little bit of disregard ; eve

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MORDECAI.

he couldn't take it anymore, the feeling was suffocating. he'd managed to hold it back for some time, but he was running out of strength and it just seemed to be gaining it. a sneeze erupted from his nostrils, sending a cloud of dust into the air just to tickle his nose some more. he had managed to sweep most of the dirt and grime into a small bag he'd found sitting in the corner of his tiny little plain room. he couldn't complain though, certainly didn't want to upset his brooding king. aggravating hellborn would be a nightmare to deal with, might even get him killed, so complaining about the living arrangements the dark lord had so graciously set up for the white brute was a definite no no.

he started to fold up the blankets laying atop his bed, intending to shake the dust out of them later that day. he'd rather sleep on the floor than on these. a spider crawled out from under one as he lifted up the corner. a quick stomp of his hoof and a snort quickly ended its life. a prickled of revulsion started down his spine. a quick glance over at the bucket of soapy water and rag assured him that the remains of the arachnid would soon be gone. he'd wipe the place down later probably, he hadn't realized how long he'd been cleaning for. it was probably nearly time for that tour the black monarch had mentioned before. that meant that brute kludd would be coming to retrieve him soon. mordecai finished folding up the blankets and sheets and set them down next to his sack of dirt he had to dump out. might as well make himself look presentable, first impressions were everything, and if this horse was close to the king then this first impression was everything and then some.

quickly he removed any specks and smudged of dirt from his white hide, returning it to the pristine, spotless coat it was meant to be. he untangled any knots that might have found their way into his mane and tail while he worked. finally, he took a drink from the bowl he'd filled with water and started to clean off his ebony hooves, making them shine once more. there were a few scuffs that just water couldn't wash away. maybe the king would lend him some polish one day.

satisfied with his appearance, mordecai went around the small room once more, looking for dirt to be swept away, while he awaited his tour guide and hopefully future ally.

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[atrb=background, i48.tinypic.com/30n87xl.jpg] Kludd let the training armor he had been given clatter and clank as he made his way through the tangled mess of tunnels that made up his home. He snorted and tossed his head in annoyance as the apes behind him had begun to scream and shot at each other. ”Shut your blasted traps!” he shouted back in his Australian accent. The flaxen brute snorted a loud annoyed snort and kept going on letting them drag the cart that held the same kind of training armor his year was wearing at the moment. ”Get dressed. We haven’t the blasted time.” the now bitter brute snapped at the white stag. The apes were quick to begin to toss and fit the armor the white stag whether he wanted to have it on or not. ”The king’s orders are you are to join us in our year of training. You’ll have to join training with the rest of the two years olds.” Kludd informed him gruffly. The moment the apes finished fitting the armor they were scampering out with only receiving a swift kick to his bottom by Kludd. ”We are running late. Hurry up.” he said before spinning and taking off and a swift trot. If the white stag couldn’t keep up at this pace there would be no way he would be able to stand taking a run through the tunnels at full speed. Those horses certainly wouldn’t give him any sympathy just as he would not be giving him any. He should receive no easy pity for being the new guy. Ha! He hadn’t and neither he his now ex partner Hex. Of course Hex was gone now along with most of the others in his life leaving Kludd the now grumpy and aggressive type fellow he was now. ”Speeeeech!” Featuring;; Kludd ll Polic x Optimr ll 2 years old ll 16.3 hh ll extra strength plus regeneration and spring step ll green eyes ll Born here, YEAR 1 ll northern Character Log;; click! Tags;; Who are you? Muse;; Not Terrible. Notes;; Do I have something to say? Credits;; Table by ME; all images are copyright to their rightful owners

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mordecai didn't get a chance to say a word after the brute called kludd burst into his room with a couple apes...apes. apes were in his room. dammit, if they tracked in any dirt he was going to throw them into one of those fiery pits of lava. they began to poke and prod at his body, strapping on heavy pieces of armor that chafed and restricted his movements. how hellborn could expect him to do anything in this was beyond mordecai. he barely managed to simply sigh and deal with it with a few annoyed snorts thrown in as well. after some uncomfortable tugging on his curled horns, he was finally strapped in and followed the cranky kludd out into the hall. to his disappointment, kludd was already hurrying away. what, were they at war or something?

