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Description
Story
Azzy was enjoying a peaceful day. He still watched the horizon. Kept an ear out for any odd noise. Mostly, though, he stayed still. He breathed easy. He just...rested with one hoof cocked as Venus napped between his legs.

But quiet never lasted long.

Ikaros screeched. Everyone lifted their head.

“There is a hawk in need,” Ikaros announced as he landed.

“Do you know him?” Hem asked.

“No,” Ikaros answered, fluffing his feathers and turning up his nose at the buckskin. Azzy smiled as Hem glared.

“Wow, things must be really slow if you feel the need to tell us about a random hawk,” Kory said with a yawn.

“Is he in trouble?” Venus asked. His big eyes were aimed at Ikaros.

“Yes, his talon has been entangled by a human thing on a branch,” Ikaros answered. Hem and Kory’s jaws dropped.

“So you’ll talk to him? What about us? We’re older!” Kory shouted. Ikaros had nothing to say to that.

“What do we do?” Raziel asked Pluto.

The leader frowned. “I’m not sure. Normally, we leave other animals alone.”

“But he needs our help!” Venus exclaimed, standing. “You’ve always said Uncle Azzy can do anything!”

“I believe he meant to say he can do anything violent,” Kory sniggered. Raziel gave him a hard look. Was that a bad thing to say? Was it untrue? Azzy didn’t know.

“You’ll help him, won’t you?” Venus asked Azzy. He looked close to tears. But why? This hawk meant nothing to Azzy. His herd wasn’t in danger. Didn’t they prefer him to have his attention on the herd instead of strangers?

Everyone was staring at him. It made him shift. It made him want to run.

“Why?” he blurted, unsure of what to say. Venus frowned. His eyes furrowed.

“Because that’s what good horses do! They help others! It’s just like those stories Uncle Raziel tells!” Venus declared. Azzy simply stared. Good horses? What did that mean to Venus?

“Good horses?” he asked. He had learned speaking helped his confusion about the world.

Venus nodded. With a giant smile, he said, “Yeah, like daddy! Or Raziel!”

“Or Maple,” Raziel added as he stepped next to Venus. Azzy’s veins froze. Maple...Would she help a stranger? He wasn’t sure, it had been so long since he’d seen her...But then, he knew about Cedar. Cedar was the one horse he would never forget. He knew Maple had needed help. He knew she would have given anything for even a stranger to help.

“Okay,” Azzy said. To Ikaros, he asked, “Where is the hawk?”

“Wait, what? You’re just going to help? Just like that?” Kory asked.

“Maple would,” Azzy said. He remembered the renown of his father. “Azazel would.”

“And you would,” Raziel made sure to say. Azzy didn’t understand. He accepted it anyway.

“Follow me,” Ikaros spoke. He spread his wings and launched into the sky. The herd followed. Rowan and Tep tagged along curiously. Neither got any closer. Thankfully. Unfortunately? Azzy still wasn’t sure. He was angry at them. He wasn’t really sure why. He was happy they stayed away.

They didn’t walk far. There was a grove of oaks not far from the field. There was rustling just on the edge. A hawk flared and broke twigs as he screeched. When they reached the tree, Azzy saw the problem. A red human thing was wrapped around the hawk’s foot and the branch. The hawk was perched on the branch. When he saw them, he glared similar to Ikaros.

“Well that’s really high up,” Kory commented.

“How do we get him down from that?” Hem asked Pluto.

“It does look too high to chew…” Raziel spoke, turning his head as if that would force an answer.

“We’d need something small...maybe we can use some sort of stick?” Pluto asked.

“More like the teeth of a really small mouse,” Kory laughed. Azzy remembered something.

“Venus has a friend,” Azzy said. Everyone looked at him again. He didn’t like that.

“What do you mean?” Pluto asked. Azzy was not sure how to answer, so he didn’t. Venus sprang into the air.

“Froto!” Venus shouted. Everyone looked at him, then. He didn’t mind though. He was brave.

“I’ll be right back!” he announced. He scurried off through the brush. Pluto sighed.

“Fab, Hem, could you follow--?”

“On it!” Hem shouted.

