Jasper had known fear many times in his life, but this moment of running alongside his sire as the winds whipped painfully fast and the Prairie grasses shuddered was a new type of fright entirely. His whites flashed as his eyes rolled, and despite all his instincts screaming at him to slam his weight, scramble backward and turn himself about to flee for safety with the herd, he threw himself into the run against the stinging ice and followed after his father in making certain no one was stuck behind in the path of the tornado forming.
Both stallions watched it arch and curve, appearing to turn a different direction than the way Castillon, Claret, Micah, Hael, and the rest of the herd had fled. There was little time for relief.
“I’ll check west,” his father’s shout could barely be heard over the storm, “you go east!” West was the direction the tornado seemed to be turning and Jasper wanted to argue, but the firmness in his father’s tone and the fact Zevulun was already lurching off in the direction he instructed meant Jasper had little choice but to follow what he’d said. The little gold and white half-pony stallion veered off and headed toward the growth of trees ahead, feeling if anyone had remained behind they’d likely taken cover from the painful, pelting hail underneath the thick canopy of branches and leaves.
Just as he approached a searching call bellowed out. Jasper whinnied back in response and turned toward it, winding his way around a few trees until he’d come deep enough to spot the red stallion. His pale hooves drew up quick, body bouncing somewhat with his steps as he came to a halt with a gap of space still lingering between them too long to touch muzzles and share breaths. Jasper’s heart was still pounding with fear from the run and his sides were hot, steam rising off them as they shook with every big breath he took in and huffed out.
“Who are you?” He asked, unable to keep suspicion from his voice. The Prairie had issues last season with the Lagoon and after Leukos’s disappearance, Jasper had been worried the stallion who’d lost to his father had somehow managed to find another way to succeed. As much as he knew his only concern would be to see that this stallion was alright, he couldn’t set aside the duty he had taken on his shoulders from a young age to help his father keep the Prairie a place of peace.
ooc: jic I wanted to note for the mods that it's still castillon who I want to earn XP from this event |