Celebration of Worth: Take life one step at a time

[engelbert]

Flame-like tongues whipped against a multitude of equine legs. Each merely ripples and eddying jets of water dyed by the light of the setting sun. The group were weary and, having been travelling for most of the day, were relatively quiet.

This was no ordinary journey being undertaken for this was the first real journey of the young Centaur present. They had been travelling since sunrise and finally they were within reach of the new land. This was the traditional Journey of Worth undertaken by all young Centaurs that seek to be accepted as respectable adults within their community.
Each young male present had been trained in the art of hunting and time keeping by use of the stars and they were expected to live 6 months on their own, separated from family and home.

Near to the rear of the group walked a Centaur of only 18 years of age. Though young, his age was in the middle range of ages within the group. His face showed obvious signs of exhaustion and his eyelids felt heavy over his deep brown eyes. The coat of his equine half was dappled, not just by the splashing sea waters that rose to his mid-thighs, but due to the coat markings passed down from his father’s side of the family. For generations the family’s sons had been born with the coat of an appaloosa and this particular young centaur’s was no exception. His coat was dark bay at the front yet broke off abruptly into white hair around his equine waist that was dappled with dark bay coloured spots. The hair upon his head was the same colour as the dark bay though it showed no sign of dappling. His face was another matter though. A mass of dark freckles were spread evenly across his nose and cheek bones like a dark swirling galaxy.

He stumbled on a patch of sand that was deeper set than the rest but righted himself before falling face-first in the salty water. He gave a deep sigh and adjusted the longbow and filled quiver upon his back. Upon his equine half were two satchels slung over his back. Within them was a mixture of personal items that he had packed to help him on his journey and remind him of home.

The journey had been exciting at first. The group of thirty youngsters had set out full of vigour and strength, urged onward by crowds of their kind cheering for them. The night before had been full of merriment. Older Centaurs had returned from across the water and the day had been filled with dancing, singing and much feasting.

The young centaurs had delighted at first when free in the water. Schools of curious fish darted between their legs and swirled in a multitude of colours. These fish were not so entertaining when a couple of the larger ones decided that Centaur flesh might be edible. After much thrashing by less steadfast and some of the younger Centaurs, these fish were gradually discouraged from continuing to bite at exposed legs.

Ahead of him a couple of centaurs began to raise their voices and chatter more loudly. Apparently the water was becoming less deep. It stood to reason, the forest was clearly in view now and no less than 20 minutes walk away. The thick greenery was a welcome sight after hours of walking on unsteady sand in the freezing waters. Though the light was fading, it should be easy enough for the group to set up camp and sleep peacefully on the shore before splitting up when the sun rose the next day.

The young dappled Centaur could not wait to fully begin his journey on his own. He would prove to his father that he was worthy of marriage and make his family proud. He peered cautiously around those in front of him to get a better view of the shore. It appeared to be deserted but who knew what could be lurking in the shadows. His father had warned him of the strange humans that inhabited the area. Imagine… people with only two legs? He could not comprehend how that could possibly work. Their lives must be so difficult living as they do. He was also warned of creatures that were named Anja, and had been given a fairly good description of their kind. Apparently they looked just like any beast, yet had the intelligence similar to a Centaur. He couldn’t help worrying about his future.

[Lawwr]

Sat underneath the shade of a yew tree at the edge of the forest, a lone female centaur watched the oncoming band. All day she had been sat there, waiting. She did this every year without fail, waiting to have some contact with her kind.
Her eager grey eyes scanned the horizon. At first they had been little spots, blemishing the sky behind them. Now she could make out the four legs on everyone of them.
A rather large group this year.. She thought.

Narymna sighed deeply and shifted her legs uncomfortably. She dreaded and looked forward to this time of year every year.
"Had her parents died? What had happened in the village?" The questions she asked were the same every time, and the responses virtually the same. But still this did not deter her from asking.

Growing more nervous, she grabbed her quiver and bow and stood up. At once light was cast upon her body, the dying sun reflected it's rays from the white hair on her head, and warmed the soft cream colour of her body. Carefully, she picked her way over the various twigs and logs. Her hooves made a gentle clopping sound on the soft mossy floor.

The band was quite close now, probably 5 to 10 minutes away she estimated.

