[+ ebonite +]

Oneiros was beginning to lose track of the time that he'd spent in Wild Equines. Though it would never be home to him, it was a nice second place. He was very comfortable in the Free lands now and he'd be venturing out to these allianced territories soon. It was such a foreign concept to him, to have alliances and territories that were "free" and out of control of the Royals. He would make his way to these Royals soon too and see how they sized up. And see if they had any jewelry kept tucked away. Ever since his conversation with Samara, it had been on his mind more and more. He didn't know exactly what he wanted yet, but he had to see what was out there first. These lands were relatively poor compared to his homelands. Surely there had to be some treasures hidden away. And with spring starting and summer on its way, it was the perfect opportunity to get out and see what these Royals were all about... if he didn't get distracted again. Though he did have plenty of time to get to it eventually.

The only reason he looked forward to spring was because it ushered in the start of summer. He loved summer. The sun, the heat, the greenery... his arabian build was perfectly suited to it and he loved the sun. Today, the sun was loving him back, his skin warmed by its rays. Soon enough this would be a regular occurrence. The snow had all but melted and the ground was mush beneath his hooves. Oneiros willed the sun to continue, to melt the rest of the snow and burn off all the excess moisture. The sooner, the better. He was at the top of a hill, closer to the sun and unhindered by trees. Perhaps he would head off to Unclaimed Hearts next and see if he could get lucky. Sounded like a plan.

He started down the hill, but immediately knew something was wrong when his hoof started to slip. The ground was crumbling beneath his feet as he continued and soon enough, he found himself falling, skidding down the hill as the grass gave way to mud. Fuck fuck fuck, his brain chanted as he went down, spraying mud and debris. There were no trees on top of the hill, but the sides and bottom were a different story. His eyes widened and he dodged to the left as a massive truck loomed ahead of him. In trying to dodge, he lost his footing and went down on his side, still sliding. Luckily he went down on the side opposite his face jewelry. That would not have been pretty. He hated cleaning it for one. And for another, it was no fun getting it off and on either. He had to convince someone else to get it off of him. He really needed to get some decent friends...

All of these thoughts went through his head as he slid down the side of the hill, his momentum very slow now that he was sliding bodily down it. When he reached the bottom, he decided to lay there for a few seconds, panting, coated in mud, the jewelry around his neck tangled beyond recognition. That was... fun? Now that he was done and in relative safety, that adrenaline boost had been fun. He picked himself up off the ground, chuckling. He didn't remember the last time he'd been so filthy. It was a good thing the Free lands had an abundance of water to wash in - Crystal Pools, Geysir, or the wide variety of lakes and oceans. The difficult part would be convincing someone to help him untangle his jewelry and then take it off so he could wash it. For that reason alone, he would probably not be doing again, as fun as it had been.

Absorbed in his own thoughts as he was, it took him a few moments to notice that he was not alone. A trio of squirrels was watching him from one of the trees he could have collided into. They were chattering at them. He quirked a brow, wondering if they were laughing at him and then wondering why he cared. Before he could contemplate it further, the three of them had dropped down from the tree and were running at him. They paused in front of him, still chattering and he noticed that they were pointing at him with their little paws. Pointing at his necklace, more accurately. It still glinted faintly where it hadn't been covered by mud. He hoped they weren't thinking of stealing it. They might be fast, but he was still much bigger than them. He started to pin his ears back and it was at that moment that they came at him.

They were so fast he could barely react. They grabbed the necklace in their paws and started playing with it. He snorted and started to try and shake them off before he realized that they were untangling it for him. It was still filthy, but eventually the three had gotten it back to normal. He was not sure what to say. What could he say to squirrels? Would they even understand him? They still clung to him, even after their task was done. What did he do now? "Uhh.. thanks?" he managed to say, trying to convey his appreciation through his tone rather than the actual words. The squirrels did nothing but continue to perch, apparently staring at the necklace. "Wait 'til you see it all cleaned up," he said, deciding to talk anyway despite the fact that they probably couldn't understand him. He started to move then, his skin uncomfortable with the mud. If these three decided to stick around, they could be very helpful for getting the necklace off and getting both it and Oneiros himself cleaned up. His face jewelry had probably gotten dirty too, even if he couldn't see it. With a smirk on his face and the three companions clinging to him, he made his way toward Crystal Pools. Along the way, two of the squirrels lost interest and left, but the third one stayed. Oneiros had a feeling they could become good friends, if the squirrel could help clean his jewelry. He wasn't sure what he could do for a squirrel in return, but he would figure it out.


timeline after meeting samara, beginning of spring
notes
Prompt 2: Sled Master
Oneiros finally gets a friend for his jewelry mishaps.

