisingly gentle as he continued, momentarily distracted to the point of forgetting his own inner turmoil to reveal some of his true nature. "It's frightening, being plunked down with another creature you're supposed to trust. But this one.. Hasn't done anything wrong. There's no reason to shun a new bonded, that I can see, as they welcomed us all. In my case, she knows my heart better than I do - I can see in her eyes, what she sees ahead for me, and something else I can never place."

Hybrid smiled, impressed with his bond-mate. He had no idea if this was a touchy issue that had best be left alone, but he did think he had found a trick to help the silvery stallion to regulate himself.

"I have been meaning to ask what exactly she does with you, Flint. You said read? Whenever I see you after she visits you seem..."

He trailed off, letting Flint shrug a bit awkwardly. He could almost see her standing next to him, resting a hand on his shoulder and guiding his behavior. It was a bit of a strange sensation.

"We read, we talk, we explore my lands. Some times we simply sit, enjoying the shade of an oasis. Some times we prop against each other and doze off that way. It's... Relaxing. What about you, you just play these lightning games?"

"I can show you!" Flint said with sudden inspiration, trotting over to a river bank and glancing back at the others. Within seconds he had pulled a charge from the air, creating a massive image that flashed over them - that of his bonded standing within the storm-filled valley he lived in, a massive dragon large enough to hold several mountain chains down her back and tail. In a blink she had flapped her wings, jumping into the air and racing a bolt of lightning as it shot pass the Hybrid in the image, seemingly surfing on the electric charge in the cloud.

The image flickered and vanished, making Hybrid prance around and grin at the others, apparently completely unaffected by the trick. Flint tilted his ears thoughtfully, blinking his eyes to rid them of ghost lights.

"Have you tried that? Racing a storm, or riding the lightning?"

"Of course, and it's an incredible challenge. She challenges me all the time, helping me get stronger, or I just lay around and watch her play with making shapes in the misted air."

"Is she always a dragon for you? Most of the time I see her with dark skin and pointed ears..."

"Nope, not always," Hybrid answered brightly, twitching his long tail as a grin spread over his face. She has many different ways she can look. One of my favorite things is to try to draw her many faces - both on parchment and with lightning. Do you ever get to read yourself, or does she always read to you?"

"She's.. Ah, teaching me. If I knew before then it was forgotten."

Flint frowned here, feeling a spark flit dangerously in this chest. It made him angry, being so affected by what had happened. He was stronger than that, it shouldn't bother him so much. It wasn't even worth remembering.

But that didn't matter. He'd talk about it later, with her, and she'd help explain things. Right now, they had a game to play, and he had a scaled stallion to follow until he was up to the task of being in charge himself.

"So we draw that? The dragon riding the storm?"

"Yep! There's no winners, and I'll even give it a shot to practice drawing physically, but the goal is to remember as many details as possible."

"It was only there for about a minute or so -"

"So it should be fairly easy. When Songhue and I play, it lasts for a blink and nothing more."

With that, he pranced in a circle and started sketching in the soft earth, carefully tilting his hoof to guide the little lines.

He could hardly wait until everyone finished their images. The next vision to flash in the sky would be entirely up to the others; he wanted to see what they would demand. But then, they hadn't played this game before - they may not prance about, eagerly suggesting new ideas to flash the lightning into. Not without some encouragement, at least...

"What should we draw next?"
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Re: Blazing Storms

Post by Vineda »

"I'll use a branch, thanks," Oak replied dryly. His hooves were worn smooth on the edges due to his years of wandering, and especially lately as he explored his new realm. He knew Hybrid was being helpful but Talon's attitude irked him. He looked over at Flint, definitely surprised as the steely stallion spoke almost softly.

Talon merely nodded, thinking a second. His ears laid down as he threw Flint a glance. "Perhaps I don't want to know!" He snapped at the stallion for butting in, though he knew Flint was just being nice. He also saw a warning glint in Oak's eyes and knew he'd better watch himself.

Rather than apologize he lowered his head some and spoke in a much softer tone. He couldn't bring himself to formally apologize, yet his voice was clearly apologetic and slightly reluctant once more. "That's the part that is so scary... She just.. knows things, I can tell. And there are some things I wish she wouldn't. Her knowing me should be a privilege I grant to those I choose, not something I have no choice over."

Oak rumbled a little as he answered, brows drawn. "She is your bonded. You should do your half and let her know you, and she wouldn't have to figure it out for herself." After a moment his tone too changed. "The Vineda may not know as much as you think, Talon." He thought of something and pricked his ears. "If you let her get to know you, she'd probably take you adventuring. Like she does with Shamrock."

Talon tried to keep his voice under control. "I'll not be bribed into a nice snug little bond. If she-"

"That's not how I meant and you know it!" Oak sure could boom when he wanted. Even in this case, where he didn't mean to. Each stallion sighed, an agreement to disagree for the present. Then coltish grins split each of their faces. "Jinx!" "Jinx!"

After Hybrid showed the image of Hybrid and his bonded in dragon form, both stallions shook their heads slightly in disbelief. Must be an elemental thing... riding storms and such...

"Our bonded takes many forms as well." Oak pondered at this a bit, thinking of this new bonded's quirks.

Talon was already sketching away with sweeps of his sharpened claws, however, so Oak went to the nearest tree and searched the ground for a fallen branch. Finding a short one he clamped it between his teeth and returned to the river-softened earth. It was awkward, but it would do. The grey feathery stallion marked the landscape especially well, showing details of the clouds and the surrounding greenery under the storm's affect as well as the lightning itself. He was pretty good at the details thing, humming as he worked. The brown-hided one grinned at this, putting more effort into the dragon. He modeled the play of light on the scales, the spikes along the back and the claws, closing his eyes to recall the image.
And I don't know how To slow it down Oh, my mind's racing From chasing pirates.

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