[engelbert]

The dappled Centaur struggled bravely on, though his legs felt weak against the strengthening waves as they neared the shore. It did not help that he was no longer walking on just sand, but a mixture of grit, large rocks and clay mixed with the submerged dunes.
Finally, the first few members of the group stepped foot on solid, and more importantly, dry ground. A number of the more enthusiastic members of the group took to cheering loudly though these select few were quickly hushed by the eerie silence of the forest behind them.
The dappled Centaur gave a loud sigh of relief and took to looking around him. Feral isle, his home, was only just visible from here and his heart panged with sudden home-sickness. He would not be able to see any of his family for 6 months now. The forest behind him was unwelcoming and unfamiliar.

[Lawwr]

Narymna smiled to herself as the group finally made it to land. She stood still for a while, waiting for the stragglers to catch up with the group and till they were safely within the trees before moving.
Being quiet was quite hard as a centaur, though the sound of her hooves was greatly muffled by the various plants on the forest floor.

She followed them, keeping a fairly safe distance behind, keeping to the shadows. To keep herself amused, she tried to guess their groups from their coats.
"Now that has to be part of Pyrrhos' family.." She murmered to herself, spotting a dark brown almost black Centaur.

[engelbert]

The young Centaurs held a brief discussion and decided it best to split up to both scout the immediate vicinity and quickly collect wood for a fire. It was too dark to do much else and so no one disagreed. There was a muffled complaint from a palomino youngster regarding hunger but he was quickly silenced by a deathly glare from his companion. Feeding themselves meant hunting and this would be near impossible in this light. Especially considering how weary the group was.

The dappled Centaur moved in, what he considered to be, a general Western direction from the decided campsite. He heard one of his group members move off to the left of him into the forest perhaps 10 metres distance from him. He tried to see who it was but could only spot a vague silhouette of the individual.

Letting loose another small audible sigh he began to root around in the undergrowth for dry wood. He was very consciously aware of the noise he was making but was unable to help it. The ground with littered with fragments of washed up driftwood and each footstep was accompanied by cracks and creaking complaints from the ancient wood.

He lifted a couple of dried branches and hung them over his left arm, cradling them to his chest. This was not an enjoyable experience as he had to almost kneel to get them free. This position left him very exposed as he'd be unable to escape quickly.

[Lawwr]

Spotting an opportunity, Narymna made her move.
The rest of the Centaurs had gone in pairs or small groups, but this one was on his own. She could see in the fading light that he had a dappled coat, making him quite distinctive.

Slowly she walked round the trees, trying as hard as she could to avoid the twigs littered upon the floor. Narymna stopped quite close to him, hiding behind a rather large tree. From there she observed him. From what she could tell, he was quite young compared to some of the others which would probably make him less likely to be aggressive, but then you never could tell.

Her eyes moved back to his equine half. She hadn't seen any coat like his before, or at least she didn't recognise it. Breathing deeply, Narymna quickly darted to a different tree, which caused the leaves to rustle and the twigs to snap.

[engelbert]

The dappled male reached out to grab one last dry branch but stopped. A noise of in the forest had caught his attention. It was only the snapping of twigs and could easily be one of his fellow group members. Something was amiss though. He could clearly hear many of them stomping about in the undergrowth and yet this had been different; much more stealthy.

He straightened up and warily glanced about himself but it was very dark now and difficult to see anything with much clarity. The hair along his equine spine was slowly standing up and he could feel his skin crawling. He was unaccustomed to being watched and he was finding the idea most unpleasant.

With eyes narrowed with suspicion he whispered in the direction of the noise, "Who's there?"

His voice came out in a low, unfriendly hiss due to his worry. The sound carried well enough though and the words were clear.

[Lawwr]

Narymna stood stock still behind the tree, hardly daring to breath. This male seemed more hostile than she had thought, which wasn't good, at least not for an exile anyway.

She shook her head and slowly started to walk to a shadier patch of trees - She was far too exposed here. A loud crack as several twigs snapped beneath her hooves made her stand still again, breathing heavily.
It's alright, he won't notice I'll just pick someone else from the group.. She thought to herself, not daring to move for fear of detection.

To her horror, a stream of moonlight was illuminating the area within which she was stood. As fast as she could, she ran to a shadier patch of trees, crashing through the forest and making quite a racket.

[engelbert]

The young male heard yet another crack coming from the direction of the first and he froze in terror. What if it were one of the two-legged beings come to get them?

The stalking beast erupted from the shadows and it's silhouette could be just made out. Bizarrely it did not seem to be some strange beast... but rather another Centaur.

"Wait!" he exclaimed as the figure moved into a more lighted, open patch of ground. Without pausing to think he threw down the collected wood and took chase, galloping in the direction that the stranger had gone.

Like a shaft of moonlight, the figure moved through the darkness, albeit a rather noisy shaft of moonlight.

