Atop A Golden Platter *Open*

[Wild@Heart]

Kana

---

It was a wonderful day today. The sun was out, warming my pelt
with it's glorious rays, and the scenery was amazing here. I had
never been in a place as beautiful as this forest before. The
trees were tall, bare halfway up before suddenly sprouting arms
from their wooden trunks. Their fingertips were a stunning lime
green, and light was just barely able to streak down between the
gaps of the canopy. The lower levels were all alive, filled with
life. The birds were singing their happy tune, mocking jay's
echoing, and many other creatures could be heard going on with
their daily routines. Yet this was far from my own. I had never
been to the forest before, and it was turning out to be a wonderful
experience.

My nares quivered, inhaling the scents of the world around me. I
could distinctly smell the sap from the trees, and the musky odor
of the dirt I was walking upon. The aroma of creatures I had never
seen before or heard of was strong, but I wasn't worried, even
though I knew I should be. It seemed as if every other equine in
these lands had powers, and yet I possessed none. It simply wasn't
fair, but I managed to get on perfectly without them so I never
stopped to dwell upon the minor details of what I didn't have.

The ground upon which I walked was also odd. It had a certain
amount of give to it, and I almost felt as if I would sink at any
given moment. Yet, I never did. With each step I took I continued
to lift my daggers up once again, after placement.

My orbs were golden, sparkling when the light landed upon them
just right, my hide mimicking. If nothing else I had somewhat of
a strange color, but even that was dull compared to some others.
My ebony whipcord was suspended in the air ever so slightly, and I
held my head high and tucked in with pride as my pillars danced
forward, elegance leaking from every pore in my body.

It was amazing, how a place could be so wonderful, and yet hold
such foul creatures. I had been told tall tales of the beasts that
lurked in dark corners, and yet I still wasn't afraid. I knew
very well that I should start being cautious of the world around
me, but it didn't worry me. Everything went as it was supposed to,
and Karma took care of it.

So I continued on, slowly weaving around the large trunks of the
ancient trees. They were taller than me, so tall that their heads
were mere pin pricks upon my vision, and I could only imagine
standing upon the tippy top. The world would look so much
different from the great height. The real world would appear much
smaller, and the sky much larger. And it would be beauty in my
eyes, as all beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Words: 503
Muse: Not Bad.
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[Deleted]

Sai

Sai is the name I was given for this mission…I'm nobody. I am a tool. I don't exist

The ink black stallion was by himself, his expression as blank as his emotions. The only thoughts flitting through his mind were tactical ones, like how the trees obscured most of his vision and that they would be good to hide in for a surprise attack. Not that he would be attacking anyone unless he had to, since he had no true mission at that moment in time. His only goal right then was to survive the upcoming war, which as per usual he had no real opinion on. It was another war, another battle that he would fight if he was told to and only if he was told to. Otherwise he would stay out of it unless directly attacked by another equine. Then of course he would fight back until the other horse stopped fighting or was dead. He didn't particularly care which.

The artist was indeed a horse that never cared about anything or anyone, even himself. His emotions were as blank as the paper he sometimes drew on and that emotionless state of mind reflected in his blank ink black eyes. No love, no friendship, no fear, no doubts. Not even anger. That had all be trained out of him until he was just a painting, blank and emotionless and only serving the purpose its owner decided which at that moment was none. So what had the ink black stallion decided to do? Well, that was simple. He had decided to see the world to find things to paint for the simple task of doing so without having to bring those pictures to life and having them fight the way he had to when he was on missions. Fighting was something he would rather avoid and despite being unable to understand or feel emotions he felt that having to fight and kill others was just a waste of time that he could use for capturing the beauty of the world around him in ink.

Those black eyes took in the trees with nothing but seeming boredom even though he was truly trying to capture the vastness of the place in his mind so when he returned to his herd he would be able to put those lines on paper and show the forest in black ink and white paper. Just another drawing for his incomplete drawing book. He could not remember why it was incomplete, or why it was just the two center pages that held some meaning to him he couldn't understand. Maybe one day he would understand, maybe one day he could remember the importance of those center pages. Or maybe not.

