With weeping and with wailing, accursed spirit, do thou remain

The dark beast had wandered into Avenion, almost by accident. He had been alone for some time, ever since the herd of stallions he had been raised in had broken their ties with them. He could not blame them, really. He had, after all, killed one of their strongest brothers. But the bay behemoth could still not bring himself to feel remorse for what he had done. The scoundrel had deserved death. The only crime had been his own, and he had paid for it rightly. Dante had made sure that justice had been served. So, though he missed the comfort of company, he did not leave in anger at his exile. Only with sorrow at the friends he had lost in the process. And regret that he had still not been able to save her, even then.

Alegra had struck a chord in dear Dante’s heart. And though he had been very young then, he had known she was special. But females were little more than toys to the brotherhood in which he was raised, and Alegra was no different to the others. Though Dante had seen many other mares raped and abused in his youth, he could not bear it when he discovered that Yao, one of his father’s most seasoned, experienced and successful warriors, had forcefully taken her. And that she was now carrying his child. Alegra’s spirit had gone with the rape. Her depression was so deep, that even Dante, who usually was able to bring a smile to her pretty face, could not reach her. It would have been better if the beast had killed her. And so, a life for a life. Dante had exacted justice.

It had been nearly two years since the day when his own father had passed his sentence. Exile. The word still rang in his mind as he traveled. Day and night. Alone. Until… ”Are you going to stop sulking anytime soon? It is really getting old listening to you feel sorry for yourself.” He stopped in his tracks, nostrils flaring and ears at attention. Onyx hued eyes scanned the trees for a sign of the origin of the voice. It had been distinctly feminine, but he could not place where it had come from. ”Over here you idiot.” This time the words rang through his ears and he realized why the first words had been so odd. They had come from within his own head. He turned his gaze in the direction of the voice and immediately stiffened. A reddish hued wolf sat before him, tongue hanging out and teeth bared in a sinister grin. She stood and sauntered toward him, and though he logically knew that she was a danger, he did not move away. He… knew her somehow. But, then that was not possible.

”Get out of your head and stop worrying.” There it was again, the voice in his mind. Intruding. The same voice he had heard come from the predator before him. She nuzzled his shoulder affectionately before turning and dashing back into the shadows. Dante knew she wanted him to follow and it felt so wrong for her to be so far away, and so he did. She was quick, moving deftly through the foliage as if she had been here many times before. ”Oh, but I have Dante.”

”How do you know my name?” He called after her, doing his best to keep up. ”I know your name just as you know mine. We are separate but still one being.” This made no sense to him, and the eerie voice in his mind still unnerved him. However, he continued to follow her until they finally came to a clearing in the trees. The bay stallion slowed, but the wolf continued forward. She smelled good company, and she was going to force her counterpart out of his funk if it killed her.

Dante’s dark and brooding eyes finally caught sight of what Divina’s (he was a bit startled at the realization that he did in fact know her name) target was. A mare, who seemed to be alone. The dark bay brute groaned inwardly at the prospect of conversing with a mare. It had been so long. So long since he had any company to speak of. ”You will just have to get over it my dear.” Despite himself, Dante was beginning to find Divina’s presence reassuring and he released a low whicker to the mare. He had not yet noticed her own companion curled up several feet from her, but Divina most certainly had. She approached with caution, nose twitching anxiously, while Dante handled the female.

He cleared his throat, a bit nervous, before speaking. ”Hello, miss. Quite a nice day to be out in the sunlight.” He managed to flash a brief smile that did not reach his eyes. ”I am Dante, do you happen to know this place?” He relaxed a bit, his dark eyes questioning. He really did not know where he was. Perhaps she did, perhaps she did not, but either way he had some company now. She could either point him in the right direction or they could figure it out together.

Divina was quite pleased with his progress, now she just had to figure out what this other Axian was and she would be content.


ooc - sorry if I was rambling, he is new and I'm still feeling him out!