Plot 004: A Desperate Search

Antonio had arrived in the capital after being called by his sultan, Osprey. He could only assume this was because of the drought, after all, Antonio had experienced it first hand. He had been forced to watch the Niurros River recede and his crops wither to nothing more than brown weeds. Living off the land had become his first priority as he could no longer make a profit off of his plants. And his poor familiar, Terra, often had to go hungry as he could no longer provide for her. It tore his heart to see his land and friends struggle to survive.

Being summoned to the capital had, initially, sounded like a blessing. A chance to take a break and possibly receive some good news, but he was met with a far different reality. It seemed the drought had affected the horses here. Meeting with the Osprey hadn't made it any better. His ears had flattened and the normally happy stallion was saddened by the news that all of Serora was in trouble.

He was eager to go north. It was a chance to explore and help his herd. His eyes fell upon the group's newly appointed leader, Taeith. While young, she certainly looked capable of handling the task. He offered her a gentle smile as she seemed to be be startled by the news. He was grateful that she was eager to leave as he also wanted to get going. A slight pang of nervousness struck him but her words soothed him.

<b>"Sounds good to me,"</b> He said simply, having nothing to add. He looked to Verse and Leviticus, hoping they would be 'ok' with such a quick start on the journey.

>Post: 1 | WC: 286<

Verse :: Pegasus :: Seroran Planter

A hot breeze whirled into the cool, stony caverns of Osulas, stirring up the stale air and giving the residents a much desired ruffling of heavy manes and thick feathers. It had been ridiculously hot as of late - in truth, it had been ridiculously hot for the entirety of the season, an everlasting period of high temperatures that seemed to evaporate every drop of water Verse sprinkled about before it could even touch the thirsty roots of her wilting plants. The drought was not necessarily unexpected by the pegasus - it was common for the desert region to experience workable droughts each year - but this was a true drought. No amount of extra care could save the roan's wilting crops - and she had tried so many things. Portable shade contraptions previously shipped over from Breim, sprinkler systems meant to conserve the precious rations of water available, cutting back on water-intensive crops to focus on those considered hardy enough to survive on little to no water... and yet, even those feisty desert plants were losing their color fast under Verse's fastidious care.

The pegasus lamented each day over the loss of yet another plots' crops, hanging her head in defeat as Osulas stores of sustenance were quickly becoming depleted. Whispers claimed the river was drying up farther south, and with it all the available foodstuffs in Sedo outside of Osulas. Some blamed the Goddess Cascade for the lack of water, while others blamed Ignacio for his too-blazing sun, and still others blamed overuse. No matter the reason, what would they do when the frigid cold of winter came? As more and more new faces from the surrounding nomadic tribes took up residence in the mountain face, Verse wondered. How could the herd continue to live in the lands of their forefathers when no one had enough food, or even water, to go around?

Perhaps it was because the winged roan appaloosa had been dealing with dying crops for so long now that she wasn't really surprised by the summons that came to her that morning. Osprey, the Seroran herd's Sultan, surely wanted to know what was going on, what could be done to offset the continued inability of his planters in keeping their crops alive. As she had followed the messenger into the innermost caverns of Osulas' mountain, however, something did strike her as odd - why would he be asking her such things? She wasn't... she wasn't anything special. She was just the strange pegasus that never seemed to leave the safety of her plants. She frowned visibly, though the expression was quickly removed upon being presented to her Sultan. She bowed her head to the smoky stallion, cobalt gaze momentarily alighting upon his broken wing before quietly surveying the group of equines she now stood within.

The first familiar face she saw was that of Antonio - the appaloosa who had come to ask about her farming techniques earlier in the summer. Had he been dealing with the drought even then? He was not stationed at Osulas as she was, after all. The other faces blue gaze glossed over were less familiar - a young unicorn stallion, whom Verse knew as an apprentice planter but little else, a sandy coated mare the pegasus wasn't immediately familiar with, and one of the largest heavy hooves she had ever seen out and about on the mountain; a familiar, and yet unfamiliar group of faces. Ah, such was the life of an anti-social mare. Nonetheless, Verse did her best to memorize their names as Osprey addressed the group, levying upon them an entirely important, if somewhat tame task - find any form of sustenance in the northernmost regions of Sedo itself.

