I'm ready to bleed to make amends And sleep in this dirt we call our bed So tell me your secrets And join me in pieces
To fall and rewrite the bitter end
He was learning to explore this new much flatter land. There were areas with cliffs and water and such. But there was so much more open space. He could run, he could be free. He could almost pretend he was flying. Flying along the ground flapping his useless ragged wings. Damaged feathers following behind him. He practiced extending his wings, and pushing his skull forwards pointing his short stubby horns forwards. He would heal, he would get stronger.
He had no desire to return to the herd. They had never appreciated him, their lack of parental warmth had not built an attachment. It was as good here as anywhere else. His flesh still burnt clung to his skin like an undersized coat. He was a sooty winged mess. Occasionally he would cough and still hack up a chunk of dust or ash. But slowly his lungs were feeling stronger.
The lush grass felt slippery beneath his hooves, he was so used to running on broken rock and gravel. Where or why he was running he wasn’t entirely sure. It just felt so good to stretch out and go fast!
ooc: @Pangaea
01-04-2022, 02:36 AM - This post was last modified: 01-09-2022, 10:18 PM by Aeon
everybody in the world are you with me?
it's too late to try to run, we run the city
it's my time, it's your time
Her eyes were shut tight, as if the lack of light could convince her that everything was a dream. Not just the injury, and stomach that was growling, but everything. All the way back to when she was back in her own world. Her pack would be around her, waiting for her to finally wake up. Some fighting over scraps of meat, others merely nosing around the underbrush. He would still be there, his muzzle brushing down her spine and whispering for her to wake up so they could go hunt. Duellum would be bounding in excitement at the idea of a hunt, not missing and unreachable. Everything would be right again.
A fly buzzed, landing on the frayed flesh of the deep wounds on her hind legs, and her eyes snapped open as she hissed in pain, snarling and snapping her muzzle at the wayward insect. Pangaea's stomach immediately rumbled, as if recognizing her state as being aware once more, and she was forced to sigh and accept the reality for what it was, again. She rolled to her feet, sneering with deep pain as she was forced to put weight on the wounded back legs, before favoring the more heavily marked limb of the two, carefully lifting her limb and relieving the pressure from where the bite marks tore across her ankle joint.
Her gaze instantly lifted around, searching for a potential bite to eat. It was perhaps by luck that the bird flew past her head at just the right moment. The combination of raising her wing to distract the bird, and the quick snap of her jaws had the lucky find being swiftly swallowed, strong teeth crushing bones, even as she hacked up feathers. It wasn't much, but it settled her enough for the time being.
It helped to clear her thoughts as well, which is likely the only reason she saw the bullet of a colt heading her way. A few graceful moves had her wings lifting her in the air, out of the path of the quickly moving colt, "Watch where you are going!" The words were spoken with a gravely aggression, yellow, reptilian eyes slitted into a glare as she stared down at the colt, "You should know better to run blinding through an area, that's how you trample others."
She landed back onto the ground, wincing with a hiss as her limbs almost buckled beneath her, the landing being a jolt to much. She swiftly allowed herself to lay back down with all the dignity she could muster, tongue licking over the wounded marks as a predator might do to clean a wound, before her cold gaze turned back onto the odd winged colt, not yet grown into his wings, nor his horns. The predatory saurian stared down at him, snorting in annoyance. These mammals and their children. How reckless.
held me down, now it's don't-give-a-fuck time
"Speech" Thoughts
@Aeon Notes: Grumpy Pan for you.
it's go time, it's show time
sing it with me everybody, let's go
I'm ready to bleed to make amends And sleep in this dirt we call our bed So tell me your secrets And join me in pieces
To fall and rewrite the bitter end
His red eyes opened with the sudden speech in front of him, he skidded pushing his hind legs beneath him. Sending clumps of the lush earth flying as he steadied himself. This was a new maneuver for Aeon, it felt interesting and thrilling all on its own. He stretched his wings in a best attempt to keep his balance. His proportions gave away his youth, his body still growing into its features. He was already increasing in strength and capability, it would not be long until he would be a formidable stallion. His training could really use more work, much of his youth had been spent exploring and fending for himself. His survival skills were well and truly honed, however those of battle were pretty lacking due to not having experienced it first hand.
His herd often warred and fought, but only those of stature had anything worth fighting for. Aeon was squarely in the bottom rung due to his inability to fly. His ragged wings weren’t going to be able to support his weight anytime soon. He needed a wing growth spurt and for his feathers to regrow in anew.
