-Niaran and Agalia-

The sea was a mysterious world, strange and separate, hiding secrets under its waves. It looked especially calm tonight, Agalia thought. She was standing on a little beach in the moonlight, Niaran at her side. She had felt a strange urge to come ashore for a few moments; even after years of living in the sea with Niaran, she still longed for land sometimes. 

Now, listening to the soft roaring of the sea and the rhythmic crashing of the waves on the sand, she felt at peace. A salty breeze ruffled her thick mane. The air was cool and fresh, sliding over her coat with a gentle touch. Overhead was a dark, star-filled sky, and a single ivory globe hung low over the sea, like a lamp. She sighed happily.

"Do you feel better now?" Niaran asked softly.

"Yes. I don't know why I felt - so uneasy. The sea has always been a second home to me."

Niaran turned to look at her, his dark eyes studying her intently. "I don't think so. You're an Ice horse, through and through. You're a land horse."

"True enough. But I'm happy living in the ocean, Niaran, truly I am. I wouldn't give it up for anything. It's only that this evening I felt odd. There are rumors - goodness knows how they started - that the future isn't going to be what we think it is. That something will happen which will change everything, forever."

"Those are just rumors," said Niaran impatiently.

"I know. But I can feel it, Niaran. You know I have the gift of knowing, in a vague way, what is to come. I think everyone feels what I feel."

"Well, we'll look into it," said Niaran calmly. "And if anything is going to happen, we're in a position to do something about it. Don't worry."

Agalia felt reassured again. "Thank you, Niaran. Shall we go back now?"

Niaran nodded, and the two plunged into the waves, vanishing beneath the surface. In a moment or two it was as if they had never been there.

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Oh, and in the form I said that Agalia had a large and extended Plains family. I should have said Ice family (oops) Anyway, here's Astrea's part:

-Astrea-

Astrea was flying through the valley. She loved to fly; the power and swift movement of it seemed to take possession of her. And of all the places in the world, this valley was her favorite. It was silent and hidden, and full of tender grass that somehow tasted better than any other grass. Today it was as deserted as ever. Only a lone eagle soared above her in the endless sky.

At last Astrea landed and stood still, breathing heavily. Surrounded by the mountain peaks, she felt calmer, wiser, whenever she came here. Today was no different. She'd been angry, dejected, when she arrived in the valley. The lead mare of her herd had told her to stay within neighing distance of the other horses - "there's no knowing when a puma or something might come and eat you," she had said darkly.

"But I can fly!" Astrea had protested.

"It makes no matter. Do as I say," the lead mare had replied.

Naturally after that, Astrea was more determined than ever to go and explore on her own. And quite soon, she had found an opportunity of slipping away when no one was looking.

But her troubles went deeper than being angry at irritable lead mares. She realized now, as she stood in the silent valley, that she was dissatisfied with her whole life. There was nothing to do - nothing to do except, that is, gossiping with the other fillies, flirting with the young colts, who were all completely clueless anyway, and grazing. Astrea longed for adventure and action in her life. But it didn't seem to be forthcoming. 

Sighing, she took a quick nibble of grass and walked slowly back to her herd. Perhaps, someday, her future would change.

[Smog]

Smog trotted through the swamp, picking their way over the wet ground. They were far from their herd, but that wasn't a problem. Sure, they were a strong warrior and all that, but the herd didn't need them. This wasn't their first time being separated, and it wouldn't be their last. They often traveled for days, or even weeks, on end, just for the sake of traveling. Like any swamp horse, they disliked staying in one place, but even though the herd moved often, it didn't move often enough for them.

However, this absence, unlike the others, wasn't voluntary. Several days ago a large swamp cat had attacked where they had set up camp. It had been driven away easily but it was a danger to the foals, so Smog was tracking it to finish it and make sure it didn't double back. With their powerful illusion and shifting they could easily take it down.  But part of them wanted to just keep traveling after they took down the cat, shift into a bird and fly away, maybe to the sea, and not look back.

---

I'll post a part from North later.

{Talvenne and Arrin}

Talvenne had come back from a long, sweeping flight to find Arrin waiting for her. Often Arrin came up from the forests to visit his daughter in the mountains, and Talvenne was usually glad of these visits. Today, though, there was something strange in her father's eyes. Something that had never been there before.

They were standing at the moment on the crags, looking out over the land spread out below like a living rainbow. Talvenne whinnied softly and turned to Arrin. "Father," she said, "is anything the matter?"

"I don't know - I don't know," Arrin murmured. "That's the trouble, my dear. There's something that doesn't feel right in the air these days."