Then in front of him, a part of the picture he would one day paint he hadn't expected to be there, a mare. Her coat was the colour of amber, her mane and tail as dark as his eyes. Feathers adorned her mane like a crown, interesting the artist in him to no end. What a task it would be to paint her in all her radiant beauty! And how to capture that longing look in her eyes, like she was thinking of something that would be so great but also so impossible to ever accomplish. That, he decided, was the reason behind her beauty. So few horses dreamt of something that couldn't happen.

"You are beautiful," he said without emotion. It was an observation, nothing more, nothing less. He was merely stating what he saw and how he decided he saw it. There was no complimenting tone, no suggestion that he was trying to get close to her. Just dull flatness that also showed in his eyes. "stallions must love you" he said, still without emotion but he meant it suggestively.

---

notes; so....he's a little bit strange but really he just needs someone to teach him how to act around horses and show him that he can feel emotions

[Wild@Heart]

Kana

---

You Are Beautiful. A monotone voice entered my harks, and I stopped moving forward, turning to look at the creature who had just spoken. His coat was the darkest of ebony, standing out in sharp contrast to the bright day. His legs held ivory markings, as if they had been dipped in paint, and he had a blaze running down his face, as if created by the thick paintbrush itself. His stunning color was the first thing that I noticed, but then my pools caught his large frame and tall stature. He stood much taller than me, and muscles bulged from underneath his taught hide. He was gorgeous, that was easy to see, but his mask seemed to be wiped of all emotion. I couldn't tell in the least what he was thinking or feeling, and this perplexed me. I was used to being able to read emotions easily, and not having to guess in the least. But with him, I already knew that it would be different.

My own mask was a mix of emotions, astonishment and wonder filling my pools as my eyebrows and lips were pulled up in a soft, curious expression. I cocked my hind leg, all my muscles relaxing, as my topaz pools gazed into his lifeless ones. My whipcord bounced in the breeze, occasionally gaining speed to smack at a bug that had landed upon my hide. My forelock fell upon my face, hiding my long forehead but falling around my pools.

Stallions Must Love You. This seemed to be a continued thought from his first comment, but it still held as little emotion or feeling as the first. I took a step forward as he spoke, our bodies now a mere foot or so away from each other. He brought out my curiosity, he made me wonder how one could be so.... I couldn't even find a word for it. It was something that I had never experienced before, a new challenge. Well, challenge accepted.

Now it was my turn to speak, and my voice was warm and soft, my expression matching as a smile spread across my lips. Well, Hello To You Too. My gaze was quizzical as I continued to stare at him, my line of sight never faltering. My harks were positioned in his direction, catching his every noise. I could hear his shallow breathing, the soft whistle sound as the wind found it's way around his body and through his tassels, and the rhythmic heartbeat that was created with each push of blood through his veins.

I wasn't sure what to do, or how to react to this beast. I was always a mare that showed deep emotion, and I had always been one to play off another's. But this equine left me speechless, he left me speechless and wanting more. I wanted to interrogate him, I wanted to ask him the millions of questions that swarmed in my brain, but instead I just held a soft expression, waiting for his next emotionless move.

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[Deleted]

Sai

At the mare's warm greeting the ink black stallion smiled unsincerely. His onyx eyes still showed no emotion, liek a blank piece of paper and despite his cute little smile it was obvious he really did not care about a thing she had said or even the way she was acting. He had no idea how to react to her warmth and friendliness anyway but he felt that a smile was appropriate when a meeting someone new, even if he knew he was not really smiling. It was just his little fake smile that got him out of most bad situations he got himself into everywhere he went. Not that he was in any trouble then, though he might be when he next spoke.

Well, unless he did not speak. His smile fell, revealing the blank expression that had been hidden momentarily behind a fake little smile. He made no attempts to hide the way his ink black eyes roamed the smooth lines of her body, capturing them and memorising them for future reference. His wandering gaze was not lust filled as most stallions' would be. No, his was simple blank and unemotional as ever though in his slowly moving sight his curiousity was obvious. It was so odd for him to find a mare who he did not run off with the first words out of his mouth but then again he had not exactly opened with a line like he sometimes did. One he had greeted a mare by telling her she had a short neck, an ugly head and horribly conformation. It was safe to say that he had not survived that encounter unscathed.