with a sigh, mordecai followed after his grumpy officer. it seemed everyone in this mountain had a thorn in their side for some reason or other. just an all around unhappy place. without all this armor he could have easily caught up with the brute, but the effect on his movements felt so unnatural the normal ease he usually had was gone. a swift trot was still quite easy, it took a bit of extra effort to get used to running so awkwardly but he still managed to catch up to kludd without much huffing or puffing. reaching his maximum speed would be impossible, however, and that simply made him hate the armor altogether. yes yes, save his life in battle and all that, but right then it felt like this armor was more likely to cause his death than prevent it.

he wasn't eager to join colts in training. to stand next to horses half his age, he should have wandered into the north sooner. he did have to learn the stuff though. mordecai had never really been taught combat. he'd never had to, he had his brains and his abilities. he could easily outrun most of his enemies, and if that didn't work he'd just send them off in the wrong direction, believing their were chasing down his imaginary ass. he could smooth talk his way out of most bad situations, and if none of those worked...well, they always did so he never had to fight before. he doubted he'd be able to get off so easily here, though.

"so, what consists of the training curriculum here?" he said after a few moments of silent trotting. kludd seemed more like the strong and silent type. probably doesn't get along too well with others, probably doesn't even want to. but, he was close to the king, and that was all that really mattered to mordy.

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[atrb=background, i48.tinypic.com/30n87xl.jpg] The apes were doing their best to hurry up knowing that they would certainly get hurt if they didn’t. Kludd had no love loss for them to say the least. The brute was still hurting from the death of his mother and the loss of his best friend whom he assumed was dead at this point. He was only a two year old trainee himself but he had become one of the best. He was certainly never been the one to be a grouch and cruel but things changing and certainly being made miserable had turned him cold. His reaction to the world was a big ‘eff off’ type attitude. It wouldn’t change to Mordecai in all likely hood. He did not know this brute and didn’t understand why in the world the king wanted him to assist him. Of course the young stag wouldn’t disobey the king after the ebon stud had done so much for him. Listening to the sound of the armor rattling on both of their large drafted bodies while the weaved their way through the tunnels of the north. ”The armor isn’t that bad. This isn’t our real armor. Our real armor ways twice as much as this.” the flaxen buck told the ivory. He snorted and tossed his head a little listening to the clattering of his armor as he waited to see what the other hessian would say. It was clear that the snow hued equine was not please about the armor in the least. Kludd hadn’t been all that fond of it himself to begin with but after a while it became little more than the normal. Kludd flicked his auds back to catch the words of the ivory stag and only snorted in response. His whipcord flashed as his hocks and his speed picked up not going to take this lightly on the other. ”A little bit of everything. We practice running the mountain, we do one on one fights, we just get prepared for the war when we get older.” he said with a snort. Really it was like boot camp. The officers had no problem getting up in anyones face nor using physical abuse on anyone as punishment. They were cruel and were always pushing everyone to their breaking point. But that was the point. It showed the best of them and displayed the weak. ”The large grey he is the cruelest of the officers. He does not like anyone to talk to him much less talk back. The big bay he is more quiet and it’s not worth it to even go near him. If he catches you slacking off he will tell the grey and the grey will kick your ass. Mind your manners and keep your mouth shut. Stay away from Arrow and his goonies. Arrow’s father is nothing but trouble and HellBorn will lose any favor he has with you.” the sienna stag said. ”Speeeeech!” Featuring;; Kludd ll Polic x Optimr ll 2 years old ll 16.3 hh ll extra strength plus regeneration and spring step ll green eyes ll Born here, YEAR 1 ll northern Character Log;; click! Tags;; Who are you? Muse;; Not Terrible. Notes;; Do I have something to say? Credits;; Table by ME; all images are copyright to their rightful owners

