(Fauxbreath: //Half her face went on vacation to another dimension, her coat is literary designed to be hard to look at for long.
Nikita: Ohoho, beautiful mare!! Absolutely glorious!! We have no choice but to stan. :)

Ma'am has eighter been underground for soo long that her aesthetic gaze had paled and died off or she just Vibes with swamp things and demons, good for her. :D

Apologies for the lateness, holiday craziness is in full swing! The writing here is shoddy at best, but the important part is telling you all that I'm alive. There's a specific emotion I am definitely going for,, but I do not know what that I just yet, so Destriers moods are going to flip-flop for a while. I miight be accidentally placing my own mental illnesses and the train of thoughts on him, oops- Not a lot of actual movement in this one but it is nearly 2:00 and m'sleepy.)


Destrier Tymian & Fauxbreath

There was a folk song on the tip of his tongue, as natural to him as Fauxbreaths trot. They always sang while on the move, be it through the red sands of his birthplace or the rocky outcrops of the country he never got to see. Every silly ditty about long-forgotten cities, castles, and marketplaces a loving goodbye to the land that hosted them and their plagued blessing of inability to ever stay forever.
The pauses were filled with a chorus of belled zebroids and the harmonicas of the bravest amongst them, the drinking songs transformed into a stampede that spurred forward both the hiding prey and their own cattle.

All those songs were from the dead time that was kept alive only through them. They created new ones in their life, about horses and everchanging skies, but only the old ones were theirs to their very core, staying in heart of every child and half-gone elder while everything else was taken up by the constant change.

These people don't know about their existence, nor know the language for that matter, but even now he found himself waiting for the first verse. And because of Faux's clear discomfort, it would forever be left at that.

Her pace was its usual, bumpy but calm sorts, but Destrier could feel how some of her hooves landed harder than they should, the sand raising up into the air and dancing around her hoof like an overly excited puppy before settling down. She's testing the sand to avoid any surprises if she had to call upon her construction, but it also served as a constant reminder to the wolf to continue keeping his strict distance.
But there's no baring of teeth, no swipe with a threat of depriving the wolf of his ear. There's someone behind her and Destrier has been told to look forward instead.
Destrier should be glad for the newly found restrain, but that's precisely the thing. It's newly found, alien. Her ears were turned backward to listen for the movement of the girl behind them, but they were pinned to her neck in the equivalent of a human grinding their teeth, suppressing all they know to keep an unbroken poker face.

They won't be staying, how could they? There's no reason to sing when you won't ever be there to do it again- And for something soo impermanent, was is truly worth forcing Fauxbreath underground, among hounds and wandering hands, let her simmer down to a trail horse?

His rein-holding hand shook with barely restained want to guide Fauxbreath sharply to the side, away from the counterfeit herd and into the desert that might be slowly suffocating him but kept Faux's fire as bright as it deserved to be. Noticing the snake's trails was a happy distraction from his soaring resentment at allowing her to pay for him being once again swept away in stealing moments.

He tapped her right shoulder with the blunt side of his weapon to get her to look but she answered it with a curt, knowing nod. Already caught upon the good gossip then, good for her. A noisy horse is a healthy horse. "Anything to report, Faux?" "Just a suggestion to hold your lance firmly. The firefly beside me isn't a sight of comfort and its bondling is destined to one day be the bearer of late warnings. Who knows if we won't have to face the consequences of that today."

( funny thing is Nikita actually likes the less glittery things death and decay is more her vibe sadly XD)

(Edit: I'm all for making a map - I already have in my sketchbook - but, unfortunately, pictures hate me and aren't appearing properly so I unfortunately cannot provide a map. Sorry!)

Nyx Revanche | Sonia
Nyx shakes herself from her daydreaming and gets up. She starts to head back to her brother. Sonia bounces beside her, calm and quiet despite fearing the fact that Sai could become angry at them for leaving. This fact Sonia has yet to let Nyx forget about it. By the time the two reached the door of their house, Nyx had gotten so numb to the fact that Sai could be angry thanks to Sonia's constant reminders that she didn't even bother fretting about it.
"Sai, I'm home." Nyx calls, then mentally kicks herself. What use would saying something be? He's deaf and blind for goodness' sake! Saying something, yelling something, isn't going to help. Her eyes scan the room and fall on her brother, going about his business as if she never left. This, somehow this!, hurts her more than anything.

