Death of a King
In Pegasus Falls, Renegade was taking a tour around the place again with Fauna, he was finally familiar with the place but he wanted to make sure he could pick out the landmarks. Eventually they landed to rest near a river. Renegade dipped his head and took a drink from the water.
"You're doing pretty good with finding your way around Renegade. If I didn't know any better I'd say you were born here just like the rest of us." Dropping her head, Fauna began to graze on the grass by the river banks.
Renegade raised his head, "Thanks, that qualifies as a compliment, I guess it's mostly just instinct, though I do have one question for you."
She lifted her head briefly, "One question huh? So I should count the other 5,000 questions you've asked as what?"
"Less personal ones, I want to know about your, our parents. I never knew them and I've lost all the implanted memories I got from No-Heart, all that's left is what I've learned since then, so I'd like to know, what were they like?" Fauna stopped in her grazing and just stood quietly. She didn't answer Renegade but sort of stared off into the distance.
"Fauna, are you all right?" Renegade asked.
Her eyes moved to focus on him now, "No ones ever asked me to talk about them before. I guess it sort of took me by surprise."
"Well you never had a brother before, or do you still find it weird to have me calling you my sister?" Renegade asked.
"I'm adjusting." She pawed as she thought about where to start, "Well mom's name was Rainbow, dad's was Blizzard. They mated before their proper mating ceremony and as a result had me. That didn't matter though, dad worshiped the ground mom walked on and would have done anything for her. And mom was the most caring and sincere mare around."
"Must have been nice to have people who cared about you after you were born," Renegade said, recalling how No-Heart had treated him.
"It was. The first few months of my life were great." Her face darkened, "But then dad was banished to earth and forced to live as a human for the rest of his life. All because he tried to rescue a friend. Mom was always a little sad after that. We went wandering on earth to see if we kind find him and," she paused, swallowing to keep her voice from breaking, "That's when the Hunters found us. They killed mom right in front of me, there was nothing I could do, I was too young to even fly yet. All I could do was run and hide." She took another break, "True Heart and Noble Heart found me and took me in, luckily or I probably would have died. When I finally got back here for the first time, they told me dad had died of a broken heart after her heard about mom." She felt the familiar ache ebbing from her chest, "I'm sorry Ren, gimme a minute." Turning away from him she took deep breaths to calm herself.
Renegade shifted to human form and placed a comforting hand on Fauna's back, "I'm sorry to hear that, but I guess I'm here for you now."
"That's what everyone else said to, that they'd be there for me. But the two people i wish were still around aren't, and they don't know how that feels." Her mood changed back to the dark one she had previously, "But I got them back. I got my revenge on the ones who killed our mom."
"I wish I had been there with you, but I wasn't even... born then, but I promise nothing short of death will keep me from being there for you sis."
She nudged him with her nose, "But anyways, we're loosing track. Anything else specific about our parents you want to know?"
"Well, what did you mean by dad getting banished for helping a friend?" Renegade asked, curious.
"Ever notice how Thunder, Frosty, Red Snout, and Blue never mention their dads?" He nodded, "Our dads were the best of friends and when they discovered a cell of the Hunter's they took it upon themselves to wipe them out. They were some of the men responsible for capturing another friend of theirs, as well as for killing Frosty's dad before he was born. However, like Blue told you, we are not supposed to attack unprovoked. So the council stripped dad and the others of their Pegasus bodies and magic, and banished them to live out their final days on earth." She snorted as she mentioned the council.
"I guess you're not on the best of terms with the council then," Renegade paused, "so who are these hunters you've mentioned? They can't just be big game hunters if they're able to kill Pegasus."