Word Count: 1071
Bonuses:
- Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy
- Three's a party

"Speech"

[+ ebonite +]

The stark reality of Cahethal's situation was this - eventually he was going to get caught. The best case scenario would be that he was the one to reveal that it was all fake, an elaborate mask that he'd put on, an alter ego that he'd sunk into. It could be years from now or it could be weeks. He didn't think his situation was particularly precarious at the moment. No one really knew who he was. He didn't even know if the other Helkaer were aware of him much. He had never met either of them yet. Did he plan to? Probably. Eventually. But first he felt he had to prove himself to Legion. He had been a nothing and a nobody before and he had been perfectly content to stay that way. The storm had changed all of that for him and he didn't feel worthy of presenting himself to the others until he had proven himself to Legion first. Perhaps he was afraid of their disappointment. That was why he needed to prove himself to Legion. If he could do that, then he would be well on his way to doing that for the others. In short, he really needed this spying to work out. So far, it was.

He knew that the Freelands were a great source of information. His mother had told him this, on one of the few times they had spent time together one-on-one. Listen to the rumors of the Freelands. Get good at gleaning information from the strangers there. Use your identity (or lackthereof) to your advantage. Right now, Kazar was an unknown, prowling through the Freelands for gossip. Something had happened in the Dark Kingdom, though all he knew were whispers. No one ever talked about it openly, just hushed, and the conversation dissolved or diverted as soon as he tried to listen in. Perhaps it was time for him to go right to the source. The tension was settling in and he was trying to embrace it. It was a foreign feeling, after being a shut-in for most of his life. But... he felt like he could enjoy it. Once he became familiar with the chaos, he could ride the waves and learn to pivot. Deciding to take up spying was certainly preparing him for that. He was glad that he had Persephone around to give him some advice with it. She'd learned from the best, after all.

It was a quiet day in the Freelands. The sun was starting to warm the chill in the air and Cahethal found himself enjoying it. Toxin Raj had always been so cloudy and cool that he had never known anything else. Clypeus was a much different environment and he liked that. It was a desert, baked dry by the sun, where water and food were much more scarce. Toxin Raj was the opposite - a lush meadow overflowing with plant life and an underground supply of water that never ran out. He could see the benefits to both lands, but Clypeus might suit him more. It was teaching him to be tougher. That, and Clypeus would not be in danger of setting on fire.

As he walked, he kept his ears sharp for any further rumors on what was going on. He heard nothing, but there was a tension in the air. It seemed at odds with the sunny day, although the air was starting to become more and more damp. Clouds were rolling in from the west, feeding off of the humidity. Cahethal could tell when a storm was brewing. The reason for Toxin Raj's lush meadows was because of its frequent storms. In fact, he didn't think he'd been in a storm since he'd left Toxin Raj. His body tensed as he walked. It's just a storm, no big deal. He told himself. He'd been through dozens of them. Despite his reassurances to himself, he still wondered if he'd be able to flee and get out ahead of it. The rapid covering of the sun told him that wasn't going to happen. He would have to find shelter here, among the trees. His body gave an involuntary shudder.

The sky was dark now and the thickness of the air was setting off all of his alarm bells. He picked up his pace until he was weaving through the trees. Inwardly, he had no idea why he was freaking out so much over a storm. It was just a storm. Just some rain and thunder and lightning. Maybe some wind. Maybe hail if it was a really bad one. He'd lived through them before. They'd even fascinated him as a colt. So what was wrong now? The storm... the lightning... the fire... he slid to a stop from his run, panting. You haven't been through a storm since you left Toxin Raj. The memories were flooding back. The panic, the tension, the pure shock of the fire, the brightness of the flame in the darkness. Legion coming down in the caves to get them, telling them they had to run, that there was no time. Cahethal felt like he couldn't breathe. Not then and not now. The forest he was in suddenly came rushing back. The trees were blowing now, bowing to the wind. Cahethal felt it tugging at him. He couldn't stay here. He had to get back to Clypeus. It would not be in danger of setting on fire.

The moment he started to run again, the skies opened up and dumped rain on him. Immediately soaked to the bone and unable to see even a few yards ahead, Cahethal was forced to concede and find shelter instead of running back home. Lightning flashed and thunder growled in the air up above him. His body was so tense it was uncoordinated, which made navigating through a forest rather difficult. He hit more than a few trees on his way to find suitable shelter. Eventually he found a place where four trees made a half-circle that blocked most of the wind (and some of the rain). He braced himself against it and waited for the worst of the storm to pass. It probably took only a half an hour at most, but it felt like far longer. The wind died down. The rumbling of thunder stopped. The rain eventually became a drizzle and then was nonexistent. Tentatively, he left the safety of the trees and ventured out. There were branches down and the ground was saturated, but aside from that, everything looked relatively unharmed. Cahethal realized his heart was pounding and he tried taking some deep breaths to calm down. It was over and nothing bad had happened. He was still here. There was no fire.