Sai Revanche
Sai feels a tap on his shoulder, a familiar one from Nyx, and a sudden wave of calm from Sonia made him place down his tool in case he accidentally dropped it and ruined his work so far as he relaxes. "You've come back. You didn't go." He smiles at Nyx and quickly pulls her into a hug. He buries his face in her neck and mutters promises of keeping her safe and apologies for having kept her back and forcing her to go off on her own as he holds her close.
He grows warmer as Nyx returns his hug. Tears, warm and wet, begin to soak his shoulder as Nyx silently apologizes for leaving him.
"You're safe. You're ok. It's all fine now." Sai says with a smile, his heart swelling with joy that his sister is ok and with him once more.

Khaalida Kritana | Zoe
Khaalida can almost feel the distance between her and the prey closing and Zoe beside her shivers with glee and anticipation.
"Go now? Can we? Run?" Zoe couldn't speak in complete sentences, always interrupting herself as she jumbled up the sum of what she wants to say all too quickly. The gazelle leaps forward, ready to bolt ahead and throw aside the element of surprise they had, but she waited for her bondling's affirmation. Khaalida shakes her head at Zoe's question for permission. She pauses when she senses... something. Danger? She didn't hope so, and so she continues, not wanting to waste her energy fearing something that might not happen.

Daeril Kritana | Gahiji
Daeril smiles at Riker's comment of eating the tools. "Yes, let's hope not. He managed not to eat them last time. Break them, yes, perhaps, but eat them? Almost." Daeril chuckles. "I believe in Sai's ability to do what he puts his mind to. I bet he could make some tools." There is silence for a while, unbroken apart from the scratching of scrambling claws on the cave floor and the occasional thump as the pup tumbles into things in his attempts to attain his prize.
"You should get some sleep so you can be better prepared for when the Hunter's come back. I'll alert you to anything interesting and fun that happens and I can go ask Kuro and Rosco for the metal needed." Daeril tells Riker, taking time to make sure his friend takes care of himself.

Aasuu Kritana | Natasha
Aasuu is asleep since it's nighttime and not everyone is awake?

Res Adler | Azar
Somewhere over the rainbow...

Brian Oliver McGriffin
Jack McGriffin | Xhso
Brian cleans up from breakfast and ushers his boy out of their hut and through the winding roads, eager to get to his post to start his duty.
"Mornin'." Brian says and waves to a passerby as she hustled past. She gives him a confused smile, not sure what he meant by morning since to her it is night and time to hit the sack, but she returns the joyous greeting nonetheless.
Jack is a little preoccupied trying to make sure he doesn't drop anything of his because he has already learned the hard way that picking things up with full arms isn't the easiest and Brian stops and waits as easy as a rock rolling down hill is halted and course changed.

Noeul Sorenson | Nova Jessica
Noeul is waiting for the right moment to strike and take out the hunters. Bonus if the snakes lure them to her. Riley's doing a fine job, but who knows what will happen with the snakes. She can always have Jessica create a sandstorm to blow them her way if something happens to Riley.

Riley Thomas Draconford | Charles Aidyn
Riley isn't about to give his position as a backstabbing traitor just yet. He'd feel even less inclined if Azrail had been part of the group, but thankfully he isn't. So, Riley felt unsurprisingly at ease with the thought of turning the Bondlings in. Also, Khaalida is doing a great job herding the hunters to the ambush's position so Riley isn't going to correct her now. The sign of the snakes' presence put him on edge and he readies his weapon.
Aidyn, sitting comfortably on Riley's head, keeps his eye out as he curls his tail in preparation for an encounter.

Azrail Smith | Bliant
Azrail is opening his family's shop for the night, humming a song as he worked to fix the shelves and checked on the wares. Bliant chatters beside him, keeping the beat with batting paws attached to a bouncing body. He picks his bonding up as he heads back store to get something for the little guy to eat since they hadn't had breakfast yet. The only thing they had managed to do this morning is open a gift Riley had given them, put on their usual clothes and accessories and wish Riley luck as he went off on a hunt and they stayed to do the boring thing of opening a shop. Azrail sighs and turns his bracelets on his wrists as he grabs the snack he had saved for Bliant and offers it to him.
"What are you going to eat?" Bliant asks as he nibbles on the leaves Azrail had handed him.
Azrail smiles. "I'm not hungry." Azrail comforts Bliant and heads to the front of the shop to check in case of customers. The comforting didn't do it's job well since Bliant could tell that Azrail is very hungry but isn't going to say anything about it. Azrail's always been hesitant on taking food and Bliant wishes there is some way to break Azrail of this dangerous habit.

Winter, slightly flustered, attempts to leave the section of cave, misjudges his position, and slams facefirst into a wall. He sprawls out on the floor. Ow ow ow ow dangit dangit dangit dangit I hate being blind!

"Little help?" Winter calls pitifully, flailing a little as he grasps for a wall.