A quick swish of his tail shooed off any flies that had settled on his inky flanks and a almost annoyed seeming stamp of a hoof ridded those creatures from his paper white legs. A small thought entered his head that flies would make a very interesting drawing study and he tucked that thought away somewhere he would be able to bring it up again. The little black insects seemed interesting and he wondered what detail there was in their buzzing wings. Ebony ears flicked slightly as if he had heard a noise when truly he was just listening to the droning buzz of a fly flying past his delicate auds. It was almost as if he was no longer registering the presence of the femme as something worth his time. The truth was he was trying to figure out something to say that would no offend her too badly. He was having trouble with that since he had no idea what would offend her and what would not since he himself was never offended by anything anyone said to him or about him or around him. He was just blank when it came to anything that involved sociallising.

So instead of trying not to insult her he just said the first thing that came to his mind "your strange for being out here all alone. Not many mares travel without stallions or at all because of the coming war" the way he said was still monotone and without emotion but the way it was posed he tried to make it sound like he was asking her why she was alone without really asking questions. Despite his lack of emotions and normal bluntless he could not really be bothered just getting to the point and asking 'why?' Doing that often ended in offended horses and a whole lot of trouble for him and right then he would rather avoid any trouble.

[Wild@Heart]

Kana

---

And as I watched the beast his charcoal pools never missed a blank beat, but he managed to pull his lips up in a small smirk, and I got the feeling that he was just doing this in an attempt to be polite, and not because he cared in any way. He was such a strange creature. Never before had I met one with such little input or care. And I couldn't even begin to imagine what had happened in his past to create such an attitude. Maybe his mother and father had been the same, and encouraged such behavior. Maybe there had been a hold herd with beasts like him. Or maybe it had happened when he left his family. Maybe he had met a nice young sal to settle down with, and maybe she was the one who had encouraged such behavior. But this had had to start somewhere, with a single equines decision, and I just couldn't imagine such a thing. It was as if he was nothing more than a robot, a frame left without anything inside, and yet still managing to move about. It was painful for me to see, painful for me to watch. But I had no idea what to do, how to help. And worse yet, he didn't even seem to know that he was like this, or didn't care.

The smile faded from his face, lips automatically turning down at the edges. But he still seemed curios, or at least to be thinking something in that head of his, as his pools continued to glide over my stature. I couldn't tell what he was thinking, what he was looking for, but he didn't seem to be doing this in a creepy way, the way a forcer would. I felt like there was something behind this, another cause that I just couldn't pinpoint. But then he became withdrawn again, pools seeming to go blank as if his mind was no longer with me but a million miles away. I stood, watching curiously, as he continued with such behavior for a few seconds too long.

And then he spoke, his voice still robotic with a mask to match. You're strange for being out here all along. Not many mares travel without stallions, or at all, because of the oncoming war. My pools were locked upon his, my gaze still inquiring. I was attempting to pull something, anything from this brute and yet I kept coming up empty.

My voice was barely above a whisper as I spoke, my voice singsong as I continued to peer at him and gage his reaction. You're strange, I started, echoing him, for no other equine I've ever met has appeared so emotionless. And now it was my turn. I let my pools scan over him, orbs taking in everything that was him. The first thing that grabbed my attention was his coal black hide, shimmer spots that glinted in the sunlight. He was neither too skinny or fat, his ribs having a fair amount of meat between them. But his muscles were bulging, and I would guess that they got more use than mosts. His legs were long, his back standing much larger than mine. But my favorite part was his head. The way his cheek bone was large and clearly visible under his taught hide. The way his nose bone was prominent before giving way to the enlarged flesh of his nares, his facial skin appearing so velvety. The color contrast as the large blaze that streaked down his face, no pink skin visible underneath. The way his pools were set at equal height, separated from one another just far enough. The way that they seemed to glide over my body, almost intimately, but yet still managed to hold little emotion. Or the way his twin peaks matched perfectly, positioned in a relaxed manner. But it was also everything combined together, the way everything came together to create him as a hole.

And I stopped as my gaze was upon his once more, my cave opening as I spoke, my tone slightly louder but equally as rhythmic this time. There must be a long story behind that, something must have happened. Sorrow was visible upon my mask, making it clear that I understood it would not be a happy one. I wasn't prying in any way though, I was sure that he would not tell his secrets to a mare he had just met, just as sure as I was about him not even telling them to his closest friends.