He made his way through the trees, lost in thought and not really having a destination in mind now. He hadn't realized how much the fire had affected him. Well, he knew it had affected him some given it was likely both of his parents had died in the fire and his birth mother had suffered horrific injuries. But he didn't know another storm would set him into a panic. He supposed that was a good thing to note down for his spying mission and for any other mission in general. Would this go away or was it something he would have to deal with now? He was going to have to come up with a good excuse for it for his missions. He supposed he could sprinkle in a little of the truth there. Someone close to him had died in a fire. Or in a storm. Yeah, a storm was better. He shouldn't get as specific as a fire since those didn't happen very often and someone could figure it out based on that. He could somehow turn this weakness into a strength for his spying. It would give him more credibility and sympathy. He had to think about the positives for this, otherwise it would turn to irrational anger. How could he have a sudden fear of storms? It was awful, but he'd figure out a way through it.


timeline beginning of spring
notes
Prompt 1: Of Lambs and Lions
Time for Cahethal to relive some trauma that he didn't know he had.

Word Count: 1356
Bonuses:
- Surface tension
- Spring cleaning
- Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy

"Speech"

[+ ebonite +]

Ahzidal was starting to think that he was probably never going to make good on the promises he made to himself to find a home. It had been well over a year now, maybe two, since he had left Warrior's Retreat and settled into the Freelands. It was just easier this way. That was what he kept telling himself. But it didn't improve his situation at all. He was still alone here, still battling demons, still staying away from other horses. It was no good for him and he knew it. There was nothing wrong with being independent, but he was beyond independent. He was isolated and lonely and unhappy about it. It was going to get better like this. He was only going to get worse. He just had to take that first step and join one of the lands again. One of the Light lands had to be suitable, right? That's where he'd tried before and succeeded. He would just have to be brave enough to do it again. His conversation with Bedelia had reminded him again of how he was homeless. He had no home. Just this place. Where he found a different place to sleep every week, sometimes every day. It was no life. It was no future. If he stayed like this, he would never get better. He would forever be haunted and he would never get away from it. He had to forge a new life so he could leave behind his old one (if one could call that a life in the first place).

As a part of the Freelands, he often heard rumors of events going on. Now that spring was in the air and the world was coming back to life in brilliant greens and buds on the trees, horses were talking about an abundance of clovers in one of the meadows. Clovers were lucky, they said. Anyone who was feeling down on their luck should try to find one. If they did, there was a good chance they would succeed at whatever they were doing. Ahzidal was pretty skeptical by nature, but in this case, he figured why the hell not? Nothing else was working for him. Maybe if he found one of these clovers, he could finally get his brain in gear and take it as a sign. If not that, then maybe he could meet another horse around that had a home that he could join. Both of those avenues convinced him to head off to the meadow where these fabled clovers were located.

When he got there, there were quite a few horses around, searching. Lots of children too, he noticed. The sight of them made his skepticism rise up again. Was this all just a tale for children? How could he be so foolish and believe a story made up for children? Of course a plant couldn't improve your luck! He snorted and started to leave, angry at himself for thinking that this could help him. He couldn't be helped.

Before he could leave though, he found himself face to face with another equine. A mare. A rather short mare, actually. He'd never seen a mare as short as she was before. She was a cremello with stripes down her body and brilliant green eyes that stared up at him. "Not going to join the fun?" she remarked, quirking a brow at him. Her eyes were sparkling. For a moment, he wondered if he'd been mistaken and she was a child after all, but she certainly didn't look it. She looked grown up, just short. "I don't think a plant can help me. Luck doesn't exist," he said bluntly, as usual. He expected her to be offended by it, as most people, but she just laughed. "It's not about the plant! It's about the journey to find it," she said to him, smiling, "that's what makes it fun." She started past him and then looked back and gestured. "C'mon. There's no need to be so gloomy. I'm Arwen by the way," she introduced herself, bowing to him. He found himself staring at her, wondering if he'd ever met anyone so cheerful and friendly. "A-Ahzidal," he managed to stumble back, sounding very awkward and unelegant in comparison. She didn't comment on it at all, just nodded and gestured again, "pleased to meet you. Shall we?"

He followed her back into the meadow, his eyes darting around to each of the different horses that were gathered. There seemed to be more of them somehow and all of the children made him nervous. He barely knew how to interact around other adult horses, much less children. He felt like he'd never been a proper child. His teeth clenched in his mouth and instead he found himself focusing on Arwen. She moved so easily through the crowd, like the sight of so many horses didn't bother her at all. Even at her height, she stands taller than me, he realized hopelessly. She didn't seem to notice the stares or gestures other horses made toward her. She walked proudly into the clearing until the patch of clovers was spread before them. Ahzidal immediately felt overwhelmed. There had to be thousands of them.

