Solira: The Ocean: Alanna

Kahana is driving him nuts right about now. Previously she was dancing between his legs in a constant game (like someone stabbing a knife between their fingers who is positive they won't miss the gaps) but now she's taken to hanging from his tail, like a monkey on a vine, swinging from side to side with it as it moves. He stops suddenly and she is somewhat unprepared for the change of pace and looses her grip in his tail, falling to the floor with a thud. He smiles amusedly, turning his head to watch her shake herself off before she turns back to glare at him through her little dark bandit mask. He giggles, lowering his head to her level, gently nudging her proclaiming, "Well that serves you right didn't it!" And then (like the mature, wise seer he is) he proceeded to stick out his tongue at the young polecat. Kahana simply scowled more at him before darting forwards and flinging herself onto his withers (digging her claws into his skin as she settled), deciding to not speak to him until they were back in Solira.

He is grateful to feel the hard ground give way to the soft shifting sands he is so used to, perhaps it will always remind him of Leviah and Oreallo, but the smell of the Soliran ocean remains unique. Today however, Solira smells differently - it looks differently and not just because he has been away for a while. It is not the same happy lively place it was when he left to go to Desreal, and then he knows they have been punished in his absence; it still smells a little like charcoal and burnt flesh mixed together with that salty sea air he knows so well. He feels a sudden wave of shame, of guilt that he was not here when his country could have used his help. In his defence (not that he would even consider it an excuse) he was trying to persuade their country's queen to allow him to free her from the shards when their punishment had been bestowed upon the ocean and so he had continued with his daily to-ing and fro-ing without realising quite what had happened. Then he had been called upon by the elements to undertake his quest - he had waited so long to reach this stage and so he could not resist the call; in hindsight he knows the rainbringer would not have allowed him to have resisted it.

And so it is only now that he returns to see the remains of the scorched land, realises the extent of the damage that he had not been here to repair. Solira is regenerating, that he can see, but the guilt from knowing he could have helped (knowing there are injured and deceased that he could have helped, could have saved) momentarily threatens to overpower him before Kahana dashes from her resting place to bite him sharply on his ear pulling him out of his spiralling thought cascade. The slight pain causes him to shout upwards at her, receiving only giggling laughter in return; "call it slight retribution for earlier" Kahana smirks across at him. The polecat sits up on her hind legs atop his poll, making him look odder than usual, as if he is wearing some sort of odd weasel shaped hat, her eyes scouting across the landscape, just watching before she pipes up, "this is where you live?" and then almost immediately afterwards squeaks with excitement as she spies a small gathering ahead of them. The skewbald turns to look in the direction she was facing, smiling as he realises the group is comprised of both those very familiar to him and some relative newcomers.

It is once the conversations with those familiar to him have ended that he resumes his scholarly duties once more, feeling the need to venture towards the nearest unknown to greet them, enquire after their health, ask if they like cheese and other such random questions that he has a burning desire to ask all of a sudden. It is the skewbald in his happiest element, doing something he enjoys - talking is after all his second favourite thing after bouncing and singing! And then he spies young Alanna; he has always loved children, would have had a million by now if he could have - he's long past double figures if you count both his biological children and those he has adopted on the way (not that he differentiates between the two). He is familiar with the child, knows her to be the child of their general and their queen, not that he has (particularly) spoken to her much before now. Children are the future of the ocean though and in many ways he is just like them, only older - he's never really grown up in the general sense of the word. Kahana is sat straddling his shoulders holding on to his mohawkish looking colour splashed mane clinging on as he trots bouncily forwards approaching the shadow, her little bandit mask across her eyes making them a little reminiscent of Dick Turpin. She relaxes her grip as he stops beside Alanna, sliding into a more relaxed position across his neck watching the world go by as the skewbald pony slips into easy conversation, his muzzle reaching down to brush against the child. "Hey there! How are you today? I'm Gecko. Have you decided which path you want to follow yet?"

GUARDIAN OF THE RAINBRINGER
WATER III & LIGHTNING III