Talvenne whinnied again, perhaps a trifle impatiently, and looked out over the land with her elusive eyes. "Father, look out. Look behind you, at the Mountain Herd, and forward to where the other herds are living. We're strong, Father, and peaceful. Nothing is wrong."

"When you've lived as long as I have - " Arrin said, and stopped. "Things in the Forest seem to be waiting for something. Everything is too peaceful. The winds are uneasy." He shook his head. "I think some evil is coming; and if it is, I hope we are prepared to meet it. Talvenne, I think you'll someday be a leader; there's something of the Forest Horses in you, even if you are a Mountain Horse. Just don't forget it, my dear daughter, and be ready to help yourself and any others."

"I will," murmured Talvenne, trusting in her father's wisdom but, for the moment, content to just watch the sunset.

{Tirala}

Tirala tossed her mane and capered a little. She and Suntail had just gone for a run on the plains, and she felt refreshed, with the wind ruffling through her coat, even though Suntail had already gone back. She ought to be going back too - she had promised she would... but then Tirala had never cared about promises.

She wandered a little farther, seeming to float through the long grasses. Had that young stallion really looked at her...? Suddenly her head went up, her nostrils flared, and she shied a little. The sunlight was gone, and thin, gray clouds blotted out the brilliant sky. There was a feeling of menace in the air.

And as suddenly the clouds had disappeared, but for an instant more there was an onimous feel in the air that made Tirala shiver. She looked around. Certainly she couldn't have imagined it. What was this feel of danger hovering above her on the wings of the vanished clouds? She set off for the herd, not for its protection, but to warn it that not all was as it seemed.

{Wavestar}

In the hidden caves of the ocean, Wavestar was dreaming - daydreaming - about the things in her past. About her sweet mother, and what she had said once - "You'll face danger well, daughter. You'll reach heights no one else ever did. But I think you'll always be yourself, Wavestar."

And about Agate, her cousin who had first coaxed her to rise to the surface of the ocean when it was dawn, and about her old mentor and friend, Sheltarn. Lost in memories, she scarcely noticed that it was dawn again. But the rose-tinged color of the water reminded her, and she rose along the paths of the sea to view the beginning of the day.

It was spectacularly beautiful today, and as usual, Wavestar felt herself oddly drawn to the promise of the aurora. What was it telling her? What was this link she felt to the sun? She hoped that, someday, she might find out.

~Chihiro & Izumi~

"Chihiro!," Izumi whispered across the sand. "Where were you? You were supposed to meet me in the evening, not at midnight! I can hardly see!". "I can see perfectly well. You don't want anyone to hear us, right?," Chihiro whispered back. "Chihiro, you may be able to see in the dark, but I can't. Anyways, nothing that bad will happen if we get caught, right?". "I don't know, Izumi. Maybe, maybe not...," Chihiro answered.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

@Chaser & Jay, are Chihiro and Smog in the same herd?

(Suntail)

Suntail yawned and snorted at a fly that had landed on his nose. It was another warm, sunny summer day on the Great Plains of Horseland. He had played with Tirala in the morning, then come back to the herd for the afternoon.

His mother, Silvermane, was grazing a few yards away with several other mares. Suntail didn't understand how all the grown-up horses could bear to stand around and graze all day. Didn't they get bored? He wondered where Tirala was. At least she liked doing generally interesting things. Maybe they could play their favourite game, sneaking up and scaring the rabbits and prairie dogs. He rolled over and got to his feet. 

Just then, a towering bank of grey cloud passed over the sun, casting the Plains momentarily into shadow. Most of the herd looked up with mouthfuls of grass, making some comment like: what funny weather!, or: looks like rain!, and went back to grazing. Suntail shivered unconsiously, then shook out his mane angrily as the light returned. He had gotten that fear long ago! That was when he was a foal, but he was a young stallion now, and young stallions weren't supposed to be afraid of anything. 

In spite of himself, Suntail looked up to where the clouds had disappeared. A golden head was bobbing over the grass from the same direction. That would be Tirala, Suntail thought. She was coming on very fast, probably at a gallop. Tirala was the fastest yearling in the herd, much to Suntail's continual frustration and dismay. Races just weren't much fun when your best friend beat you every. single. time. 

Tirala looked very pretty with the wind flowing through her creamy-white mane, he thought absently. But she looked worried about something, too. Suntail trotted toward her as she came up the hill. "Hey Tira, what's wrong?" he asked. 