Fauna smirked, "That is a story that is as old as our kind. The original Pegasus was sired by Poseidon and Medusa. The hero Bellerophon received a golden bridle from Athena which allowed him to tame Pegasus. After Bellerophon death, Pegasus remained on Olympus and served Zeus. He was made a constellation by Zeus for his faithful service. Poseidon missing his sons' presence created two more in his image, Day Break and Night Shade. From them came all Pegasus. Our weakness to gold comes from the golden bridle used on the original Pegasus. While we have always lived in the falls, which were a gift from Poseidon, the falls used to be connected to the rest of the world through the 7 portals so our kind and humans could come and go as they pleased. As technology came into the world of man, magic started to find its way out. As such, rather then admire the beauty and strength of the Pegasis, humans began to try and capture them and use them for their own selfish means. A group of young men once cornered a young stallion and attempted to ride him. Trying to get one of them off his back he took flight and spun. The boy fell to his death and his friends returned home with the news. The dead boy was a prince and his parents issued a decree that all Pegasus were to be wiped out. The Pegasus fought back and a war erupted between the two sides. Day Break and Night Shade beseeched the gods to help them keep their children safe so no more would die. He agreed on the terms they would remain on Olympus and serve himself and the other gods. All at once all Pegasus were called back to their Falls and Zeus sealed the portals so only those knowing the password could get in or out. But it is not in our nature to remain caged in once place, we like to wander. So the god Poseidon beseeched Artemis to give us a gift to keep us safe when we wander from the Falls, or a way to hide if the wrong people ever get in. We were given a guardian shape to shift into. The hunters however did not give up and made it their duty to protect the world from us and other magical beings. They continue to search for the seven hidden portals and for the words to get in. Most of their attempts were stopped, however every few decades devastating successes occur."
"Wow that is a long story," Renegade said, thinking it over, "So these hunters, do they go after all magical beings? Wouldn't that mean they would want to kill the Care Bears too?"
Fauna's eyes flashed gold in alarm. "They don't know about them! Of course they would go after them if they did. We are their favorite targets however."
"Yeah, makes sense, and I guess they have their own protectors there, ones who could hold them off if needed. So how's Blue these days?" Renegade asked.
Her cheeks flamed just at the mention of his name, "He's good. I'm missing him a lot more then I used to. But I know how important this is."
"More than you used to?" Renegade asked, "You two seem pretty close from what I've seen."
Fauna smiled dreamily, "Well we've always been real close friends. But...I think I love him. I mean, my day just gets better as soon as I see him, and my mind is always thinking about him, even when he's not around. And you saw how red my face got just when you mentioned his name."
Part of Renegade wanted to tease her, but instead he sighed, "Sounds nice, I wish I had someone like him in my life, but you know, female. But other than you and maybe Blue, I don't think anyone in here really trusts me, or if they do they're just keeping their distance, but I guess I can't blame them."
"Nah that's not true, Frosty thinks you're okay. So do the other white wolves. Heck Red Snout didn't even like me when we first met so you shouldn't use him for an accurate reading." She got a mischievous glint in her eye and smiled slyly at him, "You're not interested in anyone, are you?"
"No not really, I didn't know any of them liked me much," he looked at her quizzically, "why do you know something I don't?"
Fauna twitched her tail, "I don't know anything. In case it escaped your attention, I mostly hang out with my guy friends." She took a mouthful of grass, "You however should not be restricted to one group of Pegasus right now. Go out and meet some of the others. The fox herd for example has some very cool equines in it. Or anyone in the owl herds. They would love to hear about your creation."
"You sure they would still like me after they heard how I was created?" Renegade asked.
"The owls love knowledge, no matter what form it comes in. They would also appreciate how you came to my aid even though you were meant to destroy me. The foxes love to bend the rules so they will find your cunning and side switching, 'intriguing' as well."
"I guess that makes sense. Maybe I should mingle more often with others then," he thought aloud.
"I think that's an excellent idea. If you hang around me too much you'll probably get sick of me." Rearing she snatched an apple from a tree and tossed it to him. "Eat something. With all that flying we did you need to replenish your energy."
Renegade took a bite out of the apple and swallowed, "Thanks sis, I'll take a few bites then I guess I'll go talk with the foxes and get to know them."
"Well if your going to do that, I'm going to head back to my nest and see if I can track down Thunder. Be sure to say hi to aunt Pixie and uncle Onyx while you're there. And keep an eye on them; if you thought Playful and Funshine were good at pranking, you haven't seen anything yet."
"Right, I'll make sure of that," Renegade smiled, "Have fun with Thunder."
"Always do." Flapping her wings she took to the air, turned abruptly right and headed for home. Renegade finished his meal and shifted back to his Pegasus form, taking off to the usually hangout of the fox herd.
After awhile, Swift Heart decided she had spent enough time moping on her kitchen floor and needed to go for a run. It always helped her to clear her head and made her feel better, which was definitely what she needed right then. However instead of changing into one other her jogging tops and shorts, she threw on a baggy hooded sweatshirt and loose fitting basketball shorts. "Wouldn't want to look slutalicious." She mumbled before climbing up the ladder out of her burrow. Not bothering to stretch she set off at an easy lope.