(I mean no offense but you should definitely credit the artist when using art as reference, in case people like it and want to follow them. Also provides a link back to more art, so you can add more creatures of the same style, other than just being a way to find pictures of quality that the signature is still readable- I found the artist for you, Polina Hristova. A very talented artist with some spectacular fantasy designs!)


Destrier Tymian & Fauxbreath


Destrier kept his gaze forward, keeping the eye on the snake mounds that were getting progressively fresher and the signal for the hunting party to change their direction that first seemed inevitable but now Destrier doesn't know whatever to applaud the people's bravery of marching forward or pale at their leader's callousness.
But a shift in Fauxbreaths movements got him to lay off that choice for later- He never fancied missing out on Faux's work. His focused face broke into that of a child about to tear into a Christmas present, leaning deeply to the side to watch the sand beneath Fauxbreath twist like the begging of a whirlpool, before a foal-shaped golem cut through its center, crawling to the surface with another one of its kin holding onto its short tail. The moment they got on all of their hooves, the sand dropped from them like a heavy blanket, revealing perfect imitations of young zebras, save for the hollow face that matched Fauxbreaths. "A deterring tie to me, in a case any hunter here would light up with the bright idea to shoot down a morsel of a youngling. Judging from their performance so far, I wonder if conjuring a juvenile you on their backs would bring us closer to safe odds or if it's an effort wasted eighter way."

Destrier let out a chastising tsk, but his heart wasn't in it as he watched the foals barely avoid a hit from giant hooves and hopping over to flank Fauxbreaths sides. "Aw, c'mon now, Faux. We both know we wouldn't recognize it if they were actually doing something badly, city folk have their own ways. Does the concept of benefit of the doubt ring any bells, or have you forgotten it since the first time you allowed me on your back?"

"Allowed? It would seem that you are the one in need of refreshing their memory. But not now, there's a potent scent of some cloven hooves in front of us, no one we know. And something else that might interest you, other than getting the entire party to turn around as I know you have half a mind to do."

At his humming equivalent of an indecisive shrug, one of the foals broke off from them in a bouncy jog, running back to a spot they have passed just few seconds ago and dunking its snout into the earth in a matter one might mistake for attempting to choke a snake.

But there wasn't anything to be gained from them at the moment, so it couldn't be that. Instead, the foal shortly returned with a bundle of three desert parsleys, their green crown bitten short and what was left coated in a layer of sand and dry muk- But they were relatively plump, and one couldn't be choosers about details in environment like this.
It obediently shishkebabed them on a tip of Destriers downturned lance with a practiced whinny. Still bit too deep for a zebra foal, Destrier thorough, but it's not like he and Faux had anything to go off from- There wasn't any full-blooded broken zebra in their lifetime, and the wild ones always kept a great distance from their warped cousins- They couldn't understand them anymore, their bondlings said, the words always followed by an apprehensive look in the direction of the caravans at the very backed, marked only by an empty black circle and odd silence.

It was the same look that once made young Destrier curious enough to work all month toward bribing the elderly carriage stallion. He must have been an especially charming child back then, since even with his already established... reputation, the stallion let him finally knock at their doors with only a singular request that he might as well take them out for walk while he's at it.

With phrasing like that, Destrier was expecting puppies or orphaned cattle with brains too young to keep by its herd. Not two children that were recently still among Destriers classmates- among the best, even. They always sticked together because they both already found their bondlings, but there was a sense they didn't liked each other very much, with them always racing without rules and always trying to one-up each other.

Adults told them that they died the very same way too, used their fate as a cautionary tale against ever straying too far- and it took a long time and plenty of sneaky visits for Destrier to stop denying when Filip told him that despite being alive, he and Vojta were dead to the family more so than any corpse would.

But he never fully understood why others treated their children (Never souless, how he loathed that word.), was glad not to understand it- So the fact that those pale, willowy vegetables reminded him soo much of them could only be described as sickening.

But that wasn't all. There was childish giddiness in the knowledge that they too managed to get out- and knowing them, they are living it up like they never did before. Destrier wasn't with them but ah, it was probably for the best, wasn't it? They ran, while he had to be dragged away-

"A thank you of any sorts, Destrier?" Fauxbreaths voice broke through the waterfall of memories like a bucket of cold water, and he tightened his slipping grip on his lance before feeling fully confident in letting it slip through his grasp to get closer to the blade, plucking off the parsnips and stocking them into a saddlebag. "The greatest one, of course. Much obliged- but you could have been more sneaky about them, now everyone knows you are the gal to go to in case they decide for an old fashioned roast."

In his remembrance, he hasn't registered the third apparition- small as youngest of Falabellas, intangible to the point where it was nothing more than a fleeting outline that one could mistake for kicked up dust cloud. It raced ahead, its limbs disappearing when they went forward but shooting onwards like an arrow none the less before slowing, now several steps away from the crowd, its featureless head pointed towards Kithara in a silent watch with nothing yet to say but an upheld promise to do so were it to become needed.

