Centaur Valley

Twilight Flame · Centaur Joined: 17 Jun 2008 Posts: 35

The sun set low over the hills as Twilight finished plowing the field. He put the plow up, sighed, and dunked his head in the creek. He was still worked up from plowing, he couldn't get tired now. He needed something to wind down with.

How did he wind down before the war? He thought back. After a hard day's work, he'd get the mail and papers. Hmm, there was no mail or papers to get. He could still take a walk, though.

Carefully shutting the door (it was in desperate need of repair), he walked toward the forest nearby. As he went, he thought. He looked at his body in the dimming light of dusk. Scars still criss-crossed his body. He had a spot on his shoulder and a strip on his hips where his belts sat, holding weapons. His arm was circled with marks from his shield.

"War sucks," he mumbled aloud.

He continued onward into the forest. His thoughts drifted back, before the war. It had been the best season ever. His family was offered over 90,000 sentas for 90% of their crops. He remembered the festival well. The Great Harvest was well under way, and Flame had just bought his weapons and a bucket of apples from the human traders from Glomen, their country across the lake.

And then a centaur officer was assassinated on stage with an arrow. The human 'traders' drew swords and attacked the innocent civilians of Flame's country. Twilight used his strength to fend off the well-trained human 'army', but got so caught up he didn't notice the thousands of soldiers marching around the city, up towards the towns.

The festival had been brought to a screeching halt. Flame left his two brothers, his sister, and his mother in the city to check their farm high up in the mountains. He almost beat the human army, getting there in time to watch those traitors burn down his village. He and a few more elderly centaurs fought back.

From then on, he'd been fighting. The human army was huge, and were more skilled than the centaur militia. However, the centaurs were fighting in their element: the mountains. After five years of war, the centaurs won.

Flame went back to Imperial City where his family was left, and found it burnt to the ground. Tidiria had fallen. Twilight, with nowhere left to go, took his remaining possessions (his weapons) and headed to the flatlands, away from the mountains and Glomen.

Now, he had started over. He vowed never to enter another war. Here, though, it seemed that centaurs and humans lived together in harmony. He liked that, even though he still harbored dislike toward the bipedal humans.

Twilight stopped.

He was lost. He had no idea where he was.

He looked around. The sun was long gone, and Flame hadn't brought a torch or lamp. It was pitch black all around him. He could see a few trees nearby.

His ears, however, kept him alert. He knew instantly there was an animal a few yards away. He knew the animal lept at him. He knew almost instantly it was a bear.

Twilight Flame spun, bent down, and picked up a rotting stick. He slammed it into the bear, where the stick shattered. It diverted the bear, though, and allowed Twilight Flame to find a long, firm branch. He slammed it into the bear's head.

Twilight heard bones crack, but the bear wasn't down. It lept again at Twilight, now more angry than hungry. Twilight knocked the bear aside with his farmer's strength, then brought the blow to its neck which broke. The bear lay mostionless, Twilight Flame panting.

Suddenly, fatigue hit him. He was able to walk a couple hundred yards, but then collapsed under a tree, falling instantly asleep.

Phenoca · Foal Joined: 29 Oct 2008 Posts: 6

Hearing the pained roar of the bear, Phenoca comes to investigate. Suddenly coming upon the unconscious bear, Phenoca prances backwards, until he hears no signs of pursuit. He stops, and listens. Hearing nothing at all, Phenoca's curiosity overcomes his fear, and Phenoca decides to return to the location where he saw the bear, hoping to find what made the roar (perhaps a pricky berry-bush). Halfway back to the site, Phenoca suddenly realizes what could have made the bear roar. Perhaps the human hunters had already come to this forest, in which case, the bear must have been hurt by a human trap set for small game. Carefully treading on visible ground, Phenoca slowly makes his way to where he suspects the trap is, but sees that the bear is still lying here - prone on the ground! Startled, but afraid to make too much noise, Phenoca stands frozen, and observes the bear. Noticing that the bear is unconscious, Phenoca circles the bear constantly aware of the danger of human traps.

The bear's jaw trickles blood, it's head and hind-legs lying at awkward-angles to its body. Wondering why, Phenoca comes to the realization that this bear is involuntarily unconscious. Hoping to check whether it has been grieviously injured by the human traps, Phenoca bravely approachs, and nudges the bear's head. It rolls-back, exposing a gruesome contortion in the neck, proving that this bear has been killed by some unfortunate circumstance. Suddenly aware of the danger he has placed himself in by coming, Phenoca peers around for signs of the trap that had injured this bear. Finding no glinting metal objects, or straight lines in the area, his gaze alights upon a set of hooves entering the scene. The hooves approach the bear, disappearing under its body, and then slowly retreating to the south, as if carrying some heavy load.

Phenoca ponders following the tracks south, but eventually decides against it, aware of the power of whatever had slain this bear. Noting that the hooves are shoed, Phenoca realizes that the battle must have taken place between the bear and a mounted rider on a steed. Fearing the worst, Phenoca quickly departs eastward for the Village in order to give his news of to the Elders - despite the fact that it is two hours until dusk, and he must return home if he wants to be stabled by nightfall. No longer fearing for human-traps in the forest, Phenoca trots rapidly to the Village, worrying that he may have to use the stalls there instead of faring the night in his Forestal home. But by returning to the Village, is he about to enter into much more dangerous man-made trap?