Finding My Way Home

[Tikayla]

A small mare, still quite young when you looked at her paced the lands. Her steps made the grass wave around her like ripples in an ocean. Her small nose lifted to the sky. She peered around her, searching. All around her she could hear the sounds of mares and stags finding each other, joining each others company and becoming good friends. Well save the dark stag Joker who had met her mother. She hoped that she could avoid him. He had already claimed quite a few mares and she hoped taht she would not become one of them. His scent made her lip curl and she wished that her father were here to protect her from the stags that were interested in only one thing. She sighed, waiting for some stag to claim her. She knew that she really wouldn't have a choice if they really wanted her. That if she went with another stag she might just be stolen away. After all, mares were things to be stolen and bred, not much else. At least that was her mother's philsophy. Though she claimed to be much different, Marred Darkness agreed with her mother on one thing, forcebreeding was one of the scariest things ever.

[Mari]

Oulaman lifted his head from the thick grass he had been cropping, looking up at the small mare some distance away from him. She seemed nice, and her scent was not at all objectionable.

The immense integrated stallion walked easily over to her, tapping his velveteen nose on her flank.

"Good day, miss," he said, nibbling his way up her neck. Dula stood back a bit, taking her in. Not bad. Not bad at all. But, as with every mare, he could not help but see his old love, the Phantom in the little ways she moved, she acted. He would never really completely recover from her death. He flipped one of his dark curls out of his eyes, tossing his head a bit when it fell back into place.

[Tikayla]

The stag towered over the petite mare. She felt him nibble her neck and stood waiting for him to be done. She was young and inexperienced but she had seen enough stags court her mother to know that this was customary. She allowed him to examine her. Look at her, take her in. She was not bothered. Stags were allowed to do such things. Mares were there to be looked at, to be bred, to bring about foals. That was what their job was at least that was what she had learned from her mother. Her mother who detested weak stags and believed that the larger the stag the more powerful.

"Hello, my lord, my name is Marred Darkness, you are the stag who owns the intergrated lands, by your scent. How are you this fine day?" she asked in a voice colored with interest and respect.

[Mari]

He looked at her oddly. There was an air about her that didn't seem quite right. This Marred Darkness did not command attention like so many other mares he knew - rather, she seemed to almost shrink away from it. Dula found that it bothered him, somehow.

"Yes... yes, I am the integrated King. Dula, for you, though," he added, trying to involve her somehow. Her detachment was nearly to the point of being disturbing. "I find the weather agreeable, and am not bad at all, otherwise."

He buried his nose in her mane, becoming more accustomed to her scent. So different from everything he was used to. He snorted and backed away a little, dipping his head quickly. An invitation for her to do her investigation. "And how are you?"

[Tikayla]

((I'm so dumb. She isn't that small. Well let's pretend she hasn't reached her full height yet.))
The mare stepped forward. Despite being warned by her mother, her interested was peaked. He had lowered his head to her. She leaned in and smelled. Oh it was so wonderful. A mix of dark and light. So amazingly beautiful. She stepped a bit closer. She was still small and the stallion was huge. She knew that someday she would be closer to his height but right now she was still quite small.

"Oh my lord, you smell wonderful. And so handsome," she whispered, unable to stop another step. She was quite close to the stag now, nearly on top of him. She was pleased with this stag. Knew that he was the best choice for her. She was interested now. Of course, he must know that she had been in a herd that was supposedly light but was nearly dark, she had never known attention from her mother, nor any other family member. Love was almost an unknown concept to her. That could also be the fault of her youth.

[Mari]

He blinked a bit, not quite taking the words in at first. Then he smiled, the gold showing in his deep brown eyes. Marred Darkness was certainly not an ugly young thing, in fact, rather pleasing to behold. He knew that she would never quite measure up to... he pushed the Dark mare from his mind. She was gone, however gorgeous she had been.

He continued his grooming, trying to keep his wandering mind on the young mare who was here, now. She would be a sight to see in a few years. Perhaps the envy of the herd. Who knows... He felt his mind turning away again, but this time to his daughter. She was not so much older than Marred Darkness, really.

"Would you be interested in joining my herd, at Lake Rodocia?" he asked, ever polite. His fatherly instincts were kicking in with a vengeance. If she agreed, she would never be hurt. Not while under his care.

[Tikayla]

The young mare did not hesitate. She was thrilled beyond thrill. She was young and she didn't expect foals yet but to go home, to a place where she was really home would be so wonderful. She was so overcome she could barely speak, barely.

"Yes, of course I will go with you," she blurted out, unable to contain her excitment. Yes like him she is uncertain of their relationship, was it more fatherly, daughterly or was it love. She couldn't be certain but she knew that she was much to young to be considering foals yet. She was only two years old and hadn't even reached her full potential. She stepped closer to the stag.

"Take me home," she whispered. In her head she thanked the gods for giving her a home, for helping her Find Her Way Home.

[Mari]

((OoC: Wanna just continue this at the herd? There's a thread called "The Beginning," so feel free to jump in ^^))