the moon wanes yet i remain Posted on November 8, 2023 at 04:39:50 PM by Canis
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It was quite a change to go from growing up in a desert on Salem to living in the northern reaches of Tinuvel. Still adjusting to the change of climate, Canis had been having a sleepless night. The silver grullo stallion had merely been returning from securing a length of the border with the Cove before he'd come across the remains of scents both familiar and foreign. His ears, a mismatched white and near-black, flattened back against his poll at scenting the trace of an intruder.
Canis was newer addition to the ranks of the Bay. As one of his sire's younger sons, he and Fell had discovered their kinship by a chance meeting on the Crossing. It hadn't been more than a season or two that he'd been "learning the ropes" per say of guarding and relatively normal herd life. The latter was almost a relief to the younger male upon observation since his normal had been a mostly solitary existence on the outskirts. He was beginning to understand that some mares simply preferred being more apart from the rest, as his dam had. The grullo had even begun to create his own herd, as evidenced by the few pregnant mares.
The grullo had followed the scent trails until they grew strongest. He ended up in the trees a stone's throw downwind from the black form of Fell and the silver-haired stranger. Canis heard traces of the feminine voice: "little brother." For a moment, he speculated as to on which side of Fell's parentage she was related and if it was the father's side. That's make her his older sister if that was right. Then Canis heard something that made him straighten up and edge closer to the pair as quietly as he could: "he killed him."
The words he could make out became clearer as he closed the distance. They painted a gruesome picture that made Canis' stomach feel as if it were full of stones. A creeping suspicion and accompanying disbelief climbed from stomach to throat. He had to know what was going on and who the two he's were that were the subject of conversation. At the risk of revealing himself, Canis stepped out from the trees before Fell could attempt a kind of response to the silver bay mare's question.
"Hold on now." A small toss of his head removed the silver locks of mane that had blocked his vision in extricating himself from the foliage. His gaze flicks from the mare to Fell, nodding to the black briefly in a wordless greeting, and back to the stranger. "What are you talking about? Who killed who?" The eyes of the young male were full of questions he wasn't sure he wanted the answers to.