Castus
Castus paced back and forth in his cell. He had been in this cell for nearly two days now. It wasn't especially bad, the food was good and the accommodations of the cell were far better then his previous confinements. Though the silence upon his ears and mind that so drove him to pace in irritation, like a lion in its cage.
"Castus. How are you today?" A voice said.
Castus turned, seeing Princess Cadence. The princess of love nodded to her aunt Luna, who sat in front of the door to the cell.
"Hello aunt Luna. I'm here to relieve you." Cadence said, her horn glowing.
Castus felt the shield keeping him separate from the Wind shift slightly. Luna's horn stopped glowing, and she yawned as she stood from her seat.
"A good morn to you niece. I will return at night." Luna said, another yawn coming.
Cadence nodded as she sat down, "Sleep well then."
Luna nodded, then gave a brief glance towards Castus before leaving. That's how it always ended between them. A silent stare.
In the two days since his incarceration, Castus had come to know the two princesses well enough. He found Cadence to be the more social and enjoyable to be around. She had a sisterly like feel about her, as she always checked on his well being. She would converse with him sometimes, with Cadence awed by tales of his homeworld and Cadence answering questions regarding Equestria and the lands beyond for Castus. But Luna....
...well Castus wasn't really sure what to make of Luna. Though he felt that she had some sort of animosity towards him. Not out right hostility, but she certainly wasn't a chatter bug. Then again, she kept the shield up during the night and Castus usually was asleep at that time. Though, one time when he woke up in the middle of the night, he could see her luminous eyes on him, watching him. Though she quickly looked away when he moved.
"So how are you feeling today?" Cadence asked, giving him a friendly smile.
"Well enough. As well as being stuck in a cell can be." Castus said, sitting down on his bed. His tone was slightly harsher than normal, though after being cooped up for two days he was feeling a bit peevish.
Cadence frowned, ears flattening slightly, but she perked up quickly, "I know its hard. But please, try to understand."
Castus just grunted, and looked away.
He understood, but he still didn't need to like it.
.....or let it go on.
Castus sighed, "I understand why. But I don't get why I have to stay cooped up in this blasted cell."
"Oh, well if you want I think I can arrange something to get you outside for a bit." Cadence said, her expression perking up a bit at seeing a way to make things better.
Castus shrugged, "I'll take anything other then wall and bars."
Castus looked down at the humans as they interacted with each other. The humans themselves, mostly went on their way ignoring him. The females tended to the few small number of infants they had with them, while the males just sat and watched over the females. The few young children ran and played.
Though every once in awhile, he caught some looking up at him. The males in particular watched him with what he was sure was an aggressive eye.
'Probably thinks I'm gonna try and steal a female.' He thought, wondering. Still, when he had said anything would do....he hadn't really....expected this.
He looked up towards the windows, looking down at the enclosure. Apparently the academy in Canterlot had a new human studies program. In the windows he saw that same mint green mare looking down at them all with a big smile, she seemed to be taking notes as she watched them, sometimes waving at them with a....foam hand?
Castus looked away and shivered, 'She's been there for an hour.'
Creepy ponies aside, it wasn't...so bad. It was wider then the cell. And it was open to open sky and fresh air. He looked to another window, and saw Cadence looking down. She gave him a friendly wave, though her horn still glowed with magic.
He got his space, but he wasn't any close to being free. And he didn't know how much longer he had.
A loud yell from beside him brought his attention back down to the humans. A trio of the alphas were yelling and screaming as they bit, kicked, and hammered their fists down on a younger male. The male yelled and tried to get away, before being hit to the ground. Castus didn't know what happened next. His hand went for a number of rocks and before he could consider the wisdom in his actions, he was already throwing them at the heads of the attacking males.
The stones each knocked into the males heads, and the all stopped their attack and turned to glare at where the offending projectiles came.
They glared up...at Castus.
'Uh oh.' Castus thought, as he took a step back. The alpha males roared, and turned to charge him, climbing up the rocks to get the upper hand against their attacker.
"Shit!" He yelled, and he ran, jumping down the rocks. He didn't know where he was gonna go, save maybe the door.
Now, it probably wasn't the best idea to attack a human species that was, by his study most likely: Twice as strong as him. Hardier. No doubt far more in better shape for long term running and lost to a primal beastial mind set. Let alone the equivalent of an alpha male chimpanzee or gorilla. And him being without a weapon.
Castus ran to the door, but one of the males cut him off and lunged at him. Castus leaped to the side, hitting the small water pool with a splash. He got up and made a dash for the big tree, but before he could he felt something yank him by the shirt he wore and pull him to the ground.
Before he could act, fists began raining down on him as the alpha males yowled and howled in rage. They slammed and kicked him, asserting their dominance; or in an attempt to kill him. Either way, Castus could do little to fend off the attack and all he could do was curl up to protect his head.
'Damn it. Come on! Come on!' He thought, as the attack continued. His instincts scratching and clawing at the barrier between him and the Wind.
If he had the Wind he could survive. He had to have it. He NEEDED it! But that damn barrier!
Castus felt something hard slam against him, and his vision spun as he caught sight of a male whacking down at him with a rock. His head spun from a blow, and he felt his consciousness slipping. His clawing at the barrier became more frantic, until...
...until he felt it gone. Like the opening of a door, the barrier slipped away and he once more heard the gentle bell like sound of the Wind. He dove himself into its power, and felt his whole body come to life in a way he never new before.
Without understanding how or why, Castus felt the thought of a weave come to mind. He pulled on the power, feeling his body burn and sear in pain as he wove the weave with a yell.