“He gets his speed from my side of the family,” Mr. Fabulous said, raising his tail as he trotted after Venus.

“He’s not even yours!” Pluto shouted. They didn’t look like they heard. Pluto sighed again. He did that a lot.

“Well, anyway--”

“Kingbird, is this seriously the help you have brought?” asked the hawk as Ikaros landed in a nearby branch.

“They are resourceful,” Ikaros promised.

“If you insist,” spoke the hawk. He looked at Azzy when he said, “I do not understand how a horse is going to help me out of this catastrophe…”

“I FOUND HIM!”

“Ahh!”

The hawk leapt backwards, slipped, and fell. He yelped as he dangled from the branch by the ribbon. He started flapping uncontrollably. Azzy stepped forward and rose his nose. The hawk moved a lot. Finally, though, the hawk stilled and Azzy supported his back with his nose. The hawk screeched. Then he settled.

“Thank you,” the hawk told him. Azzy didn’t say anything. He wanted to know if this was what it meant to help. Did helping always make horses warm inside? He liked it.

“Wait, this is the poor thing that needs my help?”

Azzy didn’t want to move. He was afraid the hawk would fall again. So he stayed absolutely still and flicked an ear back to listen to the tiny voice.

“Yep! He’s tangled in the tree, see?” Venus asked.

“But he’s a hawk.”

“...Is that bad?” Venus asked. Azzy could almost picture the frown. It made him frown.

“Hawk like to eat us ferrets! I had a graze with one just the other day. It nearly took off my arm,” the little voice pouted.

“But Froto, if you don’t help, he’ll die!” Venus exclaimed.

“No, thank ya, you’ll just have to find another animal to--”

“I saved your life!” Venus shouted. Azzy’s tail lashed. How dare this animal make Venus so upset? He decided if Venus got any angrier, he would intervene.

The ferret sighed. He didn’t say anything. Was he thinking? Thinking like Azzy did?

“Is helping this ferret-eater really that big of a deal to ya?” Froto asked.

“It’s the biggest deal in the whole wide world!” Venus declared. Froto sighed again.

“Okay. But only because I owe ya,” the ferret declared. Azzy heard scuffling and scratching. The ferret appeared upon the branch, peering down at Azzy and the hawk.

“You’ve eaten ferrets before, haven’t ya?” the tan ferret asked, narrowing his eyes at the hawk.

“I suppose, but every hawk hunts ferrets if they can find them,” spoke the hawk, looking like Venus when someone said a word he didn’t understand. “It’s the circle of life.”

“Well if I do this for ya, you’ve gotta promise never to eat another ferret again,” Froto said. The hawk fluffed his feathers.

“Never eat a ferret again? Certainly, you must be joking! A hawk must eat, mustn’t he?” the hawk asked. His eyes were wide.

“Then go after the mice or those squirrels. No one likes squirrels. Just no ferrets, eh?” Froto asked, picking up the red human twine. The hawk paused. Froto went no further in untying the hawk.

“Must I, kingbird?” the hawk asked.

“If you wish to be free soon, it would be wise,” Ikaros answered. The hawk sighed.

“Alright, I promise to never hurt another ferret as long as I live,” the hawk announced. Froto gave a bright little smile.

“That’s what I wanna hear! Now just hold still, this’ll be off ya in just a bit!” Froto explained. Then he got to work. He chewed some parts. Untied others. It was slow work, but soon, the human trap fell to the ground at Azzy’s hooves.

Azzy lifted his nose and pushed the hawk to its talons. It flapped its wings twice. It fluffed its feathers. Then he let out a long breath.

“Thank you, Kingbird, and you as well, phantom horse,” the hawk said.

He gave a deep bow to Froto. “And you, most of all, Froto. I will keep to my word as a life debt to be repaid, for without you, I would have certainly died of thirst.”

“Just doin’ a favor for a friend o’ mine,” Froto responded with a tip of his head.

“Even still, a promise is a promise,” the hawk said. Then he lifted his wings and spoke a sincere, “Farewell” before launching himself into the sky.

“Yay! We saved him!!” Venus exclaimed.

Azzy frowned. “He didn’t thank you.”

Kory’s jaw dropped.

“Yeah! You were the one that wanted to save him so bad, kid!”