"How are we supposed to find one with four leaves?!" he said, desperation and frustration weaving into his voice. "We just start looking," Arwen said with another smile and then went off, head down, into the clover patch. Ahzidal followed her. His gaze roamed the patch, tracing the leaves of the clovers. All of them so far only had three leaves. He walked next to Arwen, roaming the patch next to her. At least with two sets of eyes, they could cover more ground. He felt his frustration building the longer and longer it took to find. He wanted to rip up all of these clovers. Finding one with four leaves didn't mean his life would magically change! But then he heard the sound of a foal laughing. He glanced up and watched the foal prancing around, comically putting their head way too low to the ground and then springing up again with a peal of laughter. Their parent was laughing too. Ahzidal tried to relax. He tensed and untensed his muscles. Rolled his shoulders. Stretched his neck. This was supposed to be fun. It was supposed to be exciting. Not frustrating. With a sigh, he started the search again. Just think. It's just as useful to find clovers that don't have four leaves than ones that do. You're still making progress. Slowly, he started to relax. Started to unwind. Once, he thought he found a clover with four leaves and he could feel his heart pounding. Unfortunately, it turned out to be wrong, but the thrill was there. He was starting to realize just how much he did want to find one.

After a bit of searching, Arwen started making some small talk. Little things at first. Where had he come from. Did he have family here. Where did he call home. Each question felt like a punch to the gut, as it always did. Especially telling someone as cheerful as Arwen. He seemed to be living proof that no one should be cheerful. He hated bringing the conversation down by answering truthfully. I don't have a home. I live here. I can't seem to leave. I had a family, but I don't know where they are. I was taken as a child. Forced to kill. I didn't want to do it. Arwen took each answer with grace, nodding at him. "I grew up a long way from here. I was a princess and I was going to become Queen someday. I was bethrothed to a prince from another land, but it was all a ruse. Thinking that my Kingdom was safe from his now that we were wed, the guards were relaxed, and they didn't see the attack coming. My lands were destroyed. My best friend was killed. I fled from it and I ended up here," she explained to him, her eyes still methodically roaming the clover patch. Ahzidal was taken aback. How did she remain so chipper when she'd been through something so awful? Didn't it make her angry? Didn't it make her despair? "How can you be so cheerful, when that happened to you?" he asked her, point blank. She paused in her search to look at him. "Because it happened to me. Because it was cruel. The world is a cruel enough place without me being cruel as well. If I can spread just a little bit of happiness, then I will do it," she answered. Then she gestured in front of him with her muzzle.

There it was. A four-leaf clover. Right by his front hoof. He was dumbfounded as he looked at it. It was so perfect. He felt tears welling up behind his eyes and he blinked them away furiously. "Your luck will change," Arwen said, walking up to it. "You will find a home and you will find your family," she smiled. For a moment, Ahzidal wondered if she was going to pluck it from the ground and his immediate reaction was to stop her from doing so. He didn't want to kill the clover. He wanted it to remain, safe and perfect, and available for another horse to find. "Thank you," he managed to say. She smiled at him again, "you are welcome, Ahzidal. That was fun now, wasn't it?" He reflected on it and supposed that, yes, it was. It was nice to take his mind off of things and just focus on this one task. It was nice to be around other horses, hear conversations and laughter and excitement. And it was nice to actually find the clover and succeed in this task. I succeeded. If he could succeed at this, surely he could succeed at finding a home? And then finding your family... One step at a time. He could do this.


timeline beginning of spring, after talking to bedelia
notes
Prompt 4: Lucky Clover
The duo I didn't know I needed.

Word Count: 1667
Bonuses:
- Special guest: Arwen

"Ahzidal speech"
"Arwen speech"

[❅ Icy Dragon ✩]

Prompt: Sled Master

Bonuses:
+ Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy (10,000 points)
+ Three's a party (10,000 points)

Word Count: 1,071 Words
+ Posts 800+ words (15,000 points)


Total Awarded: 35,000 Points

---

Prompt: Of Lions and Lambs

Bonuses:
+ Surface tension (10,000 points)
+ Spring cleaning (10,000 points)
+ Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy (10,000 points)

Word Count: 1,356
+ Posts 800+ words (15,000 points)


Total Awarded: 45,000 Points

---

Prompt: Lucky Clover

Bonuses:
+ Special guest (10,000 points)
+ Surface tension (10,000 points)

Word Count: 1,667
+ Posts 800+ words (15,000 points)
+ Posts 1500+ words (20,000 points)


Total Awarded: 55,000 Points

---

+ Event Completion (100,000 Points & 10 GP)

Overall Total: 235,000 Points