A King, A Prince, Whatever

[Deleted]

His hooves echoed in his own ears as he made his way by memory to the land of his birth. Maybe not in that land just yet, but he was almost there. He could smell the apples of the land and well, he didn't want to just surprise the old man. He might cause the wrong impression. He didn't want his herd, well he did, but not like that. He wouldn't fight for it either, there was plenty of land here. If he found what he was looking for, of course.

His color was dark bay, a flashy stallion for being a wild horse. Three stockings rose up his hind legs and his left front leg, splashing the dark horse with chrome. A blaze ran down his face as he looked around the land. He was a proud stallion, one that had seen a lot in his life. Scars crisscrossed his hide, but he was proud of those. Proud in a way that no other stallion could be, he had earned them in a fight for his life with a wild cat.

He let out a call, his deep neigh echoing off of the trees and the lands around it. There, that should help to bring out others in this land. Maybe they would remember him. But that is not why he was here. No, he had a score to settle with his father. The father that had brought him into this world and one that helped to send him off packing. The father that let his mother die a pauper's death because he didn't want her back as the lead mare. His poor mother. Poor Faust had died in a ditch, all alone with only her last son to mourn her. She had been carrying one of his father's foals as well. Maybe that was the reason that she had died. Royale snorted deeply and pawed the ground in anger. Why mother? Why did you have to die so soon? Even Windstorm had left him. She had died and took their only foal with them. A tornado took their lives when they were too slow to outrun it and they wouldn't take shelter in an abandoned barn because of her fear.

A dull roar echoed from his muzzle as tears flowed down his cheeks. And of course there was Feather, the only love of his life. She had left him and he didn't even know where she was. She was likely dead now. Only his own strength and will power had kept him alive after the attack and through his mother's death and Windstorm's death. They had ripped him to shreds. But what would he even say to his father? What would he tell him? Nothing likely. Royale was not a stallion to stand up to another when a mare was not involved. Or maybe there was one there that he could steal. No, that was not right either. He was torn and right now, all he could think of was to at least see that stallion that he thought that had caused all of this face to face.

[Swede]

The only call of a stallion that ever should echo among these trees was his own; that someone else should raise their voice in such a confident manner was something he could only interpret as a threat to his dominion, and something which could not be left unanswered. The rugged roan had many things to deal with in his own herd, but they would have to wait; this took priority. Turning away from the mares and foals which occupied his land, Kahuna trotted with powerful strides through the trees, tossing his head up and bellowing his superiority to the heavens before continuing onward with renewed determination. That voice, it had been familiar; but that did not mean it was any less cause for suspicion. Quite the contrary, those who knew you better were often more likely to try and exploit whatever weaknesses they may have discovered in you.

Kahuna broke from the trees and halted abruptly, striking the ground with his foreleg before raising his head and gazing defiantly at his long lost son. A practiced eye might detect the subtle signs of aging in the long-standing ruler, but his spirit refused to accept the passage of time, and it would be a while yet before he would allow it to affect his capabilities. He stood, proud and strong as ever, giving his younger counterpart a moment to make his intentions clear. Failure to do so would result in the same actions Kahuna dealt to any male who intruded upon his territory; a swift booting outside the borders. He may be harsh, but he was fair; he raised his sons to be the best they could be, and after that, they received the same treatment as any other colt or stallion. He granted them the respect of being viewed as potential rivals, rather than overgrown foals; or so he saw the matter, at least. But many in these lands might deem him cruel and heartless in his habits. The opinions of others did not concern him.

[Deleted]

Royale raised his head as his father broke through the trees, his ears upright and his nostrils quivering with anticipation. There was the stallion that had caused him so much hurt in his life. There was his father. With a defiant scream, Royale rose onto his hind legs and lashed out into the air. Thundering to the ground once more, his voice rose up to his father,
"You, Kahuna, have caused me to lose everything in my life! I have lost my mother, my mare, and my foal because of the lie that you tell to others to make them stay here with you. I am not here for your land, you hot headed stallion. I do not want your silly mares that you chose over my mother and my aunt. I want you to realize what you have caused in my life and what you cause in the lives of others!" His voice fell silent as he stood proud, his tail lashing behind him.

Royale was a scarred stallion that had seen more than he wanted to let others know. He witnessed the death of more than just those that he cared for, he had seen horses tore from limb to limb by wild animals as well as horses "tamed" by humans. He wanted nothing more to do with those around him, unless something could break this shell that was Royale.

[Swede]

Raging stallions had long since lost its shock value for Kahuna, and though this one had a somewhat unusual cause for his fury, he refused to be startled or unbalanced by it. His ears streaked back into his mane, teeth snapping at the air in warning; he did not take kindly to aggressive behavior and would not be intimidated by it. "I gave you your life. How you choose to live it is not my fault nor my concern," he growled dangerously. "Your mother left the herd of her own accord; I swear responsibility and guardianship only for those who live within my lands where I can protect them. You pretend to be a stallion, and rage like an upset colt. Control yourself if you want to throw accusations at me, or leave my presence if it's so hateful to you." His tail switched angrily, energy crackling in his system as he prepared to drive yet another disturbance of the peace from his territory.