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ugh, heavier armor would just slow him down more. this king must really be wishing for mordecai's death because with these metal sheets on it would come quick enough. he was already starting to sweat within the heated tunnels, and kludd's quick pace didn't help any. talk about suffocating. despite how dusty it was, he'd rather have his bed than this constricting suit of armor. he started to wonder if they were ever washed and, after his hide started itching, immediately changed the train of thought in his head. "all for our protection i suppose." he managed to force out a semi-grateful reply relating towards hellborn. he wasn't about to go complaining to dear little kludd here. didn't need him tattling to hellborn when the white brute wasn't looking.

when you get older. mordecai thought in his head. four years old and he was stuffed in the middle of a pack of two-year-olds. well, at least it wouldn't be hard to excel and get some attention. maybe he could make a couple allies too, a few mindless colts idolizing him would probably aid him towards his future goal. heck, maybe he could even set up his own little personal army. he could take the fortress down from the inside out.

he listened closely to kludd, taking in every word the young brute said. he didn't want to get involved with the wrong brutes. of course, if he had it his way everyone would like him. sadly, that wasn't always possible so he had to pick and choose his allies. choose the wrong one and it could potentially ruin him. "thanks for the advice." if only he had names. well, at least he'd be able to recognize them just from sight and mordecai was sure he'd be able to match a name to a face just from rumors. he was sure the other soldiers would have a few things to say about their overseeing officers.

he could certainly put on an obedient facade, that wasn't the issue. mordecai knew when to put his silver tongue to work and when to simply keep his mouth shut. the real problem was that he wasn't some big polic or gorg or anything in between. no, he was a bit more delicate. hellborn knew it despite hiding it while out in the numbing cold. just from looking at him it was obvious. mordecai was no soldier. he was built for trudging war. no, he wasn't going to get anywhere with pure power alone. he'd have to play his strong points, show them how clever he was. of course, he couldn't reveal too much. didn't want to let them in on his little secret.

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[atrb=background, i48.tinypic.com/30n87xl.jpg] The sienna colt snorted and toss his fore tresses in the air letting them flop against his plated head. He honestly didn’t have a problem with the armor himself. His skin had grown tough in the areas needed and Kludd’s heavy draft form certainly helped in a lot of ways. The lighter bones of the white steed behind him wasn’t going to be able to support it as easily but a few of the others were the same species. They managed well enough for sure. Arrow was more Pathatic then he was anything else. Of course Arrow was an ass hole and his father was as much of asshole. It really didn’t matter since Kludd didn’t really talk to any of the Arrow gang much. Most of them were just stupid cronies with little talent. But that didn’t mean that they didn’t try their hardest for their annoying leader. ”Pfft, I doubt you’ll ever get used to it. You look more like the soft sissy type who’d rather be in his room reading or cleaning or some shit.” the grouching gaffer said whipping his caudal back and forth. He had little hope that this brute would do well regardless of the fact that he was a older stag. ”Your age makes no matter. You are hardly even close to the muscle tone of any of us two years olds. Believe me none of these colts will show you any respect. To them you’re a failure. To them you’ve been held back for failing your all of your training. You’ll be lucky to just survive the courses.” The colts had little respect for anyone that wasn’t higher ranking then they were. It was really the way of the north. The lower ranking you were the more you were treated like shit. Of course it was just a really long line of bullies that ended with those on the council and then of course HellBorn. If anything he was the scariest bully of them all. The king certainly was the most frightening of all the beasts of the north. Arrows father was probably the true biggest bully to anyone else. ”Speeeeech!” Featuring;; Kludd ll Polic x Optimr ll 2 years old ll 16.3 hh ll extra strength plus regeneration and spring step ll green eyes ll Born here, YEAR 1 ll northern Character Log;; click! Tags;; Who are you? Muse;; Not Terrible. Notes;; Do I have something to say? Credits;; Table by ME; all images are copyright to their rightful owners

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mordecai took the colt's direct mockery in silence. he didn't have a civil reply for the brat, just a couple retorts that would have made them immediate enemies. no, mordecai wasn't willing to give up on this quest quite yet. it would take a bit more than a few silky words to win these horses over it seemed. if effort and strength would win these brutes over then mordecai would give it to them. it might take a bit longer, but he'd have to gain their respect before he even tried to gain authority. he had time, that wasn't an issue. he'd just have to take it a bit slower.