“He’s safe, that’s all that matters!” Venus declared. Azzy tilted his head.

Azzy knew what it was to selflessly help and protect. He would give his own life to the Bloody Bachelor if it meant protecting his family and his herd. But strangers were...different. They weren’t important. They were distractions.

Yet Venus shone like the sun after helping an animal he hadn’t even met.

“Raziel,” Azzy asked as the herd began to walk back to their meadow.

“Yes?” Raziel asked. The herd continued on.

“Is helping like that...good?” Azzy asked. Raziel thought. His thinking was soft. Not hard like Tep’s or Pluto’s.

“Our willingness to help others defines us. If we don’t help, then we’re either mean or complacent. If we do help, then we’re compassionate and kind. If we help a lot...well, then that makes you a hero,” Raziel explained.

“Hero?” Azzy asked. He knew the word. He’d only met a few horses he’d define as such, though. His mom. Tep. Azazel.

“But Azazel was mean. Tep, too,” Azzy spoke. He blinked. Was that why he was angry with Tep? His chest flared whenever he thought of him lately, but he couldn’t remember why. It was frustrating.

“Sometimes heroes mess up,” Raziel said, this time with a soft yet encouraging smile. Like the one he gave Venus when Venus ran into him on accident. “They just have to get, I mean...they just have to learn from that mistake. Your mom was angry with Azazel, and you’re angry with Tep. You’re both teaching the ones that wronged you that they need to learn to do better.”

Azzy nodded. Then he thought.

“Is Venus a hero?” Azzy asked.

“If he keeps this up, he certainly will be,” Raziel chuckled. Then he started walking. “Come on, we’d better catch up.”

“Raziel,” Azzy said.

“Yes?” Raziel asked, meeting his gaze.

Azzy stayed quiet. How was he supposed to ask this? Finally, he blurted, “Mom said I was a hero, once.” Raziel smiled again, the same understanding smile as before.

“You are a hero, Azzy,” Raziel said firmly. Azzy frowned.

“But I hurt others. I try not to, but...but sometimes it doesn’t make sense,” Azzy said. Raziel swallowed.

“Azzy... you saved us. You saved your family from those bachelors the day Achilies was hurt. You saved us from humans that would have hurt and maybe killed us. And you protect Venus and the rest of us every second of every day, watching for danger and enemies. No matter what mistakes you make, those actions will never be forgotten or ignored,” Raziel told him.

Azzy shifted. He didn’t know if that was true. Horses still flinched when he looked at them. They shook with fear. Azzy didn’t know a lot, but he knew heroes didn’t scare others. And if he scared full grown horses, what would happen the day Venus saw him being mean? What then? His heart started beating fast. He didn’t like that.

Raziel sighed and stepped closer. “Look. You’re getting better. What you did the other day, when you walked away from Hym, was more than any of us ever hoped for. Whatever is happening with you is working. So, yeah, you’ve made a few mistakes and you’ll probably make a few more, but as long as your heart is set toward helping and protecting, you’re a hero, and a damn good one. Maybe you’re a little broken, but that’s okay.”

“It is?” Azzy asked.

“Absolutely,” Raziel said firmly. There was no room for doubt. Azzy let out a deep breath.

He didn’t need to be perfect.

They started following the herd. Azzy paused, lifting his head to see Rowan and Tep both testing their invisible boundary. They had both wronged Azzy, but, maybe...maybe they were broken heroes too. So he let them cross the line, and built a new one closer to him. He decided they deserved that much, at least.

Then he set off toward his herd and reminded himself he didn’t need to be perfect. He just needed to be a hero.
Stallion ID: #2-2 Pluto
In response to: E-Ferret + Help Hawk
Art features: Azazimon
Story features: Teplo , Mr. Fabulou s, Pluto , Hemlock , Hickory , Raziel , Azazimon , Rowan , Venus , Achilles [10]
Word Count: 2,165

Aging: --
Healing: --
Pregnancy: --
Captured: --

Items you are using: --

Companion Animals: r collabs] In the form of Achilles (LannisterHeir , #3-2)
Bachelor Herd: Yes
Collab: No

Rolls: Normal

Other notes: --

Description
Story
Azzy was enjoying a peaceful day. He still watched the horizon. Kept an ear out for any odd noise. Mostly, though, he stayed still. He breathed easy. He just...rested with one hoof cocked as Venus napped between his legs.