Not only had the commotion caught the attention of the full group but the dappled male's cry had further gathered attention. Not one had dared to follow but he could hear them beginning to call out to one another, trying to make certain of who had called out.

[Lawwr]

Narymna hearing the male shout stopped in a little clearing, and turned round to face where she roughly thought he would come from.
She pawed the ground nervously, her eyes darting to the various gaps in the trees for a quick escape if necessary.

"I won't wait for long.." She called out to the darkness around her, already backing towards some trees.
You're foolish for waiting. A little voice said inside her head.
You heard how he spoke at first, he isn't friendly. It continued.

[Zachariah]

A mischievous black-robed figure watched the centaurs with interest from a good distance away. He had just gotten through with a good business deal with one of the centaurs, though it wasn't one of his more exciting. "Simple people." He mused. "Wish only for cloth and such things, no interest in my more fascinating array of items." He sighed. "Not even any money to buy with."

He pulled his hood over his head, not wishing to be noticed in the dark. He stepped forward, keeping low and quiet as possible. Then he thought it would be better to speak to the centaurs, perhaps find a town.
He looked down, grabbing a nearby stick. Perhaps he could draw the centaurs to him, though he didn't know what good burning a stick would do. He took a small bottle out of his leather satchel, pouring a little bit of it on the tip of the stick.

He pocketed the bottle, closed his eyes, and concentrated. His tattoos glowed for only a moment, and the stick set alight a few moments later, a decent flame. It illuminated his pale, grinning mouth once more. He waved the stick around a little, attempting to get their attention.

[engelbert]

The dappled male saw the figure stop in a clearing and he nervously approached. He did not reach for the bow that was still bound to his back as he wished to show that he was friendly. Hopefully the stranger would react in kind. After chasing it, he was doubtful that it meant him any immediate harm.

As he drew closer he could see that the figure was indeed a Centaur and a female one at that. His eyes darted to and fro around the area where she stood but he could see no others. The female appeared to be alone and quite nervous.

"Who are you?" he called out.

The question was a simple one and phrased shortly. He had never been one to waste words. Some may say his was blunt and ill-mannered, but he merely saw himself as efficient.

He did not see the glow of flame out in the woods for his back was turned to it.

[Lawwr]

The female did not answer the question at once, she was instead thinking of an answer.
"My name is.." She stopped her sentence short, catching a glimpse of a glowing light behind the young male. Her eyes widened in a mixture of both shock and fear.
"Move, behind me." She hissed, staring at the light behind the male.

Grabbing her bow, and notching an arrow to the string, she pulled it back with three fingers, balancing the arrow between the first two.
Narymna held the bow steady, the string tense and aimed towards the mysterious light.
Several thoughts were going through her head at the time.
Shoot, just shoot it! It might be one of the pirates.
Run leave the male, he's out here to defend himself just leave him
Her grey eyes narrowed in concentration, blocking out these thoughts. Then, she saw a face eerily illuminated in the glow of the light.
Pirates..
"Who's there?" She called, her voice calm and steady.
"If you don't answer, I will shoot." She added, pulling the string back further as if to back up the threat.

[Zachariah]

Zachariah was fairly amused. He'd managed to catch the attention one of the centaur, though there were more of them than he could handle. He had a few options, and he considered each of them. His tattoos glowed again, and the fire on the stick flared up brightly, then went out. A large pillar of smoke drifted up from the stick as he cast it aside, holding his hands up and lowering his head, stepping as close as he could to the moonlight.
"Do not worry, do not worry. I mean you no harm." He said, his voice almost dismissive in tone. "I'm just looking for somewhere to peddle my, erm... wares, and perhaps spend the night. I got a bit.... lost after running into some.... less than reputable characters." Which, to him, was the peaceful way of saying he needed a place to spend the night and get rid of some things he stole, perhaps make a bit of coin off of it, as well as even more throughly shaking off those from whom he had stolen.

[engelbert]

The dappled male's eyes widened a little in shock as the female notched her bow. Though she was clearly not aiming to shoot at him, the fact that something threatening was behind him was not a cheery thought.

He sprung to her side and began unstrapping the bow. He continued as the female called out to the eerie glow. As the stranger approached he also notched an arrow in his bow and held it firmly. The taughtness of the string slackened however as the young centaur noticed something drastically wrong with the threatening figure's lower half. His eyes widened in shock as he saw, not an equine body like his own and the female's, but... nothing? Not quite nothing.. The robe extended beyond his waist and covered his legs.

In a voice of awe the young male whispered, "two legs..." to no one in particular. His shock was so complete that his mind did not register the words called out by the approaching human.