Partway into the start of her run, Playful Heart popped up beside her and began following along, "Hey Swift Heart, how are ya feelin'?" he asked, sounding more concerned than he usually did.
She glanced over at him, "What do you mean how am I feeling?"
"Well Grumpy's been even worse than usually since he left your house, and you're dressed to sweat for your run, besides how do you think I know how to prank you guys so well. I can read you pretty well so I know what makes you tick," Playful explained, "So would you like to talk?"
"Nothing much to say. Grumpy and I had a fight and now we aren't together anymore. It's no big deal." She quickened her pace a bit, needing to feel that rush of air.
"A fight? Over what?" Playful quickened his pace, pushing himself to keep up with the fastest Care Bear Cousin.
"He wanted to move our relationship to the next level and I said no and he totally freaked. Verbal blows were exchanged and we decided that if we could say things that hurtful to each other we weren't meant to be together." She stopped to let Playful catch his breath.
"So he was pushing it eh, and you pushed back?" Playful panted for a moment, "What brought that on, wait was it that conversation he had with the guys? I was there and I heard them all talking about their own 'personal lives' and what they thought about the one you two had."
Swift Hearts ears flicked back and her eyes narrowed, "Care to clarify? What exactly was being said?"
"Well they were talking about how the way you and Grumpy carried on and the way you dressed that you two should have made it to 'home plate' by now. Then I guess I mentioned the Christmas party where you kissed Brave Heart, sorry about that," Playful said, looking genuinely sorry, "I guess that's what pushed him over the edge."
"Yeah he mentioned that." But that wasn't the point of the story that was making her blood boil. "Who do the hell do they think they are to stick their noses in our love life. And I can't believe he listened to them!" She began to pace, "And what is with everyone bringing my fashion choices into this. Aghhhh!"
"Whoa whoa, calm down Swift Heart," Playful Heart backed off, raising his hand defensively, "If it's all the same to you, I don't mind how you dress and your love life is none of my business. I may be a prankster but I'm still a Care Bear at heart and it's my job to help people feel better, and family comes first for that."
"Well I'm glad to hear it. The list of people i'm choosing to speak to in the future has just shortened so I'll take any friend I can get." She kicked a small cloud bank.
"Well it's nice to know not everyone ducks and runs when they see me at least," Playful Heart joked, "and besides, if you're not ready for sex then you're not ready. I mean Funshine and I aren't ready and we have fun all the same, albeit sometimes at your expense," Playful started giggling, "You should have heard Brave Heart, he was on his knees begging for me and Funshine to take that step hoping he wouldn't end up like he did last April Fools Day."
She didn't laugh though. Swift Heart new Playful was doing his best to cheer her up but what she had heard had cut her almost as deep as the fight from earlier had. "But you defended your relationship. Grumpy didn't."
Playful stopped laughing and sighed, "Sorry, guess that wasn't the best way to cheer you up. But all the same if there's anything I can do to help I'm here for you Swift Heart, and so is Funshine, if she weren't on a mission right now."
"Yeah I know. Thanks for that. I think for now though I just need to run and get my head around...everything. I'll probably be at Cozy Hearts later." Giving him a small smile she tore off down the path, pushing herself to go as fast as possible. Playful Heart smiled, pulling out a small joy buzzer he had planned to use on her until he started talking with her. He would usually do anything for a good prank but this time he knew Swift Heart didn't need anymore pain, physical or emotional, on the other hand, he though he'd pay Etienne a visit, see what he was up to. He grinned to himself and took off through the trees to his dwelling, which was now basically a miniature swamp.
Grumpy landed his cloud mobile in the pandas' valley a little harder then he normally would and it evaporated, causing him to land flat on his face. As soon as he had left Swift Hearts he had taken off, not being able to stand being around anyone in Care-a-Lot. He was absolutely fuming after what had taken place and needed some time away to gain perspective. Getting up and grumbling about flimsy cloud mobiles he stalked towards the village.
Fortunately, Good Luck was near the edge of the village and spotted Grumpy straight away. The green bear hadn't changed much, physically, except for his clothing which was now mostly just animal fur shorts as he had been working and felt it was too hot to wear a shirt. He smiled at seeing Grumpy and dashed over to him to give him a hug.