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[Deleted]

Sai

There must be a long story behind that, something must have happened. Her softly spoken words rang in his mind strangely, like they were trying to tell him something about himself that he he did not know. Black ears flicked, revealing his ever so slight confusion about the way those words bounced around his head, pulling memories that meant nothing to him into his mind. A small gray colt lying in a field of grass watching a butterfly as older fillies and colts grazed around him. The ground blurring under the black stallion's feet as he ran beside the now muscled gray colt, testing eachother's limits and seeing how could run the fastest. Hooves striking the air and ground as he ducked a dodged in a playful training fight that would one day turn into a deadly battle between two fully grown stallions.

The artist's eyes went wide as those memories poured into his mind, released from their hidden compartment. Everything flooded into his head, everything that he had forgotten about himself and his life but no emotions. No, he felt nothing but he saw everything. He saw himself prancing around the gray colt, whickering and snorting in teasing joy. He saw the gray colt grinning as he ducked in, nipped his neck and raced away, nothing but a blur of silvery gray. Who was this strange colt and why did he remind him of someone who he had killed? More images, pictures....memories. They were memories that he could not remember ever being part of. Was it he who had been running next to that gray colt? Could it really have been that he had once had emotions and a friend?

Emotionless black eyes slid shut, hiding the shock that had frozen him in place even though he knew not what he was feeling. There was something, something that he did not understand, that made tears well in his eyes. What was it? He kept the tears from falling as another piece of information tumbled into his mind...

"Sai! Run!" the older colt yelled, his dark eyes flashing as he spun to face the stallions approaching them. The younger black colt, his onyx eyes wide with surprise stumbled backwards, his small pale hooves blurring as he tried unsuccessfully to get away while still watching his friend. The two year old turned his gray head, his ears pinned against his skull as if in anger but his eyes showed him concern and worry. "Go! I'll be fine" he said and he snapped at the black colt who was losing his balance in his attempts to run. Black eyes widened further as he saw his friend turn back to the fully trained warriors and attack them head on. Before he could see anymore he shut his eyes and spun, tears spilling from his eyes as he galloped away without looking where he was going. Everything had gone wrong, everything had fallen apart. He was supposed to stay with him, supposed to help him fight his way out so they could escape the herd together but they had found out. Now all he could do was run.

...What were this feeling in his chest? This dull ache like he was sleeping on a rock. It made no sense, nothing made any sense. Had that really happened? Those dark eyes opened to look past the mare, into the forest, as more memories filled his mind. The only one he really took notice of was the one thing in all this he knew he had actually done. The day he completed his training. The day he first killed...

Like pieces of onyx set in a statue those black eyes watched his opponent with no emotion, no sign of recognition and his opponent looked back with an expression of horror. The black stallion was not sure why he looked like that. Was he afraid of death? Surely not. None of the trainees were afraid of death. They all knew it would come eventually and there was no stopping it, so none were afraid. But this stallion, his gray coat shining silver in the sunlight and his dark eyes filled with that horror and surprise. Yes, he was afraid of what was to come. Still emotionless as ever the artist waited in silence, the tip of his tail flicking over the ground and creating a picture on the cold stone beneath his hooves. As easily as breathing the creature he had drawn rose from the stone and roared at the gray stallion, its eyes just as dark and emotionless as its master's. The battle had begun, one was to die and the survivor would become a true warrior

...it had been him who had won. His opponent, the silvery gray stallion, had not expected his battle technique. For some reason Sai had never found that odd even though he knew all the other trainees had known about his ink warriors that fought with and for him. Now he saw it differently. The gray stallion had known who he had been but not who he was. That was why he was horrified about fighting him. That stallion, his first opponent, his first kill, was also his friend. He was the gray colt who had protected Sai from the stallions who had come to cull their rebelliousness. How could he have not seen that? How could he have not remembered? A single tear rolled down his face, blending in with the black and white, despite him not knowing that he was saddened by the thought.