But quiet never lasted long.

Ikaros screeched. Everyone lifted their head.

“There is a hawk in need,” Ikaros announced as he landed.

“Do you know him?” Hem asked.

“No,” Ikaros answered, fluffing his feathers and turning up his nose at the buckskin. Azzy smiled as Hem glared.

“Wow, things must be really slow if you feel the need to tell us about a random hawk,” Kory said with a yawn.

“Is he in trouble?” Venus asked. His big eyes were aimed at Ikaros.

“Yes, his talon has been entangled by a human thing on a branch,” Ikaros answered. Hem and Kory’s jaws dropped.

“So you’ll talk to him? What about us? We’re older!” Kory shouted. Ikaros had nothing to say to that.

“What do we do?” Raziel asked Pluto.

The leader frowned. “I’m not sure. Normally, we leave other animals alone.”

“But he needs our help!” Venus exclaimed, standing. “You’ve always said Uncle Azzy can do anything!”

“I believe he meant to say he can do anything violent,” Kory sniggered. Raziel gave him a hard look. Was that a bad thing to say? Was it untrue? Azzy didn’t know.

“You’ll help him, won’t you?” Venus asked Azzy. He looked close to tears. But why? This hawk meant nothing to Azzy. His herd wasn’t in danger. Didn’t they prefer him to have his attention on the herd instead of strangers?

Everyone was staring at him. It made him shift. It made him want to run.

“Why?” he blurted, unsure of what to say. Venus frowned. His eyes furrowed.

“Because that’s what good horses do! They help others! It’s just like those stories Uncle Raziel tells!” Venus declared. Azzy simply stared. Good horses? What did that mean to Venus?

“Good horses?” he asked. He had learned speaking helped his confusion about the world.

Venus nodded. With a giant smile, he said, “Yeah, like daddy! Or Raziel!”

“Or Maple,” Raziel added as he stepped next to Venus. Azzy’s veins froze. Maple...Would she help a stranger? He wasn’t sure, it had been so long since he’d seen her...But then, he knew about Cedar. Cedar was the one horse he would never forget. He knew Maple had needed help. He knew she would have given anything for even a stranger to help.

“Okay,” Azzy said. To Ikaros, he asked, “Where is the hawk?”

“Wait, what? You’re just going to help? Just like that?” Kory asked.

“Maple would,” Azzy said. He remembered the renown of his father. “Azazel would.”

“And you would,” Raziel made sure to say. Azzy didn’t understand. He accepted it anyway.

“Follow me,” Ikaros spoke. He spread his wings and launched into the sky. The herd followed. Rowan and Tep tagged along curiously. Neither got any closer. Thankfully. Unfortunately? Azzy still wasn’t sure. He was angry at them. He wasn’t really sure why. He was happy they stayed away.

They didn’t walk far. There was a grove of oaks not far from the field. There was rustling just on the edge. A hawk flared and broke twigs as he screeched. When they reached the tree, Azzy saw the problem. A red human thing was wrapped around the hawk’s foot and the branch. The hawk was perched on the branch. When he saw them, he glared similar to Ikaros.

“Well that’s really high up,” Kory commented.

“How do we get him down from that?” Hem asked Pluto.

“It does look too high to chew…” Raziel spoke, turning his head as if that would force an answer.

“We’d need something small...maybe we can use some sort of stick?” Pluto asked.

“More like the teeth of a really small mouse,” Kory laughed. Azzy remembered something.

“Venus has a friend,” Azzy said. Everyone looked at him again. He didn’t like that.

“What do you mean?” Pluto asked. Azzy was not sure how to answer, so he didn’t. Venus sprang into the air.

“Froto!” Venus shouted. Everyone looked at him, then. He didn’t mind though. He was brave.

“I’ll be right back!” he announced. He scurried off through the brush. Pluto sighed.

“Fab, Hem, could you follow--?”

“On it!” Hem shouted.