"Grumpy Bear! Long time no see," he said enthusiastically, "How's everyone doing up in the land of clouds?" he asked.
He kept his arms at his side while he was hugged, "Everyone's freakin fantastic." Pushing Good Luck off he continued, "Oh everyone except me. Apparently I'm an ego maniac who only has one thing on his mind."
Good Luck backed off, looking concerned, "Well you got here in time for lunch, come back to my house and we can talk about it with Perfect and Polite, and catch up while we're at it," he took Grumpy's hand ready to lead him back to his home.
He let himself be pulled, but the lid he had kept on his ranting had been removed and words continued to spill out, "Where does she get off! Of course I'm going to be upset when she's been kissing other guys! And I only told her I loved her a million times, but oh no that does not make me special enough. So freakin self centered!"
"Whoa Grumpy," Good Luck stopped for a moment, "Something wrong between you and Swift Heart?"
"No not at all. Since there is nothing between us anymore but air, how can anything be wrong with it?"
"So you broke up?" Good Luck was surprised, "Over what?" he asked as he started to lead Grumpy towards his house again.
Grumpy told him about the events of the afternoon, starting with his talk with the guys, leading into his planned romantic wooing of Swift Heart, and ending with all the insults they had exchanged that resulted in their current status of singledom. Reaching the end he took deep breaths, having not stopped once during the telling.
"Wow, that is serious," Good Luck said, "then again I guess I understand, Polite and I have been talking about having kids for a while now."
Grumpy looked at him shell-shocked, "Really? All ready? But didn't you guys just start dating?"
Good Luck looked at Grumpy, "Actually we were married less than a week after I moved here. It's a different culture down here, and people at mine and Polite's age are considered adults, and unrelated men and women living together is still kind of taboo, so we're married now. As for the children thing it's a cultural clash that's holding us back."
Grumpy took a moment to absorb this. "And you didn't think to invite any of us to your wedding? Gee thanks Good Luck. I swear everyone is getting action in their relationships except me! And now I don't even have that!"
"Sorry, but it all happened so fast, plus I did send an invite, but I never got a response. Did something happen so soon after I left home?" Good Luck noticed they were at his house, "Tell me once you see my wife and Brother-in-Law and we sit down to eat." He stepped inside to find Perfect Panda preparing lunch, he turned to greet Good Luck.
"Hello Good Luck, and you have a guest, Grumpy Bear was it?" he asked, "Polite should be back soon she's in the village."
"I saw Good Luck leave with Grumpy, I'm here now," Polite's voice came from behind Good Luck and Grumpy as she entered the house. She went over to her husband and embraced him giving him a kiss.
"Good to see you too Perfect. Hey Polite." He grumbled sitting at the table.
Good Luck helped his brother-in-law to lay out the meal and sat down across from Grumpy Bear. "So as I said, Grumpy, it's a cultural clash that's keeping me and Polite from having kids, I mean out in the rest of the world, my age is considered young and most peopel don't have kids until they're in their 20s or even 30s."
"But here in the valley," Polite continued, "It's a low technology society, and while people here are generally healthy the humans here live much shorter lives. So by our age most people are married and have children rather early in their lives, it's not unusually for parents to be in their early 20s or even late teens."
"That's true," Good Luck said, "but I'm still not ready for that kind of responsibility. And I did send out invitations to the rest of the family, but I didn't get any replies, did something happen so soon after I moved here?" he asked.
Grumpy pushed his food around on his plate, "Yeah No Heart finally cooked up a plan that almost destroyed us. He made opposites of each of us, and when they stared us they turned us into crystals. I got crystallized so I don't know what happened after that but some of the others were able to reverse the crystallization." He swallowed hard as he recalled the events of when he was de-crystallized. "We were able to stop No Heart and defeat the opposites but it took a lot out of us. Most of the opposites were destroyed, except for Fauna's who has reformed and is living with her, Jolly's who is living with his mother, and...Swift Heart's. He's the new white rabbit of Wonderland."
"Oh," a wave of guilt swept over Good Luck and he put his fork down, "I wish I had been there, I could have helped."
"Well it's too late now. We handled it. Your opposite actually proved useful at the end. She made a nice shield to keep the other opposites from attacking. And the Pandas didn't even have opposites," he glanced ad Perfect briefly.