Osulas itself was located quite far north already - there probably wasn't more than a scant forty to fifty miles as the pegasus flies between the mountain stronghold and its northernmost border - a heavily forested peninsula half-shared with southern Sirith, the home of the Breim herd. Taeith, the sandy-coated horse and their appointed leader, was a gatherer - Verse imagined she was aware of this information already, being as well-traveled as gatherers tended to be - though she did wonder if the horse had ever travelled that far north before. Actually, as Verse once again took in the predominately wingless party she was within, she began to wonder if any of them had traveled that far before. Verse herself had never gone very far into the northern forests, though she had flown to the edge and back before in her lifetime; she knew most of her information through various tomes on geography, topography, and plant life. One of the benefits of befriending the herd's resident unofficial librarian, Cardinal - you had access to just about any book you could ever desire.

The flaxen pegasus glanced from one hoofed companion to the other as Taeith laid out a positive speech upon her group and then called for a hasty leave, intent on leaving the capital as soon as possible to get a head start on their mission. Antonio seemed keen on moving along as well. Verse was about to give a quiet affirmative, but Antonio was soon echoed by the massive heavy hoof, whose voice boomed across the echoing caverns and sent the pegasus hiding behind the chestnut chimera. Verse half-hid behind Antonio, her dished head ducked and blue eyes wide as she blinked in surprise at Leviticus, her words in general startled right out of her.

At least they were moving... hopefully Antonio didn't mind being used as a makeshift hiding place.

Post Count: 1
Word Count: 935 Words

Please excuse Verse. She's a bit shy/skiddish. xD
ALSO. I was looking at the map of SA for my napkin math distance. c:

Antonio chuckled softly as Verse dashed behind him, and he offered the pegasus a gentle, reassuring smile. He didn't mind a bit if she wanted to hide behind him. He was excited to see her again and find out how she had faired over the drought. Of course, they had a job to do, but it was a long journey and there would be plenty of time to talk.

Antonio walked near the back of the group until they got out of the city and nodded at their leader's words. Nodding in confirmation, he offered his fellow travelers an encouraging smile before following Taeith's lead. Terra leaped onto his back to ride out the journey.

As the hours dragged on, Antonio's hooves dragged a tad, although he kept the same speed. A thin sheen of sweat had developed under the constant beating of the sun, and Terra scurried by his side, remaining in the shadow Antonio cast. He had forced her to jump off his back and walk with them as her fur made him even hotter. A breath of relief slipped from the stallion's mouth as Tae slowed to a stop. He took a moment to scan the area. He had hoped that as they went further north, they would find signs of life. Instead, they were in the middle of a desert. Ever hopeful, Antonio just assumed that they hadn't gone far enough north to reach the trees. In all honesty, he hadn't the slightest clue where they were. He lived quite a ways south of Osulas, and had never had a reason to go any farther north than the capital.

"I'm fine.." The bay chimera said, his head low in an attempt to block out the sun's baking heat. "I do have a question, though. What should we expect to see in the forests? I've never been this far north.." He said softly, glancing at the horses around him.

>Post: 2 | WC: 322<

Verse :: Pegasus :: Seroran Planter

Verse let out a soft sigh, glancing over at Antonio. Everyone had been accommodating thusfar - most of them had even given the skiddish pegasus a reassuring smile or a concerned glance when she had taken to hiding behind the larger bay stallion, but the silence... it had long since become deafening, and now it was more like a heavy cloud, vibrating with the crackling electricity of unspoken tension. Initially, things had remained fairly lighthearted, if quiet, with a serious undertone - it was a mission, but it didn't have to be military. Thus, the flaxen appaloosa had been comfortable to plod along beside her male chimeric counterpart, head generally kept low, as she looked about for any sign of green; at this point, however, the sensitive mare was more worried about the possibility of increasingly poor attitudes leading to bickering, fighting, or worse, now that what optimism had been available seemed drained.