{North}

North grinned, glancing over their shoulder at the members of their unit. They had been recently promoted to captain, and their unit was made of some of the finest and most talented spellcasters. Now they were out on one of their first missions as a unit, standard stormcalling and directing. They were inside the thunderstorm, racing along on thin air, every boom of thunder vibrating in their bones.

This was just a small thunderstorm, not even really a true thunderstorm, just a cloud. Very little lightning would occur and none of it would strike the plains they were cruising over, and only a little rain would fall. Just enough to water the plains nicely. Stormcalling was an efficient way to travel, and that was what they were using it for at the current moment. They could also use it to summon and command magnificent and highly deadly thunderstorms, but right now they were just scouting the land.

Peering through the clouds, North watched the land below, making mental notes to add to their maps. They were quickly passing over the plains herd, and North could see the tiny ant-sized dots that were horses looking up in surprise and then going back to their normal activities as the storm cloud passed, the herd quickly passing out of sight.

---

Oh, and @Suki, I just read Kaminari's profule for the first time, and they can totally be related! Cousins or siblings or whatever! If you'd like, they could be in the same unit, or they can be in different ones, or whatever.

---

[Smog]

Smog galloped through the swamplands, hot on the heels of the swamp cat. After tracking it for days they had finally caught up with it and  ambushed it where it had settled to sleep for the night. Calling on their illusion magic, they conjured a fake herd member in front of the cat. It pulled up sharply, and Smog quickly fabricated another handful of herd members surrounding it. The cat looked around warily, trapped on all sides, as Smog and the fake horses advanced. Smog reared to deliver the deathblow, but the cat bolted, lunging for one of the illusions. It tripped momentarily as its paws passed through the fake horse's flank, scattering shards of light everywhere and breaking the illusion for a moment, but quickly recovered and ran. Smog scowled and released the magic, racing after the cat.

Smog was at least a week's journey from camp, and the swamplands were thinning out, becoming drier, with more distance between trees. They were on the fringes of the bogs and by the end of the day, if the cat kept running in the same direction, they'd be out of their territory and in one of the other herd's lands. Smog wasn't totally sure of their location, but they thought it would be either the plains or the sea. They didn't particularly want to chase a dangerous creature onto somebody else's territory, but they didn't see what else to do. Maybe some warriors from another herd would be able to help Smog corner it for real. They knew they should have brought at least two other horses with them on this mission, but no. According to the lead mare, Smog was 'a mature adolescent, almost an adult, with strong magic, and they could handle it themself.'

Smog growled in frustration as the giant feline gained more distance. If they lost it again it would be at least another day of tracking. Meanwhile, the trees continued to thin out and the ground continually got drier the further they ran.

---

:D

When will the characters start to meet each other?

The Magical Horse RP, the Winged Cats RP, and the Magic Squirrel RP are all kinda similar. Not that that's a bad thing. I just noticed.

{Tirala}

Tirala was glad to see Suntail - she knew she could depend on him, at least to some extent. "Oh, Suntail, I don't know," she whinnied. "But something's wrong, anyway. I can feel it. With those clouds - " She shivered. "Where are the leaders? This can't be the day when they went to negotiate wtih the other leaders?"

"It is," Suntail said, sounding worried.

"It would be!" said Tirala impatiently. "Of course it would be. What are we going to do?" She lifted her head a little and gazed across the praries. Already a thin bank of clouds was rising up again against the horizon. She knew they would disappear soon. But the fact that they were there at all meant that something - everything - was wrong. The praries were in danger.

Hope that it's all right that the leaders meet sometimes to talk! :)

-Niaran-

Niaran stood silently, unwilling to take his gaze off the strands of seaweed that swayed before him. His chief astrologer had just appeared - and revealed to him that all was not well.

"The stars are in the Position of Candelia," the astrologer had said, shaking his mane. Niaran had racked his thoughts to remember what that meant, and realized that it meant the stars were forming a constellation, the constellation of a young girl called Candelia, which only appeared in times of great trouble. The astrologer hadn't managed to provide any more useful information - like all astrologers, he was very vague - but it was enough. Niaran knew that the Great Herds were facing a danger greater than any they had ever known before.

There was only one thing to do, he realized, though his heart was heavy at the thought. He must leave the sea - leave it for years, perhaps - and warn the other herds. The Sea Horses were the most respected of all. They would take the leadership in times of trouble, and without them, the Herds would not be able to stand against their enemies. 

Where to go first? Perhaps the Plains herd, for its territory was the one nearest to the sea. He sighed and took one more look around. Then he set off to find Agalia and tell her what he was going to do.