"Well, that's good," Good Luck was relieved, "So how is everyone else, I haven't heard of anything that happened since I moved here."
He tried to think of everything. "True Heart and Noble Heart just had twins. A bunch of us got tattoos. Other then the whole opposite thing nothing to eventful."
"Noble Heart and True Heart had twins, what are they're names?" Good Luck asked. The panda twins kept silent but smiled, letting the two bears catch up.
"Tugs and Hugs. They're pretty cute I guess. Both of them are bears."
"That's good. So how long would you like to stay down here?" Grumpy asked.
"You can stay with us if you want to stay for the night," Perfect offered.
"I might take you up on that. There's too much back home I'm not ready to face yet." He stared at his full plate of food. For once in his life he wasn't hungry, at all.
"Well then you can stay," Polite said, standing up with Good Luck to clear the table, "But you really should eat, food takes a long time to prepare down here and meals can't be kept for very long."
He took a bite, grimacing as it turned to lead in his mouth. "I don't know how things got so crazy." He looked up to Good Luck, "Remember when our biggest worry was what Noble Heart and True Heart were going to give us for snack time?"
Good Luck smiled, "Yeah I remember when we were that young. I guess that's just a part of growing up."
He didn't want to think about that anymore, so he switched to a different subject. "So how are things going with you two?" He addressed Perfect and Polite.
"Things are going well," Perfect said, "the people of the valley have accepted us and we're doing our best to help them in day-to-day evens, both with relationship issues and with keeping the valley running smoothly."
"After Good Luck joined us down here, the valley grew in size, once his love added to our own," Polite said.
"Yep, looks like I'm a permanent resident here," Good Luck said, "Don't stay too long, Grumpy, or the same might happen to you."
"Don't worry about that. I'm only here for a night. This wasn't meant to be a permanent vacation, just to give me time to cool off." He folded his arms over his chest.
"In any case, I hope things work out for you back home," Good Luck said, "mind helping with the dishes?" Rather then responding he carried his dish and the one next to it into the kitchen.
Renegade flew over the part of the falls where he knew the fox herd spent most of their time. He carefully landed, staying in his Pegasus form and looked around, "Hello, anyone here?" he asked.
A black stallion with grey spots up his legs emerged from a stand of trees. He had a very stern look on his face, "You are not supposed to be here. This area is restricted access."
Renegade looked at him, "Restricted access, I didn't think anywhere but the elder's and ruler's areas were restricted."
He moved up in his face, "Are you calling me a liar? This is a restricted area. Do I need to call for back up?" At this a small pink Pegasus mare with purple wings and a blonde mane and tail came up behind Renegade, "What seems to be the trouble here? Does he have clearance to be here?"
"All right, fine I get the message," Renegade spread his wings ready to take off yeesh so much for learning to mingle, Fauna, guess I'll just keep my circle small then."
The two Pegasus confronting him exchanged a look before breaking out into a fit of giggles. "Hahaha oh Renegade, you should see the look on your face." The mare told him, still laughing.
Renegade blinked then sighed, "Right, my sister said you foxes liked to pull pranks on people. So who are you two again?" he asked, still not haven't learned their names by memory yet.
"I am your aunt Pixie, and this is my mate Onyx."
The black stallion gave a slight bow, "A pleasure to finally meet you. Our niece has told us some interesting things about you. Come on, we'll take you to meet the others in the herd who are around." They moved to flank Renegade as they led him away.
"Thanks, Aunt Pixie," Renegade said, following her, "So should I turn into a fox or is everyone here usually in their natural form?" he asked.
Onyx quirked an eye at him, "We are in our normal forms of course. We usually only take our animal forms if we are in danger." Grinning he continued, "Not all of us can shift with the ease you and Fauna manage."
"I see," Renegade said, as he continued to follow them.
"Here we are. Welcome to the fox herd!" Ahead of them were 12 Pegasus, ranging in colors. For the most part they were grazing or talking, nothing too out of the ordinary. Pixie whinnied to get their attention, "We have a visitor everyone. Most of you have heard of him, but none have met him. This is Renegade."
Renegade looked around, "Hi, I'm Renegade, Fauna said I should learn to mingle and thought I should get to know the fox herd, she said you might like to hear about how I was created." Of all the Pegasus present one in particular caught his eye, a blonde furred female Pegasus with a white mane and tail. She seemed to be hanging back and watching him, maybe she was shy?
