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Post by InTheDappledRain on Jul 27, 2017 19:55:13 GMT -6
 Edmond knew his days were numbered. It had been nearly three months since he had last been called to the giant table to discuss the needs of the herd before the rest of the Stone Circle, and sure, he had been performing his duties outside of the hall... but there was something in the air that he couldn't quite shake.
War.
Today was yet another small meeting, nothing as important as the one he had returned to, but a meeting nonetheless.
Autumn seemed to have crept into the northern lands of Onea overnight. Edmond knew that hadn't been the case, but once again, he was reminded that the harsher northern winter was on the horizon.
And there was a war fast approaching.
A frown played on the stallion's lips, his hooves' click clacking the only sound aside from the birds... or at least, that's how it should have been.
However, as he slowed his gait to a stop, he took note that there was, indeed, the sound of more hooves following him. He turned his head back, eyes narrowing slightly as he tried to discern who was following him.
Not that he really needed to see. It was pretty obvious to hi which of his children would want to follow him to a stone circle meeting. However, he pretended as if it was a trick of the wind, muttering under his breath as he turned away.
Maybe the boy would go home... though Edmond doubted that. Post #1 | Word Count: 246
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Post by houndflash on Jul 28, 2017 9:30:01 GMT -6
Ales had "sneaked quietly" out of the house, following behind his father in the early morning sunlight. The young colt knew exactly where his father was going, as he had mentioned a Stone Circle meeting to discus "adult matters that don't apply to curious mares, or energetic young colts. Dad had even given them some chores around the house (basically busy work to help Lad out) to keep them from getting too bored or curious, but chores were boring, especially cleaning the small room that was his. Ales wasn't even allowed to do too many scouting duties currently, being as inexperienced as he was. The most the colt did was patrol the trails from Skeldr Town to the local farms and herding grounds, most of them not even a quarter day's walk away, even at his slowest pace. He was a growing colt, avalanches! He needed excitement and important things too do! Though while he was lost in his thoughts, he fell prey to his greatest flaw that plagues him during, well everything to be honest, as he didn't notice that Ed had stopped previously, looking around at the "sneaky" colt.
Ales noticed right as Ed looked over the bushes where he was hiding in, stopping almost a full minute after the elder stallion stopped. He crouched down, sighing in relief as Dad continued on his way. Silently praising himself on his obviously superior stalking skills, Ales continued to follow after his father, unknowingly stepping on every branch in his path, and loudly breaking bushes and rustling leaves behind him.
(occ: Obviously he's the best stealth ever. Most stealth. 7.8/10, too much stealth)
Post #1 | Word Count: 265 (not counting my stupid occ notes) |
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Post by InTheDappledRain on Jul 28, 2017 11:09:55 GMT -6
The stallion let out a short sigh, the sound of Ales' "sneaking" skills reaching his ears as he continued on his way. He had to admit, a small part of his was disappointed in the fact that his son was so loud... Sure, it was a small comfort to know that the growing colt was still easy to detect as he made his way through the brush... but if he was ever to grow into a good scout...
Well, there was only one way to fix this issue.
"Ales, I can hear you." He said after a few moments, his steps coming to a slow halt as he turned back towards the sounds of the snapping twigs. He wanted to shake his head at the colt's attempts, but decided against it. After all, he had once been a curious child, too. Memories of following after his father were still fresh in the older horse's mind, even if they had been from times long passed.
Quietly, he flicked his ears forward, pinpointing his son in the underbrush easily before he nodded toward him, beckoning him to come out of the shadows. "What have I told you about following me on my way to my meetings?" His tone was far from harsh... He wasn't all that upset honestly. It wasn't like the small get together was exactly vital... By the mountain, Hira probably wasn't even going to be there anyway.
If they missed one more member, it probably wouldn't be earth shattering by any means... and besides, at the very least Edmond needed to help his poor son improve on his stealth skills. Post #2 | Word Count: 271
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Post by houndflash on Jul 28, 2017 15:46:20 GMT -6
Ales felt his face flush with shame as Ed called his presence out. For a brief moment, the colt debated bolting back to the house before placing on a brave face and walking out to face his father. He kept his head high, and had a sheepish smile on his face as his came out of the bushes.
"But I was curious! You never really talk about the meetings, but then Dad-plant gets really ruffly when someone brings it up, and it really sounds like it's a lot of fun, even when you say it's not." The colt rambled, coming up to his father, a bounce in his step. "And last time when Aly and Addy came back, you seemed really upset, so I figured you would want some company this time, so you wouldn't get as stressed. I'm being helpful!" Ales said proudly, despite the fact that he literally just thought of that idea in that exact moment, and it was definitely NOT the actual reason that he was following him. Ales continued bounding forward on the path, checking behind him to see if Ed was going to continue forward, and then got distracted by a falling leaf, watching it as it fell to the ground.