River | Cleo | Kuro | Rosco

Winters hand finds Cleos antler as he hosts Winter and onto Roscos Back { are you going to the mouth to wait for Nikita to came back!!!! } River yelled in a chipper tone as Kuro sighed and rolled his eyes

"Thank you," Winter breathes, evidently very embarrassed. "One would think I'd get used to my own disability by now, but apparently not."

(Sorry for not replying sooner.)

Nyx Revanche | Sonia + Sai Revanche
Nyx begins to help her brother again, glad to be back with him and safe inside their home. The project they were working on had already been almost finished thanks to Sai working on it even while Nyx is away.

Daeril Kritana | Gahiji
"Hey, River! Winter's blind, not hard of hearing last I checked, though if you keep it up, I wouldn't have to check." Daeril says in a joking manner, his chin resting on his arms at the table as he watches the group. He had wanted to help Winter when he had fallen, but four's a crowd he doesn't want to get in the way of or mingle with.
Plus, he had another duty he had to be doing. But he didn't want to get up, he's comfortable sitting where he is, completely fine with the idea of falling asleep beside Riker. With a sigh, he gets to his feet. Before he could fully balance himself, his excited Bondling brushes against him and sends him backwards onto the table again.
"No, Gahiji. We have to go ask Kuro and Rosco for the metal for new tools, which you have to promise to not break, eat, or lose. Got it?" Daeril gets to his feet for the second time, pushing off the table to propel himself a step forward before he could think about just sitting still.
"I'll keep watch over The Sleepy Head, then." Gahiji says, sitting down where Daeril had just gotten up from beside Riker. The pup's tail wags and his dark brown eyes move from smiling at his Bondling to the one he promised to watch over. Daeril nods a thanks and rushes to Kuro's side before he could get too far so he didn't have to hunt down him and his Bondling later.
"Hi, Kuro, I..." Daeril's mind goes blank when he has to talk to someone he isn't exactly used to interacting with. Daeril shuffles his feet and mumbles something before taking a deep breath and starting over. "Riker and I were wondering if you have any metal you might be able to spare for some tools we need?" There. It is said. Not that hard, right? No, no it doesn't get better or any easier no matter how many times he practiced or did it.

Riley Thomas Draconford | Charles Aidyn
Aidyn jumps down to Riley's shoulder and then down to his arm. "Woah, there, little buddy. You sure you want to be on the ground?" Riley says, casting a weary glance to Fauxbreath.
"Shut up, human. I know you don't care for me. If the big horse threatens to squash me, I can always poison her." Aidyn says. Riley gives him a look, not sure what the little scorpion thought or knew of him if he thought he didn't like him.
"You can't do that!" Riley stares at Aidyn, wondering what the scorpion was thinking when he plans that. "First off, she'd probably squash you before you could do anything, and second off... You'd really want to risk it?" There were many meanings in the last part and Aidyn agrees to each one.
"Hey, if I die, perhaps I'll get back with my original Bondling, though you've been a great one the time I've been with you." Aidyn tumbles from Riley's hand before he could do anything to stop him. The scorpion actually keeps pace beside Riley pretty well.

Khaalida Kritana | Zoe
Khaalida's mind flutters through the possible courses of action when she knew they were in hunting distance of their prey. Should they charge? Spread out and surround? Or perhaps another strategy she'd blanking on should be used?
Zoe makes up her mind for her, zipping forward to chase and wear down the already weary animals. Khaalida's yelp for her to stop falls on deaf ears. Khaalida flinches and grimaces when Zoe startles their prey and potentially disrupts whatever else may be around. "So I guess we charge." She mutters to herself, obviously not enjoying how this was going.

Brian Oliver McGriffin | Arthur + Jack McGriffin | Xhso
Brian reaches his post with Jack trailing behind him. Arthur is still half asleep in Brian's arms, mewling when the bright light of the lantern momentarily blinds him. He quickly exchanges greetings with those at the post and releases them from their duty as he takes their place. Jack deposits what he had in his hands on the floor as he kneels to sort through them to begin his studies. Xhso shuffles closer and fluffs her feathers to keep warm as the night's temperatures continued to drop well below the warmth of the day. The lantern, now hanging beside the four Bondlings, lit the room well enough for even the smallest words in the books to be readable.

(Also, sorry for not writing more. And I don't know what Noeul and the rest of her force should be doing... I also don't know what the other characters I haven't mentioned in this post should be doing. My brain's dead in ideas section at the moment, unfortunately.)