Then he remembered the mare was probably expecting something from him, some sort of answer that would calm her curiousity. He only had one. "I was trained to feel no emotions," he told her, everything about him still blank and emotionless despite the memories flashing in his mind. Who was that colt he had killed? What was his name? Why had they been friends? So much he could not understand but he wished he did. He wished he could remember what his name was but the simple knowledge that he had once had a friend brought a true smile to his face. The warm expression eclipsed the blankness in his eyes for a moment, instead showing fond rememberance of his friend. Then it faded away, leaving him was blank as ever and wondering what he why he was feeling like he wanted to laugh and run just for the joy of it.

Joy. What was that? What did it feel like? Was it the same feeling he had when he remembered running with the gray colt? He wanted to know, so he looked straight at the mare and asked "what is joy? what does it feel like?" with almost childlike innocence. Except there was nothing childlike about his expression. There was no wonderment or curiousity. He was simply back to blank and robotic as he had been trained to be but still the ghost of the emotion he had briefly shown hovered in his eyes. The happiness that he had allowed himself to feel and show was still there, although he was not acknowledging it. Now, if only he could find out if what he felt was joy...

---

notes/other; yeah, well....hope you like the flashbacks and Sai's brief moment of showing that he actually has emotions

[Wild@Heart]

Kana

---

The stallion hesitated, taking a while to respond. He seemed to be far away, his mind no longer in the present but I had little hint to what he was thinking about, his mask as blank as ever. I wanted to help this poor beast, to allow him to feel such strong emotions as I felt, and yet I was still stumped upon how to draw such a feeling out from where it had been hidden. I knew little about him, about what had caused this or how to fix it, and so I would have to rely on him. He needed to want this, he needed to want to help himself of there would be no way I could aid him in such an overcoming.

And then he spoke, his words giving me the hope that I needed. I was trained to feel no emotions. He paused, and in this pause something I hadn’t expected was happening. A hesitant smile pulled up at the corners of his lips, and he actually allowed it to overtake them. A small shimmer appeared in his orbs, creases forming, as they too were filled with a moment of… Happiness? Joy? I wasn’t really sure what to call the odd emotion that he was portraying, for there was nothing that had led up to it. At least not on the surface. But all too quickly the emotion was gone, all feeling once again pushed to the very corners of his mind.

What is joy? What does it feel like? His question saddened me, not because it was such a silly and amateur one but because he hadn’t had the great gift of feeling it before. I had no way to explain such a feeling to him, and no idea upon how to show it to him first hand. So what was I to do, how was I to respond? I pondered for a moment, silence filling the air as my face scrunched up in a look of concentration, forelock swaying in the breeze as my topaz pools shimmered.

Joy is different for everyone, I suppose. My voice was soft, thoughtful as I carefully chose each of my words with the utmost care. But it’s the feeling you get when you do something that makes you happy, when you can hardly contain yourself and you want to shout for the heavens to hear. Joy is what a mother experiences when she first looks upon her newborn baby, a creature so small and innocent that she can hardly believe it came from her, and yet she has the knowledge that it will be the best thing that’s ever happened to her. Joy is what you feel when you see your lover after a long absence, the way your heart skips a beat and the moment where you’re not sure if you’re a part of reality, or if you’re still dreaming. Joy is pure bliss.

I paused in my speech, orbs locking upon his as they smoldered with passion. This is what I did, this was who I was. I was emotional, expressing and feeling with all of my heart, going all out at any given time. And yet the beast before me was the very opposite, he had no clue. And I needed to teach him, I needed to mentor him in the ways of such a great thing. More than anything I wanted to be able to make him understand, I wanted to show him. Joy is what lies underneath all other emotion. No matter what happens to a person. I continued to stare at him, the wind blowing gently as if agreeing. I would wait for him to respond, wait for him to express himself, but if he didn’t then I would request an answer to a question that was rather complex. And I wouldn’t take no for an answer.

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[Deleted]

Sai


Joy is pure bliss... What did she mean by that? He had never felt bliss, never understood the meaning behind the word nor did he know how it felt to be reunited with a loved one as he had never loved or been loved. He had never seen the look on a mare's face as she gazed at her newborn foal and he had never considered something to be between reality and dreams. To him her description made no sense. Perhaps to a different horse, a horse who understood how emotions felt, it would make perfect sense but to him it was all gibberish. Just sounds, not anything that could be used to understand how he felt when he was younger and running with that silvery colt. The colt that he had later killed.

