{♠} the rebirth [open]

[Teska]

Maaisken

^{when does the noble kind command} _{to shed my blood throughout the land?}
^{they chased me here when i would not}_{give up the life that they forgot!}

The golden elegance of the sun was high upon the land, shining down on the great brawn beasts that grazed slowly on the tall tan grasses. Light brown eyes watched in boredom, almost as if they wanted to droop into a lazy mid-morning nap. The reality was, he had swum to this land hoping to leave his past behind. The truth was, his past was too much a part of him to be left behind. Black locks were tossed up, as he issued a beastly growl to the air, as though he could change that aspect of himself. He'd screwed up big time by leaving his herd behind. They had clearly chosen the leadership of his brother of his own. His brother spoke of things that he dreamed to come to pass, but reality was that they were reaching for stars that didn't exist. Now he was stuck here, knowing that his herd was headed into the ground.

Lengthy limbs picked up, tossing iron-like hooves into the earthen floor, as he too off across the wheat-grassed knoll at near break-neck speed. Black locks slapped against a golden pelt, black limbs were curling up and releasing pent up energy beneath him. He was his head in the clouds, but he couldn't seem to pull it out of the ground. The thing was, that he had always been the noble one. The one who made certain he fulfilled his duties before he fulfilled his own wishes. Now that his herd was no longer his responsibility, he could focus on other things. The problem was, that he didn't know how to go about that. Tossing his skull, he snorted, nostrils flaring with disgust for his obvious predicament.

Sliding to a stop, his skull raised high above his body, his forelock falling to draped softly along his left cheek. His breathing was heavy, and his muscles rolled and twitched as if his emotions were physically rolling over his skin. His tail slapped his strong rump, as though it was trying to break him from his current mood. How did one live life when they were so used to not living it? How did they make themselves happy when they were only used to making others happy? Gruffly, he tossed his head in irritation. He'd figure it out eventually, right?

[lamb ♥]

I WAS SO HEAVY, SO HEAVY IN YOUR ARMS,

[/size] It wasn't in his nature to wander away from the Western Shore, but he held his duty as Overseer above his comforts as Caridad; he directed the lost, took in those who did not know where else to turn, and made a point of monitoring the comings and goings of the entire Midland area. This included relations with the bison that shared the Knoll, although shared, likely, was not the proper word for it – they all but owned the rolling plain, didn't suffer too many intruders or homesteaders, and had supposedly attempted to gore the leader of a small bachelor herd passing through some years back. He supposed that the fact that it was a bachelor band explained it rather neatly, but still. His task was the keep the peace, and so, as tense as it made him feel, he would keep it.

He came much like a ghost would, softly and suddenly through the sea-like grass of the Knoll, watching from afar what appeared to be a flock of dark, low-flying clouds in the distance, and among them, something gilt and small. He had to narrow his eyes to make out what it was, and just barely did he recognize the silhouette of a stallion, tearing around like a madman – it was a distressing sight, he admit to himself, and he sighed openly as he broke into a canter, taking great pains to be visible and calm despite his familiarity with the bison; he did not want to excite them, did not want to incite them into a rampage that could cost lives and valuable time. Caridad, plainly, did not like the prospect of either.

And so he chose his first word warily – “Careful,” – pulling up within a polite distance of the stallion and gesturing towards the already uneasy herd, their large brown eyes observant and suspicious. His bow was signature, systematic and apathetic, much smoother than the word itself; even with Adaline harassing him about the Midlands every other moment, it would take time for him to recover completely the voice that he was born with it. “Caridad.” For now what he had would have to do, grating and unappealing as it was to the ear. “Is there … any way that I can assist you?”[/justify][/size][/color][/blockquote][/blockquote][/blockquote]

[Teska]

His gaze flew that voice, that seemed more harsh than the words it spoke. He should have known that his display would get the attention of anyone nearby. Silently cursing himself, he shook his forelock out and took a sidestep. A snort, not exactly equine, sounded nearby and his brown eyes quickly flickered to the side. The beast's eyes were wide, as though it was on the hill of anger and losing fuel fast. Taking a deep breath, he peered back to the stallion before him. He hadn't even given though to the Bison that called this place home. He could use the excuse that he wasn't from here and didn't know much about the creatures, but even an ignorant would not want to stir up such large beasts. He felt, to say the least, completely ignorant for his actions.

Nodding to the stallion he lowered in skull, acknowledging what seemed obvious; the stallions obvious status in the land. "Forgive me. I'm never such a careless creature. I apologize for intruding and causing any-" his gaze flickered to the nearby bison "disturbances I might have caused." He spoke knowing full well that he could have caused any number of creatures to stir up. Shifting uneasily, he looked around, still uncertain of just what he was doing here or what he was going to do with himself.

"I don't know. My people are running themselves into the ground, and I'm here trying to start over. Is there any way to help an idiot like me?" He spoke, laughing at the mockery he was making of himself. Gritting his teeth, he closed his eyes. "You could help me with giving me a place to lay my head this coming night. I will not burden you with asking if I could rehabilitate myself in your lands. I have already almost caused much trouble in these parts. For that I regret it and am certainly sorry for any fear I might have caused any of the equine living here."

/tagged. Caridad <3 /notes. Still kind of rusty. /lyrics. perfect weapon, black veil bridesbannercarolyn's sweet blasphemy *

[/quote]

[lamb ♥]

I WAS SO HEAVY, SO HEAVY IN YOUR ARMS,

[/size] Uncomfortable would have been the understatement of the year, he thought. The bison were lowing and shuffling amongst themselves, and Caridad, who hated to be in close quarters with almost everyone, felt as if he was going to fail at the knees and crash face-first into the earth. Either that, or take off running for the Shore as quickly as his legs could carry him. “No.” But it would have been severely irresponsible of him to simply leave for his own convenience, and so he shook his head quietly, watching the stranger plainly and the herd from the corner of his eye. “You were distracted. Can't be helped.” A little smoother this time around, he observed with a pang of relief. Three-word sentences it seemed were well within his current comfort zone, and so he made use of them as well as he could, patching together clauses and predicates in an attempt to exercise his cracking voice. “Your people?” Cocking his head faintly, he pored over the details he had collected within the past few minutes, attempting to match the stallion with one of the regions of the Homeland – his build was much too light to be from the north, but perhaps a little heavy for the deserts of the south, and his accent wasn't distinct to neither the Freelands or the Wood. Caridad also couldn't remember ever seeing him within his hold of the Midlands. An outsider, perhaps? A drifter? He seemed worse for wear, definitely, his shoulders stiff, words tired – “Ah,” Think less deeply, he told himself. (You can't always act like you're on your own.) “It's quite alright.” An absent-minded phrase of forgiveness as he quickly attempted to piece together the parts of the conversation that he had not heard, a flick of the ears, a blink. “You're welcome to stay,” he said finally, speaking slowly and succinctly. “As … long as you feel is necessary. It is no trouble.”[/justify][/size][/color][/blockquote][/blockquote][/blockquote]