Hours had gone by since the little group had set off through the canyons and deserts of northern Sedo, but beyond small, half-dried out herbs here and there, they hadn't found anything substantial enough to warrant the expedition in the first place. It was a bit disconcerting, the general lack of plant life of any kind, even in the cooler canyons and crevices they had traversed early in the trip - places where the sun was not as harsh and water tended to pool. Verse was truly surprised to see so little of anything; had the drought truly been so bad as to cause even the greenery in the canyons to wither and die? Her depressing train of thought was interrupted as Taeith stopped, heralding a moment's pause in their journey, as she checked in with everyone. As affirmatives flowed around the winged roan like soft breezes in the fields, she was caught off guards by a powerful surge of wind, a wild gust that kicked up sand, cooled her hot, sweaty coat, and sent her curly mane and tail waving about. It was a welcome relief from the sun high overhead, and the pegasus half-mantled her wings, catching the gust beneath them and cooling even the thickly feathered limbs. Verse picked up her head, cobalt eyes slowly blinking in intrigue as the wind subsided. She wasn't an entirely religious creature, the chestnut mare, but she had the strangest feeling that something... someone, was in the wind. It had felt like the breeze was saying, 'Don't give up; you're almost there.'

She about jumped as Leviticus spoke, having been too lost in thought to see the heavy hoof coming. The pegasus almost immediately looked down at his hooves, curly mane falling into her face and obscuring one eye. "Ah... no, it's-it's alright," The roan said softly, smiling politely from behind her mane. "I just hadn't been expecting your voice to be so... powerful." She floundered a little under his gaze, unsure of what else to say. His smirk made her blush, and the idea that he wanted to make it up to her made her blush harder. Alya above, she couldn't avoid the social aspect of this group without flying away - and that would be entirely rude, not to mention that they were supposed to be a team. It wouldn't be right of her to run away just because being social made her nervous.

Verse glanced at the rest of the group from her spot beside Antonio, ears flicking around as if to catch a sound as the bay appaloosa asked one of the more important questions of the day. What were they to expect to see in the forests? Her head rose a bit higher as she realized she could answer part of that question. "W-Well..." She started softly, blinking a few times while her gaze lengthened, as if she was looking far, far away. "It depends on... on where in the forests you are. Elevation varies significantly across them, and with that the flora and fauna; the trees themselves vary from pine to juniper, conifer, and aspen; the lower elevations are predominately grasslands and shrubby foliage, things that are drought tolerant; and areas closer to the river, gulf, and ocean range from freshwater to saltwater wetlands, with ferns, wildflowers, and mosses." Cobalt gaze shifted to the right as she recalled what else she could, thoughtfully looking through any who might be in that line of sight and tilting her head left, sweeping her mane out of her face. "I've read there are even hanging gardens in the sandstone canyons close to the river... but I don't know much beyond the plants." She hadn't a clue, for example, about the fauna that inhabited the area - and the mixed forests could easily house vagabonds of varying sorts, predatory familiars, or other dangerous creatures.

Wait... where were they? The pegasus's brow furrowed as her vision refocused, and she looked around them, taking in the general lack of scenery. It was just barren desert here! She squinted towards the eastern horizon, and then towards the western horizon, looking for silhouettes of northernmost Sedo's plateaus and the trees that lined them, at least... and was surprised to only see tall dunes and desert. Verse raised an eyebrow, and then looked to the east again. The northern vicinity of their predominately desert home was supposed to be craggy - mountainous, with several valleys and plateaus, lined with trees and split by the Niurros River, which split off into smaller estuaries before emptying into the ocean off Sedo's western coast - or, at least, that was what the northern most western side should look like. Perhaps they had gone too far east? That seemed the most plausible, as the eastern side of northern Sedo leveled off into desert up to the shores of the Southern Gulf; and then turning south took one back into the plateaus, mountains, and huge valley that made up God's Landing.

The pegasus imagined if they made it there before nightfall, they would be okay to stay the evening if necessary. They could pick out a safe spot for the night with light available...