Post #2 | Word Count: 208 |
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Post by InTheDappledRain on Jul 28, 2017 19:12:13 GMT -6
Edmond had to admit, his kid was pretty good at making stuff up on the spot. Now, he didn't quite see directly through the boy's lie as he tried to make it sound like he was concerned about his dear old dad.
In some ways, it was probably true, even if the colt thought it was a lie, but Edmond let it slide for the time being. Sometimes he wished he could just bring Ales into the chamber and have him listen to the relatively dull intrigues of the Stone Circle. Maybe it'd keep the poor child from asking to come along all the time...
Or maybe he'd find the intrigue interesting. Though, with his blessing, that could prove disastrous. It wasn't like he knew how to control what Argus has given him just yet, though the stallion was proud to know the child had gone to the god of his father and his father's father... even if Edmond had yet to gain any kind of answer to his prayers directed at Argus. Though, Edmond was sure that would potentially change in due time.
He just had to be patient.
As his mind wandered, he absentmindedly watched Ales trot up ahead at a relatively happy pace, his eyes catching a leaf that had been caught in the breeze. For a moment, the stallion sighed. Such a child, to be so caught off guard by Kaia's beauty. He smiled sadly. Soon enough that child would be gone, replaced by a hardened scout, ready to do whatever for the War Forged.
"I've told you, Ales, the meetings are far from interesting for a young and growing colt like you. All we do is stand in a room at a table and talk for hours on end. It's not like we fight or work on the seas or even get to explore the lands of Onea like you some day will. We worry over our herd and try to be the law of the land. It is a position of words, not swords."
The mountain must stand. He thought to himself, knowing that in some ways he was the constant in his family's life as they all grew up.
Soon enough, they'd all be working on leaving the home to start their own lives, leaving him to his own business. He sighed slightly.
"Have you considered avoiding the leaves and twigs as you walk? I wouldn't have noticed you so easily if you had paid mind to your hooves a bit more, Ales." He asked, feeling that discussions about the Stone Circle would only leave him asking more questions.
Post #3 | Word Count: 436
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Post by houndflash on Jul 30, 2017 12:15:44 GMT -6
Ales watched as the leaf fell to the ground, only vaguely listening to his father's words. "That's okay. You say I'm not old enough to use a sword anyways." He told his father, as the elder stallion caught up to his son. "But you say all the time that I'm old enough to know and use my words, so maybe I could help." Ales excitedly said, ignoring the fact that he was told that when he was attempting to ask for things while whining or crying, or just overall not being too helpful to the situation at hand.
"Besides, I didn't step on all of the twigs and leaves, I counted." He pointed out to his father, head held high in pride of his 'efforts'. After he did count the ones he stepped on, and was kinda upset that he missed so many, but there was that squirrel in the way of a cluster, and then there was a snake on top of another one that liked to hiss at him. It didn't even count all of the leaves that he had collected in his saddlebag (on Kaia's side obviously) that had pretty shapes, and that one rock that he almost tripped over that looked exactly like Argus' face if held at the right angle, oh and that other rock that looked black and he could probably use to scribble and draw on some of the rocks surrounding their home later. And the pretty gold flower that would look pretty in Poofkins fur, couldn't forget about that.
Post #3 | Word Count: 257 |
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Post by InTheDappledRain on Aug 1, 2017 20:34:46 GMT -6
The stallion quietly flicked his tail over his son's head for a moment as he thought about how to respond to his son, who was obviously distracted once again by the world around him.
"Ales, you're taking me out of context." He said with a slight edge to his voice, though it was far from harsh. "You know I tell you to use your words because you need to tell me what's wrong..." He sighed, feeling as if any discussion on the matter would revolve around Ales coming up with excuses and Edmond quickly dismissing them.
"Though, with both of your sisters coming into possession of daggers, and with how much you've been scouting, it would be wise for us to get you some gear to help you out." He continued, realizing that he had yet to spend much quality time with his son compared to the two girls.
At times, he felt bad for the boy. Ales was by all means ready to make the leap into adulthood (... well... okay, he wasn't ready, but he was old enough to begin the journey up), but Edmond didn't quite want his son to grow up. Lad was already a young stallion in his own right, and Ales was... well...
He was Ed's baby boy and sometimes it was hard to think of him as anything more than that. "Would you like to go out to the town to get you something to help you scout?"
The meeting could wait. Post #4 | Word Count: 248
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Post by houndflash on Aug 7, 2017 9:49:13 GMT -6
Ales jumped up excited at the mention of getting things, as most children do at the mention of free items and/or presents. He jumped out in front of his father, now walking (well more of a skipping) backwards along the trail.