“He gets his speed from my side of the family,” Mr. Fabulous said, raising his tail as he trotted after Venus.

“He’s not even yours!” Pluto shouted. They didn’t look like they heard. Pluto sighed again. He did that a lot.

“Well, anyway--”

“Kingbird, is this seriously the help you have brought?” asked the hawk as Ikaros landed in a nearby branch.

“They are resourceful,” Ikaros promised.

“If you insist,” spoke the hawk. He looked at Azzy when he said, “I do not understand how a horse is going to help me out of this catastrophe…”

“I FOUND HIM!”

“Ahh!”

The hawk leapt backwards, slipped, and fell. He yelped as he dangled from the branch by the ribbon. He started flapping uncontrollably. Azzy stepped forward and rose his nose. The hawk moved a lot. Finally, though, the hawk stilled and Azzy supported his back with his nose. The hawk screeched. Then he settled.

“Thank you,” the hawk told him. Azzy didn’t say anything. He wanted to know if this was what it meant to help. Did helping always make horses warm inside? He liked it.

“Wait, this is the poor thing that needs my help?”

Azzy didn’t want to move. He was afraid the hawk would fall again. So he stayed absolutely still and flicked an ear back to listen to the tiny voice.

“Yep! He’s tangled in the tree, see?” Venus asked.

“But he’s a hawk.”

“...Is that bad?” Venus asked. Azzy could almost picture the frown. It made him frown.

“Hawk like to eat us ferrets! I had a graze with one just the other day. It nearly took off my arm,” the little voice pouted.

“But Froto, if you don’t help, he’ll die!” Venus exclaimed.

“No, thank ya, you’ll just have to find another animal to--”

“I saved your life!” Venus shouted. Azzy’s tail lashed. How dare this animal make Venus so upset? He decided if Venus got any angrier, he would intervene.

The ferret sighed. He didn’t say anything. Was he thinking? Thinking like Azzy did?

“Is helping this ferret-eater really that big of a deal to ya?” Froto asked.

“It’s the biggest deal in the whole wide world!” Venus declared. Froto sighed again.

“Okay. But only because I owe ya,” the ferret declared. Azzy heard scuffling and scratching. The ferret appeared upon the branch, peering down at Azzy and the hawk.

“You’ve eaten ferrets before, haven’t ya?” the tan ferret asked, narrowing his eyes at the hawk.

“I suppose, but every hawk hunts ferrets if they can find them,” spoke the hawk, looking like Venus when someone said a word he didn’t understand. “It’s the circle of life.”

“Well if I do this for ya, you’ve gotta promise never to eat another ferret again,” Froto said. The hawk fluffed his feathers.

“Never eat a ferret again? Certainly, you must be joking! A hawk must eat, mustn’t he?” the hawk asked. His eyes were wide.

“Then go after the mice or those squirrels. No one likes squirrels. Just no ferrets, eh?” Froto asked, picking up the red human twine. The hawk paused. Froto went no further in untying the hawk.

“Must I, kingbird?” the hawk asked.

“If you wish to be free soon, it would be wise,” Ikaros answered. The hawk sighed.

“Alright, I promise to never hurt another ferret as long as I live,” the hawk announced. Froto gave a bright little smile.

“That’s what I wanna hear! Now just hold still, this’ll be off ya in just a bit!” Froto explained. Then he got to work. He chewed some parts. Untied others. It was slow work, but soon, the human trap fell to the ground at Azzy’s hooves.

Azzy lifted his nose and pushed the hawk to its talons. It flapped its wings twice. It fluffed its feathers. Then he let out a long breath.

“Thank you, Kingbird, and you as well, phantom horse,” the hawk said.

He gave a deep bow to Froto. “And you, most of all, Froto. I will keep to my word as a life debt to be repaid, for without you, I would have certainly died of thirst.”

“Just doin’ a favor for a friend o’ mine,” Froto responded with a tip of his head.

“Even still, a promise is a promise,” the hawk said. Then he lifted his wings and spoke a sincere, “Farewell” before launching himself into the sky.

“Yay! We saved him!!” Venus exclaimed.

Azzy frowned. “He didn’t thank you.”

Kory’s jaw dropped.

“Yeah! You were the one that wanted to save him so bad, kid!”

