Featured Characters: Malakai, Siavash, Raqim

Featured Location: Nothern Haeda

A current of water, small as it was, coursed past every hoof that stepped down. Streams of water like veins rain down his thoroughly-soaked coat, and along his long legs. A bright flash lit his surroundings, illuminating his stature. Sturdy legs leading up to a chiseled chest, a low neck anchoring his gnarled face to his body. Every hoof step was a quiet echo of what the storm had to offer.

A clap of thunder cracked across the skies, dark and pointed ears flattening back. Curled so tightly against his wet frame was a just-as-drenched shadow of another. Dark golden eyes peered carefully around, flinching with the torrent of rain drops pelting his body.

"...we need to take shelter," his voice whistled, just barely above the howling of the wind. The black stallion's head turned just slightly, for his ear to catch it. With a wrinkle of his nose, his body pulled to a halt; dark eyes taking in their just as dark surroundings. The dark grey clouds offered no light of Na'lith to guide his way, and he certainly was not under the clouded eye of Sa'ren. His skin prickled at the idea, weight shifting uneasily before shaking his head, "Don't see anything."

"You don't have the gift of Na'lith's sight," the leopard remarked, a flex of pin-prick claws into the stallion's shoulder being the only offered direction. The feeling of claws catching on his coat was nothing new. They hardly scratched, and his coat was far too adorned in scars to matter anyway. His muscular body kicked into action, the pace of a trot sending splashes from the puddling ground up into the air. Slowly, from the rain-clogged darkness, the shape of an opening. Dark--but big enough for the two of them to easily squeeze in.

"Wai-wait! Don't come any--any closer! Please!" a voice echoed out from the cave. The black stallion came to another halt, ears perking forward as his gaze leveled with the cave opening. He could feel the weight of his companion shift on his back, and he could only assume a second set of eyes were now peering into the darkness before them. A whistling whisper came from the leopard, the sting of claws sinking into his shoulders accompanying the words.

"Can see a vague outline of another horse…not much else."

It didn't matter if the leopard could see more or not. The words were enough to put on his guard, his lip curling and his own weight shifting as hooves slid to a far more defensive stance.

"Shelter," was all he said, towards the cave. An echoing silence followed, the rain acting only as a resonation--every pounding droplet a second within the silence. At least…it felt like it.

"I…I already said go away, Saya," the voice from within returned, though it hardly held weight. Whoever this horse was, was clearly scared--whether it was the rain, or his presence. Potentially both. The dark horse's mass shifted forwards, strides slow and confident as he began to move towards the opening of the cave once more. The closer he got to the sandstone, the more the rain echoed. Lightning flashed behind him, thunder cracking and resonating in the cave with a fury. It hurt his ears.

A quiet cry came from within the cave, though he still couldn't see the horse his leopard was speaking about. The pouring rain was let up, as the soaked duo took their steps into it, the water on the ground pooling and cascading inward. They weren't safe from being wet, but they no longer had to squint and flinch from the harsh pellets of water that fell from the sky.

"Stay back! I-I'm warning you, Saya!"

He paid no mind to the supposed threat, standing still as the leopard slid from his shoulders and back. In near unison, the two shadows shook free of excess droplets, the sound of his mane slapping against his neck echoing from the sandstone walls around him. The rain was dulled, now that he was further in, and as his eyes adjusted…he could see the shape of the strange horse forming. Primarily the white adorning their hind end. They were no shade, at least; the color was enough to differentiate them against the dark stone behind them…but they were no golden coat, either.

Clearer than before, now, he could see them cowering towards the back of the cave; as far back as they dared get due to the pitch blackness that followed. A torrent of rainfall rushed past their hooves, and the sound of a waterfall was faintly echoing from the opposite side of the cave opening.

The black stallion regarded the horse with little interest, simply turning his attention towards the mouth of the cave, and beginning to watch as the storm raged on. His leopard, however, had trained eyes on the horse--watching his brother's back against the foes they had both known.

This only seemed to increase the horse's nervousness, hooves dragging against ground as they inched further back into the cave. An uneasiness settled into the small space, the stranger horse keeping a wary and fearful eye on the black brindle and the leopard by his side. There was no skepticism for the black stallion--no side eyeing, no wariness. His presence held a weight, his title of Saya putting even more. These were things that protected him, when it came to lone strangers. They were too fearful of him to act out, or attempt to bully him out of whatever it was he wanted.

Right now? It was simply a shelter. The storm's rain was fierce, and there was not a single animal that enjoyed it, he was sure. Rain didn't usually bother him, or his companion…but this storm was not like the ones before.

His head swung towards the back of the cave, dark eyes regarding the black hole that led further beyond. The sound of water crashing down had become louder; closer. His ears pinned, and with careful steps over his leopard, his mass moved further into the narrowing space. The horse, reactive to the shade's presence, timidly skipped forwards--nearly slipping on the slick rocky ground.

He did not care. His focus was on the rushing water, his ears perking from their previous position to get the best read of it.

Crashing, thundering, splattering; the echo drowning and being pushed up.

"Leave," he said simply, head inclining towards the stranger horse.

"Wha--what?"

"I said leave. Go," the brindled stallion snarled, body turning in towards the other horse. They flinched away from the crass command, only a few steps taken away from him--he was far more feared than the leopard who idled near the entrance.

"Y--you can't force me to le--leave! This is my--my cave!" the horse stuttered out, attempting to put on their best display of confidence and forcefulness. The black stallion's gaze flickered back towards the darkness, the sound of rushing water far too close now. A lip curled, and he suddenly pushed inward on the horse's space, spitting out, "Leave!"

A shriek of a whinny left the horse, their hooves spattering against the water and stone as they skipped towards the entrance, and quickly away from the leopard. Once they were out, the stallion began to trot towards the entrance, snuffing at his leopard, "Must go."

Confusion wrote over the leopard's features, but he knew far better than to question his brother's actions. He simply scampered out of the cave, and once the black stallion was free from the confines, a simple leap was taken to settle onto his back once more.

"What? Why ar--"

"Shut up, and keep walking," he interrupted, abruptly shouldering into the 5-foot space that the horse seemed keen to keep from him. As he'd figured, the other horse skittered away, ears flattening, "But wh--"

"Flooding," he snapped, "Going to keep flooding. Go. Move."

"How…how do you kn--"

"Matters not," he grunted, pushing in on the space once more, "Keep. Moving."

The horse took several steps back, bewildered and shocked--but continuing to move away just as much as the shade moved in. Herding. That's what the brindled stallion was doing, and he fully intended to use it to keep the dumb horse alive. At least…until his brother got hungry enough, he supposed.

Step by step, the pair of horses began to make their way to a far sturdier place; sandstone jutting out from the pelted dunes, and offering just enough stability to stand upon. To even get the dumb horse up onto the rocks, the brindled stallion had to resort to biting and nipping at the air close by--each followed by a quiet shriek, and what he could only assume to be a quiet sob.

There was no shelter from the rain…but they would be safe from the surging water that refused to soak into the dry ground.