Yellow reptile eyes with different pupils met his own. Her expression made him think he had annoyed her. “It takes two to cause a collision,” he said with a soft snort, he then noticed the way she was moving that she was injured. He wondered what had happened to her, how she came to be here. His own flesh still stung where it was peeling and healing. “But you are correct, running with my eyes closed isn’t very wise. But it is thrilling to give in to that desire.” He shifted his large hooves and tossed his head playfully.
“You should rest a while and graze, the dusk court is welcoming to all in need.” he said softly, recalling how kind Buckys had been to him on his arrival. Well if one could call flopping down backwards on these grasses an arrival. How long he had laid in that position not daring to move. “I’m Aeon, Is there anything I can do to give you assistance?” he added as a follow up question.
everybody in the world are you with me?
it's too late to try to run, we run the city
it's my time, it's your time
The colt's eyes snapped open, and Pangaea's muzzle twisted as he seemed to skid to a stop. His hind legs thrust so heavily into the ground that he was sending up clumps of the prairie grasses. The predator stepped further to the side, half turning her body with care to ensure no lumps of dirt and weed would cling to the tender wounds. His wings, mediocre and useless as they were in his youth, were spread to keep him balanced. Had Pangaea not been in such a dour mood, she may have found the entire thing comical. Instead, she found herself rolling her eyes at what she perceived to be unnecessary theatrics.
The colt's eyes then turned up towards her, and his snort and words had her narrowing her eyes, "Two may take part in the collision, but it is typically on the fault of one. Do not blame me because you felt it a good idea to run with out caring what was around you." Her teeth ground in annoyance, the fangs on display; when he admitted that he had been running with his eyes closed, "YOU WERE RUNNING WITH YOUR EYES CLOSED?!" Her words had reached a higher octave, but this time it was less about aggression and more about disbelief.
"You foolish child! Do you not realize how dangerous that could have been in a prairie such as this! Never mind others in the area, what if you had found a rock, or a compy hole . . . er, burrower's hole to trip in! You could have twisted an ankle, broken a leg!" It was like a switch, and for a moment, Pangaea could almost pretend it was her little brother she was lecturing. Instead, her ears were pinned, and she mentally shooed that image away, "You are lucky you did not seriously injure yourself or me." She finished with a growl
His next words, however, startled her, and she snorted once, "I do not graze on grasses as you herbivores do." She retorted simply, "And I do not need anyone trying to 'take me in.' I am perfectly capable of caring for myself. I've done it since I was hatched." She rolled her eyes as she carefully switched her weight, trying to ease as much pressure off her back legs as possible, "Again, I am perfectly able to take care of myself, I do not need assistance." She grumbled, ignoring the tightening of a stomach that hadn't fed properly in a while, "My name is Pangaea." She added, if only to try and pretend she could be polite.
I'm ready to bleed to make amends And sleep in this dirt we call our bed So tell me your secrets And join me in pieces
To fall and rewrite the bitter end
The shouting and anger kinda just washed over him. This was nothing unusual. This was how adults he was accustomed to acted. Clearly this was a creature of confidence, bravery and some importance. “Yes Pangaea, I'll be more careful next time.” spoken with as much sincerity as he could muster, he was largely de-conditioned to respond to raised voices. This was how the elders at home expected him to respond, anything else would result in a beating. Not that he was very good at always following directions. He however did not look forward to seeing what kind of beating she could dish out with those claws!
His mind reeled back to something she said. “Wait, you hatched?” he asked slightly flustered. “From an egg?” he added with a soft rasp. He had never seen a foal born, but he’d seen pregnant mares before. He’d never seen any of them lay an egg to protect. His young mind tried to put the pieces together, looking at her and thinking back over the short collection of experiences until now. Surely, mares don’t lay eggs that later hatch into horses? Surely he didn’t come from an egg? Maybe he did come from an egg, and he was actually from a different clan and that's why he couldn’t fly like the others? “Do we all come from eggs?” he added, tilting his head slightly.
“Maybe you can show me what you like to eat? I'm always hungry lately!” he said excitedly. He had in his vision that she had some other unknown tasty food source. He had been constantly hungry, it was a lot of work to get in the amount of grass to feed his growing young body. He was practically vibrating with excitement. Food was one thing Aeon had always enjoyed. Back at home he had always had to forage on his own to stay full. Often finding himself scraping moss off rocks, different grasses, sampling little bits of everything. Sometimes it resulted in an upset stomach, but often most things agreed with him.
everybody in the world are you with me?
it's too late to try to run, we run the city
it's my time, it's your time
The saurian equine had no idea what to make of this kid. If anything he was the exact opposite of what she was used to. No running, screaming about a scary monster with a face full of fangs that wanted to eat them. Instead, this little runt was quick to apologize and promise to be more careful next time. A tone that seemed too practice to be true sincerity. How often had he gotten in trouble in the past to be able to speak so quickly with a 'yes ma'am, no sir?' Pangaea snorted, "See to it you do." She merely grumbled in response before blinking at his reaction.