She looked back at the group and almost immediately blushed, her wings pulling tight to her sides. Good job Verse, suddenly talk up an elaborate storm about plants in the north and then seem completely confused and look around like a crazy person. "Um... oh, I'm sorry..." She apologized widely, head dropping a notch or two, causing her mane to once again obscure an eye. "I... uh... I don't... err... I also think we might be a little... a little farther east than we want to be." The roan quietly wished she might be able to shrink, or disappear... anything to get out of the spotlight again... but she had already put it out there that they might be a bit off course - there wasn't a way to turn back now. "If... if you'd like... I could fly up and... and look for larger landmarks we can't see from... from the ground?" This she directed at Taeith, her gaze caught somewhere between a question and an apology.

Post Count: 2
Word Count: 1185
<3 Seele! I don't think anyone minds. x3
Plant information from here, as the map said the uppermost areas of Sedo look like Zion National Park. C:
Also gosh Verse, you've been made into overly nervous comic relief. Good job darling. xD

Antonio couldn't help but be distracted by the conversation between Leviticus and Verse. A gentle smile came across his face as he watched Verse act almost identically to how she had when he had first approached her. She certainly was an interesting mare..

Antonio listened intently, before his train of thought was interrupted by the gust of wind. It was extremely soothing, and he shook his body in an attempt to dry off and fully enjoy the rarity. Unfortunately for Toni, all that seemed to do was make his coat curl the slightest bit. He quickly refocused, surprised to see Verse share so much. He was pretty sure that was the most he'd ever heard her say at one time. He continued to watch Verse while he listened to Taeith speak, a small amused smile creeping onto his face as the pegasus squinted and looked around.

The smile disappeared when the group realized they had gone off course. It certainly put a bit of a damper on things, but it was a harmless mistake. "Don't worry, it's nothing that can't be fixed." He said, smiling. "While we have this free time, I don't believe I've met you all. If you don't mind, I'd like to learn more about each of you. After all, we are going to be together for a couple days at the least." He looked at the group, giving each a grin. Perhaps getting a conversation going between the group would keep things from getting tense again.

>Post: 3 | WC: 250<

Levi would tilt his head slightly to the side as Verse almost jumped at him apologizing for earlier. If he ever needed a confidence boost she would be one to visit. He gave her a smug smirk “My voice has to match the body.” It be odd for a large horse to have a small or tiny voice. He also liked that if his voice is powerful so is he. He saw her blush and gave a quiet soundless chuckle. “if you blush now, imagine a handsome stallion complimenting how pretty you look” he throw that little idea out there. Then smile a bit of flirting wouldn’t hurt right. It wouldn't interfere. Trying to loosen the mood.

He would listen as she talked about the flora and fauna. What might grow there. His gaze went to Taeith. He would give his left hooves a rest as he leaned on his right side. He wasn’t comfortable to lay down and take all the weight from his legs. He looked at the younger horse that was down and laying. Was the kid going to be alright or would they have to find a way to carry him back. His blue eyes looked at him as he contemplated if he should ask if he needs some sort of assistance. He wasn’t in the mood to be dragging dead weight either. His ears perked up as he was hearing that they might be off course a bit his head lifted to look to the west. That was a slightly disappointing that they were but pleased the caught it now and not hours and miles down the road. He would give a soft hum. Mistakes happen and he wouldn’t judge too harshly.

He didnt know much about gems or stones. They weren’t in his field of work nor did he acquire them a lot. They were for special occasions and handy to gain goods. He softly shook his head about polished sand stone. His knees made a small cracking noise as he switched legs to lean on. He blinked at Taeith as she paused in mid story. Enjoying the down time for the moment and the sharing of knowledge. He would move a few steps out of the way for Verse to take off not wanting to be hit with wings. Though he wondered what they felt like. Were they soft or hard. Ayla’s creations always puzzled him. His head turned to Antonio as he wanted to possibly get to know everyone.

“Names Leviticus or Levi I like to spar heavily on my off times.….” He was trying to think what to say as Tore spoke up. Which helped as it would give him more options on what antonio was interested in.

Post 3 ||| WC 463

Hearing Antonio easily forgive her mistake of leading the group off course, Taeith let out a soft sigh and gave him a smile. She liked his idea of getting to know one another better, especially if they were going to be spending quite some time with one another. Being in such a large and normally nomadic herd, it was always a good thing to make acquaintances with those you met. It would be easier to trade or make deals with those you knew and got along with.

