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 Posted: Tue Jul 05, 2022 12:16 pm
 Morning dawned brightly as a somber air lay over the lands the Moeru Yoake no Junjo herd called home.
Hikaru stood in the middle of the infirmary breathing slow and deep with his head hanging low a grim expression on his face and his paws covered in blood. An uncharmed shifter had attacked a border guard the night before. The injuries had been beyond his ability to heal with herbs. If only they had healers that could heal with magic. Maybe, just maybe they could have saved him. A noise at the infirmary's entrance drew his attention over to the doorway. Without moving his head he glanced over. His assistant Sumire stood there with a worried expression on her face. Sumire peeked into the infirmary warily. Hikaru had been in there since he returned early this morning after being unable to save the guard during the night. She had heard that this was the first major loss the herd had suffered since it's founding. This behavior was unusual for her boss and she was becoming concerned about his mental well-being. She watched anxiously as he just stood there doing nothing, he hadn't even cleaned the blood off his paws yet which was usually the first thing he did after tending to any wounded. A knocking from the dens entrance drew her attention away from her boss. With a frown she went to answer it.Hikaru watched quietly as Sumire walked away to answer the knock. He sighed softy to himself. He had a good guess what the knocking was about. His brothers would want to meet after what happened last night. Sure enough when his assistant returned it was with a message from Daisuke of a family meeting. Pulling himself together he walked over to the wash basin laid into the floor of the infirmary and washed his paws. It wouldn't do to show up coverd in blood.
Once he was clean Hikaru headed to the meeting spot. During the meeting he and his siblings discussed the situation and decided it was time to seek out a healer with unicorn blood. Herbcraft had served them well so far but it was now clear they needed healing magic as well. As he was the healing expert of the group Hikaru was elected to be the one to go searching. Deciding he could use some time away Hikaru agreed to go.
After the meeting Hikaru returned to his den and without a word started to pack what he thought he would need for the journey. There was no telling how long he would be gone. A sudden noise behind him made him look over at his bewildered assistant.Sumire stared at Hikaru in bewilderment as he moved around the den from his office to the infirmary then to the library and back to the office shoving things into a couple packs the entire time. What was going on? He had been depressed before he left and now he was packing. Her earlier worry returned. She entered the office and stopped a short ways behind him. Her presence went completely unnoticed until she gently cleared her throat. Once she had his attention she stepped up next to him. "You're not running away are you?" She asked only half jokingly.The question was so unexpected that Hikaru let out a bark of laughter. "No, nothing like that," he replied looking over his supplies. "It's been decided that the herd is in need of a unicorn and I have been volunteered to find said unicorn." He explained to his worried assistant watching her visibly relax out of the corner of his eye. "I need you to look after Nerida while I'm gone," he said absent-mindedly as he continued to go over what to take with him."Was that ever in question? Of course I'll look after her." Sumire adored the little seathi that was Hikaru's adopted daughter. When she had first joined the herd she had been quite shocked to find a seathi swimming in a soq-made pool far from any major water sources. The nearby river wasn't deep enough for a seathi to live in. "When are you leaving?" She asked as she started to help him pack."As soon as I'm done packing." Hikaru replied, "There's speculation of another attack on the way. The behavior of the shifter is concerning. We want to have a magic capable healer in place as soon as possible."
With help from Sumire and her familiar Hikaru soon had the packs securely over his back and hidden by his wings. It was time to start his search.(769)
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Posted: Fri Jul 08, 2022 5:50 pm
Hikaru stopped at the border of the herds lands and looked back the way he'd come. This wasn't the first time he was leaving but usually his trips only lasted a few day while this one could last weeks if not months. Taking a deep breath and nodding at the nearby guard he continued on his way. The day was already half gone he couldn't delay much longer if he wanted to make it to his chosen night spot.
He reached the area he was aiming for a little before nightfall. It wasn't much, just a simple secluded clearing in the middle of a small forest he often stopped at when traveling. Settling in for the night be pulled a map out of one of the packs. There was just enough light left to see. Gently tracing a clawed toe across the map he planned out tomorrow's route. He planned to stick to the ground as much as possible. He felt he was more likely to find who he was looking for that way then he would be by flying. Route decided he placed the map back in the pack and went to sleep.
A week passed quickly as Hikaru continued on his quest. He stopped and spoke to friendly herds as he traveled through their lands. He had encountered a few unicorns along the way but none felt right. He didn't know how to describe it, there was a certain feeling he felt with all the members of the herd and that was what he was looking for. Someone with unicorn blood that provoked that feeling.
The last herd he had visited had heard rumors of a unigryph or maybe it was an angenicorn that made the mountains their home. According to the rumors this mysterious healer helped anyone in need of healing. It was said that they had large feathered wings and rainbow markings. This intrigued Hikaru as those were both traits held by his family. His father had unknown kin so it was possible they were related. If this healer was their kin then the herd would accept them.
This lead him to a bit of a dilemma. The mountains in question were rather far away. He could fly covering the distance quickly or he could continue to walk and speak to those he encountered along the way. There was no guarantee that the healer was his kin, the traits in question were not unique to his family after all.
He considered the issue for awhile. It would still take multiple days to fly there and he could investigate the areas he stopped to rest in. And if this healer wasn't who he was looking for he could walk back and continue his search. Decion made he started to look for a good place to take off from.
Finding a good spot he took to the air keeping on eye on what was happening below him. If he saw any likely candidates he'd stop and talk to them. For now the plan was to fly until right before nightfall then land for the night. While he was fully capable of flying in the dark he preferred not to.
He continued the same routine, wake, take to the sky, talk to those he saw on the way, rest for the night, all the way to the mountains the healer was said to live on.
He landed at the base of the mountain as the rumors didn't say were on the mountain the healer lived. After looking around for a while he found a path that lead up the mountain. Taking the path he started slowly hiking up the mountain.
Halfway up he stopped at a decently flat spot to rest. While he didn't mind walking he wasn't a big fan of hiking. Digging some dried meat strips out of one of the packs he ate a quick snack in an effort to get some of his strength back.
Once he was recovered enough he continued up the path until he came to a spot where another smaller path branched off the path he was on. Deciding it couldn't hurt to check it out he started along the smaller path.
He soon came across a cave partly hidden by fallen rocks. If he hadn't been looking for it he never would have noticed it. He approached the cave cautiously. There was no telling if this was the right place until he got closer. Peeking around a rock he sniffed the air. The familiar smell of herbs filled his nose. Pretty sure this was the place he call out, "Hello."
The sound of footsteps slowly came closer until he could make out a figure. Long black hair falling just above the floor, feathered wings gently folded to her side and a unicorn horn sitting proudly on her forehead. He had found the healer he was searching for.
(817)
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