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Post by Deleted on Oct 5, 2014 14:14:10 GMT -5
//sateenkaarisitruuna's Bale & pony-bones' Cain
Takes place a bit in the past, soon after Cain had risen to power//
It was an early evening, still plenty of light left to the day. The smoky-looking stallion was heavily focused on his own matters, he had chosen a spot he figured would be hidden from too many curious eyes. He didn’t really keep any watch over the matter or concern himself with it. His large frame was organized into an even-footed stand-still, head lowered to look at what he was doing. A small droplet of sweat beading down from behind his ear out of sheer focus.
Bale had received his ability and gift from the witch Ba’Yagu. It had been very overwhelming at first, like a big block inside him was released. He had exhausted himself over and over again, trying to grasp the hold of the things. He had learned he could both do Telekinesis and Blacksmithing; he couldn’t have been happier with the two. For once he had something valuable, something worthwhile. Bale was very frustrated at being still on the grass-level when it came to his herd, it was his only passion yet he was nowhere with it, yet. He didn’t know what exactly it was he wanted; being recognized maybe? He lived and breathed for his herd, one could even call him a fanatic of sorts. Other horses often grew tired of his unbending need for things to go the right way.
His parents were nothing special, and he had been just as non-special up until now and he fully intended to make full use of his new powers. He had raised a little piece of scrap metal a little bit above ground, it was hovering in the air as he used the power of his mind to bend it. He wanted to make a simple, round circle with soft, round edges. Everything else blended away when his mind would work at things. He would feel the little piece of metal with his every fiber and work it. Whenever his focus slipped even just a little bit the piece would fall, sometimes just slightly and sometimes to the ground. The veins had surfaced on his skin just from the strain. His chocolate eyes watched keenly as the metal bended to his will, the edges smoothed out and the shape got more symmetrical.
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Post by ponybones on Oct 5, 2014 14:38:22 GMT -5
Although Cain was a Loner no more, he was still very much alone, even amid the herd - his herd. Everywhere he looked, he could feel their eyes peering at him, and if he ever dared to allow his Gift to break free, he could taste their hatred, their mistrust. Their faces hid nothing of this, as they stared at him. He was an outsider, scarless and alien with his pristine cream coat, his curled ears, his pale eyes. Daintier than most except for some of the broods, it was hard for these gargantuan piles of muscle and flesh to accept him as a leader. They knew that they could snap him like a twig underfoot, and yet something held them back. Fear, perhaps? The herd did not need chaos, with war with Olde on the horizon. It was better to be unified under a stranger, than to be divided under a friend.
Cain slipped through the outskirts of the herd, making a point to ignore all the questioning stares. Some of the mares, more the airheaded ones, cooed over him as if they had some lofty dream of being a Bachelor queen, while others scorned him like their male counterparts. They were realists, and he appreciated that. While he had his own dreams of rising to the top, there was a point to it, and it wasn't power. It was destruction. However, he knew he couldn't manage it alone - he needed an ally in the herd. Any ally. The mare Bat-Sheva had presented herself bluntly, as apparently was her nature, desiring to support him and help him reach out into the herd. True to himself, he did not think of mares as lesser, but logically, in a herd like this her kind words meant nothing. He needed a stallion at his side, one who was not so indoctrinated as his Elites, though one that could be respected. The herd seemed to be overrun with a questionable amount of...'male comradery', however one could only assume it was due to the lack of mares, and the isolation between the sexes. Such behavior made a stallion seem weak, and thus that was not what Cain searched for.
Wave after wave of hatred and doubt crashed over the Marwari as he slipped out and away from the rest. He couldn't stray too far, not now while all eyes were on him, but he needed some quiet, some time without everyone's emotions nagging at him. And yet, even when he escaped, he was still trapped, he realized. Through some shrubbery, he saw one of the stallions, HIS stallions, marked with an 'x' playing around with something. However, the other was not using his hooves, nor his lips, and it was a curiosity. Cain stared a bit too long, trying to wrap his mind around what he was seeing. Power. |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 5, 2014 16:50:11 GMT -5
At first Bale was too keenly focused on his task, as the little scrap metal turned shinier and looked more like a ball than just a random trash no one would bother looking at. Surely it still held no real value, but it was a starting point and eventually Bale could twist anything to his liking. This power was both rewarding and exhausting and he knew he couldn't keep at it very much longer.
At first it was more of a sensation of not being alone, then he thought he heard something from behind him. He was relucant to leave his work as it was almost finished and had become sort of an obsession already. He couldn't shake the feeling, his other ear turned back and as he thought he heard something he turned to glance. It took a while for him to register who he was looking at. With the first very fast glance he thought it was some overly curious brood and felt a bit annoyed to be interrupted - yet his glance felt him with a weird emotion like something wasn't right and he turned his head to have a better look at this intruder of his privacy.
