This is one of the simplest stallions in this realm when it comes to his nature. He is distant and rough, both in appearance and in manner, maintaining an aura of a creature who keeps himself apart from the world and cares for little. He doesn't need much, and his home reflects this; the undergrowth is dense and strangling here, and the streams are far and winding, with few trees for shelter.

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When he does choose to speak, his voice is surprisingly smooth, an in all honesty far too enticing. He could charm the scales off of a snake, should he be in the mood. While the silver tongue and honeyed voice seems to be a direct contradiction to his gruff and uninviting exterior it is easily understood. While Thorn, known as the Hermit by the others, does choose to keep himself separate and maintains barriers of distance and disinterest he is not a cold hearted or cruel creature. If anyone can find themselves close enough to notice he keeps the smell of fresh turned earth about him, and his smile is quite disarming.

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He keeps his heart well protected with simple indifference, something that can easily come across as arrogance to strangers. He has no concern for this, of course, and his bondmates know that with the right coaxing he can be just as easily convinced to lower these boundaries he erects so that they might enjoy his company and the silvery flow of his voice. The only difficulty is finding him, for he only leaves his homeland when the mood strikes for him to allow the rare and beautiful flower that is his heart to blossom for others.

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Beyond that, there is not much to note of this fellow. He enjoys my company for the moment, but it is well known by us both that should either simply find an urge to wander away neither would stop the other. He is relaxed, non-combative and entirely disparate. For him this is no act, no face put on to mask a broken spirit or protect a wounded heart. It is simply his way; he is most comfortable with the same sort of distance his rough terrain provides visitors. The Hermit does not pretend to not care, nor strive to; he sincerely holds no interest.

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And yet there are those who can testify that he can be the most wonderful sort of company, as his heart remains pure even while unattached and his thoughts grow as deeply layered as his own forest. He is kind and clever and will be a true and loyal companion to any he sees as worth allowing into that last chamber of his heart, even as he has allowed his bonded and bondmates. And still, he would answer the call of such loyalty with the same dispassionate nature as any other who had never known what it was to grow attached to anything. He does not weep or laugh or reveal anything of great impact; Thorn is apart.

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Thorn, our Hermit, has undergone a metamorphosis. He still is not a stallion that would seek the company of others, even those of his Circle. His history is still lost to him, leaving him without ties of need to entangle his days. After seeing others stumbling under the weight of their own history, he is glad for it.

 

He doesn't need others for company, seek none out who shared ties with him, and yet he has gained an interest in life once again. He is no longer content to allow the trappings of life to slip by him, but would instead actively participate. Not for the need of being with others, but for the need of maintaining new ties. His old life, his old bonds, they would remain without need for him to remember or tend to them. This was different. A new friend, a new loyalty, a new purpose has been found.

 

He is a Hermit to all but one, and for her, for the Princess he is a Knight, a guardian and friend, a confidant. He acts as a protective layer of thorns around a rare and beautiful flower. Through dangerous misadventure she healed the shadow of hurt that kept him isolated, a dark shield against the possibility of being betrayed once again. He had no desire to return to what had been lost to him, no need to fill his time with the bubbling of conversation, yet he no longer avoided the touch of another's presence. It was no longer anathema to share a moment with another soul.

 

He would never be a stallion that sought out company, yet if it were to find him he would no longer seek to avoid it. And always, he will watch over the young Princess that showed him what it was to be truly at ease; the one that revealed to him his habit of hiding away by soothing his need to do so. He is actively engaging in life once again, and it is a joyous thing to see comfort and confidence touch him once more. He guards those precious to him, tends to that which is his, and is content.

 

Thorn is still singular, still content with himself, yet he is no longer solitary.