[SOLO] In The Shadow of the Day (Zuberi and Asabi) [FIN]

[Teigra]

Quote:

Prompt:
For as long as you or your ancestors can remember there has never been a day like this one. Something is sliding ominously across the sun in what should be full daylight. But as the hours pass, the darkness and the horror it brings grows. What’s wrong? Is this some prophecy coming to pass? Is this an omen? Did you or your herd know this was coming or were you caught completely unaware?

Eventually, something blocks out the sun entirely and all the sounds of the little creatures who live on this planet ominously stop. It’s as if the world is collectively holding it’s breath. Will the sun come out again? What are you thinking? Are you afraid?

Tell us what happens during the hours of the first full solar eclipse in memory.

Total Word Count: 1,547

 

[Teigra]

Normally, Zuberi preferred the darker hours, waking in the evening, being mostly active during the night, then preparing for sleep in the early hours of the morning. Perhaps it was his 'Suti side and his connection to the shadows, or perhaps it was the unexplained affinity he felt with the moon as it glowed high above in the starry night sky. He wasn't sure, but he had settled into his nocturnal routine naturally and felt no need to change it. It worked well for him and he had no issues sleeping soundly during the bright daylight hours.

Well, normally he had no issues. Today seemed to be the exception, as he had settled comfortably into the cave he called home hours ago, but sleep continued to elude him. He turned one way, then another, shifting his wings, shuffling his paws, looking for a more comfortable position, but to no avail. He remained awake. With a huff, he uncurled himself and climbed to his paws, deciding he may as well go for a walk or something, rather than risking disturbing anyone else in his family's attempts to rest. He padded quietly on his large paws, heading for the entrance of the cave. The ambient light should have grown, yet it remained fairly dark. It had been hours, by his estimation; the sun should have long risen into the sky by now surely? Perhaps it was overcast and going to rain today? He didn't smell rain in the air though...it seemed dark as night still...

He was surprised, not only to find his mother standing at the cave entrance, but that it remained nearly as dark out here as within the cave. The sun should have been flooding the land with light...but instead, a shadow had crept across the brilliant orb, denser than any clouds and blocking out the heavenly light effectively. His eyes scanned the area outside of their home cave warily, his ears laid flat against his skull. Something was wrong. He didn't see any direct sources of danger before him, but there was just a sense of...unease. Something definitely wasn't right, even if it took him a moment to put his paw on exactly what it was.

The deathly silence.

Night or day, there was always some sort of noise, whether birds in the trees chittering or their nighttime cousins the bats, setting out to hunt for insects in the dark. But now? Nothing. As if the world had fallen silent because the sun grew dark.

Pointedly shuffling one paw in the dirt as he approached so as not to startle his mother, Zuberi frowned and folded his wings tightly against his back as he stepped up alongside the smaller mare. He noted the twitch of her ears in his direction, though she did not speak; only kept staring out into the darkness with her golden eyes. His ruby gaze flickered towards her long enough to take in the tension in her stance...which did not help his own unease. He focused his own attention outwards again, eyes narrowed and ears perked forward, alert and ready for trouble, though a slight twitch of the tip of his tail was the only true tell of the unsettling anxiety he felt in the darkness of the day.


WC: 545  

[Teigra]

Asabi wasn't entirely sure what had woken her initially, but once woken, she had somehow just...known that something was amiss. After checking on her family and ensuring that everyone seemed to be okay, she had ventured outside quietly, careful not to disturb anyone else. Perhaps it was nothing, just her overactive imagination, or the feeling of a dream that did not quite slip away with the return to the waking world. However, as she stepped outside, she realized that she was very much awake and not imagining anything. Above, the sun had been overtaken by a shadow, and a deathly silence covered the land. Something about it all made her skin feel as if it were to crawl off of her very body.

Her golden eyes stared out into the darkness at something unseen as her son approached her. They stood in silence for a few minutes more before Zuberi finally broke the silence between them.

"What's going on? I've never seen anything like this before, Mother." The stallion snorted, shaking his head to clear his hair from his eyes. His whip-like tail flicked behind him, betraying the anxious feeling trying to take up residence in his spine.

Asabi shook her head. "Nor have I, my son. I do not like this ominous air that hangs over the land and silences the creatures both above and below." The mare was also a creature of shadow, which was where her children got their affinity as well. That being said, something about this darkness was unsettling, almost unnatural. Could it be an omen? A warning of ill winds soon to blow across the Kawani lands?

"Dare we venture out to investigate?" Zuberi didn't much like the idea of his mother possibly putting herself in any sort of danger, but nor did he see it likely that she would let him go alone if he volunteered. He would have been happy to do so; he liked to think that he could take care of himself, afterall.

"Actually, your uncle has already gone out to see if there are any clues to be gathered about what is happening. Baruti headed out some time ago," she gestured in the direction she had previously been staring to indicate where he had gone. Her brother had been antsy from the start of whatever this was, unable to keep still or keep from shifting from foot to foot. She couldn't have stopped him from going if she had tried. He'd always been stubborn, but with a growing extended family, she had noted that he had slipped into the role of protector without saying so bluntly. It was a good look for him, after being alone so long, but Asabi wasn't going to be the one to say so aloud, for fear of ruining the silent understanding they currently shared.

"Did he go alone? I could have gone with him if he would have just waited a moment--"

"No, your cousin Tsion is with him."

Zuberi frowned for a moment. Tsion, though his elder as well as family, did not exactly strike him as the type to be much help in a fight if danger reared its head. Of course, he couldn't speak from experience, but... Still, Uncle Baruti could likely take care of himself. And if Tsion was with him, well that was at least another pair of eyes to keep watch for trouble. As it were, it seemed there was likely little Zuberi would be able to do about it right now, unless his mother relented. At least Tsion could also be eyes in the sky if his uncle needed it; an amusing twist of the spirits to give a child wings when his parents had none. Perhaps one day, Zuberi may ask his mother and uncle about their parents...

"They will be okay," Asabi continued as if to reassure her son regarding his silent thoughts. "In the meantime, we keep our home safe while we wait for their return with any news there is to have."

Zuberi leaned in to nuzzle his head against his mother's reassuringly. Even if she was keeping a calm front, he could tell she was just as anxious as he about this strange event. What could it mean? Was this only a sign of bad news to come on the horizon? Or was this event itself more than it appeared? His gaze flickered back up towards the sky. Shadow and darkness, the sun being dimmed, or almost seeming blocked by something...what had the power to block out the sun?

Asabi knickered softly, returning her son's gesture with a fond nuzzling of her own. Noting the way he kept shifting his wings against his back with nervous energy, as if he couldn't get them to lay properly or comfortably, she extended one of her own wings, so like to his, to brush against his back lightly. "Come, my son. We can no more chase away these shadows than we could drag the sun itself from hiding. We will simply have to wait and watch, stay alert as we see whether any other effects are to come from this. If danger arises, then we will face it together. Until then, there is no use in worrying ourselves unnecessarily. We rest and prepare in case we are needed."

The stallion chuckled quietly, then cast a wary look out towards the horizon. "Fair enough, Mother. We shall wait and see what news Uncle Baruti and cousin Tsion bring before we consider further actions." He could only hope that they brought back good news, and that trouble was not intent on coming to his family. If it were, he would not hesitate to meet that trouble with teeth and claws brought to bare. Zuberi wouldn't let anything happen to his family, not while breath remained in his lungs.

Side by side, flanks touching, mother and son turned to retreat into the safety of the cave. To wait. To rest. And to prepare if they needed to take action.


WC: 1,002

[FIN]