i bite my tongue every time you come around.
'cause blood in my mouth

The air skipped heartbeats as he walked, clouds shuddered in the atmosphere that was to come. They stared at him with blank stares, watching with suspense. The wind had uneasiness to it; and that was to be suspected. There were dark clouds wandering along the skyline and rain looked imminent, setting the mood for the events that were supposedly coming. The clouds that stumbled about each other had secrets bursting from their lips, tearing from their eyes. Their gray color wafted in the air like a bad smell, sending the gray scale theme down to the leaves of the trees and cascading down to the long, golden grass which was dulled to an off brown color. Rain fell in single drops, one by one, refusing to fall all together. It looked like mass suicide as the countless numbers continued to fall, jumping off the clouds and taking in that last stimulating wind, that last reflection of regret, before they splashed to the spongy soil. Rain suddenly longed to be more of the rain than he already was, to be falling from the clouds only to decide shit...what a dumb idea this was, before crushing his own body against the ground. In a cruel sense, it was comical, how everyone acted on impulse, how they never thought of how much life they have left before the others waiting in line pushed them off. He raised an eyebrow at such odd thoughts. How out of character. It must be the weather.

The stallion wandered around the lands until he had reached the exact location he had specified for the challenge to commence, but there was no sight, nor smell, of the other male. Funny he shouldn't show up on something the damn kid started in the first place. The bay stallion's legs bent truthfully and bended the grass as if the long blades had fallen on their knees, his dark ebony mane glinted slightly and was pushed to the side of his face as a breeze blew across the vast sea of plains. The trees huddled closely together, as if they were cold, and shook in the wind that was surprisingly warmer than he had actually expected it to be. His brown eyes raised ahead of him, followed by his head which was perked in a straight and commanding manner. His nostrils flared as he smelled and surveyed the land ears twitching sensitively to hear which was all around him. The blackness of the sky and the warmness of the wind reminded him of his father, the loner, the traitor, the murderer. He was painted to the back of his eyes, forcing the young stallion to look at him when he was at peace. Even in the stillest and most beautiful of nights, that horrid being would appear before him with his furious sneer and poisonous words that clashed at his neck and sunk into his heart. the pain was intense, but it wore off in time. But the pain of someone dying seemed unbearable, and Rain couldn't get that thought through his head.

Night just left her there.

Ah, the fury unleashed in him as he recalled seeing the final wind pass through his beautiful red mother, her breath-taking white hair shivered in the rain of that day, everything was muted by all that thundering death. Rain's little colt heart raced with pain, misunderstanding, but he could still hear nothing but the muted, muffled words from his own muzzle. The last thing Rain remembered of that day was the cold, starving glare that his father threw at him before he turned and stalked back to the herd, leaving Rain and his lifeless mother alone in the rain. He released a snort, only loud enough for himself to hear, and lowered his head to smell the grass around him for any stale scents.

Tch. His father.

The face of his memory shattered in his mind, those soul-less blue eyes pulsed like a heartbeat at the back of his head. Rain didn't want anything to do with that stupid, selfish idiot who left anyone behind that slowed him down. He was possibly the biggest stallion Rain had ever seen in his lifetime, he towered over everyone like the mountains and watched them like the sun, his disciplines exceeding the heat of that star more than imaginable. He was feared simply because he was terrifying, different, and his disgusting smugness made him stick out of his herd like he was a gray horse among a long line of blacks. Rain snorted again and lifted his head, continuing to walk forward. His dark brown eyes splattered almost red in this never ending gray scale.

The wind carried with it a suitcase of smells, it dragged against the ground and splattered against the grass. Rain let out a small surprised squeak as the scent whipped past him, and his hears flinched in all directions until he could hear breathing. Because he knew that smell. It was as familiar as the rain that was dying against his pelt, slithering down his back and collecting on his withers. His eyes narrowed as he located the being, the brute blended in with the gray scale, where Rain was a vibrant, deep red with his black points. The bay stallion took a single step forwards, holding his head high and flicking his wet tail behind him. He wasn't ready. He so wasn't ready. Rain wasn't a fighter, but this was his damn land, and no one could take this freedom from him. A fire rose in his chest, and he stamped his hoof on the ground, letting another warm, terrifying breeze run it's smooth fingers through Rain's mane. His teeth clenched at his own greeting, which came out stronger than he had intended, but this was good. Rain was absolutely terrified, of losing everything, but he didn't want that to show. He would fight with everything he had, he would let the pain cascade of his wounds cascade through his body, and he would rejoice as he saw Dirge's wounded body limp away from these lands. Exile, the word was sweeter than ever on this gray scale day.

Dirge, the lead stallion dipped his head.

the wind whispered to him 'give 'em hell, kid.'
Rain tried not to smile.

beats blood on the ground.