The plains (For kri)

[Genji]

Not too far from the edge of the Central Lands was a place called the Silverglade plains. The population here was rather scare due to the wide open area of the lands. Only small pockets of villages existed here for the lands were mostly used for farming and cattle grazing. The plains were normally peaceful as the occasional traveler was the only thing that passed through. However now and then there were battles between warlords over the land for it was so fertile. The warlords were just leaders of villages whom grown in power and took over other villages till they had a military force. Normally these warlords just fought for power here and never grown to become a concern for rest of Nature realm. Lately there was move in force and power here, small forts and even castle appear on this land. The elves who were near the Central Lands requested a investigation along with a envoy from the realm’s government to discuss terms of reducing the forces of the warlords in order to maintain peace. Being rather headstrong and prideful, the elves simply demanded that the warlords give up all power. The envoy was sent out to deliver the demands and see them through. The elves promised to send two platoons along with the envoy to ensure compliance. The two platoons were really more like five archers, a captain, and a healer. Though the two platoons turned out to be one squad, the envoy still went along with the plan, grudgingly of course.


Shadowdance made his way down the path leading to the next village. The gray steed was nearly soundless when he walked, hence why he earned the name of Shadowdance. To his sides and behind him was the group of five archers, one captain, and a rather clumsy healer. Riding upon his back was the son of his former master, Soma who so happened to be the envoy. Why? Simply for the fact that his father was cunning on both the battle field and in politics: given that fact, they simply assumed that Soma would be just as good. That alone ticked Soma off quite a bit. First off, he wasn’t his father. Second, his father had years of experience on the battlefield and in the political court. That and his father had that omni-potent stare while all he could do is make a rather funny failed attempt at it. Soma was growing rather wearying of that assumption that he could do what his father did and also of the traveling they were doing so far. It was already past midday and they had a ways to go to the village.

“Scan the grass.” The elf captain gave the casual command as the archers glanced from side to side, not stopping the trek. The path on both side was surrounded by tall grass which came up to about knee level on the average person. The main point of concern that captain was thinking of was the ditches. Ditches were placed here or there to drain out rain water from the path and flow it into the irrigation system use for crops. The depth of the ditches plus the height of the grass were enough for a grown man to hide in. That meant there was danger of ambushes from bandits. “What’s the name of the next village?” Soma asked casually out loud to the group, while he looked out into the distance with the sun casting a glow over his slender frame. “The next village doesn’t have a name.” It was the captain who answered this time while giving his horse a small kick, which made it sped up to where Soma and Shadowdance where. “I see… why is that?” It was Soma’s question once more and was met by a shrug from the captain for a answer. Shadow dance shook his head and neighed softly, obviously irritated by the long traveling as well. “It’s ok boy, we’ll get some rest at the village.” Soma reassured Shadowdance with a rub on the neck. With that Shadowdance stopped his complaining neighs and sped up into a trot followed by the rest of the group, all on horseback; traveling the plains by foot would take forever.

[Kokitsu]

The horse was stuck. There were no ifs, ands, or buts about it. All the coaxing in the world wasn't going to get it out because it couldn't get out on its own. Kokitsu knew; she'd been trying for the last hour and a half. Even a handful of the sugar cubes and oats she'd discovered in the bottom of her saddlebags -- packed by Genji most likely -- hadn't been enough of an encouragement to get poor Clop to make the steep climb up the embankment. Or course, Clop had always been disinclined toward any kind of strenuous effort. Plus, there was plenty of sweet grass growing in the bottom of the ditch. Yep, that horse was perfectly content to stay there.

At the top of the other side of the ditch, Kokitsu sat with her legs dangling over into the trench. Her long white hair blew with the weeds around her, the snowy strands effectively camoflauged in the reeds. Even the vibrant and casually mismatched array of her clothes was hidden in the tall vegetation. Not that this was a purposeful action. Kokitsu was simply enjoying the day, only vaguely concerned about eventually getting Clop out of the ditch. A soft, lilting melody drifted around her, hummed under her breath. Clop, far more vigilant than his mistress, even as lazy as he was, lifted his head suddenly, mid-chew. His ears stood erect and he lowered the hind hoof he'd had nonchalantly half-cocked, still as a statue. Kokitsu eyed the horse for a moment, then leaned back and flipped her white ears around to catch the same sound her horse had. A slow smile spread over her features as she found the sound of a group of horses traveling steadily closer. Company.