"i can see their reasoning." these stupid brutes, all they believed in was physical strength. being a bit clever was meaningless unless you had the muscle to back it up. it was sad really; pitiful. hellborn couldn't be this stupid, could he? well, if he'd gotten every where using strength it was possible. he was a big horse. but obviously these horses weren't simply afraid of him. they respected their king, so obviously he was pretty decent at what he did. "well it's a good thing i have a bit more than luck on my side then, isn't it." these brutes, judging him before they knew a thing about him. he'd talked to kludd for fifteen minutes and already he was spineless wimp.

mordecai was ambitious, yes, but he wasn't cocky. even if he couldn't beat these horses fair and square, he doubted that was truly what the king was looking for. he had more than one trick up his sleeve. this was the north, what were they if they weren't for underhanded tricks. their history certainly wasn't very righteous, why in the world would they start now?

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[atrb=background, i48.tinypic.com/20h7tkz.jpg] [scrolly:h(150),w(550),sy,c()] The northern brutes were often considered dumb muscles heads but that was hardly the case. Some were of course but it wasn't easy to survive in a dog eat dog world that was the north. The equines were willing to turn on each other in a second and abandon your broken carcass without a second thought. It was the way of the north and you had to get smart or get killed. At least for Kludd his aggressive nature would keep the bastards away. He wasn't he wasn't always the brightest bulb but right now he didn't have to be smart. He just needed to do his job and let his mind go numb. It was the only way the depressed colt was making it through life. Shutting out everything and everyone. He had no friends or family any longer so he hardly had a reason to live. He wasn't afraid of death at this point; all he wanted was to do his best to survive if he could. He snorted as his nares flared and his kissers went taught. ”If the colts don't eat you alive I'm sure that the officers will. Your thinner build will not impress them nor will pretty words. If you can keep up they won't kill you. Just yesterday a Pathatic colt was pushed off a cliff in a one on one dual. Life up here isn't easy. If your weak then it's best to hide.” he said arching his growing stallion's crest and shaking his draft frame. It wasn't an easy life. He himself had been the one to push the Pathatic colt off of the cliff though he wasn't going to admit to that. The colt had lost his footing as the bigger draft had gone after him blow by blow. After enough time his feet had been lost under him and Kludd had to just give him a little push. After that he had tumbled to his death. Kludd snorted and rolled his eyes shaking his head. ”That is yet to be seen.” he told him with a grunt and them broke into a smooth canter finally breaking out into an almost arena looking area with different groups training. There were battle rings that had an open side near the cliff and large trails up the mountains where they did practice runs. ”Speeeeech!” Featuring;; Kludd ll Polic x Optimr ll 2 years old ll 16.3 hh ll extra strength plus regeneration and spring step ll green eyes ll Born here, YEAR 1 ll northern Character Log;; click! Tags;; Who are you? Muse;; Not Terrible. Notes;; Do I have something to say? Credits;; Table by ME; all images are copyright to their rightful owners

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"hiding isn't part of the plan." he mumbled almost to himself. he looked around as they entered the arena-like space. the armor had rubbed more than a few places raw and now he would have to fight. truly, mordecai would have preferred to have the armor off. he would be a much more effective fighter, much faster. he'd probably take more blows with the armor than without, it slowed him down so much. but, since speed probably wasn't the strong point of many of these colts he'd just have to live with it. hopefully he wouldn't go tumbling off any cliffs, he doubted this thin metal sheeting would protect him from that.

within moments mordecai was missing the indoor heating of the mountain. the outside air was brutally cold and he was numbed within minutes. at least, if he did go tumbling off the mountain, he probably wouldn't feel anything. he wanted to do nothing more than run at that point. at least the armor kept in a bit of body heat. a bit, not enough to make up for the chafing though. "so what does a guy have to do to prove his worth out here?" his shiny black daggers scraped the ground. mordecai couldn't keep up his good mood and stay still int his cold for long. whatever he had to do, whoever he had to fight, he just wanted to get on with it.

looking around, mordecai tried to get a few for what these young brutes were being taught and what he would be up against. from what he knew about kludd, the colt would probably put him up against the largest, meanest horse they had to make sure mordecai failed. well, hopefully he'd be able to prove him wrong, show his stuff.

