![](http://i.imgur.com/fMuRrio.jpg")
voices ― claim
Mar 7, 2013 19:27:37 GMT -6
Post by skibbereenfarms on Mar 7, 2013 19:27:37 GMT -6
TIOGA
―the banditListen.
Can you hear it?
Tioga always could, ever since he was a spry little colt. His mother told him the stories which had been told to her and her ancestors, and he had never been able to prove these stories to be false. The evidence was all around him.
For these forest dwellers, it was easy to see that their home was unique. The trees that touched the skies were hypnotizing. The grass beneath their hooves, inviting. It was generally accepted that the woods were alive; a constant cycle of life and death came and went with the changing seasons, as it usually did. Many places elswhere also experienced these yearly changes, however, the atmosphere here was intensely different. Don't ask the dwellers, they will simply call it home. Asking Tioga will give the proper answer. The woods communicate with him.
The stories of his childhood told him that someday, if he were lucky enough, that the ancestors would contact him. The spring of the first new year called for the return of the forest dwellers. If he had known that no more dwellers remained, he may have been homeward bound much sooner. The once banished bandit had at last returned. He had forgotten what it meant to have Drulan blood, but as he navigated his old home, it was almost as though he hadn't even left.
Trees aren't the only ones that have roots buried here. Why, Tioga's lineage could be traced deep in the underground. Everywhere he goes, he is trampling a loved one long gone. Souls intertwine with the trees and grass. The consciouses of those long gone find life again in the mighty bandit himself. The strength of Adoerte courses through his veins. The gentle nature of Dichali settles in his mind. The slyness of Hesutu tickles his chin.
Listen. Can you hear it?
Voices.
Most of the time, the voices were not present. Tioga was an individual, destined to live his own life and make his own mistakes. He did not need instructions from his ancestors. He could just barely hear them on occasion, and they usually brought warning of foreign hooves or changing weather. Others would claim this to be pure sense. For Tioga, it was the forest speaking to him. The stallion found that the best way to hear the voices was when the winds changed; a rare occurance, yet he had managed to be quite the lucky one on this day.
Voices. He could hear them. Chanting.
His wandering finally brought him to the center of their home. The silence here would have been disturbing if the winds were not whispering around him. It was true, then; everyone had vanished. His thoughts briefly trailed to the colts and fillies he had known in his youth. The young ones were never to be seen again. Their spirits would be bound to the forest forever. They were at peace.
As a bird called to him from the treetops, Tioga swiftly lifted his gaze. The creature had been the first sign of tangible life since his arrival. He watched the creature for some time, not really paying attention to his twittering for quite a while. The stallion soon came to realize that the bird was chanting along with the voices, humming a tune that Tioga recalls had once signaled change.
Tioga paused, listening closely. The bird had disappeared, but the chanting still remained. Words graced his lips, though he did not vocalize. "What is your message?"
For a moment, the chanting stopped. His ears flicked about, momentarily frightened that he had lost them for good. The slight breeze that he had been ignoring suddenly shifted direction. It was then that he heard them, loud and clear.
Tioga.
King Tioga.
Bandit King Tioga.
He had to admit, he quite liked the sound of that.
Visions of the future swirled before him; mares grazing, foals wandering about. Allies. Enemies. The forest would be alive again. He was the only one who could bring it all back. And this time, he would do it the right way. Fear of failure never even crossed his mind. He had led before, after all. Now it would all be official.
"My ancestors," he breathed. "The ones who roamed these lands long before my time. They want me to lead a new generation. How am I to resist?"
He eyed the trees around him, noticing how their boughs seemed to stretch toward him. They were reaching for their new king. Drawing him in.
Tioga grinned slyly. "I promise. I will take care of this expanse as if it were my own kin. This land now has a king it so rightfully deserves. King Tioga. Once a Bandit, forever a ruler."