The second he realized he was actually looking at his fresh leader, the piece of metal dropped to the ground and he turned to face the pale stallion, very swiftly for a horse his size. His knees cracked in resistance as he quickly bowed down, his brown eyes looking at the ground as his mind was quickly swirling. "My king", he simply breathed in greeting.
While the whole herd was filled with murmur, Bale had already made his mind. He was a Bachelor before he was Bale, his personal thoughts or likings didn't matter. He felt it was his destiny to serve his herd and his leader, a change of leadership didn't change the fact. While Bale of course had his opinions and thoughts, a lot of them actually, he thought the herd could use a change and as he had nothing to lose, he'd follow his new king to the oblivion if need be. He wasn't afraid for his life, as this was his life. If he was to die serving his herd, so be it. His loyalty would never die.
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Post by ponybones on Oct 5, 2014 17:36:20 GMT -5
Though he couldn't tell the exact thoughts of what came over Bale upon first glance in Cain's direction, Cain felt a slight amusement at the dismay and annoyance that came from the other stallion, for whatever reason, and was even further amused by how quickly that irritation dissolved upon a closer glance. The object that the horse was manipulating, apparently a chunk of metal, useless and worn, clattered to the ground as the Bachelor swirled around and knelt. Cain had to stop himself from ordering the stallion to stand, and that kneeling was a useless gesture - no, that wasn't what a true Bachelor leader would say. He would have to accept the silly posturing as long as he was leader it seemed, or until he ingrained independence into these alternately wired minds. He wouldn't ever like subservience, but it wasn't an intolerable thing to suffer though. Cain strained to keep from rolling his eyes, and instead stared into the chocolate browns of the kneeling stallion.
Cain stepped forward a few paces and gave a curt nod to the stallion, realizing that he should appreciate what he had, since most weren't even willing to bow their heads to him at this point, let alone their whole bodies. Suddenly things clicked and two and two came together. This was an opportunity. "Not many are willing to bow yet - thank you for the honor. Instant hatred is usually what I feel when walking through the ranks." Cain said, explaining his hesitancy away, before looking a little closer at the sooty stallion. They appeared to be of an age with one another. "How many leaders have you seen rule the Bachelors in your lifetime?" He asked quietly, though honestly curious. It could be that the older stallions were a bit more used to change at this point, though Cain had a feeling his grand entrance was unprecedented. |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 5, 2014 18:23:54 GMT -5
Bale acted on simple instinct, as he had no real experience on how to act within the company of a leader. It could be seen with plain eye that Cain was different from his precissors, but Bale had no other code to act from or show his respect. He had not ever stopped to even consider how someone would feel if suddenly everyone started kneeling before them; why would he, no one had never looked up to him with anything.
It took a while for Bale to meet Cain's gaze, it was both terrifying and invigorating. It felt somehow forbidden but Bale was also very curious. He knew just the story everyone was told, that Klaus had chosen this pale stallion to follow in his footsteps. The leaderless moment had felt endless, Bale among others had felt vulnerable and to have such a stranger step up had surprised everyone. Bale was adaptable though, he didn't see the point to deny Cain. As a warrior he understood that they could not hold strong against Olde if they were weak from inside, and as warriors he thought Bachelors should know better than to divide themselves.
Bale eventually got up, when staying in a bowing position any longer felt simply weird. He was taller than the pale stallion, and as looking down at his leader felt too weird he had his head in a fairly low position.
"There have been three before you during my life", Bale answered after quickly counting back in his head. Yes, it wasn't too uncommon for Kings to rise and fall, but Cain was definately the first of his kind. True respect would have to be earned, but leaders always had Bale's undenied obedience. He wasn't quite sure if it was his place to say anything more, but he couldn't stop his tongue: "It has been quite the change, but I'm sure others will come around as well." He could barely contain his question about the fresh leader being at the outskirts of the herd, in a simple shrub with him, discussing with him like he wasn't a lowly dog compared to his leader. One part of him feared that if he stopped to wonder this too much Cain would just vanish. It was a lot for Bale to wrap his head around to.