The others exchanged a look before grinning at him. A stallion in the front nodded to him, "We heard it is an intriguing story and would be most honored if you would share it with us."
"Well, I'm sure you've all heard of No-Heart right?" Renegade asked.
They shook their heads. Pixie cleared her throat, "He doesn't care for my niece and her adopted family." The foxes "Ahhhe'd" as one in understanding.
"Well a while ago he tried to destroy all of them be creating opposites, or rather clones of all of them. I was one of them, created to opposite Fauna and with all her powers. Suffice to say I was able to see how things really were and I changed sides, so I decided to join the rest of you Pegasus here in the falls." Renegade looked around to gauge their reactions after he said that.
The stallion who had spoken to him before grinned wider, "So you are Fauna's Opposite? And were created by magic and science?" Before Renegade could respond he laughed, "Ha! I don't believe I have ever heard anything like that before. You are a one of a kind specimen!" A mare to his left smirked, "So sorry Fauna had to be your creation template though." The other foxes sniggered.
Renegade smiled, "Well she's all right, and I guess she's my sister and she's helping me to get to know everyone here. Plus I have the same shifting abilities she has, don't know if I'm allowed to share that with anyone yet though." He looked over at the blonde mare again, "You're awfully quiet," he said, approaching her, "who are you."
The mare smiled and said, "Call me Amber Fox."
Pixie smiled at her, "Oh she speaks. So you have him figured out already do ya Amber?"
"Well I've had time to get to know Fauna," she said, "So he wasn't too hard to figure out, he's just like her, except a bit mopey but that's to be expected."
"You're quite observant aren't you," Renegade said. He was intrigued by Amber.
"That's why Amber is so quiet when you first meet her. She's sizing you up and then-" Onyx was cut off however as a large bell sounded 4 long notes.
The fox herd members immediately went rigid, Pixies eyes were wide, "By Night Shade, no." Onyx moved close to her, covering her with his wing.
"What? What does that mean?" Renegade said, alarmed but unsure what to think.
All around him the Pegasus were shifting into their fox forms and hiding into the surrounding trees. "4 clangs of the bell is the signal for the death of the king or queen. Windrider's been killed." Pixie explained as she gained her fox form.
Renegade looked around, "I need to find Fauna," he said, shifting into a hawk and taking off.
15 minutes earlier…
"Blue focus. It is important for you to learn the proper invocation during the summer solstice. Otherwise the festival will be completely ruined."
He scowled at Wind Rider. The two had gone to the meadow where the festival was held and Wind Rider was instructing Blue in how to conduct the opening ceremony. "All the festival invocations sound the same. Are you sure we can't just meld them all together and use it all year round?"
The king laughed at him, "But where would the fun be in that? Now try again from the top."
Huffing Blue began to recite the invocation. As he spoke Wind Rider gazed around the meadow, watching the breeze blow the tall grass in rippling waves. To the north he could see a few sentries, standing guard incase the Kingsire and Kingling needed anything.
"Umm Wind Rider? Hellooooo?" Blue waved a wing in front of his face.
"Oh sorry. I must of zoned out. I was just looking at the scenery." He grinned at him, "So did you get through it?"
The young roan nodded. "So what do I do next?"
Wind Rider's brow wiggled, "Ahh my young heir, this is the best part. Now you get to…" He stopped mid sentence, something behind Blue catching his attention. Whatever it was he didn't look pleased.
As Blue turned around to look, he felt Wind Rider knocking him to the ground, "Stay down! Guards!" A loud crack filled the meadow and Wind Rider staggered, falling to his front knees.
"Kingsire!" Looking to what had caught his attention before, Blue saw a human, clothed in black holding a smoking rifle. Already the guards were bearing down upon the man, lashing at him with their magic. With a sinister smile he called out, "Our regards! Retaliate if you dare."
Blue turned to Wind Rider and saw him on his side, breathing shallowly. Blood poured from the wound in his side. "Kingsire?"
He shook his head, "Not anymore. Take care of them Kingsire Blue. I know you will." His last breath slipped away as a guard reached them. Seeing the still Wind Rider on the ground he whinnied in rage, pawing the ground angrily.
Blue was frozen where he stood. The guard looked to him, "We need to get you back to Pearl Head Mountains. There may be more out there." He slowly nodded to the guard. "Then sound the alarm. The falls need to know our king is dead."