The wind eddied around him, catching gossamer strands of his ink black tail and tugging them out into loose ripples floating on platforms of slightly moving air. To him it was just air, it held not emotions and it was just moving by chance, not in agreement to the mare’s explanatory words. In fact, he personified very little. The only things that had any type of personality to him where his drawings and even then no emotions were put into his artwork. He couldn’t even give them titles as titles called for emotion to be stirred in the one admiring the art and he never felt anything when he looked at his drawings. Nothing at all just like normal.

Suddenly his ebony ears pricked and his head lifted into the air, light spots sliding over his dark coat with the quick surprised motion to look at that what had attracted his attention. His ears swivelled, trying to catch the sound again. That distance call that stirred something he couldn’t understand in him. What was it? What could possibly bring him to actually acknowledge that he did have emotions buried deep? He had to find out so he answered, his call low and almost taunting, like he was asking for trouble from the horse he was answering. That was the way he normally sounded, emotionless but somehow mocking the one he was talking to and that taunting tone came out even more when he was commenting on something he saw in a horse, especially stallions.

His ears kept flicking, listening for the call again. There was nothing but his attention remained in the distance, as if the mare was no longer there. Then as quickly as his gaze had turned to the forest it returned to the mare, still emotionless and as dark as moonless night. “It is?” he queried in answer to her little speech. Once again blank, emotionless but somehow those two words were almost belittling, like he didn’t believe that such a thing could exist. His demeanour had changed in that split second from when he had heard the stallion-and it had definitely been a stallion- calling. The knowledge that a stallion, a horse equal to him, was in the area was the trigger to that change. He was more focussed on trying to detect where the horse was than he was on being pleasant and social, or at least trying to be less insulting.

The call rang out again, this time so much closer. Ears flicked back, flattening slightly in more of an instinctive motion than a show of his nonexistent emotions. A stallion was out there, a stallion that could potentially be a threat by that call. It was deep, strong and definitely masculine. Well, if the stallion came he would fight to tests the others strength so he could report back on the stallion when he finally reached home. If the stallion was strong than Sai would recommend that he be captured and brought to the organisation to be trained, if he wasn’t than the artist would simply lose interest in him and go back to his conversation with the amber eyed mare.

---

Notes/other; hope you don't mind if I bring Nikolai into this for plot purposes

[Wild@Heart]

Kana

---

I watched him closely, and was disappointed when no look of recognition crossed over his features. I knew no better way of explaining it with the information I had. Maybe if I knew about his past, knew what had made him feel joy before he became emotionless, then maybe I could help him. But not knowing what he knew, not knowing what he felt, made things extremely difficult for me. Of course I knew what joy felt like, of course I knew the many emotions that he did not. And yet, they were much too hard to explain to such a lifeless creature. To me, he was nothing but a walking robot. How could one live and yet not feel anything? But, he was managing to do so.

I was still watching him as he drew to attention, his twin peaks standing straight up, and head rising. And then there it was, the answer to his body language. A battle cry echoed in the distance, bouncing off of trees and throughout the valley. And instantly the stag that stood across from me answered, his call empty as it run throughout the treetops, branches quivering and birds taking flight.

And then he tore his attention away from the other being, returning it to me. It is? It was a simple question, one that could be answered with an equally simple yes or no, and yet that’s not the way I wanted to leave it. I wanted to be the one to fix this broken soul, I wanted to be the one to allow him to feel emotions once more, and yet I didn’t have a clue upon how to go about doing this.

And again the same call was audible, drawing our attention as it grew closer. The stallions ears dropped slightly, and his frame became protective. And yet, I was sure that this being wouldn’t be a threat to either of us, but I was glad that I felt at least protected by the being that remained with me. He was strong, and looked as if he would be able to hold his own in a fight, although one could never be to sure. And so, as we awaited the oncoming beast, I took a single step closer to my guest.

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[Deleted]

Sai

The stallion was drawing closer, Sai would have been able tell that even if he had his eyes closed and his ears blocked. How he could not explain but he would be able to as easily as he could say so right then as his tail flicked lightly over the ground creating a hurried drawing in black ink of a tiger in ready for the fight he knew was coming. However he did these preparations iwth a calm, blank expression. Fighting was nothing to him as was killing. It was just another part of his life like eating or drinking. A necessary part of his world, you could say.

