Zephyr had found his way east from the Col, escaping the cold mountain winds and finding instead... cold, ocean winds. Crap. He'd walked most of the way across this part of the tundra, keeping his wings pressed in tight against him for warmth until he spied the distant wall. Would it break some of the wind? Even the small chance of a warmer place was enough to drive Zephyr forward, and he waddled as fast as he could to shelter himself against the tall stone.

Sitting against the rock to allow himself a chance to warm up a bit, he began to contemplate what came next. The north was boring. Maybe it felt so cold because there was nothing to do! Even in the rainy season of Auster when the weather was miserable, he could stave away the chill with exercise or a game. Here, the northern wolves seemed much less interested in playing. Zeph was lost for how to proceed, considering even playing pretend with himself like he used to when he was a hatchling.

Clambering to his talons, the determined bird decided to entertain himself. He scaled the crumbling wall, outstretched his wings, and called out to the imaginary spectators surrounding him. "Ladies and gentleman, boys and girls! Today you will witness the glory of the finest raptor in the world, partaking in his first ever race!" A grin was spread upon his beak, so lost in his imaginings that it was easier to forget the cold....

"Zephyr"

He hadn't been to the North in a while, but his wanderings had led him here, hoping to escape the torrential rains that plagued the lands this season. It was bitingly cold up here, and he was surprised to discover not one, but two packs had cropped up at some point or another. He steered clear of them of course, unsure if they were friendly or not. He didn't want to risk it though, so he opted to just keep away for the time being. He considered joining a pack...after all, there were hardly any horses with his level of intelligence that he could find. His wild brethren simply weren't the sort of thing he was looking for, and the social instinct he longed for as a herd kept creeping up on him.

He meandered along the wall, noting how it crumbled in some places that gave access to the other side, and other parts of it still stood strong. Snow dusted the top of it, though the wall did provide some shelter from the wind. He was by no means made for the tundra let alone this sort of weather. He was born and bred in arid desert lands and mountains. But this? This was just torture! Akila soared above, though the winds buffeted her and forced her to land on his hindquarters, feathers ruffling as she shivered. He was about to ask her if she had seen anything interesting, maybe a patch of grass where he could get a bite to eat, but then his attention was drawn to someone...addressing a crowd?

Being the curious beast he was, he continued forward and caught the last part of the creature's sentence with more clarity. It was a bird unlike any he had seen before, dwarfing even the largest vultures he'd seen in his life. "A race huh? Sounds interesting," He nickered, eyeing the raptor with a curious glance.

"Speech"

Zephyr had been so caught up in his imaginings - standing proud upon the crumbling wall with wings outstretched, basking in the cheers of a hundred invisible spectators - that he'd not heard the stallion come up on him. When the voice rang out, his attention was grabbed so swiftly that he fell straight off of the stone in surprise, landing with a heavy thud upon the snow-touched tundra that the wall had been built to bisect. He could not lay there long (not with a weird looking stranger nearby) and so he forced himself to his talons quickly, making small hops to see over the crumbled portions over to the long snout beyond. Oddly enough, he looked vaguely familiar.. almost like a creature he'd met once but already forgotten the name of.

Hopping wasn't getting Zephyr anywhere. With a soft huff he trotted alongside the stone, arching his vulture like neck up and down as he found various holes in the wall, sneaking peeks at the odd creature until finally he'd found a portion he could climb up and over, facing him once more. "You're a horse!" He exclaimed suddenly, the word returning to him. "I met a horse once, she was very kind and very fast. Are you very fast? Maybe instead of pretending to race, I could have a real opponent!" Stamping his talons excitedly in the frigid snow, he outstretched a wing along the wall, across the barren tundra toward the east. There, Zephyr knew there to be water. "How about to the water and back, unless you're chicken?"

Zephyrus vs Balian for Race
Round 0/?
Age: under 1 year
Size: Paleo species
Build: Light
Skills: Advanced Fighter & Expert Navigator
"Zephyr"

He winced when the exotic prehistoric-looking young bird fell off the wall. He figured with being as big as he was, he wouldn't have been able to surprise him considering the sound his hooves made, but then again, maybe there was a little oversight and the snow muffled the sounds of his footsteps. "A-are you okay?" He asked from the other side of the wall. He jerked his head back a bit when he saw the bobbing head of the bird bouncing up and down as he seemed to try and find his way back up the wall, and Balian of course being the curious (and now amused) beast he was, slowly followed along, stealing peeks at the bird between holes and cracks in the wall, until finally, the young bird managed to climb back up and face him once more.