"Raaaaaagggggh!" He screamed as he released the weave and unleashed a torrent of wind which blew the attacking males back. He rose to his feet as the gale finished and he watched as the males flew. One smashing into the wall and slid to the ground. Another was flung off to the rocks, his head smashing first into the stone. His body fell to the ground twitching. The last flew up father, slamming into the windows overlooking them all before falling to the ground.
Castus staggered, feeling his head cry in pain as if it was being split open. He felt a frantic push against him by that barrier, trying to push him from the power. He snarled and forced himself to dive deeper into the power; filling his body to the brim.
Castus looked around, at the humans as they stared at him with awe or fear. The females and children backed away. But one, a larger male snarled at him. Castus considered him by his watching to be the Head Alpha, and his defeating his subordinates was a clear challenge to the angered male.
Castus watched as the Head Alpha charged him, howling and screaming. Castus merely stood his ground as he slowly lifted two fingers and aimed them at the head alpha. His mind was lost to a faint whisper of a mans voice, the words 'Come to Me' constantly repeating themselves as he wove the power and an arrow of fire leapt from his fingers and impaled the charging head alpha in the chest, and within a second igniting his entire body.
The male screamed, and dove for the water, but the heat of the flame had done its damage and the piercing of the chest had done its work. The males body lay still within the water, charred and dead. With the job finished, he turned his attentions to the injured male.
Castus, still full with the power, approached the young male slowly. The male looked up at him, fear in its eyes as it tried to back away. Castus leaned down, inspecting the wounds. He could not help but frown at the injuries, and another weave came to mind as he extended his hand toward the male.
The male cringed, but soon looked up at him in awe as it looked from its healing wounds and back to him. As the last of the wounds closed, Castus felt his grip on the Wind slip and his body sagged as his head began to spin. He groaned, placing a hand to his head as he tried to keep his vision straight. A slight glint made Castus look down to see that the necklace that he had gotten from the Tree of Harmony had slipped out from under his shirt and hung out, its crystalline body glinting in the light.
The human male too saw the necklace and its hand stretched out to brush the shining amulet, and as it touched the necklace, its eyes suddenly glowed a brief rainbow color. The human blinked, and then began looking around quickly as if taking notice of his surroundings for the first time.
'What the-' Castus thought, before he felt the barrier slam up to block him once more from the Wind. The door to the enclosure opening and the guards rushing in to drag him away.
"Be gentle. He was just attacked." He heard Cadences voice say.
Castus felt his head swim once more, and his vision soon began to fade to black, yet as he lost consciousness he saw the young male human watching him.
Those eyes....they seemed no longer the eyes of an animal.
"...completely irresponsible. Did you not think of the consequences?" A voice spoke, when Castus slowly began to regain his consciousness.
His body felt sore, but the pain was gone. Once more, he felt himself on a soft mattress. He struggled to listen, as his head still felt like it was full of wool now.
"....I could not just leave him defenseless......left him just to be hurt?" Another voice said, the words lost in the haze. It sounded like Cadence.
There was a silence when a voice said.
"I.....I understand your reasons." The other voice said, more calmly now after a deep sigh, "Never the less. This does not happen again. The barrier is to never fall down again. Do you understand?"
"Yes Celestia." Cadence said.
Celestia sighed, "I know you must be disapproving with me. But I am almost finished with the spell. I promise when this is all over I will make it up to him."
Castus felt his eyes grow heavy once more, and he let himself fall back into the darkness of sleep.
Castus wasn't fully sure what time it was when he woke once more. He groaned as he pushed himself up from his bed, rubbing his temple as he felt a slight headache come on.
Despite his pains, the memories from before were still a clear image in his head, and he thrust his head down his shirt to find the necklace still there. He pulled it out and glanced down at it, curious. What had the necklace done to that human? Or had that just been his mind playing tricks on him? He slipped the necklace back down his shirt and looked around.
It was probably night, as Luna was now standing guard outside his cell. At the table, was a tray of food; still warm by an aura of Luna's magic.
"Thou's food is there. We have kept it warm till thy awoke." Luna said, glancing back at him.
Castus blinked, and walked over to the food and set down to eat. After sleeping all day, he was definitely hungry. As he ate, the words from Celestia also began to come to mind.
'I'm running out of time....' He thought with dread. That one thought made the remainder of his night a silent, and difficult one.
In the following morning, Castus once more was exchanged from Luna to Cadence. Luna seemed to give Cadence a disapproving look for a brief moment, but gently placed her hoof on her shoulder before walking away with a yawn.
"I guess I got you in trouble?" Castus said, taking his breakfast.
Cadence looked at him with a frown, "Don't blame yourself. It was my own choice."
"Maybe...though in all hindsight, throwing that rock might not have been my brightest move." Castus said.
"Perhaps not. Still...it was very brave of you." Cadence said, giving a slight smile, "Still...it should not happen again."
"I see." Castus said, "So, am I banned from going outside now?"
"Well no," Cadence said, "Though, are you sure you want to go back? I mean, after what happened?"
Castus frowned, but nodded, "Yes. Don't worry, what happened yesterday....most likely won't be happening again."
If humans here were more animal like, then after his display of might to their alphas, Castus wouldn't be surprised if he ended up being treated as the alpha. Or at least, left alone.
'Besides,' Castus thought as a memory of a that humans momentary rainbow sparkled eyes, 'I need to check something.' His hand gently placed over the spot of his shirt where the necklace lay under.