Thanatos Intrusion {Open/Claim}

[--- Sreine ---]

Thanatos..
blood-red eye gleaming, he had been waiting to please his God. The dark one. He knew that being a kind-of favorite would grant him ability to claim this Regar Sumi herd land, as king, and rule over the darks with quite ease. Hah! If they thought of fighting him.. He would squish them into little pieces! His white, glowing/pulsing white face was blinking on and off in seconds. Amazing markings, amazing horse.

Out of his black eye, he spotted his new teritory. Oh joy! Such meaning for him was quite great, he had once lived here, got banished and then challenged for this dark cave and lost! Him! Loosing! But then he was an ignoramoose. Now, he was powerful and could contain this land. Those dear Sub-herds better know what their purpose is!

Basking in the lime-light, he trotted along, tail held high in the air. He would even try to steal the dear mares from those stupid stallions ruling the other leagues. Any who chose to pass him know were obviously trying to get attention, so he would make them stay. Because; he was a king, and he could do whatever he wanted. He'd just have to enjoy everything to come to him!

[Nessyo]

Atticus had no such aspirations to highness.

Indeed, there really wasn't all that much he wanted out of life, other then the peaceful company of his own. Perhaps a mare to be his mate, a loyal mate, and perhaps some foals that bore him some resemblance-- but really, that was nothing compared to what most stallions wanted, what most stallions craved. They wanted land, many mares, respect, worship. Anything. Everything. Everything they could win or steal or fight for.

Atticus had to admit: he could not understand it.

So he didn't bother with it. Let the other stallions have their politics and their mares. He would have his wanderings, until such time that he found somewhere that suited him. Loneliness wasn't ideal, that much was true-- often, Atti found himself pacing and longing for his own kind-- but it was a worthy price for freedom.

The lands he was wandering through held no special significance to him. The gods had done him no favors, burning his old herd's lands and driving them away, killing the son he'd managed to sire for sure, and possibly killing his mate and herd as well. That had been years ago, and now he had been wandering, ignoring the gods and whatever territories they claimed. Here was a forest, here a lake. The only thing that would make him avoid a place was if a stallion marked it as his own; those territorial disputes he wanted no place in, accidentally or intentionally.

Thus, had he known that Thanatos had just claimed a cave as his own, he would've avoided the place altogether. But Thanatos had just claimed it, and as of yet there were no specific signs of this fact: simply the other stallion's presence. Thanatos was actually downwind of Atticus, as the blood bay wandered along on his vague explorations-- Atticus did not notice him until the brightness of the other stallion's markings called his attention to other horse's presence, bringing him up short midstride, and causing him to snort in surprise.

Well, that effectively blew his cover. While ordinarily, Atticus was disinclined to associate with his fellow stallions, now he did not bother turning and slinking of as was his tendency. "Hello, stranger." he said, somewhat dubiously- he did not want this to turn into some kind of confrontation. "I did not notice your presence."

[--- Sreine ---]

Prepostrous.
They all thought that stallions wanted to own land and have mares! Pah! Thanatos wanted the world. He wanted the control. He wanted the amazing power feeling. Everyone gaping at him, staring at his markings, astonished, awed, inspired by him. No, he doubted that anyone would challenge him ever for the lands. He was always said to be clever or cunning. They always thought he could just pop in and out and confuse them, make more of him and trick them. Hah. Awful rumors spread around about him, something crazy, others believable. Some thought he was totally physcotic. He was.. quite.. an interesting character.

A lot of horses thought 'oh.. well.. He just got his lands, so how harmless could he be?'
Very. Very harmful, and or harmless. He could be such a nice / kind king, or he could be their worst nightmare. Some dear mare had recently joined Regar Sumi herd. Good. The more the merrier! He would have to build up and elite fighting force if he was to ever hold off the attacks of the royal lands. Although, he doubted that anyone would dare betray him. The challenger had to have an alliance, and he would make sure that they would never betray him..

Then he heard it. A loud snort. Spinning around, his blood-red eye gleaming at the intruder. 'I am not a dim-witted stallion. I am also not blind. Do not lie and do not hide. Unless you seek trouble, I am here to 'chat' if you prefer.' his hard, cold gaze locked into Atticus' eyes, searching for the reason why the stallion had intruded Thanatos' lands. Wings flapping easily, he soared closer to the other horse, black and white molding together to make a checker-grey looking pattern. Markings lighting up, his eyes started on a light shade, that of excitement.

[Nessyo]

Atticus was not impressed. Rather, he was wary. Ears flicked forward, and then back, and he took a single step backwards. There was nothing remotely aggressive in his posture-- but he wasn't about to slink away, tail between his legs, either. He was no kicked dog: he was a stallion. Simply a stallion that wasn't motivated by the same things which seemed to flow strongly through the blood of his fellows.

Some fellows more then others, apparently: this was one of them. The stranger wasted no time in taking to the air, flying towards him on wide wings. Atticus had no wings, and no glowing markings: only himself, his long legs and his high stride. Atticus met the strange stallion's eyes, his own calm but wary. The markings were curious, and under another circumstance, Atticus might be tempted to stare at them, to be mesmerized by their shifting patterns-- but not today, not now. Not when this stranger's voice was so hostile; this was a potentially dangerous situation, and that benefited strait stares in the face.

"I cannot lie if I haven't spoken," Atticus answered, a slightly droll tone in his face, "And as of yet, I have only spoken truths. I did not notice you there, not at first." He flicked his tail, but did not take his eyes from this aggressive stranger. "Nor am I hiding. This land, to my knowledge, is not owned. If it is now, so be it. I will simply leave. I mean you no trouble or offense." The words were carefully chosen, picked to stand his ground, but not to provoke ire. The only thing that betrayed Atticus's tenseness was the obvious care with which the words were chosen and spoken, and a slight tightness in his muscles-- he would not take any action unless it was called for, but he knew enough about his own kind to know when to prepare to defend himself-- if it came to that.