"Does this mean I can get a dagger too?!?" He asked excitedly. "Cuz that would be awesome! Like super awesome!" He said, picking up a nearby stick and starting to 'fight' his nearby surroundings by jabbing at random trees and bushes, punctuating each 'attack' with random quips and noises. "There would be Vagabonds who would be running away, cuz I would be like, BAM SLASH BOOM!" The stick's end chipped off as it was slashed against a nearby defenseless rock. "And even those Bloody Flank traitors wouldn't mess with me cuz I'll be like, BAM BASH SLASH BOOM!" Turning the now very 'battle-wary' stick against one of the trees that hold one of the markers of the path, bark scrapping off the tree and the stick finally giving way to the damage and breaking. Ales looked at the remains of the dagger, and then back to his father, a sheepish grin on his face. "So I get a weapon now too right?"
Post #4 | Word Count: 204 |
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Post by InTheDappledRain on Aug 7, 2017 15:35:48 GMT -6
The stallion couldn't help but let his lip curl up slightly as a chuckle escaped lips. His son was far to eager to prove himself as he ran over to the nearest tree, making "quick work of it" with his imagination. The rest was merely comedic affect for the old stallion, though he couldn't help but feel a pang of worry at how Ales treated war.
He was such a young and naive creature. There would come a day when that would change, but Edmond wasn't sure he wanted that day to be soon. If he was honest, he wanted his child to stay a child forever... but like Aly, Ales would eventually make the jump out of childhood into that of adulthood.
However, Edmond wasn't certain he wanted to make the change so quickly. After all, giving Ales a dagger while they were out would mean... a lot. It'd be a symbol of how the colt was making more progress towards the realms of adulthood... and with that came responsibility.
Responsibility that Edmond was not entirely convinced Ales was ready for. The previous statements and interactions were as far from adultlike as one could possibly get... and yet...
The stallion sighed. "We'll see." Admittedly, he was more inclined to get a kid something a little less dangerous... "I'm not sure they'll sell anything that'll work for you. After all, your sisters got their daggers from Hira herself, and I'd rather make sure that whatever you got was just as good as that, if not better."
Post #5 | Word Count: 256
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Post by houndflash on Aug 7, 2017 16:02:13 GMT -6
Ales continued bounding around his father, happily pretending to dagger and sword fight with every low hanging branch along the way, and when the "new" stick got worn out, it was thrown towards a higher branch (complete with bow sounds), before a new one was picked up and the "sword fighting" continued.
"Oh! Dad! What about Aly's friend from Aodh!" Ales said, the colt excitedly weaving in between his father's legs (which admittedly was getting a lot harder to do now that he was almost over half Ed's size. He actually had to duck now.) "Azzy said that her sister makes all kinds of armor and weapons at their forge! Remember all the pretty and awesome pieces that she brought to sell at the market? I bet she would be able to make something that would even make the Valkyries jealous. Maybe even make some of the raiders jealous!" He said, continuing to bounce around his father. "Oh maybe Aly, Addy, and I can go visit them in Aodh! I could even scout the path for them, with my new scouting skills! Aly did say that New Valore was really pretty!"
Ales made a pause in his step as he thought about his sister's words about the foreign herd's capitol city. "Hey Dad, why does Aodh care about how pretty things are? Aly said how things looked was more important to them than how useful they are. But that's not what's important, cuz no one care if a bridge is pretty if it can carry a clan."
Post #5 | Word Count: 258 |
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Post by InTheDappledRain on Aug 9, 2017 10:39:10 GMT -6
Oh of course Edmond couldn't forget the Aodhian merchant that had shown up on his doorstep. She had gifted Alyshia her neck guard, and on top of that had helped heal her of the neck wound she had received in the first place. Both things that the stallion was extremely grateful for. However, he was very aware of why the other members of his house were so interested in the young mare and her wears.
He wasn't even going to bother with telling Ales that he was getting too young to duck and weave between his legs as he continued his thoughts, listening to the younger stallion continue his rambling. That is, until he turned towards his father and asked the "hard hitting" question about the Aodhian lifestyle.
"Well Ales..." He began, thankful that his son was so set in the ideals of the War Forged and their opinions of usefulness. "Aodh isn't like our herd. Unfortunately, your mother would have been able to come up with a better answer... But, from what I know about them... they're capable of focusing less on the usefulness of their objects and more on how nice they look." He rolled his eyes at the statement. "They do not live in the mountains. What they build does not need to stand the tests of time. We, however, have to make things last because we don't know when the next horse can come along to fix it."
