All stars eventually touch the earth. (Sunthara)

[ϞSymreeϞ]

At last, it seemed that peace was possible. Ven stretched his shoulders and neck, a bit sore from the mare's kick. The sun scorched at his dun pelt, and he let out a sigh of relief as they passed into the shadow of his oasis. A well worn path led to the pegasi slave place, but Ven turned away from the grassy enclosure, and walked instead towards the shade of a large fern tree, beneath which lay a long, flat boulder of flint. It shone like polished jewels in the sunlight, the rest of it laying cold and flat in the shade.

Ven turned his golden stare on the mare, all fire gone,leaving only a calm certainty. His stance suggested the kind of authority that a born prince would posses, his shoulders squared and his head tilted aloft towards the heavens. A light breeze played havoc with the dark dread tangles of his mane, and the shifting expanse of his dark tail. He eyed the mare calmly, his gaze drifting over her bay pelt, sticky on her rump from the cuts ravaged by his own horn. His eye held no emotion, showing no want or lust as others may have as they viewed the lovely pegasi mare. Rather, Ven's gaze was strictly business, scanning with the swift certainty of an appraiser, a born master of his craft.

Ven's friend stood nearby, ready to restrain the mare should she prove difficult, but it seemed that she had been easier to break than Ven had first predicted. He beckoned her towards the flat rock of flint, and smiled in surprise as she announced her will to comply with his wishes. Her legs buckled beneath her, and she lay beneath the shade of the fanned ferns overhead. The dun unicorn exchanged a glance with his friend before starting his work. Quietly, he instructed the mare to shift on to her right shoulder, leaving the opposite exposed for his handiwork.

He moved away from her then, walking over to the psalm tree. He moved to one side of the trunk, and sliced his horn through the bark of the tree, allowing it to pass though the flesh. An oily sap covered his horn, and he shifted over to the flint rock, lowering his head so that his horn lay flush with the flat of the stone. He lifted a forehoof, and struck it thrice upon the flint. Harmless sparks flew from the first two attempts, but on the third, the sparks caught flame to the sap on his horn, and Ven lifted the flaming spear aloft, watching the sap burn away. The crystalline horn beneath the flame started changing color, growing to the red of molten iron that faded slowly back to crystalline halfway down the skewer's shaft. The flame faded, and the dun stallion walked towards his charge, the tip of his horn still glowing red from the heat.

Without warning, he rested his knee on the mare's shoulder, restraining her from undue movement or attempt for escape. He then proceeded without hesitation to press the flat of his glowing skewer to the heart of her shoulder, one diagonal stripe. The hair burned away instantly, and he ignored her screams of pain, holding her down with the skill of a craftsman. He crossed the first stripe with a second that crossed it at the center, forming a perfect X across her flesh. That done, immediately he released her, jumping back to allow her to stand if she wished. "X marks the spot," he said as his horn faded back to crystalline, "Be grateful that I am the first to own you. There are many more complicated brands that owners mark their slaves with. The more complex the mark, the longer you lay beneath the iron."

[saetta]

All of this was just turning into more and more pain. And Aquilon was not into pain or she had more than her fill of it. But there was still this one thing that had to be gotten out of the way. And that was her pelt was now going to have a no good mark on it for life. But she layed there not moving, or more importantly not wanting to give Venka anything to get upset over. She watched as the dun unicorn went through the steps. From the beginning to the point when he was beside Aquilon. And he then brought all his weight down on top of her. Ven was now holding the blood bay down. And Aquilon was not going to be going no where now. Then she felt and then smelled searing flesh. And Aquilon knew that it was her own hair and flesh that was burning now. So she tried to lift herself up off the ground. But with Venka leaning over and down on her. She was not going anywhere unless or until Ven wanted Aquilon to.

But she did whinny loudly and tried to flail her legs around. But it was all for naught though. And it was almost done as quickly as it began. And Ven's sickly sweet vocals entered her harks. And he told her X marks the spot and that she is lucky that he is her first owner. Because of the fact he used such a simple mark for his brand. But other unicorns had a lot more complex brands to use on their slaves. Then Aquilon felt Venka get up off of her and allow her to roll over. She did just that and then slowly got all four legs under her. And then after getting them under her, she pushed up and got onto all four of them. Aquilon just stood there and blinking a few times. She then swung her dial over to her right shoulder. And she tried to lick at her new brand and to have the pain subside. But she would still be trying when she finally met Rylion a few days later. And the rest they say was history.



OOC: I was thinking that this thread was now pretty much over. Unless one of you have something to add.