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[atrb=background, i48.tinypic.com/20h7tkz.jpg] [scrolly:h(150),w(550),sy,c()] Kludd was no more then a trainee himself but he was just one the few favored by HellBorn. It made some lovely perks available to him at all times allowing him to roam about freely without much worry or care. It was clear that the lighter brute would not be enjoying this in the least. He already seemed to be cold and he didn't appear to like the armor that was on his lighter bone structure but of course he would have to just suck it up and get over it. ”Kill another horse in battle. That's how you prove your worth. ” he said with a loud snort and a shake of his armored neck. ”But you will be placed in the beginner classes. The colts who are just starting. You will be learning how to move with your armor on, being made to do runs up the mountain, learning all about the army. Believe me it's fun.” he told Mordecai; sarcastically at the last part. He snorted and shook his head taking him over to one of the officers. The giant grey brute looked the white hessian up and down and spat at him. His darker counter part only shook his head and stepped forward. ”Who is this pathetic creature! ” the stag roared. ”Mordecai sir. The king has instructed me to get him into training and watch over him. He wants him trained as the rest of the colts sir.” Kludd informed the massive pair who simply began grumbling under their breath and stamping their feet. ”Put him in line with the others. Head off to your group.” The grey informed him and Kludd simply nodded taking Mordy to the line where he was supposed to stand. ”Good luck.” he muttered before leaving. After four hours straight of training out in the cold Kludd came to get Mordecai having no doubt the brute was about frozen to the bone. ”Come on. Let's get the armor off and get unthawed.” he said walking back into the caverns and having off to the armory. The apes removed them for the horses and would return them that even after they were cleaned and repaired if they needed it. ”Speeeeech!” Featuring;; Kludd ll Polic x Optimr ll 2 years old ll 16.3 hh ll extra strength plus regeneration and spring step ll green eyes ll Born here, YEAR 1 ll northern Character Log;; click! Tags;; Who are you? Muse;; Not Terrible. Notes;; Do I have something to say? Credits;; Table by ME; all images are copyright to their rightful owners

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kill, that seemed a bit harsh. mordecai wasn't a fan of killing, at least not doing it himself. blood just didn't look good on his white hide. it was such a messy way to go about business, very untidy. he'd much rather banish the horses he didn't like, something like that. at least then there wasn't a body to take care of. it didn't look like he'd have to go that far just yet. well, when the time did come hopefully he'd be able to get it over with quickly and cleanly without much fuss.

"sounds like a blast." he muttered. mordecai was already cold enough that the pain caused by the armor didn't bother him much anymore. he wasn't sure what to expect as they approached the gray brute who was so obviously higher ranked than them. he expected criticism, insults, and lots and lots of yelling, but he wasn't quite prepared to get a big glob of the brute's saliva in his face. ew. mordecai's whole body screamed to wipe it off, take a bath, anything, but he forced himself to stay still. it took a whole lot of effort too. he didn't think his commanding officers would be pleased at that kind of reaction.

the second equine rose to met mordecai's expectations. insults and lots of yelling, just as he'd predicted. he waited patiently as kludd explained the situation. he listened almost numbly to the trio of battle trained brutes and silently followed kludd to the line where he stood. "thanks." he muttered with a wry smirk as kludd moved away. he just wanted to get moving, anything to stretch out a bit. the stiffness in his joints was unbearable. hellborn said he'd get used to the cold eventually, and mordecai believed him. it was probably going to be a long, hard road before he got there though.

fours hours straight and mordecai had barely uttered a word. he kept up with his group, though they didn't do all that much other than walking and marching and standing. there was talking too, a lot of talking. mordecai was starting to think these northern horses just liked to here themselves scream all the time. he couldn't understand why, it was very unsightly, horribly unattractive. he tried to enjoy the running bits, but since they were hanging on to the side of a mountain here it was hard to get to a decent speed and work his muscles. he was at the front of the pack most of the time, but he didn't really excel, not yet. he was still feeling out the routine and get into it. mordecai hadn't planned to show off the first day, just see what he was up against.

his hooves felt like chunks of ice by the time kludd made his reappearance. anything touching his hide felt like searing, whit hot fire slicing through his flesh. one colt smacked mordecai in the side with his whipcord and the white brute had nearly turned around and kicked him in the face. he was almost afraid to walk back inside the mountain, thawing out was going to be torturous. "over all ready?" he wasn't able to expand much on the joke, he was too cold and simply not in the mood. it took all he had not to impale the apes with his horns for how rough they were removing the armor. patches of his hide had been rubbed raw, but he was still too frozen to really feel it yet.