Still, as he waited for the approaching challenger a strange feeling started to stir within him. It was like he didn't want to fight for some weird reason. But how could that be? He fought whether he wanted to or not and most of the time he was just indifferent. Fighting was fighting and his thoughts meant nothing but right then, in that moment before the silver stallion burst from the bushes and came to a magnificent sliding stop, he really felt that he didn't want to fight and when he saw the stallion he froze. His entire frame was locked still as his emotionless gaze met the stunned expression of the silver toned stallion and a single thought filled his mind.

And he spoke that one thought aloud.

"Nikolai."

Nikolai

His name rang in his ears as he stared at the ink black stallion who had murdered him years ago. He looked exactly the same but somehow so different. Sai's markings were exactly the same. Four white stockings and a thick white black that ran down his face as if a paintbrush had been drawn down his head at birth. And those eyes. Black like the night and emotionless, although back when Nikolai had known him they had been filled with fiery, rebellious light or bright wonderment at a sudden thought that filled his mind and had to be put on paper. Sometimes he had shown sadness or joy or anger in those onyx eyes but now they were blank and it almost physically pained the silver stallion to see his friend like that when he had once promised that he would never give into their training.

What happened to you Sai? he wondered as he kept staring at his grown friend's unknown amazement fade away into completely blankness just moments before he attacked, the ink creatures that he had creature leaping from the ground to hurt his friend. With ease that came from harsh training and muscle memory Nikolai destroyed the creatures. To anyone else he would simply be a silvery whirlwind, hooves flying and teeth bared in a fierce display of his skills. When he stood still again black ink splattered over the ground and him, staining his light gray coat the deepest black in places. His eyes were narrowed ever so slightly and his ears were flattened slightly to show his annoyance.

"Sai" his deep rumble broke the silence "don't you remember me?" there was a dangerous glint in his eyes as he stared down the slightly smaller horse. His head was held high which allowed him to look down on the artist in contempt and disbelief. Then he attacked.

In one powerful leap he was next to the stallion and spinning on his haunches, his hooves just barely missing black hide as the other stallion had shied suddenly to the side, his ears pinned against his skull and his teeth snapping at the older horse's neck. Skin caught between teeth and like deja vu Nikolai knew that he was going to lose but he kept fighting. In one violent motion he ripped his neck out of the other's teeth, leaving bloody marks on his silver pelt and planted his sharp hooves against a black shoulder and with a sharp shove pushed them apart. More blood was drawn from that movement, this time the artist's and once again black eyes met as the two stallions circled eachother warily before continuing their battle.

This time Sai was the first to launch a phsyical attack and recieved a hard blow in punishment for his hasty, unplanned attack. Now Nikolai felt that he was winning, but he knew not to get to confident. Afterall, it was the black stallion that had the advantage in a fight with his ability of bringing drawings to life. Well, he better not give him time to draw then.

The other stallion seemed to have the same thoughts and once again they clashed, hooves flying and bared teeth searching for skin. Silver met black and red blood arched through the air to splatter on the ground. Black eyes stayed narrowed, never meeting during the intense battle between the two powerful stallions. It was a fight to tell who was the most skilled, not who was the most dominant. There was no dominance or mares or land involved in this battle. No, it was only pride for the silver stallion and defense for the dark eyed artist.

In the end both horses were too exhausted to continue their pointless battle. Blood and sweat mingled on the stallions' bodies before rolling in dark coloured beads down their legs to hit the ground, staining the rocks and grass beneath them red. The breath that escaped their flared nostrils was quick and boiling, heated by the veins that showed through their coat and yet neither had given up yet. They were both still fighting to stand, legs shaking and black eyes struggling to stay open.

"you....you fight like a stallion" the artist said, his eyes never leaving Nikolai's shaking form. It was the closest he ever got to a compliment and if the silvery stallion had been focussing on anything but trying to stay standing he would know that Sai was telling the truth and showing emotions without even meaning to, but he wasn't so he couldn't see the respect in the other stallion's dark eyes right before he allowed himself to fall to the ground and rest his head on his legs in absolute exhaustion. Soon after the silver stallion followed, his bloody body hitting the ground as his last strength left him.