Clop, belying the laziness he usually evinced, shook his head abrubtly with a whuf and tensed, heaving his bulk of sinewy muscle over the embankment he'd previously insisted was impassable. Kokitsu smiled wryly, realizing belatedly that the horse had fooled her rather neatly. Achieving level ground, he swung his head back to look at his mistress expectantly, flaxen tail swishing over silky bronze fur. Standing, Kokitsu grabbed the horse's mane and swung herself up onto Clop's broad, bare back. While some might have suggested she rode without bridle and saddle because of her superior horsemanship -- which was partially true -- the truth of the matter is that she'd completely forgotten tack when she left. Those who knew her might have been surprised she'd remembered the horse itself.

Without encouragement, Clop set off at a lope toward the sound of the riders, barely visible a distance off over the grass.

[Genji]

Much like his unknown grandmother, Soma rode without saddles as well. Not that he was a great rider, but for two other simple reason. One was that he didn’t believe in adding extra weight to Shadowdance’s back; he believed that everything had feelings and Shadowdance always showed it, especially when he disapproved by attempting to eat Soma’s hair. The second reason is that he could get Shadowdance still enough to put on a saddle in the first place. Just the idea of Shadowdance wearing a saddle was pretty much ridiculous. Even with Yoko Shadowdance had been a bit more then open with it’s opinion that only Genji owned it. Speaking of Genji, Soma had met Genji before though his grandmother was no where to be seen. In fact he never seen his grandma before, only heard things about her from Genji. She must have been some woman if all her kids –his father and uncles- were so eccentric. They probably didn’t get that from Genji seeing how docile he was.

Soma was pretty eccentric too; his clothing just screams it: his baggy pants were cut at the thighs showing a bit flesh, the shoulders of his shirt were cut about the same way to, his vest was pretty normal if you ignore the fact that there were long feathers coming from it, and finally his shoes. His shoes were platform shoes of the sort, bringing him up a addition one or two inches from the ground. Despite that he was still about the height of the captain and mind you the captain was a elf and elves aren’t exactly known for height. Soma was pretty laid back and relaxed as well as being calm and composed. Not the kind of calm and composed that his father showed, the serious and cunning one. No. Soma’s version of being calm and composed was being relaxed and easy going, no matter the situations and there were lots of situations for him.

Suddenly the wind picked up moving from west to east this time. As the wind past, Shadowdance neighed loudly and turned around. Having caught scent of his own friend clop, he was determined to go meet up with his friend even with the surprised Soma hanging on trying to coax him back. “Shadowdance, what you doing boy? You’re going the wrong way.” He said and then hung on as Shadowdance’s trot turned into a run. The elves accompanying him just laughed at the fact he couldn’t control his own horse. “Whoa!” The run turned into a full force sprint toward where Clop was. Soma was too busy holding onto his things and Shadowdance’s neck for dear life.

[Kokitsu]

Clop's mobile ears tipped toward the sound of an enthusiastic whiny from the group traveling up ahead. Immediately afterward, one pale horse peeled away from the group and headed toward them at a quickening pace. Kokitsu could just make out a figure on the horse's back, clinging for all that he was worth and obviously not in agreement with his horse's actions. Beneath her, Clop surged into a gallop, calling out a return greeting. Even Kokitsu was mildly astonished by the fact that her lackidaisical horse had put out that extra effort. Scrutinizing the horse that was approaching more closely, Kokitsu tilted her head to one side curiously, the new angle putting her face directly to the wind to keep her feathery bangs from obscuring her vision.

A few moments later, already close to the oncoming horse, the kitsune's expression cleared and she smiled joyfully. Urging Clop to a last spurt of speed over the last few hundred feet, the horse slackened to a careening halt. Dust from the dry plains under the grasses billowed up in the small stampede as the bronze horse trampeled a small circle in the vegetation as he swung to a stop. Nickering affectionately, he nosed the grey horse, wuffling at him in greeting and breathing in the other's scent. Kokitsu was no less enthusiastic. Sliding to the ground, she inserted herself between the two horses to lay a gentle hand on a well-known flank. "Shadowdance!" she cried happily, lifting the other hand to stroke the grey's sleek neck. "I didn't expect to find you out here, dear. Whatever are you doing? Well, it's good to see you've taken care of yourself, at least." She spoke to the horse itself, seemingly expecting an answer. For a moment she seemed entirely oblivious to the fact that the horse actually had a rider.