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Post by ponybones on Oct 5, 2014 18:39:50 GMT -5
The stallion's emotions came over Cain slowly - insecurity, alienation. Cain realized that perhaps it was doubtful that Klaus spoke to his Bachelors in such an abrupt manner, and cursed himself silently for not paying better attention. Not that he needed to follow every footstep the dark leader had once made before him - no, the Marwari planned to blaze his own trails, but at least after he had made the herd comfortable with his presence first. To jump in now and order change wasn't an intelligent decision. "My apologies if this is out of the norm for you." Cain said, looking away from the other stallion, stepping past him a little bit, toward the area in which he had seen the other levitating the object. "I was not born to leadership like those in the past, so I'm not quite sure how we're supposed to act." He chuckled a little bit, though didn't share the joke. For all the watching and waiting he did, how did something so simple slip away from him as how to interact with the other stallions. Perhaps it was meant to be on a case by case basis.
Cain watched the sooty palomino lower his head a little bit, and he could not hold back his derision. "You are a warrior - I do not need warriors with crooked, painful necks from trying to show me respect." He shook his head a little bit, then glanced up at the other again. "Show me what you were doing - I am curious. I don't think I've ever witnessed such a power." Cain nudged the piece of metal with a hoof and then stood back, staring with that intent gaze that he couldn't wipe from his face. Part of him wondered whether the herd knew about his gift or not, or if they just found him very intuitive to feelings at this point, and found it better to keep them in the dark. The more mystery behind him, the more fear there was. With comfort came dissonance. "And what is your name? I realize I have much to learn."
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Post by Deleted on Oct 5, 2014 19:25:26 GMT -5
While it was nice to be spoken to more as peers rather than a lower being, it felt a bit foreign. Intelligent conversation among the barbarics wasn't something Bale came by every day, and it'd take a while before he had trust in his ground and speaking up to his leader. Cain didn't need to be hostile, all the leaders before him had done good enough job in installing fear.
"I'm not really used to one-on-one conversation with leaders either", Bale admitted. Well, Cain would have known if he was any higher rank, obviously, but it seemed the two stallions were both trying to find out how they were supposed to act. It settled Bale down a bit. His look was a bit quizzical towards Cain's chuckle, but he didn't dare to ask. Enough was enough he guessed. Bale let Cain past him, turning back towards the little metal piece.
While Cain didn't really sound mean with his words about Bale's neck, he snapped back to a more held-together stand and he held himself much more upright with his natural arched neck. The movement was started like Cain had actually shocked him with electic currence, his muscles responding quickly. Bale didn't want to seem stupid or odd, and while he realized Cain might not like a twitchy warrior either, responding quickly to anything he might interpret as a command was so ingrained into him, he couldn't help it. There was bound to be pressure.
Bale's eyes watched as Cain investigated his product. "It's called Telekinesis... together with Blacksmithing", Bale answered. It took effort for him to clear his mind enough to focus on the piece again, but soon he could feel it like it was part of his own skin. He raised it up, it had practically no weight at all. He raised it up to Cain's eye-level and calmly let it swirl in the air before his eyes. He didn't have that much power left for now, but he forced the little piece to stay up as he wielded the metal, and just for a demonstration he dented it clearly until the exhaustion was too much and the piece fell to the ground with a clank. For a second he looked at it before raising his gaze to Cain, trying to watch his reaction.
"I'm not yet too advanced with it..." he said a bit apologetically. "I'm Bale", he then added.
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Post by ponybones on Oct 12, 2014 14:46:10 GMT -5
"Bale" Cain said, repeating the name, as if engraving it into his memory. He found that when he said things aloud, he would remember them better later. He committed the sooty palomino stallion's appearance to memory along with the name, vowing to never forget. While it would be a task to eventually learn about every single one of the herd's members, if he waded into it slowly with only a few at a time, slowly it would all become second nature. The thing was, he was very bad about caring, and that seemed to be an important part in actually tying names to faces. "It is your job to care now." Cain thought, though betrayed nothing on his face. "Even if it is pretend, you must care, and perhaps eventually you will learn how it is done." Cain had cared for only one horse in his life, and had never tried since. Perhaps it was too painful to even give it another shot, or he thought he lost the ability along with his mother. There just seemed to be no point to it. As long as you faked it well enough, you spared yourself the investment.
His pale eyes watched as Bale lifted the piece of metal again without visibly touching it, and watched as it passed before his face, dancing in the air. Cain could feel the intense concentration coming from the other stallion, the palomino's eyes never straying from his project as it likely took all of his focus to do just that. And just as suddenly as it had risen to the air, it dropped again and suddenly there was a calm that came from the lack of determination. Cain found himself taking a breath for the first time in what seemed like a while, and then looked over at Bale again with a nod. "It's coming along, though. More than I can say for many of the others I've met in the herd. You must have worked hard to get to this point already." Cain said, thoughtfully. "You will be a force to be reckoned with once you've practiced enough, I imagine." He added, murmuring it partially to himself it seemed.
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