“He’s safe, that’s all that matters!” Venus declared. Azzy tilted his head.

Azzy knew what it was to selflessly help and protect. He would give his own life to the Bloody Bachelor if it meant protecting his family and his herd. But strangers were...different. They weren’t important. They were distractions.

Yet Venus shone like the sun after helping an animal he hadn’t even met.

“Raziel,” Azzy asked as the herd began to walk back to their meadow.

“Yes?” Raziel asked. The herd continued on.

“Is helping like that...good?” Azzy asked. Raziel thought. His thinking was soft. Not hard like Tep’s or Pluto’s.

“Our willingness to help others defines us. If we don’t help, then we’re either mean or complacent. If we do help, then we’re compassionate and kind. If we help a lot...well, then that makes you a hero,” Raziel explained.

“Hero?” Azzy asked. He knew the word. He’d only met a few horses he’d define as such, though. His mom. Tep. Azazel.

“But Azazel was mean. Tep, too,” Azzy spoke. He blinked. Was that why he was angry with Tep? His chest flared whenever he thought of him lately, but he couldn’t remember why. It was frustrating.

“Sometimes heroes mess up,” Raziel said, this time with a soft yet encouraging smile. Like the one he gave Venus when Venus ran into him on accident. “They just have to get, I mean...they just have to learn from that mistake. Your mom was angry with Azazel, and you’re angry with Tep. You’re both teaching the ones that wronged you that they need to learn to do better.”

Azzy nodded. Then he thought.

“Is Venus a hero?” Azzy asked.

“If he keeps this up, he certainly will be,” Raziel chuckled. Then he started walking. “Come on, we’d better catch up.”

“Raziel,” Azzy said.

“Yes?” Raziel asked, meeting his gaze.

Azzy stayed quiet. How was he supposed to ask this? Finally, he blurted, “Mom said I was a hero, once.” Raziel smiled again, the same understanding smile as before.

“You are a hero, Azzy,” Raziel said firmly. Azzy frowned.

“But I hurt others. I try not to, but...but sometimes it doesn’t make sense,” Azzy said. Raziel swallowed.

“Azzy... you saved us. You saved your family from those bachelors the day Achilies was hurt. You saved us from humans that would have hurt and maybe killed us. And you protect Venus and the rest of us every second of every day, watching for danger and enemies. No matter what mistakes you make, those actions will never be forgotten or ignored,” Raziel told him.

Azzy shifted. He didn’t know if that was true. Horses still flinched when he looked at them. They shook with fear. Azzy didn’t know a lot, but he knew heroes didn’t scare others. And if he scared full grown horses, what would happen the day Venus saw him being mean? What then? His heart started beating fast. He didn’t like that.

Raziel sighed and stepped closer. “Look. You’re getting better. What you did the other day, when you walked away from Hym, was more than any of us ever hoped for. Whatever is happening with you is working. So, yeah, you’ve made a few mistakes and you’ll probably make a few more, but as long as your heart is set toward helping and protecting, you’re a hero, and a damn good one. Maybe you’re a little broken, but that’s okay.”

“It is?” Azzy asked.

“Absolutely,” Raziel said firmly. There was no room for doubt. Azzy let out a deep breath.

He didn’t need to be perfect.

They started following the herd. Azzy paused, lifting his head to see Rowan and Tep both testing their invisible boundary. They had both wronged Azzy, but, maybe...maybe they were broken heroes too. So he let them cross the line, and built a new one closer to him. He decided they deserved that much, at least.

Then he set off toward his herd and reminded himself he didn’t need to be perfect. He just needed to be a hero.
Stallion ID: #2-2 Pluto
In response to: E-Ferret + Help Hawk
Art features: Azazimon
Story features: Teplo , Mr. Fabulou s, Pluto , Hemlock , Hickory , Raziel , Azazimon , Rowan , Venus , Achilles [10]
Word Count: 2,165

Aging: --
Healing: --
Pregnancy: --
Captured: --

Items you are using: --

Companion Animals: r collabs] In the form of Achilles (LannisterHeir , #3-2)
Bachelor Herd: Yes
Collab: No

Rolls: Normal

Other notes: --