Tae glanced at Tore, noticing how the sun had bothered him. He was the only one taking full advantage of this resting moment and she didn’t blame him. She remembered her first venture out with her parents and how quickly she tired. It was an interesting thing to see now how adjusted she was to wandering the hot landscape of her home. While the others conversed and they waited for Verse to check on their location, Tae reached her head back to her bag and opened it, shifting through the small amount of supplies she had normally packed in it. When her nose brushed against glass, she gripped it and pulled out a bottle of water. She wasn’t sure how long the water had been in the bottle, but there was enough for everyone to have one sip.

Putting it down in front of Tore, she pulled the cork off the top for him. “Here, you can have the first sip. Everyone should be able to have a drink before it is empty. It might be awhile before we get access to water again.”

Levi and Antonio had just finished introducing themselves by that point and Tae guessed it was her turn. “It is a pleasure to meet you both. As you know, my name is Taeith and my rank is gatherer. While I do know the basics that we were all supposed to learn, I specialize in finding gems and other special rocks. I hope to travel outside of Sedo one day and sell my finds in Valore. But, until then, I’m just collecting as I go.”

>Post: 4 | WC: 355<
ooc: I was waiting on Dovebite to make a post, but it's been a few days so I hope you don't mind ><;

Verse :: Pegasus :: Seroran Planter

At Taeith's behest, Verse sort of shuffled off away from the group, who took the time to rest and get better acquainted. She was glad for the reprieve - it was almost heart-stopping for the roan to be in the spotlight for so long at a time. Leviticus stepped away as well, giving her room to spread her massive falcon-like wings. Feathery limbs rose into the air and fell to the ground again as the Orlov Trotter pushed herself off the ground. A few wingbeats later and she was well off the ground, leaving her group to grow smaller and smaller as she rose up into the embrace of the sky above.

This was where she felt the most comfortable, away from everything and lost in the winds of Alya, twisting and twirling about as if she were lighter than air and higher than a queen. Blue gaze cast out across the desert in all directions as she spun up into the light of day, looking for locations that marked their bearings. To the north there was mostly just more desert, though as she rose higher and squinted on, she could see greater concentrations of plant life - presumably the beginnings of a grassland. Cobalt gaze swung to the east, and as Verse had expected, there stretched the Southern Gulf - a huge body of sparkling blue water that couldn't be much more than a few miles away as the crow flew. A trip she could easily make in a half hour or so - the horses on the ground, however, would take a bit longer.

Verse frowned and stared back towards the North again, and then the west, looking for signs of the road they were supposed to be following out to the forests. She squinted at the half-buried trail, and thoughtfully chewed on her tongue. The best way to make the road more obvious would be to use herself as a marker; there weren't many other landmarks to go by, and upon landing it would be far harder to find the road. She looked down at her comrades, and rather than shouting over the loud, swirling wind around her, took it upon herself to simply move in paces. She banked to the left - one, two, three... four wingbeats over - and then flew forward - one, two, three, four, five... she measured out seven wingbeats before settling in on a thermal just shy of a more visible part of the road. Pacing wingbeats was relatively simple - but Verse knew it was far faster than walking, so she took a moment to calculate hoofsteps before she dropped from the sky, landing at the visible part of the road and looking around. Red rocks rose from the ground to her right, but they were too far away to really use as landmarks, and any plant life here was short and stubby.

Surely there was something she could use to make this more obvious... frowning, Verse dug at the ground a bit and made a few parallel lines at the road, and sighed. These would likely blow away. She needed something heavier - and then she spotted a decently sized rock half buried in the sand. It was black, and very obvious against the light sand. A smile lightly crossed her face and she took to digging the rock out, leveraging her hooves against it with her wings out as balance until the decently sized thing came out of its hole, and Verse let it fall onto the barren earth. After some shoving, the rock was planted smack dab in the middle of the road - and as she squinted back down at it from the air, she decided it would be obvious enough to help them get back on track, as long as she kept her eyes out and about as well.