Oh right, that might not be normal for these beings. Pangaea snorted, a rough sound, "Yes, I hatched. From an egg." She repeated, not entirely sure how to even go into it, before she literally balked at his next question. Ah hell no, she wasn't havin' no birds and bees talk with someone else's kid! "No, I am a different species. My species comes from eggs. Yours do not." She retorted, leaving it there, praying, oh how she started to pray to anything that would listen, that he wouldn't ask where babies of his species came from. Dear gods, don't let that be her future.
And then he asked her about food, and again she froze, confused, turning to stare at him, "You won't like the things I want to eat." She retorted simply, before very carefully motioning for him to follow, "I do not eat grass, like most of you horses do. It's not very good to me. I typically eat meat. Which you likely aren't able to. However, my kind do eat berries, fruits and vegetables, so perhaps you could try some of those?" She offered awkwardly, walking to point to some of the nearby fruit, being very careful with her wounded limbs, "Unfortunately, my body needs meat at the moment, not snacks."
I'm ready to bleed to make amends And sleep in this dirt we call our bed So tell me your secrets And join me in pieces
To fall and rewrite the bitter end
Some come from eggs, some come directly from their mothers he assumed. This clarified things a little in his brain. “It must have been a big egg!” he remarked in passing with a chuckle. “Do you eat eggs?” He had seen some creatures seemingly looking for bird eggs and eating those. They had a yolky inside that some seemed to enjoy. The entire process of obtaining eggs was too much effort for the reward; not to mention the smell and mess they made.
He followed behind her when she motioned, his soft muzzle nibbling at the ground level to pick up the berries from the bushes. It popped in his mouth between his teeth. Acidic and tart. This was a taste he wasn’t familiar with. He rolled it in his mouth trying to strip the flesh finding the stone within. Awkwardly he tried to roll the stone from his mouth looking at it as it plopped to the ground between his hooves. It was hard and round, with curiosity he pushed his hoof into it seeing it only sink into the ground. Picking up another he repeated the process but this time bit the hard inner between his teeth before spitting it out to observe what was inside. A mushy mess of fibers. That part wasn’t edible it seemed.
Without realizing it he had started to shift towards moving past her, towards the tree line. His nose on the ground fumbling and exploring. He looked up to find himself standing at the tree line. Staring back at him were brown eyes, a pair of tusks with four legs. The creature was stamping the ground in challenge, preparing to charge. His instincts were taking over, he had fought many creatures in his homeland to defend himself. It wasn’t like any of the other creatures at home, but it had the same basic structures. He was definitely wired more to fight than flee.
He flipped in a smooth practiced motion and pointed his rear at the now charging animal. He quickly snapped his back hoof towards the creature's head, aiming to hit it square with force. This approach stopped the creature getting too close and delivered a quick end for the creature. Feeling a connection of hoof to flesh he snorted breathlessly and charged with adrenaline “I think I found you a snack.”
everybody in the world are you with me?
it's too late to try to run, we run the city
it's my time, it's your time
The mare narrowed her eyes at the way the colt seemed to just perk up about what a big egg it would have needed to be, scoffing, "Not that large, but I suppose larger than most bird eggs. My species are relatively small when we are first hatched. But we grow quickly." She stated, before tilting her head when he asked about eating eggs. The mare was silent for a moment, "I have . . . never tried to eat eggs. I'm not sure if there would be enough in one to be satisfactory." She commented. She needed a lot of protein and carbs to function properly.
The mare tilted her head as she motioned for him to follow, watching him out of the corner of the eye as he numbled at different things. It almost startled a laugh from her when he attempted to eat the seed from within the piece of fruit, "That is the seed." She commented, when he had stared at the fibery, mushy mess. "If you press it between the ground, cover it up." From where he had already sank it into the ground, one of her claws snapped out, digging the soil up around it, "There is a chance for a new plant to grow from it, filled with more of the fruits." She stated.
She watched, her narrowed, reptilian gaze observing as he fumbled around along the ground, through the trees. It wasn't until she heard the stamping on the ground, the huff of a challenger that the mare suddenly was moving. Her expression was calm, but inside she felt a twist in her gut. The small creature, tusks from it's muzzle was likely to be no serious threat, once she had seen it, but . . . you never knew what was out there. Before she could close the distance however, the growing colt had spun, struck out, and the animal was down in moments. The mare pausesd, snorting before approaching at his comment of a snack. "You're lucky. These normally travel in groups." She commented dryly, even as she lifted her lesser injured hind leg, digging claws through the belly of the beast.