Balian looked at him curiously, taking in the bird's scent, and felt like it was...vaguely familiar. He had probably seen the bird before, and he probably should've remembered him all things considered, but he couldn't remember where he might've met him. "You're a horse!" Balian gave a snort of amusement, "I am, and you're a...not so normal looking bird!" He didn't mean it as a bad thing, but he was rather curious. Then the raptor claimed to have met another horse which Balian raised a brow in curiosity once more. The only other horse he had met was the unicorn stallion down west. He had yet to meet a mare...what a shame...

Then it so happened the raptor challenged him to a race. "Me? A chicken!?" He snorted, stamping a crystallized hoof into the snow, "I accept your challenge, bird!" He wasn't sure who was at an advantage here. On one hand, Zephyrus didn't have to dodge obstacles if he flew. On the other, Balian was built and bred for running. He positioned himself to face the direction the bird had pointed, pawing the ground again as he practically pranced in place, ready and raring to go!

His red-tailed hawk took to the sky, the monkey on his back leaping off onto the wall. "Ready?" The hawk circled above for a moment before heading off East. She called out to the racers, the signal to begin!

And with that, Balian kicked off! He thundered across the tundra, racing alongside the wall and avoiding any crumbled bits and obstacles that lay on the ground. He put a bit of space between him and the wall to give him a bit more open space. His ground-eating pace turned the world around him into a blur, and he was glad to have the cloven hooves because they aided in giving him a better grip on the ground. The trees in the near distance were all but a blur. He glanced to his side a few times in an effort to keep his opponent in his sights.

Balian vs Zephyrus for Race
Round: 1/?
Age: Over 1yr
Size: Large species
Build: Medium
Skills: Intermediate Fighter & Advanced Navigator

"Speech"

The horse seemed friendly enough and Zephyr expected that this was just a feature of their kind. Wolves were protective and fierce and crafty, birds were curious and playful and longing for adventure and fun, and horses were nice. That made sense. He continued to observe the thing as he spoke, tilting his head and vulture-like neck this way and back as he watched the horse's mane blow in the wind and his nostrils widen twice their size each time he gave a snort. Curious beasts, but Zephyr decided he liked them.

Balian had accepted his challenge and Zephyr was eager to get on with it. He didn't quite like being called 'bird' but then again, he did call the horse Horse, so fair was fair. After the fight, they could have their introductions proper-like. "I'm ready!" He called out, scrambling up the highest point of the crumbling wall once more so he could have a place to jump from and take flight. Out toward the east there were few obstacles, mostly flat cold land and tundra. Ice and snow, with the sparsest peeking of grass beneath. Would the horse slip and hurt himself while running? Zephyr glanced down at the powerful hooves as the horse stamped the ground, watching how the ice seemed to cleave beneath his feet. Nah, he'd be fine.

As the race was called, Zephyr took off. He extended his massive wings and jumped from the wall, catching the air and beginning a hard flapping flight overhead. Beating hard against the cold icy wind, he fought for the lead, eyes fixated upon the water in the distance and already calculating at what point he could turn and lose as little time as possible on his way back to the wall without cheating and cutting corners.

Zephyrus vs Balian for Race
Round 1/2
Age: under 1 year
Size: Paleo species
Build: Light
Skills: Advanced Fighter & Expert Navigator
"Zephyr"

He had to admit, the bird looked mighty and impressive in flight, even for one so young. Or at least, he assumed it was a young bird simply based on the avian's mannerisms. But it was also unlike any bird he'd ever seen before, so maybe its kind just acted like that, he wasn't sure. Regardless, Balian raced along with the wind in his mane the snow and ice beneath his feet crunching and blowing out beneath him. Indeed, his crystalline cloven hooves gave him much better traction now. Before? He would slip and slide all over, so he was glad that he had a run-in with that strange firefly cloaked...thing.

His nostrils flared and his chest pumped with the exertion of the run along with excitement and adrenaline. He hadn't had a good race against someone in a while, and he was eager to see which of the two beasts would come out the winner. He tossed his head, sending a loud neigh across the tundra that held notes of eager excitement. When he did that, however, he had a bit of a hiccup in the way of a piece of the wall being just near enough on his path that his hoof caught on it, causing him to briefly stumble. Squealing with surprise, Balian managed to catch himself before he ended up looking like a fool! He snorted with embarrassment and hoped the bird hadn't just witnessed that.

Balian vs Zephyrus for Race
Round: 2/2
Age: Over 1yr
Size: Large species
Build: Medium
Skills: Intermediate Fighter & Advanced Navigator

"Speech"