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[atrb=background, i48.tinypic.com/20h7tkz.jpg] [scrolly:h(150),w(550),sy,c()] This other equine seemed to really just be a sissy in the sienna brute’s eyes. He had little to no respect for him and doubted that anyone else would either. Unless he showed that he was really just this amazing fighter he wasn’t going to get any respect. He didn’t understand why the king had thought it would be a good idea to put him into the army training when he was clearly more fitted for a scholar or a spy; something that didn’t involve bulk and brawn. But the king could do as he pleased regardless of what anyone said to him. It didn’t matter if Kludd thought the brute was worthless in terms of army with his neatly groom coat and his thin little legs. After his own tough training Kludd was sweating underneath of his armor thankfully warm with his thick draft body and thicker coat. The flaxen hessian grunted and shook himself off listening to the rattling of his armor on his heavy body. He finally made his way over to the white stag who appeared to be freezing and most likely rubbed raw by the armor that wasn’t totally fitted to him. Even with the protector sheet the armor was meant for a wider creature. At least afterwards they would fit it more properly. Today was simply a test on whether or not he would be worthy to continue training or whether the king would send him somewhere else. Of course Kludd didn’t think he was all the impressive from the glimpses that he had gotten of the other equine. The sudden slap of the other colts banner against the ivory’s armor caused Kludd to pinned his harks against his skull and bare his teeth. The two year old whom had thought it was funny at the time quickly began to cower away from the older stag. He knew that he could easily use the intimidation on the younger brutes as many of the other’s his age did. It was almost like highschool, the freshmans, sophmores, juniors, seniors, teachers, everyone had their own place in this whole land of the north. He could tell the other was trying to make a joke but of course it wasn’t much of one. Kludd snorted and shook his head only letting a faint smile show in the corners of his kissers. ”Look let’s get you thawed out.” he said nodding and then walking with him to the ‘locker room’ type area for the colts. The apes began to take off the armor and some of the colts were joking around. ”Come on. We’re gonna go to the springs to warm up.” ”Speeeeech!” Featuring;; Kludd ll Polic x Optimr ll 2 years old ll 16.3 hh ll extra strength plus regeneration and spring step ll green eyes ll Born here, YEAR 1 ll northern Character Log;; click! Tags;; Who are you? Muse;; Not Terrible. Notes;; Do I have something to say? Credits;; Table by ME; all images are copyright to their rightful owners

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kludd obviously wasn't amused by his little bit of humor there, but was that a smile mordecai saw at the edges of his lips? it was something. perhaps mordecai wasn't quite the complete failure in the brute's eyes. well, the physically hard part was over with, and now with a hopefully pleasant trip to some hot springs ahead of them the real battle would start as mordecai tried to win over the younger brute and earn his approval. "sounds lovely." he could do with a dip in some hot water, though not right away. no, the pain would be unbearable if he just leaped in with how frozen he was at the moment. he'd probably sit out and stretch a bit first.

with the armor finally off, mordecai regained a greater range of motion and managed to crack a few stiff joints that had been restricted by that heavy suit. even while being almost completely numb mordecai had to admit it felt pretty good. as they moved back inside, the warm air felt scalding on his numbed skin, but he just gritted his teeth and forced his way through it. soon the pain declined and a tingling started in his extremities. it was uncomfortable for the moment, and as he felt a few cramps starting to form within his muscle mordecai simply lengthened his stride a bit and stretched them out. he was feeling considerably better compared to the outside, since outside there had been very little feeling at all.

as they got closer to the hot springs the air became more humid, thicker, and mordecai could smell the steam and mineral water. he didn't think the north would have such a place for their soldiers. it just seemed a little too...nice. the north was supposed to be cold, heartless. for them to have a hot spring hidden deep within their mountain home, well it just seemed a bit out of character. mordecai found it a bit amusing actually.