Then, raising her vaguely unfocused amber gaze, she swept a glance over the boy on the horse's back. Tilting her head once again in that universal look of curiosity, she leaned closer to the horse's ear, "And who's this you've taken as your new rider? No longer Yoko, I see..." the query was once again directed at the horse, her eyes becoming shadowed at the thought of her son and the reason he wasn't riding the horse himself.

[Genji]

Never had Soma seen Shadowdance run so fast in his life. Normally the most Shadowdance would go was a short run, but never a full on sprint before. Soma just actually had time to reposition himself on the sprinting steed so that he had a better hold of the neck. His sword luckily was slung over his back and tied on with a sash so it didn’t fall during Shadowdance’s abrupt run. His golden eyes saw the person coming at him and the horse, though he had no idea who the person was. Only when Shadowdance came to a full stop, which almost threw Soma off, did Soma see the person. The person was in fact a kitsune, which Soma never saw much of being as rare as they were. Once Shadowdance reached a full stop, he saw the kistune dismount then pet Shadowdance like she knew him. Actually she knew his name and was talking to him.

His eyes scan the female from top to bottom. She didn’t look like a warrior or even dangerous for that matter. In fact she looked a bit docile and almost empty headed to him. There was a certain glint in her eyes which he caught a second later. That glint wasn’t something that belong to someone who seemed to empty headed. It might have been a act, but he wasn’t going to pry just yet. The statement she made rather shocked him. It came at the worst time too: when he was getting off of Shadowdance. The name she mentioned that threw him off was Yoko, his father’s. How did she knew Shadowdance belonged to Yoko? After getting off and straightening out his clothes, he stared at her a little shocked. “You knew my father?” Well a lot of people knew his father. Yoko was pratically famous, but few people knew both Shadowdance and Yoko.

The squad of archers and the captain was approaching from behind. Looking from the side, it was easy to see that both Soma and his grandmother looked alike. They shared the same shaggy white hair and stood roughly the same height with the same build. Even with his high shoes, he barely made it above eye level with her. Soma blamed it on it mother or even the fact that he was still growing. The fact of the matter was: Soma was short.

[Kokitsu]

Kokitsu was absently rubbing Shadowdance behind the ear, knowing from experience where the sweet spot was. The horse, a great beast trained for warfare and stolid in every sense, turned into a docile colt under the carress, nickering and resting his hefty head on his master's wife's shoulder. Kokitsu looked just as content to stand there and stroke the horse, amber eyes half shut, though she was fully aware of the squad of warriors advancing over the plains toward them and the boy as he dismounted -- rather clumsily, though she barely noticed -- and stood before her, his stance shrieking of surprise.

At the kid's question, Kokitsu finally lifted her cheek from where it had been resting against Shadowdance's gray one. Her normally fuzzy gaze sharpened in a rare action that lent the full, disconcerting intensity of her attention to her stare. It was a probing gaze and hard for many to stand in, as it seemed to strip one of barriers to bare what was hidden. Kokitsu was completely unaware of this, of course. She didn't focus often enough for anyone to tell her about how uncomfortable that look made them. A moment later, the intensity faded and a broad smile spread over Kokitsu's face. The snowy hair, the yellow eyes, his height, not to mention his presence with Shadowdance...how had she missed it? The answer would have been obvious to anyone other than Kokitsu.

"So this is where my other grandson went off to!" she cried, slipping out from under Shadowdance's heavy chin. Without preamble, she was on Soma, wrapping him in an all-consuming hug, squeezing tightly. "I heard about your birth, you know, and I really meant to come meet you..." she trailed off, expression clouding from over Soma's shoulder, "Odd...it seems I didn't make it or I would certainly have known your scent..." She was silent a moment, still holding Soma trapped in her bear hug as she thought. Then she gave a small shrug of her shoulders and released her grandson, giving him a swift peck on the cheek as she did so. Likely only Genji knew that she hadn't made it to meet her grandson directly after his birth because she'd been too busy mourning for her lost son in the midst of the Collapse.