New Dawn

[Deleted]

Once upon a time, there was a mare who was as fair as the dawn, and as such, she was named. A princess of the light, she walked the holy path for most of her life, learning of her role as a princess, the daughter of a mighty king and a not-as-mighty mare who had captured the attention of the king. Her sire had been a handsome bay; her mother, merely a beautiful cremello that had stood out above the other mares in their little abandoned herd. Once she had been old enough, she had left the herd.

Tuathia called her.

Last winter, she had come as a beacon, shining like a golden coin amongst the white blanket of snow, and he had come. As silver as the moon and cool like water, he was named Lysander, king of Tuathia, and he had asked if she wished a home within his lands. She had gone with him, learned of his patterns, and settled comfortably. As spring rolled around, though, it was if she had been possessed with her hormones, and unbefitting of a princess, she asked for a baby, and they mated under the moonlight on a warm spring night.

Now, it was the next spring, and the heavily pregnant mare made her way to the Meadows to give birth to the king’s foal. Naturally, the instinct for a son rolled through her head, but she firmly pushed it aside. Knowing Lysander, and herself, she only wished that the foal was healthy, no matter which gender it was. This was her first foal as well, and while her mother had been ambitious to try and push her foals towards power, Eos wanted nothing of the sort.

She was fine the way she was.

Feeling the foal kick as soon as she entered the Meadows, Eos winced and went down to her side, feeling the foal grow more eager to be born. “You just couldn’t wait, could you?” she muttered softly as she began breathing heavily, pushing her baby into the world. The ordeal lasted a couple hours, and when she felt the foal fall behind her, she lifted her golden head to see the squirming foal, dark within the placenta.

A gentle smile on her face, she cleaned her baby to reveal the darkly bay coat and black points that wiggled toward her, and the wide grey eyes that echoed her own. “You look like my grandsire,” she whispered to the foal, who moved his ears forward to catch her lyrical voice. “Xanthos…”[/color]

[Khar ♣]

ooc || n/a

It had been a hard passing of the seasons in Cheydinhal, with the disappearance of two mares and a stillborn the previous spring – it had left it’s bitter taste in the mouth of its inhabitants. There had lingered an air of uncertainty and apprehension all winter, tempered only by the small joy in knowing that when the snows gave way to lush grasses… a foal would come home to the Vale. Lysander, nearly six now, had finally secured his spot as Alpha with no real question to his authority and was able to take pleasure in the simple gratification it entailed. He was to be a father for the first time, and while his stony exterior refused to exhibit it… he was eager. Of course he really didn’t know what such a role would mean for him, besides the obvious protection and what little guidance he was able to provide. Would he be anything more than that? He couldn’t say. It was difficult enough as it was to shove pass the learnt apathy he carried with him, the hardened exterior that had been the only thing that kept him sane, and alive, for much of his existence. It was possible that being a father could change all that… reduce his unvarying guard and break past the walls he had built around himself. At least, he hoped so. Lysander was no fool to not confess that his defended character was keeping him from a lot of things he could find contentment in, a bit of liberation from the strains he put upon his shoulders.

It was in this hope that the lone soldier ventured from his barricade within the Vale to follow the scent of his due mare. Eos was a foreigner to these lands but had found it effortless to acclimate herself to the way of life, and hadn’t taken long to garner the consideration of the stallion. In the same spring in which she had arrived, she had wasted little time in making it known what she demanded of him – a task in which he was, as was all males, willing to oblige. Now the time had come to take witness to the product of their decision. Hastily he made his way through the dense surrounding growth of the meadows, his immense structure tearing through the vines and trampling down the smaller of the trees as he eventually broke free of the forest’s confinements. Lifting his head he scanned the clearing for the pastel bullion amongst the vivacious greens of spring, spotting her close to a rebel tree on the far northern side. He proclaimed his arrival with guttural bellow that bounced off the trees in strident echo before making his way, at a brisk trot, towards her.

