[CENTER][h1][color=EB054D][b]RICO[/b][/color][/h1][/center][hr][b]Puddle Kingdom, Gunwhale Island, West Blue[/b][hr]Horse hooves thundered against the rolling hills of golden grass, cutting along the arid winds. The mid autumn had yet to see its first rain of the season, one that would usher in winter to come. The hooves and horseshoes were not so feverish as to catch the dry hills alight, the trio of hunters coming to a stop in the valley, a stream trickling its way through. It weaved well down the hill to the port town of Cipita, the modest palace looking down from its own peak.

After dismissing the familiar view, the lead rider slipped off of his mount, patting the chestnut furred horse as his green eyes glanced across the mud. Clad in chainmail, a brown half cape across his shoulder, the young man with a gold circlet pushing back his medium length brown hair [Alliant DuPont, Second Prince of the Puddle Kingdom] traced a finger across a hoofprint in the muck, the mark not indicating any sort of horseshoe.

“It’s clearly not just a rumor we’re chasing…” Alliant insisted, moving to pull himself back onto his horse.

A wide faced, older man, Jolibi, wearing a round helmet scoffed. “You sure are hopeful.”

A younger lad, Negrigan, with tufts of green poking out of his leather hat was apprehensive. “It’s just a bit odd, isn’t it? For a unicorn to appear just after the king demanded a horn.”

“Odd, yes, but it could just as well be fate.” Starting onward, Alliant moved his horse at a leisurely pace. “Horses don’t often escape here, there’s not supposed to be any outsider presence. What are the chances that two escaped horses mated and raised a child that make these shoeless tracks?”

“Well...better than a unicorn spontaneously appearing when the king needs it.”

“It’s a magical animal for crying out loud!” Alliant burst out. Reeling himself in at the wide eyes of his cohorts, he cleared his throat, fist raised to his mouth to hide his slightly flushed cheeks. “Legends say just the sight of a unicorn’s mane can heal the heart. It should be lucky we’re only after its horn: the blood is said to be able to grant eternal life.”

“What’s the horn grant again? Virility?” said Jolibi.

“What’s that mean?” wondered Negrigan.

Alliant gawked. “You may be a longtime companion of my older brother’s, but seniority is no excuse for disrespect!”

“Er, it was just a little joke, your liege.”

“I may not respect all of my father’s choices as a ruler, but he’s still-” Alliant’s words came to a sudden stop, his eyes wide as he looked down the stream. Those at his side joined him, freezing as they saw a glint of white off in the distance, the pure white horse a fair ways off in the distance.

“Never seen a horse like that, not on this island,” Jolibi admitted.

Alliant’s blade came free of its sheath. “Onward!” he called, leading the charge. Barreling down the hill, heading towards the open stretch of field close by the forest, they honed in on their target, the white beast at the mercy of their movements. The three of them corralled the beast in, driving it towards the woods of red and amber leaves, where the treeline would hedge its movements. As it got closer, they guided it along the forest towards a cliff, where they would trap their bounty. Alliant’s eyes glinted in the light as they searched for the telltale sight of the animal’s horn. But as its gallop was halted by rock wall, the hunters closing in, Alliant was met not with white, but red.

[COLOR=EB054D]“LET’S GOOOOOO! I’M OUT!”[/COLOR] Bursting from right out in front of Alliant and his horse, the figure clad in black, blood red, and neon green was alien to Alliant, the modern fashions and garish colors well beyond his purview. And alas, the path of Alliant’s horse had also been well beyond the boy’s purview, the young man meeting Alliant’s eyes with a wide eyed and blank stare, his smile curled into a pursed pair of lips.

His mount crashed right into him, bowling the young man over. It was a stroke of luck that Alliant managed to control his horse well enough to not follow him to the ground himself. Bringing his horse to a stop, he turned about in his saddle. “Gods above, are you alright?”

The two other hunters stopped as well, watching as Rico steadily pushed himself up from the grass, hoof marks faintly visible on the back of his red firm trimmed black coat, and the back of his head. Nose bleeding slightly from having a horse’s knee smashed into it, Rico managed a shaky thumbs up. [COLOR=EB054D]“I think I’m good,”[/color] he muttered in a wheeze.

Alliant’s face tightened, heart drifting downwards into his stomach. “I’m deeply sorry for my lack of discipline and focus, but I will make my amends in due time.” Blade flashing through the air, he turned his attention onto his prey, trapped at last.

Red pupils trapped in starstruck eyes under sunken eyebrows, the ‘unicorn’ stared down its predators. It’s ears were droopy, long face ending in a distraught grimace through a slack jaw. The portly beast was nothing like the masses of muscle that were the royal riding horses, a pot belly sticking out above its skinny legs, knees knobbly and quaking in fear. It’s stubby tail shook like a leaf. And crowned on its forehead, a brown, bumpy horn rested. The three hunters didn’t have the will to move, jaws seeking out the ground.

Pulling his mouth off the ground, Jolibi admitted, “Well, I’m healed. I feel better knowing my life has never knocked me to the level of this poor thing.”

Negrigan shuddered. “It is comforting to look at, like seeing your ex-girlfriend together with a less attractive man.”

Shaking his head as he regained his bearings, Rico grumbled, [COLOR=EB054D]“Man, you guys are mean.”[/color]

The ‘unicorn’ began to cough, spittle scattering about as far as their riding boots, snot running from its nose. Jolibi whipped a rifle off his back, “I was against killing it, since I don’t really want to burden anyone with eternal life, but I get the feeling that this thing doesn’t want that burden either.”

Alliant opened his mouth to tell him to stand down, but Rico moved forward. “H-hey! What are you doing? Stand back!”

Rico insisted, [COLOR=EB054D]“Don’t worry, I’ve always been told I’m good with animals.”[/color] Inching towards the horrified animal, Rico cooed, [COLOR=EB054D]“Hey there buddy, how’s it going?”[/color] The unicorn continued to watch until Rico was within arms length, where it turned its head away, avoiding the young man. [COLOR=EB054D]“Come here, I’ll-”[/color] the unicorn turned its head back, jaw latching onto Rico’s apple colored scalp. [COLOR=EB054D]“AHHHHHHHH-”[/COLOR] he cried out, pushing himself out of the beast’s maw. Teeth gnashing, Rico charged back in, arms wrapping around the unicorn’s neck. Feet digging into the leaf covered dirt, he lifted the horse upwards and fell backwards, slamming it into the ground with a suplex.

“WHO THE HELL EVER SAID YOU’RE GOOD WITH ANIMALS!?” the three hunters cried.

The unicorn stood shakily, walking its way back into the forest, defeated. “Now I just feel bad for it,” Jolibi muttered.

[COLOR=EB054D]“Got the horn! Pretty sure it’s just a pinecone though.”[/color] Sure enough, Rico held up a pinecone, an immature one with its scales still packed together. Somehow an impact had stuck it on the poor albino horse’s forehead, the animal likely released from whatever ranch had bred it as a foal for its odd coloration. As Alliant pieced all of this together, he slumped forward, letting out a long, long sigh of air from his deflated hopes.