Her muzzle snapped down, razor sharp teeth cutting into the meat, and she could of collapsed in relief at the knowledge this kid likely had no idea he had saved her from a slow starvation. Instead she swallowed the chunk of flesh to look up at him, gaze slow, observing, "Thank you." She stated, as if her emancipated form and injuries keeping her from hunting properly weren't on display, "So . . . why do you look like you tried to outrun a volcano?" She added as she dug back into the surprise meal.
held me down, now it's don't-give-a-fuck time
"Speech" Thoughts
@Aeon Notes: She just be like 'huh, kid can hunt?'
it's go time, it's show time
sing it with me everybody, let's go
I'm ready to bleed to make amends And sleep in this dirt we call our bed So tell me your secrets And join me in pieces
To fall and rewrite the bitter end
He felt alive and it was exhilarating! He snorted softly back at her, “It looks different to others I have fought, but made of the same parts. What do you call it?” It had been a rough first few years as he had learnt what kind of creatures were aggressive and which were herbivores.
He watched her eat, subconsciously guarding her in her vulnerable moments. Her teeth were both fascinating and disconcerting, he hadn’t taken much notice of them until now. It however did make sense that creatures that ate flesh needed sharp teeth.
He watched her claws ripping open the belly of the tusked snorting creature. He hadn’t seen much of the inside of other animals before, this brief glimpse inside was interesting. He knew that life stopped when blood was drained, or certain body parts no longer functioned. But the inside functioning otherwise remained a mystery. The scent of the kill, of spilled blood was something he wasn’t entirely familiar with. Metallic and aromatic, mixed with the scent of the 4 legged snorter. He had killed creatures before in self defense, but this was different. It seemed a worthwhile venture if it sustained her hunger, much in the same way as other predators had to hunt to live.
It gave Aeon a unique feeling when she thanked him. It wasn’t often that he had been given the opportunity for this kind of interaction. To be useful and use his strength productively. A capability that would flourish further as his body matured.
Her next question broke his moment of observation. “I angered the mountain and she evicted us with fire and vengeance. Some others have told me that it might not be my fault - but I find that hard to believe” he admitted with a soft huff. “Being unable to fly, I tumbled down the volcano and got charred on the way down. I landed right in this field.” It was an embarrassing thing to recall. There was no sense in hiding it. His appearance would make it plain as day to anyone that something had happened.
everybody in the world are you with me?
it's too late to try to run, we run the city
it's my time, it's your time
The Saurian mare tilted her head when he snorted, commenting that it looked different before asking what it was called. She paused, tilting her head, before responding simply. "I'm not sure, it looks like a dinohyus, but it's teeth are all wrong." She stated as she observed her meal, "I'm not from here, kid; so don't ask me." She added by explination, and for a moment her features shifted, falling. Remembering her home, the world she'd come from. Thick, humid jungles, where the reptiles and reptile-hybrids, such as herself survived in a world that made so much more sense.
Where it was eat, or be eaten. Where she knew her purpose. She knew her goal, she knew who she was. Where she raced Duellum between trees, or they fought over random carcasses of compys, or proto-ceratopsians. She sighed with a rough shake of her head, and instead dug back into the meal, trying to avoid the disgusting fur that would clog up her insides and instead flashing fangs and canines as she tore chunks from the innards, before snapping down the heart as a rare treat.
Not like the kid could have eaten it anyways. She did have enough manners to thank him, before she'd asked about his condition. Her head lifted slowly, the pebbled hide on her muzzle and chin tinged red, "You angered a mountain? Evicted you with . . . fire?" She was quiet for a long moment, "Kid, it sounds like you got caught on the wrong end of a volcanic explosition. Did this mountain have a hole at the top, with bubbly red stuff inside? When it cast out fire, was it filled with hot red balls of rock, and clouds of ash and smoke? So dark it could block out the sun?" She finally asked.
This was something she knew well. Such things were common where she came from. "If it was anything like that kid, it wasn't your fault. Those things just go off. Built up pressure under ground. Eventually they start to shake the ground every so often, might occassional start to puff smoke into the air, and finally, they blow their top. It's normal, natural even. Can't tell you how many times I've gotten caught on the wrong end and had to outrun lava flows." She added, before glancing at him, "You're rather lucky to have gotten out of it in relatively one piece, but trust me kid, I know a thing or two about those explositions. There ain't no way that's your fault. Not unless you were chucking rocks and stuff into the volcano and busted it's cap."
Kids these days, wanting to take credit for everything.
held me down, now it's don't-give-a-fuck time
"Speech" Thoughts
@Aeon Notes: She's just like 'you think you cause a volcano to explode, don't give yourself that much credit, kid.'
it's go time, it's show time
sing it with me everybody, let's go