As he neared her he could smell the unsavory scent of afterbirth intermingling with the hers, the sight unfolding the closer he got to her. Slowing down he lowered his head to nuzzle Eos in his own display of concern and appreciation. A greeting he wasn’t accustomed to giving but felt it unwise to do anything less. “I got here as quickly as I was able.” Lysander said somewhat breathlessly as he lifted his head and took a step to the side to regard the newborn fresh from his mother’s womb. Instantly, and quite unexpectedly, the gray stallion felt a wave of pride crash through his body and nearly cause him to stagger. A colt. He was dark bay in color despite the pallid hues of his parents, with three socks and a bold star upon his brow. Even so young as a few minutes it was easy to see that the colt was large in stature, and Lysander could only guess the hurt he incurred in his coming. “What name have you fitted him with?” He asked quietly, refusing to take his eyes of his newborn son.

COMPLETE
" talkitytalktalk."

L Y S A N D E R
in glory we return...
...our destination's end.

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[Deleted]

So entranced was she by the colt who lay before her that at first, she didn’t register the loud bellow that echoed through the meadows, a call she was quite familiar with. Turning her head, leaving the colt to do the same, she watched as the pallid stag made his way to her, his dark eyes watching her. Eos felt a tiny thrill go through her at his approach, appreciating the stallion’s looks as well as the way he walked. She was proud to be in his herd, where strength was coveted…and she was proud to have borne his son.

Their son.

She nuzzled him back gently, surprised at the show of affection; normally Lysander would give her a nod or a few words, and he had been very charming during their courtship last spring, but this gesture…it warmed her heart. She remained still, watching as he moved and spotted his son for the first time. She looked back at the large colt, who blinked his dark grey eyes back at the huge stallion looking down at him. The two had a staring contest as the golden lady moved to stand beside her king, and she smiled fondly as she nuzzled the newborn.

“His name is Xanthos De Vreis,” she remarked just as quietly. “He’s named after my grandsire on my mother’s side, and without the white, he would look just like my sire…but I would think that he does look like you, body-wise and all.” She smiled wider as the colt turned to look at her, already recognizing her voice, and he started struggling to his hooves, his body wiggling in an attempt to copy his sire and dam.

With some encouragement from Eos, the colt did stand, and he wobbled to her side to take his first drink of milk, his fluffy tail wagging in joy as he drank. Eos looked to Lysander with shining eyes, pride and love mixed in the stormy depths. Eos respected the stallion and knew that he was a good ruler, and her pride showed in the fact that she had given him a healthy son. The love, however, was for the colt, but who knew…in time, maybe she would find love with a stallion who would want her as his mate.[/color]

[Khar ♣]

ooc || n/a

He was beautiful in his newness, his dark russet hide still semi-coated with fluid and blood, the frailty of his spindly legs as he attempted to stand for the first time. Lysander had seen plenty of foals born in his lifetime, knew the basic biology of such a thing… but until now he had never known what it felt like to look down at something he, himself, had a part in creating. It was a new feeling, a new wave of sentiment that washed over him and obscured his senses with its elation. As he stood sentinel over the mother and foal he let himself, for the first time in a long time, simply enjoy the moment he was in. No concerns past the welfare of the two in front of him. While he knew this moment wasn’t to last long, the demanding nature of his position soon to find him once more, it wouldn’t bother him now. Not as his dark hazel eyes peered down at his son standing for the first time, his legs wobbling beneath him but holding up his diminutive weight. “Xanthos.” Lysander repeated softly, nodding his head in his approval. “It is a good name, and bearing the title of his father as I do mine.” He moved closer to the colt, careful as to not disturb his crucial first feed, taking in his distinctive scent as he gently brushed his hindquarters with his ashen muzzle. The colt more or less ignored him, his dark black tail twitching furiously as he fed with an intense appetite on his mother’s warm milk. Pulling back, he looked to Eos… a small smile forming at the corners of his mouth – out of sheer gratitude… as well as an array of other emotions he couldn’t bring himself to discern.

“How do you fare?” The pallid stallion asked quietly, his eyes shifting from the palomino to the colt and back. An excitement renewed each time he glanced down at the dark form of his son. In all honesty, Lysander could not wait to see in which manner the colt would grow to be. To see, in his full glory, exactly what he had brought into this world… what he will have raised beside Eos. It was perhaps more thrill inspiring than anything else he had ever experienced.

COMPLETE
" talkitytalktalk."

L Y S A N D E R
in glory we return...
...our destination's end.

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