[Quest] The Little Prince

[Regis]

"I am the one thing in life I can control. I am inimitable, I am an original."

Even with the fires finally doused and the remainder of their home saved, Regis had been made to stay within the citadel walls for a couple days afterward as the worst of the smoke cleared out. As the fires raged, he had been overcome with a harsh, debilitating cough that had nearly caused his legs to buckle more than once. His too-thin frame quaked with each one, but there was little that could be done outside of leaving Delumine entirely – a venture that, honestly, he might not be able to make given his progressively declining state.

But as the days passed and the smoke cleared away, Regis had practically begged to go outside, missing the warmth of the sun against his tawny skin and the tickle of wind in his mane. The air still wasn’t what it had once been, but it was fresher than it had been in what felt like weeks. Following his parents outside, the little Prince was content to stand between them and revel in the freedom of finally being out of the citadel. It was difficult to look out across their home and see the destruction, the black scorch marks and smoldering trees replacing once green, thriving forests and wiping out a majority of their lush, rolling fields. Regis frowned as he thought of all the animals that also called Delumine home, like the birds, deer, and butterflies he liked to watch so much. Had they been scared, too? Were they okay? His childish innocence liked to believe that they were.

After a short nap sprawled out in the grass which still surrounding the citadel, Regis awoke when one of the strands wiggled against his nostril and caused him to sneeze. Lifting his head, the disoriented dun colt shook his head, enjoying his bath in the sun for a moment longer before rising. If he were lucky, he had another hour before his worried parents would herd him back inside, and for as frail as he had grown, Regis’ youthful urge to just play was sometimes difficult to ignore.

Without anyone of a similar age in Delumine, Regis had grown used to figuring out how to play by himself and allow his imagination to run wild. His favorite thing to do by far was to imitate the adults he spent so much of his time around, attempting his very best to show that he, too, was just as strong and capable as they were. His back was somewhat hunched as he trotted to the first stick he could find, the movement no longer fluid like it had once been and instead rather stiff with obvious discomfort. His lonely play sessions never lasted long anymore, his body taxing after just a short while, but there was only so much standing or laying around he could do.

Stick grasped between his teeth, the dun wrenched his head to one side as though swiping at some invisible foe, his front legs striking out. Then he turned, backing up a few steps to kick out in the same direction. Craning his neck closer to his chest, Regis shook his head back and forth as he paced forward a few steps in preparation to launch his next attack, which he did in as quick a motion as he could manage. But just when he went to jab his stick forward toward his enemy, the colt opened his eyes to see that he suddenly wasn’t alone. Thrusting his front legs out in front of himself, Regis looked on with wide eyes at his newfound companion, brief confusion almost instantly turning to glee when he spotted the stick in the teeth of the fox.

A grin spread wide across his maw, and with a childish laugh that hadn’t left him in well over a month, Regis charged forward with great care, dancing around the fox as he attempted to strike his stick against the other.

”Speech”

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@Random Events
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aimless | odeen