The roan appaloosa returned to the group, and carefully landed near them, shaking out her wings and glad for the chance to cool off and stretch her wings. She then sidled over to Taeith, head lowering again, and she quietly relayed what she had seen and paced. "We... we are a little far off, but not too much so; I-I marked the road with a large black rock to... to help us find it from down here." She offered the gatherer a gentle smile and when given the chance, slipped back into the ranks, at first moving back to her hiding spot beside Antonio, but pausing as she noticed the Unicorn male laying on the ground.

She had thought their young unicorn companion seemed to be having issues with the sun earlier, and as much as he was trying to cover himself with his long white tail now, that was well-confirmed. She wondered if he was prone to sunburn - it seemed plausible given his pure white markings - and so she quietly and carefully, so as to not take anyone out with the muscled limbs, stretched a wing over him, almost immediately introducing portable shade. "Um... are you prone to burning?" Tore was only a hand shorter than she was when standing, which meant she probably couldn't do this after they got going again, but, as she rummaged in her saddlebags, she found she still had a light blanket stashed in there; something he could throw over his back to keep the sun off, as long as he could stand the bit of extra heat. "I have a-a blanket you could borrow, if you like..." Though she wasn't one for social interaction, she really wasn't one to see anyone suffer, even if she wasn't terribly familiar with them.

After a bit more conversation, the group seemed ready to move along, and Verse made sure to keep her eyes up and around them this time, especially since she had seen the lay of the land, and the rest of them hadn't. It wouldn't be long now - they would probably make it to their destination before dark at this rate, and have some time to look around before sight failed them. With any luck, they could even have time to set up a safe place to sleep before nightfall.

Post Count: 3
Word Count: 1020
GAH, I'm sorry this took so long! Things got crazy busy all of a sudden - I'm currently unemployed, but the past week or two heralded a sudden rush of interviews, lol.
Anyway, since our next prompt is up, I did a short wrap up at the end there, so Leaftail can sort of open up the next string of movements/finding the treasure trove of food and get us to where the prompt is. :3
(I imagine since you're the leader, Leaf, they won't mind if you're a post early, or if you count the new prompt as one of the two posts between yours.)

Leviticus was trying to least listen to the others and rest his feet rotating on different ones at the time. He would listen to Antonio as he was a planter and spoke of his siblings. "big family. I sadly dont have that luxury" he would comment not to sound bad just that he didnt know what it was like to have a big family. He would like to search for his father that left but he didn't have the heart to leave the herd. They needed protection. He would roll his shoulders. Then looked up as Verse came flying down. He wondered what it was like to fly. It must be very refreshing. Though as he saw her he would look at Tae offering a drink from the bottle. He would wait and when no one went for it he would move and take a sip from it. But let others take it. He wanted more water and it would be soaked up fast. He exhaled at the taste that soon left his pallet. The thirst was heavy but he would have to wait.

Tae said to move out he was stepping forward. Making sure all the horses came. Especially the smaller one "You need help?" he questioned. He would help him up if he needed. Then follow behind the back of the herd. His ears swivled around and his eyes watchful. As they walked to the black rock he could tell the sand differance and walking on this at his size will be much easier for him and less taxing. Hopefully he wont be over worked. He would pick up the pace as they went. He would keep in the back. Checking up on others. But his head raises to look around the herd. He didn't need things sneaking up on them. "I'll run ahead" he would move up besides Tae and spoke softly. Then he would trot faster ahead to make sure there wasn't any danger. He though would see green coming close as he would trot faster.

Swinging around he would head back he didn't travel to far from them they definately could see them. He would gallop back to quicken the short distance. His face looked happy and full of good news. His hooves seem make the ground viberate. "Taeith. I have good news there is green up ahead we should be there in no time. Theres alot of it" he would move around the herd. His tail high and very excited. The herd might have food in no time. He was very happy that there might be water as well as food. The herd might not starve from the lack of food. He smirked. "You got us to the place."he would walk besides her. He looked behind him at the others. He hoped they are as excited as he was. he wouldn't act like a young foal getting a present. He kept himself mostly calm and tried not to do a outburst. No one needed large hooves flying everywhere.

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