all that we can be [o]

Karuk worked his way through the edge of the trees, stopping when he reached the meadow. Fog coated everything, making it hard to see very far ahead and his coat was immediately covered with a sheen of mist. It was warm, the humidity bearing down on him and the overcast skies offering no help even with a blocked out sun. Kilton left his perch on Karuk's shoulder and flew ahead, probably looking for a nice place to find food. Karuk shook out his mane, wishing there was a way to cool himself in this god awful summer heat. He picked up a slow trot, his body rolling forward in a flash of brown and white. He came to the edge of a tear in the ground, formed from the horrible rocking of the earthquake earlier. He had been sleeping when it hit, the force quickly waking him and sending Kilton into a panic. He stopped and touched his nose to the edge of the cliff, dirt particles sticking to his damp maw and tumbling down the rocky fall. Why did the earth do this to herself? He sighed, his breath tickling a few strands of grass that remained on the edge among the dirt. He lifted his head as Kilton's voice echoed through the clearing, sharp and insistent. He stood and looked around, but couldn't see anything around him; the fog obscuring anything and everything. He saw the black figure come shooting from the skies, letting up at the last moment and carefully landing on his neck, hopping down onto his usual perch on Karuk's shoulder. Kilton squawked again, picking up his feet and turning in circles along Karuk's back. Karuk huffed, turning to look at his friend and the eagle paused, looking back at the white painted face and blinking once before pulling himself up and standing still, glancing back at him and then looking into the distance.

Karuk shook his head, walking forward along the crack in the ground. He had seen many fallen trees in the nearby forest, ripped from the ground with the force of the quake, their life lines open to the world and no longer in the ground. The trees would die with lack of water and sunlight, the rays unable to reach the leaves that now lay on the ground among fallen branches and broken limbs. Though, most would go on about their lives, oblivious to the destruction and only worried about the panic their little minds had conjured as the world shook around them. Such simple and closed minded creatures he shared this life with. He shook his head again, throwing the thoughts out of his mind; there was nothing he could do about the way others feel. Kilton protested this time, the shake extending all the way down his body. The eagle pushed himself off of the painted equine body, gliding low to the ground with barely and thrust of his grand wings to keep him aloft. Karuk paused as he heard soft foot steps, his ears pricked and rotating trying to locate the direction the sounds had come from. He lifted his head, turning to the side and looking along the opposite edge of the crevice, seeing a bark figure in the fog that lingered in the air. Another equine? He nickered a hello, Kilton adding his own greeting afterwards, flying back to Karuk's shoulder. He nipped at Karuk's skin as if to say 'I told you so.'

// 585 words

breaking in a new character. (:

"Hello. Who may you be?" she recognized his presence through the mist. It was nice to hear a feminine voice for once. All these years he hadn't come across much of anyone, and if he did it was usually a stag. The female vocal chords are so much nicer to listen to, and nicer in origin usually, as well. More willing to actually talk whereas the stallions just want to know why you're there and if you are a threat or not. Karuk tries to avoid temperamental and territorial beings, unhappy with the way they claim land as if the earth could be owned.

"Good day," he said, inclining his white head, "I am Karuk." he stated. Kilton pushed off from his perch, gliding across the tear in the ground and towards the stranger. Karuk could make out the dark shape of him, but once he stood on the ground near the unknown mare, his form blended into the shadows and was shrouded by the mist. He could see the mare better though, her body standing and not close to the ground where the mist was the most concentrated; though he couldn't see any details. If he were to see her again he knew he wouldn't recognize her unless she spoke. "And you are?" he asked in return. It was only polite; to learn each others names.

// 241 words

euew. so little. D:
oh well. maybe this will be my chill thread. haha

"Aveia Mortum," the mare replied, answering with her name just as he had asked. He couldn't put a face to the name, since the mist kept him from truly seeing, so he matched the vocal chords instead. If she were to speak, he would know who it was, even if they never truly saw each other. He could wander around the crack, to the other side; but speaking this way without actually seeing each other was rather comforting. In a sense. Though for some it would be unnerving, to be unable to see whom you are speaking to; relying too much on the sense of sight than that of others. Sorry to ask, but what is that on you?" she asked, and he chuckled. "No bother," he said, shifting his position as Kilton rustled the grasses on the other side. "That's Kilton, he's an eagle." he said, the bird screeching in acknowledgement to his name. Kilton took to the air again, flying to the edge of the crevice and staring up at Karuk, squawking before gliding back towards Aveia. "Sorry, he's not very friendly," Karuk apologized, the eagle screeching again as if he didn't like that. Karuk smirked, shifting his weight into a more comfortable and relaxed position. "Though he follows me everywhere. Probably couldn't live without me," he continued, the bird suddenly on his head; scratching his forehead. "Hey!" he said, twisting around and trying to bite the bird, but catching nothing but air with an audible click of his teeth. The bird hovered in the mist, his wings occasionally flapping to keep his large body aloft; making a sound that could only be described as a laugh. Karuk shook his head, sighing softly. "What brings you to this area?" he asked casually, ignoring the childish bird.

// 320 words

haha it's alright.