From what he remembered on the very few (like maybe once) times he had gone to Aodh, most of the population lived in the large city... Valore? Yes, Valore... which meant that they were capable of focusing on the "prettiness" of their buildings. The War Forged, however, could not take such time to meaninglessly focus on the small details. If a bridge couldn't stand, it could prove to be fatal to another horse's life.
"As for visiting Valore... maybe we can send a bird to the city to see if Asalah and her sisters are capable of traveling up with their own wears." He didn't dare mention asking if the entire family could go down and visit them...
That... could be dangerous.
Post #6 | Word Count: 365
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Post by houndflash on Sept 27, 2017 12:35:31 GMT -6
Ales flicked his ear in confusion at his father's explanation of Aodhan culture. Not focusing on the important part of usefulness and how sturdy something was, was so... foreign to the young colt. Though one part of Ed's explanation blew Ales mind.
"Wait," He said, glancing back at his father. "If they don't live in the mountains, then do they live in the forests?" He questioned, opening up a whole slew of questions in his own mind. "But they worship Ignacio, and he's in command of fire, so if they lived in the forests, they would burn it all down. But they can't live near the ocean, because water puts out fire. So why wouldn't they live in the mountains? Kaia's earth doesn't extinguish fire by touching it like Cascade's water does." He glanced up at his father confusedly, hoping Ed had the answers, which to be fair, Dad had the answers to everything. He was smart like that, after all.
Post #6 | Word Count: 162 |
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Post by InTheDappledRain on Sept 29, 2017 14:51:35 GMT -6
The stallion chuckled lightly at his son's questions, as it seemed there was nothing that could sate the colt's curiosity. It was a good thing, normally, but sometimes the poor child didn't know when to stop.
"Well Ales, the most important thing to remember is that our herds, although created to represent their patron God, are not, by any means, created in the element of their gods. Many of Cascade's followers here in Onea don't live in the sea, and not all of Argus' children are horses. Just because Ignacio is the God of fire doesn't mean that all of his children are blessed with his fire manipulation." He smiled slightly, thinking back on how Ales' sister had been blessed by the fire god. "For instance, your sister was blessed with force fields, allowing her to protect herself, which isn't outright destructive, and can eventually be used to protect others."
Sometimes explaining things to a child was hard, but Edmond knew that his son needed to understand more about the world... as much as he was loathe to admit it. He let out a short sigh, remembering that he didn't have many of these years left with the children he currently had.
"Not to mention, not all of the members of Aodh are interested in following Ignacio. Just like not every member of the War Forged is interested in following Kaia."
He paused, waiting for his son to find more questions to ask.
Post #7 | Word Count: 242
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Post by houndflash on Sept 29, 2017 15:40:35 GMT -6
Ales nodded at his fathers words, trying to understand exactly what he was saying. "So like how we worship Argus, even though everyone else thinks he isn't as important? Even though Grandpa says that Argus and his place in the world is super important, and that his blessings can sometimes be more powerful than even Kaia's!" He 'told' Ed, straightening up when he mentioned the blessings. "He told me, when we last went, that 'Argus gives us power over the mind and heart of our foes and allies. His blessings control more than the might of the earth, they control the very fabric of the mind, heart, and emotion themselves.'" Ales said, in his "best" Grandpa impression, which is to say that Ales attempted to drop his voice a couple octaves and almost pretend to gargle rocks. Ales continued to bound forward, the initial reasoning for the outing almost completely forgotten from his mind. "He even told me that my blessing could be powerful enough to let me .... uhhh su.... sec... secede you one day as a Stone Circle member!" And the moment of forgetfulness faded like a lightning bolt in the sky.
"Oh yeah, weren't you going to go to a meeting today? Can I come?"
Post #8 | Word Count: 208 |
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Post by InTheDappledRain on Oct 18, 2017 10:40:08 GMT -6
Edmond wasn't really surprised by the fact that his son was so ready to flit between the various conversations like a hummingbird often flitted between flowers. The stallion snorted as his son spoke highly of his grandfather. It was good that his son was so proud of his heritage, it made Edmond's heart swell with pride.
"You mean succeed me, not secede, Ales." The stallion corrected, a light chuckle escaping his mouth. Ales, of course, had always been a little slow on expanding his vocabulary, but that was something that could easily be worked on. "Secede means to split, like if our clan decided to no longer follow Hira, they would secede. Succeed means that you'll step up in my place once I retire, if you learn enough and make an impression on our clan." Edmond couldn't help but smile. "Become a good scout, work close with your grandpa when you are with him, and make sure to help the people of Warwick." He paused, snorting slightly as his son mentioned the meeting again.
"I won't be heading to the meeting just yet. Instead you and I can go out and do some shopping in Skeldr Town for you. After all, you're in need of some good scouting gear."
Post #8 | Word Count: 209
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