[Deleted]

Royale snorted loudly, almost like a hateful laugh.
"She left because you ignored her. She was almost killed and you replaced her with a mare that should have never came back into your herd. You let her die basically because you could not leave another alone. Yes, you let me have my life, you sired me, but you own me a lot, old man. You took so much from me and I know that it can never be replaced. Let's see you explain that one away." His voice trailed off, sneering arrogance and anger, but he did not lash out. He would not fight his father, he was not here for that.

His ears flicked behind him as a mare traveled through the land behind him. She was a delicately built little thing, but he was not paying mind to that. No, she was dreadlocked and rather dingy looking, a chestnut covered in Bend Or spots as well as a few flaxen hairs here and there. She paused to graze, not minding the two stallions that raged near her. She hummed softly to herself, grazing and searching for something that she was not finding here. She slowly made her way through.

[Swede]

"You disrespect your mother, claiming she is petty enough to act that way," he rumbled, "And even if that were the case, she came and went as she pleased, without a thought for the herd she claimed to lead or the stallion whose singular concern she apparently demanded. I guarded her and cared for her while she remained, and I do not cast out others because of one mare's imagined slights. So don't you dare blame me for the freely chosen actions of others! Get out of my sight until you learn how to control your own life instead of accusing others for your failures!"

Kahuna sensed the arrival of the mare behind Royale, but it was not an appropriate time to be distracted by such things. If his son was foolish enough to bring mares of his own into another's territory, then he had even more to learn about life than Kahuna originally thought; and if a mare was foolish enough to come near a pair of feuding stallions, then that was her own concern and not something he particularly had time to ponder over. Digging his hind hooves into the frosty soil, he lunged forward, punishing jaws reaching for his disappointing son's hide. Royale could leave, or be disciplined for his insolence in a manner he undoubtedly would find unpleasant.

[Deleted]

"Making your own son leave. Ha! Fool!" He turned tale, avoiding the jaws of his father. He cantered a few steps forward, then paused. He turned for a moment,
"You will reap your own reward, Father. You are nothing anymore, old man." He sneered at his father and cantered out of the territory and left. But he would be back. Maybe when he calmed down, but he would return.

The mare watched one stallion leave and the other remain. She continued humming to herself as she grazed and sauntered on. She shook her head and looked after the one that had left and then once more to the one that remained. So much drama and problems there. But she was not one to get involved of course.

Royale left the land and went straight towards another stallion he knew could talk to, one that no one wanted him to speak to. His grandsire on his mother's side. Cryptic.

[Swede]

Kahuna reared, lashing out his hooves in fury as his son retreated after a last spiteful threat. "A failed son is no son of mine," he growled under his breath. He suspected this would not be the last he saw of Royale; it seemed his time here among the apple trees had softened him up, gotten him used to a quiet peaceful life. Back home, fights were far more common. But at least they were an honorable affair. This... this was the ranting of a colt who had not yet learned how to behave like a stallion. Shameful.

Snorted gruffly, he turned to move back towards his herd, but something snagged his attention from the corner of his eye. Oh yes, there had been a mare as well. Royale's, he had thought, but it seemed the boy had not bothered to bring her along. Kahuna studied her for a moment, tempted to snake her back to his herd; but such things were not as common practice here as they were in his homeland, and even on occasion frowned upon. He had learned many years ago to adapt to local custom, and it was no difficulty now. "Can I help you with something?" he asked, his voice still carrying traces of irritation left over from the encounter with Royale.

[Deleted]

The mare raised her head towards the voice that spoke to her,
"I was merely traveling when I heard a quarrel. Such a shame, I am sorry. He must be a righteous pain in the rear." She spoke softly as she nodded her head towards him, ignoring the traces of irritation that his voice carried.

She shook head body and looked towards the stallion with her eyes fully on him. Her mane and tail were dread-locked in places and she was not the best looking of mares. But she was refined in her build and she seemed clean enough.
"I am Lovette, it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance... umm, what was your name?" her voice was softly sweet as she spoke to Kahuna.

[Swede]

Kahuna snorted softly, his tail lashing behind him as he turned his gaze briefly in the direction in which Royale had vanished. "He had a lot of potential when he was young, a son I could be proud of," he murmured, "I am ashamed to see him act like a colt who demands life be easy and throws a fit when he realizes it is not." Kahuna had been raised to be as tough as the rock and bitter as the dust of his homeland; you did not fall into weakness, but accepted burdens of the body and the heart and carried them without complaint. He did not weep for Faust, or for anyone else. Nonetheless, the confirmation of her death saddened him greatly. She had been a fine mare, and though her tendencies to wordlessly disappear had frustrated him to no end, he had always hoped she was well and that he might see her again.

However, those who left became responsible for themselves, and if Royale had lost mares while they were in his guardianship, then the fault was his own and childish outbursts only dishonored him further. Sighing gruffly, he brushed the matter from his mind for now. It did no good to dwell on things. The past was irrelevant; those who survived focused only on the present and future. "Hello Lovette. I am Kahuna; this is my territory and my home."