Post by Duke on Nov 5, 2013 0:36:23 GMT -5
There was no such thing as a day off. There were days that held the illusion of peace and quiet, but mostly they were clouded with a deep knowledge of all the things that still had not been achieved. It was a distracting thought, and perhaps it was the main reason that there were no free days. Even when Duke was released from his work and schedule, his mind was preoccupied with thoughts of strategy and politics. Often he wished he had never been introduced into the world of politics; life would have been so much less complicated. Back when he was simply a navigator all he had to worry about was whether he was meant to be on duty, looking out around the boundaries and checking for intruders. Now there was an endless list of tasks that had to be completed every day. Duke had no quarrel with Loril taking over the Bellator herd. He had not had much companionship with Reach, and so he had never had cause to question a shift of leadership when the old stallion left. It was only reasonable that Loril had stepped up to the higher rank, pulling everyone below up with her. As far as Duke knew, she was a quiet but fierce mare and she had a certain life to her that gave him hope. He had not been in the Menagerie as long as most, but even he too was beginning to lose that sort of flame that kept you going. It was necessary to keep up the charade though; he couldn’t let anyone know that he had doubts about the future. Would the Keepers tire of them? Would they simply give up on their experiment and leave them to rot? Or would they leave them with one last curse? So many questions would lie unanswered until they were left in the corners of rooms to be covered in layers of dust. The past too would remain buried there, in shadowed places where they could never be found. There was only forwards now and Duke was determined to move with all the strength he could. Finally he had managed to escape the busy talks of strategy. All morning had been lost discussing possible accusations on water poisoning, as well as if it was safe to try to talk to other retromorph groups into forming alliances. It still unsafe to seek refuge within the company of shifters, but the other retro groups at least felt the same sort of alienation. Even the anthropomorphs were certain to be sympathetic to their lives. But Nakoma territory was too far away to be useful to the Bellator. Looking around at the few figures that moved about the grass, Duke wondered just how confident they were in their leaders. A few of those gathered had been taught human language by him, just as he had been taught by his human. Layla would know what to do… The thought trailed off as Duke bent his head to graze on the grass. He hadn’t realised how little he had eaten in the past few days until that moment. The wind whipped through the meadow and Duke lifted his head to once again glance over the retros gathered in the area. Majority of them were horses but he could see a few other species mingled within their ranks. A few navigators were huddled on the outskirts of the plains, obviously watching out for any suspicious strangers. Still, they didn’t make Duke feel safe. Trotting towards them, he instead became distracted suddenly by a boulder that lay in the middle of the field. Pausing, Duke looked it up and down for a few moments. Frowning, Duke felt his main disappear and give way to human hair. In his human form, he moved towards the boulder again, wrapping his arms around it. “C’mon,” he murmured as he began to rise up, forcing the boulder to lift. The new gift was strange to him, but he felt his muscles flex and bend to his will. Perhaps the Keepers weren’t pure evil after all. This gift may just come in handy. Duke grinned as he slowly placed the boulder back down before turning around and sitting atop it, sweat snaking down his forehead and neck. Practice would be needed, but Duke was Prophet now. There were no days off; he would have to pull through for the herd. ooc: rambley post with duke because no more exams xD |