[ForeverPain]

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[atrb=background, i48.tinypic.com/20h7tkz.jpg] [scrolly:h(150),w(550),sy,c()] Kludd had been an accepting and really a kind soul before when he had been happy. Of course that didn’t mean that he was ever to go back to that happy place again at this point but it didn’t matter. He was no more then a pawn of war to the north and he didn’t expect to be anything more then that. ”There is a area for several places in the north. The closet to the armory and the training arena belongs to us. The closest to the quarters belongs to more common folk. They aren’t as nice as ours or the ones near the kings chambers. Those are specifically for the royals.” he informed the ivory buck. Kludd shook himself off as the armor was removed feeling like his sweaty coat could now breath. His eyes inspected the other brute’s hide seeing patches of hair missing as well as the skin rubbed raw. ”Your skin will grow tougher and the hair more resistant. Tomorrow morning before we start our training you will be properly fitted. Then your armor won’t rub.” he informed the moonshined hessian. Kludd snorted and went into a walk to start going towards the springs smelling the sweet air from the gentle bubbling springs. There were three larges ones and two smaller ones. The large ones could hold a good twenty or so horses and the smaller ones were for the officers. The water was sweet and a wonderful bubbling swirl of sparkling water. The water itself had healing properties which was why the army was afforded it. The brute was careful as his hooves touched the moistened rock not wanting to slip and fall onto the hard floor. Being in the room was enough to at least heat them up before they would enter the springs. Most of the colts stayed in their own little groups but Kludd didn’t have a group so he stayed to himself. It wasn’t long before he carefully slipped into the water and groaned enjoying the relaxation it brought to tired muscles. ”Speeeeech!” Featuring;; Kludd ll Polic x Optimr ll 2 years old ll 16.3 hh ll extra strength plus regeneration and spring step ll green eyes ll Born here, YEAR 1 ll northern Character Log;; click! Tags;; Who are you? Muse;; Not Terrible. Notes;; Do I have something to say? Credits;; Table by ME; all images are copyright to their rightful owners

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he nodded his head politely, not really listening to his companion anymore. his body had finally become warm enough that the shivering had started to kick in and mordecai was attempting to fend off the small muscle spasms. didn't want to seem weak in front of dear kludd, now did he. as the realization of how cold he had actually been set in mordecai was yearning for these hot springs more and more. they sounded simply delightful. he was tired of hearing kludd talk all the time. no offense to the brute, but mordecai was looking forward to the quiet of his own room. he doubted the springs would be very quiet with all the colts gathered so his only solace would be the confines of his personal living quarters. "good to know." he replied to kludd's reassurances about his armor. it would take a number of uncomfortable days of training before he was able to build up with touch skin needed. the armor might not rub anymore, but the damage was done.

mordecai took a deep inhalation of air as they entered the large cavern filled with steam and the smell of hot water. he let the warm air heat him from the inside out. the rocks were wet and slippery and mordecai was careful to watch his step. he went to the water's edge and tested the temperature with his hoof. the difference between temperatures was dramatic and the water felt nearly boiling to his still chilled body. he couldn't enter it quite yet without experiencing a good amount of pain. he watched kludd enter the water and the others soaking, itching to feel the same relief and comfort. eventually, he just gave up waiting and entered the water anyway. it felt much to hot, but mordecai stuck it out until the water had settled at a gentler temperature and felt much better. it soothed his raw spots and aching muscles, bringing a great deal of relief to his sore and battered body.

his ebony tail trailed behind him as he moved through the water. he noticed how his moody acquaintance moved off on his own and decided to follow the brute, hoping he wouldn't be rebuked for it. "so how did you end up in the king's good graces?" he wondered if the colt had any insider secrets he might be willing to share. it hadn't seemed like his impression of the white stag had changed much, but who knew. maybe the hot water would soften him up a bit and loosen his tongue.